Category: Electric Car News

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Renault report compares life cycle footprint of EV versus ICE cars

Renault has recently made public the findings of an internal study to measure the life cycle impacts of its Fluence ZE electric car compared with equivalent conventional models. Renault found that the electric car had a much bigger impact on emissions during its production phase than the petrol or diesel versions but that the initial deficit was more than overturned over a typical 10-year, 93,000-mile lifetime even using electricity at the current grid configuration. The public release of the report is timely, coming as it does shortly before tomorrow's (July 11) LowCVP 'Beyond the Tailpipe' Conference in London.

Aware that the company would appear to have a commercial interest in finding emissions benefits from EVs it asked for the results and conclusions to be vetted by independent experts in life cycle analysis, and revised its report accordingly through several cycles of correction. It has also recently published the “Critical Review” alongside its own findings.

It may be no shock that Renault’s report gives its own EV a good report but the independent reviewers report suggests that the improvement over diesel and petrol equivalents could even be bigger than Renault suggests. The review cites heavy metal and hydrocarbon pollution from liquid-fuelled cars as areas where Renault might have delved deeper, and notes that ordinary cars create more brake dust, for example, than EVs with regenerative brakes – a factor not considered in the study.

Renault’s 120-page report assesses the impacts of long chains of industrial processes and real-world car usage against a set of six core criteria: global warming potential, depletion of resources, sources of energy, photochemical ozone production, acidification and eutrophication, the final category referring to the output of chemicals likely to harm aquatic ecosystems.

Source: Renault

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New Record Efficiency for Dye Solar Cells

Announced today in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature, is a paper by a team led by the ‘Father of DSC’ Professor Michael Graetzel describing a new deposition process to create the light harvesting pigment for solid-state dye solar cells. Cells fabricated using this technique and incorporating Dyesol’s key DSC input materials and specially formulated 18NR-T Titania Paste have established a new world record efficiency of 15% for a solid-state Dye Solar Cell (DSC).

“The recent breakthroughs in solid-state Dye Solar Cell technology are truly astonishing. This is the dawn of a new age in efficient and affordable renewable energy”, said Dyesol Executive Chairman, Richard Caldwell.

“The EPFL and Professor Graetzel choose Dyesol as their materials supplier for achieving best results and, most importantly, for commercialisation projects, reproducible results. These are the same benefits that we will deliver to our major project partners as Dyesol has ongoing access to this improved technology and the arguments for large scale industrialisation are now very compelling.”

Professor Graetzel responded: ”Our research work on solid-state dye sensitised solar cells is now achieving efficiencies exceeding 15% and our cells have been externally validated with a world record of 14.1%. At these efficiencies the technology is extremely competitive with conventional solar cells particularly when you consider dye sensitised solar cells do not need perfect sunlight conditions to effectively produce energy. In the task of scale up from small laboratory sized cells to industrial scale, we are particularly encouraged by the program from Dyesol to allow commercial deployment of this game changing technology in the shortest possible timeframe.”

This independently certified efficiency result eclipses all previous certified public records and is now the official world-record for Dye Solar Cell technology performance. The DSC world record efficiency result of 14.1% catapults the energy output of DSC devices to the next level. It is relatively cheap and provides competitive efficiency. One of the many advantages DSC technology offers over traditional silicon solar panels is the consistent energy output in low-light, dawn, dusk, cloudy, indoor/artificial, and shaded or indirect-light conditions. This means that the cumulative seasonal energy output from DSC over the course of a cloudy autumn, dreary winter, and whole year is much greater.

The two-step deposition process highlighted in EPFL’s report published in Nature is, importantly, reproducible – a crucial factor for commercialisation of any technology requiring large scale quantities of product to satisfy a mass-market.

This important technology breakthrough follows two other recent announcements from Australian clean-tech and award-winning solar technology innovator, Dyesol Ltd (ASX: DYE). Dyesol is working closely with EPFL and advancing commercialisation of the mesoscopic technology called Dye Solar Cells by embedding the revolutionary technology onto manufacturing partners' building products, such as steel roofing and glass building façade to meet the growing demand for building integrated photovoltaic products which turn the building envelope into an active power generator for building occupants and the grid.

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BMW reveal in-depth details on i3 EV

Due it's prior to a full reveal scheduled for July 29, BMW today revealed in-depth details of it's lightweight, battery-powered i3 city car.

The BMW i3 is designed from the ground up to be powered by an electric drive system. Like the car’s unique vehicle architecture – based around the LifeDrive structure and its carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) passenger cell – the electric motor, power electronics and high-voltage lithium-ion battery have been developed and manufactured independently by the BMW Group under its BMW eDrive programme.

The use of lightweight CFRP for the passenger cell cancels out the extra weight contributed by the lithium-ion battery, while the low, central positioning of the battery pack enhances the car’s agility thanks to perfectly balanced 50 : 50 weight distribution. Additionally, the electric motor mounted in close proximity to the driven rear axle offers unique performance characteristics for this type of drive system as well as providing unbeatable traction.

The electric motor generates output of 125 kW/170 hp and peak torque of 250 Newton metres (184 lb-ft), which is on tap from the word go. The motor weighs just 50 kilograms and boasts power density and responsiveness unprecedented in the world of electric mobility. The specific construction of the hybrid synchronous electric motor, developed exclusively for the BMW i3, maintains a linear flow of power into the higher reaches of the rev range. The BMW i3 sprints from 0 to 60 km/h (37 mph) in a mere 3.7 seconds and 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 7.2 seconds.

The single-pedal control concept in the BMW i3 – configured by the BMW Group’s drive system development engineers – also contributes to the engaging driving experience. Recuperation mode is activated the moment the driver takes his foot off the accelerator. The electric motor switches from drive to generator mode, feeding power into the lithium-ion battery. At the same time, it generates a precisely controllable braking effect. This recuperation is speed-sensitive, which means the car “coasts” with maximum efficiency at high speeds and generates a strong braking effect at low speeds.

The lithium-ion battery enables the BMW i3 to achieve a range of 130 to 160 kilometres (81 – 99 miles) in everyday driving. This rises by around 20 kilometres (12 miles) in ECO PRO mode and by the same distance again in ECO PRO+ mode. If desired, the BMW i3 is also available with a range-extender engine, which maintains the charge of the lithium-ion battery at a constant level while on the move as soon as it dips below a specified value. This role is performed by a 650cc two-cylinder petrol engine developing 25 kW/34 hp and mounted immediately adjacent to the electric motor above the rear axle. The range extender increases the car’s maximum range in day-to-day driving to around 300 kilometres (approx. 180 miles).

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Tesla to Join Nasdaq 100

Tesla Motors will join the Nasdaq-100 Index next week, filling the spot vacated by Oracle which is moving to the New York Stock Exchange.

The electric-car maker will be added to the gauge, which tracks the biggest companies on the Nasdaq, before the start of trading on July 15, Nasdaq OMX Group said in a statement yesterday. Oracle, which last month said it will join the NYSE, is the biggest company to jump between the competing exchanges.

Shares of Tesla, the carmaker headed by billionaire Elon Musk, have more than tripled this year as the popularity of its new Model S sedan helped the company turn its first quarterly profit. Gaining entry to benchmarks tracked by investors is attractive to public companies because it provides a guaranteed shareholder base.

“It’s a coming of age, recognition that a company has market cap and liquidity,” said Sandy Mehta, chief executive officer of Value Investment Principals Ltd. in Hong Kong. “Once the stock joins the index, you will have some buying.”

Tesla rose 2.4 percent to $124.58 at 9:36 a.m. New York time after climbing as much as 2.8 percent to $125, an intraday record. Yesterday before the announcement, the shares increased to a record close of $121.61.

General Motors rejoined the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index last month after a four-year absence prompted by its 2009 bankruptcy.

Exchange-traded funds and other products linked to the Nasdaq-100 managed about $49.4 billion at the end of last year, according to data compiled by Nasdaq.

Model S

Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, has forecast Model S sales will reach 21,000 units this year, with deliveries to Europe and Asia beginning in the second half. The Model S, which starts at $69,900 in the U.S., is Tesla’s second vehicle after the $109,000 Roadster.

Oracle’s defection means Nasdaq will lose its fourth-biggest U.S. company, which has been listed on the nation’s second-largest exchange since its 1986 initial public offering.

For Nasdaq, Oracle’s loss is a contrast to recent additions. Texas Instruments joined from the NYSE in 2011. Last year, Facebook chose Nasdaq for its IPO and Kraft Foods defected from the NYSE.