Hyundai Motor To Convert Heavy-Duty Trucks and Buses To Hydrogen and Electric Vehicles

FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT

The Hyundai Motor Group has announced its “Hydrogen Vision 2040,” which states that 2040 will be the first year of the popularization of hydrogen energy. The company plans to launch new models of all commercial vehicles, including heavy-duty trucks and buses, with hydrogen-electric and electric vehicles. The goal is to reduce the price of hydrogen-electric vehicles to the level of general electric vehicles by 2030 by developing a next-generation hydrogen fuel cell system that is inexpensive and has good performance.

The Hyundai Motor Group will not launch any new commercial vehicles powered by internal combustion engines in the future. It plans to mass-produce hydrogen-electric trucks in the country in the first half of next year and plans to apply hydrogen fuel cells to all of its commercial vehicle lineup by 2028.

Read More»

China Discovers Unique Battery Material

Guy Youngs
Guy Youngs

A newly discovered ore containing vast quantities of an element widely used in semiconductors has been found in China. The discovery could propel new advances in battery technology.

Geologists have found the rare earth metal niobium inside the new ore named niobobaotite from north China’s Inner Mongolia. The rare earth metal is widely used in alloys for jet engines and rockets and has also been shown to have exceptional current conducting properties in low temperatures.

Researchers have said batteries made from niobium have several advantages over traditional lithium-ion batteries. The Brazilian Metallurgy and Mining Company (CBMM) has been working on new projects towards the use of niobium to make advanced lithium-ion batteries.

Read More»

Tesla Cuts Prices of China-Made Cars

Jack Hao
Jack Hao

Taking advantage of new battery options and big government subsidies, Tesla has slashed its Model 3 prices in China. The company’s Chinese website is now advertising a base price for the popular battery-electric sedan of 249,900 yuan, or roughly $36,800.

While this is big news for the company in its efforts to remain dominant in the Chinese market, U.S. consumers won’t be affected…at least, not yet

Read More»

Volkswagen Truck and Bus and CBMM To Develop Niobium Battery for EV

Volkswagen Truck and Bus, part of the Traton Group, and CBMM, a Brazilian giant of niobium mining, announced an agreement to develop batteries with Niobium for Electric Vehicles. It promises to recharge a Truck Battery in less than 10 minutes and provide a traveling higher range. Volkswagen will start tests in 2022 to develop a functional vehicle with Niobium batteries by the end of 2022.

Source: Revista Oeste     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Primarily used to improve the strength of high grade steels, Niobium is also used for super conductors and has been tested by CBMM and Toshiba in batteries for three years with positive results. The solution applied for MHV may put Brazil in a strong position in MHV EV segment, since 97% of the Niobium reserves in the world are in Brazil.

Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development , South America, for Power Systems Research

Hyundai Motor Sells Chongqing Plant in China

SOUTH KOREA REPORT

The company sold the plant to Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Yufu Industrial Park Construction and Investment Group, which is owned by the city of Chongqing, and its affiliate will use the plant as a production base for electric vehicles.

Hyundai Motor Company has sold its finished car plant in Chongqing, China, to a Chongqing government-owned company for 1.62 billion yuan (about 33 billion yen, $222 million) in December 2023. Hyundai Motor is rushing to restructure its Chinese business, which has suffered from sluggish sales, and concentrate its management resources in the U.S. and Southeast Asia.

Read More»

In 2025, China’s Construction Machinery Electric Drive Products May Reach 25%

CHINA REPORT
Jack Hao
Jack Hao

Electrification has become one of the important directions of green development within China’s construction machinery segment. Domestic construction machinery leaders have increased the development of equipment electrification and have launched a variety of electrification products.

Some professional organizations predict that by 2025 the penetration rate of main products may reach 25%. The electrification of construction machinery initially replaces conventional diesel engine drive with electric drive and then the hydraulic device is replaced by an electric device. Concrete mixers, truck cranes, muck trucks, excavators and wheel-loaders are the most easily electrically driven products, especially for small construction machinery.

Source:  CLS     Read The Article

Read More»

Doosan Sells 10,000 Excavators in China in H1 2020

Doosan Infracore announced that it sold 10,728 hydraulic excavators in China in H1 2020. This is the company’s largest sales volume in nine years since it sold more than 12,000 units in the market in H1 2011. The company sold 1,320 excavators in June, a 23% increase in sales over the previous year.

Akihiro Komuro
Akihito Komuro

China’s hydraulic excavator market suffered a slowdown in the first two months of the year due to COVID-19 but is now consistently showing signs of a rapid recovery. Overall sales in the Chinese hydraulic excavator market exceeded 155,000 units in H1 2020, significantly exceeding the 125,000 units sold nationwide in H1 2019.

Source: Kikai-News (The original article was partially revised by the author.)

Read More»

Thai Oil Corp and Hon Hai To Produce 50,000 EVs in 2024

THAILAND REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Thailand’s state-owned energy giant, PTT says it will start producing EVs in 2024 in a joint venture with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry. They will build a plant in eastern Thailand with an annual production capacity of 50,000 units, which they plan to increase to 150,000 units by 2030.

PTT and Hon Hai have established a joint venture company, Horizon Plus, which is 60% owned by PTT and 40% by Hon Hai, to produce EVs. The two companies had signed a joint venture agreement in September 2009. The total investment is expected to be US$ 1 billion to US$ 2 billion.

Based on the platform for EVs developed by Hon Hai, the company will produce vehicles in cooperation with auto parts companies clustered in Thailand.

Thailand, the largest auto producer in Southeast Asia, has set a goal of having 30% of its domestic vehicles be EVs by 2030. However, Japanese automakers, which account for 90% of the domestic production, are prioritizing EV production in Europe, the US, and China.

Read More»

CHINA REPORT, March 2020

This article appeared in the March 2020 issue of PowerTALK News

Beijing Municipal Passes Emission Off-Road Regulation

The  Beijing Municipal government officially published an emission regulation paper March 9, 2020.  The regulation is effective May 1, 2020.

Source: Beijing Municipal Government    Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Coronavirus has changed many things in China, but it is not going to delay the implementation or reduce the determination of the Beijing local government to curb air pollution.

Starting in May, we will see more stringent emission regulations and more law enforcement of off-road machines. The regulation gives local government more authority and convenient access to emission device details.  For the first time, this regulation provides regional coordination among Beijing and its neighboring provinces like Hebei and Tianjin.  They are not the only region to do this; more and more cities in Yangtze and Zhujiang Delta region are coordinating on legislation and law enforcement in efforts to curb air pollution. PSR

Qin Fen is Business Development Manager-China