It is underway the Italian operating table of e-SMART, the European project of e-Mobility Smart Grid For Passengers and Last Mile Freight Transport in the Alpine Space, for the support to electric mobility in the freight sector and in the public transport. Presented with the coordination of RSE, it aims at starting the cooperation among Public Administrations (PA), research bodies, electric mobility players and the producers/providers of energy through the creation/promotion of “LIVING LAB”. Such instrument, based on an approach of comparison and systematic start of integrated innovation and research projects, intends to facilitate a wider diffusion of the electric mobility and of its innovative modalities. The analysed ambit, in particular, concerns the promotion of electric mobility systems applied to the local public transport (LPT) and to the freight transport within urban areas, or last mile logistics (LML).
Green new deal and Manufacturing center. Turin electrified by the Relaunch Decree
The project for the establishment at Mirafiori of a Manufacturing Technology & Competence Center (MTCC) has received a remarkable boost and obtained more concreteness due to the publication in Official Gazette of the so-called Relaunch Decree, dated May 20th 2020. The initiative started in March 2019 with the signature of an agreement by Turin University and Polytechnics, the city Administration and Trade Chamber and by the Piedmont Region.
Roughly one year later, the centre planned in Turin industrial pole New Economy, former Fiat Mirafiori, has obtained a funding amounting to 20 million Euros with the LD. As reported also by other sources, the aim is creating an ambitious structure – National Centre for research, innovation and technological transfer in the mobility and Automotive field, this is the institutional denomination – with a broad scope. Focused, without ifs and buts, on the automotive world, it aims at interpreting its most innovative trends especially in the sustainability issue, developing research activities on electric and autonomous guide vehicles. On the other hand, the article 49 of the document has clarified that this first financing tranche, already planned for 2020, is part of Green New Deal and Territorial Plan 4.0 programmes «to favour ecologic transition processes in public and private sustainable mobility sectors, as well as the industry’s competitiveness».
MTCC intends to constitute a reference reality, one of the biggest and most important in Europe, dialoguing and collaborating with Italian and foreign institutes, with private enterprises and with other similar entities by vocation. Its targets are the study and the experimentation of new manufacturing lines and alternative transport models, besides the development of artificial intelligence applications. Clearly, the allocation of this resource tranche was favourably welcomed by the Industrial Union of the Piedmont capital: «This first tranche of 20 millions», the president Dario Gallina stated, «is a first important step for the start and the implementation of an international pole specialized in automotive and a relevant acknowledgment for our territory, whose fundamental role of technological transformation, in a sector with historical vocation of our city, is understood. The resources allocated by the Government, networked with regional ones, can exert a multiplier effect for our growth, based on new technologies and on education, the pillars on which building a virtuous course that involves big and small businesses».
The ball is returned to regional authorities, precisely, because the hope is that the 30 millions, set aside by the Region itself for the implementation of recovery policies, will be soon released.
(Roberto Carminati)
Electric vehicles, the revolution is French
Goal declared by the French President Emmanuel Macron is making France one of the main protagonists, or even the absolute primattress of the European e-mobility scenario. To reach this ambitious achievement, the tenant of the Eliseo has recently announced the allocation by his Government of a total of eight billion Euros that, in intentions, are at least partially intended for boosting the sales of light zero-impact vehicles.
Like elsewhere, the slowdown that affected the automotive panorama even before the advent of the Coronavirus emergency has made its effect felt in transalpine territory. Here, according to some estimates, in March and April registrations reached the -90% negative peak overall, although electric cars seem to have limited damages, stopping the fall around -66%.
Therefore, the institutional financing is aimed at reviving the fate of industry in general and, however, Macron explicitly anticipated that in the next five years the Country is expected to be able to produce at least one million of full-electric or hybrid models yearly.
Until next December 31st, the Government’s incentive in favour of the purchases of electric vehicles by private buyers will rise from 6,000 to 7,000 Euros and other provisions have been drawn up to full benefit of corporate and commercial fleets – they will take advantage of a 5,000 Euros bonus – and plug-in. The latter will benefit from funds up to 2,000 Euros, provided that they can travel for 50 kilometres minimum driven by the electric power supply only and their list price does not exceed 50,000 Euros.
Clearly, the plafond is not likely to be accessible to all, since it will be limited to the first 200,000 models bought in the frame of this programme. However, there is something else. The French executive has fixed in 12,000 Euros the incentive in favour of all those who are going to scrap their old car to shift to a completely electrified four-wheeler.
A race to facilities is to be budgeted, since in 2018 a similar initiative, but based on a 2,500 Euro incentive, had resulted in the exhaustion of 45% of the available amount in less than five months. Going back to the project recently baptised by Emmanuel Macron, it was blessed by big French automotive companies PSA and Renault-Nissan – the latter beneficiary of an anti-crisis loan worth 5 billions by the Government – that, besides working at the respective development roadmap of electric vehicles, are planning the production of dedicated batteries in partnership with Total Group.
(Roberto Carminati)
Byd is coming in Europe
The Chinese giant is about to land in Europe with its SUV Tang EV600. The debut of BYD in the Old Continent, in the segment of passenger cars, after making itself renowned with buses and professional vehicles, will take place in Norway, the motherland of electric mobility, through RSA distributor, which will take care of sales, after sales service and spare parts.
The car is a sport utility with permanent four-wheel drive that offers an autonomy of 520 km thanks to lithium batteries, and provides 5 or 7 seats for almost 5-metre length.
Isbrand Ho, managing director of BYD Europe, stated the Norwegian market is the natural choice to start this expansion process but, in the long term, the goal is expanding the sales of electric cars also in the rest of Europe.
Enel X triples its recharge spots in Europe
Enel business line dedicated to the development of innovative products and digital solutions, Enel X, has tripled the network of public recharge places of electric vehicles in Europe, rising from 10,500 already operating to over 30,000 points.
All over the world, Enel X counts about 100,000 total recharge spots of electric vehicles.
The project has been implemented through the eRoaming connectivity in synergy with Allego, the Dutch operator of the recharge net of electric vehicles, with Robert Bosch GmbH and with the German company Innogy. This implementation involves also simplification: in the ambit of Hubject electric mobility platform, the users of JuicePass app of Enel X will be allowed recharging, without having to stipulate new contracts in the recharge stations managed, in a network of over 19,500 points in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
With the aim of favouring the electric mobility, the company is planning to enlarge its network, from the current 100,000 points to about 736,000 within 2022, including both private and public.
(Lara Morandotti)
The road that charges electric vehicles
Is Wireless Electric Roads the future of global electric transportation? Israeli startup Electreon Wireless is developing a solution, creating roads that can charge electric vehicles as they drive. Wireless Electric Roads (ERS) is the platform of the future for charging EVs on the go – decreasing the size of the battery and load on the grid, smoothing operation and eliminating visual hazards.
Wireless ERS combines dynamic, semi dynamic and static charging, providing the optimal solution to any use case.
The first step of the company was an electric road in 2019, when in the coastal town of Beit Yanai in Israel, has successfully charged a Renault Zoe inductively while driving. This was achieved along a 20-metre long section of track equipped with coils embedded in a section of the road.
During the test, ElectReon proved an energy transmission of 8.5 kW with an efficiency of more than 91%.
Electron Wireless has another project planned for a small area in Tel Aviv this summer, before implementing a test in Sweden by the end of 2020.
Deadlines extended for Ecobonus 2020
In Italy, the Ministry of the Economic Development has extended the deadlines for the reservation of Ecobonus 2020 until December 2020, providing further 20 million Euros to buy cars with low Co2 emissions.
This decision was taken due to the success of the first 40 million Euros allocated for the Ecobonus 2020 and soon run out. Moreover, the fund dedicated to the Ecobonus was enhanced by the Relaunch Decree with resources amounting to 100 million Euros for 2020-year and 200 millions for 2021, which add up to the 70 millions already allocated by the Budget Law 2019 for next year.
The provision is aimed at favouring the sustainable mobility, through State funds up to 6,000 Euros resulting in the purchase of electric or hybrid vehicles with low CO2 emissions.
A challenge for EV potential investments and collaborations
The race to the full electric is priority for an ever-increasing number of brands, aware of the necessary mobility direction. Each winning idea might make the difference; just for this reason Hyundai, Kia and LG Chem have released EV & Battery Challenge, a challenge aimed at selecting 10 start-ups specialized in electric cars and batteries for potential investments and collaborations.
Hyundai Motor Group, for instance, pursues the ambitious target of releasing on the market 44 “green” cars within 2025, 23 of which are electric.
New Energy Nexus, the international organization that supports start-ups, is entrusted with the task of managing the competition, in which will be selected the ten start-ups that will have the opportunity of working in strict collaboration with Hyundai, Kia and LG Chem and of developing proofs of concept, benefitting from the technical expertise, the resources and the laboratories of the three international brands that aim at enhancing their technological competences.
Accomplished the conversion of the factory for electric mobility only
After 116 years, in Volkswagen plant in Zwickau, in Germany, they have produced the last car with combustion engine: a seventh-generation Golf R Variant. Since now onwards, in Zwickau they will manufacture only electric models of Volkswagen and, in the future, of Audi and SEAT brands, too. This choice implements for the first time the total shifting of a factory to the electric mobility.
In May 1990, Volkswagen started its production in this plant in Western Saxony and, in thirty years, they have manufactured 6,049,207 cars of Polo, Golf, Golf Variant, Passat sedan and Passat Variant models. After a conversion phase that will last some weeks, the first electric vehicles will be produced since the end of the current year.
The mass-production of the ID.3 1ST edition started in this factory in November 2019, while the manufacturing of the electric ID.4 SUV will follow in the course of Summer. ID.3 is the first model based on the MEB electric modular platform of Volkswagen, architecture purposely developed for battery cars, which optimally exploits the possibilities offered by electric mobility.
At full rate, the overall production capacity of Zwickau plant will reach 330,000 cars yearly.
The investments for the transition amount to about 1.2 billion Euros. In the final expansion stage, since 2021, here they will produce six models based on the MEB electric modular platform of three different brands of Volkswagen Group, becoming the biggest factory of electric cars in Europe.
Through a specific training, all 8,000 workers will be qualified to produce electric cars and to handle high-voltage systems. The team will complete around 20,500 total training days by the end of 2020 and all this will assure the certainty of workplaces in the long term in Zwickau.
(by Lara Morandotti)
Electric cars: accelerating the spread?
A new study by mOve laboratory at the Politecnico di Milano has shown that there is an immediate opportunity to move a step forward even without waiting for the development of a public charging network.
The investigation has shown that there is an immediate opportunity to accelerate the spread of electric vehicles, even without waiting for the development of a public charging network.
The results
Around 13% of all private vehicle owners could purchase an electric car immediately, without changing their habits, with the most likely availability of a home charging point and breaking even on costs in comparison with a petrol-driven car in less than 8 years (with the current government incentives offered on their purchase and road tax).
The research is considered highly statistically reliable as it is entirely based upon real data: over 100 million trips in private vehicles, monitored over a period of 12 months, were analysed.
The researchers at the mOve laboratory obtained the results by cross-referencing an analysis of the distances covered, an in-depth economic assessment of the purchase of an electric car, and a geographical analysis of the location of the subjects’ homes to quantify the probability that they would actually have a home charging point available.
The analysis
According to the analysis of the distances, a sizeable 50% of private vehicles never make daily trips lasting longer than the battery life of the car (assumed to be around 300 km/190 miles in practice) over the course of the entire year, thus making it possible for them to make the switch to an electric vehicle without any changes in habits or usage limits, as long as they have a home charging point available, be it private or block-owned.
The study then went into greater detail with the analysis of this 50% of vehicles which are functionally ready to switch to electric, using an in-depth economic assessment (purchase costs, energy costs, road tax and insurance costs, depreciation, etc.) of an electric car compared to a petrol-driven equivalent.
One final study was carried out and cross-referenced with the others: a geographical analysis of the location of the subjects’ homes to quantify the probability that they would actually have a home charging point available.
By introducing this limitation, the percentage of total vehicles in the fleet that would be “immediately ready” to purchase an electric car was estimated to be 13%.
This opportunity could be further increased by encouraging car-sharing systems, making it easier to reach the economic “break-even” point for electric cars, and consequently reducing the need to introduce incentives.