Industry News - Green Cars, Emissions and Charging Points in the UK

Green Driving and green cars are this weeks’ focus for a lot of the media. In part this is because the German Frankfurt Car show is now on but more than anything it is because Hybrid and electric vehicles are becoming more and more part of the make up of transport in the UK.

Slowly but surely we are seeing more Smart cars and Toyota Prius on the streets. However one thing manufacturers must look out for is being clear in their environmental claims.

Last week the Guardian journalist Fred Pearce questioned the ‘green’ claims being made by BMW for their new X6. He observed the “The ActiveHybrid X6's official CO2 emissions rating with the European Union is 231 grams per kilometre. That compares badly with the EU's 2012 target for average emissions from new cars of 120 grams. It is also higher than the emissions from most of the new Lexus hybrid range and more than twice the emissions of a Toyota Prius, for instance”. So the focus needs to be on clearly commuting the improvements in the technology and what it does in real terms for reducing CO2.

On the Today Programme on BBC radio 4 they continued with the automotive theme with an interview with Dr Peter Wells, of the Centre for Automotive Research at Cardiff Business School. Wells was discussing how for decades, the motor industry has been promising that electric motoring is just around the corner but there were still some key challenges to sort out – namely in the area of battery life and the cost to the consumers. Once these are solved he predicts the market growing fast with quicker consumer uptake.

Charging Points
The Energy Technologies Institute outlined their development plan to have charging points for electric and hybrid cars across the UK. Nine cities and towns in the UK are to have charging points for electric and hybrid fuelled vehicles under an £11m development plan. Birmingham, Coventry, Glasgow, London, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Newcastle and Sunderland will be the first to benefit from the scheme.

This scheme will be welcomed by the industry and the public as a lack of charging points has been one of the main blocking points to the roll out in the UK. There is a huge need to focus on the charging points to ensure that the public can start using hybrid and electric cars quicker.

If the public can only charge up at home and then find it challenging to find a charging spots in towns and cites, when they are out shopping or at work it just acts as barrier to people starting to take up the electric and hybrid cars.

London mayor Boris Johnson commenting on the scheme, said: "Moving to using electric vehicles which emit zero pollution will have a major impact on cutting carbon emissions, improving air quality and reducing noise pollution.

"I want to make it much easier to go electric which is why in London we are planning to roll out 25,000 charging points.

"So I'm delighted that the capital is part of the joined cities network helping to speed up the electric revolution across the country."

Taylor Keogh Communications Public Affairs and PR for the Energy Industry

Industry News-Inventors look to crack electric car conundrum

Researchers grappling with the problem of developing the most fuel-efficient electric cars are using micro-jet turbine engines and 'supercapacity' batteries to help energy-conscious consumers drive further.

Background:

The push to develop a viable electric car has been driven by the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to curb climate change and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

However, technical and logistical difficulties mean developing a mass market electric vehicle is not so straightforward. Critics say electric cars do not have a long enough 'range' (meaning they are not well suited to long-distance driving) and a major overhaul of power supply infrastructure will be required to make electric cars convenient for consumers.

Nonetheless, political support for greener transport has been growing. In an economic recovery package released last year, the European Union earmarked €5 billion for its Green Car Initiative. The US government is also heaping pressure on US automakers to lead the way on clean technologies.

The EU plan includes support for research into electric and hybrid vehicles, but also allocates funds for hydrogen powered-vehicles and fuel cell technology. High density batteries are seen as key to unlocking the problem of making electric cars compete with contemporary petrol engines.

Earlier this year, EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik challenged Europe's automotive industry to come up with workable solutions to electrify Europe's transport system by next year.

Companies from Europe, Japan and Israel believe on-board chargers and high-powered battery technology could give them an edge in the race to produce a commercially viable electric car – and investors are beginning to buy into the idea.

A Tel Aviv-based start-up, ETV Motors, has raised €8.4 million for R&D, and has adapted the top-selling Toyota Prius petrol-electric hybrid to test its theory. The new model does not have an internal combustion engine, but instead features an electric engine with a supercapacity battery and a mirco-jet turbine which powers the vehicle from the rear.

The notion of a turbine-powered electric car is not entirely new, but ETV wants to fine-tune its design for the mass market. It says it has developed a micro-turbine engine to act as an on-board charger and a high-density battery that can power a vehicle for about 60-80 km (35-50 miles) on one charge.

The test car uses newly-designed components which are still undergoing development, the company said, adding that the final product should be ready for tests next year.

Another Israeli project, Better Place, was launched in 2007 with €140 million of venture funding. It has been gaining momentum across the globe, pushing for fully electric cars that recharge by plugging in to a grid network.

Better Place has partnered with Renault and Nissan to develop electric car infrastructure, with Nissan expected to focus on the Japanese market, while Renault looks to bring electric cars to European roads by the end of the decade.

Renault unveiled its first demonstration model in Tel Aviv in May 2008, pledging to begin sales by late 2010 – which would make it one of the quickest vehicles to go from concept to market in automotive history.

Renault and Nissan will hold large-scale joint testing events for its new electric cars in Paris and Milan next year, ahead of mass production scheduled for 2012. The trial conducted in the Paris region will include testing of a new car-charging network, which is being developed in conjunction with electricity giant EDF.

"One hundred electric cars from the Renault-Nissan alliance [...] will be tested from September 2010 for a year by individuals, companies and local authority employees," Renault-Nissan and EDF said in a statement.

Toyota Motor Corp, another of the auto giants developing hybrid and plug-in technologies, said it would start leasing 500 plug-in cars globally by the end of this year.

Better batteries

Toyota said its car will be powered by lithium-ion batteries, and Japan's Nikkei business daily reported this month that the plug-in will be able to run 20-30 km (12-18 miles) on battery power alone at full charge.

ETV Motors says its batteries will power a car for more than twice as long. With its on-board charger, the vehicle will not be dependent on a complicated electric charging infrastructure, although it will be plug-in compatible.

The jet turbine system is also a departure from General Motors Corp's Chevy Volt plug-in, which is also powered by a traditional internal combustion engine. GM aims to introduce the Volt, with its 64 km (40 mile) range, by late 2010.

The game-changing development, said chief technology officer Arieh Meitav, was a higher density battery, based on Lithium Manganese Nickel Oxide.

The batteries will be the first to have 4.7 volt cells, in place of existing Lithium-ion batteries with 3.2 volts. This allows for a longer range with a smaller battery, and it is projected to last throughout the car's lifetime, he said.

The second part of the system, the electricity producing micro-turbine, is being developed with the help of an aviation company – though ETV Motors would not say which one.

The turbine can run off a variety of fuel sources, like gasoline, diesel and biofuel, the company said, and will only operate to charge the battery when it runs low, spinning at a constant 80,000 RPM for maximum efficiency.

The full article appears here

Political News - Lord Adonis Minister for Transport article in the Guardian

The road ahead is Green

Lord Andrew Adonis – Minister for Transport

Transport, my ministerial brief, must play a major role in a low-carbon future. And I am determined we'll get there.

There are issues that shape every generation and define every age. Climate change is just such an issue and our political generation has got to deal with it.

The scientific consensus tells us that by 2050 we must reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 50%. But, as a developed country, we have a responsibility to go even further. So we passed the landmark Climate Change Act and set ourselves a binding target to reduce the UK's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050.

With transport accounting for 21% of total UK domestic emissions, de-carbonising this sector has to be front and centre of efforts to meet our obligations and commitments. Which is precisely why we are launching our new strategy today: "Low carbon transport: a greener future".

This is a key component of the government's wider plans to cut carbon. It sets out our long-term vision for a fundamentally different transport system in our country, contributing substantially to the CO2 savings needed to meet the economy-wide carbon budgets. Our vision is underpinned by the concept of choice – making low-carbon travel a genuine and viable option for people and businesses, within and between different modes of transport. And it's inspired, in Anthony Giddens's words, by "a mixture of the idealistic and the hard-headed".

Real progress is already being made. The New Car CO2 Regulation, which we agreed with our European partners last December, is expected to save 7m tonnes of CO2 in the UK in 2020. We also have a huge opportunity to create a flourishing market for ultra-low emission vehicles in the UK. We have moved firmly into this space, to get new, greener technology on our roads. We have established a £250m fund for consumer incentives and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, to encourage take-up and support the technology as it comes to market. We have also launched a £30m scheme to encourage uptake of low-emission buses, which will stimulate the market as well as helping to safeguard jobs in bus manufacturing.

Last month, we announced the results of two technology competitions. The first, a £25m programme run by the Technology Strategy Board, will see more than 340 ultra-low emission cars tested out in cities around the UK. In the second, public-sector fleets will trial up to 150 low-emission and all-electric vans.

But technology isn't the whole answer. We also need to think about how and when we travel. There is an important role for the regions and local authorities here. We are giving large urban areas across England the chance to bid to become the country's first sustainable travel city. This will be used to encourage greener and more active travel modes – walking and cycling, as well as improving public transport.

There is an exciting agenda on the railways with transformational projects like the Crossrail scheme, which will bring an additional 1.5 million people within 60-minutes' commuting distance of London's key business districts. We have completed the country's first high-speed rail line, High Speed One, and we are preparing the way for a north-south high-speed line with the establishment of the High Speed Two Company. We have been examining in detail the case for more rail electrification and plan to make announcements soon.

Another important point – close to my heart – is improving the integration of services. That is why I have pledged £5m to improve radically cycle facilities at our railway stations.

In aviation, we have set ourselves a tough national target to bring CO2 emissions from UK aviation below 2005 levels by 2050. We will achieve this first by the use of market-based measures, including an effective emissions trading scheme. And Ed Miliband and I will be pressing for international aviation, as well as international shipping, to be included in any new global deal agreed at the Copenhagen climate change conference in December.

The goals we have set ourselves are certainly ambitious. But, thanks to a track record of progress and achievement, we have before us a real opportunity to build a greener, cleaner future for our transport system, our country and the environment we all share. It is an opportunity I am determined to seize.

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