12 Oct 2018 | UK Plug In Grant Cut, Another Effort To Kill Off Federal EV Tax Credits and Mercedes On PHEV Offensive

Tesla Extends Range Of Cars In Hurricance Michael's Path | German Auto Makers Push Back On Emissions Cuts| Reformed UK Plug In Car Grant | Republican Senator Trying To Kill The Federal EV Tax Credit | Spyshots: Renault Zoe EV | SK Innovation EV Battery Shipments Surged 160% This Year | NC State Team Develop Medium Voltage Fast Charger | Skoda EV To Have SUV And Coupe Body | New Mercedes Plug-In Hybrid Offensive | France's EDF Wants To Dominate Electric Vehicle Charging Market | Hankook's New EV Tyres

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 12th October 2018. It’s Martyn Lee here and I’ve been through EV story today so you don’t have to.

 

Thank you to MYEV.com for helping make this show, they’ve built the first marketplace specifically for Electric Vehicles. It’s a totally free marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling process, and help you learn about EVs along the way too.

 

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TESLA EXTENDS RANGE OF CARS IN HURRICANCE MICHAEL'S PATH

• Simon at Teslarati tipped me off on this one "Tesla Model S 40, S 60, and S 70 owners received an over-the-air update. The patch unlocked the full capacity of their vehicles’ battery pack, giving them up to 30-40 miles of extra range. Tesla owners who were fleeing from Michael also found that Supercharging was free in areas affected by the hurricane."

 

GERMAN AUTO MAKERS PUSH BACK ON EMISSIONS FOR SAKE OF WORKERS

• Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess today warned of 100,000 job losses at VW should the EU force through tougher CO2 emissions limits as planned. I would echo my comments of yesterday, that workers need an assured future and if that's not making fossil cars, they need time to retrain or at least know that there will be an end sooner rather than later.
• But I would add today, there WILL be an end for those who are making fossil cars. So car bosses can try to scare politicians with talk of 100,000 job losses all they want, but they ARE coming. It's a matter of when. The car makers got people into this situation and rather than pushing back on cleaner air, they should be focussed on moving those workers towards a secure future. But that's easy for me to say on a podcast without the enormously strong power of German unions.

 

REFORMED UK PLUG IN CAR GRANT

• This week's Question Of The Week has ended up being incredibly timely. Soon after we launched it on Sunday, a leaked report via a UK newspaper said the Government wanted to save money by reducing the Plug In Car Grant from £4,500 to £3,500 for pure electric vehicles, completely removing it from any car over £40,000 and completely removing it for any hybrid or any sort. It's a move which, I said at the time, shows a confused policy direction, coming just days after the Prime Minister made a key speech about wanting the UK to lead the way with EV adoption.
• Today we had confirmed the government will keep the PICG for the next 35,000 new cars but they must be what they call Category 1 - pure EVs or a car which can travel over 70 miles on electric power. This is blow for PHEV buyers using the discount to get an ICE car with a small battery, enjoy the tax advantages and save money too. Some would say the scheme should only have ever been for pure BEVs. The reduced rate starts November 12th and they reserve the right to lower it again if lots of people buy EVs.

 

A REPUBLICAN SENATOR IS TRYING TO KILL THE FEDERAL EV TAX CREDIT, AGAIN

• Senator John A. Barrasso from Wyoming introduced his bill on Saturday, called "A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to terminate the credit for new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles and to provide for a Federal Highway user fee on alternative fuel vehicles." according to CNET: "It seeks not only to revoke the EV tax credit but to tax those vehicles more with a highway use fee, since electric vehicles do not pay into the gas tax. The full text of the bill is not yet available on Congress' website, so it's hard to say what exactly is included in it. One thing that's been made clear is that much of Barrasso's campaign funding comes from the oil and gas industry."

 

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-gt-recalled-fluid-leak-fire/

 

SPYSHOTS: RENAULT ZOE EV – SECOND-GEN ON THE WAY?

• Thank to my listener Mo who sent me this one on Twitter, the very first spy shots of the new Renault Zoe testing, with camouflage on. The grille looks the same with the Renault badge, underneath which the current Type 2 socket lives. From the side profile it really does look the same as the current Zoe but I'd previously read the platform will be a new one from Nissan Renault, and it's not using the LEAF platform. It definitely remains that Zoe style of being a small city car. Rumours also say that the current AC-only charging adds DC fast charging with CCS Combo.

 

https://paultan.org/2018/10/11/spyshots-renault-zoe-ev-second-gen-on-the-way/renault-zoe-spyshots-12/

 

SK INNOVATION' EV BATTERY SHIPMENTS SURGED 160% THIS YEAR

• "SK Innovation's electrical vehicle (EV) battery shipments this year has increased about 160 percent compared to the same period a year ago." according to Business Korea: "SK Innovation's accumulated shipments of EV batteries from January to August this year totaled 428.9 MWh. If the company’s second battery plant in Seosan on the nation’s western coast is completed in the second half of this year, its annual EV battery production will increase to 4.7 GWh per year."

 

http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=25566

 

NC STATE TEAM DEVELOP MEDIUM VOLTAGE FAST CHARGER; UP TO 350 KW IN NEXT VERSION

• Green Car Congress reports: "Researchers at North Carolina State University have built an electric vehicle fast charger that is at least 10 times smaller than existing systems and wastes 60% less power during the charging process, without sacrificing the charging time. The team is now building a version that is capable of charging vehicles more quickly, while also charging multiple vehicles at the same time. The researchers call the new technology a medium voltage fast charger (MVFC). At present, the best transformer-and-charger stations are reported as having an efficiency of up to 93%—i.e., at least 7% of the power is lost to heat during the charging process. In testing, the prototype MVFC has an efficiency of at least 97.5%, meaning an additional 4.5% of the power is used to charge the vehicle, rather than being wasted as heat."

 

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2018/10/20181011-mvfc.html

 

SKODA VISION E: EV TO HAVE SUV AND COUPE BODY

• "Skoda’s first stand-alone electric car based on the Vision E concept is set to get both standard SUV and coupé variants, akin to the Kodiaq and (China-only) Kodiaq coupé." says Rachael Burgess for Autocar: "The Vision E concept has a coupé rear, reflecting the growing popularity of SUVs with coupé rooflines to create a more sporty appearance. Both versions will be based on the Volkswagen Group’s electric-only MEB platform, which is being used across all of the company's brands. Ahead of the Vision E-based models arriving, Skoda will launch the electric Citigo-e, a sibling of the Volkswagen e-Up and future Seat eMii."

 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/skoda-vision-e-electric-car-offer-suv-and-coupe-bodystyles

 

THE NEW MERCEDES PLUG-IN HYBRID OFFENSIVE

• "Mercedes has launched four new Mercedes Plug-In Hybrid models in an effort to reduce emissions: E 300 e, E 300 de, C 300 de and S 560 e. C 300 de and E 300 de are available as a T-Model also." according to MercedesBlog.com: "After introducing the WLTP norm, Mercedes renewed its Plug-In Hybrid range with four new models. It is not the first time in the car industry (Audi Q7 Plug-In Hybrid combine a V6 turbodiesel with an electric engine) but is the first time in the middle size sedan class when a Plug-In Hybrid combine a diesel engine with an electric one."
• Battery size of 13.5kWh will be common offering 50km of electric range.

 

https://mercedesblog.com/the-new-mercedes-plug-in-hybrid-offensive/

 

TESLA MAY DOUBLE SIZE OF GIGAFACTORY 1

• "Elon said he can foresee doubling the size of Gigafactory 1 and tripling the workforce from 7,000 today to more than 20,000, according to a report in the Reno Review Journal" says Steve Hanley for Clean Technica.
• Elon Musk said: “The biggest constraint on growth here is housing and infrastructure. We’re looking at creating a housing compound on site at the Gigafactory, using kind of high-quality mobile homes”.

 

FRANCE'S EDF WANTS TO DOMINATE ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING MARKET

• "French state-owned utility EDF plans to become the leader in electric vehicle charging in Europe, a potentially lucrative, but already crowded, sector." reports Reuters: "EDF Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy said the company was targeting a 30 percent market share in electric vehicle charging in France, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom, aiming to supply power for 600,000 electric vehicles by 2022. EDF estimates that electric vehicles (EV) will make up 30 percent of all new cars sold in its four core European markets by 2030. Via its Sodetrel unit, the company aims to deploy 75,000 EV charging stations in Europe by 2022 and give its European customers access to 250,000 terminals operated by other providers. Sodetrel already operates 5,000 charging stations in France and provides access to 60,000 charging points in Europe."

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-edf-renewables-autos/frances-edf-aims-to-be-market-leader-in-electric-vehicle-charging-idUKKCN1MK186

 

HANKOOK'S NEW TIRE USES TREE RESIN TO KEEP ELECTRIC CARS ROLLING

• There's an article in Wired about another EV specific tyre. Designed for the increased torque and decreased noise. "Hankook is now offering its own EV-specific tire, the Kinergy AS EV. True to its planet-saving mission, this new donut relies on vegetable oil resin. Extracted from conifers, the substance Hankook calls Aqua Pine improves wet road performance as well as general handling and braking, the company claims, thanks to its high tolerance for vehicle loading. This creates a harder tire compound, improving traction and better managing the kind of high-torque acceleration familiar to EV owners. The overall design and construction absorbs sound better, meaning that, ultimately, much less of the highway droning should make its way to the cabin. The new tire will hit the streets in South Korea first, but should begin rolling around—quietly—under EVs globally sometime next year."

 

https://www.wired.com/story/hankook-ev-electric-car-kinergy-tire/

 

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