June EV Report

July 4, 2022

EV REPORT #9 – JUNE 2022

DRIV-EV- A MONTHLY REVIEW OF WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH & ABOUT EVs

MANUFACTURER UPDATE

  • Hyundai has confirmed it will proceed with a $5.54B EV production plant in Georgia. Construction is to begin in early 2023 and annual production is expected to be 300,000 units rising to 3.2 million units by 2030. (Car Buzz 5/23/22)
  • Ford has announced its plans to end the selling of ICE vehicles by 2035. (Car Buzz 5/17/22). Staying with Ford, their new EV ,the Ford Lightening has the capacity to power an average home for approximately 3 days thanks to its bi-directional charging capability and some optional equipment. (This could be a game changer especially for rural residents impacted by natural disasters such as wildfires or brownouts.) (Bloomberg Hyperdrive 5/31/22).
  • A new manufacturer is entering the EV fray, California based Humble Motors. Its strategy is produce the world’s first solar powered SUV (pictured below). While the company is still in prototype phase, early testing shows the solar charging is able to recharge its own battery to generate an additional 10-60 miles per day depending on conditions. Along with its standard 80kwh battery the range is expected to be 250-300 miles. (Trendland 6/2/22)

  • However, Humble Motors may not be the first to do this as a Dutch start up. Lightyear One unveiled a production ready vehicle that has built in solar panels as well as an onboard battery pack. Lightyear claims owners could go as long as two months without plugging in and in sunnier climes they feel that this could be extended to 7 months. An initial run of 150 vehicles are scheduled for delivery this November in Europe. Humble Motors may lay claim to the first solar powered SUV whereas the Lightening is clearly not an SUV.

  • The vehicle pictured below is the Squad Solar City Car and was recently introduced in the Netherlands. It resembles a 2 seater golf cart and comes with fully removable doors to accommodate a range of seasons. Designed solely for short urban trips it comes with a 100 km battery as well as solar panels which can add up to 12 miles/day. The price is around $6500US.

  • Mercedes has a new etruck, the eACTOS Longhaul which has a range of 310 miles and is set to enter production in 2024. Scania, a Swedish producer of commercial vehicles has launched its long haul electric truck which is expected to provide 350 kms of range at an average speed of 80 kph. The truck, which has 6 batteries can fully recharge in less than 90 minutes which is half the time of a driver’s mandated rest period for every 4.5 hours of driving in Europe. (The Mercedes truck is pictured below). (Electrek 6/13/22)

  • Ferrari is the latest manufacturer to enter the EV marketplace as they have just announced plans to invest $4.4B euros to develop fully electric and plug in hybrids that will comprise 60% of its fleet by 2026. (Bloomberg Hyperdrive 6/16/22).

INFRASTRUCTURE

  • VW and oil giant BP have partnered to install 8000 urban fast charging stations across Europe by 2024. (Green Car Reports 4/29/22)
  • Electrify America has announced its plans to build a sustainable solar farm in southern California. The project named, “Electrify America Solar Glow 1”is estimated to produce enough solar power annually to more than offset any energy delivered to the current EV charging network. The project is expected to start later this year and be completed by summer of 2023. (Electrek 5/18/22)
  • As noted in last month’s report Tesla had launched a pilot program to expand its supercharger network to non Tesla EV owners. The program was first launched in the Netherlands and is now available in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Norway and France. More recently the supercharger stations are now available in select US states. (Electrek 5/23/22)
  • Seattle’s local utility, Seattle City Light is offering to install level 2 curbside charging stations at no cost to residents or property owners who cannot have units installed on their property. (Green Car reports 5/25/22)
  • The US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) aims to install 500,000 charging stations by 2030 and they are to be positioned 50 miles apart on major highways. (Green Car Reports 6/10/22)

BATTERY PRIMER Part 2

For the past 3 decades lithium ion batteries have been the industry standard and for good reason as they can recharge quickly and hold high amounts of power in a small package. But they have drawbacks as well. Namely they can’t be charged too often, they are filled with flammable liquid and they rely on cobalt and nickel, which are in global shortage not to mention the health and safety issues associated with mining these materials.

Enter solid state batteries which are forecasted to replace lithium ion batteries in the not too distant future, perhaps as early as 2025. A significant advantage of solid state batteries is that they are lighter and they do not use flammable liquids. Instead they use a solid layer of graphite which is significantly safer as well as reduces dependency on nickel and cobalt. Solid state batteries are expected to hold more power than a lithium ion battery for longer periods of time. The big question is will solid state batteries become more cost effective once in production. ((Washington Post)

This brings me to the issue of battery charging. One of the habits a good many of us who drive gasoline powered vehicles is our tendency to “top up the tank” when we refuel and with gasoline this makes sense but batteries can sustain significant damage when they are pushed to extremes by overcharging or undercharging. As to why that is, it all has to do with battery chemistry. Batteries work by moving lithium atoms from one side of the battery to another. However the electrons needed to complete the charge cannot take the same route as the atoms. Instead they take a different route eventually reuniting with the atoms. When there is no lithium at either end those structures take a major hit which reduces their ability to accommodate lithium ions in the future and that ultimately hurts charging capacity. A deep discharge hurts battery life just like an overcharge for the same reasons.  Because of the effect these extreme battery charges have on overall battery life, systems are built into EVs that will underreport actual charge at the low end and overreport charge at the high end.

This also helps explain that as a battery reaches close to full charge, say at the 80% level, actual charging starts to slow down by design. A mostly depleted battery can charge in many vehicles now at 80% in about 30 minutes but the remaining 20% can actually take just as long and again that is all by design to preserve the life of the battery.

MORE BATTERY NEWS

  • Tesla’s advanced battery research group in Canada partnering with Dalhousie University has released a report on a new nickel based battery they say could last 100 years. (Electrek 5/24/22)
  • Enovix, a northern California lithium ion battery company has created an EV battery that will reach full charge in just over 10 minutes. Enovix’s speciality is a silicon anode lithium ion battery they call 3D Silicon. In testing conducted over the past three years, the battery has completed over 1000 charge cycles while still maintaining 93% of its original capacity. Enovix estimates their battery will last at least 10 years. No word yet as to when commercialization will begin. (Extreme Tech 6/15/22).
  • Michigan based start up, Our Next Energy (ONE) will soon demonstrate its new battery technology which they say will deliver 600 miles of range. (Green Car Reports 6/17/22)

NOTEWORTHY

  • Israeli company, ElectReon has announced plans to build a test road (1 mile long) with wireless charging capabilities. The pilot program is scheduled for completion next year in Detroit Michigan. Another wireless road (.65 miles) is also being tested. This time by Stellantis in Milan Italy. The purpose of both these pilot programs is to determine commercial feasibility for building long distance wireless charging highways which if proven viable will result in the creation of wireless charging toll roads.
  • A prototype electric aircraft has just completed a stop/start journey of 1403 miles. The focus of such aircraft are for flights and cargo that span about 150 miles (Popular Science 6/2/22). NASA is currently prepping for the inaugural flight of its all electric plane, the X-57. The X-57 is part of a $3.7B effort within NASA to determine how electric powered aircraft can counter issues such as air pollution and climate change. (The X-57 is pictured below).
  • At present there are more than 100 companies working on building and flying electric aircraft. By 2040 short haul flights (under 3 hrs) are to be in electric powered aircraft and since the number of short haul flight are expected to double in size from 3.5B to 7B passenger trips/year by then there is clearly a lot at stake. (Daily Beast 6/6/22).

  • The US EPA announced $500 in funding for electric school buses. School buses are the largest form of public transportation in the US with 480,000 buses in service every school day. (Green Car Reports 5/24/22)

The June EV Report was written and contributed by SGIN Member: Andrew McPherson (abmcpherson@gmail.com)

If you would like to share any informative articles or reports, please submit to Jenn Bowes (jenn@sgin.ca)