The Hybrid, Fuel, and Vehicle Report

ISSN 1946-1011

The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report February 28, 2017

The fine print: This report is a summary of articles appearing in popular, business, and technical media referring to the impact of fuel costs and fuel efficiency on vehicle technology, development, and markets. At the end of the report is a list of all articles summarized, with hyperlinks to internet sources where available. Some articles may require free registration or paid subscriptions to access. The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report (ISSN: 1946-1011) is compiled, written, and edited by Thomas L. R. Smith, Ph. D. (hereinafter referred to as “The Editor”), Economic Analysis Branch of the Budget and Financial Analysis Division, Washington State Department of Transportation. Contact The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report’s editor at [email protected] or (360) 705-7941. Contributions of news items, original articles, cookies, and positive comments about The Report are welcome.

TABLE OF CONTENTS HYBRIDS ...... 1 ELECTRIC VEHICLES ...... 1 ALTERNATIVE FUELS ...... 1 COMING TO A LOCATION NEAR YOU ...... 2 OTHER TECHNOLOGY ...... 3 SUBSCRIBING TO The Hybrid Report...... 4 ARTICLES REFERENCED ...... 4

HYBRIDS

The city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan launched a hybrid passenger ferry, Visedo (Tomi, February 2, 2017) reported. Ship and Ocean Industries retrofitted the passenger ferry with a Visedo diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system. The system allows the vessel to sail in full electric mode for half its voyage. Visedo claims the system should save 25,000 liters (6,604 gallons) of fuel each year.

The Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, which supervises a free trade zone in Dubai, received two Volkswagen Golf GTE plug-in hybrids, Construction Week (Bhatia, February 27, 2017) considers. The cars went through a hot weather test, surviving the summer in Dubai. The Golfs will be used by the engineering section of the Authority.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Blue Bird, a Fort Valley, GA, company that makes school buses, received a $4.4 million grant from the U. S. Department of Energy to make electric school buses, the company (January 27, 2017) announced in a press release. The grant requires the bus company to develop buses that will allow the bus to return electricity to the grid. Blue Bird built its first electric bus in 1994.

Daimler’s Smart car brand may make a smart move when it discontinues gasoline cars and only sell electric cars in North America, Tech Crunch (Etherington, February 14, 2017) crunched. The decision is mostly because the gas versions of the Smart Fortwo just is not selling in the U. S. in a market that favors SUVs and trucks. Of course, Smart’s electrics haven’t sold particularly well, either, but Smart wants to stay in the North American market and expects electric sales to perform better in the future.

The National Police of Ukraine will acquire 635 plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Outlanders, Mitsubishi (January 27, 2017) announced in a press release. The vehicles will be delivered by July. The deal is part of the Kyoto Accord’s Green Investment scheme.

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Range anxiety is often given as the number one reason people don’t by electric cars. In London, a survey by the Institute of Motor Industry finds that the insurance premium on electric car keeps 65% of drivers away from electric cars, Contract Hire and Leasing (Thomason, February 21, 2017) contends. Insurance companies in England charge 50% more on electrics and hybrids than regular cars. The higher premium is due to the higher price of electric cars and because there is a shortage of mechanics trained to work on electric cars.

In Norway, electric cars are 37% of new car sales, the Daily Kos (Einenkel, February 21, 2017) deals. Last year, the market share was 29%. Electric cars are still only 5% of the total fleet, but as sales keep increasing, some believe that electric cars may take 50% of the market by the end of the year. This article was provided by Hybrid Report subscriber Jennifer Smith.1

BMW put out a recall on the i3 REx extended range electric cars sold in the United States, Auto World News (Olvido, February 24, 2017) writes. The extended range i3 has a gas motor that recharges the batteries. The vent line can rub against the battery’s positive cable, which could cause a leak, which could make the car go, “boom.” So far, there haven’t been any cases of these cars going boom, but out of an abundance of caution, BMW will recall the cars and fix the problem for free.

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Royal Dutch Shell and Toyota are working together to bring seven hydrogen stations to California, Bloomberg (Trudell, Hagiwara, & Lippert, February 21, 2017) blasts. Toyota and Shell will spend $11.4 million on the stations, while the California Energy Commission may put $16.4 million into the pot. There are only 25 stations in California, but the state has a goal of 100 stations by 2024.

Lower Saxony,2 in Germany, bought 14 fuel-cell powered trains from French company Alstom, Charged (Morris, February 26, 2017) charges. The trains will start operating in December of this year. The train can travel about 500 miles at 87 mph.

COMING TO A LOCATION NEAR YOU: The latest news on new charging stations which may or may not be somewhere close to you.

United States: Southern California Edison installed eight new charging stations at Lynwood City Hall, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune (Scauzillo, February 16, 2017) said. The chargers are the first installed in a low-income area as part of an Edison program to bring electric cars to low- and medium-income neighborhoods.

Parking Structure 7 at Los Angeles International Airport, where the big jet engines roar,3 has 18 new level 2 charging structures, the Manhattan Beach Patch

1 Who is related to the Editor. 2 There is not an area or state in modern Germany called “Upper Saxony.” To the southeast of Lower Saxony, you will find Saxony-Anhalt, and southeast of that, Saxony. 3 Leanne Scott, “L. A. International Airport,” Sony Tree Publishing, ca. 1970.

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(Staff, February 16, 2017) patched. With these new charging stations, LAX has 81 level 2 stations.

Consumer Energy in Michigan will not be building an 810 charger network in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, Midwest Energy News (Balaskovitz, February 17, 2017) notes. The charging network was part of a proposal that included rate hikes for Consumer’s customers. Michigan Public Service Commission opposed the proposal. Among the complaints was that it would stifle private charger expansion. Consumer Energy withdrew the proposal.

Havre de Grace in Maryland installed a charging station at David Craig Park, the Havre de Grace Patch (Janney, February 22, 2017) patched. It costs $2 per hour to charge.

The Spokane-based utility Avista opened a fast charging station in Rosalia, Washington, The Spokesman-Review (Culver, February 27, 2017) reviewed. Rosalia is roughly midway between Spokane and Pullman on US 195. Avista plans to install two more fast chargers on the route between Spokane and Pullman by May. There is also a level 2 charger at the Rosalia location.

Around the World: There are two new free charging stations in Malaysia, Free Malaysia Today (Bernama, February 14, 2017) says. The stations are at Boustead Petroleum Marketing (BHPetrol) gas stations in Petaling Jaya and Sungai Besi Harmony. BHPetrol will open additional charging stations this year.

Byron Bay in Australia has a new fast charging station at the Byron Bay Library, The Northern Star (February 21, 2017) illuminates. Byron Bay in New South Wales, just south of Brisbane.

London will gain thousands of new charging stations over the next few years, the Evening Standard (Nimmo, February 21, 2017) states. A company called POD Point is investing £9 million ($11,340,725.71) in charging stations.

Tauranga, on New Zealand’s North Island, installed a solar powered charger on The Strand, Bay of Plenty Times (February 22, 2017) tells. The charger has a meter that shows how much electricity is coming from the sun and how much is coming from the grid.

Peterborough, in the Canadian Province of Ontario, recently gained nine new charging stations, Ontario (Ministry of Transportation, February 24, 2017) said. Peterborough Utilities Group installed 2 fast chargers and 7 level 2 chargers at locations around the town. The chargers are part of Ontario’s Electric Vehicle Chargers Ontario program.

OTHER TECHNOLOGY

Our honorary assistant editor for technology has been sleeping on the job. Again.

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SUBSCRIBING TO The Hybrid Report. The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report (ISSN: 1946-1011) is published in Olympia, Washington on or about the 15th and 30th of each month, except for those months we publish on a different date or not at all. The Report is available on the WSDOT website by clicking this link. From there, you can download the current issue in a PDF, look at back issues, or subscribe to a notification service that lets you know when a fresh issue has been posted to the website. You may also click this link to subscribe or contact the editor at [email protected] who can add you to the subscription list.

More fine print: The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report (ISSN: 1946-1011) is not responsible for hyperlinks that do not work or are inactive. All links worked when created; however, many news outlets archive or move reports soon after publication, so it’s not our problem that you can’t get to the cited article so don’t call or email to complain. It will be much like trying to teaching a pig to sing: it will waste your time and irritate the pig. The appearance of articles, products, opinions, humor (such as it is), and links in this summary does not constitute an endorsement of the same by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), my wife, or my cat (especially not my cat, who has no sense of humor. She’s a cat). Except as otherwise noted, WSDOT holds the copyright to The Hybrid Report. Photos and other artwork in The Report are included with express permission of the copyright holders of those works or the work is in the public domain. Further reproduction or distribution of copyrighted material is not authorized without permission of the original copyright holder. Merely acknowledging the source is not always sufficient and does not excuse reproducing copyrighted material without permission. It’s not that hard to ask for and get permission. Use only as directed; batteries not included. In the interest of full disclosure, the editor of this summary drives a Lexus NX 300h hybrid, while Mrs. Hybrid Report Editor drives a Lexus HS 250h hybrid. We are not saying you should get either one, but they are very nice.

ARTICLES REFERENCED

Balaskovitz, A. 2017, February 17. Michigan utility withdraws plans for electric vehicle charging network. Midwest Energy News. Retrieved: http://midwestenergynews.com/2017/02/17/michigan-utility-withdraws-plans-for- electric-vehicle-charging-network/

Bay of Plenty Times. 2017, February 22. Solar-powered electric vehicle charger opens in Tauranga. Retrieved: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty- times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=11805594

Bernama. 2017, February 14. Electric vehicles can ‘fill up’ for free at 2 BP stations. Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/02/14/electric-vehicles- can-fill-up-for-free-at-2-bp-stations/

Bhatia, N. 2017, February 27. Dubai: DSOA adds two hybrid Golf GTE cars to fleet. Construction Week. Retrieved: http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article- 43212-dubai-dsoa-adds-two-hybrid-golf-gte-cars-to-fleet/

Blue Bird. 2017, January 27. Blue Bird Awarded $4.4 Million to Develop Electric School Bus. Business Wire. Retrieved: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170127005405/en/Blue-Bird- Awarded-4.4-Million-Develop-Electric/

Culver, N. 2017, February 27. Getting There: Avista opens electric car charging station in Rosalia. The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/feb/27/getting-there-avista-utilities- aims-to-make-it-eas/

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Einenkel, W. 2017, February 21. Norway continues to break records with electric car market shares reach 37%. Daily Kos. Retrieved: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/21/1636266/-Norway-continues-to-break- records-with-electric-car-market-shares-reach-37

Etherington, D. 2017, February 14. Daimler’s Smart will focus on electric vehicles exclusively in North America. Tech Crunch. Retrieved: https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/14/daimlers-smart-will-focus-on-electric-vehicles- exclusively-in-north-america/

Janney, E. 2017, February 22. New Charging Station To Power Electric Vehicles In Havre de Grace. Havre de Grace Patch. Retrieved: http://patch.com/maryland/havredegrace/new-charging-station-power-electric- vehicles-havre-de-grace

Ministry of Transport. 2017, February 24. Making it Easier for Electric Vehicle Owners to Charge Up in Peterborough. Ontario. Retrieved: https://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2017/02/making-it-easier-for-electric-vehicle- owners-to-charge-up-in-peterborough.html

Mitsubishi. 2017, January 27. Mitsubishi Motors to supply 635 Outlander PHEVs to National Police of Ukraine. Retrieved: http://www.mitsubishi- motors.com/publish/pressrelease_en/corporate/2017/news/detail1036.html

Morris, C. 2017, February 26. Alstom fuel cell/battery passenger train to go into service in Germany. Charged. Retrieved: https://chargedevs.com/newswire/alstom-fuel- cellbattery-passenger-train-to-go-into-service-in-germany/

Nimmo, J. 2017, February 21. Millions invested in new electric car charging points in London. Evening Standard. Retrieved: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/techandgadgets/millions-invested-in-new- electric-car-charging-points-in-london-a3471356.html

The Northern Star. 2017, February 21. Byron gets electric on vehicles with new charging station. Retrieved: https://www.northernstar.com.au/news/byron-gets-electric-on- vehicles-with-new-charging-/3145920/

Olvido, J. P. 2017, February 24. BMW Recalls over 19,000 I3 REx Plug-in Hybrids Over Fire Risk. Auto World News. Retrieved: http://www.autoworldnews.com/articles/31982/20170224/bmw-recalls-over-19- 000-i3-rex-plug-hybrids-fire.htm

Scauzillo, S. 2017, February 16. Edison installs first electric-car charging stations in low- income community. San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Retrieved: http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-news/20170216/edison-installs-first-electric- car-charging-stations-in-low-income-community

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Staff. 2017, February 16. LAX Installs More Electric Vehicle Chargers in Parking Structure. Manhattan Beach Patch. Retrieved: http://patch.com/california/manhattanbeach/lax-installs-more-electric-vehicle- chargers-parking-structure

Thomason, N. 2017, February 21. 65% of London motorists put off Ultra Low Emission Vehicles due to high insurance. Contract Hire and Leasing. Retrieved: https://www.contracthireandleasing.com/car-leasing-news/london-motorists-high- insurance-electric-car/

Tomi, R. 2017, February 2. New Hybrid Electric Ferry Heralds Cleaner Sea Travel in Asia. Visedo. Retrieved: http://www.visedo.com/en/news/new-hybrid-electric- ferry-heralds-cleaner-sea-travel-asia

Trudell, C.; Hagiwara, Y.; & Lippert, J. Shell and Toyota Partner on California Fueling Stations for Hydrogen Cars. Bloomberg. Retrieved: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-20/shell-takes-one-small- step-to-fuel-toyota-s-giant-hydrogen-leap

That’ll do.