News Site – Page 14850 – I wish I had more to offer

Xometry Raises $50M in Equity Funding

Xometry, a Gaithersburg, MD-based on-demand manufacturing marketplace, raised $50M in equity funding. The round, which brought total funding raised to date to $113m, was led by Greenspring Associates, with participation from Dell Technologies Capital and previous venture and strategic investors BMW i Ventures, Foundry Group, GE Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Maryland Venture Fund and Almaz… Continue reading Xometry Raises $50M in Equity Funding

Opel/Vauxhall Present Grandland X Hybrid4 PHEV

With a 13.2 kWh battery it will go up to 50 km (31 miles) under the WLTP test cycle Opel, together with its British brand Vauxhall, is introducing a plug-in hybrid version of the Grandland X crossover, which will be available for sale in the coming weeks with first deliveries planned in early 2020. The… Continue reading Opel/Vauxhall Present Grandland X Hybrid4 PHEV

Shares of Mercedes-maker Daimler fall as rumors fly of a Chinese stake build-up

An employee at a Mercedes-Benz car dealership.Dmitry Rogulin | TASS | Getty ImagesShares of Daimler dipped Monday following a report that a Chinese partner firm is building a stake in the German automaker.
Reuters reported Friday, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC) has been buying up shares in the Mercedes-Benz carmaker on the open market, with a view to consolidating a stake of around 4% to 5%. CNBC couldn't independently verify the report.
Shares of Daimler are up 20% so far in 2019, but retreated around 3% Monday amid a wider sell-off for European benchmarks.
One source, cited by Reuters, suggested that the buying this year had been underpinned by BAIC's ambition and that Monday's selling may denote that the buyer is nearly finished acquiring stock.
Building a 5% stake in Daimler at its current stock value would cost a buyer around $3.4 billion.
BAIC builds Mercedes cars in China through their joint venture, Beijing Benz Automotive. Daimler has reportedly been looking to secure a controlling interest in the alliance.
Li Shufu, the chairman of rival Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely, is Daimler's biggest individual stakeholder, holding nearly a 10% slice of the German firm.
After being contacted by CNBC, Daimler said it had no comment to make.

Intelligent Transport Solution (UK) develops new scale to explain connected vehicle milestones

[embedded content] The United Kingdom’s Intelligent Transport Society, ITS (UK) has developed a “scale of connections for Co-operation of Connected vehicles”, to mirror the SAE scale for automated ones. Developed by ITS (UK)’s Connected and Automated Vehicles Forum and supported by the Department for Transport and Highways England, this scale shows that connection and co-operation… Continue reading Intelligent Transport Solution (UK) develops new scale to explain connected vehicle milestones

Exclusive: Scania signs Northvolt battery deal, in talks on equity

FILE PHOTO: Scania’s President and Chief Executive Office Henrik Henriksson speaks at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Volkswagen truck brand Scania has signed a battery supply deal with Sweden’s Northvolt and is in talks about making an equity investment as part of the startup’s efforts to… Continue reading Exclusive: Scania signs Northvolt battery deal, in talks on equity

Tesla battery researcher is ‘excited’ about new battery tech developed by the Army

A new Li-ion battery technology developed by the US Army has piqued the interest of Jeff Dahn, Tesla’s main battery research partner. In the latest issue of the journal Nature, the CCDC Army Research Laboratory (ARL), which is an element of the U.S. Army, released a study demonstrating a new battery technology based on a… Continue reading Tesla battery researcher is ‘excited’ about new battery tech developed by the Army

ZF to acquire software specialist for occupant recognition

Why the Germans do not like e-cars

‘,e.appendChild(e.resizeSensor),e.resizeSensor.offsetParent!==e&&(e.style.position=”relative”);var r,s,d,a,l=e.resizeSensor.childNodes[0],c=l.childNodes[0],u=e.resizeSensor.childNodes[1],h=e.offsetWidth,f=e.offsetHeight,m=function(){c.style.width=”100000px”,c.style.height=”100000px”,l.scrollLeft=1e5,l.scrollTop=1e5,u.scrollLeft=1e5,u.scrollTop=1e5};m();var p=function(){s=0,r&&(h=d,f=a,e.resizedAttached&&e.resizedAttached.call())},v=function(){d=e.offsetWidth,a=e.offsetHeight,(r=d!=h||a!=f)&&!s&&(s=t(p)),m()},y=function(e,t,n){e.attachEvent?e.attachEvent(“on”+t,n):e.addEventListener(t,n)};y(l,”scroll”,v),y(u,”scroll”,v)}}(e,o)}),this.detach=function(e){n.detach(i,e)}};return n.detach=function(t,n){e(t,function(e){e&&(e.resizedAttached&&”function”==typeof n&&(e.resizedAttached.remove(n),e.resizedAttached.length())||e.resizeSensor&&(e.contains(e.resizeSensor)&&e.removeChild(e.resizeSensor),delete e.resizeSensor,delete e.resizedAttached))})},n}),function(e,t){“function”==typeof define&&define.amd?define([“./ResizeSensor.js”],t):”object”==typeof exports?module.exports=t(require(“./ResizeSensor.js”)):(e.ElementQueries=t(e.ResizeSensor),e.ElementQueries.listen())}(“undefined”!=typeof window?window:this,function(e){var t=function(){function n(e){e||(e=document.documentElement);var t=window.getComputedStyle(e,null).fontSize;return parseFloat(t)||16}function i(e,t){var i=t.split(/d/),o=i[i.length-1];switch(t=parseFloat(t),o){case”px”:return t;case”em”:return t*n(e);case”rem”:return t*n();case”vw”:return t*document.documentElement.clientWidth/100;case”vh”:return t*document.documentElement.clientHeight/100;case”vmin”:case”vmax”:var r=document.documentElement.clientWidth/100,s=document.documentElement.clientHeight/100;return t*(0,Math[“vmin”===o?”min”:”max”])(r,s);default:return t}}function o(t,n){t.elementQueriesSetupInformation?t.elementQueriesSetupInformation.addOption(n):(t.elementQueriesSetupInformation=new function(e){this.element=e,this.options={};var t,n,o,r,s,d,a,l=0,c=0;this.addOption=function(e){var t=[e.mode,e.property,e.value].join(“,”);this.options[t]=e};var u=[“min-width”,”min-height”,”max-width”,”max-height”];this.call=function(){for(t in l=this.element.offsetWidth,c=this.element.offsetHeight,s={},this.options)this.options.hasOwnProperty(t)&&(n=this.options[t],o=i(this.element,n.value),r=”width”==n.property?l:c,a=n.mode+”-“+n.property,d=””,”min”!=n.mode||o>r||(d+=n.value),”max”!=n.mode||r>o||(d+=n.value),s[a]||(s[a]=””),d&&-1===(” “+s[a]+” “).indexOf(” “+d+” “)&&(s[a]+=” “+d));for(var e in u)u.hasOwnProperty(e)&&(s[u[e]]?this.element.setAttribute(u[e],s[u[e]].substr(1)):this.element.removeAttribute(u[e]))}}(t),t.elementQueriesSetupInformation.addOption(n),t.elementQueriesSensor=new e(t,function(){t.elementQueriesSetupInformation.call()})),t.elementQueriesSetupInformation.call(),l&&c.indexOf(t)o[e].minWidth&&(n=e);if(n||(n=s),d!=n)if(a[n])i[d].style.display=”none”,i[n].style.display=”block”,d=n;else{var l=new Image;l.onload=function(){i[n].src=r[n],i[d].style.display=”none”,i[n].style.display=”block”,a[n]=!0,d=n},l.src=r[n]}else i[n].src=r[n]}var i=[],o=[],r=[],s=0,d=-1,a=[];for(var u in t.children)if(t.children.hasOwnProperty(u)&&t.children[u].tagName&&”img”===t.children[u].tagName.toLowerCase()){i.push(t.children[u]);var h=t.children[u].getAttribute(“min-width”)||t.children[u].getAttribute(“data-min-width”),f=t.children[u].getAttribute(“data-src”)||t.children[u].getAttribute(“url”);r.push(f);var m={minWidth:h};o.push(m),h?t.children[u].style.display=”none”:(s=i.length-1,t.children[u].style.display=”block”)}d=s,t.resizeSensor=new e(t,n),n(),l&&c.push(t)}function d(e){var t,n,i,o,r,s;for(e=e.replace(/’/g,’”‘);null!==(t=h.exec(e));)for(n=t[1]+t[3],attrs=t[2];null!==(attrMatch=f.exec(attrs));)i=n,o=attrMatch[1],r=attrMatch[2],s=attrMatch[3],void 0===u[o]&&(u[o]={}),void 0===u[o][r]&&(u[o][r]={}),void 0===u[o][r][s]?u[o][r][s]=i:u[o][r][s]+=”,”+i}function… Continue reading Why the Germans do not like e-cars

A rare look at Go-Jek’s confidential numbers

Numbers tell a story, and as Grab and Go-Jek jostle in Southeast Asia, numbers become a tool to shape public perception. Go to Source

Do You Want EVs To Succeed? Spread The Word!

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

Sponsored

Published on May 12th, 2019 |

by Sponsored Content

Do You Want EVs To Succeed? Spread The Word!

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook

May 12th, 2019 by Sponsored Content

By Benoît Michel

Everyone of sound mind supports actions to limit the impact of climate change. There are lots of practices we can do to improve our climate: sort our trash, cut down on our use of plastic, install photovoltaic panels, drive electric cars… and what else?

As electric vehicle owners, fans, and devotees, you can do something very simple that, frankly, is not done enough: you can spread the word. Taking action to convince your neighbors to switch from economy class to the cockpit and take the controls to give Planet Earth 2019 a better chance of avoiding turbulence. As CleanTechnica has repeated countless times, everything on earth should be converted to electricity, and electricity has to be generated from renewable sources and fed into a globally interconnected “super grid.” The ambitious goal of making power generation 100% carbon-free by 2050 is within reach and converting the global automobile fleet to electricity is an important part of the solution. You can help.

History of an EV Enthusiast
The electric car’s ease of use and lack of polluting exhaust originally encouraged my interest in EVs in the 1970s, when nobody was worrying about the climate. I was an automotive engineering student when I first caught the EV bug. In those days without Internet and smartphones, the only way you could drive an electric car was to build one yourself. So I did!

The author‘s home-made EV, from the author’s archive

The lack of components made the project fun as well as complicated. Having to use a forklift motor and lead batteries did not make things too exciting. However, given the rarity of electric cars in the 20th century, I managed to show mine to a large audience and may even have convinced some of the “innovators-” those who populate the lower left-hand corner of the EV adoption S-curve – seen below.

The EV adoption S-Curve, from author’s site)

John Goodenough invented the lithium-ion battery in 1980, but it took another twenty years for its price to fall to the point where it could be used in small appliances such as cell phones, and thirty years to become cheap enough to make it the energy storage solution of choice for cars. So, after my initial experiments, I had to wait decades to be able to buy an electric car worthy of the name. With all the EV owners currently scattered across the planet, we have gotten the S-curve to lift off – I would suggest that we’re now in the “early adopters” phase!

As we have long been convinced that EVs are part of the climate change, how can we help boost the curve’s slope and enter the “early majority” phase? A simple method within everyone’s reach exists – again, we need to continually spread the word.

Seize every Opportunity for EV Awareness
Family gatherings, school parties, concerts, exhibitions, and football and basketball matches offer tons of opportunities to discuss the pros and cons of electric vehicles. The first step is to correct the most widespread misconceptions. So, more than a third of the population doesn’t know that an EV has no gearbox and recharges its batteries when the brakes are applied or it goes downhill!

And roughly one out of two people doesn’t know that you charge the batteries at home at night, using a simple outlet (for more on this, see Carolyn Fortuna’s writings. Yet CleanTechnica’s readers know that this last advantage is actually one of the brightest sides of EV ownership. Morever, people seem confused when it comes to car manufacturers, the models, and the cost of current and future EVs.

I think the best way to win over the skeptics is to discuss the advantages of living with an electric car: silence and simplicity, instant acceleration, low cost of ownership, no more filling up at the pump, and so much more. And that you will not die of carbon monoxide inhalation should you leave the garage door shut.

If you’re talking to a car buff, garage mechanic, or engineer, you can talk about how there’s no clutch, gearbox, oil, or muffler. The electric car is so simple that servicing boils down to changing the tires and topping up the windshield wash. Even better, the EV’s lifespan is at least twice that of an ICE car.

When I wrote my book, The Electric Car: Here and Now, I assembled the most frequently asked questions and their answers: “It is too expensive!” “It is not really available.” “The ranges are too limited.” “Charging takes much too long.” “It does nothing to mitigate global warming.” “It’s full of rare earths and expensive metals.” “It relies on outrageous subsidies!” and the popular “Where will all the electricity come from?” I am pretty sure you already have answers ready for most of those arguments, but I included a compilation of these Q&As in the last chapter.

The world will be better after the burial; image from The Electric Car, Here and Now,

Win them over with Experience: Go for a Ride

Talking is great; strutting one’s stuff is even better. Whether your interlocutor is almost convinced or highly skeptical of EVs, suggest taking a little spin in your electric car. Ten minutes will suffice to show her/him everything you’ve explained, and the memory of the experience will never die!

If you belong to a group of EV owners, why not organize mini “Discover Electric Cars” events such as those held by DriveElectricWeek since 2014 – or join me: I am organizing one in September with friends in Belgium.

If we are good at spreading the word, the last laggards may hop on the electric wagon by 2030!

After serving up the same arguments dozens of times during countless discussions, I discovered that a great way to spread the word to lots of people in record time was to put everything in a book. That is why I wrote my book, The Electric Car: Here and Now– now available on Amazon. In clear, everyday language, it sums up all the controversies and pros and cons that are heard most often, and answers some questions that EV owners are always asked:

Life with an EV must be weird, isn’t it?
How does it work?
There’s Tesla and the other brands. Which should I choose?
Should we wait for hydrogen fuel cells?
And what about autonomous cars…? And more!

About the Author: Benoît Michel is an electromechanical engineer. Upon graduating he built an electric car and various electric motor prototypes, and then a low-energy house well before “low energy” was in vogue. He is an expert working for the European Commission and for PILAB (Pixel and Interaction Laboratory) at UCLouvain. He co-founded the ”Vent d’ici” association promoting renewable energies in Belgium. Through his lectures and numerous technical writings, this proponent of popular science shares his passion for new technologies, cars, and energy problems with laypeople the world over on his website and with his new book, available on Amazon. He is organizing a Drive Electric Week event in September 2019 in Belgium.

About the Author

Sponsored Content CleanTechnica and our parent company, Important Media, occasionally choose to work with select clients for paid promotion on our network sites. This is the account for all paid content. For information about paid outreach, please contact our Accounts Manager Andrea Bertoli.

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups