Electric cars on the back burner

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This may drive the prices down.

China and US set to slug it out on EVs

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...25789A001FF06A

Washington and Beijing put the pedal down in drive for green car leadership

24 May 2011

By RON HAMMERTON

THE Chinese government has rolled out a secret electric car action plan with initial financial backing for 77 projects in what Chinese industry insiders describe as “an important guide for the industrialisation of China’s electric vehicles”, according to a Chinese media report.

Across the Pacific, the United States government this week announced a new-look partnership between Washington and major US automotive, electricity and oil companies to pool information to drive a similar development of cutting-edge green cars.

Both moves signal an intention by the world’s two biggest economies to take the high ground in the development of new-generation vehicles, including the vital electric vehicle batteries that are expected to spawn an $11 billion industry by 2020.

In China, production costs of automotive batteries are tipped to halve by 2015 as the nation tips massive resources into ‘pure’ EVs for both the domestic market and export.

The China Car Times reports that the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has launched the secret five-year action plan in the past month, injecting 780 million yuan ($A113 million) into 77 projects in phase one of the project.

Quoting “an expert from the electric vehicle industry”, the website says more funds are in the pipeline for a second wave of grants for fresh applications from companies working on EV research.

“It (MOST) plans to make breakthroughs in the key technologies relating to electric vehicles in the next five years, including battery, electric motor and battery management systems, with small pure electric vehicles the development focus in the short term,” China Car Times says.

“By 2015, the production costs of batteries are expected to be 50 per cent of the current costs, and the number of electric vehicles on road is expected to reach one million.”

China Car Times says the plan has long been rumoured in China, with the main points previously revealed by an unnamed MOST official.

It said the plan had been secretly implemented in the past month, with the government deciding not to go public with it “after disputes aroused by the release of the 10-year draft planning for new energy vehicles”.

“The delayed release of the final version makes MOST choose to be low-key in its 2011-2015 planning,” China Cars Times says.

In the US, the Energy Department has announced a high-level partnership with major corporate stakeholders to share information and cut duplication of research efforts in a bid to accelerate American advances in environmentally friendly vehicles.

The department said the collaboration would help to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure that publicly-funded research delivered high-value results and overcame “high-risk barriers to technology commercialisation”.

Called US DRIVE – standing for United States Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability – the collaboration not only includes the ‘Big Three’ Detroit car-makers – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – via their US Council for Automotive Research organization – but also leading EV innovator, Telsa Motors.

As well, the electricity industry is represented by DTE Energy Company, Southern California Edison Company and the Electric Power Research Institute, while a who’s who of oil companies is also on board. These include BP America, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell Oil Products US.

The oil companies appear to have been included to gain their support for a transition to other, more environmentally sound fuels such as hydrogen.

Apart from EV research, the consortium will share knowledge on advanced combustion control, fuel cells, vehicle systems, EV-to-grid interaction, lightweight materials, hydrogen systems and “fuel pathway integration”.

Meantime, a US website reports that Chrysler is set to deliver 140 plug-in hybrid Ram pick-ups to the Energy Department as part of a $100 million ($A94m) joint research project running to 2014.

Pickup.com says the first batch of 10 Rams will be handed to the department in Arizona, with others delivered around the country to test various driving conditions and climate extremes.

The pick-ups are said to be armed with 5.7-litre Hemi V8s mated with a GM-made two-mode hybrid transmission powered by a 12.9kWh lithium ion battery.

The trucks reportedly can run for more than 30km on electric power alone before firing up the petrol V8.

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Volvo working on wireless EV charging

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...25789B001093FA

Volvo throws its hat into the ring on inductive charging

25 May 2011

By MIKE COSTELLO

VOLVO is the latest carmaker to try its hand at wireless inductive charging for electric vehicles, participating in a project which also includes the company that supplies the majority of Melbourne’s trams.

The Continuous Electric Drive (CED) project - led by Belgian company Flanders Drive – is developing a system that could allow Volvo’s future EV range to gain power regeneration from a charging ‘plate’ buried in the road surface rather than traditional power sockets and cords.

Other members of the project are Belgian bus manufacturer Van Hool and Canadian tram maker Bombardier, which also supplies trains to Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane and owns manufacturing plants in Dandenong, Victoria and Maryborough, Queensland.

“The aim is naturally that it should be as convenient as possible to own and use an electric car," said Johan Konnberg, project manager from the Special Vehicles division of Volvo Car Corporation.

Wireless inductive EV charging transfers alternating current (AC) through a coil in the charging plate via a magnetic field to the car’s inductive ‘pick-up’.

A voltage converter in the car then turns the alternating current into direct current (DC) with, which in turn charges the battery pack.

Using the system, the Volvo C30 Electric’s 24kWh battery pack – equal in capacity to the battery of Nissan’s pioneering Leaf – is expected to be fully recharged from flat to full in an hour and twenty minutes.

Its cordless convenience means that inductive charging is seen by many experts as the way of the future, and many carmakers are in the process of developing their own methods of harnessing the technology.

Laura Marlino, a research engineer at the world-renowned Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, said at last month’s Automotive Power Electronics conference in Paris that the introduction of wireless charging was “not a matter of if but when”.

Manufacturers such as Renault, Nissan, Toyota, BMW and even Rolls-Royce have all either produced prototypes with inductive charging or are in the process of developing the technology, while global electrics giants Delphi and Siemens have also invested in its development.

Meanwhile, Volvo is continuing to edge ever closer to self-driving cars, recently conducting closed-road trials of ‘road trains’, whereby a car connects to – and mimics – the movements of a lead vehicle.

The company’s senior safety engineer, Thomas Broberg told UK publication Autocar that: “Road trains allow a driver to use their time better, drive safer, reduce congestion and improve the environment.

“You’re always following another car, so why not let the driving be done by someone else?” he said.

The technology, which Mr Broberg believes will feature on Europe’s roads by the end of the decade, utilises camera, laser and radar technology to judge distances and control the braking and steering of the car.

Earlier this month, Volvo Cars announced first quarter operating earnings of $640 million Swedish Krona ($AUD96 million) and retail sales of 106,827 units, an improvement of 13.7 per cent.

The carmaker, which is owned by Chinese carmaker Geely, said that volume growth was recorded in all global markets. The Nordic region improved by 22.9 per cent, China by 10.5 per cent, North America by 9.1 per cent, Europe by 9.7 per cent and Rest of World by 27.6 percent, compared with 2010.