The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shift! OK, listen up. GREEN is not the color of nerds
{Electricity, hybrids, hydrogen, biofuel . . . and a lot of other cool stuff that’s barely pronounceable}
1Energy company orders 150,000 electric Saab-9-3-based EVs: National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), the company backed by investors from China that bought Swedish automaker Saab, has shown its first electric production car based on the venerable Saab 9-3 that dates to 2002. The NEVS 9-3, powered by an electric motor, will have a range of about 300 kilometers (186 miles) the company said. NEVS won’t build the 9-3 for public sale yet, according to alternative-vehicle magazine Green Car Reports, but rather has plans for ride- and car-sharing platforms first. The cars will become the core for what NEVS calls “a new type of mobility solution” for sustainable cities, first in Tianjin City, China. To meet expected demand, the Panda Energy Company has already ordered 150,000 NEVS 9-3s.
2Study suggests that Gasoline-EV cost parity is expected by 2025: With battery prices forecast to plunge by as much as 77 percent by the year 2030, a study from Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that electric vehicles will become cheaper to buy than their gasoline counterparts by 2025. Batteries currently represent the biggest-cost item associated with EVs but are expected to plummet in price, dramatically lowering the cost of building EVs. The study specified that EVs would gain a price advantage by 2025 if current trends continue. Meanwhile, the costs of making internal combustion technology meet ever-tightening emission regulations, are expected to rise. VW plans to cut production-line water usage: Volkswagen has abandoned its diesel-engine aspirations in the wake of its emissions-cheating scandal. Instead, the company says it will develop a range of battery-electric vehicles to modernize its portfolio. It also promises to reduce the environmental impact of vehicle production by 45 percent by 2025. Already, it says, a Volkswagen Golf requires 27.5 percent less water for production than it did in 2010, through a series of 5,300 individual production-line measures. The changes include reduced base-load energy consumption in paint shops, a move that attained a 15 percent reduction in energy consumption. Also, eight VW plants around the world have turned to renewable sources of energy to power their production lines, saving about bout US $145 million over six years.
3Entry-level hatch next Mercedes EQ concept: Mercedes-Benz will preview an entry-level model for its new electric EQ sub-brand at the Frankfurt (Germany) Motor Show in September, in the guise of a zeroemission hatchback, reports Britain’s Autocar magazine. The new electric car is a follow-up to the
Generation EQ concept utility vehicle that was shown at the 2016 Paris auto show in France. The hatchback will be a strong contender to become the most popular of the EQ vehicles, predicts
Autocar, “as it will be the most affordable, priced only slightly higher than the automaker’s current compacts.” The first Mercedes EQ electric, however, will be a utility vehicle based on the Generation EQ, and is due in showrooms sometime in 2018.
Shift points
• Audi will launch three new electric models by 2020, followed by the electrification of models in each of its core production series. It will split the development costs of a shared electrical architecture with its corporate sibling, Porsche.
• As befits the royal title, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco drove the hydrogen-powered Honda Clarity Fuel Cell car on the lap of honor for the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix. A slow lap, it preceded the driver introductions and the national anthem.
• Volvo will bring its first purely electric vehicle to market in 2019, and will built it in China. The announcement was made at the 2017 Shanghai auto show. Not surprising, perhaps, as Volvo is owned by a company in China.
4Subaru will spend its R&D money on electrification rather than self-driving cars: The Japan-based automaker is considering all-electric versions of each model in its lineup rather than developing new vehicle lines to run the high-tech powertrains. CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga told Bloomberg news service that amid record spending in research and development, Subaru wants to allot its limited R&D funds as efficiently as possible. Adapting existing model lines to the new technology will be more cost-effective than developing all-new vehicles as other automakers have done. He sees no need for a new electric brand or subbrand as larger companies such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW have done. Subaru will prioritize spending on electrification ahead of other emerging technologies including autonomy and connectivity, he said.