Tag: Electric vehicles

Oslo plans to recharge electric taxis on the fly

If ever there were an argument for wireless charging, taxis may be it. And as with most things in electric cars, if there's a way to demonstrate the technology in action, Norway may find it.

That's the impetus behind the country's latest effort to equip all of Oslo's taxi stands with wireless chargers. The city announced the plan in March, according to a Reuters report. The chargers will be installed by Finnish utility Fortum.

As long as taxis are sitting, waiting for passengers, they might as well be charging, and they'll start as soon as the cabbie pulls up, with no action needed from the driver.

Wireless charging technology for cars has been somewhat controversial, with many EV advocates dismissing the technology as less efficient than plugging in, because cars have to park precisely for maximum efficiency, and because of cost.

Some have said wireless charging won't make sense until wireless chargers can be run down long stretches of highway to replace the need for fast chargers that require cars to stop and drivers to plug in—and which, generally, can only accommodate one car at a time.

Taxis, however, could be the perfect (sorry) outlet for wireless chargers. While most private cars seldom travel more than 40 miles a day (and even fewer more than 80), taxi drivers often cover several hundred miles a day, have less control over their routes, and can't afford to sit for 45 minutes and wait for a charge.

They need to charge every chance they get. And while cabbies can't afford to stop for 45 minutes to charge, they often stop at airports or outside hotels to wait their turn for passengers.

In November, Oak Ridge National Laboratory demonstrated a 120-kilowatt wireless charger that could give an Oslo taxi a significant 90 miles of range in a 15-minute wait. With wireless chargers at all the taxi stands, drivers wouldn't need to charge up completely, but pick up a few additional miles every few runs.

Norway has announced plans to require all new cars to be electric by 2025, and for all taxis to be to be electric by 2023. That could be a lot more feasible with wireless chargers where they need to stop.

Climate change: GM mulls an electric Hummer revival

The idea of bringing back the Hummer brand is on the table at General Motors.

Yes, that’s the brand that was much maligned by environmentalists in the ‘00s, for becoming a plus-sized piece of hypocrisy on wheels, a fashion statement of American excess riffing off the Humvee, a vehicle that helped fight the war (in part) to secure the flow of foreign oil.

“I love Hummer,” said GM president Mark Reuss to reporters on June 12, when asked specifically about the brand. “I’m not sure. We’re looking at everything.”

A Hummer EV could potentially be built on GM’s upcoming BEV3 dedicated electric vehicle platform—a platform that GM has already confirmed could also (at least in part) be the foundation for an electric pickup.

To look at it another way, GM may have a hard time justifying bringing the Hummer brand back in any way other than as an all-electric brand—especially in light of CEO Mary Barra's stated goal to transition GM toward an all-electric future. Hummer met its demise in 2010, at a time of greater awareness of efficiency, the recession, and a different, reformed company.

The Hummer H2, which is the one that was most maligned over time, shared some of its building blocks with GM’s full-size trucks but was built to a higher weight class—such that it didn’t require an EPA mileage rating (it was single-digit mpg, by all accounts). There was a smaller Hummer, the H3, but even that more efficient model got an EPA-rated 9 mpg city in its popular V-8 H3T form.

1999 AM General Hummer

If Hummer were to come back that way, it would land somewhere between two brands that have seen a fair amount of buzz over the past couple of years: Rivian and Bollinger. With its military heritage and more of an off-road focus, an electric Hummer could be a more rugged counterpoint to Rivian, as well as a somewhat more practical alternative to the specialized, high-end Class 3 truck Bollinger intends to build.

Hummer sales reached their peak in 2006, with 71,524 sold that year, according to Automotive News. While that was definitely still niche territory, it was enough for Hummers to be quite a common sight on American streets.

A revived Hummer could also give Jeep a serious run. The Jeep brand has been slow to electrify, especially in the U.S., although a plug-in hybrid version of the Wrangler is due in 2020.

Such a model would also, of course, have to be light and modestly sized. Anything else might make it a different kind of “guzzler”—at charging stations, instead.

Obstacles include a dealer network that still remembers being burned by GM, when it had them build unique, expensive showrooms, demonstration courses, and facilities and then abandoned the brand.

Although the idea might seem paradoxical, going electric could be quite the statement. Hummers were a valuable tool in the fight over oil resources. What better symbol for energy independence and going tailpipe-free than that?

Tesla On Track To Nail Its 2014 Forecast For 2020 Production & Sales

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Published on June 16th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

Tesla On Track To Nail Its 2014 Forecast For 2020 Production & Sales

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June 16th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

Preface: I first published this article in March 2018. A recent tweet highlighting a 2014 interview with Elon Musk reminded me of it, and since the piece is as relevant today as ever, I’m reposting it below with only minor changes. Enjoy!

I think it was April 2013 when we first got word that Tesla Model 3 production would probably start in 2017. Well, we didn’t have a name for the car yet, so we called it “Tesla’s fourth production model.” Tesla CEO Elon Musk was apparently hoping for a 2016 release, but quietly knew and told himself 2017 was more likely. His exact response to some questioning from Engadget on the matter: “Hopefully 2016, but I would say no later than 2017.”

In August 2013, we found out the name was probably going to be Tesla Model E. Tesla tried to trademark that name to have some fun with the spelling of its eventual vehicle lineup (S-E-X-Y). However, Ford apparently had the trademark “Model E” and didn’t want to give it to Tesla, so Tesla later changed the name to Tesla Model ☰ (aka Tesla Model 3).

What’s interesting to me here is that the statement the car would be in production by 2017 was accurate even though that was long before the car was even named Model 3.

Furthermore, for all the hype of the Model 3 being delayed, look, production actually began on the Model 3 within the timeframe Elon estimated way back in 2013.

I think the 2017 estimate was mentioned by Elon again in the following year, but I’m not finding any reference to that in our archives.

In late November 2014, I polled our readers about the 2017 production target for the Tesla Model 3. The target at that time didn’t include any forecast for the number of cars produced — just that production on the Model 3 would start by the end of 2017. The majority (62.5%) of our Tesla enthusiast/fanboy readership responded that they didn’t think the Model 3 would arrive in 2017. (Note, in case you missed it: the Model 3 did arrive in 2017.)

By the way, in October or early November 2014, Jerome Guillen (then Tesla’s “Chief Designer,” then head of the Tesla Semi project, and now Tesla President of Automotive) stated that Tesla was aiming to produce 500,000 cars/year by 2020. Presumably, if people thought the Model 3 wouldn’t arrive on time, they also thought the 500,000 cars/year by 2020 goal was unrealistic, but we didn’t poll that. Tesla later moved up the 500,000 by 2020 goal to a goal of 500,000/year by 2018 (in response to massive consumer demand for the Model 3). Even though this stretch goal wasn’t achieved, the 500,000 cars/year by 2020 goal still seems like a good possibility.

As a side note: We heard rumor in June 2015 that the Model 3 would actually have a range of 250 miles per charge, not simply the promised 200 miles. That was a big rumor, and we weren’t sure whether to get excited or be skeptical. As it turns out, the base Model 3’s EPA-rated range is 220 miles, the most popular trim, model 3 Standard Range Plus, has a range of 240 miles, and the Model 3 Long Range has 310 miles of range.

In August 2015, these were some of my notes from a Tesla quarterly shareholder report:

The Model 3 design will be revealed in the first quarter of 2016. (Woohoo!)
First deliveries are still expected in late 2017.
Basically, the 3 is still on schedule, but there’s not much more to say at this point.
Tesla thinks it is still on track for 500,000 cars a year by 2020, and that it might even go beyond that. 500,000 is based on Fremont factory production capacity, but Tesla may localize production in some places in 3–5 years. (Update: We now have the Chinese Tesla Gigafactory rapidly moving toward completion.)

Again — first deliveries did occur in 2017. Actually, first deliveries came in the middle of 2017, not the end of 2017. However, it’s true that first deliveries to non-staff customers came in late 2017.

Now, I would also note here that Elon never claimed mass production would begin right off the bat. Anyone familiar with ramping up production of a new vehicle would know that’s not how it would happen. Taking that into account, start of production in the middle of 2017 and slowly ramping that up (with hiccups) through the end of 2017 and beginning of 2018 was actually ahead of the schedule we presumed back in 2015.

And, again, if you look at our 2014 poll, even bullish Tesla fans largely didn’t expect Tesla to get the Model 3 into production in 2017. (Context, Sherlock, context.)

I’ve got another “by the way” note for you. In late 2015, Elon stated: “And with the (Tesla) Model 3 and various iterations on that platform, I’m really confident that we can do, you know, another 300,000 or 400,000 cars per year.” That implies that Elon thought annual demand and production of the Model 3 and Model Y (at least) would total 300,000–400,000 units per year (combined).

Mr. Musk’s 2016 view on that topic was that he expected demand for the Model 3 and Model Y to be approximately 500,000–1,000,000 units a year each — which implies 1–2 million units a year combined. I haven’t seem him change course on that general expectation.

In other words, Elon’s 2015 timeline for the Model 3 turned out to be essentially accurate but he was drastically underestimating demand compared to today’s expectations. (Sound familiar?)

When did the mid-2017 start of production target first come into play? On May 4, 2016, Elon hesitantly shared the accelerated target. You could tell before he said it that he didn’t really want to share the dates, but my guess is he figured the word would get out anyway (or he was just trying too hard to explain how the tofu is made). He unveiled that the official Tesla target for start of production was July 1, 2017, but he emphasized that the target was for suppliers just to try to get them to deliver in a reasonable time frame. The realistic target for actual beginning of production remained late in 2017.

As it turned out, in the beginning of 2017, everything seemed to actually be on schedule for start of production in July 2017. It was shocking. Most people didn’t believe it. Hardcore critics still claimed Model 3 production wouldn’t start until 2019 or 2020 or something like that.

No, volume production didn’t start in the summer or ’17, but production of the Model 3 did indeed start. By that time, of course, many a skeptic, “very serious analysts,” and naysayers dropped their claims of Tesla being unable to produce the Model 3. They stopped stating with 100% certainty that it would be years before the Model 3 went into production, if it ever did. They dropped their claims that there was no way Tesla would hit its targeted “end of 2017” start of production. Nope, the goal posts had moved.

And in the second half of 2017, it finally happened. Tesla finally fell behind on some of its stated production targets for the Model 3. Bottlenecks with battery production in particular — which Elon Musk admitted was ironic and presumably due to misplaced complacency — slowed down Tesla’s Model 3 production ramp. Perhaps other bottlenecks are at play as well, but we haven’t really heard of anything else. Anyhow, with even one critical machine down and one piece of the car coming out slower than planned, Tesla missed a few Model 3 production forecasts. It’s not fun. It’s yet another sign that Tesla and Elon do not defy the laws of this universe and are indeed fallible. But it’s also a bit extreme, short-sighted, and disingenuous to act like Tesla is always late, only late, and needs to find a working watch.

In fact, the bottlenecks in the second half of 2017 didn’t stop Tesla from reaching Model 3 production in 2017, as it had targeted back in 2013 or even earlier. The bottlenecks slowed down the production increases Tesla was aiming to achieve, but they’ve more or less left Tesla where it was expecting to be when it was forecasting the story back in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Elon gets slammed quite frequently for being overly optimistic with timelines. If you look at what he said back in 2013 about Model 3 production beginning no later than 2017, the man was accurate. His estimate was on the mark. His timeline (not quite his hopes, but his committed timeline) was right on the mark.

Who trusted his timeline? Who expected he would actually get the Model 3 into production in 2017? Not many people. And certainly not the people who said Tesla would crash in burn in 2013, in 2014, in 2015, in 2016, and yet again in 2017.

When considering who is more accurate with timelines, perhaps it’s time to give Elon a little more props and a little less sass.

As a final note, remember, many critics also repeatedly said the Tesla Model X couldn’t be mass produced. Some “very serious industry analysts” claimed it was fundamentally impossible. But that’s a story for another day.

About the Author

Zachary Shahan Zach is tryin' to help society help itself (and other species). He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He's also the president of Important Media and the director/founder of EV Obsession and Solar Love. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, and Canada.

Zach has long-term investments in TSLA, FSLR, SPWR, SEDG, & ABB — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in these particular companies and feels like they are good cleantech companies to invest in. But he offers no professional investment advice and would rather not be responsible for you losing money, so don't jump to conclusions.

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Domino’s serves up self-driving pizza delivery pilot in Houston

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India’s Bounce raises $72 million to grow its electric scooters business

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06/17/2019MAHLE e-compressor wins CLEPA award

MAHLE e-compressor wins CLEPA award

Stuttgart/Germany, June 17, 2019 – The electric air conditioning compressor from MAHLE, which is the beating heart of the air conditioning and refrigerant circuit in electric vehicles, has been recognized by the European Association of Automotive Suppliers at the prestigious CLEPA Innovation Awards 2019. MAHLE prevailed in a strong field of 63 competitors to win the prize in the Environment category.

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Press release [PDF; 58 KB]Press image [JPG; 4167 KB] MAHLE’s electric air conditioning compressor takes home Environment prizeStiff competition from 63 nomineesDr. Otmar Scharrer, head of Corporate Research and Advanced Engineering, accepted the accolade at an award ceremony in Brussels/Belgium. “We see this award as a further acknowledgment of our work. The electric air conditioning compressor from MAHLE operates on a demand basis, so it only uses as much energy as it needs, thus ensuring greater efficiency and cruising range. In this way, it is helping to make individual mobility more climate friendly. At the same time, this technology allows the battery to be charged quickly when the vehicle is stationary—a process that requires cooling. This rapid charging capability makes a substantial contribution to e-mobility’s widespread acceptance by consumers,” stated Dr. Scharrer.
MAHLE’s e-compressor is the result of a cooperative project within the MAHLE Group that has spanned disciplines, business areas, and national borders. “The know-how and experience of the experts at our MAHLE locations in North America and Europe have fed into the development of this technology. With our e‑compressor, we are supplying a product that offers outstanding adaptability to specific customer requirements,” explained Dr. Armin Frommer, head of Product Development E‑Compressors at MAHLE.
The e-compressor from MAHLE is the beating heart of the air conditioning and refrigerant circuit in an electric vehicle. It takes on the central role of controlling the temperature in the cabin, but most importantly, it is responsible for the air conditioning of the critical component in the electric vehicle’s powertrain: its battery. Keeping the battery at the right temperature makes a crucial impact on its service life and charging speed as well as on the cruising range of the electric vehicle.
Electric compressors are strategically important to MAHLE. They are enabling the technology group to build on its position as a complete systems provider in the field of air conditioning for electric vehicles too. In addition to the e-compressors themselves, MAHLE develops and produces the electric drives they require as well as the electronics and software.
Picture caption:
Dr. Otmar Scharrer, MAHLE's Head of Corporate Research and Advance Engineering (center), is delighted to have won the CLEPA Innovation Award 2019 for the MAHLE e-compressor, which beat 63 competitors in the category Environment.
About MAHLEMAHLE is a leading international development partner and supplier to the automotive industry as well as a pioneer for the mobility of the future. The MAHLE Group is committed to making transportation more efficient, more environmentally friendly, and more comfortable by continuously optimizing the combustion engine, driving forward the use of alternative fuels, and laying the foundation for the worldwide introduction of e-mobility. The group’s product portfolio addresses all the crucial issues relating to the powertrain and air conditioning technology—both for drives with combustion engines and for e-mobility. MAHLE products are fitted in at least every second vehicle worldwide. Components and systems from MAHLE are also used off the road—in stationary applications, for mobile machinery, rail transport, as well as marine applications.
In 2018, the group generated sales of approximately EUR 12.6 billion with more than 79,000 employees and is represented in over 30 countries with 160 production locations. At 16 major research and development centers in Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Spain, Slovenia, the USA, Brazil, Japan, China, and India, more than 6,100 development engineers and technicians are working on innovative solutions for the mobility of the future.
For further information, contact:MAHLE GmbH
Margarete Dinger
Corporate Communications/Public Relations
Pragstraße 26–46
70376 Stuttgart/Germany
Phone: +49 711 501-12369
margarete.dinger@mahle.com

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