Range-extended and plug-in hybrids

Range-extended and plug-in hybrids
One other market in its infancy, 2012 is actually the going to be the yr that range-extended electric car (REEV) fashions and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) start to arrive. Although costly, we’d expect them to be a must have green accessory especially for companies, desirous to boast their inexperienced credentials.

This 12 months sees the arrival of range-prolonged fashions, the Chevrolet Volt and Vauxhall Ampera whereas new plug-in hybrids such because the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid and Toyota Prius Plug-In also arrive. These REEV and PHEV models are additionally eligible for the Plug-In Automotive Grants due to their means to recharge from mains electrical energy and their emission levels below 75g/km CO2.
As a no-compromise sort of alternative gasoline automotive, with longer driving ranges than absolutely electrical models, you can make certain that non-public motorists can be eager to observe the place business automotive drivers lead.

Although a range-extended and a plug-in hybrid drivetrain are barely completely different in the way they operate, they're very comparable in many ways; they each mix a combustion engine (either petrol or diesel) with an electric motor and battery, in the same method a conventional hybrid does. Unlike early hybrid fashions however, PHEVs and REEVs can replenish their batteries from mains electrical energy to allow them to make higher use of clean, zero emission electric driving, boosting the car’s overall gas efficiency.

Fashionable Hybrid Models

Fashionable Hybrid Models
We’ve already broken hybrid expertise down correctly to present you more particulars (see our previous Green Piece column) so right here we'll keep it simple. Hybrids are mostly petrol-electric models, without the perform to recharge from mains electrical energy just like the vehicles below. In the final yr, we’ve begun to see the introduction of diesel electric fashions such because the Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 and the Citroen DS5.

Fashionable hybrid models include, of course, the world well-known Toyota Prius as well as models such because the Toyota Auris HSD, Honda CR-Z, Honda Jazz Hybrid, Toyota Yaris Hybrid, Lexus RX450h, Lexus CT200h, BMW Energetic Hybrid5, Infiniti M35h, Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid and the Porsche Cayenne hybrid to name a few.

Typically, hybrids provide better financial system than their regular combustion-only friends due to the upper effectivity of an electrical motor at low speeds and because it permits the car to capture braking energy.

Battery Electric Automobiles

Battery electric automobiles
Absolutely depending on electricity saved in their batteries, battery electrical vehicles (BEVs) or electric autos (EVs) as they're often called, represent a small margin of the general automobile market as of yet, however have shown large growth of 557 per cent in the final 12 months in keeping with the report from SMMT.

Fashions such because the Nissan LEAF, Renault Fluence, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Peugeot iON and Citroen C-Zero, all produced by nicely-recognized automobile makers, are naturally the best recognized models in the UK and all qualify for Authorities grants price up to £5,000 to patrons of those models.
There are electrical vans too, like the Ford Transit Connect Electrical and Renault Kangoo ZE which likewise qualify for Authorities grants for consumers worth up to £eight,000 (more particulars available on the DfT website).

Latest acceleration of the market for EVs has been driven by the launch of latest fashions, a lot of which arrived just last yr as the Authorities introduced the Plug-in Automotive Grants (PiCG). Though there have been components of the press ready and willing to dismiss electric automobiles, the market is in a sense, barely a 12 months previous, and the progress is spectacular contemplating it’s only just getting going.

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Source : http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/04/24/the-2012-guide-to-alternative-fuel-vehicles-the-green-piece/

Finding Alternatif Fuels For Cars

Quarter of firms seeking to alternative fuels

One in 4 enterprise leaders have already making use of -or are considering introducing -various gas vehicles to their business operations as oil costs stay stubbornly high.
According to a brand new report from Grant Thornton, 24 per cent of businesses globally want to alternative gas automobiles, reminiscent of electrical vehicles, hybrids, LPG and gasoline cell vehicles- to assist mitigate rising transport costs. The drive towards clean alternate options is being largely steered by mature markets, with 28 per cent of businesses within the G7 at the very least considering adopting such vehicles, compared to simply 15 per cent in the BRIC economies.

The enterprise advisory agency surveyed  12,000 companies per year across forty economies to compile its new International Enterprise Report (IBR). As a part of its analysis, the agency discovered that the value of oil costs was the main cause driving business house owners to consider various fuel automobiles;  mentioned by 69 per cent of survey respondents globally. A further fifty five per cent of companies cited tax aid and sixty two per cent cost administration as key motivators. Companies are additionally increasingly conscious of the environmental influence of their fleets with fifty eight per cent citing saving the planet as a driver towards the adoption of other-gas vehicles.

Daniel Taylor, associate & head of automotive at Grant Thornton UK mentioned: “With the United States and the EU pressing ahead with sanctions in opposition to Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer, it seems unlikely that costs at the pumps will ease considerably within the near future.
“Many dynamic companies are due to this fact trying to decide whether switching their fleets to various fuels might provide price savings, permitting them to liberate assets which may very well be higher employed in efforts to expand their operations. And naturally, switching to ‘greener’ fuels also boosts their environmental credentials.”

Amongst those respondents who have not considered alternative gasoline autos, cost (49%) emerges as the best constraint, intently adopted by the issue of charging/ refuelling (48%) and a scarcity of choice (38%).
The IBR also reveals that reliability (88%) and safety (eighty one%) remain the key issues for enterprise leaders when purchasing cars for his or her enterprise, with value (77%) and gas consumption (73%) not far behind. In the meantime, just forty seven per cent of businesses cited the type of gasoline as a key consideration.

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Source : http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/05/22/quarter-of-firms-looking-to-alternative-fuels/

Recycling battery to boost hybrid and electrical automotive business

Recycling battery to boost hybrid and electrical automotive business


The top-of-life for battery packs within the first technology of electric and hybrids represents a chance for industry, in accordance with US automotive web site Edmunds.com.
Because the very first battery packs reach the tip of their lives from the hybrid models first launched in the late nineties, there shall be an important opportunity to recapture and recycle metals and uncommon-earth compounds which are used within the batteries. This will not only provide a lift to automotive recycling corporations however in the long-term, will assist scale back the cost of new EVs and HEVs models.
It is going to also prove the longevity of battery packs, helping to reassure customers and increase residual worth forecasts for brand new models.

In keeping with Edmunds.com, there are now more than two million EVs, HEVs and PHEVs now on the road in the US as we speak, a quantity that can  solely grow. Automakers sold greater than 193,000 hybrids and EVs in the first five months of 2012, easily setting a file for the most important January-to-May sales quantity, despite the heavy value premiums for some of these vehicles.
Nonetheless it is going to be a while before the recycling trade actually begins to take off, as Edmunds.com Inexperienced Automotive Analyst John O’Dell explains: "There are signs that the batteries in the very earliest Toyota Prius and Honda Perception hybrids are starting to go, but these automobiles had been sold in relatively small numbers.

"Over the long term, recycling will play an important position in lowering the costs of hybrids and EVs," says O’Dell. "The reuse of the metals and rare-earth compounds that make these batteries work will help maintain prices down, and the marketplace for used batteries also will help prop up the resale worth of electrical-drive autos, which is a definite plus for consumers."

Whereas experts don’t count on a viable industrial recycling market for hybrid and EV batteries for at least another decade, giant recycling corporations like Umicore and Toxco are testing and creating efficient processes to recycle the batteries earlier than they hit their vegetation in heavy volumes. They’re additionally starting to increase their operations in the US to accommodate the inevitable jumps in volume - Umicore is constructing a new facility in North Carolina to interrupt down battery packs earlier than transport the parts to its headquarters plant in Belgium for recycling, whereas Toxco is growing capacity to develop lithium-ion battery recycling processes at its plant in Lancaster, Ohio, under a $9.5 million federal grant.
More data on how the automotive trade is preparing its mass recycling process for hybrid and electrical automobiles, is out there within the report: "What Happens to EV and Hybrid Batteries?" accessible at www.edmunds.com.

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Source :
http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/06/18/recycling-battery-to-boost-hybrid-and-electric-car-industry/

Audi Achieves First Victory of a Hybrid Vehicle at Le Mans

Audi Achieves First Victory of a Hybrid Vehicle at Le Mans

Around 200,000 spectators witnessed an enchanting race with the drama and incidents that are typical for Le Mans plus a powerful demonstration of “Vorsprung durch Technik.” The four Audi R18 vehicles from Audi Sport Staff Joest were the quickest and most dependable automobiles and after 24 hours occupied positions one, two, three and five.



“By achieving this further success on the world’s most vital endurance race our engineers demonstrated their high technological experience in a particularly impressive approach,” commented Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, who personally watched the race on location. “With the etron quattro in combination with ultra lightweight design, we put a very new expertise on the grid and instantly received with it - this cannot be taken for granted by any means, significantly here at Le Mans. This weekend once more showed the type of issues that may happen in this race and the way necessary perfect preparation is.”



All 4 Audi R18 cars had the possibility to clinch what amounted to the brand’s eleventh Le Mans victory in total. After 378 laps, final yr’s winners Marcel Fässler (CH), André Lotterer (D) and Benoît Tréluyer (F) on the wheel of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro designated as automobile quantity “1” were once more the front runners. Dindo Capello (I), Tom Kristensen (DK) and Allan McNish (GB) because the runners-up induced the allwheel drive of the longer term in which the standard drive system is intelligently mixed with an electrically driven axle to file a one-two result. Audi is already testing this technology through which the drive shaft is replaced by electric cables to be used in manufacturing vehicles.



Le Mans rookie Marco Bonanomi (I), Oliver Jarvis (GB) and Mike Rockenfeller (D) in the best conventionally powered Audi R18 ultra accomplished the fourth one-two-three victory for Audi on the Le Mans 24 Hours after 2000, 2002 and 2010. Romain Dumas (F), Loïc Duval (F) and Marc Gené (E) at the wheel of the second R18 ultra completed in fifth place.



Operating at the rear of all four Audi R18 vehicles was the latest evolution of the compact V6 TDI engine with VTG mono turbocharger that was used at Le Mans for the primary time in 2011. The new extremely-gentle transmission with a carbon fiber housing a novelty in a Le Mans sports activities automotive - held as much as the Le Mans endurance check protecting a distance of 5.151 kilometers in all 4 vehicles with none issues as well. Like quatto all-wheel drive, extremely-lightweight design is a core competency of the company.



The two Audi R18 e-tron quattro automobiles embody these two applied sciences in a particularly extreme kind - they usually had been the protagonists at the eightieth edition of the endurance traditional right from the beginning. They only needed to relinquish the leading place to one of many two Toyota hybrid autos as soon as for just a few laps on Saturday night. After the early retirements of their fiercest rivals the 2 R18 e-tron quattro vehicles fought a thrilling duel for victory throughout the night till noon on Sunday during which the lead changed several instances and the two diesel hybrid sports activities cars have been usually separated by just a few seconds.



An accident by Allan McNish in the quick Porsche corners lower than three hours earlier than the end brought on the preliminary decision. Audi Sport Workforce Joest managed to repair the heavy injury on the entrance of the R18 e-tron quattro in file time and to thus save second place. Within the early section, car quantity “2” had misplaced nearly a lap after a massive piece of rubber choose-up had gotten stuck in the space of the rear suspension.



The profitable car with chassis quantity R18-208H nicknamed “Electra” was not spared from incidents either. Marcel Fässler touched the track barrier twice on Saturday morning: the primary time after spinning at excessive velocity and the second time when he needed to evade a GT automobile that was standing sideways within the Mulsanne corner. Benoît Tréluyer, who was affected by a severe chilly which he had caught on Friday while participating within the drivers’ parade in the rain in the middle of Le Mans, spun as soon as on the entrance to the pit lane.



The third-positioned Audi R18 ultra - automotive number “four” - misplaced a lap right in the beginning of the race because of a test of the rear suspension. On late Sunday morning a gear got caught twice which the driver was able to right each time by switching the ignition on and off. Afterward the R18 was running completely once more and allowed Marco Bonanomi and Oliver Jarvis to clinch the first podium place at Le Mans together with Mike Rockenfeller, who returned to the podium a year after his serious accident.



Two nearly similar slips brought on the Audi R18 ultra three through which Loïc Duval set the fastest lap of the race to lose its likelihood for victory. On Saturday evening, Romain Dumas within the first chicane whereas lapping a GT vehicle hit the soiled part of the observe and slid against the observe barrier. The identical mishap occurred to Marc Gené on Sunday noon. In both instances, Audi Sport Staff Joest managed to restore the R18 in an extremely quick interval of time. In total, though, twelve laps had been lost.



“This was a race of the type you may arguably expertise only at Le Mans,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich after his 4 Audi R18 automobiles had crossed the end line. “It's best to by no means rejoice too early at Le Mans, which was obvious again particularly on Sunday noon. The entire world was already talking about a one-two-three-4 victory and swiftly two of our cars had accidents almost simultaneously. That the squad repeatedly managed to repair the automobiles so quickly after the slips clearly speaks for Audi Sport Workforce Joest that can simply be banked on at Le Mans. On the whole, I can only take my hat off to the complete squad of Audi Sport that labored extremely onerous for a yr to make this triumph possible. It was a very huge challenge to develop a hybrid automobile in such a short while that is quick and able to hold up for 24 hours. The truth that, as in 2001 with the TFSI engine and in 2006 with the TDI, we managed to achieve success proper on the first run merely proves the level of technological experience that is obtainable at Audi. It is a great day for Audi Sport, for Audi and for the e-tron quattro.”



With its eleventh victory at Le Mans, Audi has prolonged its lead within the World Endurance Championship. Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish as the runners-up recaptured the lead within the drivers’ world championship.

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Source Audi Achieves First Victory of a Hybrid Vehicle :
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