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Electric car tax credit should be $10,000 says Congressman

Vermont Rep. Peter Welch wants to make it easier to buy electric cars by increasing the size of the federal tax credit for the vehicles and making those credits available at car dealerships.

The Democrat said increasing the size of the tax credit to $10,000 and making it easier to take advantage of would make the vehicles more affordable for middle-income people.

Electric car buyers are now eligible for credits up to $7,500 through their tax return.

"If we're going to make real progress on climate change and we're going to reduce the cost of transportation, by the way, the cost of gas to our consumers, then we want to make this technology available," Welch said at an electric vehicle charging station near the Statehouse.

Welch said he planned to introduce the legislation for the Electric Vehicle Act when he returns to Washington.

More electric vehicles are needed because the transportation sector is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases in Vermont, he said. Electric vehicles have become more practical because battery technology is improving, making it possible for people to drive longer distances without charging, Welch said.

Welch was joined at the Montpelier news conference by Montpelier Mayor John Hollar, Karen Glitman, the director of the Transportation Efficiency Program at the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, and Dan Keene, owner of Lamoille Valley Ford and Twin State Ford.

Glitman said the number of electric vehicles sold in Vermont last year tripled and there are about 640 plug-in electric vehicles registered in Vermont. The number is still small, but it is increasing and the potential savings to Vermont consumers is huge, she said.

In 2010, there were $1.1 billion in taxable gasoline and diesel fuel sales in Vermont. If that amount of travel were provided by electric vehicles charged at the current cost of residential electricity, it would save about $800 million a year.

"We need to keep that money with Vermonters and keep it working in Vermont rather than sending it overseas for the most part," Glitman said.

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NISMO ZEOD RC’s Electrical System Explained [VIDEO]

Jason from Engineering Explained has a look at the ZEOD RC's Electrical Systems and Zero Emissions on Demand motors that are capable of making the car go at 300km per hour!

While the video does show a close-up of the enclosure for the 400 volt 12 kWh battery, the only other details provided are that the twin BLDC motors are rated at 120 kw each.

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GreenTech Scatters New Seeds

After the merger with VL Automotive, GreenTech Automotive promises to deliver a mix of electric city cars, plug-ins converted into muscle machines and performance-tuned cars for the Chinese market.
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GM to Build Chevy Spark EV 19 kWh Batteries In House

General Motors will bring all its electric vehicle battery building capabilities in-house with production of battery systems for the 2015 Chevrolet Spark EV at its battery assembly plant in Brownstown, Mich.

"Using our in-house engineering and manufacturing expertise enabled us to deliver a battery system that is more efficient and lighter than the 2014 Spark EV without sacrificing range," said Larry Nitz, executive director of GM global transmission and electrification engineering. "Our successful working relationship with LG Chem has allowed us to deliver a new battery system for the Spark EV that helps us to better leverage our economies of scale."

A newly designed battery system features an overall storage capacity of 19 kWh and uses 192 lithium ion cells. The cells are produced at LG Chem's plant in Holland, Mich. The battery system weight of 474 lbs. is 86 pounds lighter than the system in the 2014 Spark EV. The Spark EV battery is built on a dedicated production line at Brownstown, which also manufactures complete battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt, Opel Ampera and Cadillac ELR.

Changes in battery design will not affect the Spark's MPGe, or gasoline equivalent, performance compared to the 2014 model. Range will remain at an EPA-rated 82 miles and MPGe will remain at 119.

Priced at $19,995 with full federal incentives, The Spark EV is one of the most efficient – and affordable – all-electric vehicles available. Currently on sale in California and Oregon, the 2015 Spark EV features segment-leading technology including Siri Eyes Free, 4G LTE and DC Fast Charging.

Brownstown Battery Assembly's 479,000-square-foot, landfill-free facility south of Detroit produces the lithium-ion battery packs for GM's extended-range electric vehicles. It started mass production in October 2010 and is the first high-volume manufacturing site in the U.S. operated by a major automaker for automotive lithium-ion battery production. The site was made possible with the help of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding through the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Dual Carbon Battery Charges 20x Faster than Current Li-Ion Batts [VIDEO]

Power Japan Plus has launched a new battery technology – the Ryden dual carbon battery. This unique battery offers energy density comparable to a lithium ion battery, but over a much longer functional lifetime with drastically improved safety and cradle-to-cradle sustainability. The Ryden battery makes use of a completely unique chemistry, with both the anode and the cathode made of carbon.

“Power Japan Plus is a materials engineer for a new class of carbon material that balances economics, performance and sustainability in a world of constrained resources,” said Dou Kani, CEO of Power Japan Plus. “The Ryden dual carbon battery is the energy storage breakthrough needed to bring green technology like electric vehicles to mass market.”

The Ryden battery balances a breadth of consumer demands previously unattainable by single battery chemistry, including performance, cost, reliability, safety and sustainability.

  • High Performance – energy dense and charges 20 times faster than lithium ion batteries. It is also more powerful than other advanced batteries, operating above four volts.
  • Cost Competitive – slots directly into existing manufacturing processes, requiring no change to existing manufacturing lines. Even more, the battery allows for consolidation of the supply chain, with only one active material — carbon. Additionally, manufacturing of the Ryden battery is under no threat of supply disruption or price spikes from rare metals, rare earth or heavy metals.
  • Reliable – first ever high performance battery that meets consumer lifecycle demand, rated for more than 3,000 charge/discharge cycles.
  • Safe – safest high performance battery chemistry ever developed. The Ryden battery eliminates the unstable active material used in other high performance batteries, greatly reducing fire and explosion hazard. Even more, the battery experiences minimal thermal change during operation, eliminating the threat of a thermal runaway. Finally, the Ryden battery can be 100 percent charged and discharged with no damage to the battery.
  • Sustainable – contains no rare metals, rare earth metals or heavy metals, and is 100 percent recyclable, vastly improving the cradle-to-cradle sustainability of an advanced battery. Even further, Power Japan Plus is testing the Ryden battery with its organic Carbon Complex material, working towards the goal of producing the battery with all organic carbon in the future.

    • “Current advanced batteries have made great improvement on performance, but have done so by compromising on cost, reliability and safety,” said Dr. Kaname Takeya, CTO of Power Japan Plus. “The Ryden dual carbon battery balances this equation, excelling in each category.”

    Path to Market

    Power Japan Plus will begin benchmark production of 18650 Ryden cells later this year at the company’s production facility in Okinawa, Japan. This facility will allow the company to meet demand for specialty energy storage markets such as medical devices and satellites. For larger demand industries, such as electric vehicles, Power Japan Plus will operate under a licensing business model, providing technology and expertise to existing battery manufacturers to produce the Ryden battery.

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    Tesla Sees Need for Hundreds of Battery ‘Gigafactories’

    Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk said the need for lower-cost batteries for autos and power storage means there will need to be hundreds of “gigafactories” like the one the carmaker is planning to build.

    The electric-car company based in Palo Alto, California, anticipates the battery factory will reduce the cost of lithium-ion cells by more than its initial guidance of 30 percent, Musk said. He spoke yesterday at the World Energy Innovation Forum, an annual conference hosted by Tesla board member Ira Ehrenpreis.

    “I think we can probably do better than 30 percent,” Musk, 42, said yesterday at the company’s Fremont, California, plant. As carmakers increase demand for batteries “there’s going to need to be lots of gigafactories. Just to supply auto demand you need 200 gigafactories,” he said.

    Tesla is getting close to deciding where it will build the first such proposed facility, which Musk has said will cost as much as $5 billion and involve partner companies such as Panasonic. Last week he said groundbreaking at one of at least two potential sites could happen as early as June.

    Along with supplying cheaper batteries for Tesla’s electric cars, the plant is to supply stationary power storage devices to SolarCity Corp., another Musk-affiliated company. Those power storage devices will also be needed by other solar power providers and to store wind power, he said, without identifying specific companies.

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    BMW i5 with 300 km range expected by 2017

    Following news late last year of a large battery powered BMW sedan 'already in the works', details are starting to emerge about the 2017 i5.

    According to Car & Driver, the model will be heavily influenced by the i3 but feature distinctive styling and front-hinged rear doors. The model could also be equipped with a more conservative interior but nothing is official as of yet.

    Like the i3, the i5 is expected to feature an electric motor that develops 170 PS (125 kW) and 250 Nm (184 lb-ft) of torque. However, the model's increased size could enable it to use a larger lithium-ion battery that delivers an electric-only range of up to 200 miles (322 km). There could also be a range-extended variant that uses a 1.5-liter three-cylinder petrol engine.

    The BMW i5 will reportedly be launched in 2016, as a 2017 model, and cost approximately $50,000.

    Source: Car & Driver