Follow PSR’s team of analysts as they track the rapidly expanding global battery electric power market, including, battery technology, transportation, eMobility, mergers and acquisitions and more.
The Union Budget 2021 is very important since it comes during an unprecedented pandemic. The most significant pain points of the economy are the lack of demand and liquidity. The shrinking market’s impact and the weak demand is evident after the Economic Survey said that the country would experience a current account surplus for the first time in 17 years.
The automotive industry is the key stakeholder of the country’s economy. It suffered extensive sluggishness in the past 10-12 quarters after introducing GST, the new safety norms, insurance regulations, axle, and emission norms. These led to a hefty increase in purchase costs. The industry was waiting for direct announcements to reduce purchase cost and improve customer sentiment
The Indonesian government announced on Feb. 5 that it had received an investment proposal from Tesla. The country is the world’s largest producer of nickel, which is essential for the production of batteries for EVs. In order to promote the EV and battery related industries, Indonesia had invited Tesla to invest in the country.
Details of the talks between Indonesia and Tesla cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality agreements, but it is said that they have mainly discussed battery and energy storage solutions. The Indonesian vice-minister said, “If Tesla only wants to buy raw materials, we are not interested. The proposal is more than the procurement of raw materials and extends to energy storage systems such as MegaPack, PowerPack and Powerwall,” he said.
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group is launching a new business to produce EVs to order, according to customer preferences. It is designed to be used for corporate purposes such as delivery and car sharing, and the body design and loading capacity can be flexibly changed to suit the intended use.
The company will take advantage of the characteristics of EVs, which have a higher degree of freedom in design than gasoline vehicles. The company will also introduce a business model that does not involve mass production to accelerate the growth of its EV business.
To date, there have been over 151 million battery swaps, an average of 2.8 per second.
Erik Martin
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Imagine being asked to design and build a totally new, green energy infrastructure for an entire country — from scratch.
This was the goal given to Gogoro Network (GN) General Manager Alan Pan (潘璟倫) by Gogoro founder and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森). Sitting down for an interview with Taiwan News, Pan described some of the issues electric scooters faced before Gogoro, including limited charging solutions due to lack of space in Taiwan and high battery and maintenance costs.
Motorcycling in America is changing as industry leaders and new technology competitors are trying to attract newer/younger riders who want something different from Harley-Davidson’s big cruisers or screaming Japanese and European performance bikes.
The changes are in response to younger riders who are attracted to the efficiency and fun of two-wheel travel associated with e-motorcycles, while older riders are losing interest, or simply becoming unable to ride any longer.
At present, e-motorcycles remain a niche market. Riders are typically city dwellers in their early 40s–slightly younger than the average age of a U.S. motorcycle rider, which is 47, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council’s U.S. Motorcycle Owner Survey — and uses the bike to commute.
Komatsu plans to release a battery-powered compact excavator that emits no exhaust gas in Europe in 2022. The company will also promote the quietness of the product and expects to use it in residential areas. Hitachi Construction Machinery will also double orders for electric excavators in fiscal 2021 compared to the previous year. Following the trend in the automobile industry, competition in the field of electric construction machinery is now in full swing.
The compact excavator to be launched by Komatsu will use lithium-ion batteries that are lightweight and can operate for a long time. It uses a motor instead of an engine, making less noise and emitting no exhaust gas. The company will first market the product in Europe, where environmental regulations are strict, and then consider launching it in Japan. Komatsu began renting several small excavators powered by lead-acid batteries on a trial basis in Japan in April 2020.
Hyundai Motor and Apple are negotiating a partnership in the field of self-driving EVs, reports the Korean newspaper Korea IT News. Other media reported that Hyundai and Apple are aiming to launch a self-driving EV in 2027. Soon after this report, Hyundai announced that it was in early stage talks with Apple. (The above is excerpted from Newsweek)
Hyundai is playing a central role in the Apollo Project, the self-driving EV strategy of Chinese IT giant Baidu and is also actively mass-producing EVs.
VW China has increased its share in the electric vehicle joint venture JAC Volkswagen to 75% and obtained joint venture management rights. At the same time, it has obtained a 26% stake in the EV battery maker Gotion High-Tech to support the future electrification of the group. The total investment of the above two projects is estimated to be about €2 billion.
The plant, which has an estimated investment of US$3.06 billion (20 billion yuan) from both Volkswagen and JAC Motors, will be finished by the end of 2022, and its first vehicle will roll off the assembly line in 2023.
What is the current state of electric vehicle technology globally as well as the U.S.?
From a medium and heavy truck perspective, electric trucks are still in the early stages of testing and it will still be a few years before we know if the current technology will be effective. Transit or city buses are much further along in the process since these are largely not for profit vehicles and have more dedicated routes that allow for more consistent recharge.
China is probably the furthest along with electric bus adoption with almost half of all medium and heavy buses produced being electric. While electrified bus adoption in North America and Europe is not nearly as strong as China, demand is increasing.
Data from the National Marine Manufacturers Association shows August was another strong month for new powerboat retail sales, which were up 8% year to date on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to a year ago.
New power boat retail sales did slowed in August following increases in the early summer months. Total sales were down 13 percent compared to July, while sales are still strong with increases across all major categories, year to date. Sales of saltwater fishing boats, tow boats, cruisers and yachts each had double-digit growth ranging from 11 percent to 15 percent, compared to 2019. PSR
