Author: Green Car Online News

Company claims to harness AI for quicker electric-car DC fast charging

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2015 Nissan Leaf with CHAdeMO fast-charging cable plugged in [photo John Briggs]
At CES earlier this month, GBatteries demonstrated that it could charge a 60-kwh battery pack, made up of off-the-shelf lithium-ion automotive cells, to half capacity in just 5 minutes, or to a full charge in 10 minutes.

Further, the company is aiming, with a technology that employs AI elements, to boost charging speeds without accelerating degradation and rendering electric-vehicle battery packs useless.

Such a technology could help lessen the effects of fast-charging battery packs in vehicles. The more often you fast-charge an electric-car battery pack—and the higher the charge rate—the higher the chances are that you’ll do irreversible damage to the cells within, and decrease the cycle life of the battery and its effective capacity.

DON’T MISS: Toyota and Panasonic to jointly make electric-car batteries, explore solid-state tech (Updated)

The company’s hardware and software solution together smartly speeds up or slows down charging momentarily, depending on conditions inside the battery.

GBatteries hopes to license the technology to automakers and suppliers. Most automakers already monitor voltage at the cell level, and fast charging already uses DC fast-charging parameters communicated from the vehicle, so it may not be a complicated or expensive upgrade.

CHECK OUT: Honda presents new battery chemistry that could succeed lithium-ion

The project, according to TechCrunch, was born out of what the founders saw as a very short cycle life, and a high level of degradation, for phone batteries.

GBatteries’ funders include Airbus Ventures, Plug and Play, Initialized Capital, SV Angel, and Y Combinator. The venture is based in Ottawa, Canada, and has also received a $900,000 grant from the Canadian national government.

If this technology proves itself, it could potentially save consumers and automakers—as well as keep costly, resource-dependent energy cells in use much longer.

Carlos Ghosn, electric-car proponent and embattled executive, quit as Renault boss

Carlos Ghosn
The past two months haven't been kind to Carlos Ghosn.

The former auto executive was arrested late last year in Japan on charges that he bilked Nissan for millions in unauthorized pay and perks, including financial dealings with business partners that weren't formally disclosed.

Shortly after his arrest in November, Nissan announced that he was replaced as head of Nissan. Just a few days later, Mitsubishi announced his ouster as chief of that company, too.

Renault on Thursday announced that Ghosn resigned from his top spot as chairman and CEO of that automaker too, throwing into doubt the now-shaky alliance Ghosn helped forge between all three automakers that resulted in one of the world's largest automaking powerhouses and his own legacy as a chief proponent of mass-market electric vehicles sold around the world.

MUST READ: 300,000th Nissan Leaf electric car delivered as new version kicks off

In a statement, Nissan said it would be committed to staying part of the Renault-Mitsubishi-Nissan group—the Alliance—although it's unclear how it may change. Renault owns a 43.4 percent share of Nissan, with voting rights, but Nissan's non-voting 15 percent ownership stake in Renault has been criticized by some in Japan as unfair.

Under Ghosn, Nissan built and sold the first mass-market, fully electric vehicle sold around the world. In eight years on sale, Nissan has reportedly sold more than 386,000 Leafs according to the automaker, which makes it the world's best-selling electric car. (Tesla Model 3 reservations top that number, although that automaker hasn't yet delivered all of its reserved cars.)

Ghosn told CNBC in 2017 that the automakers he collectively ran profited on electric vehicles, which has been elusive for many automakers so far.

“We are probably the most advanced carmaker in terms of costs of electric cars and we have announced already in 2017 that we are probably the only carmaker who's starting to make money selling electric cars,” Ghosn told the news network in 2017.

In 2009, Ghosn spearheaded Nissan's efforts to produce the Leaf and sell it across the world. He committed billions of dollars to the Leaf's development, battery production, and marketing, and committed billions more to building and selling electric cars in China, the biggest opportunity market for automakers in the world.

DON'T MISS: Nissan Leaf sedan: Company builds Sylphy, first electric car for China

In recent years, the Leaf's popularity has waned as automakers such as Tesla and BYD have replaced it atop sales charts in multiple countries. Last year, Nissan sold its U.S.-based battery facility to a Chinese state-backed company for an undisclosed amount, although Nissan retained a minority ownership stake. The company will buy new batteries for the leaf from another supplier.

Still, Nissan and Ghosn pushed the Leaf and its potential to investors worldwide.

With Ghosn now gone, it's unclear if all the automakers he once ran will move away from the electric cars he once championed.

“Obviously, for those who ignore the change, or avoid the change, it's going to be terrible,” he told the BBC last year.

Dyson gets serious, charging with AI, Ghosn resigns: Today’s Car News

Path projection system for self-driving cars
Americans are taking climate change more seriously, and a majority think the government should do something about it, two new studies show. A startup company thinks it has a software hack to help electric-car batteries charge faster. And Nissan's Carlos Ghosn has resigned as Chairman and CEO of Renault. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

In a move demonstrating that it's serious about selling electric cars, British vacuum-cleaner-maker Dyson hired Infiniti's former president, Roland Krueger, to head up its electric-car division, which will now be headquartered in Shanghai.

Two new polls show a majority of Americans understand that human activity is contributing to climate change, and they support government action to reduce it. Many are also taking action themselves.

At CES earlier this month, a new software startup company, GBatteries, demonstrated a solution to making electric-car batteries charge faster, without damage, using artificial intelligence.

Carlos Ghosn, known as the father of the Nissan Leaf at Nissan, resigned as chairman and CEO of Renault. Following his arrest in November, Ghosn has been jailed in Japan and charged with financial crimes against Nissan.

A new video from Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer shows a prototype for the company's upcoming electric car, the Rapide E, in action.

Finally, Jaguar Land Rover demonstrated a new projection lighting system for self-driving cars that shows pedestrians and other drivers where the autonomous vehicles plan to go.

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Tesla may use new battery supplier for cars made in China factory

Tour of Tesla battery gigafactory for invited owners, Reno, Nevada, July 2016
Tesla is reportedly exploring the idea of buying local batteries for its factory in China, from a supplier other than Panasonic.

Panasonic has been Tesla's partner in creating batteries for its electric cars from the outset of Model S production and co-owns the Nevada battery-production Gigafactory that produces far more electric-car batteries any other.

According to a new Reuters report, Tesla has signed a preliminary agreement with Chinese battery manufacturer Lishen to supply batteries for the Model 3 sedans that will be made at Tesla's new Chinese factory as soon as later this year. The report cites two people familiar with the agreement, speaking Chinese, which could indicate anything from a preliminary agreement, as the U.S. business community might understand it, to a mere formal acknowledgement.

READ THIS: Tesla breaks ground on China factory for Model 3 and Model Y

One said it was a preliminary agreement, while the other indicated that Lishen and its batteries still have to go through Tesla's lengthy supplier certification.

Both companies denied to Reuters that they had signed such an agreement, though Tesla acknowledged it gathered a quote from Lishen to supply batteries for the Chinese Model 3.

Tour of Tesla battery gigafactory for invited owners, Reno, Nevada, July 2016

In a tweet in November, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would source batteries locally for cars made in China and that it planned to diversify its supply sources, including batteries.

One of the Reuters sources said that Lishen was still working out what size cells Tesla would need, and neither knew how many the company might order.

Lishen currently produces batteries for some Hyundai hybrid and electric cars, as well as for Apple and Samsung electronics.

CHECK OUT: Tesla Model S catches fire—twice—after flat tire in California

Tesla's batteries, up until now supplied exclusively by Panasonic from the Nevada Gigafactory, have become known for their performance and longevity, if also for their occasional flammable properties in accidents and sometimes otherwise.

When he announced the groundbreaking for the new Chinese factory, Musk said it would produce lower-end, more affordable versions of the Model 3 there, and eventually the company's upcoming Model Y smaller SUV.

If the cars are to be more affordable, more affordable batteries may be in order too.

Mercedes-Benz moves to build battery supply chain in Europe

2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC
A key obstacle to getting more electric cars on the road at the moment may be building up a big enough supply of batteries to power them.

So far, the only automaker with a large enough supply of batteries to produce electric cars in large volumes is Tesla. Volkswagen has also announced a $10 billion investment in electric-car batteries, but those factories have not yet borne full fruit.

On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that Mercedes-Benz will invest $230 million (200 million Euros) in the Polish town of Jawor. That factory will contribute to Mercedes-Benz's plans to eventually purchase $23 billion worth of batteries for its new lineup of electric cars. Mercedes already operates an engine factory in the town.

READ THIS: Mercedes breaks ground on US battery factory (Updated)

“We are very happy that an investor that has been with us for a few years has entrusted us again and in the same place in Jawor,” Morawiecki said.

Mercedes plans to introduce the first of its new EQ line of electric cars, the EQC, this summer in Europe. It will be followed next year by a smaller EQB electric SUV as well as an EQC, made at the company's U.S. factory in Alabama alongside dedicated battery production facility for its U.S. models. Mercedes' parent company, Daimler, is also planning to produce a line of electric heavy trucks that will require additional battery investments.

Other automakers are also ramping up production of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. BMW announced it will spend “somewhere in the mid-double-digit millions of euros” to build a battery production facility at its car factory in Dingolfing, Germany. At the same time, the brand is setting up a longer-term battery supply chain using recycled cells from Belgium to supply what is expected to be the world's second-largest battery factory in Stockholm.

CHECK OUT: BMW sets up end-to-end battery recycling in Europe

LG Chem has set up battery factories in Korea, China, Poland, the U.S., and elsewhere to build electric-car batteries for General Motors and most recently Nissan.

Battery manufacturers in China have also been building production, primarily for that country's wave of electric cars already on sale.

Many of these production facilities, however, have yet to come online, and automakers such as GM (and even Tesla) have struggled to buy (or make) enough batteries in order to build more electric cars.

With these investments, that may soon change.

Pininfarina’s Italian design may be good Karma for plug-in carmaker

2017 Karma Revero
Fisker, the luxury plug-in hybrid car company that went bankrupt in 2013, was founded by a car designer. Henrik Fisker, the brand's namesake was a designer at BMW before forming his own company.

Now that venture, renamed Karma after is primary product, following the company's revival at the hands of Chinese investors, has hired a new design firm to bring it into the future.

DON'T MISS: 2018 Karma Revero: first drive of reborn luxury plug-in hybrid sedan

The company announced an agreement with the most famous Italian design house, Pininfarina, to design its next round of products, which could include an update to the Karma Revero (the car that began life as the Fisker Karma), as well as develop future products.

Now owned by Indian automaker Mahindra, Pininfarina has begun developing its own cars under its brand name, but the company still designs cars for other brands.

CHECK OUT: 2020 Karma Revero spy shots

The companies announced that the first products of the tie-up should appear in the second quarter of 2019, which could indicate it is an update of the existing Revero. Spy photographers have caught a camouflaged version of the Revero testing on U.S. roads.

The company, now owned by Chinese auto-parts supplier Wanxiang, also plans other updates to the design, including connectivity, performance, and artificial intelligence. CEO Lance Zhou said in a statement that the company plans to join other partnerships to make that happen, but wasn't specific on what might be announced or when.

Company founder Henrik Fisker has gone on to start another new automaker, Fisker Inc., that revealed its first concept car last year and has made waves with announcements about solid-state batteries.

Lifting the hammer: Germany considers limits on Autobahn speeds

2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC
Efforts to curb global warming have led Germany to propose limiting speeds on its famous Autobahns.

Facing heavy fines from the European Union if it fails to meet greenhouse-gas reduction targets, the country's committee on the future of transport put forward a series of draft proposals that includes limiting speeds on currently unfettered sections of autobahn. Reuters obtained copies of the draft proposals.

The autobahn, Germany's freeway system, has long had speed limits in congested urban areas, but has until now also had long sections without limits.

READ THIS: Automakers face big fines in Europe for missing CO2 targets

The new proposals by the committee on the future of transport would limit speeds on previously unlimited sections of the autobahns to 81 mph (130 kilometers per hour.) They would not affect speeds in urban areas.

European Union nations agreed in October to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to levels 35 percent below those already agreed to for 2021, following a particularly dire climate report by the United Nations' International Panel on Climate Change. That report showed that catastrophic effects of climate change could arrive by 2040.

CHECK OUT: Europe commits to 35 percent CO2 cut by 2030, after dire UN climate report

European countries have been making dramatic efforts for more than a decade to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from powerplants and other sources. Transportation, however, is the one economic sector whose emissions are still on the rise. To meet the new climate targets, Germany, the largest country in Europe with the highest emissions of any Western European nation, will have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its cars.

As the country which also has by far the largest auto industry in Europe, Germany has long prided itself on its hammer-down autobahns which show off the performance of its cars and its drivers.

After German automakers spent decades trying to improve fuel economy with diesel engines, the country's largest automakers are now facing scandals, criminal indictments, and billions of dollars in fines over cheating diesel emissions tests.

DON'T MISS: Catastrophic climate effects could hit by 2040, UN report says

Now those automakers are beginning to focus on building and selling electric cars. Germany's largest automaker, Volkswagen, has invested $10 billion in developing new electric models and battery supplies. Daimler and BMW aren't far behind.

Included in the proposals by the committee on the future of transport are California-style quotas for electric-car sales.

Several previous efforts to reduce autobahn speeds have been defeated, and it remains to be seen if the latest government upholds the proposals in the face of increasingly dire climate warnings.

Green Car Reports respectfully reminds its readers that the scientific validity of climate change is not a topic for debate in our comments. We ask that any comments by climate-change denialists be flagged for moderation. We also ask that political discussions be restricted to the topic of the article they follow. Thank you in advance for helping us keep our comments on topic, civil, respectful, family-friendly, and fact-based.

Green Car Reports respectfully reminds its readers that the scientific validity of climate change is not a topic for debate in our comments. We ask that any comments by climate-change denialists be flagged for moderation. We also ask that political discussions be restricted to the topic of the article they follow. Thank you in advance for helping us keep our comments on topic, civil, respectful, family-friendly, and fact-based.

Dodge Challenger electric boost, Karma styling, limited autobahns: Today’s Car News

Uber-owned Jump electric bike-share
Plug-in luxury-car maker Karma brought in a new design house to carry it into the future. Germany revealed a plan to impose a national speed limit on its famously unlimited autobahns. And our latest Twitter poll asks readers how soon they expect Ford to come through with an electric F-Series pickup. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

The performance community looks to be getting the electrification message. Chrysler CEO Mike Manly announced that the next version of the Dodge Challenger muscle car will ditch is signature big V-8 for a smaller engine with boost from an electric motor.

After four years under Chinese ownership, Karma, which builds the car famously developed by ex-BMW and Tesla designer Henrik Fisker, plans to take styling in a new direction in a new partnership with Italian design house Pininfarina.

In an effort to combat climate change, a German government agency has proposed limiting speeds on the country's autobahns.

After a senior Ford executive announced last week that the company will build an all-electric version of the bestselling Ford F-Series—with no mention of when—we decided to ask our readers to fill in a date in our latest Twitter poll, in a gauge of how serious electric car fans think the company is.

BMW and its rival Daimler are reportedly in talks about joining forces to develop self-driving cars.

Finally, Uber plans to start a new division to develop self-riding shared bikes and scooters.

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If you can charge them, they will come; Maryland plans 5,000 EV chargers

Chevy Bolt EV fast-charging at EVgo station before trip across Maryland [image: Brian Ro]
Maryland plans to deploy a new tool in the race to get automakers to sell more electric cars in states outside California: The state plans to install 5,000 electric-car chargers across the tiny state.

Last week, the state's public utilities commission approved a proposal by four of its largest utilities to install the 5,000 chargers in an effort to sell 300,000 electric cars in the state by 2025 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 2006 levels by 2030. That's a lot of chargers for the nation's ninth smallest state.

Maryland is one of nine states (soon to be 10) that have joined California in requiring automakers to sell zero-emission cars—plug-in electric and fuel-cell models—in the state.

DON'T MISS: Why Electric Cars Are Rare Outside CA: Arcane 'Travel Provision' Rule (2015)

So far, most sales of those models have been concentrated in California, though a change in the law last year is expected to require automakers to bring more cars to the other 8 states in the Northeast this year.

In response, the states have banded together to promote electric cars and to build infrastructure. One of consumers' main objections to electric cars is that they can't find a place to charge them, and even electric car owners complain of finding too many public chargers occupied or out of order. More charging infrastructure is a key factor in selling more electric cars.

CHECK OUT: More support for electric cars than knowledge or interest, Northeastern study finds

Maryland's plan calls for installing Level 3 fast-charging stations along highways where there are currently gaps in charging coverage for electric-car drivers, as well as subsidizing installation of chargers in workplaces, homes, and apartment buildings.

In return for Maryland electric ratepayers covering the cost of installation, the utilities are required to implement time-of-use electric rates to reduce charging costs for electric-car drivers, and give rate-payers a way to cut costs further. The utilities will also offer rebates to customers who install smart chargers that can communicate with the utility to find the most affordable, effective, and cleanest time to charge.

In announcing the decision, Maryland Public Service Commission Chairman Jason Stanek said, “Today’s decision not only ensures that charging infrastructure will support Maryland’s transition to electrified transportation, but also maximizes the benefits of smart charging while minimizing cost impacts to ratepayers.”

BMW plans to tone down styling of its electric cars

BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show
To stand out, or not to stand out. That is the question many electric automakers are asking as electric cars transition from being something new and different to being just another drive system for all types of cars.

Among the most recognizable electric-car designs are those that stand out from the crowd: The original Nissan Leaf, the Toyota Prius Prime, the BMW i3.

CHECK OUT: 2019 BMW i3 to get bigger battery with 153-mile range

Now electric cars are going more mainstream, according to an October interview with BMW styling director Adrian van Hooydonk in the British publication Autocar, so there's no reason to make them look so different.

“BMW customers want a dynamic car, whether it is a battery-electric vehicle or not,” van Hooydonk told Autocar. “So there’s is increasingly less reason to make these kinds of cars look different.”

READ THIS: BMW Vision iNext electric concept redefines German luxury flagship

It has been a long-running debate among designers of hybrid and electric vehicles. People buy cars to make a statement, just as they might buy a jacket or shoes. Early hybrid and electric car buyers wanted their support for the environment, or at least their reduced petroleum consumption.

Driving an ordinary-looking car didn't accomplish that. Onlookers had no reason to strike up a conversation to ask why they were driving it.

BMW Vision iNext concept

BMW's change of heart is another sign that electric cars are moving beyond early adopters to more mainstream buyers—known as the “early majority,” among marketers. The early majority accepts that early adopters have proven a technology, and wants to establish that it is now mainstream.

Building good-looking, but mainstream, cars with electric powertrains accomplishes that goal.

DON'T MISS: All-electric BMW i4 to be production version of i Vision Dynamics concept

BMW executives have announced that instead of building completely separate designs for electric cars—such as the i3 and i8 with their carbon-fiber chassis and aluminum floor pans—the brand will work to develop electric versions of all of its primary cars, such as the upcoming 2020 iX3 SUV, which is an electric version of the X3, and the 2019 Mini Cooper S E, an electric version of the standard Mini hatchback.

Other upcoming BMW electric-car concepts show a mixed approach. The luxurious and nominally self-driving Vision iNext luxury SUV, which could inspire a production model in about 2022, is all harsh angles, with odd wings and big pillarless glass. It will definitely stand out on the road.

BMW's Vision Dynamics concept is a sleek four-door sedan that previews the company's next electric car (after the iX3 and the Mini Cooper S E), an electric version of the elegant-looking but relatively mainstream 4-series. It will also stand out on the road—but for its elegance, not just its brash, indifferent, difference.