[volkman10]

Images of patents file by TESLA is now confusing? Is TESLA now looking at Battery swapping?

It is difficult to say why Tesla filed this patent application, particularly since it seemed to have given up on the idea in favor of the Supercharging network. Additionally, the Tesla Model S depicted in the drawings is the pre-facelift model, perhaps suggesting that Tesla created these drawings a number of years ago and is simply patenting the system to discourage other automakers from exploring battery swapping

link

[sri_tesla]

Tata motors won the bid for supplying 10,000 electric cars to EESL (Indian govt). Total order worth Rs 1,120 crores. Tata quoted lowest price of Rs 10.16 lakhs.

http://www.livemint.com/Industry/k7g...es-to-EES.html

These cars will replace the petrol and diesel cars used by the govt and its agencies. EESL’s business model is to make these vehicles available for a monthly payment of around Rs45,000, Rs5,000 less than what is currently paid by the government and its agencies for leasing cars running on petrol and diesel.

Another Indian major Mahindra quoted Rs 13 lakh. If Mahindra can match the Tata's bid price, then they will have a chance to get the 40% of the order, i.e.. 4,000 vehicles.

[gopi_rm]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Images of patents file by TESLA is now confusing? Is TESLA now looking at Battery swapping?

link

Elon musk has already showcased battery swapping tech by comparing it with time taken to fill up an Audi model I guess. So it is not a surprise to see a patent filing by Tesla. Even though they may not use the tech they shall demand royalty if someone else is using it. Since EV is an emerging area, during these initial days there would be multiple options experimented by companies & 3rd party service providers to fill up the range by means of fast charging, battery swapping & leasing, etc.

[sri_tesla]

Mahindra planning to invest Rs 4,000 crore on EVs to develop separate new platform along with converting existing vehicles to EVs.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/60963444.cms

They plan to expand battery manufacturing at the existing facility and also to setup a large new unit at a different location.

[volkman10]

Tesla's First urban Supercharger in action,

Tesla recently announced their plans to expand its Supercharger network into city centers with slimmer and more compact chargers that deliver a dedicated 72 kW of power to each vehicle. The slimmer Superchargers have already been installed in downtown Chicago and Boston, to start, and will make their way to supermarkets and shopping centers in downtown districts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcqfoAUUc0s

[AltoLXI]

Airlines have also caught the electric bug.

Boeing and JetBlue Airways have announced they would begin selling a hybrid-electric commuter aircraft by 2022. Planned by start-up Zunum Aero, the small plane would seat up to 12 passengers and reduce travel time and cost of trips under 1,600 km.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/60970730.cms

Stanford economist and RetinkX founder Tony Seba predicts two things:

His latest report predicts two things. One, he says that by 2030, 95% of people won’t own a private car, killing off the auto industry. Two, he predicts electric vehicles will devastate the global oil industry by the same date.

Seba says the impact on the oil industry will be “catastrophic.” He predicts, “Global oil demand will peak at 100 million barrels per day by 2020, dropping to 70 million barrels per day by 2030. This will impact different companies and countries disproportionately — and in many cases, dramatically — depending on their exposure to high cost oil,” reports North American Energy News.

[volkman10]

Here is the EV scene in China ( Jan - Aug,17). All local players except TESLA, the only foreign player (imported).



Electric & hybrid cars sales grew by 50% to 326k units in China through August. Half of them are pure electric cars. AFV and hybrid cars.

[volkman10]

Amazon Patents Drone That Will Recharge Your Electric Car.

Amazon has come up with a patent for a drone that would be summoned by an electric car driver who needs a charge and can’t get to a charger. It would also add convenience because you could charge without having to stop the car and wait an hour or so. The idea is sort of like a plane that refuels another plan while flying.

link

[sri_tesla]

Hyundai-Kia increasing the annual production of their Kona and Niro SUVs to 20,000 vehicles each. This is an increase of 38% and 66% compared to their earlier plans last year. Together with Ioniq, Soul EVs their total combined all-electric vehicles will surpass 1 lakh vehicles.

http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/engli...-ev-production

Hyundai and Kia are increasing the battery capacity, no.of models and production capacity slowly and steadily. Hyundai Ioniq was very successful and the production increased to 1,800 per month from their planned production of 1,000 units last year because of increased demand.

[vamsi.kona]

Looks like government is very much serious about its drive towards electric vehicles. Fresh tenders for 20k electric cars likely to be floated in early 2018. Plans are also to convert or replace the entire fleet of Govt and PSU vehicles, around 5.5 lakhs, to electric. While the targets are ambitious, even if half the targets are met, there would be a big leap in the infrastructure and a major push for the EV.

State-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) will float a new tender to procure 20,000 electric cars as the central government plans to electrify its car fleet in next 4-5 years confirms CNBC-TV18.

http://www.financialexpress.com/auto...8-eesl/915344/

Apart from that earlier news report that govt will be issuing tenders for 25k E-Rickshaws and equal number of E-Auto's in December this year.

Even as a clutch of automakers — and a few non-car companies, too — gear up to create an ecosystem for electric vehicles (EVs), there’s something quietly underway on the government front. Come December, state-owned Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) will float tenders for 25,000 electric rickshaws and a same number of electric autos for phase I of sale to aggregators in public transport.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/60398935.cms


Also heard Gadkari saying that Govt would also encourage Hydrogen Fuel cells.

[GutsyGibbon]

The EV numbers and history said and done, there is no car on planet earth that can put on such a show in the driveway. Way too cool. My neighbor was doing this for Diwali.

https://youtu.be/ehtWahirzok

[volkman10]

Top selling EV's of 2017 (till date)

[sri_tesla]

Daimler, Volkswagen, BMW, Ford formed a partnership to setup fast charging network an year ago. Now they revealed that the network will be called IONITY. They will setup around 400 fast charging stations which will cover major travel routes in Europe.

The first 20 fast charger locations will be installed at 75 mile intervals along highways in Germany, Austria, and Norway by the end of 2017. A total of 50 locations will be in service by the end of 2018. The target date to complete the network is 2020. Each charge point will use the CCS charging standard and have a maximum power of 350 kW. The CCS standard is supported by Volkswagen, General Motors, BMW, Daimler, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and Hyundai.

Source:
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/05...etwork-europe/

[AdiSolEn]

While fast charging looks like a good idea, it ultimately affects the life of the batteries. Even with fast charging, the waiting times associated with charging cannot be reduced drastically without affecting the life of the battery bank. I personally think that Toyota is quite right to keep its focus on fuel cell vehicles alive. The proper hydrogen refilling infrastructure is very much close to the current petrol and diesel infrastructure in place, and coupled with solar power, it can prove to be an alternative where it will be very easy for people to switch over to fuel cells.

Also, options being explored for BEV's like battery swapping can create infrastructure and logistic problems of its own. What would be ideal would be to have a healthy mix of BEV's and fuel cell vehicles, wherein charging stations for BEV's can be powered by renewables and hydrogen filling stations and the electrolysis process can also be powered by renewables. I was working at Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy in Freiburg, Germany where the institute has already set up a hydrogen filling station powered by solar energy. People with fuel cell vehicles were already using it and the in and out times recorded per vehicle were same as that at regular petrol stations.

[sri_tesla]

Recent comments by Suzuki Corp president about Indian market and EVs are interesting.

• Suzuki is open to join the Toyota, Mazda, Denso’s electric vehicle (EV) joint venture.

• They want to work with other companies on EVs and batteries.

• Though Indian sales are great, they are concerned that they would caught flat-footed if EVs suddenly took off in India.

http://www.reuters.com/article/brief...-idUST9N1MF02D

These comments reveal the under preparedness of the major Japanese automakers in EVs. Situation of Suzuki is even worse as it has zero experience in the space. Despite being the largest automaker holding 50% of the market in India, they are not able to participate the EESL auction because they don't have any products in the pipeline.

As I have been saying about this on multiple threads, EVs are great chance for many automakers to crack the Indian market. Its definitely a great opportunity for the likes of Tata, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai, Mahindra to grab the higher share of the Indian market.