How The Media Responded to Tesla Model S Fire

By this time, you have surely heard that a Tesla Model S luxury electric sedan caught fire in Kent, Wash., after running over a large metallic object. That’s because the story was deemed a big news event by major media, as well as many niche websites and blogs. Google News lists 580 news sources (and counting) about the occurrence. The rush to cover the fire—mostly made known by a viral YouTube video—presented a challenge to reporters: few facts are known about the cause of the blaze.
How each media outlet slices and dices those few facts, and who they interview for analysis, reveals as much about the news organization doing the reporting as it does about the news event itself. Think of it as a Rorschach test regarding attitudes about electric cars in general, and Tesla Motors in particular. The stories can also measured on a fear-meter, from The New York Times suggesting that the fire could be “a stake in the heart of electric vehicles,” to Forbes describing it as a “small bump on the road for Tesla and investors.”
Here’s an unscientific survey of the most telling coverage.

The New York Times: “Car Fire a Test for High-Flying Tesla”

“This is why you can’t just take cellphone batteries and string them together under the hood,” said Donald R. Sadoway, a professor of materials chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Cars are subject to different uses and abuses.”
“It’s a relatively innocuous occurrence to hit something in the road,” Mr. [Karl] Brauer [of Kelly Blue Book] said. “But in this case there’s a fire, and a fire that’s difficult to put out.”
“You have to respond openly and honestly with the public, and work through this with N.H.T.S.A.,” said Jason Vines, an industry consultant who was head of communications at the Ford Motor Company when its Explorer S.U.V.’s equipped with Firestone tires became prone to disastrous rollovers. “This could be another stake in the heart of electric vehicles,” he said. “It is inevitable that some people are going to say they are just not ready to go on the road.”

ABC News: “How Does The Tesla Model S Ace Safety Tests, But Catch on Fire?”

“The Model S's steel plate keeps its battery protected during everyday driving. But it also made the fire department's job trickier, said [Kyle Ohashi, a captain with the Kent Fire Department]. "Typically when you have a car fire, it's relatively easy to access the battery," he said. "This battery was buried deeply in the front portion of the car, so gaining access to the fire was an issue.”
“Tesla's battery differs from other electric and hybrid cars, Jeff Chamberlain [deputy director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research at Argonne National Lab in Illinois] noted, and its design actually lowers the risk of fire propagating. "The Chevy Volt has 288 battery cells that are about the size of your hand," he said. "The Model S uses a different set of cells and has between 8,000 to 11,000 of them. When you divide those cells up the way Tesla did, the [risk] of fire spreading goes down."

MIT Technology Review: “What the Tesla Battery Fire Means for Electric Vehicles”

“Vehicle fires are very common. One battery researcher, Jeff Dahn of Dalhousie University, pointed out to me this afternoon that there were 187,000 vehicle fires in the United Statesin 2011. That’s one fire for every 1,738 cars on the road. With Tesla this fire makes one out of almost 20,000. “That’s 10X less frequent,” he told me in an email, typing in all caps.”

Daily Finance / The Motley Fool: “Tesla Under Fire: A Broader Look”

“To those who could not believe that a start-up automaker could make an electric car, the Model S fire served up a perfect dish of Tesla failure. However, the situation involving the Model S is far from the typical EV fear scenario.”
“Tesla shares are now down around 10% from before the analyst downgrade and fire were reported. But based on the events surrounding this incident and comparisons to other existing vehicles, I view the safety fears involving the Model S to be greatly overblown.”

Wired Magazine: “Please Calm the Hell Down About the Tesla Model S Fire”

“The fact is that on-board energy storage is dangerous. The same fire could have happened to another EV, a traditional internal combustion engine, a hydrogen fuel cell, a compressed air-powered vehicle, or any other fuel that can propel a two-ton hunk of metal, plastic, and rubber down the road at freeway speeds.”
“The bottom line is simple: energy storage—in all its forms—is problematic. And this is just the latest incident that proves it.”

Forbes: “Yes, Teslas Can Catch Fire But Keeping Cool Is In Order”

“From what’s known so far, this appears to be a case of a spectacular incident being used as an excuse to sell off a stock that has had a spectacular run. EV detractors might attempt to make it an excuse for bashing the underlying technology, but there are tens of thousands of Volts and Nissan Leafs also on the road. So far those, too, have proved to safe in their fair share of collisions. Unless there is some revelation about a thus-far unseen defect in the Model S, this will likely be a small bump on the road for Tesla and investors. One would hope owners of the cars encounter similarly smooth roads ahead to avoid incidents like the one in Kent.”

Source : PlugInCars, by Brad Bernam, October 4th, 2013

7-Eleven Offers Electric-Vehicle Charging for New Yorkers

Deploying Green Charge Networks (GCN - http://www.greenchargenet.com/) energy storage solutions, 7-Eleven Inc. is the first retailer to offer fast-charging services for drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) in the New York City area.
7-Eleven and GCN worked with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and several large utility companies to leverage local solar generation and energy storage, which enables the use of high-powered electric equipment, including EV fast chargers. This avoids extreme consumption peaks that lead to expensive electricity-demand charges for commercial ratepayers, according to a press release.

Green Charge Networks’ energy storage system, GreenStation, manages the power consumption at the 5820 Francis Lewis Boulevard 7-Eleven location in Flushing. It monitors the store’s load on a second-by-second basis and counteracts peaks and valleys by discharging and charging from an internal ion battery bank.

“Even when the New York City electric grid experienced an all-time peak on July 19 during the recent heat wave, the GreenStation allowed for EV fast charging while reducing peak demand by 56%,” says Vic Shao, Green Charge Networks’ CEO.

Convenience retailing in today’s world increasingly requires the use of high-powered electrical devices, including foodservice equipment and EV fast chargers,” adds Tom Brennan, 7-Eleven’s vice president of infrastructure services. “Meeting our customers changing needs while keeping demand charges and thus our electricity costs in check is a very attractive value proposition for us.”


Source: National Association of Convenience Store (NACS), August 19, 2013

Electric vehicles expected to cut into emissions in the future

Transportation may go a long way in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to a new report from the National Research Council. The report predicts a steep decline in emissions produced from vehicles over the next four decades. Transportation is currently cited as one of the major sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the world, second only to large industries that are heavily reliant on fossil-fuels. The report suggests that growing support behind clean transportation, as well as government emissions standards, are setting the stage for a major drop in emissions throughout the country.

 

Emissions could be cut by 80% by 2050

According to the report, greenhouse gas emissions throughout the U.S. are expected to drop by 80% by 2050 as vehicles become more efficient and dependent on renewable energy. The U.S. has adopted very stringent emissions standards that impose strict regulations on automakers looking to do business in the country. These standards have forced many automakers to adopt renewable energy systems as a way to make more efficient vehicles. Electric vehicles have, therefore, been growing more common and have managed to acquire strong support from some consumers.

Electric vehicles may be the answer to the emissions problem in the US

Many automakers are still focused on the use of fossil-fuels, preferring to develop vehicles that consume less petroleum than their conventional counterparts. While these vehicles are considered to be more efficient, electric vehicles will be the catalyst that sparks a major drop in carbon dioxide emissions, according to the report. Vehicles equipped with lithium-ion batteries will not be the only electric vehicles that help solve the emissions problem, either; hydrogen-powered vehicles are expected to help reduce emissions nationwide, as these vehicles emit only oxygen and water vapor.

Clean vehicles expected to become more common in near future

Hydrogen fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries, hybrid electric engines, and compressed natural gas engines, are all expected to become more common in the near future. By 2020, electric vehicles, or those that rely heavily on renewable energy, are expected to be very prominent in the U.S. These vehicles are expected to pave the way for lower emissions and could help the U.S. achieve the emissions reduction goals it has for the future.

Source: HydrogenFuelNews, March 25, 2013

Is EV charging technology the next challenge for the electric vehicle industry?

It would be foolish and wrong to suggest that the electric vehicle market is about to break into the mass market but the signs are that interest is increasing, sales are set to double in the US and recent price reductions have certainly caught the attention of potential buyers. However, there is a potentially difficult situation approaching the EV industry in the shape of charging technology which could be the key to the short to medium-term take-up of this ever popular mode of transport.
At this moment in time there are two mainstream EV charging technologies available and Tesla Motors has a standalone service which it has created for its own customer base. So what is the problem and how can it be resolved?

Conflicting technologies

At this moment in time the three main technologies available to the EV charging sector a very different and so far incompatible. This means that businesses, local authorities and individuals looking to install EV charging facilities will need to choose between the three options available in the knowledge that potentially at least one of these options could fall by the wayside in the future. This could lead to a significant waste of investment funding in the short to medium term until a general electric vehicle charging protocol can be agreed.
All of the parties involved in the electric vehicle charging market have been in discussions but at this moment in time, much as we saw with the old video technology in its early days, no party is giving way to its competitor.

Will we eventually see a general protocol for EV charging?

At this moment in time some sceptics might suggest that a globally agreed EV charging protocol is still some way off. On the surface this may seem the case, although behind-the-scenes there is no doubt that the industry is looking for a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Each of the parties involved will be looking to protect its own intellectual property, looking to protect its future income streams and ultimately looking to protect its own customer base.

Unfortunately, there will be winners and losers in the medium to longer term and while Tesla is unlikely to give way and allow others to offer similar services to its customer base, the remaining two will need to fight it out for the lion’s share of the market. A short-term solution may well be to offer the two mainstream services, and potentially Tesla technology, in one standalone charging station that this would be expensive, time-consuming and ultimately in the end a waste of money.
The sooner all of the companies involved in the electric vehicle charging sector come together and resolve their issues the better for all concerned. This does have the potential to stall the impressive growth in electric vehicle use in the short term and while the parties involved can shout and scream as much as they want they will eventually have to come to an agreement.

Conclusion

The electric vehicle industry has faced a number of challenges over the last 100 years and while the sector as a whole is certainly making progress towards the mass market, there are issues with regards to electric vehicle charging technology that need to be addressed sooner rather than later. There are two mainstream technologies available today, plus the Tesla service for its own customer base, although ultimately the two mass market technologies will need to fight it out and come to some kind of agreement about a standard protocol going forward.
In some ways this is perhaps one of the largest challenges facing the EV market today as we have seen significant improvement in electric vehicle manufacturing as well as electric vehicle battery technology. Once the industry does hit the mass market, as it almost inevitably will, it will have taken well over 100 years to achieve this and the industry will have overcome an array of challenges which at times seemed impossible. It will certainly be worth the wait!


Source: HydrogenFuelNews, August 10, 2013

Electric roads could make plugging in your EV a thing of the past.

One major barrier to bringing electric vehicles to the masses is range anxiety — not the fear that you left the stove on at home, but the fear that your EV will run out of juice before you can get to the next charging station. But creative solutions are in the works. This week, South Korea debuted the world’s first electric road, 15 miles of city streets with underground cables that charge EVs parked or driving above — no plug-in stations necessary.

In the city of Gumi, two commuter buses will be the first to test the program, and the city plans to add 10 more over the next two years. Known as Online Electric Vehicles or OLEVs, the buses have batteries about one-third the size of the typical electric car battery. Extreme Tech explains how it works:

Exact details of the system are hard to come by, but we believe that the power is delivered by cables that are around 12 inches (30cm) below the road surface. The power is transmitted wirelessly via Shaped Magnetic Field in Resonance (SMFIR), a technology developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) that essentially runs 100 kilowatts of power through some cables at a very specific frequency (20 kHz in this case), creating a 20 kHz electromagnetic field. The underside of the bus is equipped with a pick-up coil that’s tuned to pick up that frequency, and thus AC electricity is produced via magnetic resonance. Transmission efficiency is an impressive 85% thanks to the “shaped” part of the technology, which targets the electromagnetic field at the vehicle, so that less energy is lost to the environment.

Because the batteries are so small, only 5 to 15% of the road needs to be dug up and electrified. Once equipped with the technology, roads can sense when an EV is coming, and only then do their charging powers activate — increasing efficiency and sparing all the unlucky non-EV drivers from being exposed to radiation (but don’t worry, if you do happen to pass over a charged-up section of the road, the level of radiation emitted is within international safety standards).

If America’s legendary highway system went electric, we could drive EVs to our hearts’ content and never have to worry about running out of fuel. And just think how many jobs would be created by digging up 5 to 15% of the nation’s road surface. More than by building the Keystone XL pipeline, I bet.

Source: Grist.org, by Claire Thompson, August 8, 2013

Mercedes-Benz S-Class plug-in hybrid coming to Frankfurt

A plug-in hybrid Mercedes-Benz S-Class is reportedly coming to the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall, and to read word around the web, it will establish benchmarks in the segment. According to Australian site CarSales.com, its introduction is "likely to be within six months of the reveal" of the standard sedan, which would place it in early 2014 – another source thinks it could be introduced in the fall of next year.

Called the S500 in Australia but likely to be called the S550 here, assembling the various rumors yields a motor yacht that bests the Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid for the segment's lowest CO2 emissions at 70 g/km (in fact, that's better than a few variants of the Toyota Prius). The big Benz will use a 3.5-liter V6 aided by one electric motor and a battery pack in the floor of the trunk, and it will do 15 to 20 miles on electric power and get from 0-to-60 miles per hour in under six seconds. The model will also get an AMG tailpipe treatment according to patent drawings, and might boast a US combined rating of around 75 miles per gallon.

Autocar notes that Mercedes-Benz has sold more hybrids than the other Teutonic luxury makers combined in 2012. If the S-Class PHEV unveiled in Frankfurt can stand up to the gossip, we can envision the trend continuing.

Source: AutoBlog, by Jonathon Ramsey, July 9, 2013

Ford Plug-In Drivers Do 60% Of Miles On Electricity (Just Like Volt)

Ford plug-in hybrid drivers are really making the most of the electric range of their vehicles--with nearly 60% of trips done entirely gas-free.

That's according to Ford itself, using aggregated data from the MyFord Mobile app.

The most interesting thing is that as many Ford plug-in owners are driving gas-free as their Chevy Volt counterparts, despite the shorter electric range.

One year ago, we reported how 63% of Volt miles are electric, suggesting drivers really were making the most of their Volts and plugging in wherever they could. At the same time, the remaining 37% of trips seemed justification enough that the Volt's drivetrain works, and allows people to drive that little bit further when required.

Ford's Fusion and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrids may only have a 21-mile electric range, but that's evidently enough to cover the bulk of their driving despite it being little more than a half of the Volt's 38-mile electric range.

20-50 miles perfect for plug-ins?

It raises an interesting question: Just how many miles does your plug-in need to go in EV mode alone?

The question hinges on just how far the average American commutes, and how frequent their longer journeys are.

Using the Ford's 21 miles as a baseline, you can see why. Just under 60% of Ford plug-in miles are all-electric, yet only a few percent more, with almost double the range, are all-electric in the Volt. Ford's own figures show that 84% of its drivers' trips are under 20 miles.

Figures for the Prius Plug-In, with its 6 continuous miles or 11 blended electric miles, are hard to come by--but it isn't hard to imagine that a significantly lower proportion of journeys are completed all-electric in that car.

Naturally, if you add enough electric miles to a range-extended or plug-in hybrid car, you'd start to see drivers completing significantly more than 60% of their journeys electrically. So think of it as a graph: Low electric percentage below around 15 miles, then a climb and a plateau between 20-50 miles of electric range, evidently enough to cover between a half and two thirds of most drivers' journeys.

Add more miles, and the graph starts climbing again--to the point where a plug-in or full battery electric vehicle with a long enough range can cover 90% of the average driver's trips.

Confidence builds

There's more to Ford's plug-in results than range, however.

One thing the company is noticed is that as drivers get used to their cars, they push the electric range further. This is something common to all electric vehicles, as drivers gain the confidence to do longer trips on however many electric miles they have.

It's a figure Ford has seen rise as drivers get used to their cars. Initially, Ford plug-in drivers were completing only around 40% of their journeys all-electric.

With a plug-in hybrid there's no range anxiety of course, but it seems that Ford plug-in hybrid drivers, like their Volt counterparts, really do want to make the most of their electric range, rather than letting it run into gasoline mode.

How far do you go?

So, all of this in mind, what do you think?

Is the 20-or-so miles of electric range in the Ford Fusion and C-Max Energi a sweet spot for electric range, high enough for most trips and low enough to reduce the need for bigger, more expensive battery packs?

Or could it be as simple as Ford's plug-in drivers simply driving fewer miles--and therefore completing a greater number of those miles with their shorter electric range?

Let us know how you do with your own plug-in hybrids and range-extended cars below.

Source: GreenCarReports, by Antony Ingram, August 5, 2013

Ford, Tesla drive healthy volume gains for battery cars in first half

Ford Motor Co.'s expansion of hybrid and plug-in models and demand for Tesla Motors Inc.'s luxury battery sedans helped electric-drive cars and trucks grow faster in the United States in the first half than even surging pickup trucks.
U.S. sales of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-only autos rose at least 23% to more than 287,000, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. Deliveries of full-size pickups climbed 22%.

"The number of entries in the segment continues to grow, so as a buyer you don't have to make a compromise to get what you want," said Alan Baum, principal of Baum & Associates. "Ford is obviously increasing sales, but what's more important is they're now a serious player in this space."

Environmental rules in the United States, Europe and Japan have pushed carmakers to offer more vehicles that don't emit climate-warming gases and consume less fuel.
Pressure on Toyota's Prius, the world's top-selling electric-drive vehicle, is growing as competitors work to replicate the hybrid hatchback's mass-market success.

Ford's hybrid and plug-in versions of the Fusion sedan and C-Max wagon boosted its electric-drive deliveries to 46,197, more than five times its year-earlier volume. Toyota Motor Corp. led with 176,506 such sales, up 4.4 percent.

Pickup profit
Full-sized pickup deliveries exceeded 928,000 in the first half, more than triple sales of electric-drive vehicles.
Such trucks also are the top source of earnings for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler Group. Automakers make an $8,000 to $10,000 profit per pickup they sell, versus $3,000 per mid-size car, John Casesa, senior managing director at Guggenheim Partners LLC, said this week on Bloomberg Radio.
While first-half sales of the four-model Prius line fell 5% to 120,214, Toyota still plans to sell as many as 250,000 this year, Bill Fay, Toyota's group vice president for U.S. sales, said this week.
A revived advertising push, no-interest loans and discount leases are in place to help meet that goal, Fay said.

Tesla, which led North American rechargeable auto sales in the first quarter, topping GM's Volt plug-in and Nissan Motor Co.'s battery-electric Leaf, may have relinquished its volume lead in the first half.
The electric-car maker led by billionaire Elon Musk may have sold 8,931 units of Model S, priced from $69,900, this year through June, according to an estimate by Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata.

Volt, Leaf
Tesla doesn't currently report sales on a monthly basis. The company will provide delivery figures when it releases second-quarter results, said Shanna Hendriks, a Tesla spokeswoman, who declined to confirm Autodata's estimate.
Tesla sold few electric vehicles in last year's first half after concluding Roadster sports car deliveries and starting Model S output.

The Volt, a plug-in hybrid that goes about 38 miles (61 kilometers) on battery power before a gasoline engine engages, had a 12% increase to 9,855 units in the first half.

That kept Volt just ahead of Nissan's Tennessee-built Leaf with 9,839 sales, tripling its year-ago sales.
Baum, who analyzes developments in the alternative-powertrain vehicle segment, said he estimates that electric-drive sales may have grown as much as 27% in the first half to a record 299,000.
The figures compiled by Bloomberg include data released directly by most automakers, and Autodata estimates for companies including Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp. and Tesla.

Source: Automotive News, by Alan Ohnsman, July 8, 2013

Hybrids, plug-in cars gaining loyal following

Dan Winslow's morning commute starts when he walks into his garage and unplugs his Chevrolet Volt. The mighty electric propulsion makes the 30 miles to the Statehouse whiz by for the Republican state representative from Norfolk. More importantly, Winslow said, the electric motor stays on until he reaches a downtown Boston garage for parking and a battery recharge -- a feature missing in conventional hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius -- that are designed to constantly switch between their electric motors and internal-combustion engines.  This is why his Volt rarely needs gasoline, Winslow said: He gets 250 miles out of every gallon. "Had I known how much I use it, I would have bought it," said Winslow, who leases his Volt. "Every time I drive my car, somebody in OPEC cries, and that makes me happy."  Electric and hybrid vehicles continue to gain loyal consumers. Tesla Motors recently paid off a $465 million federal loan nine years early. The industry saw 163,915 hybrid vehicles sold in the U.S. from Jan. 1 through April 30, up from 146,107 during the same period last year, and 31,948 plug-in hybrid cars, more than quadrupling the 7,942 sold during those months last year, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association's website.  Still, the numbers represent a mere fraction of the total passenger-vehicle sales in the country. All hybrid and plug-in vehicles, including batteries sold separately, made up 3.8% of the total car sales thus far this year, compared to 3.4% last year.

Experts say price is a factor.

 In Brookline, for example, 1,048 cars, or 3.7% of all registered vehicles, are hybrid or electric, according to data from the state Registry of Motor Vehicles. The rate drops to 1.6 percent in neighboring Boston. In Greater Lowell, the hybrid/electric car ownership rate shifts outbound from 0.5 percent in Lowell to 1.2 percent in Chelmsford to 1.9 percent in Westford. But in Concord, 41 percent of passenger cars are hybrid or electric, compared to 21 percent in Bedford. Cosmin Laslau, analyst at Lux Research Inc. in Boston, said electric vehicles have had disappointing sales because of their prices, which are largely due to the cost of batteries. Those costs are not likely to drop soon, keeping the vehicles on the higher end of the price range, Laslau said. A new Chevrolet Volt typically costs about $39,000, compared to $35,000 to $37,000 for a Nissan Leaf. A Tesla Model S can cost up to $72,000. Toyota's Prius starts at $24,000. Gasoline savings will never pay for a $70,000 car purchase. But potential buyers consider it an alternative to conventional luxury vehicles like the Mercedes Benz and are willing to pay for cutting-edge technology, Laslau said.  Chickery Kasouf, assistant professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute School of Business, said education level also influences consumer behavior. Kasouf's expertise includes marketing, although he has not studied the hybrid/electric auto market. People in certain communities are more concerned about the environment and carbon emissions, he said. "Because of their background and lifestyles, they are willing to pay for it," Kasouf said. Hybrid and electric cars have come a long way, experts say. A half-dozen years ago, the Toyota Prius was still the symbol of fuel economy. Many early adopters gravitated toward that model and made it part of the highway landscape. Now, prospective hybrid owners enjoy a wide range of choices and can make comparisons.  Because of price, Laslau forecasts only about 200,000 new full-electric and "heavy plug-in" vehicles will make it onto the road each year globally by 2020. In the meantime, the market for mild- and micro-hybrid vehicles is growing fast, according to Laslau, who projects 39 million of such vehicles will be sold annually by 2017. Mild-hybrid refers to vehicles that come with both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor but cannot run solely on the latter. Micro-hybrid isn't really hybrid; it saves energy by shutting down the internal combustion engine when the car is on standby, such as during a stop at a traffic light.  

The option to add on the micro-hybrid feature -- which typically saves 3 percent to 5 percent in fuel -- is available for many conventional cars. For a Ford Fusion, the add-on costs $400 to $500, Laslau said. Micro-hybrid has been popular in Europe for years, but is relatively new to the U.S.

Mauricio Cordero, creative projects director for Groton-based collaborative 3Rivers Arts, bought a Honda Insight hybrid because he thought a plug-in vehicle that requires frequent charging wouldn't be conducive to apartment living in Lowell. The Insight also cost $6,000 less than a Prius and allows him to drive to Washington, D.C., without refilling the 10-gallon tank, he said. Cathy Driscoll Clark, of Lunenburg, said her husband, who commutes to Chelmsford, and her daughter in college in Connecticut bought used Toyota Priuses for less than $10,000 each. They chose Priuses because they were more familiar with them and because charger stations for plug-in vehicles aren't numerous, she said.  Winslow said he chose the Volt because it operates solely on the electric motor during the first 40 miles. It's also an American car, he said. It takes about 4.5 hours to fully charge the car battery using a regular household outlet, and outlets at charger stations speed things up. The monthly cost of leasing a Volt comes down to $150 when factoring in the $200 monthly savings on gasoline, he said.

Source : SentinelandEnterprise.com, by Hiroko Sato, June 17, 2013

Global annual plug-in sales will reach 3 million by 2020

Every single plug-in vehicle sold today represents about 15 by the end of the decade. That's essentially the calculation that Navigant Research (formerly Pike Research) has made, using all the prediction tools at its disposal. In short, Navigant says global annual plug-in vehicles will reach 3 million units by 2020 and will account for about 3% of all light-duty vehicle sales at that time.

Navigant is basing some of its lofty forecast on the fact that plug-in vehicle sales rose 150% last year as more folks got comfortable with the idea of driving on electrons. US plug-in sales, excluding undefined sales for the Tesla Model S and low-volume models like the Fisker Karma extended-range plug-in, reached about 50,000 units last year, or about one out of every 285 new vehicles sold domestically. Year-to-date, plug-in vehicle sales may have more than doubled (Tesla doesn't disclose monthly numbers) to more than 30,000 units.

Whether this forecast is a bump-up from Navigant/Pike's previous one is anyone's guess since there's not recent apples-to-apples comparison. Pike said in 2011 that cumulative plug-in vehicle sales would reach 5.2 million units by 2017, when annual sales would be at about 2 million units.

Source : AutoBlogGreen, by Danny King, June 20, 2013

Colorado Likely to Extend $6,000 Plug-In Vehicle Tax Credit to 2021

Colorado’s alternative-fuel vehicle tax credit is one of the most lucrative in the nation. At up to $6,000, Colorado bets BIG on the changing automotive landscape.
Now, the Centennial State is readying a bill that takes that bet to the extremes.
A proposal to extend Colorado’s tax credit out to 2021 was approved last Friday by a 40-21 vote in the state’s House of Representatives.
The bill (HB 1247), which would keep in place the existing tax credits of up to $6,000 per vehicle, is now on its way to the Senate.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as pure electrics, are eligible for up to $6,000 in tax credits in Colorado. Both the Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt qualify, but for different amounts.
Some vehicles qualify for unusual amounts and it’s rather tricky to make sense of Colorado’s eligibility requirements, but a full rundown of eligible vehicles and the credit they receive can be found by clicking here (PDF). Note: Link contains 2012 eligibility. 2013 figures will be adjusted, but are not yet available.
Prior to the introduction of HB 1247, Colorado’s tax credit for alternative-fuel vehicles would have expired at the end of 2015. It could still expire then if bill HB 1247 isn’t signed into law.

Source : InsideEVs, by Eric Loveday, May 12, 2013

Buyer's Guide: 2014 Plug-In Hybrids From Toyota, Ford, Honda & More

Not all plug-in electric cars rely on battery power alone; some also have gasoline engines as backups, for longer range or more power.
Last year, we identified six plug-in hybrid vehicles on sale during 2013.
This year, the list gains three new entries (from BMW, Cadillac, and Mitsubishi) and loses one (the Fisker Karma).
Note that we're lumping into this category cars with two different types of drivetrains.
First are the plug-in versions of conventional hybrids, including the Ford's C-Max Energi and Fusion Energi models, the Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid, and the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid.
Then there are the range-extended electric vehicles, in which only electricity powers the wheels and the engine runs a generator that produces electricity for that purpose.
Those cars include the upcoming BMW i3 ReX, the Chevy Volt, its platform twin the Cadillac ELR, and the now-departed Fisker Karma.
Then there's the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, which can work either way. (The Accord Plug-In Hybrid can act either way too, but it's adapted from a conventional hybrid).
With that little bit of education out of the way, here's our list of plug-in hybrids that will be on sale in the U.S. for the 2014 model year.

2014 BMW i3 ReX

New to the market early next year will be BMW's first plug-in electric car, an all-new dedicated vehicle that comes as a battery-electric vehicle or with a small two-cylinder range-extending engine.
The car's 21- or 22-kWh lithium-ion battery pack sits in an aluminum chassis structure, with a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic body shell on top. The shell is so strong that BMW can dispense with center door pillars altogether: the rear doors are rear-hinged, meaning the entire side of the car opens up for unparalleled ease of access.
A 125-kW (168 -hp) electric motor powers the rear wheels, but the "ReX" range-extended version uses a small two-cylinder engine and generator that also tucks under the rear deck.
That engine, along with a 2- or 3-gallon gas tank up front, will give the BMW i3 ReX almost double the battery range of 80 to 100 miles (figures haven't yet been released).
But, unlike the Chevy Volt and Cadillac ELR, performance in range-extending mode may not match that delivered by the battery pack.
BMW points out that the range extender is not meant for everyday use, but more for occasional and emergency situations.
The first BMW i3s are likely to arrive at dealers shortly after January 1, at a price similar to that of a well-equipped 3-Series, or perhaps $42,000 to $46,000.
The ReX range extender, however, will likely cost a few thousand dollars more on top of that.

2014 Cadillac ELR

The striking Cadillac ELR range-extended electric coupe has had a checkered history, with production approved and then canceled during the days of GM's 2009 bankruptcy.
Widely lauded for its striking lines, the production version of the ELR goes on sale later this year in a form remarkably close to the concept car shown in 2009.
It shares the Voltec range-extended powertrain of the Chevy Volt, including a 16-kWh lithium-ion battery pack housed in the tunnel and under the rear seat, and a 1.4-liter range-extending four-cylinder engine up front.
But the ELR is expected to have quite different electronic control software, giving it a different feel and most likely more performance to offset the weight of its many luxury features.
GM hasn't released final power, performance, range, or fuel-efficiency ratings for the 2014 ELR, nor has it said anything about its price.
That information will likely arrive this fall.

2014 Chevrolet Volt

The Chevy Volt will continue in its fourth model year with just a handful of changes, though it will be joined on the assembly line by the Cadillac ELR range-extended electric coupe that shares its Voltec powertrain.
The five-door four-seat compact hatchback is rated at 38 miles of electric range, after which its 1.4-liter gasoline range extender kicks on to generate electricity to power the car another 300 or so miles.
Under certain limited circumstances, the engine can be mechanically clutched into the drive unit to supplement the electric power. The driver will never know when this happens, however, and the Volt driving experience remains electric in feel: smooth, quiet, and without any gear shifting.
For 2012, the Volt was the best-selling plug-in electric car in the U.S. For the first four months of 2013, it was likely slightly outsold by the Tesla Model S.

2014 Ford C-Max Energi

The Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid enters its second year, which provides an electric range of 21 miles and then reverts to being a (slightly heavier) version of the conventional hybrid C-Max.
The C-Max Energi will hit 85 mph in all-electric mode, and it will hold in electric-only mode much longer than the plug-in Prius (below) which switches on its engine under anything more than light to medium load.
The plug-in C-Max is one of two Energi models from Ford, both using identical powertrains based on a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and Ford's twin motor-generator hybrid system, along with a lithium-ion battery pack in the rear.
One drawback to the Energi version of the C-Max: the larger battery pack mounted under the load deck raises rear deck height significantly, both making for a higher liftover height and cutting into cargo volume.
Pricing starts at $33,745--cheaper than its plug-in Prius rival.

2014 Ford Fusion Energi

Like the C-Max Hybrid (above), the Ford Fusion Energi is a plug-in adaptation of the higher-volume Fusion Hybrid.
Both vehicles use a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and Ford's hybrid transmission, but the plug-in Fusion sedan provides 21 miles of EPA-rated electric range and an efficiency rating of 100 MPGe. (MPGe stands for Miles Per Gallon equivalent, or the distance that a car can travel electrically on the amount of energy contained in 1 gallon of gasoline.)
The Fusion Energi has the advantage of looking just like a regular Fusion--if you disregard a few trim details and the charging-port door on the left-front fender--for those buyers who don't want their choice of a plug-in vehicle to make them stand out from the crowd.
While the C-Max competes against the Toyota Prius, the Fusion Energi is more likely aimed squarely at the Chevy Volt.
Like its sibling in Ford's plug-in lineup, it can run in all-electric mode at speeds as high as 85 mph under the right circumstances.

2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid

It will be joined later this year by a conventional Accord Hybrid model, but right now, the plug-in Honda Accord is the only car to offer the company's new, twin-motor hybrid system for larger vehicles.
Aimed at both the Ford Fusion Energi and the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, the Accord Plug-In Hybrid falls between them in electric range--at 13 miles--but offers a remarkable 115 MPGe efficiency rating, far higher than the Fusion Energi's 100 MPGe or the plug-in Prius, at 95 MPGe.
Our first drive of the car revealed a pleasant drive and several useful features, though we'll wait to make our final conclusions until we've driven one over longer distances and in more varied uses.
The 2.0-liter four cylinder drivetrain with two-motor electric assistance can work in all-electric mode, as a series hybrid, or as a parallel hybrid. Its total combined power output from both systems is 196 horsepower.
Honda is slowly ramping up plug-in hybrid sales in California, but the conventional 2014 Accord Hybrid will be sold nationwide when it launches this fall.

2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid

The Outlander Plug-In Hybrid isn't the first electric car Mitsubishi has offered in the U.S., but it's aimed at a far larger market segment than its tiny all-electric i-MiEV minicar.
The plug-in family utility vehicle is an ambitious attempt to add 20 or more miles of electric range to a mid-size crossover, which then operates as a hybrid once the 12-kWh battery pack is depleted.
In that case, Parallel Hybrid Mode largely uses the gasoline engine for propulsion, with the electric motors assisting. This mode predominates at higher speeds, when the engine can be run at peak efficiency.
At lower speeds, the plug-in Outlander automatically chooses among two additional drive modes, depending on conditions. EV Drive Mode uses the front and rear electric motors alone, for silent, gas-free driving--including part-time all-wheel drive when needed.
Series Hybrid Mode uses the 2.0-liter gasoline engine to generate electricity that powers the motors. It is engaged when extra power is required--on steep hills, say--and when the battery charge falls below a set level. Drivers can also direct the car to operate in this mode to recharge the battery for more electric range in designated ares.
The Mitsubishi plug-in hybrid crossover will be a low-volume and more expensive version of the standard 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander, now starting to appear in dealerships. More than 4,000 have already been sold in Japan.
U.S. debut of the plug-in hybrid Outlander may possibly be delayed while Mitsubishi investigates a battery fire that occurred in late March.

2014 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid

The priciest Prius, and the only one that plugs in, enters its third model year--and perhaps the last year of the current generation of Prius, which is expected to be replaced in 2015.
With EPA-rated electric range of only 11 miles--and only 6 miles of that continuous, even on the gentle EPA test cycles--the Prius Plug-In Hybrid offers less all-electric running than any other car on the market.
That said, however, it maintains the 50-mpg combined rating of the standard hybrid Prius, meaning that it's more efficient than a Chevy Volt for trips of 100 miles or more.
Sales of the plug-in Prius were strong last year, second only to the Volt's, but it appears to have lost ground to Ford's pair of Energi plug-in hybrids.

Source : GreenCarReports, by John Voelcker, May 7, 2013

Plug-In Hybrid BYD Qin to Launch With Expected $29,000 Price Tag in June 2013

BYD’s follow-up to its “dual mode” F3DM plug-in hybrid is set to launch in China this June with an expected price tag of $29,000 US before incentives.

Its price is spectacular, as to are its specs. It’s called Qin and it’s the “next-generation dual-mode electric vehicle” flagship from BYD.

“Dual Mode II” improves upon the system featured in the F3DM in several ways and BYD is quick to point out the benefits. BYD says Qin boasts an electric-only rang of 31 miles, features a 10-kWh lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) battery pack, accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in just 5.9 seconds and has a top speed of 115 mph. Nearly all of these figures best the capabilities of the F3DM and BYD further says that Qin is some 3.3 seconds quicker from 0 to 62 mph than the Chevy Volt.
Qin relies on two 110-kW electric motors and a 1.5 liter turbo-charged direct-injected gasoline engine for motivation.

Qin is the first in a long line of future advanced vehicles scheduled to be released by BYD and its definitely price to sell in volume. At $29,000 U$D, before any applicable government subsidies or tax exemptions, Qin should fly off dealer lots in China. We say “should,” rather than “will,” because Chinese consumers have yet to show any real interest in purchasing plug-in vehicles, regardless of price.

Source : InsideEVs, by Eric Loveday, May 7, 2013