The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report September 30, 2016

ISSN 1946-1011

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 ...... 4 COMING TO A LOCATION NEAR YOU ...... 4 OTHER TECHNOLOGY ...... 5 SUBSCRIBING TO The Hybrid Report...... 6 ARTICLES REFERENCED ...... 6

HYBRIDS

Because of a building boom in Palmerston North, New Zealand, the local council there was forced to add vehicles for building inspectors, Stuff (Rankin, September 19, 2016) said. The council bought two used plug-in hybrid Prii. The cars are ideal, the officials say, because many of the inspection trips are driven before a gasoline engine warms up to run at peak efficiency. These trips can run on electricity.

Closer to home,1 the city of Kingston, New York, bought two Chevrolet Volt hybrid cars, The Daily Freeman (Kirby, September 24) said. One car will be used by the Police Department’s School Resource Officer, while the other will be used by the Fire Department’s Building Safety Division. The city bought the cars using a state contract.

When the British government cut the plug-in hybrid and electric car subsidy in half, sales of the vehicles plummeted, This is Money (Hull, September 27, 2016) mentions. In the last three months before the reduction, British buyers bought 17,500 plug-ins. After the subsidy was cut from £5,000 ($6,499.42) to £2,500 ($3,249.71) only 4,200 were bought in the next three months. Of course, the sales prior to the subsidy reduction came from buyers moving planned purchases forward to qualify for the subsidy, however, figures show that sales of plug-ins are about the level they were before the subsidy was implemented.

Even though hybrid and electric cars may have a higher price tag than their conventional counterparts,2 when operating and maintenance is figured in, these cars are cheaper per mile than internal combustion engine cars, a study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Dizikes, September 27, 2016)

1 On this continent, at least. 2 The so-called hybrid premium.

The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report ISSN 1946-1011 September 30, 2016 2 says. MIT calculated the total costs of 125 vehicles. The study also includes an interactive chart where you can see and compare costs of various vehicles. For instance, you’ll find that the vehicle that is the cheapest to operate is the electric Smartfortwo, while the most expensive to operate is the BMW 435i. The chart also links related vehicles such as the hybrid and conventional versions of the same car for better comparisons.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The New Zealand Government opened the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund, Scoop (New Zealand Government, September 14, 2016) scooped. The Government has NZ$4 million ($2,970,664.69, US) available for high profile projects that will encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. The fund will pay half of any approved projects. Organizations need to apply by October 17 and funding will be awarded in December. Next year, the fund increases to NZ$6 million ($4,455,997.03 US).

The U. S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $2.7 million contract to British company QinetiQ to install and test electric motors that fit in military vehicles’ wheel hubs, QinetiQ (August 30, 2016) announced. QinetiQ was involved in a previous design phase of the project, but now DARPA wants to go a step further and actually test the hub-mounted motors. In addition to providing more electric power, the hub motors have the potential of reducing the weight of military vehicles by removing axles, differentials, and other drive train components.

Chinese electric automaker BYD America broke ground on a factory expansion in Lancaster, California, New China (Xinhua, September 13, 2016) says. The Lancaster plan builds 300 electric buses per year. The expansion will triple the number of employees and enable the plant to build 1,000 vehicles per year.

Eleven teams driving 11 electric cars (mostly Teslas) completed an “around the world” race, Electrek (Dow, September 16, 2016) tells. The road rally crossed the United States, Europe, and Asia in 80 days. Nine Teslas, a Denza, and a Modulo electric bus made up the field. This may be the second round the world rally and a third is planned for 2020. The race organizers want to include an autopilot section in the race.

Proterra demonstrated its Catalyst E2 electric bus at the American Public Transit Association’s meeting in Los Angeles, Live Science (Deamer, September 19, 2016) leads. During testing, the bus was able to get between 194 to 350 miles on a single charge. On at least one test, it was able to go 600 miles. The bus will be available for sale next year.

In the last Report, we reported that Apple may no longer be building the electric car that the company has never said it was working on. Bloomberg (Webb, Behrmann, & De Vynck, September 15, 2016) reports that about 12 engineers from the company Magna International that does design work and contract work for many European automakers have been working at Apple. And in other news about the electric car that Apple is not making, Apple is not in discussions with McLaren to buy that company, Automotive News (September 21, 2016) acknowledges. McLaren, a British company,

The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report ISSN 1946-1011 September 30, 2016 3 makes Formula 1 racecars and very expensive high-end3 automobiles. A New York Times (Wakabayashi & Chen, September 21, 2016) article says that Apple is also talking to Lit Motors in San Francisco about buying that company. Lit makes electric motor cycles and Apple has already hired several Lit engineers. The New York Times article also reported that Apple was in talks to buy McLaren.

Daimler introduced new electric urban delivery trucks at the IAA4 in Hannover, Germany, Fleet Owner (Mele, September 20, 2016) owned. The Mercedes-Benz Urban eTruck has a recommended gross weight of 26,000 and comes in a refrigerated cabover model. The electric motors are mounted at the drive wheels. It can go 200 kilometers (124.27 miles) on a charge. The company also introduced the Mercedes-Benz electric Vision Van that can go 270 km (145.79 miles). It is designed to use with drones which will deliver the cargo to the destination. The driver uses a joystick to drive the vehicle.

If you can’t wait for Daimler to introduce this eTruck to the US market, Daimler will begin selling another electric delivery truck in the US, next year. Fleet Owner (Mele, September 23, 2016) says that Daimler will begin selling the Fuso eCanter next year. The delivery truck will be available in a refrigerated version. Most likely, it will be for sale in California, and Daimler says it would be interested in partnering to build a fast charger network in markets where there is sufficient density.

Tsuneishi C Values Philippines is testing hybrid cars in Balamban in Cebu in the Philippines, the Sun Star Cebu (Cacho, September 21, 2016) shines. The hybrids are apparently plug-ins and have a range of 80 km (almost 50 miles) on an electric charge. After testing in Balamban, the company, which was formerly known as a shipbuilder, will take the cars to Paraguay for testing.

At the Paris Autoshow, Daimler announced it will have 10 new electric models under the Mercedes-Benz sub-brand EQ, Automotive News Europe (Beene, September 29, 2016) says. The electric cars are part of Daimler’s strategy to be the leader in electric vehicles and have 15 to 25% of its sales come from electric vehicles. The EQ vehicles will have two electric motors. These cars are about five years away from the market. According to Daimler’s CEO, “EQ stands for a comprehensive electric ecosystem of services, technologies and innovations.”5

Volkswagen also rolled out a new electric model called I.D, HybridCars (Elmer, September 28, 2016) reports. Volkswagen is planning on taking on the Chevrolet Bolt with this model. It will be able to go 248 to 372 miles on a charge. The car will be on sale around 2020, with a self-driving model in 2025. Unlike Daimler, Volkswagen is not telling us what I.D. stands for. .

3 Perhaps “expensive high-end” is redundant. 4 We are guessing IAA stands for International Automotive Association, but we could not find out for sure. 5 We are not sure if this sentence translates to a German word with the letters E and Q in it, but Mark Twain warns that many German words are “compound words with the hyphens left out” (“The Awful German Language,” Appendix D of A Tramp Abroad, 1880).

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ALTERNATIVE FUELS

The Washington Post (Mooney, September 14, 2016) reviews the International Energy Agency’s report on world energy investment, entitled World Energy Investment 2016. According to the report, we are making progress on slowing climate change. The bad news, though, is we are not making enough progress. World-wide, investment in wind and solar energy and electric cars is picking up. If the rate of expansion continues at this pace, it could begin to make a dent in oil demand and has a 50% chance of holding global warming to 2° C. The bad news is that’s still considered too high. It appears that outside of wind, solar, and electric vehicles, things do not look so good. Nuclear energy is not keeping up with demands and instead of reducing reliance on coal, some countries are building more coal-fired electric plants. Within the transportation sector, while electric cars are making a dent, the biggest users of liquid fuel are aviation, ocean transportation, and heavy transportation. And sufficient progress is not happening in these areas. A related report by a European group called the Climate Action Tracker says that to reach the adopted goal of 1.5° C growth in world temperature, the last petroleum-fueled car has to be sold in 2034, Reuter (Doyle, September 15, 2016) reports. This assumes that petroleum-fueled vehicles will remain on the road until 2050.

Renewable natural gas is an often overlooked source of energy. It comes from the natural break down of organic material, often as methane. Biogas can be collected from landfills, sewerage treatment plants, food processing plants, and farms. A good place to learn about renewable natural gas is the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas website provided by Hybrid Report subscriber Bill Stallman.

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: The Hyatt Regency in Sacramento, California, opened a new Tesla charging station as well as conventional chargers, The Sacramento Bee (Glover, September 14, 2016) buzzed. There are six Tesla chargers and 20 level 2 ClipperCreek chargers. The chargers are free, however, users have to pay for parking.

Hannaford, a supermarket chain in Maine, recently opened fast chargers at five of its stores, the Portland Press Herald (McGuire, September 23, 2016) heralded. The stores are in Portland, South Portland, Topsham, York, and Augusta.

Union College of Schenectady, New York, installed two charging stations, the College (September 22, 2016) announced. The chargers can accommodate four vehicles. People associated with the College have to register to use the chargers. There has been a problem with non-electric cars parking in the spots next to the chargers.

You will soon be able to catch a charge in Ketchum Idaho, according to KMVT (Fawn, September 23, 2016) televised. The city and Idaho Power will install a level 2 charger at the Ore Wagon Museum.

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DePaul University’s Student Government Association installed two charging stations in the Clifton parking garage on the Lincoln Park, Illinois, campus, The DePaulia (Woosley, September 25, 2016) explains. Charging is free for students, faculty, and staff.

Empire Electric, a utility serving Missouri, opened a new charging station in Ozark, the Christian County Headliner (Smith, September 27, 2016) headlined. The charger has two parking spaces and is free.

Nissan and Mark Oil are going to install fast charging stations at ten BP gas stations and minimarts in the Charlotte,6 North Carolina, Green Car Reports (Voelcker, September 27, 2016) reports. The two companies want to see if placing chargers at gas stations is more effective than other charger locations since drivers have a tendency to stop at gas stations.

Around the World: Kiwi Property, a New Zealand shopping mall development company, plans to install 16 charging stations at malls around the tiny island nation, Stuff (Harris, September 16) says. The chargers are slated for two malls in Auckland, one in Palmerston North, and one in Christchurch.7

Also in New Zealand, BMW, the New Zealand Government, and Charge Net NZ are joining to install 100 fast charging stations around the country, China’s Asia & Pacific edition of News (Xinhua, September 27, 2016) notes. Charge Net NZ already has 20 fast chargers, but the additional chargers should enable electric car drivers to drive anywhere in New Zealand.

Rotterdam in the Netherlands will install 4,000 chargers by 2018, Charge Electric Vehicles Magazine (Morris, September 2016) charged. The chargers will be placed by 2018. EV-Box of Amsterdam will make the chargers while ENGIE services will run the network. Rotterdam will have 1,800 chargers in the city and the rest will be in the suburbs.

Vernon, British Columbia, in Canada, opened a new fast charging station, the Vernon Morning Star (September 23, 2016) shines. The station near the Greyhound Bus station represents the final station in BC Hydro’s 30 charger network.

Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, will open two charging stations next month, Agenda (September 27, 2016) lists. Europe Square in Old Town and the Vake District will get the chargers. They will be free for the first year. Tbilisi has 40 electric cars.

OTHER TECHNOLOGY

Nothing to see here, so move along.

6 One of the Editor’s many, many former hometowns, ca. 1957-1958. 7 We have fond memories of Christchurch. While assigned to US Naval Support Force Antarctica, we flew in and out of the city traveling to and from McMurdo Station, Antarctica and worked out of the Christchurch Airport.

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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

Agenda. 2016, September 27. Tbilisi plans charging stations for hybrid cars. Retrieved: http://agenda.ge/news/66177/eng

Automotive News. 2016, September 21. McLaren says ‘no discussions’ are taking place with Apple. Retrieved: http://www.autonews.com/article/20160921/OEM01/160929951/apple- eyes-british-supercar-maker-mclaren-report-says?cciid=email-autonews-blast

Beene, R. 2016, September 29. Daimler confirms EQ subbrand for electric cars. Automotive News Europe. Retrieved: http://europe.autonews.com/article/20160929/ANE/160929789/daimler-confirms- eq-subbrand-for-electric-cars?cciid=email-ane-daily

Cacho, K. O. 2016, September 21. Hybrid cars tested in Balamban. Sun Star Cebu. Retrieved: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2016/09/21/hybrid-cars- tested-balamban-499077

Deamer, K. 2016, September 19. New Electric Bus Can Travel 350 Miles on Single Charge. Live Science. Retrieved: http://www.livescience.com/56148-proterra- electric-bus-long-battery-life.html

Dizikes, P. 2016, September 27. Study: Low-emissions vehicles are less expensive overall. MIT News. Retrieve: http://news.mit.edu/2016/study-finds-low-emissions- vehicles-less-expensive-overall-0927

Dow, J. 2016, September 16. Eleven teams just drove around the world in electric vehicles. Electrek. Retrieved: https://electrek.co/2016/09/16/eleven-teams-just- drove-around-the-world-in-electric-vehicles-9-teslas-1-denza-a-bus/

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Doyle, A. 2016, September 15. Sell last gasoline car by 2035 to meet climate goals, study says. Reuters. Retrieved: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange- cars-idUSKCN11L197

Elmer, S. 2016, September 28. Volkswagen I.D. Concept Promises All-Electric Range Competitive With Chevy Bolt. HybridCars. Retrieved: http://www.hybridcars.com/volkswagen-i-d-concept-promises-all-electric-range- competitive-with-chevy-bolt/

Fawn, D. 2016, September 23. Ketchum installing electric-vehicle charging station. KMVT. Retrieved: http://www.kmvt.com/content/news/Ketchum-installing-electric- vehicle-charging-station-394640411.html

Glover, M. 2016, September 14. Sacramento hotel christens electric vehicle charging hub. The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/technology/article101860072.html

Harris, C. 2016, September 16. Kiwi Property prepares its malls for electric vehicles. Stuff. Retrieved: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/84339120/kiwi- property-prepares-its-malls-for-electric-vehicles

Hull, R. 2016, September 27. Plug-in car sales slow after the Government slashed the subsidy for buying an electric or hybrid vehicle. This is Money. Retrieved: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-3809581/Plug-car-sales-slow- subsidy-allowance-slash.html

Kirby, P. 2016, September 24. Kingston adds two hybrid vehicles to its fleet. The Daily Freeman. Retrieved: http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general- news/20160924/kingston-adds-two-hybrid-vehicles-to-its-fleet

Mele, J. 2016, September 20. Daimler’s take on urban trucking. Fleet Owner. Retrieved: http://fleetowner.com/equipment/daimler-s-take-urban-trucking

Mele, J. 2016, September 23. Electric Fuso Canter coming to U.S. in 2017. Fleet Owner. Retrieved: http://fleetowner.com/equipment/electric-fuso-canter-coming-us- 2017?clkthru=0e6ee6844627bb895780418654571ff1&spvc=42&NL=FO-01&Issue=FO-01_20160926_FO- 01_240&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPENT000000000655&utm_campaign=7956&utm_medium =email&elq2=f76f75cbf264441f9620fdf7a99da8dc

McGuire, P. 2016, September 23. Fast-charging kiosks for electric cars open at five Hannaford stores. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved: http://www.pressherald.com/2016/09/23/hannaford-opens-five-fast-charge- kiosks-for-electric-cars/

Mooney, C. 2016, September 14. Wind, solar and electric cars are booming. Too bad that’s not enough to stop climate change. The Washington Post. Retrieved: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/09/14/wind- solar-and-electric-cars-are-booming-too-bad-thats-not- enough/?utm_term=.ebcc4c9db4ac

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Morris, C. 2016, September 21. EV-Box to supply 4,000 public charging stations for Rotterdam. Charge Electric Vehicles Magazine. Retrieved: https://chargedevs.com/newswire/ev-box-to-supply-4000-public-charging- stations-for-rotterdam/

New Zealand Government. 2016, September 14. Electric vehicles contestable fund opens today. Scoop. Retrieved: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1609/S00240/electric- vehicles-contestable-fund-opens-today.htm

QinetiQ. 2016, August 30. Next-generation combat vehicles a step closer as QinetiQ hub-drive technology secures DARPA investment. Retrieved: https://www.qinetiq.com/media/news/releases/Pages/next-generation-combat- vehicles-a-step-closer-as-qinetiq-hub-drive-technology-secures-darpa- investment.aspx

Rankin, J. 2016, September 19. Building boom drives need for electric cars. Stuff. Retrieved: http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/84398901/building- boom-drives-need-for-electric-cars

Smith, H. 2016, September 27. Fully charged: Empire Electric opens electric car charging station in Ozark. Christian County Headliner. Retrieved: http://ccheadliner.com/news/fully-charged-empire-electric-opens-electric-car- charging-station-in/article_fd55cbd8-84dc-11e6-8486-7bf167d0c9a6.html

Union College. 2016, September 22. Union gets a charge out of its first electric vehicle stations. Retrieved: https://www.union.edu/news/stories/2016/09/union-gets-a- charge-out-of-its-first-electric-vehicle-stations.php

The Vernon Morning Star. 2016, September 23. Vernon gets a charge at station. Retrieved: http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/394617591.html

Voelcker, J. 2016, September 27. Nissan partners with oil company for electric-car fast charging sites in Charlotte. Green Car Reports. Retrieved: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1106331_nissan-partners-with-oil- company-for-electric-car-fast-charging-sites-in-charlotte

Wakabayashi, D. & Chen, B. X. 2016, September 21. Apple Is Said to Be Talking to Vehicle Technology Companies. The New York Times. Retrieved: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/technology/apple-is-said-to-hold-talks-with- mclaren-and-lit-motors.html?_r=1

Webb, A.; Behrmann, E.; De Vynck, G. 2016, September 15, 2016. Magna International Inc. helps many major automakers produce cars—will they do the same for tech companies? Bloomberg. Retrieved: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016- magna-international/

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Woosley, K. 2016, September 25. Electric car chargers installed in Clifton Parking Garage. The DePaulia. Retrieved: http://depauliaonline.com/2016/09/25/electric- car-chargers-clifton-parking-garage/

Xinhua. 2016, September 13. Chinese automaker BYD to expand electric vehicles factory in California. New China. Retrieved: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-09/15/c_135688140.htm

Xinhua. 2016, September 27. German auto giant to help build New Zealand’s electric vehicle “highway.” News. Retrieved: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016- 09/27/c_135716076.htm

That’ll do.