Wuhan, China, June 19 - Detroit Electric Holdings Ltd and Donfeng Motor Company announced today that the two companies will work together to research, develop, market and sell Pure Electric Vehicles (PEVs) in China using Detroit Electric’s advanced electric drive technology.
The agreement will allow Donfeng Motors to test and validate Detroit Electric’s electric drive train technology in order to produce and market Donfeng’s PEVs. The parties are also discussing the possibility of forming a joint venture company, which would manufacture, assemble, produce and supply Detroit Electric’s technology to Donfeng and other auto manufacturers.
“This validation process is a major proof point for the technical leadership and commercial readiness of our electric motor drive technology,” said Albert Lam, Detroit Electric’s Chairman and CEO.
With over 1.3 billion people, it is no wonder that China is the “tipping point” when it comes to electric vehicles (EV). At least that’s what Better Place CEO Shai Agassi says.
Better Place, a venture-backed company that aims to reduce global dependency on oil, doesn’t sell cars but infrastructure. The company recently unveiled a battery swap system in Tokyo that makes refueling an EV easier than filling up at the pump. The $500,000 station allows drivers to travel long distances without having to stop to charge their battery, eliminating EV’s ever present “range anxiety.” Batteries are quickly and easily swapped out so drivers can get back on the road.
But infrastructure is just part of the picture, and Agassi says that China is taking steps toward green-lighting electric cars in a big way. “Once China does it, you don’t have a choice,” Agassi said.
Diepenbeek, Belgium - On June 2, 2009, 365-Energy announced that the Katholieke High School of Limburg (KHLim) will begin deploying ChargePoint(TM) Network charging stations from the infrastructure manufacturer Coulomb Technologies as part of the first European Clean Mobility Center in Belgium.
Coulomb’s international partner 365-Energy will provide the charging stations and manage the ChargePoint Network for subscribers.
KHLim produces its own green energy through wind, heat and solar as part of its CO2 neutral area. The ChargePoint charge stations will be connected to KHLim’s own power grid, which will supply the necessary energy.
Prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics there was some concern by athletes about the air quality in China’s capital, so officials there passed a series of temporary measures to improve the air, including restrictions on the types of vehicles allowed into the city. Those measures now appear to be a permanent legacy of the Olympic games, as Beijing has announced that starting in June only low-emissions “green label” vehicles will be allowed inside the 5th Ring Road of Beijing’s inner city.
By Nick Chambers •
April 27, 2009
Norwegian Finance Minister, Kristin Halvorsen, and her Socialist Left Party have put forth a plan that would disallow the sale of new cars that run solely on gasoline after 2015.
Under the plan new cars such as hybrids, that run partially on gas, would still be allowed to be sold in the country, but any cars that only use gas as their power source would be illegal. Cars already on the road would be unaffected.
While seeing Chinese cars on display at the Detroit Auto Show has become somewhat common these past few years, there is one place they were hardly expected: Costco!
Yes, the big-box discount store Costco could be selling the Chinese-designed and Mexican-built vehicles says one auto exec. The CEO of GS Motors — Kathleen Ligocki — told the Hybrid Cars website that she thinks the US will follow in Mexico’s footsteps. GS Motors sold 4,000 China-made vehicles in Mexico last year at…Costco and Wal-Mart.
My first thought: If they are sold at Costco, will they come individually wrapped and in a pack of ten?
On March 13, the European Union will impose a counter-subsidy tax on U.S. biodiesel producers for “dumping” biodiesel on the European market.
European producers have been complaining about cheap imported biodiesel for quite a while, and it looks like a key European trade panel finally took action. The tax will be specific to each biodiesel producer:
- ArcherDaniels Midland: 86 cents per gallon;
- Cargill: 90 cents;
- Imperium Renewables: 96 cents;
- Green Earth Energy Fuels: 93 cents;
- World Energy Alternatives: 96 cents;
- Peter Cremer North America and remaining biodiesel producers will pay $1.36 per gallon.
By Jennifer Lance •
January 2, 2009
According to Jalopnik, the Queen is preempting Bentley’s move to biofuels:
Queen Elizabeth the II, who lives rent free in several state-owned mansions and castles — the poorly insulated kind that are a bitch to heat in the winter — travels by a state-owned private jet and requires a security detail that uses many fossil fuel powered cars, trucks, motorcycles and helicopters, has decided to do her bit for the environment. The biofuel conversion is estimated to increase the fuel economy of her two, scarcely used, Bentleys by a staggering 40%. How? By burning some of her tiny island nation’s food supply in place of gasoline. Bentley is expected to introduce a similar system for its range of luxury cars by 2012, allowing similarly well-heeled individuals to feel better about themselves while dining on imported fine foodstuffs.
By Nick Chambers •
December 15, 2008
According to The Guardian, Fatih Birol, Chief Economist with the International Energy Agency (IEA), has candidly revealed his position that world oil demand will start outpacing supply “around 2020.”
Peak Oil — that most controversial and elusive of concepts. Everybody seems to have their own opinion. There are experts on both sides who alternately claim we have at least 30 years before we reach it and those who claim we’ve already reached it.
So, for a top-level official in an agency with the respect of the IEA to state that we’ll reach an oil supply plateau around 2020 is pretty substantial news — especially considering that his own agency has previously stated that the date was 2030.
By Nick Chambers •
October 14, 2008
Editor’s Note: I was in Houston, TX, last week, celebrating the International Year of the Planet at the first ever joint meeting between the American societies of Soil Science, Geology, Crop Science and Agronomy. With a significant focus on biofuels, this conference was rife with interesting materials.
In what could be my biggest personal revelation since diving into the world of alternative energy, it dawned on me last week that the “western” biofuel players are certainly the loudest kids on the block, but not really the most important.
I spent a large part of my time at the conference just trying to sort out which of the dozens of excellent forums on biofuels, energy, and environmental quality I should attend. The rest of my time was taken up with trying to keep my head together enough to make sense of it all so I could convey it in a way that’s meaningful to you, my readers.
But, while running around like a kid in a candy store, I became aware that my understanding of biofuels was decidedly myopic. Up until last week, I was squarely focused on U.S., E.U., and, to a smaller extent, Brazilian policies — quite naturally and unapologetically, I might add. After all, I am a U.S. citizen and I have a profound connection to my country and it’s cultural peers.
By Nick Chambers •
October 13, 2008
Editor’s Note: I was in Houston, TX, last week, celebrating the International Year of the Planet at the first ever joint meeting between the American societies of Soil Science, Geology, Crop Science and Agronomy. With a significant focus on biofuels, this conference was rife with interesting materials.
The Challenge: Find biofuel crops that are “pro-poor.”
One Answer: Crops that can be grown with limited resources by small-scale farmers, can be converted to biofuel with existing cheap technology, and can simultaneously provide food, fuel, and livestock feed.
In my last post I discussed how agriculture could regain its rightful place as the keystone of civilization due to the rise of biofuels over the next 30 years or so. But, in what seems a ridiculously colossal conundrum, hundreds of millions of impoverished people worldwide could face starvation due to competition of fuel land with food land.
