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Why Is California Building a Refueling Network for Hydrogen Cars Nobody Uses?
Guy Youngs California is essentially the only state in the USA that has any hydrogen cars to speak of, but even in that state, there are only about 12,000 of them on the roads. Despite this, the state intends to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per year (or more) to build a refueling network for those vehicles.
California lawmakers are now debating how much money to pour into a fueling station network for hydrogen cars.
A lobbying group for suppliers and supporters of H2 includes Shell, Chevron and Toyota is aiming for a designated 30% of the Clean Transportation Program money, which would represent about $300 million spent over the next 10 years.
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Australian Mining — Can It Power All The New EVs?
Australia is already the largest exporter of lithium in the world and has the largest lithium mine in the world. Each quarter, the Australian government produces a report from the Department of Industry Science and Resources which discusses Lithium and most of the other minerals needed to support the EV revolution.
The report is 175 pages long and this article focusses on the sections dealing with copper, nickel, zinc, and lithium.
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Black Mass, Black Gold, And the Truth About EV Battery Recycling
“Black mass” is a term used to refer to the residual compound formed by shredding of li-ion batteries that have reached the end of their usable life cycle. It is a huge task and challenge to recover the valuable cathode elements (lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt) entwined within the battery and upcycling them into usable battery materials.
RecycLiCo is among the first companies to turn that black mass into what is referred to as “black gold.” They do this by recovering almost all of the cathode…
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Redesigned Zinc-Air Batteries ‘Better’ than Lithium, say Researchers
Researchers at Edith Cowan University in Australia have redesigned zinc-air batteries and have found the technology to be preferable to lithium-ion batteries – even for electric vehicles, and they claim to have overcome the technology’s notorious power output limitations.
Zinc-air batteries consist of a zinc negative electrode and an air positive electrode. The chemistry holds promise and is significantly more sustainable than lithium-based counterparts, but the poor performance of air electrodes and short lifespan has limited the technology’s power output.
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Strong E-Bike Market Growth Seen
The pandemic bike boom boosted e-bike sales 145% from 2019 to 2020, more than double the rate of classic bikes, according to the market research firm NPD Group.
Research by Power Systems Research estimates the global e-bike market size at US$ 23.2B in 2022 and expects the market to reach US$ 78B by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 10.5%.
E-bikes are bicycles equipped with electrical motors for transforming electrical energy into mechanical energy to assist pedaling. They use rechargeable batteries that require minimum maintenance and provide power to the motor.
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Hydrogen Fuel Cell MH Commercial Vehicle Update
Chris Fisher With regards to zero-emission medium and heavy vehicles, we have heard during the past few years that battery electric commercial trucks will ultimately replace the diesel-powered internal combustion engine for commercial trucks. At some point in the future this might be true for short and regional haul freight carriers but what about the long-haul heavy truck segment?
Currently, the lack of charging infrastructure, range anxiety and the extreme weights associated with the batteries will be a significant deterrent to mass adoption of long-haul battery electric trucks. However, hydrogen fuel cell trucks for long-haul applications appear to be a viable option in this segment. Even though fuel cell trucks currently have a greater range and lighter weight than battery electric trucks, they have the same problem as electric trucks due to a lack of a power infrastructure.
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DataPoint: North America Tractor/Loader/Backhoes (TLBs)
Download PDFTractor/Loader/Backhoes are full-size machines that are three pieces of construction equipment combined into one: the tractor, the loader and the backhoe. These units are designed to tackle an array of construction and agricultural related activities.
Mini Tractor/ Loader/ Backhoes are compact machines that perform well for trenching, landscaping, and material handling. Units are configured with a front loader and rear backhoe attachment.
The small construction segment is predicted to increase the demand for TLBs due to the machine’s efficient use in material handling and digging applications. TLBs are efficient to use for digging applications and for material handling as well (it’s an all-in-one machine). TLBs are easy to operate, especially in limited spaces and are a versatile machine.
This product information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.
Market Share: With combined plant totals of 54%, Deere leads in production of TLBs in North America. In second position is Case New Holland with 45%; third, is Kubota with 1%.
Export: Up to 35% worldwide.
Trends: In 2022, production of Tractor/Loader/Backhoes in North America increased nearly 1%. From 2022-2023 production is expected to climb another 2%. This segment rebounded 57% from 2020-2021 from the 41% prior year decline.
The decline was attributed to weak demand for TLBs due to cost and the effectiveness of mini excavators as being a much more profitable tool than the backhoe loaders along with Covid-19 related factors. The COVID-19 global pandemic made 2020 a very challenging year across most industries, including the production of construction equipment in North America.
The off-highway segments (agricultural, construction and industrial) all saw dramatic production declines in 2020 compared to 2019. The decline also was caused by lower shipment volumes and foreign-currency exchange issues along with JCB redirecting manufacturing back to the UK.
Production will remain flat then steadily increase over the next five years. The increase: TLBs are still a significant selling pieces of construction machinery and will remain a popular machine. Expect production to gain an additional 5% by 2025.
Battery Electric:
Company: Case New Holland
2021: 13
2022: 7
2023: -0 (out of production)
From 2021-2022, production of Battery Electric TLB decreased 46.1%. Production dropped 100% from 2022-2023. Case model 580 EV has been discontinued. Production started in 2020. PSR
Carol Turner is Senior Analyst, Global Operations, for Power Systems Research
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Companies Support Government Fleet Renewal Program
Fabio Ferraresi Gerdau, Vamos and Volkswagen Caminhões have formed a partnership to support the national fleet renewal program, aimed at removing from roads vehicles more than 20 years old.
The fleet renewal program provides for the purchase of low emission and more efficient vehicles by self-employed drivers and other operations. Under the plan, 140 acquired vehicles were sent to Gerdau’s headquarters in Araçariguama, which is responsible for their destruction and recycling.
At the same time, an extension…
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Brazil Motorcycle Production To Reach 1.5 Million in 2023
In the first seven months of 2023, manufacturers affiliated with Abraciclo assembled 887,000 motorcycles, up 14.3% over the same period in 2022. Registrations totaled 903,200, up 21.4%, including imports and sales from automakers not yet linked to the association, such as India's Bajaj and Royal Enfield, which began production in Brazil at the end of last year. The entity's expectations for 2023 are for expansion of 10.4% (1.56 million units) in production and 10.9% (1.51 million motorcycles) in…
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BEV Demand Boosts Brazil Mining Investment
The increase in global demand for clean energy is accelerating investments in the exploration of reserves of so-called critical or strategic minerals in Brazil. Over the next five years in Brazil, companies are expected to invest approximately US$ 8 billion in key strategic minerals. In copper the expectation is that the resources will reach US$ 4.47 billion, while nickel is in second place, with investments of US$ 2.3 Billion forecast.
Source: Valor Read The Article
PSR Analysis: A significant…
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