Learn more about the latest in new battery technology and discover the next generation in battery and energy storage with expert analysis by Power Systems Research analysts.
German construction machine manufacturer Wacker Neuson has introduced a new product to their electric range. The EZ17e is an electric zero tail mini excavator with lithium ion batteries and flexible charge management.
Emiliano Marzoli
The machine can be charged both with household 110v plugs or with a 415 volts quick charging point. In the latter case only four hours are required to complete the charge.
According to the OEM, one battery charge can last a full workday. In addition, it is possible to charge the machine on site while idling. The machine allows monitoring of the power supply of the construction site to make sure it is not overloaded.
BP’s action might be a pivotal moment where the green revolution stops being something, we are all dragged into and starts being an opportunity for the most responsive and agile innovators to rebrand themselves and capture new markets.
Tyler Wiegert
For many people, the moment when COVID-19 became real was when the NBA announced the cancellation of the rest of its season. I was sitting at the counter of the coffee shop in the lobby of my Las Vegas hotel at CON-EXPO. My colleagues and I had been talking for a couple days about the odds of catching the virus at the show, but we all had made the decision that we would be ok attending.
And then we saw that announcement. By the end of the day, we had all decided to go home as soon as possible, and the show had announced it was ending a day early. As a 26-year-old who just caught the tail end of the millennial generation, there haven’t been a lot of things in my memory where I can look back and say, in the moment, it felt like things were different now. I was too young to remember 9/11, and I wasn’t politically engaged enough to understand what the first African-American president meant historically. But this morning as I was catching up on the news and thinking about the subject of this article, I read that BP had made an announcement about a major environmental initiative, and as I read it, I had a feeling like at that coffee bar in Las Vegas.
To continue to promote the deployment of electric vehicles in Taiwan, Taiwan Audi officially entered the pure electric vehicle market at the end of 2019 and launched the “E-tron Future” reservation project.
Erik Martin
To meet the pure electric future, Taiwan Audi has joined hands with strategic partner Noodoe to accelerate the deployment of Taiwan’s charging network. Evaluating home charging station installation and a cloud-based charging operating system paired with Taiwan Audi’s charging solution aims to realize a pure electric mobile life.
From north to south, Taiwan spans only about 500 kilometers. At the same time, the main population centers are concentrated in the seven largest metropolitan areas. These cities–while clearly defined–are connected by a comprehensive road network that provides excellent advantages in the development of electric vehicles.
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor announced on July 6 that it has begun exporting commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) to Europe. The company shipped 10 trucks to Switzerland, and it plans to export 1,600 units by 2025 using a long-term lease contract system.
Akihiro Komuro
Hyundai has set up a joint venture company to build a hydrogen infrastructure in Switzerland; it also plans to develop hydrogen stations and other infrastructure in cooperation with a local company. They plan to use Switzerland as a base for expanding their exports throughout Europe.
The South Korean government is also focusing on the spread of the hydrogen-based society and will appeal to the governments of other countries. The trucks exported this time will be used by the food distribution industry. The route for these trucks is fixed, making it easy to set up the infrastructure for refueling.
In July, MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology summoned a meeting with local governments, industry associations and automotive companies on battery switch-on implementation. People attending offered thoughts on implementing battery switch-on operations, sharing recommendations for policy and discussing challenges of proposed actions.
PSR Analysis: Electric vehicle development is facing several different technology road maps. While the automotive industry prefers plug-in and charging, grid companies are more inclined to favor the battery switch-on mode based on grid reliability.
Such debate is good for advancing electrification in the auto industry, it is vital to have all participants’ input before promoting electric vehicles on a larger scale. PSR
Qin Fen is Business Development Manager – China, for Power Systems Research
The Current Status of Electric Commercial Vehicles
During the past decade, PSR has followed the progress of alternative fuels and technologies such as gas and diesel hybrid, natural gas, and electric along with other renewable fuels. To date, alternative fuels have been relegated to more niche segments and have not penetrated the larger end of the market.
Chris Fisher
Segments such as transit and school buses along with short distance segments like refuse have been the primary adopters of natural gas since they tend to be close to their terminals for refueling and recharging. The bus market along with pickup and delivery trucks are the target segments for electric vehicles in the near term.
Late last year, Amazon placed an order for 100,000 light commercial “Prime” vans from Rivian that will likely be the beta test for the viability of light electric commercial vehicles. These vehicles are expected to begin deliveries next year.
Audi and the utility EnBW are pioneering an energy storage facility built on retired electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This partnership is being billed as the solution to a major problem in each industry.
Tyler Wiegert
For automobile manufacturers, the question of how to recycle retired batteries has been pressing for some time. Utilities have been struggling with the perverse problem that excess generation from renewable sources has been slowing adoption, as surges from those sources can disrupt the stability of power grids.
EV batteries have a functional life of 3-10 years after they are retired from vehicle use, making them a ready tool for use by utilities.
Portland General Electric Company (PGE) also is seeking to create a more resilient grid for the utilization of renewable energy sources. They are launching a pilot program to incentivize the installation of home battery systems to act as a virtual power plant.
In a statement released June 30, Daimler announced it will be investing “a very substantial sum” in achieving a CO2-neutral future for the transportation sector. Hydrogen fuel cell production facilities are currently in development, with an eye toward mass production of fuel cells and their component parts.
Tyler Wiegert
Some of the hurdles Daimler is working to overcome are the needs for highly-filtered air and stable ambient temperature and humidity. The materials and components used in fuel cell production do not allow for an easy transfer in process from conventional engine manufacturing.
The symposium of battery change mode for new energy vehicle was held June 15 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Data from National Big Data Alliance of New Energy Vehicles suggests that over 3 million new energy vehicles were in the system in 2019 and 900,000 vehicles are running daily. Data also suggest that new energy vehicle GVW range primarily falls under 4.5 tons.
PSR Analysis: Many numbers are in the article, some contradictory. As one of the truck OEMs, XCMG does make some excellent points on the daily use of the battery-powered vehicle, using data collected from end-users, such as working hours, range anxiety and surprisingly, maintenance and downtime.
But I want to point out one potential issue that might travel under the radar: operating cost, more specifically, fuel cost. For large fleet owners like JD.com Inc. or SF Express, fuel cost might be a key factor in choosing a battery-powered vehicle over ICE-powered vehicle for urban delivery.
There are energy companies already working with large industrial businesses to install wind or solar power onsite to address their electricity bill issue. Once completed, giant companies like JD or SF Express will significantly cut down their operating expenses on fuel, in this case, electricity.
There is one game changer out there now. How will ICE-powered light duty trucks compete with battery-powered vehicles, when the latter runs free of charge and free of emission? What will happen to all the components suppliers for light duty trucks, especially urban delivery trucks? PSR
Qin Fen Is Business Development Manager in China for Power Systems Research.
My other article in this month’s issue of PowerTALK News describes how home battery systems, even though they are not themselves viable products for most consumers, still benefit from a virtuous cycle of product improvement and investment because of the relative success of battery-powered vehicles and other battery-powered products.
Tyler Wiegert
But the COVID-19 pandemic has not missed those drivers. Venture Beat magazine reports that investors are largely avoiding lithium this year, preferring to safeguard cash until the economy starts to improve. The delay in funding could have several knock-on effects.
One is consolidation in the industry. Ganfeng Lithium is picking up a lithium project from Lithium Americas, a smaller operation. Fewer, larger players in the market later on might have price consequences for lithium adoption after the economy improves and demand for those goods increases.
