Charged with Electric Vehicle News and Views
BMW presented the new i8 hybrid supercar for the official UK launch at an event held in Mayfair, London. With two models on display auto buff Shmee takes a quick look around the car before jumping in for a test drive.
The first plug-in hybrid from Audi, the A3 Sportback e-tron, is now available to order for customers in Europe. Approximately 410 Audi dealers in Europe – including no fewer than 105 in Germany – are selling the A3 e-tron at a basic price of 37,900 euros on the German market. An individual installation check, the “e-tron plus” special package and “green” power from Audi complete the offering for the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron. The compact electric car will be handed over to its first customers this winter.
“For Audi, the A3 Sportback e-tron marks another important step toward sustainable individual mobility,” states Wayne Griffiths, Head of Sales Germany at AUDI AG. “Our dealers have had an entirely positive response to the A3 Sportback e-tron, which shows that the combination of efficient drive technology and a sustainable energy source is really what the market is looking for.”
The Audi A3 Sportback e-tron brings together a 1.4 TFSI gasoline engine and an electric motor, giving the compact automobile a system output of 150 kW (204 hp). The A3 Sportback e-tron’s fuel consumption in accordance with the NEDC standard for plug-in hybrid vehicles is just 1.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (156.8 US mpg), with CO2 emissions of 35 grams per kilometer (56.3 g/mi). Under electric power alone it has a range of 50 kilometers (31.1 mi), and over 900 kilometers (559.2 mi) in combined mode. The basic price for the Audi A3 e-tron in Germany is 37,900 euros. Audi is also offering attractive leasing conditions: 319 euros per month with a term of 36 months.
In Germany, the plug-in hybrid will be sold by 105 selected e-tron dealers; across Europe approximately 410 dealerships will sell the model. Their employees are receiving special training in sales and service relating to electric vehicles. Between mid-July and the end of August, Audi is providing training to around 2,000 sales, service and used car employees from all over Europe at its Training Center next to Munich. In addition, some 300 German high-voltage technicians and service advisors from Audi will undertake a technical training course at the Service Training Center in Neckarsulm.
In future, every e-tron dealer will also have at least one charging station that e-tron customers can use, even after their purchase. The Audi A3 Sportback e-tron can be charged quickly via a charging point at the dealership, within the public charging infrastructure or at the customer’s home. For the latter option, Audi offers – in Germany – an individual installation service whereby a technician checks the electrics in the customer’s home, makes any adjustments that may be required and installs the charging dock, which is designed for safe, convenient charging.
To ensure that sustainability is not compromised during the at-home charging process, customers in Germany can switch to environmentally friendly electricity, known as Audi energy. With Audi energy, the A3 Sportback e-tron is totally emission-free when operated electrically. All electricity all comes from hydroelectric power stations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. To mark the start of the A3 Sportback e-tron, Audi has additionally put together the attractive “e-tron plus” package. In Germany it includes the charging dock, a cable for public charging points, MMI navigation plus, Audi connect and phone box.
There are only a few minutes before your flight check-in closes, or before your train departs, but you now have to spend precious time hunting for a free space at the airport or station car park. Imagine leaving your vehicle at the main entrance and letting the car do the rest on its own. Researchers from Germany, Italy, the UK and Switzerland are working on this, and successful tests took place at Stuttgart airport earlier this year. €5.6 million of EU funding is invested in the system which will be available in the coming years.
In the future, more and more people will drive electric cars and will switch from one mode of transport to another – creating the need for more and varied parking options at transport hubs. To prepare for this mobility shift, the V-CHARGE consortium is working on a fully automated parking and charging system for electric cars at public car parks.
"The idea is that we can actually use technology to give people a better mix of public and private transport", explains Dr Paul Furgale, scientific project manager for V-CHARGE and deputy director of the autonomous systems lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
A smartphone app to leave and get back the car
Drivers will be able to leave their car in front of the car park and use a smartphone app to trigger the parking process. The vehicle will connect with the car park’s server and drive itself to the designated space. While in the garage, the car can also be programmed to go to a charging station. Upon returning, the driver uses the same app to summon the car – fully charged and ready to go.
Since GPS satellite signals don’t always work inside garages, the scientists have developed a camera-based system based on their expertise in robotics and environment sensing. Safety is at the centre of the project: the car is designed to avoid unexpected obstacles.
Dr Furgale believes the same technology could be used to develop autonomous parking systems for electric cars on city streets. "That will be more of a challenge", he says. "But once you have the maps in place, the rest of the technology will come together."
A system to be integrated into production
In April, the team presented the latest version of the system at Stuttgart airport. This was a success and the researchers are now fine-tuning the technology to tackle more precise manoeuvres and ensure reliability, even in difficult weather conditions.
The project is set to conclude in 2015, and its results available to be progressively commercialised in the coming years. The functions developed should be cost-effective enough to be integrated into production of electric vehicles. Engineers are working with equipment that is already available today such as ultrasonic sensors and stereo cameras that are used in parking assistance and emergency braking systems.
GKN plc and The Go-Ahead Group have agreed a deal that will help reduce emissions in cities with the supply of electric flywheel systems to 500 buses over the next two years.
The innovative GKN system is based on Formula One race technology developed in the UK. It will help increase the efficiency of every bus to which it is fitted by using less fuel and therefore reducing carbon emissions. This same technology helped Audi’s R18 e-tron win at Le Mans last month.
Go-Ahead has placed an order for GKN Hybrid Power to supply 500 of its Gyrodrive systems to the transport operator. The Gyrodrive system uses a high speed flywheel made of carbon fibre to store the energy generated by a bus as it slows down to stop. It then uses the stored energy to power an electric motor which helps accelerate the bus back up to speed, generating fuel savings of more than 20% at a significantly lower cost than battery hybrid alternatives.
The agreement covers the supply of the complete Gyrodrive system, including the innovative GKN Hybrid Power flywheel as well as GKN’s advanced EVO electric motor, a GKN designed and manufactured gearbox, and installation. The system is designed to last for the life of the bus eliminating the need for any battery changes.
Following successful trials on buses in London, Go-Ahead intends to utilise the technology in cities it serves across the UK, initially in London and Oxford.
Philip Swash, CEO GKN Land Systems, said: ‘This is an important milestone for GKN Hybrid Power. We’ve worked in close partnership with Go-Ahead throughout the development of this innovative technology and it’s very exciting to move into the production phase.
The fact that we are using the same groundbreaking technology that helped Audi win at Le Mans for the past three years to improve fuel efficiency in the public transport sector also shows what great innovation there is in the UK’s engineering sector.’ CEO of Go-Ahead, David Brown, added: ’Our collaboration with GKN has been a most constructive one. We have a strong record in continually reducing our carbon emissions and flywheel technology will help us make buses an even more environmentally responsible choice and encourage more people to travel by public transport.
The flywheel technology helps us to reduce our fuel consumption and C02 emissions so improving air quality for all those living, working and visiting the city.’
GKN Hybrid Power is based in Oxfordshire, with final assembly taking place in a new facility at GKN’s site in Telford. The Gyrodrive technology is being further developed for other mass transit markets including trams, construction and agricultural equipment. Earlier this year GKN announced the acquisition of Williams Hybrid Power from Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited to form GKN Hybrid Power, which is focused on delivering complete hybrid solutions across multiple vehicle, power and industrial markets.
Audi looks certain to continue racing its Le Mans 24 Hours-winning R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 with only one hybrid system in next year's World Endurance Championship.
Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich told AUTOSPORT that no major changes to the concept of the R18 turbodiesel were planned in the development drive to increase the LMP1 car's level of energy retrieval for 2015.
Asked if that meant there would be no second system to supplement the 2014 R18's front-axle braking retrieval system, he said: "We will try to do what is possible in a short period of time.
"We must be more competitive, but we must be reliable. There will not be big concept steps.
"We will try to have a little bit more hybrid power: we have talked ideas of what we can do on the basis of this car."
The R18 runs in the two-megajoule P1 sub-class, whereas rivals Toyota and Porsche, which respectively have second rear-axle and exhaust-driven systems, are entered in the 6MJ division.
Ullrich's comments suggest that Audi is trying to at least move up one class to the 4MJ category.
Audi abandoned a second, Formula 1-style turbo-driven retrieval system ahead of the start of the season.
Ullrich said that the sale of Williams Hybrid Power, which developed its flywheel energy-storage system, to global engineering group GKN in April would not affect its LMP1 programme.
"We will get support at least at the level we had before, so we are not concerned," he explained.
"The existing flywheel technology is not at its limit."
The GKN flywheel used by Audi has a maximum storage capacity of 1.2 MJ of energy while the supercapacitor used by Toyota can store up to 6 MJ.
G.M. says that it removes parts when calculating pickup truck payload capacity; Chrysler recalls 30,000 Fiat 500Ls. 
The Mini Cooper Countryman pulls in top ratings; Fiat 500L, Mazda 5, Nissan Juke and Nissan Leaf are low scorers. The BMW i3 has an interesting function available as a $1,000 optional extra: Parking Assistant.
This system allows your car to park itself without your input. It uses a sonar installed in the right side of the car that detects large enough parking spaces when you want it to. After that, all you have to do is stop and keep the parking assist button pressed and the i3 will do everything for you.
That’s what a crew of journalists from Romania did when BMW invited them over in Austria to try out the new electric car from Munich. However, there’s a twist: this time, no driver was inside the car while the operation was done.
The man hopping out of the moving i3 is Vali Porcisteanu, a Romanian rally driver. He somehow meddled with the control button and made it stick while he left the ‘premises’.
The end result is both quite impressive and funny at the same time, seeing the car do all the work by itself, with no one inside.
Panasonic has reached a basic agreement with Tesla Motors to participate in the Gigafactory, the huge battery plant that the American electric vehicle manufacturer plans to build in the U.S.
Tesla aims to begin the first phase of construction this fiscal year. The plant would start making lithium-ion cells for Tesla cars in 2017. The automaker is shouldering the cost for the land and buildings.
Panasonic likely will invest 20 billion to 30 billion yen ($194-291 million) initially, taking responsibility for equipping the factory with the machinery to make the battery cells. An official announcement on the partnership will come by the end of this month.
Capacity at the Gigafactory will be added in stages to match demand, with the goal of producing enough battery cells in 2020 to equip 500,000 electric vehicles a year.
The total investment is expected to reach up to $5 billion, and Panasonic's share could reach $1 billion.
The Japanese company owns a stake in Tesla and currently makes the batteries for Tesla cars. In a contract reworked in October 2013, the two agreed that Panasonic would supply Tesla with 2 billion battery cells between 2014 and 2017.
Panasonic Corp plans to initially invest about 20 billion to 30 billion yen ($200-300 million) in Tesla Motors Inc's planned lithium-ion battery plant in the United States, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The Japanese company, which already supplies batteries for the electric vehicle maker, will ultimately invest about $1 billion in the planned $5 billion battery "Gigafactory", the person said.
The figures for Panasonic's investments were first reported by the Nikkei business daily earlier on Tuesday.
A Panasonic spokesman declined to confirm the investment figures, saying that while the company has signed a letter of intent to participate in the Tesla battery project and was in talks on the matter, no concrete decisions had been made.
A basic agreement on cooperation on the project between the two companies is due to be announced by the end of this week, with both due to report quarterly earnings results on Thursday, although no investment figures will be disclosed, the person said.
A Tesla spokesman, asked about the Nikkei report, declined to comment on "speculation regarding Panasonic".
Tesla is looking at three sites in the United States to build the Gigafactory plants which by 2020 would be able to make more lithium-ion batteries in a year than were produced worldwide in 2013.
Panasonic said in May it wanted to be the sole battery cell maker at the battery facility.
