Last August, the Italian Association Ancma – National Association of Bicycles, Motorbikes and Accessories has cast its spotlights on the market of two-wheeled motor vehicles in Italy. Global provisioning problems overall weaken vehicles’ availability, whereas the annual cumulative is stable. In a scenario where the global registrations of mopeds, scooters and motorcycles in July are affected by the 7% downturn versus the same 2021-month, it goes on the race of electric vehicles that, in July, grow by 79.4% and achieve 2,184 units. The yearly cumulative trend was similar, with 11,356 vehicles placed on the market, corresponding to the 81.7% growth. Particularly lively the segment of scooters that, with 6,644 units, grazes the doubling versus the previous year (+97.4%).
Growths up to almost 100% The race of electric motorbikes goes on
New Ardemagni factory is in operation: four slitting lines and three packaging lines
Founded in 1946 by Ardemagni family, the steel service center was established in the market and developed further to become a brand recognised by customers and suppliers in all Europe.
Today Ardemagni is one of the biggest competitors in the market, in the future focused also on E-Mobile projects with high frequency grades. The company is further growing and the most recent implementation by Ardemagni is the installation, at the beginning of June, of the last slitting line. With this last step, the new plant in Monfalcone street, at Cinisello Balsamo (Mi), is operating with four slitting lines and three packaging lines.
The daily production capacity of strips is 500-ton, working on a single shift.
To grant the operation of the service centre and to assure supplies to customers according to their programmes, Ardemagni has rented an external warehouse equipped with 25-Ton bridge crane that allows it to increment its storage capacity to 30 KTons.
This logistic solution protects the company against eventual problems connected with congestion of ports and lack of means.
Audi, electric strategy in Hungary
The shift towards the full electric is collective and is involving all European Countries. As proven by the last piece of news by Audi, which is strongly staking on Hungary, protagonist of an investment worth 301 million Euros for the production of electric motors in Gyor factory on MEB platform, intended for Volkswagen Group’s all models.
It is a strategic step that will materialize in 2025, an operation confirmed by the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, who has revealed the extent of the Government’s grant allocated to Audi for such operation: 21 million Euros.
Due to this step, Gyor factory – which achieved the carbon neutral certification in 2020 – will open around 500 new workplaces. Last gem: to reduce the carbon footprint of its fleet by 30%compared to 2015, Audi will make its production at zero carbon emissions in all sites within 2025.
Renault, the “electric transformation” of Cléon plant
Renault has invested over 620 million Euros in its Cléon site to industrialize 100% full electric and hybrid motors of the Group. The new line is dedicated to the production of the electric “ePT-160kW” motor that boasts a configuration of synchronous wound-rotor type and supplies 160-kW power and 300-Nm torque.
Jose Vicente de los Mozos, Industrial Director of Renault Group, stated: « Cléon plant, emblematic site at the core of Renault Group’s industrial ecosystem, is the major manufacturing centre of electric motors in France. Today, we take a further step forward in its conversion to electric. Producing this new electric motor for Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric is great reason of pride for 3,228 employees of the factory. Cléon is the perfect example of the Group’s industrial transformation towards electric vehicles and their value chain».
The factory will have a manufacturing capacity of over 1 million electrified motors yearly starting from 2024, of which 500,000 electric motors and 510,000 hybrid motors.
Electrification of heavy vehicles: the race of Daimler Truck
Daimler Truck is accelerating the electrification of its vehicle fleet: The Mercedes-Benz eEconic for municipal use is going into series production at the Wörth site in the southern Rhineland-Palatinate. Within a short period of time, the second model of the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz trucks will roll off the production line in Wörth, following the series launch of the eActros for urban distribution transport in October 2021. The eEconic was developed together with customers and, following intensive test series, has been undergoing practical trials with customers since May 2022. The first vehicle from series production will be handed over to Urbaser A/S, a company operating in the waste disposal sector in Denmark. Other customers have already opted for the series-production eEconic. The vehicles are to be delivered successively over the course of the year.
«From the sketch to the finished vehicle, from the prototype to the production truck – now the time has come: with the eEconic, we are putting the first electrically powered and series-produced Mercedes-Benz Special Truck on the road. The exchange with our customers has shown: cities and municipalities want CO2-neutral vehicles for their fleets. Especially with regard to large cities, there is a need for quiet, clean and safe logistics and waste disposal solutions. And we offer just the right truck for this» said Dr. Ralf Forcher, Head of Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks.
The eEconic will be manufactured in the existing Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks assembly line, in parallel and flexibly alongside the trucks that will be powered by internal combustion engines. After the vehicle has been largely assembled, the eEconic’s electrification continues in the Future Truck Center, where – just like the eActros – it is equipped with the electric drive components. In several production steps, the high-voltage batteries and the charging unit are installed, among other things. Once all high-voltage components have been assembled, the entire system can be put into operation and the truck is ready to drive.
The key technical specifications of the eEconic are largely identical to those of the eActros. The eEconic as a waste collection is designed to cover the vast majority of typical waste collection routes operated by an Econic in a single shift without intermediary charging. The electric drivetrain enables a level cab floor to be implemented – this facilitates moving through the cab and is particularly advantageous when the driver wishes to leave the vehicle through the folding door on the co-driver’s side, well out of the way of the traffic.
Electric propulsion systems on the water
Hercules Electric Marine, a division of Hercules Electric Mobility, Inc., has recently announced it has reached an agreement with Coach Marine Group (CMG) to supply CMG with electric propulsion systems for use in its Coach and Xcursion branded pontoon boats. The companies have entered the final design and integration phase in which they will partner to tailor the Hercules e-Drive system to CMG’s exact specifications to deliver a superior experience for Coach & Xcursion pontoon customers.
CMG intends to produce up to 1,500 electric pontoons annually featuring an electric inboard/outboard motor that is powered by the Hercules e-Drive system. Financial terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.
Hercules expects to deliver its initial e-Drive systems to CMG in the fourth quarter, enabling CMG to get electric-powered pontoons to its North American dealer network as early as May 2023.
«We’re thrilled to partner with an industry leader like Coach to bring state-of-the-art electrification technology to the marine industry without sacrificing performance», said James Breyer, CEO of Hercules.
The words by Chris Riddle, CMG CEO, are as enthusiastic: «By working together, we’re confident this will be a successful venture for both parties. This is a collaborative effort from design to sales. We’re looking forward to the retail boat show season and other display opportunities this year, showcasing the power, performance and quiet luxury that comes with a Hercules e-Drive mated to a Coach pontoon».
CMG pontoons powered by the Hercules 200-kilowatt e-Drive system will have a top-end speed above 40 mph and approximately 12 hours of cruising time between battery charges. Programmable software enables users to customize power levels for optimal range or to meet waterway horsepower or speed restrictions.
Electric motors and rebranding
Integral Powertrain Limited presents a total corporate rebrand, which transforms it into Helix: a new identity that coincides with its direction towards high-performance electric powertrains, with particular focus on integrated and all-in-one solutions.
The company, established in 1998, initially provided consulting for internal combustion engines, and along the years it has increasingly specialized in electrified units, shifting to hybrid, until nowadays, when it proposes high and very high performance eDrives, with possibility of scalability and customization according to customers’ requirements.
The top product is certainly the Electric Hypercar Fully Integrated Drive Unit, a solution with high power density, which equips Lotus Evija, one of the most powerful electric cars on the market, with 2,000 HP and 1,700 Nm of torque.
Its is also the electric motor of TE-1, the first e-bike by Triumph, and the powertrain by Volkswagen ID.R, an Integral eDrive SPM242
PowerCo: Volkswagen enters global battery business
The Volkswagen player has presented the birth of its new branch dedicated to the production of battery cells for the Group’s electric cars and, in the meantime, they have laid the first stone for the building of the new gigafactory in Salzgitter, Germany, which will be called SalzGiga.
PowerCo will take care of the production and management of the whole business connected with batteries for electric cars.
The manufacturing of cells in the new factory will start in 2025 and, at steady state, the plant will be able to produce batteries for a yearly capacity of 40 GWh, sufficient for 500,000 electric vehicles.
With the entry into operation of all six gigafactories, within 2030 Volkswagen will achieve an overall capacity of 240 GWh of annual battery production.
The German Chancellor Scholz declared: «Today is an important day for the automotive industry in Germany and in Europe. Volkswagen Group shows how the future of a sustainable environment-friendly mobility might be. Together, in Salzgitter, we are laying significant foundations to shape this future».
PowerCo will invest over 20 billion Euros from now until 2030 in the business of batteries for electric vehicles, with the creation of 20,000 new workplaces in all Europe.
Good news in view of sustainability: SalzGiga will rely on a recycling centre that will allow, in full operation, recovering all most precious materials from “exhausted” batteries, to be reused as raw materials for the production of new cells.
Motors for heavy vehicles: novelties by ZF
Since the launch of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) division, the portfolio of ZF products is increasingly including solutions for the electric mobility and there are interesting novelties towards this direction. It is the new CeTrax 2 electric motor, specifically conceived for heavy commercial vehicles. The motor can reach a power of 360 kW, but with a better efficiency compared to the old model, due to the load switching. The unit is equipped with a new cooling system, the integrated silicon carbide inverter and the hairpin design for the stator. The integration of components makes CeTrax 2 more compact and with a perfect power/weight ratio precisely for heavy vehicles.
The production will start in 2023, and there is already an agreement with a leader manufacturer on a global scale.
Sustainable mobility: 14 million Euros for the electric requalification
Incoming funds up to 3,500 Euros for electric requalification expenses, and up to 60% for various stamp duties.
By Decree of the Minister of Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobility (MIMS), in agreement with the Ministry of the Economic Development (MiSE) they have allocated a new contribution, aimed at the promotion of the decarbonization, to pursue a higher environmental sustainability, through greener transports that favour the ecologic transition.
The subsidy measure is part of a broader government project, that starts from the forecasts of the LD Infrastructures, alias Law n. 156 dated November 9th 2021, providing for urgent measures concerning investments and safety of infrastructures, of transports and of the road circulation.
Let us see, then, in detail what it provides for and who (but especially how) can ask for it.
The subsidy measure: contributions for expenses and stamps
The funding resources, already scheduled in the budget by MIMS, amount to overall 14 million Euros.
The contribution supports the expenses of motor requalification (from endothermic to electric) of vehicles for the transport of people and goods: it covers 60% of the cost but it will not exceed 3,500 Euros, even when the reconversion spending should be higher.
Moreover, a further contribution is provided, still by 60%, for the expenses relating to stamp duty for registration with PRA, the Public Automobile Register, the stamp duty and the provincial transcription tax.
Contribution for the sustainable mobility: beneficiaries and conditions
It will be possible to ask for the contribution to all owners of minivans for the transport of people, of vehicles with more than eight seats, as well as to those who own lorries for the transport of goods (categories M1, M1G, M2, M2G, M3, M3G, N1 and N1G).
Essential condition to benefit from the concession is having installed, on one’s own vehicle, a system of electric requalification that replaces the endothermic motor.
Vehicles must be originally registered with internal combustion engine; afterwards, they will have to be transformed into electrical-traction vehicles.
Terms and expiries for the sustainable mobility contribution
To be allowed asking for the contribution, the replacement of the thermal engine will have to be successive to 10 November 10th 2021, date of entry into force of the conversion Law of the LD Infrastructures.
Until December 31st 2022, connecting with the suitable telematic platform – currently not in operation, yet – managed by Concessionaria Servizi Assicurativi Pubblici S.p.A. (CONSAP S.p.A.), it will be possible to ask for the concession.
The activation of the online page will be communicated, in the short term, on the website of the Ministry of Infrastructures and of Sustainable Mobility.
Here the official communication by MIMS.
(Marianna Capasso)