EV Charging for Strata

Greetings from the Inner West Footprint EcoFestival. One interesting display is from Alchemy Charge offering low cost electric car charging for apartment blocks, using ordinary power points. They have overcome the problem of overloading the building's power supply (or an expensive upgrade) using smart power points. Each box screwed to the wall is controlled by WiFi, to ration the amount of charge provided to each vehicle. 

The challenge for Alchemy will be convincing home owners that low capacity chargers will be worthwhile. Cars are only driven a few km a day, so a low capacity charger will be fine. But the driver thinks they need a full charge quickly.

Last year I was on a committee advising the ACT how to reduce carbon emissions (Turner Et. Al, 2023). Canberra has already implemented many measures, making new ones harder. Especially hard are measures for apartment buildings , as all decisions on changes have to be made jointly, with the costs, and benefit shared. One way I suggested was with Smart low cost power controller/monitors for EVs. This is essentially what Alchemy offer, but with more purpose designed electronics. 

Reference

Towards Net Zero in ACT Apartments, Tim Turner, Robin Eckermann, Jeffory Mitchell, Brand Hoff, Robin Stanton, Glen Hassett , Craig Davis, Tom Worthington, Amy Jowers Suburb, Marea Fatseas, Mishka Talent, Dean Spaccavento, Daniel Shaddock, Lachlan Blackhall, ACT Chapter, Pearcey Foundation, 2023

Smart low cost power controller/monitors for EVs?

My 20+ years old burglar alarm went off while I was away for the weekend and the neighbors, thinking I was in trouble, called an ambulance. So I decided to buy a new alarm. The new alarm is part of a smart home system. One of the 133 optional extras is a plug in smart energy use monitor and controller. There are many such controller/monitors available, for less than $20 each. I realize these consumer devices might not be up to the task of car charging, but could a similar distributed arrangement be used for EV charging in an apartment building? 

The idea is to avoid running an individual cable from each car space back to a central control/metering point in a basement. Instead the control and metering would be at the socket, with the sockets wired in parallel. Also the wiring would only need to carry about one eighth* the load the sockets could theoretically supply. There would just need to be a dumb circuit breaker for each string of sockets, in case the automation failed and tried to power too much at once. 

Smart high power chargers already have the capacity to be remotely controlled and used for metering, but cost thousands of dollars, and require expensive high capacity circuits to be run to the building. The power also costs money. A low cost alternative would be an ordinary domestic outlet with a smart controller built in. The householder would simply plug their car in to charge, or if security is needed, use an app to start. The smart system would charge only about one in eight cars at a time*, monitoring which cars had charged, & which would accept more. 

A workable setup might use a 20 amp cable, with 16 sockets, but  only two sockets ever being active at any time. A system would ration the power available, between the cars. Each smart power point would report when power is no longer being drawn from them, indicating the car no longer needs charging, and can be provided to another. The householder could have the option of only using off peak low cost power, or on-site free surplus solar power.

 * Back of the envelope calculation: 

The average Australian car travels about 33 km a day.

An electric car, such as the Tesla Model S, uses 19 kWh/100 km.

So that is 6.27 kWh per day per car needed. 

From an Australian domestic outlet you get 2.4 kW.

So it will take 2.6 hours to charge for an average day driving. Let us round it up to 3 hours. So in 24 hours you could charge 8 vehicles from one outlet.

ps (added 6 July 2023): Laws restrict what the body corporate which runs an apartment block, and companies supplying power, can do. The body corporate typically can't charge householders for electricity generated on its own roof, nor can they contract for a bulk supply, & charge for that. Also the companies who can charge, and how much they can charge, is heavily regulated, creating monopolies which can make super-profits. An alternative approach might be for the body corporate to levy householders a fixed amount in advance for car charging. This would be based on the number of car charging spots the household has. If the charging is only low rate, it may not be worth metering individual apartment use: everyone would pay the same amount per car. If it is worth metering, there could be a refund, for power not used.

Smart Grid, Smart City Seminar Electric cars

Ausgrid are running a seminar on Electric cars, at their "Smart Grid, Smart City " center, 26 April 2012 in Newcastle, NSW. Unfortunately you would have difficulty working that out from their very poorly designed web site. So appended are the details from the PDF document emailed to me (I could not find this on the web site).

Of course an electric car will cost several times as much as an equivalent petrol car and cause more pollution when charged from the coal fired power provided by Ausgrid. So electric cars are not a practical replacement for privately owned cars, but they may be useful for company fleets and share car schemes, where renewable power is available on-site.

Smart Grid, Smart City Seminar
Electric cars: The journey so far

Ausgrid is delighted to invite you to a seminar Who should attend on electric cars at the Smart Grid, Smart City
Centre on Thursday, 26 April.

The Smart Grid, Smart City project is an exciting Australian Government initiative led by Ausgrid. The project is trialling
new innovations in electricity generation and household
energy management – including an electric car trial in and
around the area.

A fleet of electric cars are driving the streets in the Hunter as
part of the trial.

We will share:
• What is an electric car
• Why we are doing the trial and how
• Charge point infrastructure deployment
• The impact on the electricity grid
• The project status to date

Also, hear first-hand, personal anecdotes of driving the
electric car daily up and down the Coast. Our driver has
unique experiences to share of driving the electric car in
various conditions.

At the Smart Grid, Smart City Centre you can also experience
all our brightest ideas – the Centre is an interactive, educational and fun way to look at electricity from its sources to the appliances in your home.

This event will provide some interesting insights into the latest in electric cars and provide an overview of their role in the Smart Grid, Smart City project.

Thursday, 26 April 2012
Time 12.30pm-1.30pm OR 6.00pm-7.00pm
Venue: Smart Grid, Smart City Centre
19 Honeysuckle Drive, Newcastle 2300
(located west of the Honeysuckle Hotel)
Cost: Free.
Finger food will be provided.
RSVP by Monday, 23 April 2012

Registration is essential as places are limited. Register via
www.smartgridsmartcity.com.au/eventsregistration or call
1300 922 746.

Further information
Margot Smith on 02 8288 7820 or
email margot.smith@ausgrid.com.au
We will have an electric car at the event – come and see it on display!

Electrical Saftey in Battery Cars

Greetings from the Australian National University, where Professor Peter Zeller from Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, is speaking on "Safety Aspects of Renewable Energy and Electrical Cars". The problem is that an electric car has a battery pack producing 100 V to 500 V which can deliver 10 to 20 kWh of energy. Rescue services may need to cut into a vehicle to after an accident, with the risk of electrocution or explosion of the battery. In addition the battery power is DC, not the AC which electrical engineers are used to controlling.

Simulating Short Circuits on Electric Cars

The Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences simulated the effect of a short circuit in an electric car, resulted in electrical arcing. Professor Zeller pointed out that such a high temperature arc will soon burn through the insinuation between the battery pack and the passenger compartment of a car.

There may be a very large fuse in the car, but this will offer limited protection. In theory a switch can be used to disconnect the battery, but the design of such a switch is problematic, due to the very high current involved. It occurred to me that for a safety switch a linear shaped charge might be used (explosives are already used in airbags and pretensioning seat belts).

An interesting point Professor Zeller made was that even the 48 volt systems used in new internal combustion cars are causing problems due to arcing and the problem is much worse with 100 to 300 volts in an electric car.

Photo-voltaic panel safety

There are similar problems with photo-voltaic panels on homes, with many electrical connectors exposed to the elements (as with the recent Queensland floods). Reports indicate that up to 80% of the solar panels installed on homes in Australia have faults.

Smart Batteries and Solar Panels

Professor Zeller's analysis is based on the assumption that the battery or solar panel creating the high voltage and current is "dumb". That is the cells are simply connected together in series to create a large battery (or solar array), which is then switched off as one unit. The other option would be to use an electronic switch on each battery, so that one large switch is not needed. This can be done easily where each voltage source has its own regulator (as for example where each panel converts low voltage DC to high voltage AC with a micro-inverter). If AC is used then the switching problem is much less.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Electric Car On Sale in Australia

Mitsubishi Australia have released the pricing for their i MiEV electric car. In the ACT the car will cost $51,450 drive-away. This is three times the price of a compact petrol powered car, such as the the Suzuki Alto I purchased. It makes the iMeiEV impractical in terms of cost and benefits for the environment. An electric car has zero tail pipe emissions, but when recharged from fossil fuel sourced electricity, it causes carbon emissions. Overall emissions would be lower by buying a cheaper petrol car and spending the savings on other carbon reduction technology.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Driveaway Pricing

Due to variations in dealer and government statutory charges from one state to another the driveaway price of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV also varies accordingly. The below prices are the maximum you will pay for a standard vehicle at the appointed Mitsubishi i-MiEV dealers for cars sold and registered in the same state.

State	RRP	On Road Charges	Driveaway Price
VIC	$48,800	$3,962	$52,762
ACT	$48,800	$2,650	$51,450
SA	$48,800	$4,190	$52,990
QLD	$48,800	$3,621	$52,421
NSW	$48,800	$4,464	$53,264
NT	$48,800	$4,050	$52,850
WA	$48,800	$5,117	$53,917
TAS	$48,800	$4,280	$53,080

From: Mitsubishi i-MiEV Driveaway Pricing, Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited, 3 July 2011

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Test Drive Program

As part of the i-MiEV launch Mitsubishi Motors will be offering the opportunity to test drive the car at the below dealerships. Should you be interested in attending the test drive program please advise us of your contact details and preferred dealership.

Dealership staff will also be on hand to facilitate such things as trade in valuations, and for those wishing to proceed with a purchase they will also be able to accept orders on the day.

State	Dealership	Suburb	Date
VIC*	Chadstone Mitsubishi	Oakleigh	Tues 5/7
ACT	Commonwealth Motors	Phillip	Thurs 7/7
SA	Australian Motors	Wayville	Mon 11/7
QLD	Eagers Mitsubishi	Newstead	Tues 12/7
NSW	Northshore Mitsubishi	St eonards	Thurs 14/7
NSW	Suttons Mitsubishi	Arncliffe	Fri 15/7
NT	Darwin Mitsubishi	Darwin	Tues 19/7
WA	Paceway Mitsubishi	Osborne Park	Thurs 21/7
TAS	DJ Mitsubishi	Hobart	Weds 27/7

* There is also the opportunity to test drive the i-MiEV at the Melbourne International Motor Show. The show runs through until the 10th of July at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

From: Mitsubishi i-MiEV Test Drive Program, Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited, 3 July 2011

Safety of Electric Cars

Professor Peter Zeller from Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, will speak on "Safety Aspects of Renewable Energy and Electrical Cars", in the Ian Ross Seminar Room, Ian Ross Building, the Australian National University, North Road, Canberra, 3pm, 21 July 2011.

Electric motorcycle with tablet computer dashboard

T3 Motion's R3 prototype electric car/motorcycle is reported to have a Galaxy Tab Android tablet computer docked in the dashboard for navigation and entertainment. The R3 has four wheels and two side by side bucket seats like a car, but T3 Motion claim that the rear wheels are so close together that it handles like a motorcycle and can be registered as one. This would be a lot more comfortable than the Piaggio MP3 three wheel motor scooter.

This is not the first electric car prototype to have a tablet computer in the dashboard. The 2005 Reva NXG had an Indian made tablet computer in the dashboard. Unlike the T3 which has a conventional speedometer, the NXG used the computer screen for all car displays. The T3 seems a more practical idea, with the car not depending on the tablet computer.

A 7 inch screen will just fit in a "Double DIN" dashboard slot (twice the height of a regular car radio). There is an large market in double DIN retrofitted entertainment units for cars. No doubt that there will some of these devices including an android tablet computer function, or a docking station.

New Standard Makes the Web More Energy Efficient

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced version 1.0 of the "Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Format" (10 March 2011). EXI represents XML data in a more compact binary format, with a claimed 100-fold performance improvement. W3C see this being used for smart phones, sensor networks, cameras, auto-mobiles, real-time trading systems, and high speed aircraft.

Compression of ordinary XML would take care of most of the bandwidth issues for devices such as smart phones. However, if very large amounts of data are being transmitted by sensor devices, then this would be of use. It would also be interesting to see if it would be feasible to apply XML to areas where it has not been used before, such as the surveillance data being transmitted from a UAV (robot aircraft).

Some of the benefits of XML are lost with EXI, such as its human readable format. But than while the text of XML could be read, in most cases the for mat of the data is so complex that without the schema used it will make little sense to anyone. At least with EXI as soon as the reader (human or machine) realises the data is in EXI, they will have a standardised format to interpret.

There is also the potential to use EXI to compress XML data for transmission or storage, without the cooperation of the creating and consuming applications. It might also be used to make XML based document formats, such as OOXML, ODF and epub more efficient. But given these already use compression algorithms, there savings may be too small to be worth the additional complexity.

So far EXI has been incorporated into ZigBee Smart Energy V2.0 for smart electricity meters and appliances. One application is for charging electric vehicles. There is a Go Get modified Prius parked at a charge point in Glebe Point Road, Sydney.

Electric car not worth the price

One of my Green ICT students saw a Mitsubishi i-MiEV at the Royal Canberra Show. In 2009 I had a brief test drive of the Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car. It worked okay and would be fine for city driving. But I ended up buying an Indian made Suzuki Alto with a 1 Litre petrol engine. So I did a quick back of the envelope calculation to show the students how to work on the relative greenhouse gas emissions of the two vehicles. This shows that replacing my petrol car with an electric one will increase carbon emissions by about 6 tonnes per year.

The iMiEV has a 16 kWh battery pack and a 100 mile (160 km) range. Assuming that it is charged in Canberra with electricity from a coal fired power station, using a conversion factor of 0.90 kgCO₂e/kWh for the ACT, a charge will result in:

16 x 0.90 = 14.4 kg CO₂e

The Alto produces 0.113 kgCO₂e/km and so over 160 km will produce:

0.113 x 160 = 18.1 kgCO₂e

So replacing an Alto with an iMiEV will save about 20% of the kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. But the iMiEV costs about three times as much as the Alto.

Note that this does not allow for the possibility of running either of them on renewable energy (the MiEV on solar power and the Alto on bio-fuel).

A solar panel rated at 0.085 kW will produce on average 0.41 kWh a day in Canberra, or:

0.085 / 0.41 = 0.21 kW of panels per kWhr per day

Assuming I drove 20 km a day, I would need:

16 /8 = 2 kWhr per day

So to provide this much power, on average I would need:

2 * 0.21 = 0.42 kW of solar panels

A system this size would cost about $2,000.

The extra few thousand dollars to run the electric car on solar power does not sound like a large investment. But keep in mind that I could buy the petrol powered car and use the money saved to but more solar panels to run my house, resulting in a much larger reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Assuming an Alto costs $13,000 to buy and $15,000 for fuel and servicing over ten years, that is $28,000. Assume the iMeEV is $39,000 and requires no servicing, and I buy a $2,000 solar system to charge it, the total cost is $41,000. I would save $13,000 by buying the Alto. This could buy about a 5 kW solar system, producing 14,000 kWhr a year, saving about 8,000 kg CO₂e per year. The Alto will cause 1,653 kg CO₂e per year. So overall that is about 6,000 kg CO₂e per year less than with the MiEV.

The cost of electric cars will likely decrease over time. However, the cost of solar panels will also reduce over time. As a result it may be cost effective to use electric cars for the foreseeable future.

Note I did not take into account the energy needed to make the two vehicles. The MiEV is likely to take more energy to produce as the Lithium batteries used take considerable processing to make.

References:

Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency 2010, National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors, July 2010, http://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/emissions/~/media/publications/greenhouse-acctg/national-greenhouse-factors-july-2010-pdf.ashx>

National Transport Commission 2009, Carbon Emissions from New Vehicles, http://www.ntc.gov.au/filemedia/general/carbonemissionsfromnewausvehicle.pdf>

Steven, JE 2010, 'Review: 2010 Mitsubishi i-MiEV', AotoBlog, 2010, http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/29/2010-mitsubishi-i-miev-review-road-test/

Longer Life Rechargeable Batteries

Sanyo announced an improved version of their Sanyo Eneloop Low Self-Discharge Rechargeable Battery, 6 October 2009 . These are now avialable in Australia and I purchased two AA cells from Dick Smith Electronics in Canberra.

These are Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries, which can be charged in the same sort of charger as other NiMH batteries. The main advantage advantage is that the Eneloop batteries will keep a charge for years, while normal NiMH batteries only keep a charge for months. The new batteries are claimed to retain 85% of their charge after a year, whereas normal batteries would be 50% discharged. Also they can be recharged 1,500 times, 500 times more than conventional NiMH batteries.

This makes NiMH batteries practical for low current applications, such as running a clock, where they previously they would not be of use.

Amazon.com adversities the Eneloop in AAA Battery 4 Packs
and the AA batteries in 4 Packs and 8 Packs. There is also mains powered charger with 4 AA batteries and a USB Charger with 2 AA batteries.

There is also a very elaborate "Eneloop Power Pack Kit" 8 AA and 2 AAA Batteries, plus 4 C and 4 D Size adapters.

There is a detailed "Review: Testing Sanyo's Eneloop Low Self-Discharge Rechargeable Battery" avialable, along with a comparison of the new Eneloop against other brand of batteries "Review: Pre-Charged (Low Self-Discharge) Rechargeable Battery Comparison".

It will be interesting to see if the technology is also applicable to batteries for hybrid and electric cars. One of the worrying costs with electric cars is replacing the battery pack. If the battery can be made to last 50% longer, that will reduce the cost. Also a car which can keep the charge longer will be more practical.

Better Place Electric Cars System not suitable for Canberra

Sali Torgoman from Better Place talked about their electric car charging technology in "Why do Electric Vehicles make so much sense?" at Engineers Australia in Canberra, this evening. Unfortunately, Sali appeared to be using a set of standard marketing slides from Better Place, which were not suitable for a technical engineering audience. Despite this Sali dealt well with the technical issues raised. Some points I found of interest were that Better Place plan to give used batteries which no longer hold sufficient charge for cars a "second life" as stationary power stores on the grid. Sali described a typical new battery pack as costing $12,000, providing 20 kWHr, weighing 200 kg and providing a 160 km range in a vehicle. However, even with Better Place's technology, electric vehicles do not appear to make environmental or financial sense for Australia. Electric vehicles will remain much more expensive than internal combustion engine vehicles for the foreseeable future. Electric vehicles are only environmentally beneficial where clean electricity is available. Australia has minimal supplies of renewable electricity and abundant supplies of LPG and natural gas. In terns of energy planning, it would make more sense to invest in renewable energy to replace coal on the grid. Rather than electric cars, gas powered vehicles can be used. Better Place's automatic batter swap technology is an ingenious idea, but requires a widespread infrastructure to be usable. Even with large numbers of swap stations, long distance driving on Australia's very extensive road network would not be convenient. Sali gave the figure of 20 km or less as the typical distance driven each day by an urban commuter. With a 20 kWHr battery providing 160 km range, the typical commuter would not have to use a swap station and could use a home charger. However, that commuter could instead have a hybrid rechargeable car with a 2.5 kWHr could make the same journey on battery power and also make longer using its internal combustion engine. A useful alternative to petrol powered hybrid vehicles are natural gas powered ones, now being mass produced in Korea, which could use the existing natural gas grid in Australia, requiring little infrastructure investment. Better Place plans to provide a pilot program in Canberra. provided this is done as a purely private venture, then the experiment is worthwhile. However, this technology does not appear to suit Australian conditions and the ACT and Federal governments should not provide funding for this program. A better alternative for government attention would be alternative fuel vehicles, car-share schemes and advanced public transport systems using IT.

Electric Vehicles in Canberra

Sali Torgoman from Better Place will talk about their electric car charging technology in "Why do Electric Vehicles make so much sense?" at Engineers Australia in Canberra, 24 June 2010. I do not share Sali's view, having test driven the Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car and looked at the cost, I decided a petrol Suzuki Alto was cheaper and better for the environment.

Short Description
Venue	11 National Crct, Barton, ACT
Date	Thursday, 24 June - 5.30 for 6pm
Event Contact	Colleen Mays
Contact Email	cmays@engineersaustralia.org.au
Hosted By	SSEE

Sali Torgoman's B E. ELEC(Hons), MIL&B. as well as development of engineering requirements for the Australian market. Prior to joining Better Place, Sali was a Power Engineer in distribution construction at Energy Australia. She was the former v/chair for Australian Institute of Energy Sydney YEP division as well as the former treasurer of the South Sydney Youth Services until 2009. She is founder and director of Sydney French Theatre and is reading for a Juris Doctors in Laws focusing on energy policy. Abstract: This presentation focuses on the need to deliver a network and services that will make an electric car affordable to buy, easy to use, and amazing to own. It will also share the ripple effect of building a new industry in our economy and the role Electric Vehicles play in shaping the future of our nation using the example of its capital city: Canberra.

Short Description	Why do Electric Vehicles make so much sense? How can a start-up accelerate the global transition to sustainable transportation.
Venue	Engineers Australia 11 National Crct, Barton, ACT
Date	Thursday, 24 June - 5.30 for 6pm
Event Contact	Colleen Mays
Contact Email	cmays@engineersaustralia.org.au
Hosted By	SSEE

Sali Torgoman's B E. ELEC(Hons), MIL&B. Sali Torgoman's responsibilities at Better Place include the deployment of Charge Spot infrastructure, as well as development of engineering requirements for the Australian market. Prior to joining Better Place, Sali was a Power Engineer in distribution construction at Energy Australia. She was the former v/chair for Australian Institute of Energy Sydney YEP division as well as the former treasurer of the South Sydney Youth Services until 2009. She is founder and director of Sydney French Theatre and is reading for a Juris Doctors in Laws focusing on energy policy. Abstract: This presentation focuses on the need to deliver a network and services that will make an electric car affordable to buy, easy to use, and amazing to own. It will also share the ripple effect of building a new industry in our economy and the role Electric Vehicles play in shaping the future of our nation using the example of its capital city: Canberra.

Electric Car Charging Station in Sydney

What is claimed to be Australia's first on-street electric car re-charging station has been opened in Sydney. This is being used by a Plugin Hybrid Prius from the GoGet car share scheme. The charger is supplied by ChargePoint Australia.

With current technology a charging station cannot be used like a petrol station, as the charging takes hours, not minutes. The combination of a share car and charging station makes sense as the share cars are parked at reserved parking spaces when not in use. They could therefore be left to charge for extended periods. However, it is not clear if the charging cable is secure enough to be left plugged into the car and unattended.

Mitsubishi Electric Cars for Lease

Mitsubishi has written to offer me one of the first forty i-MiEV electric car cars due in Australia by August 2010. I can lease one for $1,740 per month, over three years. In January I had a test drive of the i-MiEV in Canberra. My conclusion was that the car worked fine, but did not provide any environmental benefits over the petrol powered model it was based on and was too expensive.

The cost of the car over three years would be $62,640.00. That is least twice as expensive as a premium conventional petrol powered small car. If the electric car is recharged from ordinary coal generated electricity it will cause about the same amount of pollution as the cheaper petrol model. If run on green power, the i-MiEV would be even more expensive. There are cheaper and greener options for Australian motoring than the i-MiEV and so I will not be leasing one.

iMiEV SPECIFICATION OVERVIEW

iMiEV is the new fully electric four door urban commuter vehicle from Mitsubishi Motors.

The intelligent four door hatch can comfortably seat up to four occupants plus cargo, and comes equipped with a comprehensive list of standard features, including ABS, driver and passenger airbags, air conditioning, and power windows.

The fully electric vehicle creates zero drive time emissions. Its small, highly efficient motor is powered by high capacity lithium-ion batteries which can be fully charged through a household power socket in seven hours.

The electric motor produces an impressive 47kW of power and 180Nm of torque and can achieve a top speed of 130km/h. Generating its maximum torque instantly, its performance is surprisingly better than comparable petrol vehicles (Compared to i petrol model).

SPECIFICATION SNAPSHOT
47kW electric motor
180 Nm from stall
Zero CO2 output, when using green power
Seating for four adults
Using a 15amp, 240V outlet the can be charged (from empty) in 7 hours
High capacity lithium-ion batteries
Range up to 160kms on a single charge
Dual front airbags
ABS brakes
Four seater
Regenerative braking
Three drive modes:
• (D) Full power
• (E) Eco mode for greater economy
• (B) Brake mode for maximum regenerative braking
Whisper quiet operation
Speed limited to 130km/h

Major Dimensions & Packaging
Overall Length (mm) 3,395
Overall Width (mm) 1,475
Overall Height (mm) 1,610
Wheelbase (mm) 2,550
Wheel Track : Front (mm) 1,310
Wheel Track : Rear (mm) 1,270
Seating Capacity (persons) 4
Performance
Drive System 2WD

Motor Permanent Magnet Synchronous
Maximum Output (kW/rpm) 47/3000-6000
Maximum Torque (Nm/rpm) 180/0-2000
Fuel Consumption (Km/L) 10.15 mode, IW = 1,000kg –
Power Consumption (W.h/km) 10.15 mode, IW = 1,250kg 125
Range (km) 10.15 mode, IW = 1,250kg 160
Noise (dB) –
Acceleration 69
Constant Throttle 67
Battery & Charging
Battery Type Lithium-ion
Total Battery Voltage 330V
Total Energy Capacity (kWh) 16
Trickle Charge – 240V (15A)
Charging Time to 100% (hours) 7
Connection SAE J1772
Fast Charge – 3 Phase 200V 50kW
Charging Time to 80% (mins) 30
Connection JEVS G105

Text from: "iMiEV SPECIFICATION OVERVIEW", Mitsubishi Motors, 2010

New Indian Electric Cars

India's Reva electric car company, has announced two new models of their small battery powered city car: the Reva NXG and the Reva NXR. Both are two door cars with more modern styling that Reva's previous model and meeting European NCAP safety standards. The NXR is a four seat due to release in the second quarter of 2010, whereas the NXG is a sportier two seat with more advanced battery and electronics (but a less certain release some time in 2011). Reva also announced a partnership with General Motors India to develop electric vehicles for the Indian market.

Electric vehicle recharge network starting in Canberra

Company Better Place, have announced they will roll-out an electric vehicle recharging infrastructure in Canberra. The system will use leased lithium-ion battery modules which can be quickly swapped into a car at “Battery Switch Stations” as well as charge spots in homes, offices, shopping centres and other public car parks. This assumes that electric cars will be available at an affordable price and be adaptable to use Better Place's battery module. It also assumes that there are government incentives for the use of zero pollution vehicles and there is an infrastructure to provide them with zero pollution power. It should be noted that Australia has large reserves of low pollution LPG and natural gas and an existing infrastructure to deliver it. A combination of LPG and natural gas would deliver many of the benefits of electric cars, at a lower cost. Existing Australian made petrol and diesel vehicles can be easily converted to gas in Austrlaia using Australian technology. The need to build renewable power stations will considerably add to the cost of electric cars

Better Place Australia, the leading electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and services provider today announced that it has chosen the nation’s capital, Canberra, as the site of its first city-wide roll-out of electric vehicle infrastructure in Australia. The decision was announced by Better Place founder and Chief Executive Officer, Shai Agassi, with Evan Thornley, head of Better Place Australia and ActewAGL Chief Executive Officer, Michael Costello, the ACT’s electricity retailer and distributor. “Canberra is a great city to start deploying our vision of zero-emissions mobility. Canberra has a mobile population that demands a viable alternative to allow for both short commutes and longer trips” said Mr Agassi. “There’s proven demand for EVs in Australia and the people of Canberra are ready for a more sustainable future. That future is electric.” The initial roll out will involve an investment by Better Place, which will go towards building out the infrastructure, services and systems to support the first several hundred electric vehicles in Canberra. The investment will cover: • safe and completely recyclable lithium-ion batteries that will power the electric vehicles and be provided as part of the service to drivers, reducing the up-front costs of purchasing an electric vehicle; • charge spots in homes, offices, shopping centres and other car parks where drivers can plug in to keep their battery fully charged; and • “Battery Switch Stations” where motorists can simply drive in and have a depleted battery automatically exchanged for a fresh, fully charged one. “We aim to start construction on our charge spots and battery swap stations in 2011 and start supporting customers in 2012” said Mr Thornley. “From Canberra we will then begin to roll out across the whole country.” Better Place will work closely with ActewAGL to plan the infrastructure deployment. “A significant influence on our decision to choose Canberra was the enthusiasm and support we have received from Michael Costello and his team at ActewAGL” said Evan Thornley, Chief Executive Officer of Better Place Australia. ActewAGL will be responsible for sourcing and distributing the renewable energy that Better Place will use to power its electric vehicles within the ACT. “It’s important that we work together closely so that we can be sure we have the right levels of power available in the car parks and similar locations where the electric vehicles will be charging” said ActewAGL Chief Executive Officer, Michael Costello. “But this is a great opportunity for Canberra to make a huge dent on its greenhouse gas emissions, so we’re very keen to co-operate to help make it a reality.” For further information on Better Place’s plans for Australia please visit www.betterplace.com. ... From: Better Place Australia announces Canberra as starting point of national roll-out of electric vehicle recharge network, News Release, Better Place, 24 July 2009

Chevy Volt Not Commercially Viable

GM put a restructuring plan to the US Government. In its response, the US Treasury expressed the view that the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car is too expensive to be commercially viable:

"GM is at least one generation behind Toyota on advanced, “green” powertrain development. In an attempt to leapfrog Toyota, GM has devoted significant resources to the Chevy Volt. While the Volt holds promise, it is currently projected to be much more expensive than its gasoline-fueled peers and will likely need substantial reductions in manufacturing cost in order to become commercially viable ..."
From: Determination of Viability, General Motors Corporation, Summary, March 30, 2009

One of the problems is that the Volt tries to combine the functions of a hybrid car and an electric car. The Volt is designed with an electric motor and battery pack large enough to travel a reasonable distance (64.4 km) and speed (more than 100 k/hr) as an electric car, plus it also has a petrol engine. In contrast the Toyota Prius can only travel a couple of kilometres on battery power alone and only at up to 40 km. Many other hybrids cannot be driven at all without their petrol engine running. As a result these hybrids can have a smaller, lower cost electric engine and battery.

As designed, the Volt will need a battery about 30 times the capacity of the one in the Prius and so costing about 30 times as much. The difference in size of the electric motor: 111 kW versus 57 kW, is less significant in terms of cost. One solution for GM would therefore be to sell a lower cost model of the Volt with fewer batteries. GM could then advertise the Volt as having an electric range much longer that the Prius, but starting at a comparable price.

A smaller battery pack would also be much quicker to charge and could be done from an ordinary power point. Smaller lower cost charges could double the range of the electric Volt if there is a charger at each end of a regular trip. As an example, if there is a charger at the office car park a commuter could travel to work on battery power and then plug the car in to recharge for the trip home.

Of course a hybrid plug-in electric car might be trying to do too much. If you want an electric car for short runs at 40 km/h, then India already makes the REVA Electric Car. If you want a hybrid which can go longer at higher speeds, then Toyota already make these, along with Honda (Civic Hybrid) and Ford (Escape Hybrid using technology from Toyota).

Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car test drive

After a presentation by Mitsubishi Australia staff I had a brief test drive of the i MiEV electric car. The car lived up to the claims made by Mitsubishi Australia CEO and President , Robert McEniry that it was a production car, not a prototype. The car has two very roomy seats at the front and a slightly cramped, but usable two seat bench at the back. There is a usable load space accessed via the back hatch. This is a car I could drive around the city every day (but could not drive intercity).

The car has key less "ignition": you turn what looks like a normal knob on the steering column to get the car ready to go. Then you move what looks like an automatic floor shift from P to D and press the accelerator. The difference to a petrol car is that there is no engine noise when the car is stationary. There is also almost no perceptible engine noise when the car is moving. When you take your foot off the accelerator the car slows down slightly with some regenerative breaking. There is a "B" setting on the floor shift to simulate the engine breaking of a manual car. In other respects this looks and drives like a small four door hatchback car.

I was surprised by the low technology instrument panel used. I was expecting a flat screen display like the Toyota Prius. Instead there is a large digital speedometer set in the middle of a very large economy dial gauge showing energy use. The emphasis seems to on making the car look normal.

Overall this is a usable little car, comparable to my Daihatsu Sirion and other little cars, such as the Hyundai i10 and Suzuki Alto. However, such cars, with petrol engines of about 1 litre will cost around $15,000, or less, in Australia. The i MiEV will probably cost more than twice as much. Until the batteries can be mass produced at low cost, the electric car will be prohibitively expensive. In the interim it will make more sense, environmentally and financially, to use a smaller battery in a hybrid car.

Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car in Canberra

Mitsubishi Australia CEO and President , Robert McEniry is just introduced the i MiEV electric car at the Boathouse Restaurant in Canberra. He claimed this was the world's first production electric car and had now been prepared for sale in Australia (not just a handmade prototype). Mr. McEniry did not shy away from the fact that because Australian electricity is generated from polluting coal. Dr. Peter Pudney from University of South Australia is then going to talk about the issues with electric cars. A little later we get to drive the car I have already driven a hand made Australian made electric car. The i MiEV is an electric version of the Mitsubishi i "K class" small car.

The 88 batteries for the car are lithium ion. One issue is the life of the batteries. The Nickel-metal hydride batteries in the Toyota Prius have lasted well.

The i MiEV is a very compact four seat car. Unlike most small cars, the engine is under the back seat, driving the rear wheels. The electric version has the batteries and electric motor in place of the fuel tank and petrol engine. The car has some addition CAM bus ecus to control the electric motor, with redundancy for reliability.

It struck me that the i MiEV has a similar layout to the Tata Nano. India already makes the REVA Electric Car. Assuming that Tata can meet demand for their petrol version, an electric Nano would seem a logical future development.

However, the major competitor for the i MiEV are inexpensive conventionally powered cars. To make such cars viable there will need to be sufficient renewable energy available and a sophisticated greenhouse gas policy to give incentives for its use. What also may help is a computer controlled smart grid to optimise the charging the cars. Smart transport systems would help optimise the use of the cars.

One example would be to use the cars with a share program such as that from GoGet. The share cars are parked at reserved parking spaces in the inner suburbs. It would make sense to equip these parking spaces with recharging stations. This would maximise the use of the cars.

There were staff of both the federal environment and innovation departments at the briefing. Hopefully they are not considering giving Mitsubishi a subsidy for the car in Australia. There are a lot better ways Australia could spend its money in the national economic and environmental interests.

Electric cars not zero emission

Mitsubishi are demonstrating their i MiEV electric car in Australia and have invited me for a test drive. I have already driven an Australian made electric car. The i MiEV is an electric version of the Mitsubishi i small car. The invitation referred to the i MiEV as a zero drive-time emissions
electric vehicle. This is an interesting, very precise description. The issue is that the electric car does not emit CO2, but generating the electricity to charge the car may do so. Most electricity in Australia is generated from burning coal, which produces CO2 pollution (especially Victorian brown coal). If the car is recharged from this coal sourced electricity, then it cannot be reasonably described as a zero emissions vehicle. However, it is technically correct to qualify this with "drive-time" to indicate that while you are driving the car it emits no CO2. This is a distinction which the general public are unlikely to understand and Mitsubishi need to be careful they do not make misleading statements about the green credentials of the car.

From a public policy point of view there is not a strong case for electric cars in Australia. If you recharged the car using renewable energy, the emissions would be less. But little petrol cars are very fuel efficient. The nation, the environment and the car owner might be better off with a small conventional powered car. The money saved over buying an electric car could be spent on renewable energy for use at home. With larger cars a diesel engine, natural or LPG gas might be a better option than electric. Until there are reasonably priced sources of renewable energy there may be only a very limited role for the electric car in Australia.