CHARGED Electric Vehicles Magazine - Issue 42 MAR/APR 2019

ELECTRIC VEHICLES MAGAZINE

ISSUE 42 | MARCH/APRIL 2019 | CHARGEDEVS.COM

A look at

Volkswagen’s MEB Architecture

p. 46

The all-electric underpinnings that the VW Group will use to build dozens of EVs

Examining losses in power semiconductors

Ultrasonic wire bonding vs laser welded bonding

How to make local communities more EV-friendly

Could regulations hold back charging development?

p. 26

p. 32

p. 56

p. 66

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THE TECH CONTENTS

26 A closer look at the losses in power semiconductors

32

32 Battery bonding

Ultrasonic wire bonding vs laser welded bonding

current events

17

12

Tesla to acquire ultracapacitor developer Maxwell Technologies

13 14

Dana acquires SME Group to expand electrified portfolio Honda and CATL to cooperate on EV development Infinitum Electric secures $1.8 million in funding for efficient HVAC motor

15 16

Mersen introduces new self-triggered hybrid pyro fuse for EV applications

Germany and France to invest 1.75 billion euros in cell production Bosch acquires motor maker EM-motive from Daimler Freudenberg acquires majority share of XALT Energy

17 YASA signs innovation agreement with automotive OEM 18 Tesla and Jeff Dahn patent new battery cell chemistry

20

Aerospace firm Safran acquires stake in OXIS Energy

20 PolyPlus and SK Innovation to develop glass-protected lithium metal battery

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to help ICE tech companies transition to EVs

22 BorgWarner acquires Rinehart Motion Systems and AM Racing

Freudenberg introduces new testing tools for high-rpm seals in electric motors

24 Klaric announces measurement tool for EV charging

22

BorgWarner releases new integrated eAxle

25 VW invests $10 million in battery start-up Forge Nano

THE VEHICLES CONTENTS

46 Volkswagen’s MEB architecture The all-electric underpinnings that the VW Group will use to build dozens of EVs

46

56 EV-friendly communities How local leaders can help effect change

current events 38 Rivian secures $700 million in new investment round led by Amazon

38

Boeing completes test flight of autonomous electric passenger aircraft

39 European regulators reach provisional agreement to lower truck emissions 40 Corvus Energy to provide energy storage systems for new electric ferries

Nikola announces battery-electric semi will join fuel cells in its lineup

41 42

Porsche doubles planned production of Taycan EV due to strong demand Formula E announces new off-road electric racing series: Extreme E Volvo to offer plug-in hybrid powertrains on all models

43

Daimler and BMW to invest a billion euros in ride-hailing JV

40

Meritor hopes to put 130 heavy-duty electric trucks on the road by 2020

44

Tallahassee to purchase 22 electric buses to serve Florida State University Lucid Motors said to be working on electric SUV

45

Motiv delivers first of seven electric step vans to USPS

IDENTIFICATION STATEMENT CHARGED Electric Vehicles Magazine (ISSN: 24742341) March/April 2019, Issue #42 is published bi-monthly by Electric Vehicles Magazine LLC, 2260 5th Ave S, STE 10, Saint Petersburg, FL 33712-1259. Periodicals Postage Paid at Saint Petersburg, FL and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CHARGED Electric Vehicles Magazine, Electric Vehicles Magazine LLC at 2260 5th Ave S, STE 10, Saint Petersburg, FL 33712-1259.

45

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66

66 Proposed regulations Could new regulations hold back EV charging development?

74 A good deal gets

better

Nissan’s $3,500 LEAF rebate gets local utilities involved in increasing EV awareness

60

60 WiTricity acquires Qualcomm Halo

Hubject and Greenlots to deploy Plug&Charge

61

Propel Fuels to launch EV charging network in California Tesla makes CCS adapter standard on new European Model S and X vehicles

62 BP invests in Chinese charging platform PowerShare

61

GreenFlux and Unica to provide 1,000 charging stations to Dutch government

63 ClipperCreek releases new ruggedized versions of its EV chargers

Electrify America to use Tesla Powerpacks at some charging stations

64 Startup Chargeway launches kiosks to showcase EV charging options

Study optimizes EV charging stations along Michigan highways

65 Québec invests in AddEnergie to pursue EV charging growth in US market

Hydro-Québec to deploy 1,600 fast charging stations over the next 10 years

63

EV industry M&As are signs of a lively, expanding market Global merger and acquisition (M&A) activity set new records in 2018, and many a company in the burgeoning EV industry took a slice of the over $3 trillion that changed hands. So far, the trend seems to be continuing in 2019. If you follow the EV industry headlines, you may have noticed a flurry of recent acquisition announcements in the areas of batteries, motors, electronics and charging technologies. What’s driving all this activity?

For one thing, overall market conditions are favorable to companies looking to expand. Money is cheap at the moment. Interest rates are low, making it easy to borrow to finance acquisitions, and the stock market is humming along, giving companies the option of making purchases with stock. Making acquisitions with debt or equity is attractive to growing companies, because it allows them to hold on to cash and further invest in R&D. The EV industry is also incredibly active. The major automotive tech brands have been hustling to define their niche in electrification. Building brand-new corporate divisions for electrified products can be very challenging, particularly because a transitioning industry means a war for talent. Engineers are in high demand, and many of these middle-market acquisitions (in the $10-million to $1-billion range) may fall into the category of acqui-hires, or talent acquisition.

This is the practice of acquiring a company to recruit its employees, without necessarily having an interest in its products or services. Acqui-hiring can be an efficient method of quickly building your company’s internal expertise.

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Here are some of the M&A headlines announced since June 2018: • Shell to acquire sonnen (residential energy storage) • BorgWarner to acquire Rinehart Motion Systems and AM Racing (EV drivetrains) • Bosch to acquire EM-motive (motor manufacturing) • Dana to acquire SME Group (motor manufacturing) • WiTricity to acquire Qualcomm Halo (wireless charging) • Tesla to acquire Maxwell Technologies (ultracaps and battery materials) • Freudenberg Sealing Technologies to acquire majority stake in XALT Energy (battery cells and systems) • Shell to acquire Greenlots (charging management software) • SABIC to acquire majority stake in Black Diamond Structures (carbon nanotubes) • Danfoss to acquire UQM Technologies (EV drivetrains) • Evergrande Group to acquire majority stake in NEVS AB (EV OEM) • Siemens to acquire COMSA (electrical systems and wire harness design) • Orion Engineered Carbons to acquire SN2A (battery materials) • Sensata Technologies to acquire GIGAVAC (high-voltage contactors) • SolarEdge to acquire Kokam (battery cells and systems) • Innogy to acquire Recargo (EV data and infrastructure) • Danfoss to acquire AXCO-Motors (large motors and drives) • ATS to acquire KMW (micro-assembly and test systems) • Horiba Automotive Test Systems to acquire FuelCon (battery testing) • EVBox to acquire EVTronic (charging station manufacturing) • Innogy to acquire BTC Power (charging station manufacturer) • BP to acquire Chargemaster (charging network) • Cummins to acquire Efficient Drivetrains (EV drivetrains) • Webasto to acquire AeroVironment EES (EV charging and battery test systems)

Christian Ruoff | Publisher

EVs are here. Try to keep up.

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Contributing Writers Michael Alba Josh Cohen Tom Ewing Jeffrey Jenkins Charles Morris John Voelcker

Publisher Christian Ruoff Associate Publisher Laurel Zimmer Senior Editor Charles Morris Associate Editor Markkus Rovito Account Executives Jeremy Ewald Kurt Heffner

For Letters to the Editor, Article Submissions, & Advertising Inquiries Contact: Info@ChargedEVs.com

Contributing Photographers Nicolas Raymond Christian Ruoff Cover Image Courtesy of VW Group

Technology Editor Jeffrey Jenkins

Kelly Ruoff Special Thanks to Sebastien Bourgeois

Graphic Designers Miroslav Ivanov Tomislav Vrdoljak

ETHICS STATEMENT AND COVERAGE POLICY AS THE LEADING EV INDUSTRY PUBLICATION, CHARGED ELECTRIC VEHICLES MAGAZINE OFTEN COVERS, AND ACCEPTS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM, COMPANIES THAT ADVERTISE IN OUR MEDIA PORTFOLIO. HOWEVER, THE CONTENT WE CHOOSE TO PUBLISH PASSES ONLY TWO TESTS: (1) TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE THE INFORMATION IS ACCURATE, AND (2) IT MEETS THE INTERESTS OF OUR READERSHIP. WE DO NOT ACCEPT PAYMENT FOR EDITORIAL CONTENT, AND THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY OUR EDITORS AND WRITERS ARE IN NO WAY AFFECTED BY A COMPANY’S PAST, CURRENT, OR POTENTIAL ADVERTISEMENTS. FURTHERMORE, WE OFTEN ACCEPT ARTICLES AUTHORED BY “INDUSTRY INSIDERS,” IN WHICH CASE THE AUTHOR’S CURRENT EMPLOYMENT, OR RELATIONSHIP TO THE EV INDUSTRY, IS CLEARLY CITED. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH ANY OPINION EXPRESSED IN THE CHARGED MEDIA PORTFOLIO AND/OR WISH TO WRITE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR VIEW OF THE INDUSTRY, PLEASE CONTACT US AT CONTENT@CHARGEDEVS. COM. REPRINTING IN WHOLE OR PART IS FORBIDDEN EXPECT BY PERMISSION OF CHARGED ELECTRIC VEHICLES MAGAZINE.

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THE TECH

Mersen introduces new selftriggered hybrid pyro fuse for EV applications Mersen, a manufacturer of products for the electric power industry, has announced a new line of overcurrent protection devices for electrified vehicles. The new line of self-triggered χp-ST hybrid fuses purports to offer greater overcurrent protection in EV DC batteries than traditional fuses.

The new χp-ST hybrid fuses incorporate a fast-acting pyro element with self-triggered ignition, eliminating the necessity for an external trigger sensor. The fuses can detect overcurrent faults at 1,000 volts DC in less than 1 ms, with a 2 kA minimum breaking capability and a power loss of 20 watts at 400 amps. The fuses have adjustable time-current performance and a tunable minimum breaking capacity.

Mersen introduced the χp-ST hybrid fuses to address the challenges of overcurrent protection in EV applications. These include fast protection for a range of fault currents, a large amount of charge and discharge cycles, accelerations and regenerative braking, harsh vibrations and temperature variations.

12

Tesla to acquire ultracapacitor developer Maxwell Technologies Tesla plans to acquire Maxwell Technologies at a price of $4.75 per share, or approximately $218 million. The merger, which was unanimously approved by Maxwell’s board of directors, is to be finalized around the second quarter of 2019.

Maxwell is based in San Diego and has about 380 employees. The company will be familiar to Charged readers mainly because of its innovations in the realm of ultracapacitors, and the astute will recall that Elon Musk was planning to study ultracapacitors when he arrived at Stanford in the 1990s.

However, Tesla’s acquisition of Maxwell may have little to do with ultracaps, and much to do with a “dry electrode” technology that the company has recently been discussing. “We have developed our patented, proprietary and fundamental dry electrode manufacturing technology that we have historically used to make ultracapacitors to create a breakthrough technology that can be applied to the manufacturing of batteries,” says the company’s latest press release.

Maxwell claims to have demonstrated that its electrode can enable an energy density of over 300 Wh/kg, and predicts that it can achieve over 500 Wh/kg. This would be a significant improvement over the density of current battery cells, but other benefits could be even more important. Maxwell says its technology can simplify the manufacturing process and result in a “10 to 20% cost reduction versus state-of-the-art wet electrodes,” while also “extending battery life [by] up to a factor of two.”

“We believe this transaction is in the best interests of Maxwell stockholders and offers investors the opportunity to participate in Tesla’s mission of accelerating the advent of sustainable transport and energy,” said Maxwell CEO Dr. Franz Fink.

Not all of Maxwell’s shareholders agree - a group of investors has filed a class action lawsuit to stop the acquisition, calling the price and the process that led to the deal “unfair.”

Dana acquires SME Group to expand electrified portfolio Automotive supplier Dana has announced the acquisition of SME Group, an Italy-based manufacturer of motors, inverters and controls for off-highway electrified vehicle applications.

SME’s low-voltage motors and inverters target the electrification of off-highway equipment for applications including agriculture, automated guided vehicles, construction and material handling. The acquisition will expand Dana’s portfolio of electrified products.

“Dana’s acquisition of SME enhances our ability to address the electrification and hybridization needs of our customers, while also increasing the potential for incremental content per vehicle,” said Dana CEO Jim Kamsickas. “SME’s exceptional electric motor and inverter products, which largely support off-highway applications, are highly complementary to the technologies we acquired with TM4, which are predominately focused on light- and commercial-vehicle applications.”

Dana also recently completed its acquisition of the Drive Systems segment of the Oerlikon Group, including the Graziano and Fairfield brands.

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Honda and CATL to cooperate on EV development Honda and EV battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) have signed a cooperation agreement to develop EVs. CATL will provide Honda with 56 GWh worth of EV batteries by 2027. CATL will also set up a local office in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya, the location of Honda’s Automobile R&D Center.

The cooperation agreement will help Honda realize its goal to launch more than 20 electric vehicles in China by 2025, and electrify two thirds of its vehicle portfolio by 2030.

“Customer-centered is the philosophy that CATL has always insisted on,” said Naosumi Tada, head of CATL’s Japanese subsidiary. “We hope that we can establish more efficient communication channels, more timely response mechanisms, and establish a closer relationship for further cooperation. Honda and CATL have worked closely on advanced and reliable battery solutions for Honda’s future electric vehicle applications. In the future, we will support Honda not only in China and Japan, but also to create world-leading electric vehicles that serve global consumers.”

14

Image courtesy of Infinitum Electric

Image courtesy of CATL

THE TECH

Infinitum Electric secures $1.8 million in funding for efficient HVAC motor technology Infinitum Electric, a developer of electric motors, has closed a $1.8 million Series A financing round, bringing its total funding to $2.7 million. The company will use the funding to launch an HVAC-specific, fully-integrated motor,and to increase R&D efforts for applications in the EV and oil and gas markets.

Infinitum credits its printed circuit board (PCB) stator technology for electric motors with efficiency above IE5, the industry’s highest efficiency class. The company works with motor and generator manufacturers to customize its technology for specific applications.

“Our patented circuit board stator is what sets us apart and positions us well for success,” said Infinitum CEO Ben Schuler. “The electric motor market is a $150-billion industry annually and many markets within the industry are trying to consume and create power more efficiently.

Some markets, like EVs, are in the process of electrifying completely.”

Autonomous vehicles require batteries with lasting power.

Germany and France to invest 1.75 billion euros in cell production France and Germany have announced a joint effort to turbocharge battery cell production in Europe, taking aim at a business currently dominated by Asian firms.

As Bloomberg reports, German Economy and Energy Minister Peter Altmaier and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire have announced that Germany will invest one billion euros, and France 750 million euros, in the form of subsidies to finance building factories in their respective countries.

The goal of the joint initiative is to create a new European industry, Le Maire told reporters at a recent meeting in Berlin.

Factories in Europe will produce battery calls and packs, covering the entire value chain.

France and Germany hope to persuade Spain, Sweden and Poland to join their initiative, said Altmaier. He added that offering subsidies to support the construction of the battery cell factories will have to be approved by the European Commission, which will likely address the issue in April.

Visualization of the temperature profile in a liquidcooled Li-ion battery pack.

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Image courtesy of Bosch

THE TECH

Freudenberg acquires majority share of XALT Energy Bosch acquires motor maker EM-motive from Daimler Bosch has acquired electric motor manufacturer EM-motive from Daimler. Since Bosch and Daimler set up EM-motive as a fifty-fifty joint venture in 2011, the company has manufactured some 450,000 electric motors.

“For Bosch, the complete acquisition of EM-motive is the next logical step on the path to becoming the market leader for electromobility,” said Stefan Hartung, a Chairman of Bosch’s Mobility Solutions business sector.

“It’s a chance to establish an even broader presence in the market.”

“The company’s electric motors are already featured in vehicles made by Daimler, Porsche, Fiat, Volvo, Peugeot, and StreetScooter, among others,” says Mathias Pillin, a member of the Powertrain Solutions executive management team, who is responsible for the EV market segment. “With this move, Bosch above all intends to acquire new customers in the rapidly growing global market.”

16

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has acquired a majority share of XALT Energy, a manufacturer of battery solutions for heavy-duty EVs. XALT produces high-energy storage solutions for industries including automotive, rail, marine, industrial operations and commercial transportation.

The majority stakeholder acquisition comes with a multi-million dollar investment that will allow XALT to increase production at its Michigan plant and ramp up its R&D. Freudenberg acquired a 31% ownership stake in XALT through a prior investment in 2016, and now has a standing agreement to acquire all remaining shares of XALT over the next few years.

“We are pleased that this investment provides a muchneeded capital boost to XALT Energy and also puts Freudenberg in the driver’s seat,” said Freudenberg CEO Claus Moehlenkamp. “This acquisition is a crucial part of our future business strategy to transform as a supplier into a market leader of new mobility technologies and services. As our customers transition to lithium-ion battery and fuel cell powertrain options, our investment in XALT Energy will enhance our ability to supply them with materials, products and systems solutions that meet new, complex technical challenges.”

Electric motor manufacturer YASA has announced the signing of a long-term joint innovation agreement with an unidentified global automotive OEM. The two companies will collaborate to develop custom electric motor and controller solutions for the OEM’s line of EVs and PHEVs. “This agreement brings together one of the world’s best-known automotive manufacturers with YASA, the world’s leading supplier of axial-flux electric motors and controllers,” said YASA CEO Chris Harris. “Through this long-term collaboration, we are developing custom electric motor and controller solutions that will power unsurpassed driving experiences and set the bar for high-performance hybrid and pure electric vehicles.”

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26/02/2019

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Image courtesy of YASA

YASA signs innovation agreement with major automotive OEM

Image courtesy of OXIS Energy

THE TECH

Tesla and Jeff Dahn patent new battery cell chemistry Tesla’s battery research group in Halifax, which is led by battery superstar Jeff Dahn, has applied for a patent on a new battery cell chemistry that promises to deliver faster charging, longer life and lower cost.

In the application, entitled “Novel battery systems based on two-additive electrolyte systems,” Dahn and his team explain that adding up to five different compounds to an electrolyte can improve battery performance, but they have devised a solution using only two additives, which reduces costs compared to other systems that rely on more additives.

The new two-additive mixtures can be used with lithium nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery chemistries. NMC chemistry is used in several EV models, but Tesla uses an NCA chemistry for its vehicle battery cells.

However, Tesla does use NMC in its stationary storage batteries. According to the patent application, the new technology would be useful for both EV and grid storage applications.

18

Aerospace firm Safran acquires stake in OXIS Energy French aerospace technology company Safran has acquired an equity interest in OXIS Energy, a manufacturer of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) cell technology for battery systems.

Safran is participating in a £7-million round of fresh funding, alongside Aerotec and new investors, including French materials company Arkema. The total capital raised, including an investment from Samsung in a previous round, amounts to just under £24 million.

The companies seek to use the raised capital to commercialize and automate mass production of rechargeable Li-S cells and modules for distribution to vehicle manufacturers, using digital manufacturing machinery.

OXIS intends to focus on the aviation, defense, and heavy EV markets, such as buses and trucks.

“Safran is considering the future use of OXIS cells in some of its products in order to offer a level of performance that sets us apart from competition,” said Alain Sauret, Safran Electrical & Power CEO. “The agreements will enable the two companies to pool our skills and effectively transform both R&D activities into disruptive products for our clients in aerospace.”

PolyPlus and SK Innovation to develop glass-protected lithium metal battery PolyPlus, a California company that’s developing a rechargeable lithium metal battery with a conductive glass separator, has entered a development agreement with Korean energy and chemical company SK Innovation.

The collaboration is focused on PolyPlus’s solid-state lithium anode laminate. The companies’ initial goal is to produce and test prototype cells to demonstrate increased volumetric and gravimetric energy density and cycle life relative to existing Li-ion cells.

SK is providing development funding, and is receiving an option to make an investment in PolyPlus equity at a capped price per share and an option to negotiate a license for PolyPlus technology for EVs. PolyPlus CEO Steve Visco said, “SK provides complimentary capabilities to facilitate the commercialization of PolyPlus’s unique glass-protected lithium metal battery technology in the automotive field.”

20

Image courtesy of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Image courtesy of PolyPlus

THE TECH

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology establishes hub to help ICE tech companies transition to EVs The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany has established an organization that aims to teach companies experienced in manufacturing combustion engines how to transition their skills to EV technologies.

The Transformation Hub Electric Mobility, which will target small to medium-sized companies, has been funded with €2.6 million from the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

The Transformation Hub will launch with the Fit4E framework project and two “lighthouse” projects.

Fit4E will provide training courses to machine and plant engineers in Baden-Württemberg, and will help companies determine how their skills can best be used in the production line of electric drivetrains.

“The Fit4E project of the Transformation Hub Electric Mobility is [intended] to help companies identify [their] own strengths and competencies,” said KIT’s Jürgen Fleischer. “Together, we will then identify the overlap with electromobility technology and the use case for adopting the new process chains.”

The first lighthouse project, AgiloBat, will establish a modular plant for manufacturing battery cells on a pilot scale. The second lighthouse project, Training Factory for Stator Manufacture, will develop a training course to teach electric motor manufacturing, starting with the manufacturing of wire windings for motor stators.

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THE TECH

BorgWarner acquires Rinehart Motion Systems and AM Racing to form Cascadia Motion Automotive supplier BorgWarner has acquired two Oregon-based companies specializing in EV technology: Rinehart Motion Systems and AM Racing. The two newly acquired companies will be merged into a single company called Cascadia Motion.

Cascadia Motion will target customers with lowvolume, specialty EV applications. Before the acquisition, Rinehart Motion Systems developed propulsion inverters and controls for EVs, and AM Racing designed single- and dual-core electric motors and gearsets.

Both companies served market segments that include professional motorsports, motorcycles, specialty road cars, buses and heavy-duty vehicles.

“Rinehart Motion Systems and AM Racing are two established companies in the specialty electric and hybrid propulsion sector,” said BorgWarner CTO Hakan Yilmaz. “Bringing them together as Cascadia Motion will allow us to offer design, development and production of full electric and hybrid propulsion systems for niche and low-volume manufacturing applications.”

22

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has introduced several specially-designed test stands to measure frictional torque in shaft seals used in electric motors. The stands, which are located at the company’s Weinheim test facility, can measure at rotational speeds up to 36,000 rpm.

Electric motors for production EVs reach maximum rotational speeds of more than 20,000 rpm, a figure that could one day increase to 35,000 rpm. Due to the high speeds, shaft seals used in EVs must produce very little friction. Otherwise, the efficiency of electric powertrains could suffer and cause premature wear.

Freudenberg has outfitted the test stands with several specific components to help ensure precise measurements. Torque is produced by water-cooled, high-rpm spindle drives. The test drum is equipped with nearly friction-free air bearings radially and axially so the seal’s frictional torque can be determined as precisely as possible.

The test stands can also capture each seal’s electrical impedance at a range of frequencies. Freudenberg says this measurement is important because electrical potential can be generated between the housing and the shaft of the electric motor, and discharge can take place across the shaft bearing and lead to surface damage from electrical erosion. Freudenberg already offers seals that enable the voltage to be drained off, and it hopes the new test stands will help to validate and aid in the design of these seals.

By correlating the measured frictional torque values with other values such as shaft diameter, Freudenberg intends to compare different sealing materials and designs at an early development stage. As friction changes relative to rotational speed, the company can then adapt the seals to later operating ranges before the first prototypes of the motors exist.

Image courtesy of Freudenberg

Image courtesy of BorgWarner

Freudenberg introduces new testing tools for high-rpm seals in electric motors

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THE TECH

Klaric announces measurement tool for EV charging Measurement technology provider Klaric has released the EV-CHARGE-MONITOR, a new device for monitoring the charging process of EVs. The measurement device can be used for charging testing and validation, vehicle emissions certification, winter testing and more.

The EV-CHARGE-MONITOR is placed between the EV and charging station, allowing the device to monitor voltage, charge current, effective values of each phase, and the real and total power and electrical work. The measured data can be saved to a USB drive.

The EV-CHARGE-MONITOR allows several connection options: CEE32/125, Mennekes (Type 1/2/GB/T), CHAdeMO, GB/T DC, CCS 1 and CCS 2.

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BorgWarner releases new integrated eAxle Automotive parts supplier BorgWarner has released a new integrated axle called the iDM. The modular eAxle contains a transmission, electric motor and power electronics. The iDM is available in three versions, and can be integrated into the front or rear axles of passenger and light commercial vehicles.

The iDM’s integrated power electronics are designed to allow for a small package, low complexity and minimum losses. It offers full software functionality with an option for control of vehicle dynamics and energy management.

The software architecture is adaptable to common platforms such as AUTOSAR, and allows for safety aspects such as ASIL D. “Operating at 250 to 450 volts DC, the iDM has exceptional torque and power densities ranging from 90 kW to 160 kW and 2,500 Nm to 3,800 Nm,” says BorgWarner.

“The advanced transmission technology offers smooth and quiet operation, and the patented bar wound stator motor technology delivers exceptional performance with superior noise, vibration and harshness characteristics.”

“With the iDM, BorgWarner delivers a product family of highly integrated propulsion solutions to drive our customers’ hybrid and electric vehicles,” said Stefan Demmerle, President and General Manager of BorgWarner PowerDrive Systems. “We deliver key elements for electric vehicles: the electric motor, the transmission, the power electronics and the thermal management system.”

VW invests $10 million in battery start-up Forge Nano Volkswagen is investing $10 million in Colorado-based startup Forge Nano, which is researching a material coating technology that could improve the performance of battery materials. Volkswagen will provide support for industrial trials of this technology.

Forge Nano is headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, and is researching processes for scaling atomic layer deposition (ALD) to create new core-shell materials for battery applications.

ALD is a chemical process for applying atomic-scale coatings one atom at a time. With its ALD technology, Forge Nano aims to boost the energy density of vehicle battery cells.

Volkswagen began collaborating on battery material research with Forge Nano in 2014.

Volkswagen plans to offer more than 50 EV models by 2025, accounting for about a fifth of its entire vehicle portfolio. The company is working with battery cell suppliers and developing its own knowledge in battery research, and is increasingly investing in international start-ups to bring technologies to production maturity.

THE TECH

A CLOSER LOOK AT

LOSSES IN POWER SEMICONDUCTORS

By Jeffrey Jenkins

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A

Generally speaking, there are three main contributors to losses in a power semiconductor: conduction, switching and blocking (or reverse leakage).

previous article examined loss mechanisms in traction motors, which tend to be the single biggest source of losses in a modern EV drivetrain. This time, the (including SiC types) behave like a diode in series focus is on the various power semiconductors, as they with a small resistance when forward biased. As with are the next biggest source of losses. Also covered all diodes, there is a minimum forward voltage that in brief are ways to mitigate these losses and design must be applied before conduction occurs, and this decisions that can avoid them in the first place. forward drop can span the range of 0.3 V for a lowThe major power conversion devices in an EV are voltage Schottky diode to 2.2 V for a 1,700 V IGBT or the charger, inverter and DC-DC converter, and, as is SiC diode. The temperature coefficient of the diode the case with the traction motor, it is difficult to nail is also negative (typically -2 mV / ° C), but that of the down an average efficiency level for any of them, beeffective series resistance can be positive or negative cause they all operate at wildly different power levels. depending on the device and specific construction.

Also, as with the traction motor, some losses are fixed MOSFETs, in contrast, behave like a simple resistor regardless of load, while others are linearly or expowhen turned on, albeit one with such a strong posinentially proportional to load. Generally speaking, tive temperature coefficient that on-resistance, R DS[on], there are three main contributors to losses in a power typically doubles going from 25° C to 125° C. Regardsemiconductor: conduction, switching and blocking less, you can get a reasonable first-pass estimate of the (or reverse leakage). In some cases these losses can be effect on-state drop will have on efficiency by simply ignored, but most of the time they will sneak up and bite you in the proverbial posterior if not addressed. Further complicating matters How junction capacitance, Cj, varies with applied voltage is that too aggressively trying to minimize switching losses by switching faster can lead to worse problems with overvoltage and EMI (electromagnetic interference).

As Robert A. Heinlein famously quipped (and instantly coined the mantra for engineers the world over): TANSTAAFL, or, “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.”

Conduction losses are simply the product of the current flowing through a switch or diode when it is forward biased (i.e. - turned on) and the voltage drop across it. The problem is determining what the actual voltage drop is at any given time, because this changes with temperature and current. Bipolar transistors (including IGBTs) and Schottky diodes

MAR/APR 2019

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THE TECH

Current overshoot during diode reverse recovery

subtracting the worst-case datasheet value from the supply voltage, keeping in mind that bridges (including the half-bridges in inverters) put two devices in series. So an inverter using IGBTs that drop 1.6 V will subtract 3.2 V from the supply, and if the supply is 320 V, that cuts efficiency by one percentage point right there.

Schottky diodes are renowned for having a lower forward drop, but at around the 60 V rating, the advantage goes back to conventional pn diodes, so only choose the Schottky if you need the speed. This also applies to SiC Schottkys, though the difference in forward drop is much less dramatic...except when it comes to the anti-parallel diode in SiC MOSFETs: typical values for this diode are around 3.2 V (!), compared to the 1.8 V or so of a discrete part (both rated for 600-650 V and 1-20 A). As mentioned above, IGBTs and other bipolar devices have a minimum forward drop regardless of how low current is, so light-load efficiency can be much worse in an IGBT-based design. For example, the minimum voltage drop of a 600 V / 50 A IGBT will be in the range of 0.8 to 1.0 V at 1 A, while the on-resistance, R DS[on], of a similarly rated 600 V MOSFET might be around 50 mΩ, so only dropping 50 mV at 1 A. However, the voltage drop across the IGBT will only increase by 60 mV per decade of current, plus a tiny bit more from the intrinsically low effective resistance, so at 50 A the IGBT might lose 1.7 V, versus at least 2.5 V for the MOSFET.

There are losses from overlapping voltage and current whenever a device is transitioning between conducting and blocking (or vice versa) and these can absolutely dominate the loss budget if devices and circuits/ conditions aren’t chosen carefully.

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Losses incurred from leakage current when the device is supposed to be off are another potential source of misery for the unwary engineer, though they are much more easily avoided if one doesn’t tempt fate by operating the device at high temperatures and/ or close to its rated voltage. Once again, pn junction diodes have the advantage over Si-barrier Schottkys, though the gap is not quite so wide for SiC types. A couple of comparisons between a conventional and a Schottky diode will illustrate this best. The ubiquitous 1N4001 pn junction diode allows 5 uA of leakage at 25° C and 50 V, increasing to 50 uA at 125° C; a 10x increase to be sure, but still only amounting to 2.5 mW of additional dissipation. In contrast, the popular SS15 Schottky leaks 400 uA at 25° C - already 80x more than the 1N4001 - and this increases to a whopping 6 mA at 100° C, or 15x higher still! This results in an increased dissipation of 0.3 W, which is certainly not negligible for a device this size. Things look better for the SiC Schottky at 600 V, however: the high-speed pn junction STTH4R06 rated for 600 V / 4 A has 25° C / 125° C leakage currents of 3 uA / 30 uA, respectively, while its SiC counterpart, a C3D04060E, lets through 25 uA at 25° C but a still-tolerable 100 uA at 175° C (and note that 175° C rating!); so, 60 mW of additional loss, worst-case, which can be safely ignored in a diode this size.

Finally, there are losses from overlapping voltage

Voltage overshoot during diode forward recovery

Let’s start with a loss mechanism that almost no one thinks about: forward recovery in diodes. and current whenever a device is transitioning between conducting and blocking (or vice versa) - that is, switching - and these can absolutely dominate the loss budget if devices and circuits/conditions aren’t chosen carefully. Unlike conduction and blocking losses, however, it is entirely possible to eliminate switching losses with appropriate circuit techniques, but at a cost in complexity, and perhaps, in reliability as well, but more on that later.

Let’s start with a loss mechanism that almost no one thinks about: forward recovery in diodes. Any engineer that designs switchmode converters becomes very familiar with reverse recovery - which is the time it takes for a diode to go from conducting to blocking current - but less well-appreciated is the fact that it often takes time for pn junction diodes to go from blocking to conducting, and even more surprising is that forward recovery is often slower than reverse recovery in “fast” diodes! The main penalty incurred by forward recovery is increased loss in the diode, because during that time the voltage across it will overshoot the “nominal” Vf spec by anywhere from a few hundred mV to volts, if the dI / dt (rate of change in current) is high enough. Forward recovery never used to be specified in datasheets, but it is starting to show up more and more as its ill effects in switchmode converters become more widely known and appreciated; the aforementioned STTH4R06 has a forward recovery of 100 ns with an overshoot of 5 V at a dI / dt of 100 A / us (somewhat perversely, the datasheet gives a reverse recovery overshoot current of 7.5 A at 200 A / us, but reverse recovery times of 50 A and 100 A / us, making it difficult to make a fair comparison). Still, the 20 W of peak power lost (i.e. 5 V * 4 A) seems terrible, but when averaged out over, say, a 10 us period (i.e. 100 kHz), this amounts to about 0.2 W of additional loss. The opposing switch also has to contend with this additional voltage, but that typically won’t matter unless the switch is only rated for 20 V or less.

While forward recovery might be safely ignored in a pn junction diode, reverse recovery usually cannot; the exception is when load or circuit conditions allow the current through the diode to go to zero before the opposing switch next turns on. This is because the diode effectively acts as a short circuit during reverse recovery, and if the switch turns on into a short circuit, a huge spike of current will flow through it and the diode. Another issue is that this spike of current can excite ringing between the various stray L’s and C’s that are inevitably present (such as junction capacitance, discussed next), and somewhat perversely, faster diodes are more likely to be guilty of this. So you get higher losses and EMI-radiating ringing as a bonus! To calculate reverse recovery losses, multiply the amount of charge (in Coulombs) lost per cycle by the voltage and frequency to get watts. Some datasheets give you the reverse recovery charge, Qrr, directly, but if only given reverse recovery time and peak current, then a reasonable estimate of Qrr is t rr * Irr / 2. One final point about reverse recovery: the anti-parallel (aka “body”) diode in non-SiC MOSFETs is really slow, so it has terrible reverse recovery losses.

Normally this diode won’t be faced with a situation where it is conducting right up until an opposing switch turns on, but one notable exception that has burned many an engineer is the phase-shifted fullbridge converter (if you’re curious, look for a paper by Alexander Fiel and Thomas Wu on this subject).

While Schottky diodes don’t suffer from either forward or reverse recovery, both Schottkys and MOSFETs do tend to have a much higher capacitance across their active junction than similarly rated

MAR/APR 2019

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THE TECH Energy loss, Eoss, from switch output capacitance

IGBTs suffer from a completely different loss mechanism colloquially called “tail current;” a phenomenon in which some load current continues to flow well after the gate has been brought low to turn the switch off.

bipolar devices, and this capacitance can act exactly like reverse recovery...go figure. Junction capacitance, referred to here as Cj, can only affect the circuit when the device is off/reverse biased, obviously, and because it is a property of the electric field in the semiconductor, it is inversely proportional (though non-linearly) to the applied reverse voltage. Aside from changing value with voltage, Cj behaves like any other capacitor, so it passes alternating current in proportion to frequency and voltage, and stores energy in proportion to voltage squared. The current that flows through Cj is usually irrelevant - even an old, high-current Schottky with a Cj of 2 nF at 15 V will shunt less than 20 mA at 100 kHz (compared to a 40 A current rating) - and it doesn’t heat up the device as true reverse leakage current does. However, the energy stored by Cj is a very relevant cause of losses (and sometimes even outright failures) in MOSFETs, because it gets charged up to the bus voltage (or higher) every time the switch turns off, only to dump that charge right back into the switch the next time it turns on. For example, a state-of-the-art MOSFET such as the IPW60R018 has an effective Cj (or C oss in the datasheet) of 361 pF at a drain voltage swing

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of 400 V, so it stores 28.8 uJ of energy each cycle (in fact, this very spec is also given in the datasheet as E oss). At a switching frequency of 100 kHz, that’s 2.89 W of additional loss right there. That might not sound like much, but it will absolutely cook a TO-247 package device like this if it isn’t mounted on more than a token heat sink, and note that this loss applies regardless of actual load current. However, it is possible to eliminate this loss entirely by using one of the myriad “quasi-resonant” zero-voltage switching, or (QR-)ZVS, schemes. Basically, an external inductor is used to form a resonant tank with Cj so as to shape the voltage swing across the MOSFET into a halfsinusoid, then only turning on the MOSFET after the voltage reaches zero. It’s fairly simple in concept but often somewhat tricky to get working right, and ZVS is invariably lost at very light loads, as sufficient current must flow through the inductor for it to store enough energy to ring down the voltage across Cj. IGBTs tend to have much lower Cj values than their similarly powerful MOSFET counterparts, so ZVS doesn’t really help them. Instead, they suffer from a completely different loss mechanism colloquially called “tail current;” a phenomenon in which some load current continues to flow well after the gate has been brought low to turn the switch off. The physical process behind tail current is similar to that of reverse recovery in pn diodes: it takes time to sweep all of the minority carriers (that reduce conduction losses) out of the junction. Various techniques can be used during manufacture of the IGBT die to dramatically reduce (but not eliminate) tail current, but they all increase conduction losses and/or decrease ruggedness (namely, the ability to tolerate a short circuit). However, there is a complementary scheme to ZVS in which the current waveform is shaped into

Waveforms showing lossless turn-on (ZVS) and turn-off (ZCS)

a half-sinusoid and the switch is turned off at zero current (no prizes for guessing what this scheme is called). It should be noted that turn-on of the IGBT in ZCS is still lossy, just as turn-off of the MOSFET is in ZVS, but these transitions are much more benign for their respective devices.

Absent using such quasiresonant schemes - which are difficult to the point of being impractical in the traction motor inverter, by the way - a good rule of thumb is to select a switching frequency such that switching losses are approximately equal to conduction losses. Of course, if audible noise from switching is either tolerable or unlikely to be heard - such as in the inverter - then it can make

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a lot of sense to lower the switching frequency to further reduce losses (though that does require a larger input capacitor).

Finally, try to have realistic expectations for the efficiency of things: to go from 90% efficiency to 95% you have to cut losses in half, after all, which does sort of put things into perspective.

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THE TECH

BATTERY BONDING ULTRASONIC WIRE

BONDING VS LASER WELDED BONDING

By Michael Alba

i-ion cells come in many different shapes and size. There’s also a large variety of options to choose from when designing the connections between each cell and a vehicle’s electronics. In automotive applications, it’s critical to design reliable connections that are cost-effective and suited to high-volume manufacturing.

F&K DELVOTEC provides a range of battery bonding solutions for the EV industry and beyond. The company’s bonding products include two solutions that are often used in EV packs: ultrasonic wire bonding and laser welding. Charged chatted with F&K’s Hans-Georg von Ribbeck to learn more about the two techniques and how they differ.

L

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Image courtesy of F&K DELVOTEC

In automotive applications, it’s critical to design reliable connections that are costeffective and suited to high-volume manufacturing.

MAR/APR 2019

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THE TECH Ultrasonic bonds produce a very reliable connection quality, and they’re flexible in that they can accommodate different lengths of wire, different directions, and different heights between connected cells.

Wire bonding Ultrasonic wire bonding is an advanced friction welding process that’s been widely used in the microelectronics and power electronics industries since the 1970s.

The process begins with pressing a wire or ribbon onto the substrate to which it will be bonded, such as a cylindrical cell battery canister. Then the wire is vibrated at ultrasonic frequencies of around 100 kHz. This causes the metal atoms in the wire to mix in with the metal atoms in the substrate, and after a few hundred milliseconds, the materials are fused together.

Typically, the wire or ribbon is then formed into a loop by the movement of the bonding tool and a second bond is made on another substrate.

“The temperature never gets higher than 80 or 100 degrees Celsius,” explained von Ribbeck. “So it’s a kind of cold welding of the metals - there is never a melted phase.”

Ultrasonic bonds produce a very reliable connection quality, and they’re flexible in that they can accommodate different lengths of wire, different directions, and different heights between connected cells. For this reason, ultrasonic bonding is also well suited to automation. However, ultrasonic bonding requires an extremely flat and clean bonding surface in order to work properly. If there’s grease, dust, or other contaminants in the way, the bonding will not succeed.

Ultrasonic wire bonding is also limited to lower-current connections. F&K DELVOTEC recommends that ultrasonic wire bonds be used only for applications in which currents will not exceed about 30 A. Laser welding For higher-current applications, von Ribbeck says laser welding is better suited. In this technique, a ribbon is irradiated from above by a powerful laser that melts

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COMMON BATTERY CONNECTION METHODS WIRE BONDING

Friction welding process without fusion phase, at room temperature

LASER WELDING

Fusion welding with laser

LASER BONDING

Fusion welding with laser, unlimited geometry

TAB BONDING

Fabric-locked connection by ultrasonic friction welding process without fusion phase, at room temperature

LASER TAB BONDING Fusion welding with laser

RESISTANCE WELDING

Gap welding by current transfer

SOLDERING

Substance-to-substance connection through solder metal between battery and connector

SCREW CONNECTION

Force-locked contacting with bolts on the battery cell and connector structures

CLAMPING CONNECTION / SPRING CONTACT Force-locking contact by contact spring

some of the ribbon metal in such a way as to create a kind of tunnel through to the substrate. This is a specific method of laser welding called keyhole welding, and by oscillating the laser just so, the width and depth of the weld can be tightly controlled.

“For cylindrical cells, you don’t want to weld too deep into the material because you don’t want to damage or puncture the battery cans,” said von Ribbeck.

“And this is controlled with epicycloid or hypocycloid movements of the laser beam, which are very fast and overlap the overall geometry of the weld.”

Laser-welded bonds can withstand higher currents than ultrasonic bonds, but the technique isn’t without its tradeoffs. For one, laser welding requires that there’s

BATTERY CELL TYPES

CYLINDRICAL CELLS

Different connector solutions are selected depending upon the battery cell types and required current capacities.

Direct connection from cell to cell

• With wire, ribbons or flat connectors • Limitation by current carrying capacity of the wire or ribbon • Currents up to approx. 20 A per wire: ultrasonic bonding • Higher currents possible with multiple wires or ribbons with laser bonding • Connections also possible on the cell edge for negative pole

Connection from cell to busbar

PRISMATIC CELLS

• By single wires or ribbons • Current limited by wire thickness, multiple wires possible • Conductor mask or busbar must be suitably manufactured • Connections also possible on the cell edge for negative pole

Direct connection from cell to cell

• Connection by tab with laser bonding, limited by ribbon cross-section (up to approx. 300 A) • Or by a directly welded busbar, limited then by cross-section

Connection to busbar with ribbon • Currents up to about 300 A per cell • Current limited by ribbon cross-section

Connection to prefabricated busbar with tabs • By laser welding or laser tab bonding • Current capacity scalable

OTHER BMS CONNECTIONS

Courtesy of F&K DELVOTEC

POUCH CELLS

Connections from cell tabs to busbar • Laser tab bonding for higher currents • Ultrasonic bonding for tabs to the BMS

Connection of cells to BMS tabs

• Contacts to the battery management system via ultrasonic wire bonds, even over large height differences • Connections directly via ultrasonic bonding wire, flex PCB and ultrasonic tab process are possible

MAR/APR 2019

35

THE TECH

The bond itself is a laser weld, but the bonding process is similar to ultrasonic bonding, as it’s highly flexible, suitable for automation, and requires no clamping machinery.

Image courtesy of F&K DELVOTEC

zero gap between the components to be connected, such as a ribbon and battery. If there’s a gap between the components, the laser weld will be unstable and ineffective. To prevent this, laser welds must be complemented by a clamping system that ensures a zero gap.

However, this adds to the complexity in automation.

“With increasing numbers of parts to bond, this clamping machinery is more expensive, less flexible, and larger,” said von Ribbeck. “For example, if you have a battery module with 120 batteries, then you need 240 clamped parts.”

Laserbonder To increase the functionality of typical laser welding, F&K DELVOTEC developed a system it calls Laserbonder. The company says this combines the advantages of ultrasonic bonding and laser welding, and is ideal for package interconnects in power modules and battery pack assemblies. It can weld aluminum, copper or nickel ribbons using laser energy combined with low physical clamping forces.

The bond itself is a laser weld, similar to the process described above. However, the bonding process is similar to ultrasonic bonding, as it’s highly flexible, suitable for automation, and requires no clamping machinery.

“For the Laserbonder, we do the clamping individu-

36

ally and dynamically, with the bond head positioned where the laser is focused,” von Ribbeck explained. “Directly during the laser welding we clamp down with a defined and measured force so we can ensure a zero welding gap, and because we don’t have this clamping, we can be very flexible. As a result, the machine can not only do one product at a time with automation, but it can also work with different sizes of battery modules or products.”

The company says Laserbonder provides a strong connection quality that can last the service life of a battery.

It can accommodate ribbons up to 10 x 0.5 mm, and is suitable for high currents in excess of 60 A. Laser bonds also don’t require the extremely clean and flat surface of ultrasonic bonds, so connections can be made to rougher surfaces without any prior preparations.

That’s not to say that Laserbonder is suitable for any task - the heat energy involved in the process rules out delicate applications, according to von Ribbeck.

“Where you don’t want to use the Laserbonder is, for example, in some electronics where you cannot yet bond directly on the chip, because the heat would destroy the semiconductor properties,” he said.

Laser bonding carries a higher investment than ultrasonic bonding, which makes the latter more appealing for low-current applications, especially as the bonding speed of both processes is roughly the same.

“The ultrasonic process is very well known, very well understood, and trusted,” von Ribbeck said. “Laserbonder is gaining acceptance, particularly in the automotive [industry], due to the extensive qualification processes required.”

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Rivian secures $700 million in new investment round led by Amazon Amazon will lead a $700-million investment round in EV startup Rivian Automotive. Also investing in this round is Rivian’s long-term investment partner, Saudi auto distributor Abdul Latif Jameel. Although it was reported earlier that GM was also in talks with Rivian, the automaker is not involved in this round.

Rivian has been raising eyebrows since it demonstrated a nifty electric pickup and SUV, both built on a native EV platform. The company plans to produce vehicles at a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Illinois, which it acquired in 2017. It hopes to begin deliveries of the R1T pickup in late 2020.

“This investment is an important milestone for Rivian and the shift to sustainable mobility,” said Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe. “Beyond simply eliminating compromises that exist around performance, capability and efficiency, we are working to drive innovation across the entire customer experience.”

Just because GM isn’t investing in Rivian in this round doesn’t mean that it won’t do so soon. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas is one of many observers who see the massive pickup market as the next frontier for EVs. “A culmination of battery cost reduction, architecture, duty cycle, and price point – e-pickups are an important area of investor focus,” he wrote.

Taking a stake in Rivian could be a way for GM to help bring an e-pickup to market without sabotaging its lucrative ICE sales.

Jonas also noted that Amazon has a number of reasons to be interested in electrifying light trucks as it stakes out a position in the $900-billion logistics industry.

“We’re inspired by Rivian’s vision for the future of electric transportation,” said Amazon’s Jeff Wilke. “RJ [Scaringe] has built an impressive organization, with a product portfolio and technology to match.”

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Boeing completes test flight of autonomous electric passenger aircraft Boeing has completed the first test flight of its autonomous passenger air vehicle (PAV) prototype in Manassas, Virginia.

The PAV prototype completed a controlled takeoff, hover and landing during the flight, which tested the vehicle’s autonomous functions and ground control systems. Future flights will test forward, wing-borne flight as well as the transition phase between vertical and forward-flight modes.

Powered by an electric propulsion system, the PAV prototype is designed for fully autonomous flight from takeoff to landing, and has a range of up to 50 miles.

Measuring 30 feet long and 28 feet wide, its advanced airframe integrates the propulsion and wing systems to achieve efficient hover and forward flight.

Boeing’s NeXt division, which is focused on urban air mobility, is also working on an unmanned fully electric cargo air vehicle (CAV) designed to transport up to 500 pounds. The CAV completed its first indoor flight last year and will transition to outdoor flight testing in 2019.

“In one year, we have progressed from a conceptual design to a flying prototype,” said Boeing CTO Greg Hyslop. “Boeing’s expertise and innovation have been critical in developing aviation as the world’s safest and most efficient form of transportation, and we will continue to lead with a safe, innovative and responsible approach to new mobility solutions.”

European regulators reach provisional agreement to lower heavy-duty truck emissions 30% by 2030 The European Parliament and the Council have reached provisional agreement on a regulation that will set strict CO2 emission standards for trucks in the EU. Emissions from new trucks will have to be 15% lower by 2025 and 30% lower in 2030, compared to 2019 emissions. The text of the regulation still needs to be formally approved by both bodies before it will come into force.

“With the first-ever EU emission standards for trucks agreed, we are completing the legal framework to reach the European target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030,” said Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete. “The new targets and incentives will help tackle emissions, as well as bring fuel savings to transport operators and cleaner air for all Europeans.”

Trucks in Europe make up less than 5% of vehicles on the road, but account for 22% of vehicle emissions. Large trucking customers, including IKEA, Unilever, Carrefour and Nestlé, have been backing the CO2 targets, which are expected to bring them fuel savings and green cred.

However, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which represents Europe’s 15 most important car, van, truck and bus producers, struck a skeptical note, saying that the reduction targets are “highly demanding, especially as their implementation does not depend solely on the commercial vehicle industry, and the baseline for the targets is still unknown.”

ACEA has pointed out that reaching such ambitious CO2 standards will only be possible with massive adoption of zero- and low-emission trucks, and that there is currently no public charging or refueling infrastructure for electric or hydrogen trucks whatsoever.

“We can now only call upon member states to urgently step up their efforts to roll out the infrastructure required for charging and refueling the alternatively-powered trucks which will need to be sold en masse if these targets are to be met,” said ACEA Secretary General Erik Jonnaert.

“The introduction of a benchmark system for truck manufacturers totally ignores the demand side,” Jonnaert continued. “We cannot expect transport operators to suddenly start buying electric or other alternatively-powered trucks if there is no business case for them and it is not possible to easily charge the vehicles along all major EU motorways. Policy makers must act to ensure that the zero-emission trucks that manufacturers will be mandated to produce can actually be bought and operated by our customers.”

Image courtesy of Corvus Energy

Image courtesy of Nikola

THE VEHICLES

Corvus Energy to provide energy storage systems for five new electric ferries Corvus Energy, a supplier of energy storage systems (ESSs) to the maritime industry, has been selected as the ESS provider for five new electric ferries to be operated

by Norwegian company Fjord1. Corvus will provide its lithium-ion battery-based ESSs to electrical systems integrator Norwegian Electric Systems (NES), which will provide the power and propulsion system to the ferries’ manufacturer, Havyard.

Each of the five new Fjord1 ferries will be 67 meters long and capable of holding 50 cars. Each will be supplied by Corvus’s Orca Energy ESS, to be delivered to NES in 2019. The ferries are expected to be operational in Norway by January 1, 2020.

Corvus Energy has provided ESSs to over 40 short-distance hybrid and all-electric ferries globally, including eight Fjord1 electric ferries operating on four Norwegian coastal routes.

“Corvus Energy is honored to once again be selected

by NES to provide Energy Storage Systems for Fjord1 ferries,” said Roger Rosvold, VP of Sales at Corvus Energy. “NES are skilled and experienced electrical system integrators, and our close partnership with them in designing and delivering these innovative solutions is key to accelerating the adoption of energy storage systems.”

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Battery-electric semi will join fuel cell trucks in Nikola’s lineup Nikola Motor Company, which has been developing fuel cell trucks, recently announced that it also intends to offer some battery-electric models. The Nikola Two and Nikola Tre (European version) will be available in BEV versions, while the biggest truck in the lineup, Nikola One, will remain FCV only.

The company plans to present the new models later this year, with three battery options: 500 kWh; 750 kWh and 1 MWh. Among the many hydrogen skeptics, an “I told you so” narrative started making the rounds following the announcement. Some speculated that Nikola may end up abandoning fuel cells by the time its trucks make it to market. “It’s not too late to switch to BEVs,” wrote InsideEVs’ Mark Kane.

However, Nikola immediately refuted that line of thinking in a Twitter post: “H2 is 5,000 lbs lighter than BEV and is cheaper for long haul applications even with H2 costs. BEV is for inner cities and non weight sensitive applications. Nikola is not phasing [out] hydrogen at all, we will see 50:1 more hydrogen orders but some applications BEV works great.”

Nikola expects the Nikola Two with a 1 MWh battery pack to deliver a range of 400 miles, or 300 miles in cold weather.

The company is calling for peaceful coexistence: “Fuel Cell can’t be beat long haul and BEV is good option for short haul. World needs both. ICE is enemy, not hydrogen or BEV.”

Porsche doubles planned production of Taycan EV due to strong demand Porsche says stronger-thanexpected demand for its upcoming Taycan EV has led it to boost production from 20,000 to 40,000 units. The company began taking orders, secured by a $2,500 deposit, a few months ago, and said in December that the first year’s production had been sold out.

The Taycan (Porsche says the name means “lively young horse”) is expected to be available in the US by the end of 2019 at a starting price around $80,000. The company has said it will have “up to” 600 hp of power and 310 miles of range.

According to CNBC, Porsche sold 57,202 vehicles in 2018, so even 20,000 units of the Taycan would represent a huge chunk of the brand’s sales.

“We had been ready for [the high demand],” said Andrew Lennon, a Manager of Product Communications for Porsche.

“We had the ability to increase capacity from the beginning, and executives recently made the decision to go ahead.”

Image courtesy of Volvo

THE VEHICLES

Formula E announces new Volvo to offer plug-in hybrid off-road electric racing series: powertrains on all models Volvo Cars has introduced a range of new electrified Extreme E powertrain options, which it plans to make available Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag and motorsport veteran Gil de Ferran have launched a new all-electric off-road racing series. Extreme E, which will kick off in January 2021, will see electric SUVs racing off-road in five extreme environments around the globe.

The Extreme E races will take place at off-road stages in the Arctic, the Himalayas, the Sahara desert, the Amazon rainforest, and islands in the Indian Ocean. Each stage will be from 6 to 10 km long, and will consist of virtual gates through which drivers must navigate.

“I’ve always been passionate about progressing electric vehicle technology and the impact that clean mobility solutions can have on the efforts to halt global climate change,” said Agag. “I strongly believe that Extreme E can help make the world more sustainable faster, and we have a dream team to make this ambition a reality.”

“This is a hugely exciting project,” said de Ferran. “Extreme E offers a unique sport, adventure and entertainment concept that has never been seen or done before.

Viewers can expect a completely new way of consuming sport, with each episode telling not just the story of a race, but the wider race of awareness and the need to protect these remote and challenging environments being explored by Extreme E.”

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across its entire model range.

The company has upgraded its existing T8 and T6 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid powertrains, and confirmed that plug-in options will now be available on every model it produces.

Volvo also plans to introduce a range of mild hybrids in the coming months, starting with diesel and gas versions of the XC90 and XC60 SUVs. These “B badged” powertrains will offer Volvo’s brake-by-wire energy recovery system, “which interacts with the energy recovery system and reduces fuel consumption and emissions by recovering kinetic energy under braking.” Volvo is touting fuel savings of up to 15 percent in real-world conditions.

Volvo will also introduce new and upgraded powertrains on its larger Scalable Product Architecture (SPA)based models.

“Volvo Cars has upgraded its production capacity so that up to 25 per cent of total production can be Twin Engine plug-in hybrid cars,” says the automaker. “Also, it expects its new B badged powertrains to gradually become the new standard, moving it closer to its goal that by the middle of the next decade all of its cars will be electrified.”

Image courtesy of Meritor

Daimler and BMW to invest a Meritor hopes to put 130 billion euros in ride-hailing JV heavy-duty electric trucks on the road by 2020 to compete with Uber The combination of autonomous vehicles and ride-hailing services is expected to be an extraordinarily disruptive development. Someday, providers of Transportation as a Service (TaaS) could be sitting atop the value chain, while traditional automakers end up as producers of a commodity product.

Automakers aren’t sitting idly by and waiting for the market to develop. Just to mention two of the interesting things going on: Tesla is widely believed to be quietly working on the Tesla Network; and GM has invested in ride-hailing company Lyft and launched its own car-sharing service, Maven.

Now BMW and Daimler have unveiled a joint ride-hailing, parking and EV charging business that seems designed to compete with mobility services such as Uber and Lyft. The two luxury automakers plan to invest over one billion euros in the 50/50 joint venture, which will incorporate Daimler’s Car2Go car-sharing brand and BMW’s DriveNow, ParkNow and ChargeNow businesses.

According to Reuters, the new JV will have five components: Reach Now, a smartphone-based route management and booking service; Charge Now for EV charging, Free Now for taxi ride-hailing; Park Now for parking services; and Share Now for car-sharing.

“These five services will merge ever more closely to form a single mobility service portfolio with an all-electric, self-driving fleet of vehicles that charge and park autonomously,” said BMW Chief Executive Harald Krueger.

“Further cooperation with other providers, including stakes in startups and established players, [is] also a possible option,” added Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche.

Auto parts manufacturer Meritor has announced it has 22 electrification programs with OEMs, and expects to put at least 130 fully electric medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks on the road by the end of 2020.

Among the 130 commercial vehicles, 60 received funding from the California Air Resources Board as part of a broader effort to reduce emissions in freight facilities.

In the first half of 2019, a fleet customer of Meritor plans to begin operating the first of six medium-duty pick-up and delivery trucks equipped with Meritor’s 14Xe electric drive system. The trucks integrate subsystems from TransPower, a manufacturer of electrification technologies for large commercial vehicles. In 2017, Meritor announced an investment in TransPower.

Meritor’s eCarrier platform integrates an electric motor into the axle, freeing up space for batteries and other components. This design is the foundation for various drivetrain configurations, including fully electric, hybrid and single or tandem axles with options for vehicle Classes 5 through 8.

“These emission-free solutions offered under Meritor’s Blue Horizon technology brand have the potential to transform the industry by meeting the rising global demand for clean, electric-powered drivetrains that we believe will deliver a high-efficiency solution that greatly reduces the total cost of ownership for our customers,” said Meritor CTO John Bennett.

In addition to the truck applications, a prototype school bus outfitted with Meritor and TransPower electrification systems has been in testing in Escondido, California, since late May. Testing includes climbing steep grades, stop-and-go at low speeds, off-road and freeway driving, as well as heavy-load hauling on rural roads.

MAR/APR 2019

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Image courtesy of Proterra

Image courtesy of Lucid Motors

THE VEHICLES

Tallahassee to purchase 22 electric buses to service Florida State University The city of Tallahassee’s public transit system, StarMetro, has agreed to purchase 22 electric transit buses from Proterra, a California-based manufacturer of electric transit buses, to service Florida State University (FSU). The 22 Proterra Catalyst FC buses bring StarMetro’s electric fleet up to 27 buses.

The 35-foot Proterra Catalyst FC buses will serve FSU’s Seminole Express Bus Service. FSU estimates an average ridership of 847,000 each year. Operations are expected to begin in mid-2019 with an initial deployment of 15 buses. The remaining seven buses are expected to deploy in 2021.

With this purchase, FSU is decommissioning its entire fossil-fuel powered fleet and upgrading to 100% electric.

With 22 Catalyst buses, FSU estimates it can displace more than 2.8 million gallons of diesel fuel over the vehicles’ 12-year lifespan and eliminate over 5 million pounds of carbon emissions annually. The university hopes the new electric buses will also provide fuel and maintenance cost savings of more than $10 million.

Proterra has also sold its Catalyst buses to the University of Montana, Duke University and Alabama A&M University.

Proterra CEO Ryan Popple said, “As university populations grow across the United States, more campus transportation operators are taking the long view and looking for sustainable ways to increase mobility while reducing costs and their carbon footprint.”

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Lucid Motors said to be working on electric SUV Lucid Motors is one of the most interesting of a crop of young EV startups that are hoping to duplicate Tesla’s formula of launching a luxury EV as the first step towards bringing EVs to the mainstream. A prototype of the company’s first vehicle, the Lucid Air, hit the road in early 2017, and the lucky few who’ve gotten a ride have posted raves.

Now The Verge reports that Lucid may reveal an electric SUV as early as this summer. Lucid CTO Peter Rawlinson told The Verge it’s “quite possible” the company could unveil ESUV plans later this year, and two “people familiar with Lucid’s plans” said the Lucid SUV is already in the works.

“We have a plan for future models in mind, and we can hopefully be in a position to clarify that plan later this year,” said Rawlinson. “Certainly, with Lucid Air platform, we have a platform that is ideally suited for more vehicles than just the Air, and of course we want to exploit that.”

Lucid says the Air will have a range of over 400 miles for the vehicle, a 0-60 time under 2.5 seconds, and a top speed over 200 mph (such fun!). It will also feature autonomous driving hardware and Tesla-style over-the-air updates. It’s supposed to go into production in late 2020 with a base price of $60,000.

Last September, Lucid secured $1 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to build an EV factory in Arizona. However, the company is still waiting for the US government to approve the Saudi investment. Rawlinson told The Verge the deal should be approved “in the very near future.”

Automotive provider Motiv Power Systems has delivered the first of seven electric step vans to the US Postal Service. The Ford E-450-based vans will undergo a yearlong pilot program in California’s Central Valley. The first vehicle will serve routes in Fresno, and the rest will be deployed in both Fresno and Stockton.

The step vans are built on Motiv’s electric powered intelligent chassis (EPIC), which the company says can save fuel and maintenance costs to reduce total cost of ownership.

“We’re proud to now be a part of USPS’s long tradition of implementing the latest technology to green their fleet,” said Motiv CEO Jim Castelaz. “Our all-electric

Image courtesy of Motiv Power Systems

Motiv delivers first of seven electric step vans to USPS

EPIC chassis have accumulated 500,000 real-world miles and are ideally suited to the USPS vehicle route characteristics.”

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THE VEHICLES

A LOOK AT

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MEB ARCHITECTURE The all-electric underpinnings that the VW Group will use to build dozens of EVs

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Image courtesy of VW Group

MAR/APR 2019

47

THE VEHICLES

I.D. BUZZ

I.D. CROZZ

I.D. ‘NEO’

By John Voelcker Images courtesy of VW Group

A

few weeks before the end of 2019, if all goes according to plan, the first Volkswagen I.D. Neo electric car will roll off the assembly line at the company’s plant in Zwickau, Germany.

Different versions will offer ranges from 160 to perhaps as much as 300 miles. It will be Volkswagen’s first longrange electric car, and the company expects it to sell in high volumes.

The C-segment (compact) I.D. Neo hatchback is just the first of more than two dozen all-electric models to be launched by the VW Group. It won’t be the first long-range EV offered by the group; that honor will be claimed by the Audi e-tron when it goes on sale this spring and summer in various markets around the world.

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ALL THESE VEHICLES WILL SHARE COMMON UNDERPINNINGS, KNOWN AS THE MEB ARCHITECTURE. However, the I.D. Neo will be the first mass-priced long-range EV the group offers. Executives have confirmed over the years that their goal is a starting price roughly the same as that of a high-end diesel Golf, which carries a premium of a few thousand dollars over its gasoline-engine equivalent.

The VW Group says these EVs will roll out in quick succession - it has promised two dozen by 2025, when the company expects to sell 1 million all-electric vehicles out of its global sales total of 10 million or more.

The VW Group will sell them under four separate brands in Europe alone: Volkswagen, yes, but also Audi, SEAT and Skoda. There will be electric models for several China-only brands as well. The total projected cost: 80 billion euros.

All these vehicles will share a common set of under-

pinnings, known as the MEB architecture. This is a set of frontal crash structures, motor mountings and suspension assemblies, and a floor structure under which is located a wide, long, flat battery pack. Known as a “skateboard” arrangement, it’s the same layout used by Tesla and likely all future high-volume battery-electric vehicles. MEB can accommodate rear- or all-wheel drive, a variety of vehicle types from sleek sedans to tall, boxy utility vehicles and vans, and various wheelbases with lower- or higher-capacity batteries.

The VW Group currently builds up to 4 million vehicles with transverse combustion engines each year on its shared MQB architecture, which underlies everything from the Polo subcompact hatchback (smaller

MAR/APR 2019

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MEB CAN ACCOMMODATE REAR- OR ALL-WHEEL DRIVE, VEHICLE TYPES FROM SLEEK SEDANS TO TALL, BOXY UTILITY VEHICLES AND VANS, AND VARIOUS WHEELBASES WITH LOWER- OR HIGHERCAPACITY BATTERIES. than a Golf) to the seven-seat Atlas mid-size crossover built and largely sold in the US. The MEB architecture is meant to be to electric cars what MQB is to transverse front-wheel-drive vehicles: a single, highly flexible set of underpinnings intended to cut costs by using shared components across multiple brands, vehicles and segments.

October 2015: decision point The plan for such a platform was hatched during an executive retreat in October 2015, one month after the VW diesel-emission cheating scandal was revealed by the US EPA. The full scope and cost of the scandal had yet to emerge, but even then some of the newly appointed executives viewed it as an opportunity for a corporate reset.

At that point, Volkswagen had only two years of

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experience with low-volume production of two batteryelectric vehicles, both adapted from conventional models.

The Volkswagen e-Golf, sold in Europe and North America, sited sections of its battery pack in various locations across a highly modified MQB platform.

Launched in 2014 with an EPA range of 83 miles from a 24 kWh battery pack, it got far higher-capacity cells for the 2017 model year, giving it a range of 125 miles.

Volkswagen’s other EV was the e-Up, an adaptation of its European Up minicar, fitted with a 18 kWh battery that delivered a real-world range of 60 to 90 miles.

But MEB was to be a dedicated platform, allowing every vehicle to offer at least 200 miles of range from a battery with a capacity of 48 kWh or greater. The pain of adapting combustion-engine vehicles to accom-

THE VEHICLES ITS MODULES ARE DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE ANY FORM OF PRISMATIC OR POUCH CELLS, THOUGH THE COMPANY IS NOT FOCUSED ON USING LARGE NUMBERS OF SMALL CYLINDRICAL CELLS.

Images courtesy of VW Group

VW GROUP PROMISES IT WILL ROLL TWO DOZEN EVS IN QUICK SUCCESSION BY

2025 modate smaller powertrains but bulky batteries not anticipated in the design would end. Instead, dozens of models could be created as optimized electric vehicles from the start.

The first concept car, known simply as the Volkswagen I.D., appeared a year later at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. The battery-electric five-door compact hatchback offered the interior volume of a larger mid-size sedan like the VW Passat. That was due not only to the flat under-floor battery pack, but also the lengthy cabin that was made possible by pushing the wheels to the corners of the car to allow as much room as possible within the wheelbase for the battery pack.

To the surprise of many, VW’s engineers put the primary traction motor in the rear. It was a decisive step away from the transverse front-wheel-drive layout that was standard for all small and medium-size vehicles

since the pioneering 1959 Morris Mini showed what packaging efficiencies were possible by turning the engine sideways and powering the front wheels.

For a single-motor EV, however, Volkswagen says handling and road-holding are better with rearwheel drive. Analysts note that it also avoids the use of costly constant-velocity joints to accommodate pivoting front drive wheels. When all-wheel traction is required, the front structures are designed to accommodate a second motor between the front wheels.

VW says AWD versions are likely to be offered only with the largest battery option, which can better supply the current demanded by two motors operating simultaneously.

Exposing the naked platform With less than a year left to go until production, the

MAR/APR 2019

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Electrifying the product portfolio Source: Presentation by Matthew Renna, VP of E-mobility for VW North America, at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show in February

Historic and projected rates of battery improvement Source: Presentation by Matthew Renna, VP of E-mobility for VW North America, at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show in February

company has started to show the naked MEB platform to the media. Charged saw the rolling chassis during its first North American appearance, at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show in February.

Matthew Renna, VP of E-mobility for VW North America, ran through the history of VW’s decades of experimenting with electric vehicles, the stats and specs for its modern era of EVs, and what it expects from battery technology over the next few years.

He noted that its battery modules are designed to accommodate any form of prismatic or pouch cells, though the company is not focused on using large numbers of small cylindrical cells. That is the Tesla approach, but it remains unique to that company.

Renna walked through historic and projected rates

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of battery improvement and, unusually, offered precise numbers. The cells used in the 2014 e-Golf provided 230 watt-hours per liter and 140 Wh per kilogram, he said, while the cells VW will use in 2020 are rated at 700 Wh/l and 300 Wh/kg. At the same time their price (in dollars per kWh) has fallen steadily, though he declined to give specific costs.

The result is a car with a range of 200 miles or more that can be mass-priced, or close, with the threat of range anxiety significantly abated. Nissan’s experience with its 40 kWh LEAF, introduced for 2018, indicates that 150 miles of range may be enough for Europe where that model has been extremely popular - but that 200 miles is the minimum necessary for North America, which has little or no mass transit of the sort

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The Volkswagen I.D. Neo is expected to come to market with three battery capacity options. While VW hasn’t given exact specs, they’re anticipated to be about 48, 55, and 62 kWh. Ranges on the European WLTP test cycles were quoted at 330, 450 and 600 km, which might translate to EPA ratings of roughly 160, 210 and 250 miles.

Neo, Crozz, Buzz, Vizzion, and more Although VW’s I.D. Neo will go into production before the end of this year, North American buyers won’t see it in showrooms. The hatchback will be sold only in Europe, where that format is most popular. In the US and Canada, we’ll have to wait until 2021, when a compact crossover - with the concept name I.D. Crozz - goes into production.

That car will first be built in Europe, then enter production in 2022

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THE VEHICLES

I.D. CROZZ

IN THE US AND CANADA, WE’LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL 2021, WHEN A COMPACT CROSSOVER - WITH THE CONCEPT NAME I.D. CROZZ - GOES INTO PRODUCTION.

I.D. VIZZION 54

Images courtesy of VW Group

at VW’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Americas, and perhaps other markets. Putting the I.D. Crozz into that plant requires an investment of $800 million, Volkswagen says, and will create 1,000 new jobs onsite, and many more at suppliers.

Beyond that, in 2022, VW expects to introduce the model that may have created the most buzz of any VW electric. Known as the I.D. Buzz (pronounced “bus” in German), it’s an all-electric rebirth of the classic and much-beloved Volkswagen Bus of the 1960s. The company has big plans for this vehicle, which is a joint development between Volkswagen’s vehicle division and its commercialtruck group.

That indicates that we’ll see not only passenger versions, but also panel vans and very possibly pickups and other models, echoing the multiple versions of the old “Type 2” or “Bulli,” as Germans called it. Certainly the response to the I.D. Buzz design on the auto-show circuit and during a prototype drive we took part in was nothing short of ecstatic, with a couple of fans running right through the middle of a photo shoot to ask questions about what it was and when it was coming.

For 2023, the company is promising a large Volkswagen sedan, possibly a replacement for the luxury VW Phaeton that bombed in the US but took the brand far further upscale in Europe than it had ever been. The I.D. Vizzion concept may be destined mostly for Chinese buyers, as sedans with generous rear compartments remain in high demand there. After that, in 2024, comes a large utility vehicle, likely an Atlas-sized electric SUV with seven seats.

Considerably earlier, in 2021, a small Audi (“A SUVe”) will be built on the MEB architecture - just as the brand’s A3 compact sedan is built on VW Golf and Jetta MQB underpinnings. That Audi is likely previewed by the Q4 etron concept at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.

Obviously, the Volkswagen Group is hardly the only large automaker to plan a skateboard chassis for hundreds of thousands of battery-electric vehicles a year by the early 2020s. It is, however, the company that has spent the most time talking about its plans - partly out of necessity, to distract from news reports and court decisions around its diesel scandal.

The openness is also partly pride, however. VW Group firmly believes it has a chance to become one of the world’s major electric car makers by 2025, catching up to Nissan, Tesla and GM. Perhaps its executives took to heart the words famously attributed to Winston Churchill: Never let a good crisis go to waste.

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THE VEHICLES

Josh Cohen served 12 years in local office as a city councilmember, county councilmember and mayor of Annapolis, Maryland. He is currently Director of Policy and Utility Programs at SemaConnect.

HOW LOCAL LE

CAN MAKE THEIR COMMUNITIES MO 56

By Josh Cohen

W

ADERS

RE EV-FRIENDLY

hile much of the EV policy conversation focuses on state legislatures and public utility commissions, local government has an important role to play too. Cities and counties are where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, and local policies can go a long way towards increasing EV adoption.

In last November’s midterm elections, thousands of new mayors, county executives, councilmembers and commissioners were elected to local office. As these newly-minted local leaders begin serving their terms, here are eight actionable, concrete steps they can take to accelerate EV adoption in their jurisdictions.

Lead by example Fleets: Establish targets to replace government fleet vehicles with EVs, starting with widely available light-duty passenger EVs and electric transit buses. Set future targets for medium- and heavy-duty EVs as they become more widely commercially available.

MAR/APR 2019

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Existing facilities: Install charging stations at government-owned facilities such as public parking garages, office buildings, libraries, schools, parks and other destinations.

Capital projects: Require new government capital projects to include “EV ready” spaces with preinstalled conduit and the 240-volt, 30-amp wiring needed for charging stations. Why? It’s measurably less expensive to wire parking spaces during construction than to retrofit them afterwards. Then, once funding becomes available to purchase the charging stations, little or no additional expense will be needed.

Grants: Pursue grant opportunities that offer significant subsidies or rebates for EVs and EV charging stations. Local governments are tax-exempt and don’t benefit from tax credits, but free money always helps.

For instance, states and tribal nations can allocate much of their $2.9-billion share of the Volkswagen “Dieselgate” settlement towards grants for EV charging

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Small but noticeable incentives can have an outsized impact in making a community more EV-friendly. stations, electric school and transit buses and freight trucks. These are low-hanging fruits for local governments to pursue.

Legislate New construction: Enact ordinances and building codes that require EV-ready spaces in new construction. Different jurisdictions take different approaches,

THE VEHICLES but generally they require single-family homes and some portion of parking spaces at multi-family and commercial properties to be EV-ready. Examples are found across the country and include Atlanta, Denver, New York City, San Francisco, and Maryland’s Howard County.

Tax credits: Enact a property tax credit so property owners can receive a one-time credit for the costs of charging station purchase and installation. Tax credits can be capped at different dollar amounts depending on the station type (e.g. Level 2 or DC Fast Charge) and should be broad enough to apply to both purchase and installation costs.

Driver incentives: Offer incentives for EV drivers, for instance by waiving the entry fee at county parks or by allowing EVs to receive an hour of free parking in municipal lots. Driver incentives don’t have to cost the

government a lot of money. Small but noticeable incentives can have an outsized impact in making a community more EV-friendly.

Collaborate Regional planning: Establish a plan for priority charging routes and destinations that is informed by local input and implemented in coordination with neighboring jurisdictions. Local government plans should align where possible with federal and regional routes such as Alternative Fuel Vehicle Corridors and should complement other investments by state agencies, Electrify America and other entities.

By putting these recommendations into action, local leaders will do more than make their communities more EV-friendly; they will also make them more competitive when it comes to attracting jobs and businesses for which EV charging is no longer an amenity but an expectation.

WiTricity acquires Qualcomm Halo Wireless charging pioneer has WiTricity announced the acquisition of Qualcomm’s Halo wireless technology platform. The acquisition will bring over 1,500 patents and patent applications related to wireless charging under WiTricity’s control, while Qualcomm Incorporated will become a minority WiTricity shareholder.

Qualcomm and WiTricity have been working collaboratively with global standards organizations, which currently use reference designs from each company.

Witricity says the acquisition will simplify ratification of the standard and help ensure interoperability across automakers, allowing EV drivers to use any standards-compatible pad to charge their vehicles.

“WiTricity’s wireless charging technology is key to the future of mobility which is clearly electric, and increasingly shared and autonomous,” said Alex Gruzen, CEO of WiTricity. “EV drivers and fleets demand a simple, effortless charging experience. Bringing the Qualcomm Halo technology into the WiTricity portfolio will simplify global interoperability and significantly accelerate commercialization.”

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Image courtesy of Greenlots

Image courtesy of WiTricity

THE INFRASTRUCTURE

Hubject and Greenlots to deploy Plug&Charge, enabling charging sans card or app Greenlots, a provider of charging and energy management software and solutions that was recently acquired

by Shell, has partnered with charging interoperability expert Hubject to deploy ISO 15118 Plug&Charge technology in North America. Customers with new Plug&Charge-enabled vehicles will no longer need an app or card to pay for charging.

With Hubject’s Plug&Charge ecosystem and public key infrastructure, Greenlots’ SKY network will be capable of securely authenticating and authorizing EV charging simply by plugging into the vehicle. Hubject says the system has been endorsed by most major EV makers.

“We’re always on the lookout for harmonious technologies that make EV charging faster, easier and more accessible for drivers,” said Harmeet Singh, CTO of Greenlots. “We will be one of the first EV charging platforms in the US to offer the most convenient charging experience. Making charging as simple as pumping gas is essential now that more and more drivers are switching to electric vehicles.”

“Our expertise in Plug&Charge implementation has been developed over the last several years and Greenlots recognized our ability to provide them with the most advanced solution to enhance their customers’ EV charging experience,” said Paul Glenney, North American CEO of Hubject.

Image courtesy of Tesla Image courtesy of Propel Fuels

Propel Fuels to launch EV charging network in California Fuel retailer Propel Fuels has announced plans to launch an EV charging network in California. Propel calls the charging network Propel Power, and plans to begin testing it by the end of 2019, with the aim of performing a broader rollout in 2020. Propel Power will complement Propel Fuels’ existing fueling stations, which Propel will continue to expand.

“We have been closely watching the EV market evolve for 15 years, and feel it has turned the corner towards the mainstream,” said Propel CEO Rob Elam. “Leveraging our expertise serving low-carbon consumers, we see the opportunity to help remove the barriers and anxiety, providing a valuable, customer-first charging experience to help EVs truly break through.”

Tesla makes CCS adapter standard on new European Model S and X vehicles Tesla developed its proprietary Supercharger system because it wasn’t willing to wait for other automakers to agree on a fast charging standard. Since then, CCS has become the most popular standard in the US and Europe, and sprawling new networks based on CCS are being rolled out as we speak.

Last November, Tesla announced that Model 3 vehicles sold in the European market would come with a CCS Combo 2 charge port, and that European Supercharger stations would be retrofitted with dual cables.

Now Tesla has begun including a new CCS adapter with all new Models S and X delivered in Europe. This means that all European buyers of new Teslas will have convenient access to CCS fast chargers as well as to Superchargers. According to Electrek, the device is only being provided to new buyers in Europe for now, but it seems likely that Tesla will make it available for existing owners to purchase before long.

Tesla says the adapter allows charging at rates of up to 120 kW, a limitation which is imposed “by the car and not the adapter.”

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Image courtesy of BP

THE INFRASTRUCTURE

BP invests in Chinese charging platform PowerShare BP Ventures has invested in Powershare, a Chinese provider of integrated hardware and software for EV charging, during a Series A funding round.

PowerShare offers an online platform that connects drivers, charge point operators, and power suppliers. The company’s cloud-based system allows power suppliers to continuously monitor the power demand from vehicles and balance it with the supply capacity of the grid.

“China is the world’s largest EV market and a key market for BP as we seek to expand our advanced mobility offer,” said Lamar McKay, Deputy Chief Executive of BP. “Our investment into PowerShare, BP Ventures’ first direct investment in China, demonstrates our continued intent to provide charging solutions and advanced mobility offers to Chinese consumers both on and off our forecourts.”

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GreenFlux and Unica to provide 1,000 EV charging stations to the Dutch government EV charging infrastructure provider GreenFlux and energy solutions provider Unica have been granted a large contract by the Dutch government to build, manage, and maintain EV charging infrastructure at more than 100 government offices across the Netherlands.

The two companies will construct a total of 1,000 charging stations, intended to serve government vehicles and private cars of employees and visitors. The Dutch government is aiming to enable 20 percent of its official fleet (over 31,000 vehicles) to operate fully electrically by 2020. To that end, GreenFlux and Unica will deliver 600 charging stations by the end of this year.

The charging stations will be powered by GreenFlux’s cloud-based smart charging technology, which the company claims can result in up to four times faster ROI for the equipment installation. GreenFlux will also upgrade 150 existing charging stations with its Smart Charging Controller.

“We are very happy and proud to supply this innovative charging infrastructure to the Dutch government together with Unica,” said GreenFlux CEO Jurjen de Jong.

“The Dutch EV market is one of the most innovative and competitive in the world. Internationally, we are already active in fifteen countries, spread over three continents, and manage an ecosystem of 18,000 charging stations.

We can also apply the acquired knowledge of this project on an international scale.”

EVSE manufacturer ClipperCreek has released new ruggedized versions of two of its Level 2 charging stations. The ruggedized versions of the 48 Amp HCS-60 and 64 Amp HCS80 charging stations are intended for heavy-utilization fleets, public parking lots and extreme weather locations.

The ruggedized HCS60 and HCS-80 augment the original charging stations with rubber overmolded SAE-J1772 connectors, field-replaceable connector latches, and a five-year warranty. The ruggedized versions are available for an added $100 to the base prices of $899 for the HCS-60 and $969 for the HCS-80.

“We saw great customer acceptance with our first set of ruggedized products, the HCS-40R and PMD-10R, and have continued to receive requests for the higherpowered ruggedized options,” said ClipperCreek’s Will Barrett. “ClipperCreek’s standard products are very robust, and all have NEMA 4 rated enclosures for indoor or outdoor installs. The overmolded ruggedized SAEJ1772TM connector takes our already tough products to another level.”

Image courtesy of Electrify America

Image courtesy of ClipperCreek

ClipperCreek releases new ruggedized versions of its EV chargers

Electrify America to use Tesla Powerpacks at some charging stations Charging network operator Electrify America has announced plans to install battery storage units made by Tesla at over 100 of its charging stations. EA will deploy Tesla Powerpack systems consisting of “a 210 kW battery system with roughly 350 kWh of capacity” at over 100 charging stations. A modular system will allow EA to increase capacity later if needed.

Why does an EV charging station need on-site energy storage? Because of demand charges, which are extra fees that utilities charge commercial customers when they draw large amounts of power. Demand charges are based on the highest power level a customer draws from the utility during a set period of time, and they can be extremely high. So costly are demand charges that they can make it nearly impossible for DC fast charging stations to break even, much less make a profit.

Using battery storage to shave peak energy consumption can help station operators reduce or eliminate these charges, by setting the rate at which the batteries recharge from the grid at a level low enough that it doesn’t incur a demand charge.

“Our stations are offering some of the most technologically advanced charging that is available,” said Electrify America CEO Giovanni Palazzo. “With our chargers offering high power levels, it makes sense for us to use batteries at our most high-demand stations for peak shaving to operate more efficiently. Tesla’s Powerpack system is a natural fit given their global expertise in both battery storage development and EV charging.”

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Image courtesy of Chargeway

Image courtesy of University of Michigan

THE INFRASTRUCTURE

Startup Chargeway launches kiosks to showcase EV charging options Chargeway, a software startup that has developed a simple visual language for charging and selling EVs, has launched a digital kiosk to be placed in auto dealerships and EV showcases.

The kiosks, called Chargeway Beacons, are designed to educate potential EV buyers on the various available public charging options. The kiosks were showcased at the recent Portland International Auto Show.

Chargeway’s system uses basic colors and numbers to identify the various EV plug options and charging speeds.

The company will deploy Chargeway Beacons at specific auto dealers primarily along the I-5 and I-84 corridors in Oregon, with the hope of encouraging EV literacy and sales among EV drivers and potential buyers.

Oregon utilities PGE and Pacific Power have partnered with Chargeway for the pilot program as part of their EV adoption programs. The pilot will also support Oregon’s state program to spur EV adoption, which has a goal of 50,000 plug-in vehicle registrations by 2020.

Greg Remensperger, Executive VP of the Oregon Auto Dealers Association, a program partner, said, “With EV range and battery life improving year over year, the last step is making the electric fueling experience easy to explain and use for drivers. We envision Chargeway as being the final piece of the conversation to help consumers transition to fully electric cars.”

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Study optimizes EV charging stations along Michigan highways Researchers at the University of Michigan have conducted a study to determine the ideal number and locations of EV charging stations across Michigan highways. The Michigan Energy Office (MEO), which funded the study, will use the results as it allocates $9.9 million over the next three years for public EV charging stations across the state.

The study accounted for future projected EV demand and considered low, mixed, and high-technology scenarios. The low-tech scenario called for 43 charging stations, 600 charging outlets, and a $28-million investment. The high-tech scenario called for 24 charging stations, 131 charging outlets, and an investment of $14.6 million. The mixed scenario, which was recommended by the study, called for 35 charging stations, 196 charging outlets, and an investment of $21.8 million. This scenario anticipates 70 kWh batteries and 150 kW chargers, as well as the need to accommodate smaller and older EVs. “This first-of-its-kind study will prove invaluable to Michigan regulators, policy makers, utilities, EV charging companies, municipalities and others as the network of fast-charging stations is developed along Michigan highways,” said Robert Jackson, Director of the MEO. The MEO is aiming to develop an effective DC fast charging network throughout Michigan by 2030. The next phase of the study will look at the placement of urban EV chargers. The study incorporates the input of stakeholders such as EV drivers, utilities, auto companies, charging station operators and other state agencies.

Image courtesy of Hydro-Québec

Image courtesy of AddEnergie

Québec invests in AddEnergie to pursue EV charging growth in US market AddEnergie, a Canadian provider of EV charging equipment, recently received an investment from the Government of Québec and institutional investor Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). The two parties also jointly invested in AddEnergie in 2016.

The new investment will help AddEnergie double production at its plant in Shawinigan, Québec and pursue growth in the US market, which it entered in 2018. The investment will also fund the development of AddEnergie’s next generation of charging stations, network management software and smart grid software. AddEnergie currently manages over 13,000 public and private charging stations, and expects to have over 100,000 stations in service within the next three years.

“Since our initial investment, CDPQ has supported AddEnergie in its ambitious plans for growth in new markets. As the Canadian leader in its industry, AddEnergie is well positioned to carve out a leading position in the US,” said Mathieu Gauvin, Senior VP, Québec at CDPQ. “AddEnergie has enjoyed sustained growth since its beginning, and proves once again that Québec has the know-how and resources necessary to secure a desirable position in the North American market for smart charging solutions for electric vehicles,” said Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy and Innovation for the Government of Québec.

Hydro-Québec to deploy 1,600 fast charging stations over the next 10 years Québec’s public utility, Hydro-Québec, has announced that it will install 1,600 fast charging stations over the next 10 years. It has already deployed 22 new fast charging stations in 2019, and hopes to deploy about 100 in total by the end of the year, as part of its public charging network the Electric Circuit.

The utility plans to expand the network in areas that currently have fewer fast charging stations, and to increase the density of the network in the busiest areas in order to eliminate waiting times at some stations in peak hours, particularly along highways.

In June 2018, the Canadian National Assembly unanimously adopted new legislation that allows Hydro-Québec to use revenue from the increase in electricity sales generated by charging at EV owners’ homes to fund the installation of more fast charging stations. Hydro-Québec hopes that this will allow it to continue rolling out EVSE without raising customers’ electricity rates.

Under its fast charging infrastructure program, Natural Resources Canada selected three Hydro-Québec projects to receive approximately $5 million ($3.8 million US) in financial assistance, which will fund the installation of around 100 fast charging stations, including 10 “superstations” with four fast charging stations each, 40 fast charging stations on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, and 20 fast charging stations on the south shore.

There are currently close to 40,000 plug-in vehicles registered in Québec, and the Electric Circuit already has more than 1,700 charging stations, including 168 fast charging stations.

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THE INFRASTRUCTURE

COULD NEW REGULATIONS

HOLD BACK

EV CHARGING DEVELOPMENT? While regulators and the charging industry are hashing out the details of new regulations, some are concerned that wellintentioned policies could have negative effects.

By Charles Morris

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T

There is growing concern that the wrong regulation could block the road to the best products.

he availability of EV charging infrastructure is increasing every day, and action by federal, state and local governments has been a major driver of this growth. However, like anything in life, government regulation has good and bad aspects.

We’ve all seen the competing political memes that try to reduce complex issues to a simple choice between “regulations good” and “regulations bad.” However, in the real world, what matters is the distinction between well-designed regulation, which has clear objectives and incorporates input from stakeholders, and well-meaning but counter-productive regulation.

At the moment, many in the charging industry are concerned about three separate sets of pending regulations.

At the federal level, the EPA is proposing to establish an Energy Star specification for DC fast chargers. (Level 1 and Level 2 AC charging stations are already eligible for the Energy Star label, as we discussed in our January/ February 2018 issue.) Meanwhile, California regulators are considering a proposal to establish a standard for the accuracy of metering on DC fast chargers, and a separate one to require credit card readers on all public charging stations.

Charged discussed the issues with representatives from companies in the charging industry and other experts who are closely following the regulatory process. The overarching theme is that EV charging tech and business models are still evolving quickly, and there is growing concern that the wrong regulation could block the road to the best products.

In all three cases, network operators, EVSE manufacturers and other industry participants have expressed their concerns to the regulatory bodies involved, asking them to limit the scope of the proposed regulations and to allow more time for compliance, in order to avoid hindering the ongoing development of the charging market.

In general, the charging industry has found that regulators are quite open to comments and suggestions - in past cases, they have modified regulations to incorporate suggestions from the industry. However, these issues are still open and how they will shake out is still in question.

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THE INFRASTRUCTURE Credit card reader requirements

Perhaps the most consequential and contested issue is a plan to require credit card readers on all public charging stations in California, including retrofitting already installed units.

California’s Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Access Act (Senate Bill 454, which passed in 2013) mandates open access to public charging stations - that is, a driver doesn’t have to be a member of a particular network in order to use a particular station.

However, there is disagreement about how to interpret the language of the law. The Electric Vehicle Charging Association (EVCA) - which represents several prominent companies including ChargePoint, BTCPower, EVBox, EV Connect and EVgo - and the California Air Resources Board (ARB), which regulates the law, see the requirements differently.

To simplify a nuanced regulatory language debate, many charging stakeholders are arguing that “open access” should include offering different payment options such as pay-byphone or other mobile payment technologies. However, ARB is considering enforcing a requirement that every “publicly available” charger include the hardware needed to process credit card payments. Under the proposed plan, credit card readers would have to be included in all new DC fast chargers by January 1, 2020, and in new Level 2 chargers by January 1, 2023. Existing chargers would have up to five years from the date of installation to comply with the requirements.

Of course, free charging stations wouldn’t need to have card readers - the law covers only charging stations that “require payment of a fee.” However, in the rapidly evolving market for charging, the distinction between paid and free isn’t always so clear-cut. For example, some providers of workplace charging make their chargers available to the public outside of working hours. Also, station owners may want to have the option of adding or removing fees in the future, depending on how demand develops. Would any station that ever charges a fee to anyone be required to have a card reader?

Who’s going to pay for it?

This proposed requirement has inspired a lot of pushback from the industry, especially from providers of Level 2 chargers, because the additional cost of adding credit card hardware to every unit would be a greater burden than it would be for larger DC fast chargers.

Some are arguing that installing and maintaining the

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ARB is considering enforcing a requirement that every “publicly available” charger include the hardware needed to process credit card payments. readers will impose substantial costs on what is already a very low-margin business (in fact, not everyone is convinced that “charging for charging” is a viable business model at all, at least for Level 2 charging). The cost of compliance with a credit card requirement could lead to the unintended consequence of reducing the availability of public chargers.

If they were forced to retrofit thousands of alreadydeployed Level 2 units, station owners would have to choose among three options: paying the costs to upgrade the EVSE, switching to free charging only, or deactivating certain charging stations altogether. It’s easy to imagine situations in which a site host wouldn’t see any value in reinvesting in a charging station that is not highly utilized, and would opt to remove it - particularly if the initial installation was subsidized by one of the many government grants that have been available in the past decade.

In fact, ARB released its own State Regulatory Impact Assessment (SRIA) to map out the potential costs. By its own estimate, “retrofitting payment hardware may be largely infeasible” for existing Level 2 EVSE. “As a result, many Level 2 EVSEs are projected to be replaced earlier than their natural end of useful life,” at an estimated cost of “$6,000 per existing Level 2 EVSE that must be replaced early to comply with the proposed regulation.” This cost would be borne by the site host.

Currently, many of the major networks’ public charging sites do not feature credit card readers, for a variety of reasons. One prominent exception is Electrify America, a subsidiary of Volkswagen that was established as part of the company’s diesel emissions settlement. Including credit card readers was a requirement of that settlement.

ABB is one of the largest manufacturers of DC fast chargers, which it supplies to many charging networks around the world. The company does produce units that include credit card readers, but currently finds limited demand

ARB's report estimated a cost of “$6,000 per existing Level 2 EVSE that must be replaced early to comply with the proposed regulation.”

for them. “The cost burden of transacting with credit card readers is just more complex,” ABB’s Erin Galiger told Charged. “We do offer the option, but find the most demand for it only where it’s a requirement or in the cases where a charger is not part of a network. It’s not a popular method of payment deployment.”

There is also an added level of technical complexity, because of the tough environments in which many public chargers are deployed. Charging hardware manufacturer ClipperCreek previously invested in developing a Level 2 unit with a credit card reader, but decided not to launch the product. “While engineering that product we struggled to find a supplier of card readers that could withstand all of the harsh environments that our units are designed to operate in,” ClipperCreek CEO Jason France told Charged.

“In the end we decided that product wasn’t a good value for our customers and didn’t launch it. There is a lot to consider with credit card readers, including reliability, customer service, maintenance and security. It all adds to the cost.”

Future-looking options As various new methods of payment, including smartphone apps, become more popular, credit cards are beginning to look like yesterday’s technology. Another unintended consequence of requiring card readers could be to discourage innovation in methods of paying for charging sessions.

What’s the incentive to develop a new innovative payment solution that’s convenient, secure and ubiquitous, if everyone is required to cling to legacy hardware?

“We certainly don’t think that the regulations should specify a single specific technology,” agrees ClipperCreek’s Will Barrett. “Technology in the industry and the solutions that are available are evolving - we shouldn’t regulate a specific type of payment as being the only way to facilitate open access.”

One promising new payment tech is ISO 15118, aka the Plug&Charge standard, which allows a charging session to be authenticated and paid for simply by plugging in a vehicle, with no card or app required. The car communicates with the charger and the network totally behind the scenes in an easy-to-use autonomous system - you just show

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up and plug in. It’s foreseeable that this standard, or a new technology innovation not foreseen by a regulator, could be quickly adopted and solve roaming and access issues across the board.

It’s also worth pointing out that Tesla’s Supercharger network, which is generally considered the most advanced network in service today, does charge drivers a fee for charging, but has never found it necessary to install credit card readers. As a private network only available to Tesla owners, it would not be subject to the new requirement.

However, as ClipperCreek’s Jason France points out, the requirement could prevent Tesla from ever opening up its Supercharger network to other EV drivers. “If they ever do fully open access for any electric car to use the Supercharger network, wouldn’t that be an amazingly positive thing for the industry? But if suddenly they’re governed by these other requirements, which they don’t want because there is no added value, they’ll be discouraged from doing that.”

Working together To some, it seems that ARB is trying to solve a problem from the past that has already begun to work itself out. Five years ago, interoperability and open access among charging networks was a real issue - if a driver didn’t have a Charge-

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Point card (for example), they couldn’t use a ChargePoint charger. However, most of the networks have added phone numbers to their chargers, so non-members can call to initiate a charging session. And the industry is steadily innovating in the direction of interoperability. To cite just one example, Hubject, a platform that enables roaming among different charging networks, boasts over 300 B2B partners in 26 countries and is rapidly expanding in the US and China. It seems that all of the major players are already moving in the right direction for ultimate customer value and benefit.

All the representatives from ABB, ClipperCreek and other companies that Charged spoke to were quick to note that they do not want to slam the efforts and ultimate goals of ARB and other regulatory agencies. Open access and network interoperability are very important objectives to work towards, and are integral to the success of EVs. However the

Image courtesy of Electrify America

One promising new payment tech is ISO 15118, the Plug & Charge standard, which allows a charging session to be authenticated and paid for simply by plugging in a vehicle, with no card or app required.

THE INFRASTRUCTURE

Image courtesy of ABB

optimal solution for consumers that encourages continued growth is still unknown, or at least highly debated.

While the California regulators want to ensure that public charging networks are open to all EV drivers with minimum inconvenience, incorporating input from industry stakeholders is an important part of the process of developing these regulations.

Unfortunately, some worry that ARB may be preparing to move forward with the credit card requirement despite pleas from EVCA and others. In a worst-case scenario, if the two sides can’t resolve their differences, EVCA argues that charging service providers (EVSPs) will be in a bind. Where it’s not practical to simply add a credit card reader to an existing charger, providers will probably have to rip out existing stations and replace them with new, redesigned models.

This must be done within 5 years of installation, or by January 1, 2023, whichever is later - far less than the projected 10-year life of a typical charging station. And there are significant fines for non-compliance: $600 to $1,000 depending on the type of violation, recurring every 45-day period up to a maximum of $37,500 until the cited violation is corrected. These fines are levied against the EVSP. As the EVCA pointed out in a letter to ARB, faced with the expense of retrofitting chargers, “many site hosts may no longer allow the public to access the station for any period of time, or may shut down the station entirely to avoid the costs of complying with this requirement. This is especially true for charging stations that are less than profitable for owners and operators, but are nonetheless important to have in the field for consumer access.”

Obviously, this is an outcome that no one wants to see, and the irony would be enormous. California’s Executive Order B-48-18 calls for the deployment of 250,000 charging stations by 2025.

DC metering requirements

Another controversial proposal that’s on the table in California has to do with setting standards for energy metering on DC fast charging stations. Basically, the state is looking to regulate EV charging similar to the way in which gasoline sales are regulated - gas pumps are regularly certified to ensure that when you pay for a gallon of gasoline, that’s what the pump dispenses, within a small margin of error.

While this may seem like a no-brainer for DC fast charg-

The DC metering capabilities currently employed by each manufacturer are not all designed to the same spec, calibrated in the exact same way, or certifiable by outside agencies. ing, industry stakeholders have been quick to speak up about the details of the proposal - mainly asking for more time to iron out the exact details of DC metering.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has proposed amendments to Code of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Handbook 44, Specifications, Tolerances, and other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices. California is the first state to take this spec and push for it as an actual requirement. Regulators are looking to have the metering feature on all new DC fast chargers, and also retrofitted on existing public hardware, by January 1st, 2020.

According to some in the charging industry, meeting this requirement is unlikely in the time frame allotted because

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THE INFRASTRUCTURE

The biggest hurdle is that there is no robust market for this kind of DC metering technology in other industries, as there is for AC metering. of a lack of commercially viable technical solutions that achieve the proposed spec. There is additional concern about the high costs of retrofitting existing chargers, even if such high-accuracy meters were available.

Of course, all of the DC charging equipment in question already has some sort of a metering capability designed by the manufacturers. However, they are not all designed to the same spec, calibrated in the exact same way, or certifiable by outside agencies.

The biggest hurdle is that there is no robust market for this kind of DC metering technology in other industries.

On the other hand, AC metering hardware provides an example of a mature market with plenty of competition. AC meters are found not only at every home and business that’s connected to the grid, but also on distribution transformers. As a result, there are a lot of different suppliers and competition for AC metering globally, so the cost is low and the technology is standardized. DC charging stakeholders are arguing that this is not the case for DC metering.

There is also an open question about the amount of accuracy needed for DC fast charging. Does it need to be highly accurate across the whole range of current levels, even if that’s cost-prohibitive?

More time Fortunately, according to charging industry stakeholders we spoke to, the regulators are open to feedback. The California Department of Food and Agriculture is now in the process of considering public comments, soliciting feedback from stakeholders and reaching out individually to discuss the impact of the proposed changes. The next step will be to release a revision, followed by another commenting period.

A similar regulation has been proposed in Germany [Anwendungsregel VDE-AR-E 2418-3-100], and authorities received over 900 comments from industry leaders.

While most agree that DC metering devices will have value in the long run, charging stakeholders are mostly

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While most agree that these types of devices will have value in the long run, charging stakeholders are mostly concerned with the currently proposed timeframe in which they will be required. concerned with the currently proposed timeframe in which they will be required. They believe that more time will allow for a consensus to be reached on the levels of accuracy required and that, with sufficient time before the new regulation kicks in, other businesses will enter the new market for DC metering that the regulation will create, offering a competitive marketplace with multiple sources to procure from.

Energy Star

At the federal level, the EPA is proposing a new Energy Star specification, Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Version 1.1, which adds DC fast chargers to the existing specification. The process of proposing the spec and considering stakeholder comments began in early 2018, and is ongoing.

The EPA is proposing to release a Version 1.1 Draft 1 Specification in spring 2019, and to make the new specification effective in fall 2019.

In response to the proposal, the EPA received letters from many different organizations in the industry expressing

The concern is that the proposed test method was initially created in a way that appears to be based on 50-kilowatt units, but that would apply to essentially all DC fast charging systems.

concern (including trade organizations, utility companies and a handful of charging companies).

One letter was signed by firms representing around 85% of the installed base of DC fast chargers in the US: ABB, BTCPower, Siemens, Delta, Efacec, EVgo, Siemens, Tritium and Tesla. At the center of their concerns is the proposed test method, which was initially created in a way that appears to be based on 50-kilowatt units, but that would apply to essentially all DC fast charging systems. Industry leaders fear that if the process is rushed and a spec is released too early, the result could be unintentionally picking winners and losers.

The letter notes that DC fast charging technology is changing rapidly, and currently ranges from well-established 50 kW chargers to 350 kW chargers that just began to be deployed in 2018. As fleets of heavy-duty vehicles electrify, charging levels of over a megawatt, along with new, as-yet-unproven system architectures, will be deployed.

“Energy Star standards developed without careful deliberation and stakeholder input may lead the market to favor

certain technologies over others,” said the letter.

A letter from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) makes a similar point: “The complexity, diverse use cases and rapidly evolving technology of DC fast charging means that developing an effective specification will take much longer than the current timeline.

Lengthening the timeline will allow for important stakeholder involvement and dialogue to improve the likelihood that EVSE 1.1 will not artificially favor one technology over another, or exclude future technological innovations from entering the market.”

A spec that’s too sweeping might encourage manufacturers to limit the variations or features they offer to customers. For example, some vendors might wish to offer load management features that take away from their products’ energy efficiency, which could cause problems for customers that might be depending on California grant money that requires Energy Star compliance.

Also, Energy Star has historically been a consumer advocacy program dealing with consumer appliances like refrigerators, microwaves and washer/dryers. Certification for AC charging makes sense, so consumers can be confident that they are buying energy-efficient charging stations.

However, for high-power charging applications in commercial and fleet settings, determining standard modes of operation for an apples-to-apples efficiency comparison is much more challenging.

The letter from the charging companies requests that the EPA: (1) limit the scope to well-understood charging technology which has already been deployed in the field for at least a few years, for example, DCFC systems rated at 50 kW or less; (2) extend and expand the process for developing the standard, including the timeline; and (3) allow self-certification and testing for compliance.

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THE INFRASTRUCTURE

A GOOD

DEAL GETS

BETTER Nissan’s $3,500 LEAF rebate gets local utilities involved in increasing EV awareness

By Tom Ewing

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Image courtesy of Nissan

I

f you pay an electric bill (and who doesn’t?), keep your eyes open for a message from your local utility announcing that you can take advantage of a $3,500 rebate on a Nissan LEAF. Nissan has been partnering with various utilities around the US to offer customers a special rebate. The rebate comes from Nissan, not ratepayers. The utilities are just providing the outreach to customers.

Importantly, this rebate can be combined with the federal EV tax credit. The numbers make you start thinking: $3,500 plus $7,500 in federal tax credits equals $11,000 off the price of a new LEAF, which starts at about $29,900. And don’t forget to check out whether your state offers an EV incentive. Colorado, for example, offers a $5,000 EV tax credit, and several New England states are also generous.

Nissan has been running a utility rebate program for some time - in 2018 the company was offering a

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THE INFRASTRUCTURE

The partnership is an evolving instruction about how to scale up EV sales how to move EVs from the perimeter to the center of a customer’s awareness. $3,000 rebate. Nissan reevaluates the program every quarter, and recently decided not only to continue it, but to raise the rebate amount.

Consider this possible deal for a buyer in Colorado: $29,900 minus the $3,500 Nissan rebate, minus the $7,500 federal tax credit, minus the $5,000 state tax credit. If your tax situation allows you to take advantage of the tax credits, you could be driving a new EV for less than $14,000 (plus tax, tag, title and all the other customary add-ons, of course).

To take advantage of Nissan’s offer, customers need to contact their local utility, which will provide a code that advises the local Nissan dealer that someone is in fact a customer of a participating utility (the rebate is also offered to utility employees). The offer does include some fine-print conditions, but they are not restrictive - for example, your selection may be limited to cars on the lot. The subsequent purchase is similar to any other transaction with an auto dealer.

For the EV market, this utility/automaker partnership is significant. Obviously, Nissan’s interest and that of a local utility are aligned - higher sales of cars and electricity. However, there is a bigger picture that deserves a closer look. The partnership is an evolving example of how to scale up EV sales, and how to move EVs from the perimeter to the center of a customer’s awareness.

The pace at which EVs are mainstreamed has three important implications. First, EV sales justify manufacturers’ huge production investments. Second, the pace at which EVs replace ICE vehicles is critical for reducing related energy and climate impacts. Third, because of their potential for dynamic charging and energy storage, EVs are an important tool for maximizing the efficiency of an electrical grid that’s increasingly dependent on renewable energy generation.

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Cynthia Maves is Nissan’s Electric Vehicle Fleet Business Development Manager for the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest Regions. She has been working on the incentive program with utilities from Nebraska to Virginia, within East Coast states, in upstate New York and in Maine.

Although she would not disclose sales figures linked to the utility partnership, she did say that sales are meeting company expectations. Remember, the current LEAF model was only introduced in the US in February 2018.

For context, Maves said that total US LEAF sales are around 130,000. Worldwide sales are around 380,000.

Most people know that EV sales are low compared to ICE sales. However, when viewed alone, EV sales are hot. Consider the sales numbers from automotive research firm Wards Intelligence. Note the increase - a doubling - in EV sales from 2017 to 2018. The big question: how do you keep that pace going, and growing?

US Light Vehicle Sales 2017

2018

Electric

102,380

0.6%

207,062

1.2%

Plug-in Hybrid

91,027

0.5%

123,883

0.7%

100.0%

17,213,546

100.0%

Total Light Vehicles 17,136,359

Source: Wards Intelligence

EVs generally cost considerably more than ICE vehicles, but rebates and tax credits can bring down the price somewhat. The harder part - changing buyers’ behaviors - is, of course, a job for the marketing gurus.

Robots may make cars, but robots don’t buy them people do, and that decision-making process comprises perhaps 50% logic and 50% emotional factors such as color, coolness and convertible options.

Maves said sales increase the most when the utility partnership is part of a mix of EV-related efforts and activities. A utility’s promotional flyer is really the tip of a marketing iceberg. Concurrent events, perhaps on social media, increase awareness, strengthening the link between the rebate and a LEAF. Not surprisingly, considering the state’s EV tax credit, Maves said that sales in Colorado “have exploded.”

Nissan has teamed up with American Electric Power (AEP) in Columbus, Ohio. In 2016, Columbus won the DOT’s Smart City Challenge. AEP has used federal grant money provided under the program to offer rebates for the installation of public charging stations.

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One of the goals of the Nissan promotion is to demonstrate that there is a working network for EVs, that a customer doesn’t risk being stranded in a strange automotive universe.

The LEAF rebate promotion has greater impact when it exists within a larger mix of events - when a potential customer sees an EV purchase aligned with progressive energy and environmental changes, and sees that required services and infrastructure are in place and available. Maves says customers don’t want a vehicle that turns into a difficult and singular ownership experience. One of the goals of the Nissan promotion is to demonstrate that there is a working network for EVs, that a customer doesn’t risk being stranded in a strange automotive universe.

The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD), which serves 375,000 electric customers, teamed up with Nissan starting in June 2018. Judy Sunde, a Senior Product Specialist at OPPD, said the utility added a sweetener to Nissan’s deal, offering an additional $4,500 if a customer agreed to buy an EV and a ChargePoint Home charger.

Sunde said OPPD received funding for the charger rebates from a grant program supported by money from the state lottery. The Level 2 charger program is scheduled to end in March 2019, but officials are hopeful that funding will be renewed, allowing it to continue along with the LEAF rebate. OPPD officials report that, as of December 31, 40 LEAFs had been sold via the rebate program, and that OPPD had paid for 52 ChargePoint chargers (not all the EVs sold were LEAFs).

Virginia Clean Cities, a non-profit organization that manages the DOE’s Clean Cities program in the state, has teamed up with Nissan and local utility Dominion Energy. Nissan is a Clean Cities stakeholder, and Virginia Clean Cities has worked to involve Nissan dealers in the Dominion Energy partnership. For car buyers, test drives are always important and at a recent statewide meeting of Virginia’s electric cooperatives, the organization arranged to have 25 EVs available for test drives, a

78

first-time experience for most attendees.

Clean Cities also sponsors workshops on charging stations and on how EVs can benefit businesses and fleet operators. These activities reinforce and enhance the Nissan-utility promotion.

Lang Reynolds is Duke Energy’s Manager, Electric Transportation. His team’s primary goal is to increase EV adoption across Duke’s service territory, which includes 6 midwestern and southeastern states. Most of these areas don’t have state-level renewable energy mandates or EV tax incentives, so Nissan’s rebate is particularly valuable.

Reynolds said that, because of the existing price differential between EVs and ICE vehicles, EV sales in Duke territories have been low. In 2017, Duke tracked 200 LEAF sales linked to the company’s rebate program (2018 numbers are still being calculated). Duke is working to help potential customers with EV-related questions - for example, it’s revamping its website to assist customers who might want to purchase a Level 2 charger and need help with equipment and contractors.

“New tech can be intimidating,” Reynolds commented, “so we really want to make it as simple and straightforward as possible to speed up the process and knock down barriers.”

Reynolds said that Duke has contacted other car companies about offering a similar rebate program, but that none has shown interest. Matthew Wade, with Virginia Clean Cities, also said that his team has been unable to draw in other companies. When the Omaha utility OPPD announced its plan to team up with Nissan, it invited participation from other manufacturers, but none signed on. However, one local Audi dealer did, offering customers a $1,000 rebate on the upcoming Audi e-tron.

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International Battery Seminar ............ 79 internationalbatteryseminar.com

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Do plug-in hybrids have a future?

Y

By Charles Morris

ou couldn’t find a better example of a transitional technology than the plug-in hybrid (PHEV). With a gas engine, an electric motor and a charging port, it’s designed to offer the best of both worlds, but some argue that the reverse is true: a PHEV doesn’t deliver the superior driving experience of a pure EV, and there’s still a gas engine to maintain and a gas tank to fill up.

Now that GM has retired the popular Chevy Volt (production ended in February), and sales of pure EVs (aka BEVs) are steadily growing, some are predicting the imminent demise of the PHEV. However, a couple of experts told Charged not to write it off yet.

For skeptics, the PHEV has a micro problem and a macro problem. First, given the short electric range of first-generation PHEVs, it’s arguably not worth the trouble of plugging them in. My 2014 Prius Plug-in has an electric range of about 12 miles, and I’ve calculated that, at current gas prices, I’m saving less than 30 cents every time I charge it.

This leads to the macro issue, which is that many drivers don’t bother. As Green Car Reports and others reported, in China, restrictions on registrations of non-plug-in SUVs resulted in a lot of PHEV sales to buyers who never intended to plug them in. This may also be an issue in places like California, home of the coveted HOV sticker. Recently, policy-makers in China and elsewhere have revised incentives to favor BEVs over PHEVs. Holland changed its tax regime at the end of 2015. In 2018, Sweden introduced a “bonus/malus” tax system that gives BEVs significantly higher incentives.

European PHEV sales stalled in 2018 as the continent instituted a new, more stringent emissions testing regimen. It was no secret that the previous NEDC testing cycle significantly overstated the real-world fuel economy of ICE vehicles and the range of EVs. As our colleague Roland Irle of EV-volumes.com explained, the new WLTP testing method is much more complex. It requires that every variant of a vehicle be tested, taking account of such variables as tire sizes and different engine options. The International Council on Clean Transportation estimates that the measured CO2 emissions of many PHEVs will be 20-25% higher under the new testing regimen.

Testing issues caused some of Europe’s best-selling PHEV variants to suffer supply bottlenecks. Another problem: in many European markets, a vehicle must deliver CO2 emissions under 50 grams/km to qualify for subsidies. Under the new WLTP test, many PHEVs fell short, so their makers took them off the market to make improvements. Mercedes doubled the battery size of its C-Class 350e PHEV. Porsche, Audi and VW are also upgrading their PHEVs to meet the new standards, a process that may take until Q3 of 2019 to

Tightening emissions standards are increasing the effective cost of ICE powertrains, as improving EV tech lowers the cost of electric powertrains. complete. Over the course of 2018, the European split between BEVs and PHEVs changed from 50/50 to 69% BEVs. Irle expects the mix to snap back a bit in 2019, to around 60% BEVs. So, the improved testing regimen led to a good outcome: many European-made PHEVs are getting substantially increased ranges. In any case, the trend was already toward longer electric ranges, alleviating the problem alluded to above (the 2019 Prius Prime gets an estimated 25 miles).

However, the long-term direction for PHEV sales is unquestionably downward. Mr. Irle points out that a PHEV has two separate powertrains, with two cost curves heading in opposite directions. Tightening emissions standards are increasing the effective cost of ICE powertrains, as improving battery tech lowers the cost of electric powertrains.

On the other hand, there are several reasons why PHEV sales will not fall to zero, especially in Europe. Cities are introducing bans on diesel vehicles. This may someday extend to all ICEs, but PHEVs will presumably still be allowed. PHEVs remain the best choice for certain drivers, such as those with long distances to drive or trailers to pull. Irle estimates that PHEVs will still make up 25% of European plug-in vehicle sales in 2030.

A recent article in EVAdoption points out a few other signs of life. Honda’s Clarity PHEV and Toyota’s Prius Prime were the #2 and #3 plug-in vehicles in the US in January, and Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV is a leading seller in some European markets. Sales of conventional hybrids are plummeting, and some of those buyers are defecting to PHEVs - according to CarSalesBase.com, the Prime’s share of total Prius sales grew from 23% in 2017 to 38% in 2018 (and a fat 47% in December 2018). Consumers have a wider choice of PHEVs - at the moment, there are 27 PHEV models and 13 BEV models on sale in the US. If automakers keep their ambitious electrification promises, that mix will shift in favor of BEVs in the coming years, but PHEVs are still very much a part of their programs - there are at least 16 new PHEVs in the pipeline.

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