Electric cars on the back burner

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0417-slhk.html

It's back to the bowser in the race to the future
PETER HAWKINS
April 18, 2010

THE federal government has ruled out offering incentives for electric cars, preferring to support existing oil-based technology.

Consumer subsidies such as those offered by overseas governments are crucial to ensuring Australian buyers can access the limited supply of electric cars, car companies say.

The first production electric car, Mitsubishi's i-MiEV, which will arrive at the end of the year, is understood to cost about $70,000.

The federal government instead believes the future of the car industry lies in the development of existing technology across petrol, diesel and LPG engines.

''It's not our intention to run programs to support any particular form of technology,'' Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Kim Carr said.

''Over the next decade, the most rapid and cost-effective way of improving fuel economy and building more environmentally effective cars is to adapt technologies that are being deployed now.''

The government will spend $1.3 billion over the next 10 years to increase production of cleaner, more efficient vehicles. But the money is going to manufacturers, such as Toyota, for the development of the hybrid Camry, rather than consumers in the form of rebates or tax incentives.

Senator Carr said the decision would ensure Australia had a sustainable automotive industry that continued to produce Australian-made cars and employ more than 60,000 people.

He said the government would not be investing in any infrastructure for electric cars, such as charging stations, and that the rising cost of electricity was a factor.

Referring to a US National Research Council report, Senator Carr said the high cost of lithium-ion batteries limited charging stations. Electric cars will make up only 13 million of the 300 million cars in the US by 2030.

''We want [to develop] Australian-made vehicles on Australian roads to the highest level we can,'' Senator Carr said. ''The evidence at the moment suggests that the economics would have to improve dramatically for there to be a significant change in consumer preference.''

Mitsubishi Australia head of corporate communications Lenore Fletcher said the company had high demand for the i-MiEV, mainly from large corporations.

It expects to receive about 10 plug-in i-MiEV vehicles a month from October.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said electric car sales were unlikely to have an impact on the Australian market in the short term because they were still in the development phase.

But the cars had a future in this country and the government needed to start doing more to attract car manufacturers to our shores.

''It is important that in the Australian market we look to be part of that emerging trend as early as possible,'' chief executive Andrew McKellar said.

''Some of those incentives that are being implemented overseas are very substantial. If we are to secure supply in the Australian market in substantial numbers then we need a competitive policy and that needs to be evaluated.''

Mr McKellar said incentives built demand which encouraged further investment in the development of technology and the battery.

University of Technology Sydney researcher Chris Dunstan said electric cars offered health benefits in terms of local air pollution and, unless they were charged in Victoria, which used brown coal, they were no worse for the environment.

Mr Dunstan, the research director at the university's Institute for Sustainable Futures, said several major issues concerning electric cars were still to be addressed, including if owners would have to use green power and where and when they could charge their batteries.

''We need to make sure we are thinking about the energy supply infrastructure and how we manage it. It goes back to not just having the technology right but the incentives also,'' he said.

Mr Dunstan said 100 per cent renewable power was cheaper than petrol and the price of batteries was coming down.

''If Australia was to embrace this technology more, then there's potential for us to be a significant player in what's likely to be a multibillion-dollar industry in the next few years,'' he said.

Dr Peter Pudney, from the University of South Australia, said the more electric cars sold, the cheaper they would become.

He is calling for a push towards renewable energy and the need for immediate action.

He said incentives did not have to be financial but could be the introduction of low-emission parking spaces and traffic lanes.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

[buggo]

The government aren't pushing for Australians to get themselves into electric cars, as they would have you think by what they say, because they will lose a stupid amount of profits that would usually have come from fuel tax, ~50c /L for petrol. Not sure about LPG and I'm pretty sure deisel is taxed higher.
They can't counterbalance this from charging up your car because the cut they get from the power companies will never outway billions of $ of fuel tax.
Maybe this is why electricity is going up, to counter balance or getting Australians ready for Huge increases in rates. Like boiled frogs, is that their master plan??

[mik]

don`t worry buggo gt , if they don`t get their huge taxes off fuel they will make rego $5000 a car in qaurterly installments, and they would`nt feel any guilt about it.

[pauljh74]

They also don't want electric cars being widespread as firstly charging stations would be required and secondly, when it hits 40 degrees in Summer, the electricity grid struggles or simply fails. I'd assume cars would draw quite a bit of current from the charging stations.

[aussie muscle]

and there's not likely to be charging stations between sydney-melbourne for quite a long time

[barra265t]

Originally Posted by pauljh74

They also don't want electric cars being widespread as firstly charging stations would be required and secondly, when it hits 40 degrees in Summer, the electricity grid struggles or simply fails. I'd assume cars would draw quite a bit of current from the charging stations.

Can't a small generator on a trailer be used in such cases :

[aussie muscle]

In Europe, too, hydrogen is low-priority. The Dutch government, for example, recently announced a euro5 million ($6.75 million) subsidy for hydrogen, but gave eight times more for electric cars. Buyers of plug-ins get tax breaks and rebates, and cities like London and Amsterdam are planting charge-up pillars on their streets.

http://www.mnn.com/transportation/ca...ate-green-cars

[xtremerus]

Australia does not have the capacity to start suppling electricity for cars.
There would be a MASSIVE meltdown and crash of the whole power system, if there was a quick change to 'plug-in' cars.

[Franco Cozzo]

I can't see Australia even having electric cars, you get a 40 degree day, everyone turns on their airconditioning and here in Victoria, the power plant melts down...

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I can't see Australia even having electric cars, you get a 40 degree day, everyone turns on their airconditioning and here in Victoria, the power plant melts down...

Were getting a second power plant.

[vztrt]

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...257712000134FC

Electrify or perish

Better Place urges EV solution to local manufacturers to extend large-car future

27 April 2010

By BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS in TOKYO

BETTER Place CEO Shai Agassi has warned Australia’s manufacturers to implement their plans now to build electric vehicles if they hope to survive against EV imports from Asia and Europe.

Speaking at the opening of the world’s first battery switch site for electric taxis in Japan, the founder of the electric vehicle infrastructure pioneer said Better Place’s global network rollout from next year was timed to coincide with the imminent arrival of commercially viable EVs such as the Nissan Leaf.

“If you wait three years you’re going to be importing (EVs) from China – and you won’t have a car industry in Australia,” he said told GoAuto.

Now operational, the Tokyo battery switch site will be the first of tens of thousands that will progressively be rolled out around the world – with Australia set for a late 2011 introduction, in readiness for the EV influx.

Besides Nissan, other manufacturers such as Renault and now China’s Chery are expected to import EVs into Australia soon. Last weekend on th sidelines of the Beijing motor show, Chery signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a switchable battery EV prototype with Better Place, taking 10 per cent ownership stake in Better Place.

Research by HSBC bank indicates China is poised to grow its share of the global EV market from today’s 2.7 per cent to about 35 per cent by 2020.

However, while Better Place Australia CEO Evan Thornley agrees cheap imported EVs look set to make their mark in Australia, he says the remaining three manufacturers now have a unique opportunity to take the initiative and reinvigorate their large-car programs by considering EV electric vehicle applications. But it will not be open for long, he added.

While refusing to disclose which Australian car-maker is in discussion with Better Place, Mr Thornley revealed on-going dialogue, particularly as the Japanese taxi battery switch station will be a showcase for all car-makers around the world, as well as consumers and Better Place sceptics, to see, feel and touch the EV infrastructure in action.

Better Place, in conjunction with the Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and Tokyo’s largest taxi operator, Nihon Kotsu, will run four converted-to-EV Nissan Dualis over the next three month to demonstrate to the public the battery switch operation in a real-world application with nearly continuous operation.

Mr Thornley said that – as the converted Dualis example proves – even the architecture of existing Australian-built cars such as the Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon, Ford Territory and Toyota Camry/Aurion twins could be modified relatively easily to accept battery packs.

He said he believed this would inject the large-car segment with fresh appeal, particularly to fleet operators in the face of inevitable petrol price rises and increasing calls to cut carbon emissions.

As a result, incorporating EV technology into the current generation Commodore or Falcon, for example, has the potential to boost their lifespan.

It would also make more financial sense to buyers who – three or five years down the track – could have a better resale value proposition with a vehicle with zero emissions.

Further, taking Australia’s considerable knowledge and experience in designing, engineering and building large cars, offering an EV model sooner rather than later might reopen export opportunities for the existing models that adopted an electric architecture, as well as their successors.

“We think that there is a particularly attractive opportunity for the Australian manufacturers, just given to the types of cars that we actually make are the types of cars that are going to be most economically attractive,” Mr Thornley said.

“I’ve seen an enormous movement in the thinking within the industry in Australia over the last 12 months. We’ve had some very productive discussions and seen a lot of evolution in the (car-makers’) thinking – across the industry.

“EVs are becoming a prominent solution and a big potential for our industry.

“And (Better Place) is not the only one saying it. If you look at the Auto Innovation Vision Statement that came out last year, the notion of Australia potentially as one of the world’s leading producers of large powerful zero-emissions vehicles is a credible and plausible vision for the Australian industry.

“So the Australian industry is particularly well placed to capture that opportunity – and not just domestically, but as an export market. Large cars are – relatively speaking – something of a niche globally market but mainstream in Australia … mainly because fuel consumption is such a big issue in many parts of the world – but once you remove that as a constraint I suspect that there are a lot of people out there who would prefer to drive a larger car than a smaller car.

“We’ve got platforms now that fits into an EV relatively quickly, and they can continue to have a large market domestically and potentially large export markets.

“As somebody who grew up at the feet of people like (1980s Labor senator and architect of the Australian car industry’s future direction) John Button and others who have always sought a viable future for the Australian car industry.

“For me this is one of the most attractive things about the Better Place project – it is something that gives the best chance that I have ever seen in recent times of an exciting future for the Australian industry that is in line with its existing long term direction and public policy – about value-adding it, about having all that high quality engineering and design capacity.

“And as a practical matter it is in line with existing vehicle architecture that we have and we know how to build.

“And one of the most interesting things about the early transition to EVs for an auto-maker is that it is one opportunity to extend the life of existing platforms.

“You’ve got such a differentiated product by putting a new drivetrain into the thing, and if you want to move quickly, you don’t necessarily as your first entry want to go with an entirely new platform.

“So there’s quite a nice transition strategy there, as platforms that are very mature are coming to the end of their natural life as an internal combustion platform, you can make an early entry as an EV maker relatively quickly and relatively safely because every other elements of the platform are mature, and you focus the effort then on the powertrain and integration engineering, and then you can relatively quickly come in with a well-known and well proven vehicle.

“I think then that this is a very natural progression that is open to a number of Australian car-makers given the current lifecycle of their own platforms.

“And the fact that the largest player by far in the charge network infrastructure globally has chosen to do Australia third (behind Israel and Denmark) conveys a particular opportunity for the Australian domestic industry that similar industries elsewhere will not have in their domestic market.”

[vztrt]

World’s first battery swap station open

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...257712001489DE

Better Place reaches a milestone with a switchable-battery taxi trial in Tokyo

27 April 2010

By BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS in TOKYO

BETTER Place has opened what it calls the world’s first switchable-battery electric taxi station in Tokyo where the company predicts all taxis in the Japanese metropolis will be electric-powered by 2022.

The temporary recharge and battery switch facility in Tokyo’s busy Roppongi district is being tested in a 90-day trial as the prelude to Better Place’s complete systems test of all infrastructure-related components for its EV solution in Israel to commence before the end of this year, with Denmark up next year and Australia to follow from 2012.

The Tokyo site is a partnership between with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry (METI), and the city’s largest taxi operator, Nihon Kotsu.

The latter will run three Nissan Dualis EV taxis converted by Better Place using switchable batteries provided by A123 Systems.

Better Place wants to demonstrate the sub-60 second time it takes for a battery switch, as well as the whole in-and-out process that takes less than two minutes.

For a Tokyo taxi that needs to be available at all times, this is proof of the speed and reliability of the battery switch method compared with recharging a depleted battery, which can either take hours, or – in the case of the mooted rapid five-minute fast charges – degrade the lifespan and performance of a battery, according to a Better Place spokesman.

“This is faster than the time it takes for a regular fossil fuel taxi to fill up,” says Better Place founder and CEO Shai Agassi.

Commissioned by METI, the Tokyo taxi experiment comes less than a year after Better Place’s first switchable battery concept in Yokohama. Since then, the technology has evolved and improved, according to Better Place.

Better Place Japan president Kiyotaka Fujii said Tokyo had about 60,000 vehicles – more than London, Paris and New York combined – representing a high mileage, high visibility segment that can serve as the catalyst for this technology to transfer to the mass market.

“Since our initial announcement of this project, we’ve heard from cities around the world interested in converting their taxi fleets as a concrete way to fight CO2 emissions and urban pollution,” he said.

“Electric taxis are a pragmatic step forward for governments as well as a lucrative segment in the electrification of transport.”

In Tokyo, taxis represent only about two per cent of the city’s overall vehicle fleet yet contribute to 20 per cent of all vehicular emissions, according to Better Place, with each of the 60,000 taxis exceeding 100,000km a year, resulting in over one million metric tons of annual CO2 emissions each year.

“It demonstrates that switchable battery electric taxis are reliable, convenient, and ready for broad adoption,” Better Place says.

This sentiment was echoed by Nihon Kotsu director and president Ichiro Kawanabe.

“Since we have to keep on driving our taxis, the switchable battery is the EV’s biggest strength,” he said.

Mr Agassi went on to announce that the Tokyo EV taxi demo also served as a shake-up to the Japanese motor industry.

“We did it to wake up the Japanese car industry,” he said.

“EVs are an electrical consumer device like plasma TVs … and like these they will get much cheaper while oil will be getting more expensive.

“And by 2022 every single taxi in Tokyo will be an EV.”

[vztrt]

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2577120024A4F7

Oz EV infrastructure on track

Better Place “on time and budget” for its EV recharge and battery swap site rollout

27 April 2010

By BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS in TOKYO

BETTER Place Australia CEO Evan Thornley says the electric vehicle infrastructure company will prove sceptics wrong by ‘building it’ rather than ‘dreaming it’ when it starts rolling out its battery-swap and recharge stations in Australia, starting in Canberra in 2013.

Mr Thornley said Better Place was well advanced on its network plan for battery switch sites around the country, with at least one “in key districts and then more detailed site acquisitions to occur” as the rollout of EVs gathered pace.

“Most of those will occur in the second half of 2011 or early in 2012,” he said.

Speaking in Tokyo at the opening of Better Place’s world-first taxi battery swap station, Mr Thornley said he had overcome every obstacle put in his way.

He said opponents of Better Place’s pledge to ‘rid the world’s addiction to oil’ only had fear, uncertainty and doubt to rely on, and the company had continued to grow and attract investment, despite the global financial crisis and the massive trough the world’s car industry was in.

The company believes this momentum will continue as more Australians grasp the fact that – based on average mileages for vehicles – it will actually be significantly cheaper to switch from fossil fuel to electricity when mainstream EV sales commence.

Underlying this is the convenience and speed of the battery switch process that – at under 60 seconds as demonstrated in at the Better Place’s first swap station – was “less time than it takes to pee”, company CEO and founder Shai Agassi said, and quicker than most petrol station fill-up times.

“I don’t think there are any fundamental barriers. We are ready for the solution,” Mr Thornley told GoAuto.

“The economics of today – with today’s battery prices, today’s electricity prices and today’s petrol prices – would make it viable for a significant proportion of vehicles to be cheaper to run as electric rather than petrol,” he said.

“By the time we finish building the network around the country – which is 2013 – unless something changes from the current trend line for both battery prices and petrol prices, that will be a significant proportion of vehicles – particularly new vehicles.

“And as battery prices continue to fall and oil prices continue to rise eventually all EVs will be cheaper to run. So we don’t see the economics as a barrier.

“We also don’t see any fundamental regulatory or related barriers. We see a lot of areas where regulatory environments were not necessarily written with the contemplation of EVs and EV recharging, so it is probably preferable to have some amendments to those regulatory areas. But we’ve had a very positive response from governments.

“They’ve said ‘give us the list and we want to act on it … but if nobody changes anything tomorrow we will still be able to roll out. It would be a little more cumbersome – so there are no showstoppers either on the regulatory front.”

Accessing ‘clean’ electricity that does not require brown coal or other carbon-releasing methods to make it is also one of Better Place Australia’s core goals.

Mr Thornley – a former Victorian Labor politician – explained that although wind power would probably be the company’s primary electricity source for Australia, the fact that it can come from a variety of generators without impacting the EV infrastructure or the car itself was another benefit.

These other sources will include geo thermal (“certainly if that is brought to industrial scale”), solar thermal, and clean coal technology “if that comes good”.

“We certainly don’t see the availability of premium electricity as a barrier at all,” he said. “We are very confident about plenty of renewable electricity being available.

“That’s an important point about EVs – your energy source is independent. You can move from one form of zero emissions electricity source to another without a single dollar of new investment in the car fleet or the charge network.”

However, Better Place Australia would not comment on whether it supports nuclear power sourcing.

“That’s not for us to comment. If the community decides that is the path it wants to go down, then it does. We are not in the business of advocating one way or another,” Mr Thornley said.

“We see plenty of zero emissions energy sources available today – and on a practical matter there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of any nuclear power being available in this country within the next 15 years anyway, so if or when it happens we will deal with that then.”

Mr Thornley said that proving Better Place sceptics wrong by ‘building it’ rather than ‘dreaming it’ has been behind Shai Agassi’s decision to assemble the world’s media in Tokyo to witness the taxi battery switch operation in action, and the same principle would silence Australian critics when the infrastructure was unveiled firstly in Canberra next year.

“That’s a lot of what Canberra will be all about. Here will be a city running on EVs.

“People need to see it, touch it, feel it and drive it – and I think that’s fair enough. People are entitled to be sceptical until they see things working, but that was the purpose of the Taxi EV battery swap demonstration in Tokyo.

“(For sceptics) it’s an instant conversion because it is such an unremarkable event … it’s a much more satisfying thing to see a fact, and seeing EV taxis having their battery switched in 59.2 seconds is a fact. It’s all working.”

Nevertheless, Mr Thornley expects EV users will charge their cars at their home or workplace 90 per cent of the time, and that when a battery switch was required, Better Place had demonstrated that it would happen quicker and less often than it takes to fill up a tank with fossil fuel.

“In your daily driving there are very few drivers doing more than (the EV battery range of) 160km at a stretch – even people who live in the outer suburbs who may have to commute 40 or 50 kilometres,” he said.

“So we believe for the average motorist you may have to go for months at a time without switching batteries.

“Of course we all down go down to the coast or drive between cities once or twice a year.

“But switching is less of a big deal than filling up with petrol, and you have to do it far less often. Switching is the back-up. Plug-in is the main form of energy sourcing for an EV.

“It is less glamourous, and gets less of the attention, but somebody’s got to go and install all of those plug-in points, and we are going to be doing that.

“But plug-in points it is not all that EV motorists need. So in order to have the confidence to go and buy and drive an EV, it is great to know that on those rare occasions when you are going to do a lot of driving you are not going to have a problem. It’s the purpose of the battery switch station.”

Mr Thornley said Better Place Australia was at an advanced stage of the macro network plan for battery switch sites around Australia, with at least one “in key districts and then more detailed site acquisitions to occur” as the rollout of EVs gathers pace.

“Most of those will occur in the second half of 2011 or early in 2012,” he said.

“The benchmark we have always had for ourselves is when you show the network coverage map to motorists (on day one in 2013) then 80 per cent of motorists should be able to look at that and say: ‘Yep, that’s everywhere where I want to go’, and we will improve from there.”

Mr Thornley added that Australia’s unique issues compared with the other two start-up countries, Israel and Denmark, such as distances between major centres, water management concerns and climate characteristics, had all been factored into the Better Place infrastructure model, so there had been no real unexpected problems or blow-out of the A$1 billion cost of the rollout.

“We always knew and expected that this is a metal-in-the-ground business,” he said.

“The construction environments are different. The regulatory environments are different. The electricity structures are different – and that’s part of the reason why we are doing a few countries first, to get a variety of those operating environments; and what we do with the global research and development organisations is feed all that back in to localisation of each of our markets, and that gives us a knowledge of localisation solutions globally that – after we’ve done four or five countries – we would have most of the models for most of the other countries.

“I don’t think there has been fundamentally anything different for Australia that has required anything (different). Between Israel and Denmark you have most of the climatic conditions for Australia … there are only (small) elements that will be unique to the Australian operating environment.

“It’s not news to us. You can do the math quickly on how many swap stations we will need to connect the major cities, and it is not a traumatically large number. And that was all factored in when we made the original announcement of how much money we would need to roll out the network, and having done much more detailed planning work since, we are still comfortable with that number.”

Tackling misinformation from established energy source opponents was not new to Mr Thornley, who founded the advertising Internet search company LookSmart in the 1990s (and which has since become one of the few Australian companies to have listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange).

The transformation he saw then as an early Internet advocate is what he is experiencing again now with EVs.

“We old Silicon Valley boys are all too wary of the FUD strategy – Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

“It what all incumbents do in the face of an insurgent newcomer. It’s the only thing that know what to do, and that is deploy their three old friends FUD!” he said.

[aussie muscle]

i'll bet we'll see a lot more taxi's stranded with no charge half-way to tully airport if this comes in.

[bobthebilda]

We always hear about the range of the electrics about to come online ie the Volt has a range of 64 kilometres on a full charge, not sure about the LEAF. But does anyone know, or are knowledgable to hazard a guess, as to how this range would be affected with the airconditioning, radio and headlights on for example. as per a recent article

The Tesla Roadster couldn't meet its own performance standards, according to The Emperor's New Car – unless the air conditioner and heater were never used, windows were never opened, headlights were never turned on – and only one person rode in it.

[vztrt]

FCAI president urges EV support

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...25771B0021150F

Holden chief, in new role as FCAI president, calls for government EV support

6 May 2010

By TERRY MARTIN

NEWLY elected Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) president Mike Devereux has called on the Rudd government to offer incentives to boost the fledgling electric vehicle (EV) industry in Australia.

Speaking last night at the FCAI’s annual dinner in his maiden speech as president, Mr Devereux, who is also GM Holden’s chairman and managing director, said federal government support was a critical factor in attracting greater numbers of EVs than the trickle now being allocated by global manufacturers.

While there is some minor tax relief at state level, Australia not followed other national governments in countries such as Britain, Japan and the US in offering large incentives to bring the price of EVs down and to fast-track EV network development.

Some countries are offering government-funded consumer incentives of more than $10,000 for ultra-low-emission vehicles, and are in turn receiving the lion’s share of world EV production.

Directing his comments to federal transport minister Anthony Albanese, who attended last night’s dinner, Mr Devereux said EVs would not reach a broad audience in Australia unless the government provided the car industry – led by importers such as Mitsubishi, Nissan and, before long, Holden – with incentives.

“In only a few years’ time, the Australian automotive industry could be a transformed landscape – but there is a need for the industry and government to work hand in hand to build on the progress that has been achieved to date,” he said.

Holden center image“Take electric vehicles, for example. In Australia at the moment, it is difficult for the respective brands to mount a valid business case for these vehicles when many other countries are already offering large incentives to consumers who buy these low-emission vehicles.

“This is a case in point that it is only through a partnership with governments, car-makers and customers that we will achieve greater outcomes.”

Low-volume conversion specialists have offered EVs in Australia for some time, and while Mitsubishi (with its i-MiEV) and Nissan (with the Leaf) are striving to become the first mass-market car brands with EVs available for general sale here, large volumes are not expected until 2012 at the earliest.

There are other brands working to a similar timeframe, including Holden, which expects to offer the imported Volt range-extending plug-in hybrid in 2012.

Federal industry minister Kim Carr has previously told GoAuto that the government’s priority was not to popularise certain technologies but to build up domestic car manufacturing capacity, as it has done with the Toyota Camry Hybrid, to ensure the local industry remains viable.

Mr Devereux’s comments echoed those of FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar, who told GoAuto in March that Australia could be left behind the rest of the world if significant government incentives for low-emission cars were not forthcoming.

“The reality is that other national governments are already offering significant incentives and we must determine whether or not we want full and early access to some of these technologies or whether we are going to be content to slip back and let others take the lead,” he said.

Mr Albanese said last night that he had driven the i-MiEV and “was impressive with its on-road performance”.

He highlighted that the government had approved the vehicle for sale in Australia – as the first full-volume fully electric car on the market – but stopped short of offering specific incentives to bring the price for the micro-car down from its likely starting mark of $70,000.

“I am profoundly aware of the challenges you as manufacturers and economic wealth-creators face, both domestically and globally,” he said.

“The challenges for us, the policy-makers and regulators, are to provide you with a well structured, equitable business environment while meeting community expectations for a cleaner, safer and friendlier world.

“Governments and industry need to continue to show the leadership necessary to achieve this.

“I look forward to the continuation of our strong and constructive relationship.”

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

We always hear about the range of the electrics about to come online ie the Volt has a range of 64 kilometres on a full charge

Great .. would get me to work and about 6km short of home for the return trim. Makes the economy of my EGas ute seem great!

[Quicksand]

NEWLY elected Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) president Mike Devereux has called on the Rudd government to offer incentives to boost the fledgling electric vehicle (EV) industry in Australia.

Speaking last night at the FCAI’s annual dinner in his maiden speech as president, Mr Devereux, who is also GM Holden’s chairman and managing director, said federal government support was a critical factor in attracting greater numbers of EVs than the trickle now being allocated by global manufacturers.

Hold on, hold on, hold on...are you telling me that the FCAI president is ALSO the managing director and chairman of Holden??

Is there no conflict of interest in this? Or am i missing something...? What kind of powers does the FCAI have? Whats ears do they have access to whisper into?

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by Inducted_Breeze

Hold on, hold on, hold on...are you telling me that the FCAI president is ALSO the managing director and chairman of Holden??

Is there no conflict of interest in this? Or am i missing something...? What kind of powers does the FCAI have? Whats ears do they have access to whisper into?

Its normally someone associated with the car industry who is appointed. I think Reuss and Batey also had a run, John Conomos (ex toyota head) had a go. Its basically just a lobby group for over paid car executives, to beg more money out of the federal government, in order to allow their incompetance to be pro longed.

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0505-ua50.html

Australia lags on electric vehicles
RICHARD BLACKBURN
May 5, 2010

Australia runs the risk of missing out on the first wave of electric cars because of a lack of government support.

The car industry has complained that a lack of Federal Government support is hampering the development of a local electric-vehicle market.

The newly appointed president of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Mike Devereux, said local executives are finding it hard to make a business case for electric vehicles in Australia because the government won’t match the level of support being offered by foreign governments.

Mr Devereux, who is also the boss of Holden, used his maiden speech as FCAI president last night to push for subsidies for electric car buyers.

“In Australia at the moment it’s difficult for the respective brands to mount a valid business case for these vehicles when many other countries are already offering large incentives to consumers who buy these low-emission vehicles,” he told the chamber’s annual dinner in Melbourne.

In Europe and the United States, governments are offering subsidies as big as $7500 to electric car buyers, but both Nissan and Mitsubishi have been frustrated by the Australian Government’s unwillingness to follow suit.

The global boss of Renault-Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, recently singled Australia out for criticism over its approach to electric vehicles.

“All the countries where we decide to launch electric cars are countries where government decides to support the consumer. At the moment that is not the case in Australia,” he told Drive at the Geneva motor show earlier this year.

Nissan and Mitsubishi have already launched their respective Leaf and i-MiEV electric cars overseas, while Holden and a Chinese car maker are also keen to introduce zero-emission vehicles in the next year or so. But Nissan warns that early stocks of the Leaf will go elsewhere if the Australian government offers no support.

"Australia is not on the map for the moment," Mr Ghosn said. "We think unless governments put incentives for consumers on the electric car it's going to be very difficult to make the electric car a factor."

The government has made it clear it supports improvements to existing oil-based technology over subsidies for electric vehicles, pouring most of its $1.3 billion Green Vehicle Fund into conventional petrol cars.

Industry minister Kim Carr last month ruled out incentives for buyers of electric vehicles.

''Over the next decade, the most rapid and cost-effective way of improving fuel economy and building more environmentally effective cars is to adapt technologies that are being deployed now,'' he told the Herald last month.

But the deputy leader of the Greens, Senator Christine Milne, said the government’s transport emissions policy needed a dramatic re-think.

“They have handed millions through the Green Car Innovation fund to companies to build slightly less polluting large cars, they have effectively excluded petrol from the CPRS and they completely dismissed Ken Henry’s sensible recommendations on fringe benefits tax and congestion charges to get people out of polluting cars,” she says.

“What we really need is mandatory vehicle fuel efficiency standards to bring Australia into line with progress in Europe and China, as well as a big investment in truly green transport options.”

But Holden boss Devereux baulked at mandatory fuel efficiency standards.

“From everything I see, the industry has worked hard to lower emissions regardless of regulations. And as car makers, our natural rivalry means that no one wants to be left behind in the race to bring the new technology into the market,” he says.

He says local vehicle emissions have dropped by 20 per cent in the past seven years with only a voluntary fuel emission target in place.

“The industry has achieved its current target to lower emissions a year ahead of schedule and so the time is right to move to the next phase - to put in place a new target and to work with Government on the framework to achieve that new goal.”

“I believe we are at a turning point in the industry with even lower emission vehicles about to come on to the broader market. It is fair to say that the world is excited by the roll out of low-emission vehicles such as hybrids, pure electric vehicles, extended range vehicles and alternative fuels.

“In only a few years time the Australian automotive industry could be a transformed landscape - but there is a need for the industry and government to work hand in hand to build on the progress that has been achieved to date.”

[vztrt]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/67775/el...w-this-decade/

Electric car sales predicted to be slow this decade
By Chris Anderson-Peters | May 17th, 2010

A study by Deloitte Consulting suggests electric cars will only make up 2-5 percent of the US market by 2020.

This survey comes after Nissan forecast electric vehicles would make 10 per cent of the market by 2020.

The Deloitte survey based the results on high cost batteries, production and the limited performance of electric cars.

Deloitte does expect the cost of batteries for electric vehicles will be slashed by 40 per cent by 2014 from the current $1000 per kilowatt battery on offer.

Nissan is already addressing the issue, cutting the battery costs from US$472 to $370 per kilowatt on their first electric car, the Nissan LEAF.

The consulting firm said it expected that advanced batteries to power electric cars would cost near $600 per kilowatt in 2014. That would be down from near $1,000 per kilowatt today.

The survey also found that people would prefer to buy an electric car from Toyota (17 percent) as opposed to a Ford (12 percent).

Nissan came in ninth on the survey with 4 per cent, a bit of concern considering the LEAF has been an expensive project for the company.

Toyota tops the list due to its trustworthy Prius brand which arguably kick started the entire Hybrid/Electric vehicle race around the world.

Despite the Toyota Prius being a hybrid and not a full-electric vehicle, the survey suggests people had faith in Toyota producing a better electric vehicle than competitors Ford and Nissan.

Australia will soon see the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car in showrooms followed by the Nissan LEAF in 2012.

[snappy]

No goverment is going to help you buy one of these electric cars until they can figure out how to tax it .

[irish2]

Originally Posted by snappy

No goverment is going to help you buy one of these electric cars until they can figure out how to tax it .

In case you hadn't realised electricity is already taxed.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by irish2

In case you hadn't realised electricity is already taxed.

Not at the rate of petrol it isn't.

[mik]

Originally Posted by irish2

In case you hadn't realised electricity is already taxed.

the rate that electricity is going up petrol will be cheaper, won`t that be a laugh.

[trippytaka]

Someone out there in big business has to have the balls to go out and start up a green energy supply chain bigger than the world has ever seen. Rent space on every roof in Aus for solar panels, tidal power etc... plug the energy back into the grid, and then build infrastructure for charging points for EVs - kind of like what Better Place is looking to do. Then, the energy that is drawn from the charging points is charged to the consumer by the company plugging the energy into the grid. And everything left over is used for domestic use and refunded to the company providing it.

Anyone got a spare $100b? Simple.

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0518-vbh0.html

Laptop maker plugs in to cars
RICHARD BLACKBURN
May 18, 2010 - 3:45PM

The world's leading electronics companies are jumping on the electric car bandwagon.

Your car may soon be powered by the same company that makes your laptop and television, as the world's leading electronics companies rush to join the electric vehicle craze.

Toshiba is the latest electronic company to confirm it is developing lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications.


The head of Toshiba's battery division, Ryuichi Nakata told Reuters news agency the company was looking to team up with a number of car makers to develop batteries for pure electric and hybrid petrol-electric cars of the future.

The move follows similar ones by rivals Sanyo and Panasonic. Sanyo recently announced a tie-up with Suzuki, while Panasonic is working with the world's leading car maker, Toyota, on lithium-ion battery technology.

The first plug-in electric vehicles are beginning to hit the streets overseas and a number of carmakers, including Nissan, Mitsubishi and Holden, are planning to launch EVs - albeit in limited numbers - in Australia over the next two years.

The production of rechargeable batteries is expected to increase five-fold in the next five years.

Toshiba is taking a different path to Panasonic by choosing multiple automotive partners.

"Our strategy is to compete in an open market rather than doing business one-on-one," Nakata told Reuters.

Toshiba recently won a contract to supply batteries to Honda for electric motorbikes.

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0615-yb5h.html

Govt uninterested in electric vehicles STEVE COLQUHOUN
June 15, 2010 - 11:05AM

Nissan says it has been given “a big fat zero” from the Australian government for its new electric vehicle.

Nissan says the federal government has shown no interest in encouraging people to buy its ground-breaking electric vehicle, the Leaf.

"The Australian government has given us a big, fat zero thus far, so without any level of incentives that will have a big impact on our ability to deliver in the early days," Nissan Australia managing director Dan Thompson says.

"It's no different to how it was 12 months ago, yet in that time we've seen probably 10 to 15 governments around the world being very aggressive in supporting EVs (electric vehicles). But nothing for us."

The car will not arrive in Australia until 2012 but Nissan has already lobbied extensively and without success for government assistance to both defray the cost of the car to consumers and assist with vital recharging infrastructure.

In some European and Asian countries, buyers of the Leaf will be offered thousands of dollars in tax breaks or rebates, as well as free parking and registration discounts.

Dutch buyers of the car will pay €32,839 ($46,620) with tax savings of between €6000 and €19,000 over five years, while British buyers will pay £23,350 ($39,840) after government incentives.

Mr Thompson says Nissan is still 12 months away from naming its Australian pricing on the rechargeable five-door hatchback, but European pricing would be "indicative".

Mr Thompson urged the federal government to move quickly to help Nissan to bring more of the cars to Australia.

"The sooner the better for us when it comes to discussing allocation issues," he says.

Nissan-Renault Alliance president Carlos Ghosn has championed the company's cutting-edge EV program and says proactive governments that offer worthwhile incentives will receive larger allocations of the alliance's electric cars.

Mr Thompson fears Australian customers will miss out unless the federal government acts quickly. "What we're looking for are consumer incentives so really we need that information at the time we announce pricing. That's what we've done in Japan, the US and some European countries," he says.

"Certainly it will have a negative impact in the short term on the volumes that are allocated to our market and the volumes we will be selling. "This isn't something we need long term, it's something we need for the first generation, until the point where we have scale and the cost of the technology is equivalent or close to equivalent to today's technology."

Nissan continues to lobby the federal government through a working group formed by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and is now focusing its efforts on working with state governments on infrastructure and incentive programs.

[vztrt]

Nissan amps up calls for EV subsidies

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...25774300086C72

Australian Nissan chief says lack of local subsidies will hurt EV roll out
15 June 2010
By MARTON PETTENDY
NISSAN has intensified its calls for government incentives for electric vehicles, saying the lack support will limit its ability to roll out EVs in Australia.

Speaking at the world’s biggest test drive of pre-production Nissan Leafs in Japan yesterday ahead of the international launch of the all-electric compact car, Nissan Motor Co chief operating officer Toshiyuki Shiga said: “It is difficult to introduce Leaf in every country at the same time.

“Therefore we are starting with countries that promote EVs.”

Nissan Australia managing director Dan Thompson said the unwillingness of governments at all levels in Australia to offer subsidies for EV buyers would limit Nissan’s ability to rollout the ground-breaking Leaf EV in significant numbers Down Under.

“The Australian government today has given a big fat zero (in terms of subsidies for EV buyers) and that will limit our ability to rollout EVs in Australia,” said Mr Thompson yesterday in Japan during a week-long test drive of the Leaf by media, government representatives and signed-up Japanese customers ahead of the car’s production in September.

“It’s still no different than 12 months ago. In that time we’ve seen 10 to 15 other counties adopt EV-friendly policies.

“Every other week there’s another government announcing more support for EVs, bu to this day there is no incentive and no target, so Australia is late to the (EV) party.

“The cars won’t hit the road here for some time. We’re looking for consumer-based incentives in the next 12 months. There’s a list of at least 15 different things that could be done, including things like registration costs.

“Each level of government has its own pool of options,” said Mr Thompson, who added that the Victorian government and the City of Sydney had been most proactive when it came to EVs.

Nissan continues to speak directly with state governments on EV issues but ceased direct discussions with the federal government when the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ EV committee was established.

Nissan’s vocal stance on local EV incentives is in contrast with Mitsubishi, which earlier this month announced it would be the first car-maker to launch an EV in Australia in August, when the first 40 examples of the all-electric i-MiEV start arriving here.

Mitsubishi says the local success of the i-MiEV, which it admits is suitable only for city driving, is not dependant on government subsidies or fast-charging infrastructure.

Like the i-MiEV, the first 40 customers for which will be hand-picked by Mitsubishi to be ‘ambassadors’ for the pint-sized city-EV, the larger Leaf hatchback is likely to be a lease-only proposition in Australia, but is unlikely to cost as much as the i-MiEV, which will cost a total of about $62,000 to own for three years.

Nissan last month announced that the Leaf would cost less than €30,000 ($A42,855) after incentives in most European countries, while in the US – where pre-orders opened on April 20 – it will cost as little as $US25,280 ($A29,768) after a $7500 federal tax credit.

Nissan says that by the end of next year the Leaf will be on sale in all western European countries, where details of an exclusive Leaf finance offer similar to the one already announced in the US and Japan will be revealed next month.

Mr Thompson said Nissan Australia was at least a year away from deciding its retail strategy for the Leaf, which has been confirmed for release here in 2012, and that (pre-subsidy) overseas prices were a clear guide to the prices Australians should expect to pay.

But he said a lease deal similar to that in the US and Europe was the most likely scenario for the release of the Leaf here.

“When we go out with the pre-sale we’ll say if it’s for lease or purchase, but lease is the preferred option for me.

“It solves some of the hurdles of EVs; the best way is an all-inclusive offer through Nissan’s own captive finance arm. We will lease the car, package it all up and remove all the possible rejections to purchase, such as servicing costs and the residual value of the batteries.”

Mr Thompson said Nissan Australia would have the advantage of knowing what sales strategy worked in other markets and what didn’t.

“We’ll be in a good position in Australia with a year of data to call on, because this is a 100 per cent new business model. Not until the Leaf rolls out in Japan and the US will we know how it works.

“We can do all the research in the world but it’s really anyone’s guess,” he said.

Mr Thompson said the first examples of the Leaf would arrive in Australia next year for field testing by fleets, government departments and the media, as part of agreements with a number of state governments to test real-world power usage in Australia – regardless of government incentives.

“The lack of Australian subsidies won’t change our position in terms of launching the Leaf, but it will have a negative impact on the allocation we will receive.

“We’re not asking for a permanent incentive – just the encouragement of the uptake of EVs.

“We will be supply constrained so we’re not talking about tens of thousands of EVs, but (sales) volume will be contingent on government incentives.”

The local Nissan boss said charging infrastructure was the other crucial requirement for the success of EVs in Australia.

“We’ll launch the Leaf in Australia in 2012, but to take EVs beyond a niche product we’ll need some sort of charging infrastructure that’s appropriate enough to eliminate range anxiety.

“Our focus at the moment is on market readiness and that means charging infrastructure and, equally importantly, government incentives.

“Later on when EVs gain more acceptance in Australia, quick-charging infrastructure will become more important as people want to drive their EVs further,” he said.

The Leaf enters production in September at Nissan’s historic Oppama plant, where annual capacity will eventually increase to 50,000 vehicles, before going on sale in Japan, Portugal, The Netherlands and North America in December – the same month Chevrolet’s vital new Volt plug-in hybrid goes on sale in the US.

The Leaf will hit the United Kingdom and Ireland in February 2011, but Nissan’s global mass marketing campaign – including in Australia – won’t start occur until 2012.

US production will commence during the second half of 2012 at Smyrna, Tennessee, followed by UK production at Nissan’s Sunderland factory by early 2013.

The Leaf’s lithium-ion batteries will be made by Nissan’s joint-venture with NEC, Automotive Energy Supply Company (AESC), which originally planned to produce just 54,000 EV units a year.

“Foreseeing an upward trend in future demand,” says Nissan, AESC will increase Japanese EV battery production to 90,000 units by 2011. Eventually, Portugal will produce 50,000 batteries annually, with the UK contributing 60,000, France making 60,000 and the US building no fewer than 200,000 EV batteries.

Nissan and its alliance partner Renault plan to have the capacity to eventually produce some 500,000 EVs every year from a total of five battery production sites globally. Renault Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has controversially forecast that EVs will comprise 10 per cent of the world’s new vehicle fleet by 2020.

Total Leaf production is slated to reach 200,000 vehicles a year once the US and UK plants are in operation, but the small five-seater hatchback is the first in a series of EVs the Renault-Nissan alliance plans to produce, with a ground-breaking ‘e-LCV’ van next on Nissan’s EV agenda.

“So far we are planning to build only 200,000 Leafs,” said Mr Shiga. “Then, after 2012, the second Nissan EV will be a LCV (light commercial vehicle) and the third will be a luxury car.”

Nissan’s fourth EV will be based on the four-wheeled motorcycle-like LandGlider concept that debuted at last year’s Tokyo motor show, while Renault also plans to produce at least four distinct EV models.

Each EV will employ different modules of the same laminated lithium-ion battery pack Nissan is already producing with NEC in Japan.

“The Renault-Nissan Alliance is investing over four billion Euros to lead the auto industry in electric vehicles, with eight products across three brands,” said Nissan International senior vice-president for sales and marketing Simon Thomas.

“This investment includes five battery plants and seven confirmed assembly plants, including Sunderland in the UK. This reflects the strong commitment the alliance has made to electric vehicles and our determination to lead the market.”

Mr Thompson said he expected the company’s forthcoming commercial EV – likely to be based on Nissan’s new NV200 compact van – to also be sold here.

“Certainly we think there’s demand for an LCV EV in Australia,” he said. “When the time comes in terms of the EV rollout we’ll certainly put our hands up, because most of the fleet companies we’re talking to about the Leaf are even more interested in a commercial EV.”

Mr Thompson said quick-charge facilities will be crucial to the viability of the e-LCV in Australia, but admitted such a vehicle would be better suited to sales and delivery specialists driving a set route rather than high-mileage couriers driving in unknown territory.

Despite the ambitious EV model plans, however, Nissan’s main Japanese plant will only have the capacity to produce just 6000 examples of the Leaf in the Japanese company’s current financial year, ending in March 2011. Mitsubishi has doubled its i-MiEV production target from 4000 to 8000 for the same FY2010 period.

Nissan says it has already received orders for almost double that number, with 13,000 US pre-orders and 6000 from Japan combining for a total of 19,000 as of last week.

“Originally we planned to expand Leaf production in 2012,” said Mr Shiga. “So until then we have a supply shortage. From September 2010 we will produce the Leaf and its batteries only in Japan, with volume ramping up throughout 2011.”

The Leaf will open for pre-orders in Europe next month, but already the head of Nissan’s EV division Andy Palmer has warned the company will screen the thousands of US customers who have placed a $US99 deposit to ensure the Leaf meets their requirements.

“We'll even be advising some people not to buy,” he told Automotive News last week. “We don't want them to be driving 300 miles a day. It's all about managing expectations. Electric cars aren't for everyone.”

However, it seems the Leaf will appeal to owners of Toyota’s hybrid icon, the Prius. According to Nissan’s divisional vice-president Al Castignetti, more than half of the 130,000 hand-raisers that expressed interest in the Leaf so far have been Prius owners.

“That's a pretty significant signal to us," said Mr Castignetti when Nissan North America Inc broke ground at the Tennessee Leaf assembly line and battery factory recently.

“It tells us that there is a segment of eco-friendly consumers who are interested in going to the next level. They own a hybrid vehicle. But if the next step is available, they want to take it."

Most US Nissan dealers have been told they must install three charging stations – one in their service area, one in an area where cars are delivered by truck and a third on the property where owners can gain easy recharge access. Large stores will require a fourth charger, while small retailers will have to install just two.

“Nissan leads the industry by being the first auto-maker to offer an affordable zero-emission car,” said Mr Thompson.

“It’s a pure electric vehicle, with no tailpipe emissions and very low running costs. Nissan Leaf may look similar to a compact family car, but its smoothness, acceleration and handling will surprise and impress drivers and passengers alike.”

Despite billing the Leaf as a family car, Nissan says that 84 per cent or pre-orders in Japan have come from people aged over 40. At 34 per cent, the largest group was aged over 60, while customers aged in their 40s and 50s both accounted for 25 per cent of depositors.

Mr Shiga conceded that EVs made more sense in nations like Japan, where only 50 per cent of energy is generated by coal-fired power stations, which are employed almost exclusively in Australia.

But he said EVs were a vital step in shoring up the automotive industry’s future after crude oil runs out, as governments attempt to develop more renewable forms of power generation.

The NSW government, for instance, is this week expected to ban the building of coal-fired power stations in the state as part of a new climate change policy expected to go to state cabinet this week.

“The automotive industry is now more than 100 years old and it has grown thanks to oil,” he said. “But current global warming issues mean we have to consider the environment.

“Also, oil is running out – its price will increase as we face a complete shortage of oil. Cars have no future without oil. It won’t happen in 10 years, but we need some sort of solution now.

“EV is environmentally friendly – there’s no doubt about that. It’s also fun to drive, but the two key factors here are the environment and future energy use.”

[JimNiki]

I think the doof doof ricers will benefit from this as they can use their big *** subby capacitor silos to store the juice and go an extra 50 kilometres!

On a serious note, electricity is the future of everything, but not storing it, creating it on an on demand basis. Until then, auto travel will never become mainstream.
just my 0.2c (+gst).