On this week’s show : Jaguar returns to
single-seat racing with a Formula E entry,
Nissan hints at what charging your car in
the future will be like, and Toyota finds
it’s hard to drive hydrogen cars if there
are no hydrogen fuelling stations around.
These stories and more, coming up next, on
TEN.
Enjoying today’s show on Youtube and and
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find today’s show notes -- as well as links
to the latest future car news, buying guides,
tech primers, and car reviews.
It’s Friday, December eighteenth, twenty
fifteen, I’m Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, and
here’s the final regular TEN show until
next year, because it’s Christmas next week
and I’m pretty sure you don’t want a show
that day.
Getting on with the news of the week, we start
today’s show today with a massive milestone
for the CHAdeMO association, the official
body charged with maintaining and promoting
the CHAdeMO DC quick charge standard.
As we reported on Wednesday, the CHAdeMO Association
has announced that there are now more than
ten thousand CHAdeMO-compliant DC quick charging
stations around the world, more than double
the number that there were this time last
year.
The actual figure is ten thousand one hundred
and fifty six -- at least it was as of mid
week -- and the association says more than
one half of all electric cars in the world
today use the standard to quickly replenish
their battery packs.
So well done CHAdeMO Association and all of
those who have helped make longer-distance
trips far more pleasurable for electric cars.
Of course ChadeMO isn't’ just a standard
for getting power into an electric car battery
pack quickly -- it can also be used to pull
power out of an electric vehicle’s battery
pack, making it possible to use an EV -- or
a hydrogen fuel cell car -- as a back-up power
supply in the event of a disaster.
And this week, that’s just what was going
on in Japan, when the International Research
Institute of Disaster Science -- or IRIDeS
for short -- held a mock earthquake disaster
drill to see how electric cars like the Nissan
e-NV200 minivan could be used to provide emergency
power to a disaster command centre.
This time, the team actually used a low-powered
100-volt inverter rather than a CHAdeMO vehicle-to-home
system to pull power from two all-electric
minivans, but despite the low-tech solution
the drill was hailed an absolute success.
What’s more, it demonstrated how any of
us could do the same thing with a plug-in
car -- given the proper equipment of course.
So next time the power goes out, remember
your electric car can help you out.
From using electric cars as backup power supplies
to entertainment now, with the news from British
automaker Jaguar Land Rover this week that
it intends to enter the world of single-seat
motorsport for the first time since two thousand
and four with an official team entry for the
third annual all-electric FIA Formula E race
series.
Jaguar, which left Formula 1 back when it
was still owned by Ford, announced its triumphant
return with a suitably electrifying video,
the release of its official race design for
the twenty sixteen twenty seventeen season,
and the promise that its time on the race
track will help it bring all-electric models
to market.
We’re particular fans of the tron-esque
video, which not only pleases our inner geeks
but also does a pretty good job of electrifying
Formula E for those who may not have even
seen it before.
Of course, we’ll find out more about the
drivers who will join the team in the coming
months, so as soon as we know who will be
racing for the Big Cat, we’ll let you know.
Talking about the UK, we brought you news
at the start of the week which might make
those of you who like their plug ins with
all-wheel drive a little happier.
That’s because on Monday Mitsubishi announced
a new trim level for the twenty sixteen Mitsubishi
Outlander Plug-in Hybrid.
The new trim - GX5hs -- sits above the existing
GX5h trim level, and pushes the five-seat
mid-sized crossover plug-in hybrid a little
closer to the luxury end of the market.
Alongside full leather interior, all-round
camera and heated seats front and rear, the
new trim level brings in lane departure warning
and a host of other advanced safety features
designed to make the Outlander PHEV cross
shop a little better against cars like the
Volvo XC90 T8 and upcoming Audi Q7 plug-in
hybrid.
We’re not sure if the improved trim -- both
at Gx5h and GX5hS levels -- will make a huge
difference, but from forty-three three nine
nine for the GX5h and forty five four nine
nine for the GX5hs, neither models come cheap.
Add in the news from the UK Government’s
plug-in car incentive program, and you might
think twice about splashing out on that Mitsubishi.
That’s because on Thursday, the UK Government
unveiled the final details of its new tiered
electric vehicle incentive program.
The program, due to begin in February and
run until at least twenty eighteen, is something
we’ve talked about on here before, but this
is the first time we’ve had the full details.
As we explained on Thursday, the Uk Government’s
new four hundred million pound commitment
to plug-in cars comes with a catch: You’ll
no-longer get a five thousand pound flat grant
for buying a plug-in car.
Instead, if your car costs under sixty grand
and does more than 70 miles in zero-emission
mode, you’ll get four thousand five hundred
pounds towards the cost of your car.
If it does less than 70 miles in zero-emission
mode, you’ll only get two and a half grand.
And if your car costs more than sixty thousand
quid, you won’t get a penny, presumably
because the UK government is worried about
the political backlash of helping people buy
Tesla Model S sedans.
Interestingly though, the base-model S 70D
will be eligible as its list price is fifty
six thousand two hundred pounds before incentives,
so if you want a plugin that might be the
car for you.
It’s also worth noting that the changes
also halve the amount of money you can get
to help install a charging station, so if
you want to do that, best do it before February.
From one set of regulatory changes to another
now, but this time in California, where the
California DMV has published a set of proposed
rules governing the use of autonomous vehicles
on the state’s roads.
We’ll not give you every detail here, but
it boils down to four very important facts.
Firstly, the California DMV wants to ban all
driverless cars, requiring autonomous vehicles
to have someone behind the wheel at all times
who is a fully-licensed driver with a special
autonomous vehicle endorsement on their license.
This, aside from producing autonomous johnny
cab-style taxi services, also makes it impossible
for anyone who cannot physically drive a car
from owning and operating an autonomous vehicle,
something we -- and we note google -- are
not that happy about.
Other proposed regulations include giving
automakers trail permits for three years so
that autonomous vehicles can prove themselves
road worthy before more concrete regulations
are made, as well as a heap of requirements
concerning cyber security and vehicle testing.
It’s a tad depressing if you’ve been waiting
for the dawn of autonomous cars, but hey,
we’ll hope that the DMV sees sense before
these proposed regulations become law.
From one future vision to another, we head
to Europe, where Nissan teased a new video
this week hinting at how we could one day
charge our cars.
As we explained on Thursday, the short 20-second
video alludes to the impending production
of a new 7 kilowatt wireless inductive charging
that Nissan has been testing in its laboratories
for the past few years.
In the press release accompanying the video,
Nissan promises that the technology would
be perfect for wirelessly charging the 60
kilowatt-hour longer-range battery pack it
is also preparing for production in the next
few years.
We’re yet to be convinced wholeheartedly
of the benefits of wireless charging, but
this video does the best job yet of making
us want it on our car, because it shows someone
just pulling up to a kerbside parking space,
and the car automagically charging.
Science rocks.
Continuing that futuristic theme, South Korean
automaker Kia and its sister company Hyundai
were celebrating their own futuristic piece
of news this week after being granted autonomous
vehicle license plates for the U.S. state
of Nevada.
The plates will go on a some prototype autonomous
Kia Soul EVs being sent to the region, as
well as the world’s first hydrogen fuel
cell autonomous vehicle in the form of a prototype
self-driving Hyundai Tucson FCV.
As you can see from Kia’s footage, Kia has
already got its cars performing the usual
autonomous driving maneuvers on its test tracks
-- and it's graduation to the real roads of
Nevada should help it prepare its autonomous
drive technology for launch some time in the
next ten years or so.
That is of course assuming that California’s
new approach to autonomous vehicles doesn’t
spread over the border, putting a halt to
the great autonomous vehicle research being
done in all across Nevada, because that could
really screw everyone’s plans up.
Which brings us to our final story, one in
which the plans are so screwed up poor old
Japanese automaker Toyota has found itself
having to step in.
You see, as we reported at the start of the
week, Toyota had hoped the state of California
would have plenty of hydrogen fuel filling
stations operational by the time it launched
its twenty-sixteen Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel
cell sedan back in October.
But with only four Mirai-compatible fuelling
stations across the state, Toyota has now
taken matters into its own hands, sending
temporary hydrogen fuelling trailers to six
of the eight dealerships where the Mirai is
sold.
Sadly however, they’re not substitute for
a real filling station: they can’t operate
at the high pressure required to give customers’
cars more than a half-fill, have to be operated
by dealership mechanics, and must be trailered
back to southern California every few weeks
for a refill.
The result?
Toyota Mirai customers can only drive around
150 miles between fill ups, have to visit
their dealer during work hours for a refuel,
and we’d guess, have more range anxiety
than your average newbie electric car owner.
And that’s not the way Toyota wanted its
revolutionary hydrogen fuel cell technology
to launch.
Whoops.
Talking of things not following the plan,
we completely forgot until about half an hour
ago that this is the last regular show of
the year, so if you have been watching this
year, we’re very grateful for your company.
We’re going to try and bash out some special
shows over the holiday period after which,we’re
off to CES and then a top-secret location,
so we’re hoping to be back with you just
as soon as we can in the new year.
In the meantime, you’ll find all the news
that’s fit to print at our website at transport
evolved dot com, catch up with us on twitter
at transport Evolve, or check out our latest
shows on our usual YouTube channel.
And if you liked what you saw today, consider
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If everyone who watched this video made that
pledge, it’d not only fund some great new
shows but allow us to expand our staff too.
So go on, help us out.
As always, there’s a lot we haven’t managed
to fit into today’s show, including news
of the Hyperloop Pod Building competition
in Texas at the end of January, how Nissan
is likely to launch a range-extended electric
car next year, news of another chinese-backed
automaker wanting to steal Tesla’s crown,
and we give you an update on our long-term
Hakkapeliitta R2 winter tires.
So when we’re done, be sure to head to our
site to read them all.
Thanks for watching, I’m Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield,
have a great weekend, and until next time,
keep evolving!
