Hybrid Cars

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Infiniti While we had been told it was coming in 2014, the exact release date of the production version of the Infiniti LE concept might just might hinge on something you can't see and that the Japanese automaker can't control: wireless charging infrastructure. That's the word from Autocar, which talked to Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer, who admits that wireless charging "is this technology we want to shine a light on, so while there is no world standard on methods, the rollout will be dependent on region." In other words, if you want the latest luxury EV, you'd better hide those wires. They're so gauche. There's a good chance Infiniti will be the first OEM to sell a production inductive charging vehicle (companies like Mitsubishi and Audi are also working on the technology), which is likely to be a double-edged sword. Yes, it'll have bragging rights, but the wired infrastructure is proving difficult enough to put into place, and having the coolest tech doesn't mean much if you can't put it into use. Thankfully, the LE (or whatever it will be called) is also expected to come with conventional wired charging capabilities. Also, Infiniti is, at this point, trying to get induction charging technology to be open source, which could help a lot of players in the industry. The LE concept, based on the Nissan Leaf, has the same 24-kWh lithium-ion battery pack but a more powerful 100-kw electric motor good for 134 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque.Infiniti luxury electric sedan needs more wireless charging originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 22 May 2013 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Flush with its recent $1.02 billion fundraising, Tesla Motors has paid off the entire loan awarded to the company by the US Department of Energy in 2010. In addition to payments made in 2012 and Q1 2013, today’s wire of almost half a billion dollars ($451.8M) repays the full loan facility with interest. Following this payment, Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government. For the first seven years since its founding in 2003, Tesla was funded entirely with private funds, led by Elon Musk. Tesla brought its Roadster sports car to market with a 30% gross margin, designed electric powertrains for Daimler (Mercedes) and had done preliminary design of the Model S all before receiving a government loan. In 2010, Tesla was awarded a milestone-based loan, requiring matching private capital obtained via public offering, by the DOE as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program. This program was signed into law by President Bush in 2008 and then awarded under the Obama administration in the years that followed. The loan payment was made today using a portion of the approximately $1 billion in funds raised in last week’s concurrent offerings of common stock and convertible senior notes. Elon Musk, Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer and cofounder, purchased $100 million of common equity, the least secure portion of the offering. I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs that worked hard to create the ATVM program, and particularly the American taxpayer from whom these funds originate. I hope we did you proud.—Elon Musk Commenting on the loan payment, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz made the following statement: When you’re talking about cutting-edge clean energy technologies, not every investment will succeed—but today’s repayment is the latest indication that the Energy Department’s portfolio of more than 30 loans is delivering big results for the American economy while costing far less than anticipated. More than 90% of loan loss reserve Congress established remains intact, while losses to date represent about 2 percent of the overall $34-billion portfolio. The other 98% of the portfolio includes 19 new clean energy power plants that are adding enough solar, wind and geothermal capacity to power a million homes and displace 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year—roughly equal to taking a million cars off the road. The Department first offered loans to Tesla and other auto manufacturers in June 2009, when car companies couldn’t get other financing and many people questioned whether the industry would survive. Today, Tesla employs more than 3,000 American workers and is living proof of the power of American innovation. This is another important contribution to what the Obama Administration has done to preserve and promote America’s auto industry. Finally, this announcement is also good news for the future of America’s growing electric vehicle industry. While the market has taken longer than predicted to get going, sales of electric vehicles in the US tripled last year and are continuing to increase rapidly in 2013. Tesla and other US manufacturers are in a strong position to compete for this growing global market. Losses to date in the Department’s loan programs represent about 2% of the $34 billion portfolio and less than 10% of the $10 billion loan loss reserve that Congress set aside to cover expected losses in the programs.

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Manufacturing/Plants, Legislation and Policy It's official: A123 Systems Inc. is passing through its final phase. The bankrupt lithium ion battery maker, now going by the name B456 Systems Inc., has won court approval for its plan to exit bankruptcy that pays off creditors from proceeds gained by selling off virtually all of its assets. Objections previously made by creditors had been resolved prior to the hearing where US Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey approved the company's plan. Creditors had voted "overwhelmingly in favor of the plan," Caroline Reckler, a lawyer for B456 Systems, told the Washington Post. Now that the plan has been court approved, B456 expects to exit court protection in about three to four weeks. This will complete bankruptcy proceedings started by A123 last October, and which was the source of political jabs by then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The Republican candidate had condemned the Obama administration for failed attempts at financially supporting alternative-energy industries. The A123 name was removed in bankruptcy proceedings, which was required by the court in order to be purchased by Chinese company Wanxiang. The changeover to the B456 corporate identity was made in March as part of a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission when the company declared that its old assets were liquidated. The good parts of the old A123 live on under Wanxiang's new A123 Venture Technologies division. As the recovery plan was being executed, plug-in hybrid carmaker and former partner Fisker Automotive came to a settlement with former A123. Fisker agreed to reduce about $140 million in claims by 89 percent to $15 million.A123 Systems, now B456, wins court approval to exit bankruptcy originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 22 May 2013 14:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

In a project funded in part by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Novomer Inc. has completed the first successful large-scale production of a polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polymer using waste CO2 as a key raw material. By using CO2 that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere, the process has the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously reducing petroleum consumption and producing consumer products. The PPC polymer production run, conducted by Novomer in collaboration with specialty chemical manufacturer Albemarle Corporation, tested scale-up of Novomer’s novel catalyst technology. Requiring only minor modifications to existing Albemarle facilities, the run produced 7 tons of finished polymer, which will be used to accelerate product qualification. The Novomer process uses a catalyst to create PPC polymers through the co-polymerization of CO2 and chemicals called epoxides. The process results in polymers containing more than 40% CO2 by weight. The CO2-containing polymers can be tailored for applications with a broad range of material characteristics from solid plastics to soft, flexible forms, depending on the size of the polymer chain. Novomer is positioning its new polymer technology to compete with conventional petroleum-based raw materials across a diverse range of applications, including flexible, rigid, and microcellular packaging foams, thermoplastics, polyurethane adhesives and sealants, and coating resins for food and beverage cans. Conventional production of plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The Novomer process reduces the use of these fuels by replacing up to half of the mass of the petroleum-based product with CO2. Capital requirements and operational costs to produce the new polymers closely mirror conventional production costs, and the products demonstrate increased strength and environmental resistance relative to existing polymers. Incorporation into existing formulations results in packaging foams with higher tensile strength and load-bearing capacity, and adhesives and coatings with improved adhesion, cohesive strength, and “weatherability” properties, such as UV- and water-resistance.

ECOtality, Inc. introduced Blink HQ, a new family of home electric vehicle (EV) charging products. Blink HQ includes a free membership to the Blink Network of 4,000+ publicly available charging stations and a $100 charging credit with purchase. Blink HQ. Click to enlarge. The Blink HQ suite of products is adding two new programmable Level 2 home chargers to consumers’ charging options; the first to launch is a 30-Amp home charger with delayed start options to optimize charging rates. This will be followed by the introduction of a new Level 2 charger with connected capabilities and remote access. To date, the company has installed more than 8,300 residential chargers in 38 states. The first new Blink HQ model will launch in early summer 2013 and reservations are now being accepted. Blink will still offer its classic wall mount unit as part of the HQ family.

Adhesives, sealants and surface treatments company Henkel and KraussMaffei, one of the world’s leading makers of manufacturing and processing machinery for plastics, have collaborated to develop a new polyurethane matrix resin for the resin transfer molding process (RTM) that will speed up the production of composite components in the automotive industry. Offering high strength combined with low weight, glass or carbon fiber-reinforced composite materials are especially suited for the manufacture of motor vehicle components. Particularly for mass-produced automobiles, resin injection processes such as RTM now predominate. Henkel has pooled its expertise in developing composite matrix resins and in fundamental research on adhesives and surface modification to engineer a complete and coherent system for the manufacture and integration of composite components in the automobile. The polyurethane-based matrix resin technology Loctite MAX 2 offers an attractive properties profile tuned to the requirements of the automotive industry. Good handling capability in the RTM process combined with low injection viscosity and controllable cure speed permits short cycle times ( Compared with the epoxy resins normally used for RTM, the new Loctite MAX 2 offers a combination of good mechanical properties and high damage tolerance. One special feature of the polyurethane matrix resin is its high stress intensity factor, which is a measure of toughness. The specific interactions between the polyurethane molecules that take place in addition to chemical cross-linking help to enhance this property. The toughness of the resin also has a positive effect on the fatigue behavior under load. The high tolerance to stress peaks delays the formation of critical cracks, thus prolonging the part life. In automobiles, which are constantly subjected to dynamic loading under driving conditions, materials with a high fatigue tolerance are essential in order to be able to exploit lightweighting potential to its fullest extent. Loctite MAX 2 features extremely low viscosity, even at low temperatures, permitting very fast resin injection without distorting the fibers while also achieving good wetting even with high fiber volumes. The polyurethane chemistry makes it possible to control the curing reaction more reliably, either by adjusting the temperature or adding an accelerator. The generally low heat generation during curing allows fast curing even of thick parts with many layers of fibers and reduces the risk of local overheating and resulting defects. Henkel and KraussMaffei have demonstrated that using the new resin system on high-pressure RTM equipment can significantly reduce manufacturing cycle times. Loctite MAX 2 cures much faster than the comparable epoxy resins that are mainly used in the RTM process today. This was exemplified by achieving a cure time of just one minute with a real-life three-dimensional component. The resin is injected into the preheated mold under vacuum and removed after one minute. The fiber volume was approximately 50%, with no fiber distortion being detected regardless of the laminate structure. Milling to the final shape was performed directly after cooling of the components. Even though high-pressure polyurethane processing and high-pressure RTM are already state-of-the-art, the machine technology does require some adaptation for the polyurethane RTM process. Building on Henkel’s processing expertise, KraussMaffei’s engineers further optimized the mixing and dispensing stations and the mixing heads in order to improve the high-precision dispensing technology and thus the controllability in high temperature processes. First applications are already in the commercialization phase.

ChargePoint and National Grid unveiled the first of more than 80 electric vehicle charging stations in New York, funded through a $1-million award from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The ChargePoint EV charging station, which can charge two cars at once, has been installed at the Homewood Suites on Wolf Road in Colonie. This public/private partnership, which supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Charge NY program, will provide more than 80 EV charging stations throughout New York State, of which 67 will be located in National Grid’s service area in upstate New York. ChargePoint and National Grid will be providing an additional $550,000 for the cost of this program. New York has one of the highest growth rates of electric vehicles in the country. With nearly 4,000 vehicles registered today, according to New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, the number of EVs in the state has tripled in the past year. Charge NY is a new initiative to promote EVs through investing $50 million over five years. The program calls for installing 3,000 public and workplace charging stations by 2018, plus other steps meant to encourage the growth of electric vehicle ownership. The state expects the number of EVs in the state to increase to as many as 40,000 by 2018, and one million by 2025.

It's ironic that one of the best characteristics of modern diesels is also their downfall, for many owners. New diesels are so refined, and some owners so unused to filling with diesel, that they accidentally fill their cars with gasoline--resulting in a breakdown. To help prevent this, Volkswagen is set to retrofit more than a quarter million...

Fisker’s saga is far from over and businessmen around the world are hovering over its Karma. We heard news not long ago that Detroit-based VL Automotive, in which ex-GM executive Bob Lutz is involved, is planning on selling V8-powered Fisker-bodied vehicles. According to news agency Reuters, VL Automotive is partnering with China’s Wanxiang Group with the goal of acquiring the post-bankruptcy assets of Fisker. If this story seems familiar, keep in mind that Wanxiang is the Chinese company that acquired the automotive division of then also bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems. Interestingly, A123 Systems was the battery provider to Fisker. It is then not surprising to see VL Automotive and Wanxiang team up for the assets of Fisker considering VL Automotive needs Fisker bodies for its Destinio (pictured) to see the light and that Wanxiang needs Fisker to be alive to provide batteries to the Karma. Reuters said in its article that “this comes alongside a separate push by investors in Europe and Hong Kong, including billionaire Richard Li, to buy out the U.S. Department of Energy’s position in Fisker.” Fisker’s Karma were assembled by long-time automotive supplier Valmet. Fisker has not commissioned Valmet to build a single Karma plug-in hybrid since July 2012 and has seen its founder, automotive designer Henrik Fisker, leave the company abruptly mid-March. On April 5, 2013, Fisker Automotive laid off160 of its employees; word has it a mere 53 employees remain out of the Anaheim-based company that once boasted over 400. As is often the case in these situations, no one involved would comment, confirm or deny the information. One thing is sure: negotiations are underway for Fisker’s assets and everyone could be surprised by the outcome. The post Fisker To Be Saved By Lutz And Wanxiang? appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The Q1 2013 index (top) shows that the 7 top automotive nations have seen their competitive positions shift since 2012 (bottom). Source: Roland Berger. Click to enlarge. Despite maturing technology and better cost structures, worldwide production forecasts for electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) are in decline, posing a threat to national targets to raise the share of xEVs in vehicle fleets, according to the latest E-mobility Index by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Forschungsgesellschaft Kraftfahrwesen mbH Aachen (fka) for Q1 2013. The index compares the development of e-mobility in seven leading car-manufacturing nations (Germany, France, Italy, US, Japan, China and South Korea) on the basis of three parameters: technology, manufacturing, and market. Government support for e-mobility is declining in all the countries surveyed with the exception of China, according to the report. None of the subsidy programs that ended at the end of 2012 were renewed. Additionally, the support that exists is inversely proportional to the increase in these countries’ economic performance—i.e., with subsidies growing more slowly than GDP, the subsidy situation does not benefit from increases in economic output. Overall, worldwide sales forecasts—and hence the related production forecasts for EVs and PHEVs—are more conservative than in the preceding survey period. Among the seven automotive nations tracked by the index, the share of production in some segments is shifting in favor of individual countries. Since the previous survey, forecasts for vehicle production in Germany, France and South Korea have experienced positive development but remain at comparably low levels. Forecasts for vehicle sales in China, the US and Japan have been corrected downward. Growth in France is attributable above all to significantly higher sales forecasts for the Renault Twizy. ...Negative overall development in the market for EVs and PHEVs, despite mature technologies and optimized cost structures, suggests that the right conditions are not in place. Yet politicians still hold fast to the targets already set to ramp up the market for this class of vehicles—while conceding that realization will be delayed in some cases.—Roland Berger E-mobility index for Q1 2013 Plug-in America’s #PIA100K Plug-in vehicle advocacy organization Plug-in America (PIA) recently noted that the US plug-in car market topped the 100,000 unit sales mark sometime this month. Introduction of the latest generation of highway-capable plug-in vehicles began just over two years ago. Plug In America commemorated the milestone—which PIA calls the #PIA100K mark—with an award contest and by launching a counter on its website that tracks EV sales. The counter, updated using pace of sales data from the most recent published sales reports, currently stands at 100,559. According to the report, three major challenges still exist to the acceleration of adoption: xEVs are unattractive to OEMs as a financial proposition. OEMs realize lower margins on the sale of electric vehicles than on vehicles with conventional powertrains. In terms of the total cost of ownership (TCO), partially or fully electrified powertrains are still at a significant cost disadvantage over the entire lifecycle compared to conventional powertrains. OEMs experience a shortfall in profit margins if they sell a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) rather than a vehicle with a conventional powertrain. The customer benefits from lower energy costs due to lower fuel consumption, but the OEM is not fully recompensed for the extra cost it incurs. As long as emissions standards and CO2 targets can still be met with optimized internal combustion engines, there is thus no special incentive—marketing reasons aside—for OEMs to place more than the politically required minimum number of xEVs on the market (to comply with