Category: Battery Electric Car

Posted on

U.S. EIA sees only 1.5% Hybrid sales growth to 2040

The U.S. Energy Information Agency seems to have totally sold out to the oil lobby.

The agency predicts, in a report released Tuesday 17th December, that 78 percent of all cars and trucks will still run on gasoline in 2040, down from 82 percent last year. It predicts a big upswing in micro-hybrids and other advanced fuel technologies to 42 percent of all vehicles by 2040.

EIA predicts full hybrids will account for only 5 percent of vehicles in 2040 — up from 3.32 percent today. That's an increase of just 1.7% in hybrid sales over the next 26 years?

It predicts just 1 percent of total sales will be plug-in hybrids and 1 percent full electric vehicles in 2040.

The agency also predicts that when adjusted for inflation, the price of gasoline will rise to $3.90 by 2040, compared to a prior forecast of $4.40.

Even using figures from 2011, at a local level, hybrid sales already far surpass this decades out prediction. In the San Francisco Bay Area 8.4% of all new cars sold were hybrid, Seattle and L.A. 5.7%, San Diego 5.6% and Portland 5.4%.

Lets not even mention Norway where full electric vehicles account for 12% market share amongst passenger car sales or The Netherlands where a plug-in hybrid was the top selling car last month, selling almost twice as many as the best selling petrol car.

Source: Detroit News

Posted on

Nissan Leaf to Launch in China April 2014

Recent Chinese media reports indicate that the Nissan Leaf will soon be launched in China under the Venucia sub brand name from Dongfeng-Nissan. The Leaf will be renamed for the Chinese market where it will be named the Venucia E30, or ‘Qi Chen’ in Chinese.

What is surprising is that the Leaf/e30 is exceptionally close to being produced in China, reports indicate that the model will be on sale in April 2014 in the Beijing and Shanghai areas, and will receive government subsidies of around 100,000RMB (US$16,500) owing to municipal subsidies along with central government subsidies.

Posted on

Nissan LEAF reaches 3,000th UK sale

The Nissan LEAF has reached a milestone with the 3,000th sale of the model in the UK.

The landmark was reached in November and came as Nissan's second-generation LEAF secures more than 1,300 UK sales in the six months since its launch.

Jon Pollock, sales director at Nissan GB said: ‘The fact the we have been able to reach the 3,000 mark is a fantastic achievement and shows not only what a wonderful car it is but also that motorists are keen to experience the revolutionary new technology it introduces.

He added: ‘The low running costs of the LEAF, not to mention its many other benefits, make it an incredibly attractive proposition and we have been seeing steady growth in sales.

‘We expect that trend to continue rising as the model's visibility increases and the rapid charging infrastructure expands across the UK.’

With the price of unleaded petrol in the UK this year as high as 132.9p per litre (AUD$2.42/lt) equal to US$8.21 a US gallon, EV sales can surely only accelerate.

To date, more than 16,000 LEAFs have found owners across Europe, while global sales have now topped 87,000.

Posted on

Tesla Model S is Top Selling Electric Vehicle in Canada

Tesla’s Model S is the top-selling all-electric car in Canada.

Consumer research by IHS shows that within its release year, the Model S captured a staggering 20% of the electric vehicle market share. Over the course of the next year (2013), it more than doubled to 43%, outselling all other OEMs. It is important to note that with such tremendous gains, Tesla did not necessarily conquest customers from other electric vehicle OEMs, but instead, brought new customers from outside the electric vehicle market to grow the current EV customer base.

Current EV competition includes the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi Imiev, Smart Fortwo, Ford focus EV, Toyota Rav4 EV and the Chevrolet Spark. This new option has helped the overall electric vehicle market volume more than double from 2012 to 2013 showing signs of continual rapid growth with Tesla leading the way. In short, Tesla's Model S has helped to boost the electric vehicle market in a big way. Perhaps now with strong customer loyalty, Tesla Motors can begin conquesting existing electric vehicle customers from other OEMs through the release of a family of Tesla vehicles.

Posted on

Protean & FAW-VW China to Develop RWD In-Wheel Motor System

Protean Electric has announces a partnership with FAW-VOLKSWAGEN (China) to develop an all new electric propulsion system that will include Protean Electric's in-wheel motors with intent towards a demonstration vehicle program and production.

FAW-VW will create an all-new rear-wheel drivetrain for a pure Electric Vehicle (EV) based on the new Bora compact sedan, utilizing two Protean in-wheel motors. This cooperation began several months ago and so all bench testing, engineering calibration and on site application support is expected to be completed within a year. Protean Electric will also assist FAW-VW in the development of safety and vehicle controls that can be applied to additional vehicle programs.

"Protean Electric is very pleased and honored to be working with FAW-VW. Our involvement with this prestigious automaker shows that Protean Electric is continuing to serve as a valuable resource for OEMs as they develop New Energy Vehicle programs," says Kwok-yin Chan, CEO of Protean Holdings Corp. "This is a two-phase project that will capitalize on the torque and packaging freedoms that Protean Drive™ can bring to an automaker. Our technology will return the space to the new Bora vehicle platform that was formerly occupied by an in-board motor and powertrain."

Protean raised $84 Million in VC funding last year and moved their operation to Liyang, Jiangsu Province, China.