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What’s happening in the EV world?

How to accelerate charging infrastructure deployment? | WEBINAR COAST2COAST

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Experts from California, Germany, Canada and The Netherlands share their knowledge on their approach to create a charging infrastructure in this Coast2Coast webinar. Clean transportation has left its infancy and has begun to walk on its own for the first time, but that doesn’t mean that the partnerships between policymakers and industry are ending. So join us, as our global team of experts from the public and private sectors discuss the future of electric vehicle infrastructure. Electric vehicle registrations have smashed records in the European Union and California continues to spearhead the electric vehicle revolution in the United States. The result: drivers’ demands for charging infrastructure is larger than ever, and will only grow. And the question policymakers must answer is no longer “How do we build chargers” but instead “How do we build enough chargers, quickly”? What approaches have worked in Europe and the US? How can we track our successes? How can we leverage the private investment necessary to hit our collective goals, for the good of both our economy and climate? And what can we learn from multinational approaches? Questions like these will drive interviews with California Energy Commissioner Patty Monahan and Noord-Holland Vice-Governor Edward Stigter.

Look back: Webinar C2C & Province of Noord Holland

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What’s happening in California in the field of Smart eMobility in these difficult times? What impact does corona have on a big car manufacturer like Nissan and what are researchers from UC Davis currently working on ? How does it influence the dutch business in Silicon Valley and when and how can we start thinking about a smart restart? You can look back this webinar here to get a fresh update on the Smart eMobility developments in California.

Webinar VELOZ & Forth, July 9 at 10 am (PDT).

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Join Veloz for a 75-minute webinar jointly hosted by Forth to discuss the critical role regional partnerships play in transportation electrification.  You can register here.

The panelists include:

  • Forth (co-host)
    Zach Henkin, Deputy Director
     
  • Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility
    Peter van Deventer, Director
  • UC Davis, Plug-In Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center, Institute of Transportation Studies
    Gil Tal, Research Director
     
  • eSource
    Ryan Odell, Lead Analyst
     
  • Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM)
    Sarah McKearnan, Senior Policy Advisor
     
  • United Kingdom Department for Transport, Office of Low Emissions
    Susie Seldon, Government head of the Go Ultra Low campaign
     

Bus Component Technology Forum in Ohio

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An Interchange about the latest advancements in component offerings and testing centers for low and no emission buses, in partnership with the FTA’s Transit Vehicle Innovation Deployment Centers.

This event, hosted by Calstart, will be held at the Transportation Research Center in Central Ohio, one of three LoNo Component Assessment Program centers, and home to 4,500 acres of road courses, a 7.5-mile high-speed oval test track, and a variety of other exciting testing opportunities for all kinds of vehicles.

The goal of the Forum is to examine and highlight the capabilities of the LoNo CAP centers and have a thorough vetting of the component technology needs of LoNo Buses going forward

Here you’ll find more information.

New solar car Stella Era is the world’s first ‘charging station on wheels’

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On the 4th of July, Solar Team Eindhoven presented its new solar car Stella Era. Thanks to its solar paneled roof, this car contains enough energy to theoretically cover a distance of 1800 kilometers; it can also share its abundance of solar energy with other electric vehicles directly. According to the student team at TU/e, this makes it the world’s first charging station on wheels. On top of this, the car has self-driving functions, such as the ability to autonomously search for sunny parking spaces. This is the car that the Eindhoven team will be using to defend its world title during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia in October. And this is the car that will do

“We’re presenting not only a new solar car but a new era: an era in which cars are not energy consumers but energy sources. That’s why we call her Stella Era,” says Carijn Mulder, team manager of Solar Team Eindhoven. The team presented its fourth family car today, following in the footsteps of predecessors Stella (2013), Stella Lux (2015) and Stella Vie (2017).

AN ENORMOUS CHALLENGE

“If we want to drive emission-free in 2030, as stated in the Dutch climate agreement, around 200 charging stations will have to be installed in the Netherlands every day from now on in order to provide all electric cars with energy by then,” Mulder says. “This is already unrealistic, and 85% of electricity currently comes from non-renewable sources. In short, our society is facing an enormous challenge.”

According to the students, the solution is to use cars as moving charging stations. Stella Era has a range of 1200 kilometers with four occupants, according to the standard European calculation for the range of electric cars. The distance that the students hope to travel by car during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge will be as much as 1800 kilometers. The average distance that motorists travel each day in the Netherlands is around 50 kilometers, leaving a large part of the energy available.

AUTONOMOUS SUNBATHING

In addition, the car takes the weather forecast and the kilometers still to be traveled into account, accurately determining how much energy it has left to share. The Stella App, developed by the team, allows the owner to sell valuable solar energy to other electric cars.

Another striking new feature of the car is that Stella Era uses autonomous functions to drive itself to a sunny parking space, allowing it to be recharged throughout the day. “Stella Era is a car that always gets the most out of the sun, even without a driver – a car that looks for the sunniest spot in the parking lot itself. As a result, Stella Era is not just a solar car but also an autonomous source of energy,” says Mick van der Spoel, project manager of the student team.

Is this car going to get the world title to Eindhoven for the fourth consecutive time? Photo: Bart van Overbeeke

TO SPAIN ON A SINGLE BATTERY CHARGE

The latest Stella has a much greater range than the average electric car. This is due to the fact that the energy yield of the five square meters of solar panels has been increased while the energy consumption has been reduced.

“Aerodynamics, weight and electrical efficiency are all important for low energy consumption. We’ve greatly improved the electrical efficiency this year by developing the complete powertrain ourselves. What is currently on the market just doesn’t meet the requirements for a solar car,” says Van der Spoel.

It’s for this reason that the team has designed and built the complete powertrain, from the Battery Management System to the electric motors and from A to Z in just 10 months. As a result, Stella Era can travel more than four times as far with a battery pack similar in size to that of a today’s average electric family car, even without sunshine.

BEAT THE DUTCH

In October, the Eindhoven team will defend its world title during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia. During the world championship for solar cars, in which 50 teams from all over the world participate, the students have to cover a distance of 3022 km. Solar Team Eindhoven is the only Dutch team that is participating in the family car class.

Van der Spoel explains: “In contrast to previous years, we are only allowed to charge twice, with the largest distance between two charging points being 1200 km. And because we want to cross the finish line even in the rain and with a headwind, we built this car so that it can cover that distance on one battery charge, even when the sun isn’t shining.”

Lightyear One: Dutch solar-electric car prototype revealed

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Dutch electric-vehicle startup Lightyear has unveiled a prototype of its first model – a solar electric car called the ‘Lightyear One’ with a range of 450 miles.

While the One is primarily charged by plugging in like any other electric model, it also incorporates roof-mounted solar panels in order to boost range and cut down on the amount of stationary plug-in charging required.

The company has applied a philosophy of ‘ultra-efficiency’ in designing the car, concentrating on making it as light and aerodynamic as possible, in order to extract more range from a relatively small battery.

Smart Circuit self-driving shuttles fuel Ohio State research

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The initiative bringing self-driving shuttles to the Buckeye state is driven by Smart Columbus and Ohio Department of Transportation’s DriveOhio, in partnership with The Ohio State University. The Smart Circuit demonstration will help engineers, researchers and policymakers from this partnership inform future deployments of self-driving vehicle technology throughout the state.

Keep track of California’s progress on green and smart mobility.

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The Energy Commission’s Tracking Progress webpage provides sector-specific summaries of California’s progress toward a cleaner energy future. Look here for more information.

In January 2018, Governor Brown issued an executive order for 5 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2030 and the installation of 250,000 electric vehicle chargers and 200 hydrogen refueling stations by 2025. Previously, he established the foundation to support 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2025 and published a ZEV Action Plan. As part of its work on zero-emission vehicles, the Energy Commission provides funding for plug-in electric vehicle charging, hydrogen refueling stations, and guidance on plug-in electric and hydrogen vehicle infrastructure deployment.  

Demonstrator on smart charging presented at EV Roadmap 11

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On Tuesday, June 19, the Dutch smart charging company and S4C-partner GreenFlux will present a demonstrator for smart charging in Portland, Oregon at EV Roadmap 11. The demonstrator shows how smart charging works in practice by presenting online data of different projects in Europe where cars are being charged in a smart and sustainable way.

The demonstrator is a next step on the way to a Living Lab Smart Charging at UC Davis, CA, which was announced earlier this year and that will be implemented this Summer. The Living Lab Smart Charging is a cooperation between the Dutch – US Coast to Coast Smart eMobility Program (S4C) and UC Davis to combine and further develop Dutch and US knowledge and experience on smart charging.

‘Smart charging; the Dutch approach’ will also be the topic of a special breakfast workshop which will be organized by the Coast to Coast Smart eMobility program at EV Roadmap 11 on Wednesday, June 20.

Eneco Group and SET Ventures invest in GreenFlux

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Leading smart charging company for electric mobility secures EUR 11 million funding to accelerate international expansion

Sustainable energy company Eneco Group and independent investment fund SET Ventures have both acquired a minority stake in Amsterdam-based GreenFlux Assets BV (“GreenFlux”), as part of a total Series B round of EUR 11M. Existing shareholders BOM Brabant Ventures and ICT Group NV also participated in the round. The investment in a leading enabler of electric driving and smart charging supports Eneco Group’s and SET Ventures’ ambitions to accelerate the energy transition by means of technology. Fortaleza Capital acted as exclusive corporate finance advisor to GreenFlux on this Series B financing round.

GreenFlux provides an electric mobility infrastructure management platform that supports the operations of charge point operators all over the world. GreenFlux helps energy companies, grid operators and automotive players to manage charge stations, enable roaming and billing and implement smart charging for advanced energy management. The GreenFlux service platform is cloud-based and seamlessly connects with charge stations of any type or brand. GreenFlux’s award winning controller, enabling advanced smart charging, can be fitted in any charge station.

The coming years millions of electric vehicles will enter the market. For this transition to happen, charging must be frictionless and easy to use. The GreenFlux platform drives down the cost of operations for charge point operators and enables them to provide an outstanding service experience to their customers. Combined with state-of-the-art smart charging technology that ensures the stability of the grid, electric vehicles will become an important enabler for a sustainable future.

GreenFlux founders, Hans de Boer and Jurjen de Jong: ‘We are very happy this investment provides the opportunity to power dominant EV charge point operators in Europe, US and Asia. A big step forward in fulfilling our dream that all cars will be powered by renewable energy’.

Joeri Kamp, managing director Eneco Smart Energy: ‘Eneco is fully committed to speed up the transition to a more sustainable energy system. We believe that e-mobility and smart, real-time charging from renewable sources are essential parts of that system. This is a purpose we share with the team at GreenFlux. Through our investment we want to help them bring their front running service platform and controller to the next level and accelerate international expansion.’

‘The team at Greenflux has succeeded in establishing a leading position in EV infrastructure management’ said Anton Arts, Associate Partner at SET Ventures. ‘This investment enables them to accelerate international expansion and drive the pace of innovation in this market forward.’

 

About Eneco Group

Eneco Group is a group of companies active internationally in the field of renewable energy and innovation. Together with their customers, partners and more than 3,000 employees, they work on their mission: sustainable energy for all. They invest in wind farms, biomass plants, heat and solar parks to increase the supply of renewable energy. And they develop innovative products and services so that their customers can control how to generate, store, use or share energy. www.enecogroup.com

 

About SET Ventures

Since 2007, Amsterdam-based SET Ventures has invested in European technology companies that impact the future of the energy sector. SET Ventures focuses broadly on innovative energy generation, energy distribution and storage and energy efficiency. SET’s investment priority is for those ventures that develop software-based services for the energy sector, with or without hardware components, defined by SET Ventures as smart energy solutions. www.setventures.com