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Everythingyou need to

know aboutelectric car

The OVE books

May


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ove-everything-you-need-to-know-about-electric-car 2/52



Philippe BRENDEL

Electric vehicles set to boost mobility

Consumers’ and manuacturers’ decision makers’ expectations and behaviour are

changing rapidly under the combined inuence o several actors, including:

- The rise in energy prices in 2008, which has made people realise that the

world’s reserves o oil will be exhausted sooner or later, and that this orm o

energy will inevitably become more expensive.

- The rising cost o raw materials and awareness these too are not in inex-

haustible supply.

- Growing awareness that global warming is a real threat, and that we cannot

go on doing nothing about it.

- Urban trafc congestion and the increasing rustration o just getting

around town.

- Awareness campaigns organised by persuasive and charismatic speakers like

Al Gore and Yann Arthus Bertrand.

Although we are still ar rom seeing 100% o decision makers wanting to

convert their companies into producing less harmul orms o transport, the-

re is already a huge groundswell o environmental issues within the public

opinion and some manuacturers and public authorities are already planning

changes.

For example easy availability o multiple purpose vehicles or use on a short-

term basis (e.g. a van used or moving urniture or or other amily needs a

ew weeks a year) would leave more room or smaller, less polluting cars that

meet drivers’ daily needs. For amily holidays, or or driving longer distances,

drivers could resort then to short-term vehicle hire, to car sharing or to com-

binations o various orms o transport (e.g. train + car).

Electric vehicles are well suited to meeting the needs o our now largelyurban or suburban population, and considering all the other advantages at-

tached to this type o vehicle this is likely to accelerate change. An electric

vehicle means silence, no pollution, exibility and an answer to daily travel,

which mostly involves journeys o less than 40 km. Naturally all this will mean

changing our habits, we will have to remember to recharge our cars more

oten that we used to refll them with petrol, but how satisying!

It is sae to bet that in twenty years time we will be wondering how we ever

managed to put up with the noise and stench o today’s internal combustion

powered trafc.

Philippe BrendelDirector

Observatoire du Véhicule d’Entreprise

[email protected]

www.observatoire-vehicule-entreprise.com



Table o contents

Introduction – Background 6

Electric power – a proound change in the automotive industry 7

Short history o developments in the 1990s 9

Categories o hybrid and electric vehicles 13

Micro hybrids – the stop-start unction 15

Mild hybrids – a powerul electric motor 17Parallel hybrids 19

Rechargeable, or plug-in hybrids 21

“All electric” vehicles 23

Electric cars – ideally suited to urban lie 29

Electric quadricycles, with or without a driver’s license 31

Electric commercial vehicles, a segment in its own right 35

Powertrain technology 37

Electric currents, rom socket to engine 43

“Filling up” 45

Carbon emission fgures or electric and hybrid vehicles 47Short and medium-term prospects 49

Vehicles available in spring 2009 51




5 www.observatoire-vehicule-entreprise.com



66

Introduction – BackgroundInternal combustion cars in the light o rising petrol prices and pollution

A rapid change in the automobile market is underway. Increasing economic and environmental pressure is leading

drivers to use less polluting, less petrol-hungry cars with lower running costs.

This revolution in the market is due to several actors:

• First factor: the inexorable rise in the price of fossil fuels linked with dwindling supplies. As the French minister

Thierry Breton said in the autumn o 2005, “We have entered the age o scarce and expensive oil”. Whereas there was

a sudden decrease in demand linked to the global economic crisis, this situation will not last. Fossil uel prices will

begin their inexorable rise again.

• Second factor: climate change. Emissions of polluting gases and the greenhouse effect are changing the atmosphere’s

sel-protection system.

• Third factor: the consequences of this pollution on human health. Particles of pollutants from the combustion of

ossil uels are a danger to man.

Restrictive measures or motorists

We have entered a critical era, a turning point with proound changes to come. We will have to take restrictive oreven drastic measures in response to the dangers we ace.

Our economic and political decision makers are aware o the drawbacks and polluting nature o internal combustion

engine emissions, and have begun to make decisions.

These include limits on exhaust emissions (air pollution law o 30th December 1996), trafc restrictions in towns,

speed limits, congestion charges and bonus/malus coefcients.

Solutions or urban trafc: electric and hybrid cars

Today, given current technical and economic realities, to provide a sustainable answer to environmental problems, the

most efcient vehicle or short journeys and or urban and suburban trafc is the electric car.

Electric propulsion is gaining rapid ground in the car industry. Following years o R&D the automotive industry is

now making use o the advantages o electric propulsion. These advantages include energy efciency, high levels o

efciency o engines, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reliability and silence.

Everything you need to know about electric cars




7

Electric power,a proound change in the

automotive industry

Since the 1990s, ollowing increased environmental and

economic pressure, we have seen a signifcant change: elec-

tric motors have become more and more common in cars,

not only to drive luxury eatures like sunroos, seats, rearview mirrors and air-conditioning, but to propel the cars.

We are no longer surprised to see saloon cars such as the

Toyota Prius gliding silently through town. Several thousand

drivers, mainly institution and company employees, have

been driving more than 5,000 “all electric” 106, Saxo and

Berlingo cars produced by PSA between 1995 and 2002.

People in La Rochelle, France are amiliar with “EVs”

(Electic Vehicles). For the past ten years the town has had

a pool o about 50 sel-service electric cars available atseven centres. All over Europe, Asia and the USA, bold and

innovative development programmes are turning experi-

ments into practical applications. “Concept cars” and pro-

totypes give rise to mass-produced models, and electric

power is being standardised and extended.

All categories and all segments o the market are being

transormed. A multitude o new players in the electric

vehicle industry are appearing, including large investors,

specialised research departments, new battery start-up

companies and innovative small manuacturers.

All this activity has extended the range o supply and

accelerated the demand or existing models. Every ew

months sees a batch o new products on the market, rom

micro urban vehicles to standard saloon cars, and rom

light commercial vans to medium-weight goods vehicles.

Electric power is transorming the current difculties o

an industrial sector into change or the better.

The rapid spread o electric engines

The trend towards electrifcation has accelerated since

the year 2000, with the search or more efcient internal

combustion engines with a view to reducing emissions

o greenhouse gases and lowering uel consumption. To

lower uel consumption electric motors were added to

“assist” the internal combustion engine, giving rise to

the frst “hybrid” cars.

The Toyota Prius I in 1997 and Honda Insight in 1999,ollowed by the IMA Civic, were the pioneers o this new

technology on the global market. These hybrid cars, like

the electric cars produced by small manuacturers, have

one o the main advantages o electric motors, which

is high energy efciency. It is an undeniable act that




8

modern electric motors perorm much more efciently

than internal combustion engines, whether the latter

be petrol or diesel driven, or use gas (such as LPG and

CNG).

Energy efciency to speed up change

In optimal conditions, internal combustion engines have

a maximum efciency* o around 35% or petrol driven

cars and around 40% or diesels.

As a general rule, cars are used or short journeys in urban

areas in ar rom optimal running conditions, which urther

reduce energy efciency to levels o only 15% to 20%.

By contrast, the efciency o electric motors is over 80%

and may reach 90%. The power electronics that control

them are also highly efcient (nearly 100%).

Moreover, electric motors have other advantages: they

are reliable, cheap, need little maintenance and are light.

They produce tremendous torque as soon as the engine

is started and have a very wide range o speeds, which

in most cases makes transmission simpler. Electric motors

are ed by high-perormance batteries. These are the ve-

hicle’s “energy reservoir” and have given rise to proound

technological and economic changes.

The automotive industry, aware o these changes, is manu-

acturing an increasing number o electric motors to drive

a new generation o vehicles available on the market.

*The energy efciency o an engine is calculated as a percen-

tage o energy produced.

In any engine, varying amounts o the energy used is transor-

med into heat.

An efciency o 15 to 20% means that 80 to 85% o the energy

consumed by the engine is wasted and is not used to propel

the vehicle.

In terms o uel consumption this means that out o a 50 litre

tank o uel only eight to ten litres are used to propel the ve-

hicle. The rest is turned into heat and wasted in the internal

running o the engine.





9

Short history o developmentsin the 1990s

Electric vehicles o all times

The history o electric vehicles is as old as the history o the

car itsel. Ever since the beginning o the last century, elec-

tricity has been used to drive vehicles. Now EVs are hot news

ater a period o neglect, but they are not entirely new. In

the 1990s much attention was given to the possible uture

o electric vehicles, both by manuacturers and users.

Some major car manuacturers claimed to show an

interest in EVs and studied ways o marketing them on a

large scale as well as strategic concepts. The true inten-

tions o these large manuacturers were revealed when

those projects were suddenly abandoned or somewhat

obscure and conused reasons.

USA – General Motors’ EV1

In the early 1990s the State o Caliornia set up the Caliornia

Air Resources Board and brought in a range o laws intended to

reduce air pollution. One o the measures adopted stated that

rom 1998 on, 2% o vehicles marketed in the State should be

emission-ree, rising to 5% in 2001 and 10% by 2003.

This objective orced manuacturers to start production o

electric vehicles. Ford built 1,500 electric Ranger pick-up

trucks intended or commercial use and bought up a small

Norwegian manuacturer o electric town cars, Think. A

ew hundred two-seater cars, called Think 1, were sold

then. Toyota transormed 4x4 RAV4s into RAV4 EV, and

GM suddenly launched a superb electric car, the EV1.




10

EV1 reserved to Caliornia

EV1 was a highly aerodynamic two-seater aluminum

coupé that had a range o 160 km on a single charge

at a maximum speed o 130 km/h, which was quite

remarkable in 1998. The EV1, which had many o the

eatures o a standard American saloon car such as air-

conditioning and stereo system was not sold but rented

or three years to customers selected by GM’s marke-

ting department. More than 5,000 Caliornians applied

or a car, but only 800 contracts were honoured. The

signatories undertook, in spite o laws in orce at the

time, to return their EV1 at the end o the three-year

contract, with no possibility o buying the car rom the

manuacturer when the contract expired. In this way

GM’s bosses reserved the right to take the EV1s o the

road, which they did in 2001. The team that had worked

on the project was disbanded and all EV1s returned at

the end o the contracts were stored temporarily in the

Arizona desert.

Pressed by a group o drivers who wanted another EV1,

the GM management decided to destroy the cars. All

the EV1s were crushed instead o being recycled as had

originally been announced. Only a ew rare EV1s remain,

in museums or owned by associations who managed to

keep them. The reasons given by GM or withdrawing its

electric cars rom circulation were the same that weregiven by Ford and Toyota who simultaneously stopped

marketing the Ranger EV and RAV4 EV: the law in Cali-

ornia had changed, and with it the necessity to market

emission-ree cars.

2001: The USA gives up electric cars

The Caliornia Air Resources Board had indeed changed

its policies as a result o intense lobbying by oil producers

and car manuacturers. In 2004, governor Schwarzenegger

launched the “Caliornia Hydrogen Highways Network“project. Now the priority o the State o Caliornia is the

building o a network o hydrogen highways and experi-

ments with hydrogen-powered uel cell vehicles, a project

that cannot become a commercial reality or many years

to come. In this way American car manuacturers and oil

producers have managed to delay the advent o electric

cars on their market or a ew years.

France - Next, a prototype hybrid car designedby Renault

In 1995, in other words two years beore Toyota laun-

ched its Prius I, Renault unveiled a highly innovative

“concept car” named Next.

Next is a prototype hybrid vehicle, a research tool. The

vehicle is a fve-door, fve-seater saloon car with three

ront seats and two back seats. Its body design oresha-

dowed that o the Avantime and the Scenic. Driven by a

three cylinder 750 cm3 petrol engine, pollution-ree and

equipped with a catalytic converter and regulated uel

injection. Next is a clean vehicle ahead o its time.

The small internal combustion engine with a capacity

similar to a 1980s motorbike engine, is coupled with

two permanent magnet DC electric motors requiring

no maintenance that run on three-phase current. A

computer controls it all. The vehicle loads 120 kg o

nickel-cadmium batteries lying at under the oor o

the car boot. Next is both sae and very light; the car on

the road weighs 875 kg. Shock absorption is provided by

aluminum structures at the ront and back. The central

structure o the car, made o carbon, has exceptional

mechanical resistance.

When starting and up to 40 km/h, NEXT runs in electric

mode. Then the internal combustion engine takes over,

at the same time recharging the batteries. When acce-

lerating or going uphill the electric motors assist theinternal combustion engine.

Why the Next programme was stopped: an

unsolved mystery

Renault argued at the time that a standard car produces

80% o its emissions during the frst kilometre over a

our-kilometre journey. Next is one o Renault’s answers

to the problems o urban trafc. A hal baked answer i

ever there was one, or Next was never marketed by the

French manuacturer. Adopting a very dierent strategythan the Japanese manuacturers Toyota and Honda,

who oresaw the popularity o hybrid cars, Renault stop-

ped developing along that line.

The Next project was abandoned, shelved in the fling

cabinets o the Guyancourt Technocentre, leaving the

feld open to more arsighted manuacturers.





11

PSA Peugeot-Citroën – the leading European

manuacturer o electric vehicles in the 1990s

The Sochaux based group claims to be the leading European

manuacturer o electric vehicles. They are right: the fgu-

res are there to prove it. More than 5,000 electric vehicles

let the Peugeot and Citroën assembly lines between1990

and 2001.

• Sequence o events that enabled PSA to achieve this

frst place

- As early as 1990, 250 electric C15 and C25 cars were pro-

duced or the car pools o companies and organisations.

- In 1991, the electric Citella prototype was presented

as a un light (790 kg) modular and high perormance

(110 km/h) car.

This prototype, which was intended to give the vehicle a

dynamic and pleasing image, was never marketed.

- In 1993, an experiment was launched in La Rochelle.

Fity local citizens were invited to be guinea pigs by dri-

ving electric Ax cars around the town.- 1995, the electric Ax car was marketed to private

individuals. More than 500 o the cars were produced

between 1995 and 1997.

- 1997, launch o the electric Peugeot 106 and its

Citroën twin, the electric Saxo.

- 1998, launch o the electric Peugeot Partner and

Citroën Berlingo, both designed on an identical basis.

More than fve thousand cars belonging to one o these

our models, the 106, Saxo, Berlingo and Partner, were

produced and sold mostly to large companies and ins-

titutions. EDF bought 1,500 o them, the French Post

Ofce 530; other major customers were French Railways,

ports, airports, oil refneries and town councils. In 1999,

the town o La Rochelle opened the Liselec service, a

pool o 106 sel service hire cars. In the same year Paris

opened a network o recharging points or EVs, and many

other French towns ollowed suit.

• What suddenly made electric cars so popular?

- French laws on air pollution have since 1999 orced

some bodies such as territorial associations and public

corporations to replace 20% o their pools with clean

vehicles, whether they be electric, CNG or LPG. ADEME*

subsidises the purchase o EVs, and the cars are exempt

rom tax.

- The perormance o EVs was attractive or daily use

over short distances. With a maximum speed o 90 km/h,

a range o 60 to 90 km without recharging, good ac-

celeration (0 to 50 km/h in under 9 seconds), the EVs

produced by PSA were perceived to be real cars. The

vehicles were silent, comortable, and required little

maintenance and users ound little ault with them.

- The high perormance technology o the batteries used

in these cars were a direct product o the aerospace in-

dustry. The batteries, produced by the equipment ma-

nuacturer SAFT, built o 6v – 100 Ah nickel-cadmium

monobloc cells have proven to be very reliable.

The theoretical lie span o 1, 500 cycles o these batte-

ries has been confrmed, and many vehicles are still on

the road equipped with their original batteries.

• Why did the PSA group decide to stop productionin 2002?

The then president o PSA, Jean-Marie Folz, said: ”We are

stopping because the all electric saloon car is not the best

product, or the best example o an electric vehicle”. This

statement was not very convincing at a time when

demand was rising, and just as manuacturers were




promising new technologies or producing even more

efcient batteries.

Other reasons seem more likely:

- The manuacturers’ distribution network was not

geared to taking on an entirely new technology like all

electric cars. Servicing a 106 or a Berlingo only involves

checking the batteries and maybe topping up the water

level or checking the brakes and tyres. An electric motor

requires no maintenance, no adjustments, no oil changes,

no replacement o air, oil or gas-oil flters, injectors or spar-

king plugs, not to mention occasional changes o exhaust

pipes or belts. Reduced ater sales services means less busi-

ness turnover or the manuacturer and his network.

- The technology o the NiCd (nickel-cadmium) batteries

used at the time were subjected to strict European legisla-

tion in 2002. The use o cadmium, which is highly toxic in

all orms, is strictly regulated. Peugeot had been working

on alternative solutions together with SAFT in the context

o the VEDELIC programme**. As early as 2002 the P4 pro-

totype, an electric Peugeot 106, had a range o 210 km

without a recharge in normal conditions and a maximum

speed o 120 km/h. The P4 uses lithium-ion (Li-ion) type

batteries instead o nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries. Thereason or which PSA gave up research in this very strategic

area remains unexplained.

- There is a real risk o ferce competition or a major

manuacturer between internal combustion and electric ve-

hicles even within the manuacturers’ own range. In 2001,

in other words shortly beore announcing their decision to

stop production o EVs, the PSA Peugeot Citroën managers

had decided to built a giant actory at Kolin in the Czech

Republic to produce urban micro cars in partnership with

Toyota. This actory now produces 107 as well as Citroën

C1 and Toyota Aygo cars which have been marketed since

2005. All three cars are driven by engines supplied by Toyota.

These are admittedly modern internal combustion engines,

but they still require standard ater sales services.

* French agency or environment and energy control

** VEDELIC programme: 1995- 2000 Development o new battery

and traction chain technology



Citella © Citroën

12



13

Categories o hybrid and electric vehicles

Micro hybrids

The micro hybrid, or stop-start solution is the lowestlevel o hybridisation. It is a reversible system that flls

the role o starter and generator in a standard car. The

internal combustion engine is turned o automatically

when the car stops, and is started again automatically

when the driver moves on.

Mild hybrids

Mild hybrids are a step up in hybridisation rom micro

hybrids. The stop-start unction is o course still there,

but with the addition o joint internal combustion andelectric propulsion, both engines working together to

drive the vehicle. The electric motor delivers its torque to

help starting and restarting, and the electricity generated

produced in generator mode is stored in specifc batteries.Mild hybrids are also able to store energy during braking.

In this case the system works in generator mode and

develops resistance which adds to the engine brake.

Parallel hybrids

Parallel hybrids are the best known o hybrid vehicles

because they are the most common. The power o the

internal combustion engine and electric motor is joint,

as in mild hybrids. Moreover, these cars are able to run

entirely on electricity when starting, at low speeds andwhen parking. The batteries have enough capacity to

cover short journeys o a ew kilometres without using

the internal combustion engine.


Honda Insight 2009 © Honda Motors



14

Rechargeable, or plug-in hybrids

Plug-in hybrids are an improved version o parallel

hybrids using more powerul batteries. Plug-in or

rechargeable hybrids are ones that can be recharged

rom an electrical mains supply, enabling it to be used

on a daily basis in the same way as an electric car.

“All electric” vehicles

The category o all electric vehicles includes many die-

rent designs rom micro urban cars to vans. Their energy

source is electricity, and they work on rechargeable

batteries, like laptop computers, portable electric tools,

wireless telephone handsets, etc..

The development o these vehicles is closely linked to

the progress made in the last ten years in methods o

storage o electric energy. There are great expectations

o these vehicles rom consumers who wish to reduce

their dependence on CO2 emitting energy. They are now

reaching technological maturity, and are becoming

available on a wide scale.



Prototype QUICC © DuraCar



Système micro hybrid Stars de Valeo © Valeo

15

How they work

Micro hybrids are standard cars powered by an internal

combustion engine equipped with a stop-start unction.

The stop-start unction temporarily turns the engine o

whenever the car stops. This system reduces uel consump-tion in urban trafc (during stops at trafc lights, trafc

jams, etc.) by about 10% in urban trafc, by 6% in nor-

mal mixed conditions, and up to 16% in dense trafc. The

technology involved is quite simple: an alternator acting

as starter, an electronic command system and a battery.

The more sophisticated systems can store energy during

deceleration in a new type o capacitor called super-

capacitor. This new generation will not only store energy

when braking, but will provide extra torque to the engine.The Citroën C3 was the frst car ftted with this innovation

in 2004, ollowed by the C2. This technological advance

was the achievement o the equipment manuacturer

Valeo, which frst developed the stop-start system.

Micro hybrids -the stop-start unction




16

Micro hybrids in 2009

Other car manuacturers now produce vehicles equipped

with similar systems developed by the major equipment

manuacturers. Bosch supplies the BMW group or their

Mini and BMW 1 series, as well as the South Korean

manuacturer Kia or its Cee’d. The MHD (Micro Hybrid

Diesel) Smart, and Mercedes A Class are ftted, like

Citroën’s cars, with Valeo’s Stars micro hybrid system. Fiat

relies on its usual supplier Magneti Marelli or the stop-

start system on its 500. The frm has announced that its

Panda and Punto models will be marketed soon. Toyota

has added a micro Auris to its range, and Renault, which

had or a while opted out o the competition, is now

ocussing its strategy on micro hybrids.

The road ahead is clear: we are now heading ormass micro hybridisation

Alice de Bauer, Renault’s environmental policy manager,

has declared the company’s intention o incorporating

the stop-start system in all cars in the Renault range

by about 2010. Speaking on behal o his own compa-

ny, Pascal Hénault, research manager at PSA, has an-

nounced that the stop-start system will be included in

all Peugeot and Citroën cars as soon as possible. The PSA

group plans to sell one million vehicles ftted with the

stop-start system in 2011 and over 1.6 million vehicles

o this kind in 2012.





17

Mild hybrids -a powerul electric motor

How they work

This category, also known as semi hybrids, frst appeared

in cars produced by Honda, who pioneered the techno-

logy. Two engines, an internal combustion engine and an

electric motor, work jointly. The electric motor provides

extra power when starting and accelerating, but does notpower the car on its own. The electric energy, which is

produced continuously or during deceleration, is stored

in a more powerul battery pack than the simple batteries

used or starting in micro hybrids. A computer coupled

to many sensors controls the distribution o power o

the two engines and torque in real time. When driving in

urban trafc the system works in the same way as stop-

start. The amount o uel saved in comparison with stan-

dard cars naturally varies according to driving conditions,

but ranges between 10 and 20% in urban trafc.

Three generations since 1999

Honda has marketed three successive generations o

hybrid cars ftted with its IMA (Integrated Motor Assist)

technology in Europe since 1999. Seldom seen, these

cars were not as popular as the Toyota models. However,

Honda hopes to catch up with its main rival with the 2009

launch o two more competitive cars in terms o price and

perormance: the IMA Civic and IMA Insight.

Other manuacturers ollowed Honda’s lead in mildhybrids. The German giant Daimler is going to market a

prestige car in mid 2009, the Mercedes-Benz S400 Blue-

HYBRID.

Several new cars in the Mercedes range using this tech-

nology developed by a partnership between BMW and

Daimler have been announced.

For its part, BMW presented two prototypes in 2008 which

will be marketed in mid 2009. One o these is based on

the 4x4 X5 and the other on a top o the range 7 series

saloon - BMW’s mild hybrid technology is called Active-

Hybrid Technology.The supplier o both the German manuacturers is the

equipment manuacture Continental or the electric

motors and command electronics, in association with the

battery producer Johnson Controls Sat.

Mild Hybrid Honda Civic © Honda Motors




18www.observatoire-vehicule-entreprise.com

Mild hybrid Honda Insight 2009 © Honda Motors



19

Parallel hybrids

How they work

Parallel hybrids are the best known and most common

hybrid vehicles, mainly thanks to the world’s frst manu-acturer o these cars, Toyota. As in mild hybrids, an inter-

nal combustion engine is linked to an electric motor. The

dierence lies in the greater power o the electric motor

which is able to power the car on its own with the inter-

nal combustion engine switched o over short distances.

Parallel hybrids run in electric mode when starting, at low

speeds, in trafc jams and while parking.

This involves a more powerul battery than those o mild

hybrids, a special kind o transmission and a very efcient

command computer.

The transmission systems used in vehicles marketed so arare o the “CVT” (Continuous Variable Transmission) type,

a system that enables both motors to run at the most

efcient speeds.

The engineers who design this type o car seek above all

to increase the torque, which means increased exibility

and acceleration o a small, low emission engine instead

o the usual engine/gearbox assembly.

Reduction o uel consumption and emissions o pollutants

Fuel consumption is greatly reduced in these, by between10 and 50% according to driving conditions, with the

most spectacular gains being made in urban trafc.

The reduction in CO2 emissions is proportional with

the reduction in uel consumption thanks to the high

energy efciency o parallel hybrids. A hybrid saloon car

o the M2 segment (Laguna, 406, C5, Avensis, etc.), like

the Prius, emits as much CO2 as a very small urban car

such as the C1, 107 or Aygo, and perorms better than

the cleanest Clio.

I one compares the emissions o saloon cars o the same

category as the Prius over 20,000 km, the latter emitsone ton less CO2 into the atmosphere. As to other pol-

lutants such as nitrogen oxide (Nox) and hydrocarbons

(HC), emissions are lower than in any other petrol powe-

red car. Emissions o solid particles, a major drawback o

diesel engines, are reduced to zero.

This is where the superiority o hybrid propulsion really

shows.

Toyota Prius II © Toyota




20

Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive: the reerence car in

hybridisation

The frst hybrid car marketed to the general public, and

that in a ew short years became THE absolute reerence

car, owed its success to a technological innovation, the

Toyota “Hybrid Synergy Drive“.

This exclusive system, which comes in several versions, is

used frst in Toyota cars: the Prius all over the world, and

in Highlander and Camry cars in North America.

It is also used in cars made by the Japanese manuactu-

rer’s subsidiaries, including Lexus, which markets the RX

400 h, GS 450 h and LS 600 h.

Other manuacturers use Toyota technology to produ-

ce hybrid cars under licence. This is the case o Nissan,

which sells Altima hybrids in North America.

Ford uses Toyota patents or its Escape 4x4 hybrid, as

does FAW (First Automotive Works) in the ramework o

a joint venture in the Chinese market.

The strategy adopted by Toyota, which protected its

inventions with over 1,000 patents, is paying o.

More than ten years ater the commercial launch o the

frst parallel hybrid car, no other manuacturer has ma-

naged to overcome the barriers set up by the Japanese

giant. Yet this considerable technological advance was

not recognised as such when the Prius I was launched

in 1997.

From Prius I to Prius III – a worldwide success

• Prius I – the pioneer

It is a remarkable act that except or a very ew specia-

lists monitoring technological advances, the launch o

the Prius I in 1997 went almost completely unnoticed.

At its commercial launches in Europe and in the USA,

the car received a very tepid welcome in the specialised

press and in the automotive world in general.

Journalists ound its body design old ashioned andclumsy, its perormances inadequate and its reduced

uel consumption did not appear to interest anyone but

a ew well inormed users.

This did not deter Toyota rom producing 124,000 o

these cars in the next fve years and to go on investing

in the technical developments needed or the second

generation.

• Prius II – over a million cars sold

The Prius II began its career in 2003 in the USA and in

early 2004 in Europe, and was better received than the

frst version. Its advantages, highlighted by increasing

awareness o the threat caused by global warming, won

this new car real interest by the general public.

To reassure potential buyers and remove doubts about

the car’s reliability, Toyota issued a specifc eight-year or

160,000-km guarantee or the whole hybrid part.

It was voted Car o the Year in 2005 by the 58 motoring

journalists (rom 22 countries) on the Car o the Year

jury. That is how the Prius went rom being a technolo-

gical curiosity to commercial phenomenon. More than a

million Prius were sold in fve years, making it by ar the

most widely sold electric/hybrid car o all time.

• Prius III - Confrmation o Toyota’s technological advance

The Prius III, frst shown at the Detroit Auto Show in

January 2009, takes the hybrid technology o its orerun-

ners to new heights. While Toyota’s competitors plan to

enter the market starting in 2010, Toyota has entrenched

itsel as world leader and has brought yet another major

change. As in the past, the manuacturer’s research de-

partment has protected its new inventions with a whole

lot o new patents and hopes to produce a million hybrid

vehicles a year between 2010 and 2013. The car inclu-

des many improvements aimed at urther reducing uelconsumption and CO2 emissions, with more torque or

the engines, an improved air penetration coefcient, extra

weight, optimised battery management, low consumption

air-conditioning and ventilation powered by solar panels

on the roo.





21

Rechargeable,or plug-in hybrids

Prototypes as early as 2004

The frst modern plug-in hybrids were thought up in

the R&D department o a start-up company based in

Caliornia. The next step had to be to demonstrate that

the technology was now mature enough and the time

was ripe or production by producing a prototype that

would get the whole world talking. That was done back

in 2004 by engineers at EnergyCS in association with Va-

lence Technology, a Texan producer o lithium batteries.EnergyCS (Energy Control Systems Engineering Inc.) had

already developed a very specifc know-how in the feld

o electronics or the running o Li-ion battery packs

or cars. They began with a simple question: how to in-

crease the perormance o the electric power o a Toyota

Prius? The answer was to replace the original batteries

by much more powerul ones and thus gives the car a

range o 50 km without a recharge.

It is true that the autonomy o a Prius in purely electric

mode is rather low, being only about three or our km.

The American designers exploited this weak point, taking

advantage o Toyota’s lack o initiative in the matter.

They transormed two Prius cars, equipping them with

a lithium battery pack o their own design, and created

quite a stir when they presented them at the EVS 21* in

Monaco in May 2005.

The concept gains ground

Three actors thrust plug-in hybrids to centre stage:

- a strong demand rom consumers dissatisfed with the

perormance o existing hybrids;

- the reduced cost o batteries, increased perormance

and proo o their reliability;


Plug- In Hybrid prototype as viewed on Toyota Prius realised by EnergyCS, USA



22

*EVS (Electric Vehicle Symposium ) are yearly international o-

rums or researchers and specialists in the electric car industry.

They are organised by the World Electric Vehicle Association

(WEVA). EVS 24 was held in Norway in May 2009.

www.evs24.org

- the advent o major manuacturers on the market –

General Motors with its Volt, Toyota with its own plug-

in Prius, Ford, VW and others, which promised a rapid

rise in battery production capacity.

To meet a strong demand in North America, some

companies turned to providing approved kits ready to

be installed. These have been marketed since 2008 by

Hymotion, a subsidiary o the battery manuacturer

A123Systems who also produce the integrators or the

system developed by EnergyCS.

In Europe, EDF - in partnership with Toyota - became

the promoter o plug-in hybrids. Tests have been car-

ried out on a ew plug-in Prius cars in France and in

England. General Motors announced the launch o its

Volt concept car starting in 2011 in several versions all

over the world.

In China the manuacturer BYD, which makes its own

batteries, markets models called “Dual Mode“, the F3

and F6 DM. BYD thus became the frst manuacturer in

the world to supply mass-produced plug-in hybrid cars

under the very nose o the world’s leading companies.



EDF



23

“All electric” vehicles

How they work

In electric vehicles the parts making up the powertrain

are arranged in the same way as in internal combus-

tion vehicles. The energy stored on board is transormed

by an engine and then used to power the wheels. Themain dierence lies in the simplicity o this powertrain

compared with its internal combustion counterpart. It

consists only o:

- an energy reservoir consisting o a set o batteries;

- one or more electric engines;

- an electronic/IT command unit;

- cables to connect them all.

The “peripheral” parts o an internal combustion engine

have all gone, including water, uel and oil and injection

pumps. There is no flter, no exhaust system or sparkingplugs. Turbo-compressor? Not needed. The transmission

is simplifed: no clutch or gearbox. The electric motors

that power modern vehicles were derived rom indus-

trial motors. They are very simple to use and incompara-

bly reliable. These engines, designed to run continuously

or years without any maintenance, only require occasio-

nal checks.

This mechanical simplicity leaves developers ree to de-

vote all their time to optimising energy consumption

and ease o use. Many options are being studied with

this in mind.*

Electric “concept cars” are hot news

Emission ree cars are certainly drawing crowds to the

world’s automobile trade airs. The major manuacturers

have understood this, and are using ZEVs (Zero Emis-

sion Vehicle) to show o their designers’ and engineers’

ingenuity.

Since the 1990s, many electric concept cars have exci-

ted the imaginations o potential consumers and taken

up much space in the motoring press. But showing carsthat cannot yet be bought by drivers inevitably causes

them to be perceived as products o the uture, rather

like unrealistic dreams, which is ar rom the truth, as

many o these products are much more accessible than

the major manuacturers would have one believe. It is

true that some advanced concept cars never went into

production.


Nissan FEV-II - Li-ion batteries © Nissan



24

• 1995 – Nissan’s FEV-II Concept

When it was frst shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in

1995 the FEV-II was already equipped with experimental

Li-ion batteries which gave the car a range three times

greater than cars ftted with lead accumulators at the

time. This was one o the very frst public appearances

o a car equipped with this type o high perormance

accumulator.

• 1996 – Peugeot’s Tulip

Tulip is an acronym o “Transport Urbain Libre Individuel

et Public” (“individual and public ree urban transport”).

The system was presented PSA Peugeot Citroën, VIA GTI

and Cegelec in 1996. Tulip provides its members with sel-

service two-seater vehicles at a number o centres around

the city. Members are given a personal remote-control

handset that enables them to borrow a vehicle or as long

as they choose by entering a confdential personal code.

Another advantage o Tulip is that the cars are equipped

with an interactive guiding system that gives the driver

useul inormation about routes and trafc conditions, a

orerunner o today’s GPS. This 2.20 m long and 1.40 m

wide car has the handling qualities and liveliness (0 to

50 km/h in 8 seconds with a maximum speed o 75 km/h)

that make it a pleasure to drive in town. It is built o an

assemblage o fve main parts that ensures strength andsaety. The Tulip’s parts and materials can be recycled.

• 2007 – Nissan’s Mixim

The Mixim is clearly targeted at young drivers. Nissan’s

engineers started rom the premise that the young today

are less and less interested in cars. Mixim is lighter than a

Micra or a Twingo, and the interior design is inspired by the

world o video games. The car is a lively three-seater, but

has our driving wheels powered by two engines, one at the

ront and the other at the back. The Mixim is an interactive

car with a top speed o 180 km/h and and a range o 250km thanks to its lamellar lithium-ion batteries.

The Mixim was shown all over the world ater its frst

ofcial presentation at the Frankurt motor show in 2007.

Practically all the media commented on its uturistic ima-

ge without mentioning the act that the car will never be

marketed.

• 2008 - Renault’s Z.E. Concept

At the Paris Motor Show in 2008 the uorescent Z.E.

(“zero emission”) concept car drew quite a lot o atten-

tion. An “all electric” car eaturing as the main exhibit on

Renault’s stand was a novelty but not much o a surprise.

Since 1997 the Renault/Nissan group has made requent

announcements and set up partnerships to build an elec-

tric car, as in the case o Israel, Portugal and Norway in

the context o agreements with the Better Place project.Renault/Nissan has undertaken to supply electric cars to

Better Place customers starting in 2011. Whereas eve-

ryone expected to see a real, high perormance electric

car that would soon be available, Renault chose to show

an unavailable “concept car”. True, the Z.E. Concept has

some attractive technical eatures such as an insulated

body with heat-absorbing paint and solar panels on the

roo, but the car remains a study project and is not in-

tended or production.

Experimental eets

It is a clear sign that we are rapidly moving towards sales

on a much greater scale that some manuacturers are

undertaking experiments using several hundred vehicles.

*See the chapter on powertrain technology.



Z.E. Concept Renault © Renault



25

The aim is to test consumers’ reactions and the techno-

logy in real conditions. These experiments, in most cases

undertaken in partnership with energy providers, are

carried out in limited geographical areas.

• Mitsubishi’s “i MiEV “ tested since 2007 in Japan

The Mitsubishi “i“ is a town car intended exclusively or

the Japanese market. It is a small car, 3.4 m long, with

our doors and our seats. The “i“ is versatile, designed

with an adaptable chassis to enable it to be converted

into an electric car. Its engine is in the centre o the

car, lying at under the passenger space in the raised

oor. The electric version o the “i”, the MiEV (Mitsu-

bishi innovative Electric Vehicle) weighs 1,080 kg and

has a top speed o 130 km/h. According to the manu-

acturer it has a range o 130 or 160 km dependingon the batteries ftted. Mitsubishi has developed a ra-

pid charger (20 minutes) at a specifc charging point

in addition to the onboard charger. This development

was made in partnership with the energy providers who

tested the MiEVs. About 20 cars are owned by Chugoku

Electric Power and Kyushu Electric Power, the Japanese

companies involved in the project. When the tests in

Japan proved conclusive Mitsubishi extended them in

the USA in 2008. There, Southern Caliornia Edison (SCE)

and Pacifc Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) have been

entrusted with testing about thirty vehicles. These tests

will enable Mitsubishi to gather a wealth o inorma-tion about the cars in real conditions and also to decide

whether to market them in the United States. The car is

to be launched on the Japanese market in 2009, with a

production o 2,000 MiEVs.

• The Smart EV in Europe

The Smart EV is in some ways a return to basics. The de-

signers o the Smart, previously called Swatchmobile, had

originally designed an electric version o the micro town

car in 1996. The vehicle was judged too uturistic, and was

not retained by the Smart management or mass produc-tion. It was not until 2005 that the frst electric Smart

made its appearance. A British company, Zytek, made the

conversion and presented its prototypes at many motor

shows beore they managed to interest Daimler group,

the owners o Smart. The electric version develops 30 kW,

enabling it to accelerate rom 0 to 50 km/h in 6.5 seconds,

with a top speed o 110 km/h. It has a range o about


Smart EV © Smart - Groupe Daimler



120 km without a recharge. About one hundred Smart

cars were produced and delivered to companies in Britain

or a frst phase o tests begun in late 2007. Another batch

o one hundred cars is being built or a second series o

tests in Berlin. For this venture Daimler has gone into par-

tnership with the energy producer RWE AG. In the ra-

mework o the “e-mobility Berlin”, 500 recharging points

will be installed in company premises, on private property

and in public parking lots. The initiative is supported by the

German ederal government. Smart EV is also the subject

o a similar project in Italy. The cities o Rome, Milan and

Pisa are all involved. The energy partner there is Enel Spa;

more than 400 recharging points will be installed in the

three cities to eed about 100 Smart EVs.

• An electric Mini in the USA

In the United States one category o EV is quite popular:

converted vehicles. It’s very simple: just take an internal

combustion car in good condition, or better still a new

one, take out everything that is not needed to convert it

to electricity, and replace the engine by a high efciency

electric motor and new generation batteries. The rules o

approval and registration being simpler than in Europe

makes these conversions easy, and hundreds o converted

electric cars are now on the road in America. Businesses

have entered this feld, and one o them, EV Innovations(ormerly Hybrid Technologies), has gradually established

itsel as a specialist. The ounders o this company pro-

duced a eet o electric PT Cruisers (made by Chrysler)

used as taxis in New York and have also made a spectacu-

lar conversion o a Mini car. This Mini, powered by Li-ion

batteries has achieved high perormances; it has a range

o 150 km and has a top speed o 130 km/h.

In response to the interest shown in EV Innovation’s

Mini E, BMW the USA decided to start production o 500

cars to be let to volunteer experimenters. The states invol-

ved are New York, New Jersey and Caliornia.

Top o the range EVs

These cars are way out o most people’s reach and one

seldom sees them on the road. Nevertheless there are

such things as top o the range electric cars, and they

receive a lot o media attention. Their manuacturers

market them in the usual way by appealing to a market

o rich buyers. The main appeal o these electric sports

cars already on the market is the many innovations in

their designs, such as advanced aerodynamics, computer

driven energy management, wheel motors, etc.. The cars

are produced on a small scale, with care, almost like cus-

tom-built items, with long waiting lists and high rates.

These cars have a special image, being made by small

manuacturers or start-up companies.

• The Venturi Fetish

Venturi was a small manuacturer o sports cars specialised

in the GT category. Following successes at the 24 hours race

at Le Mans and in Formula 1 racing, the company got into

severe fnancial difculty. Faced with closure, the com-

pany was bought by an industrialist rom Monaco, Gildo

Pallanca Pastor. The new owner switched to the production

o electric cars and thus gave the company a new lease

o lie. In 2004, Venturi exhibited an entirely new car, the

Fetish, and with it a new segment o the car market: elec-

tric sports cars. The Fetish concept is completely dierent

rom that o other sports cars, as it is the batteries and

not the engine that are the ocus o the car’s technological

value and its perormance. The Fetish is built entirely o

carbon fbre. Its unique hull and chassis contains the batte-

ries within the structure itsel. The motor, ideally placed inthe centre o the back, powers the car rom 0 to 100 km/h

in less than fve seconds. Fetish can run or 250 km beore

a rapid complete recharge in one hour (under three-phase

30 kW) or in three hours rom a standard socket. This su-

perb car can be purchased to order in Tokyo, Los Angeles,

Monte Carlo, Paris, London and Dubai or 297,000 € VAT

excluded. It takes our months to build.

• Tesla Motors - Caliornia

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian inventor and engineer specia-

lised in electrics who settled in the United States. Whenhe died in 1943 he was regarded as one o the grea-

test scientist in the history o technology. He took out

more than 900 patents (most o which were taken up by

Thomas Edison) in new methods o energy conversion.

His theories o electric energy led him to design alterna-

ting current, o which he was one o the pioneers. The

makers o a new high perormance electric car together

26





27

with marketing and new technology experts chose the

name Tesla Motors in honour o one o the ounding

athers o electric power. Tesla Motors was ounded by

a group o wealthy entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley in

Caliornia. Elon and Kimbal Musk had earlier oun-

ded Zip2 and Paypal, while their partner Steve Westly

was one o the creators o eBay. They appointed Lotus

Engineering in England to design and produce a mo-

dern electric sports roadster. The car has been in pro-

duction in Britain since 2007 on Tesla’s behal, and the

fnal assembly o the electrical components is done inCaliornia.

The entire production in 2008 (700 cars) was soled, and

orders are pouring in or cars in 2009. The batteries de-

signed by Tesla use the lithium-ion technology and are

housed between the motor and the passenger space.

They give the car a range o 300 km. The Tesla is availa-

ble in Europe, where one has to pay 99,000 € VAT exclu-

ded to become the proud owner o this car that powers

its 1,150 kg rom 0 to 100 km/h in our seconds.

• The Loremo - light and aerodynamic

The Loremo (“Low resistance mobile”) was designed in

Germany with the simple aim o consuming as little as

possible while still delivering a reasonable perormance.

Eight years ater the frst designs shown at the Frankurt

Motor Show in 2001 and a remarkable industrial story,

Loremo AG is launching the frst commercial version o its

electric 2+2 coupé.

This little sports car, that uses previously known tech-

nology and standard materials, is very light at less than600 kg, and has an extremely low air penetration coe-

fcient with a Cx o 0.20. To achieve this result the

Loremo is very low slung, only 1.14 m high, and 3.80 m

long. The car is said to have a range o 150 km and a top

speed o 170 km/h. The Loremo is a fne example o in-

novation rom newcomers in the automotive world. The

Loremo EV is priced very reasonably compared with other

electric sports cars at under 30,000 €.


Loremo EV © Loremo AG



28



Venturi Fetish © Venturi



29

Electric cars -ideally suited to urban lie

Trafc movement restrictions, which used to be limited

to historic city centres and targeted heavy vehicles, are

now increasingly widespread in most European towns.

Driving and parking space, taken up by vehicles unsuited

to urban use such as large 4x4s, has reached saturation

point.

Aware o this problem, local councils are adopting poli-

cies aimed at encouraging the use o vehicles that take

up less space and reduce pollution. Microcars are one

o the obvious solutions to easing trafc ow in towns.

The average distance covered by urban drivers in a day

is only about 20 kilometres. These acts all avour the

use o small electric urban cars, and open up a large

market or them. This new market, which has so ar

been ignored by the major car manuacturers, is being

developed by some new enterprising and imaginative

manuacturers.

Norway – a pioneer o small electric urban cars

Scandinavia has a harsh climate with long winters; tem-

peratures remain below reezing or long periods, which

causes problems when using car batteries. It was to meet

the needs o the Scandinavian market that the frst com-

mercial electric cars were produced in Norway, and there are

now several hundred o these cars on the road in northern

Europe.

- The frst o these manuacturers, Elbil Norge, has been pro-

ducing a two-seater since 1991. Five generations o their

“Buddy“ cars have appeared since then, and more than

1,000 cars have rolled o the assembly lines. This very basic,

2.44 m long microcar is oten used as a amily’s second car

in Norway. It has a maximum speed o 80 km/h and can run

or 60 to 80 km without a recharge o its lead battery.


© Think

VW Up © Volkswagen



30

A version powered by a Li-ion battery has been available

since 2008, making it possible to drive or 120 to 140 kmbeore a recharge. Elbil Norge does not export cars to the

rest o Europe, as its current yearly production capacity o

fve to six cars a week is absorbed by the local market.

- The second Norwegian manuacturer to market electric

cars was Think, a company that is better known because it

has marketed its products outside Norway. Think is also a

larger company, with a actory that can produce 5,000 cars

a year. Think has had a turbulent recent history. Founded in

1990 under the name Pivco, it was bought by Ford in 1999.

Ford had intended it to be a subsidiary specialised in electriccars. Pivco was renamed Think, and its cars were marketed

in a low-key way in Caliornia or two years beore Ford

suddenly abandoned the project in 2003. It was a change in

Caliornian law that put an end to Ford’s ambitions. Think,

with its brand new production unit fnanced by Ford, was

sold then to a group o investors who decided to restart

production.

In 2007 Think launched its new model “City”, this time a

proper car, the production process o which was overseenby Porsche Consulting. The Think City’s roadworthiness and

saety specifcations are similar to those o internal com-

bustion vehicles o the same category, including crash tests,

airbags, ABS brakes, heated windscreen, sun roo, MP3 +

USB stereo and Bluetooth. This car has been on the market

in Norway since 2008, and is gradually marketed in other

European countries in 2009.


e Think - Aurskog - Norvège © Planète Verte



31

Electric quadricycles,with or without a driver’s license

European legislation allows two categories o our-

wheeled vehicles on the roads, both o which are suita-

ble or electric power.

These are light and heavy quadricycles:

- Light quadricycles are vehicles with an unladen mass o

under 350 kg, powered by an engine that develops a maxi-

mum power o 4 kW and with a maximum speed o 45 km/h.

They come under the same category as mopeds and auto-

cycles and may be driven with or without a driver’s licenseaccording to the laws in dierent European countries.

- Heavy quadricycles are vehicles with an unladen mass

o under 400 kg or vehicles used to transport people, or

550 kg or goods vehicles, with an engine that develops

a maximum power o 15 kW. They come into the same

category as motor tricycles and motorbikes. Their speed

limit is 80 km/h. Light electric vehicles, which are de-

signed or short distance travel, are either adaptations

o internal combustion powered models or specifcally

designed to be electrically powered.

Italy – an innovator in this sector

Another major European player in the development o

electric cars was Italy, where local regulations ban internal

combustion powered vehicles in some historic city centres.

As early as 2004 - 2005 small series o electric cars not re-quiring driving licenses came on the market rom some o

the many small-scale production lines in Italy. Start Lab and

Maranello 4Cycle are two such manuacturers. They sell

electric quadricycles with a range o 40 to 100 km depen-

ding on the type o battery used. Ideally suited to towns,

these vehicles can dodge in and out o trafc and park in a

space only 2.70 m long.


BB1 © Automobile Peugeot



32

Indian competitors

The Indian automotive market oers huge opportuni-

ties to local manuacturers. Ater distributing or imi-

tating oreign built vehicles, these companies later in-

vested in developing vehicles suited to local demand.

This gave rise to the production o many low-cost light

vehicles, including the Nano, built by Tata, a standard

car powered by a small two-cylinder engine o the kind

used in the Citroën 2CV.

Another manuacturer, smaller than Tata, who began

operations in 2002, started production o a mini elec-

tric car, the Reva. The car is a two-seater with an ex-

tra single smaller seat at the back. About 3,500 Revas

have been produced, both or the Indian market and or

export. More than a thousand Revas are on the streets

o London, where this small electric vehicle is exempted

rom the congestion charge. The basic version, ed by

lead accumulators and with a range o 50 km, is to be

backed up by a Li-ion version which will soon be availa-

ble, and the manuacturers have announced production

o a our-seater version in 2009.

The switch o “No driver’s licence” micro cars to

electric power

It was thanks to Mr. Ian Cliord, a Canadian entrepre-

neur, that the frst electric version o a micro car orwhich no driver’s licence is required was produced in

2005. The car is based on an internal combustion model

produced in France.

Zenn (Zero Emission No Noise), which has been mar-

keted since 2006 in North America Feelgood Cars, is

derived rom the Microcar MC1 and MC2 models. The

cars are delivered by the French manuacturer* without

motors, which are then assembled in Canada. Five hun-

dred o these micro cars have been produced so ar. The

car is ftted with European standard saety equipment,including shock absorbing engine support, retracting

seat belts and airbag.

Zenn has set the example and French manuacturers o

very small cars are now also turning to electric engines.

At the request o its British distributor or London in

2007, Aixam/Mega has converted one o its leading

models, the City, to electricity. Its range is 60 km with

a top speed o 60 km/h, and has been bought by a ew

London drivers.

Ligier and Microcar, now part o the same group, showed

to electric prototypes at the 2008 International Motor

Show. The frst o these will be marketed in 2009.

EVs targeted at vertical applications

Research departments are turning their attention to

vehicles designed or particular purposes. Examples o

these niche cars have been given us by three players

specialised in electric cars, the coachbuilder Heuliez,

Venturi and Matra.

• Heuliez Friendly

As Heuliez depends on major manuacturers or its

conversion work on car bodies, the company is aected

by the current deep crisis in the automotive industry, as

are other equipment manuacturers and sub-contractors.

Having had to innovate to obtain new markets and at-

tract investors, this company, based in Cerisay, France,

has chosen to go into electric cars. With the support o

the regional (Poitou-Charentes) authority it is preparing

production o a new little car designed or urban andsuburban use, the Friendly. The car’s standard 2.50 m long

version has three seats and a loading capacity o 400 li-

tres. The Friendly is to be produced in two other versions,

*Microcar, ater having been a subsidiary o the Beneteaugroup, was bought up by Ligier



Prototype Heuliez Friendly © Planète Verte



33

a short (2.10 m) and a long (2.90 m) version with loading

capacities o up to 1,650 litres. The Friendly’s simple de-

sign entails minimum maintenance. The onboard energy

is provided by NiMH (Nickel Metal hydride) cell batteries.

The car has a range o 100 km beore recharging and a

top speed o 110 km/h. Heuliez is staking its uture on this

new electric vehicle business and expects to announce

availability o the Friendly some time in 2009.

• Venturi Eclectic

The know-how acquired by Venturi during the design

and production o its high perormance Fetish was used

to diversiy its business. Since the company is based in

Monaco, Venturi has naturally designed a new car desi-

gned or use in southern climates. Eclectic seemed almost

as strange as a UFO in the automotive landscape when

it was frst shown. The Venturi stand at the International

Motor Show in 2006 exhibited the Eclectic wired to a

solar panel system and a wind turbine. Keen interest by

the public in the frst version encouraged Venturi to go

ahead and mass produce the car. The driver’s seat and

controls are in the centre o the passenger space and

the raised seats give the driver and two passengers good

unobstructed views in all directions. Production is due

to begin in October 2009 in a brand new actory near

the town o Sablé-sur-Sarthe in France. The actory is

built to advanced environmental standards and will inthe long term be able to assemble 3,000 light vehicles

a year.

• Matra GEM

Matra Manuacturing Services, a subsidiary o the

Lagardère group, has decided to switch its business to

EVs. Matra MS, which originally designed the Espace

or Renault, is developing a range o electrically assis-ted motorbikes and has turned to an American partner

to produce our-wheeled vehicles. GEM, Global Electric

Motorcars, a subsidiary o Daimler Chrysler, has develo-

ped a range o light and heavy quadricycles designed or

university campuses, leisure parks and the vast Ameri-

can gol courses. GEM vehicles are also used on US army

bases to carry personnel. 30,000 GEMs have come o the

assembly lines since they were frst marketed in 2000.

The vehicles are assembled in the Matra MS actory in

Romorantin in France. This is the actory in which the

Espace cars were built until Renault decided to producethem on its own assembly lines. Matra MS has adap-

ted GEM vehicles to comply with European regulations.

They come in several versions, including two-seaters,

our-seaters and an ultra-light version. All vehicles in

the range can run or about 50 km beore a recharge

and the speed is limited to 45 km/h.


Matra GEM © Matra MS

Venturi Eclectic © Venturi



34www.observatoire-vehicule-entreprise.com

Matra GEM © Matra MS



35

Electric commercial vehicles,a segment in its own right

The ull range o electric commercial vehicles covers small

vehicles that do not require a driver’s license throughall categories up to heavy goods vehicles with payloads

o up to 7.5 tons. Many dierent types o bodywork are

available, rom chassis-cabs to vans, microbuses, cages and

designs or other specifc uses.

The technologies involved are similar to those used in other

EVs, but with dierent dimensions, such as more power-

ul battery packs, high efciency motors, or electronically

controlled regulation and loads. With ew exceptions, all

goods that need to be transported in towns can be carried

by electric vehicles. Some small vans can carry pallets, andork-lit versions can carry large loads.

There are also electric minibuses, and these can be equip-

ped to carry disabled people. Vehicles like these have a

very positive image, and demonstrate the commitment

o authorities, institutions and corporations to implement

strategies or sustainable development.

Electric delivery vehicles – a British tradition

The use o new electric goods vehicles ollows on rom a

practice that has long existed in Great Britain. Ever since

the 1950s and 60s, the British have been used to seeing

their resh milk and other dairy produce delivered in the

morning on a uniquely British vehicle, the “milk oat”.

These vehicles, which were designed to be reliable, very

long lasting and able to move silently and without pro-

ducing any pollution, are a national institution that have

long made electric delivery vehicles a daily part o lie

there. Some o these milk oats that were frst put intoservice 30 years ago are still on the road today, which

shows just how hard wearing EVs can be. The original

idea, which was “to produce a virtually indestructible

vehicle”, has been applied right up to the present, ena-

bling the manuacturers o those milk oats to specialise

in electric power and to expand their range o products.

Smith Electric Vehicles is one o the British manuac-


Contemporary milk oat in Liverpool © all rights reserved



36

turers. The company, ounded in 1920, can claim to be

the world’s leading producer o electric goods vehicles.

Several thousand o their our-wheeled vehicles are on

the roads all over the world.

Smith’s current range includes a 7.5 ton payload vehicle

launched in 2006 ollowed by a 3.5 ton model produced

in 2007, and a third one marketed in 2008, a small 2.3

ton van. All types o bodywork are available.

New urban logistics services

In urban transport the characteristics o journeys are

well known to users. These data enable them to plan

distances and routes and to choose the appropriate risk-

ree type o electric goods vehicle. A vehicle such as the

Modec, which has a range o up to 160 km and carries

a payload o two tons, shows that it is quite possible

to replace many diesel vehicles by electric heavy goods

vehicles. Modec was designed in the the United Kin-

gdom by a company set up or the purpose in 2005. This

small truck was designed rom the start to be powered

by electricity. Since production began in the spring o

2007, it has been adopted by many British businesses

or their working eets. In only one year more than a

hundred electric goods vehicles have been delivered by

Modec to clients such as Tesco, UPS, Network Rail and

Hildon mineral water.

People-carriers in town centres

The chosen policy o many town councils to limit mo-

tor trafc and noise and atmospheric pollution in his-

toric town centres has lead to the use o light electric

people-carriers. Used as shuttles or on regular transport

routes, these vehicles have been an increasing success.

From the tiny Porter manuactured by Piaggio to the

22 seat microbus produced by Gruau, a complete range

o electric passenger vehicles is now available on theEuropean market.

Electric commercial vehicles in response to inter-

national consultations

At the instrigation o the French Post Ofce, which is

heading an European project, major consultations have

been in progress since 2006. The European post ofces

intend to convert a large part o their eets to electric

vehicles. This market, which will amount to over 10,000

vehicles by 2011, has given an extra boost to makers o

electric vehicles. Moreover, like the post ofce, many

other large corporations are planning to equip themsel-

ves with electric vehicles.

In the last ew years new small and medium sized manu-

acturers have started producing EVs based on internal

combustion engine models. Platorms are supplied by

Fiat or by PSA in some cases, or are imported rom Asia

or those who aim to produce cheap models. The milea-

ge range o vehicles available in 2009 varies rom 50 to

90 km in the case o ones ftted with lead accumulators,and rom 80 to 140 km or those using Li-ion batteries.

To give a ew examples o marketed or available models

in 2009: a Fiorino and a Doblo produced by Micro-Vett

in Italy; a latest generation Berlingo designed by Venturi

in Monaco; single or double cab chassis vehicles as well

as nine-seater minivans made in the Netherlands by a

new French frm, Electric-Road.



Electric microbus romGruau © Planète Verte



37

Powertrain technology

New technologies and industrial investments

The many new players in the market have created a

strong demand or specifc components o powertrains.

Ever since 2004 - 2005 a considerable increase o invest-

ment in R&D has been made in this emerging industrial

sector. These developments preceded pre-industrialisa-

tion phases and since 2008 mass production has been

underway in the most advanced industrial units.

New components have entered the ray, including nano-

metric scale materials or battery electrodes, supercon-

densers, electronics directly incorporated in motors and

composite materials to make vehicles lighter. These kinds

o innovation are now in production and are available to

designers.

A vital component o the powertrain: the

energy storage unit

The energy storage unit has two vital unctions, as ener-

gy reservoir and as energy recuperator.

- The reservoir unction is provided by batteries o di-

erent kinds. The basic principle has been the same or

many years and remains very simple: accumulator cellsare connected and assembled in a sealed container – the

battery. To provide the necessary power, batteries are

grouped in one or more packs housed in various parts

o the vehicle.

- The energy recuperation unction is a more recent

development. It consists in storing energy produced by


Nanometric particles o Lithium titanate. Such particles coat the anode o batteries produced by Altairnano, a company based in Nevada in the USA.1 μm = 1micrometre = 0, 001 millimetre



38

the engine in “generator” mode during deceleration. For

the system to be efcient it must have accumulators

accepting high currents rom the engine. Few battery

technologies make this possible. The most efcient com-

ponents or this unction are supercondensers. Because

they can charge and uncharge in just a ew seconds

they play the role o energy buer between the engine

and the battery. Supercondensers are now out o the

research laboratories and are being produced on a largescales by frms like Maxwell and Batscap, a subsidiary o

the Bolloré group.

Range extenders

The solutions or increasing the mileage range o an electric

vehicle are ew but simple: increasing the capacity o the

batteries, recuperating energy during deceleration, careul

driving, or recharging the batteries while on the road. The

latter option, using a small electric generator, has not recei-

ved much attention rom manuacturers until now.

Renault did try out this solution on about thirty Kangoo

Electro-Road cars in 2002 - 2003. This was an electric

Kangoo using NiCd batteries recharged by a small auxi-

liary motor called a “range extender”. The principle can

in theory be used in any electric vehicle providing it has

enough space to house the auxiliary engine.

Very powerul and long-lasting batteries

To appreciate the progress made in just a ew years in

batteries designed or electric vehicles one must grasp a

ew basic technical notions.

• Power

The power o a battery is determined by the amount o

electric energy it contains in one litre or in one kilogram-me. Two units o measurement are used: Watt hour per

litre (Wh/l) and Watt hour per kilogramme (Wh/kg). EV

technicians also use another notion o power, the Watt

per kilogramme (W/kg), which determines the maximal

instant power supplied by a battery or battery pack.

• Lifespan

Another key criterion in comparing battery perormance

is their liespan. This is because a battery’s perormance

decreases with time and some technologies are more

long-lasting than others. The criterion used is the num-ber o cycles, or times they can be recharged and de-

charged, or in other words the number o times one can

“fll up” beore having to change the batteries.



Maxwell supercondensers

© Maxwell



39

Comparison chart o existing technologies

Since the frst EVs were distributed in the 1990s bat-

teries have undergone considerable technological pro-

gress. Given a similar weight and size, the amount o

electric energy produced has been multiplied by actors

o three to fve.

As a direct result o this the mileage range has leapt

to 100 km per charge in all electric cars and 40 to

60 km in rechargeable hybrids. The liespan o batte-

ries, another vital actor, has reached 1,500 cycles in

the case o our o the available technologies. Trans-

lated in terms o practical results or users, this means

that battery packs can now deliver considerable mi-

leage beore they have to be changed. In the hypo-

thetical case o a battery pack designed to run or

100 km per recharge, a realistic fgure or current tech-

nology would be that the pack only needs to be replaced

every 150,000 km.

The various technologies used

The batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles are

classed as traction batteries, also known as power batte-

ries. Six dierent technologies are in open competition

to equip electric vehicles. This diversity provides desi-

gners with a wide range o choices.

• Lead/Acid - Pb

These are the simplest in design and the easiest to ma-

nuacture. Production procedures are well known, and

manuacturers are busy improving them to compete

with the other technologies. They are heavy and not

very powerul, but have the advantage o being cheap.

• Nickel-Cadmium - NiCd

Oten been used in the last 15 or so years in porta-

ble appliances, they were the type chosen by PSA or

the 106 and other Saxo cars. They have two draw-

backs, a “memory eect” that sometimes requires re-

gular deep decharging, and strict European regulations

governing the use o cadmium. They are very long-

lasting, but are now little used in electric cars.

• Nickel Metal Hydride - NiMH

These batteries were frst used in cordless tools and intelephones. They propelled the General Motors EV1 be-

ore being chosen by Toyota or its hybrid cars. NiMH

batteries are now standard in hybrid cars. They have

been marketed since 1990 and have a large energy den-

sity and low sensitivity to memory eect.




40

• Lithium and derived products

Several technologies are used in the lithium amily o

batteries. They are the kind most oten used in portable

electronic appliances and are increasingly used in EVs.

Their main advantage is high energy density (twice to fve

times higher than in NiMH batteries, or instance) and are

not subject to memory eect. The dierent categories o

the lithium amily o batteries are as ollows:

- Lithium-ion - Li-ion – The most commonly used type in

low power mobile communication applications.

- Lithium Polymer - LiPo – Lighter than Li-ion, and also

easier to use.

- Lithium-phosphate- LiFePO4 - One o the major advan-

ces o the last fve years. They combine the advantages o

Li-ion and LiPo batteries and have a long liespan.

- Lithium Metal Polymer - LMP – These run at an inter-

nal temperature o about 85°C. This technology is in the

process o development promoted by the Bolloré group.

Manuacture has already begun.

• Zebra batteries

This is a rather one-o technology, as it is used by only

one manuacturer. It uses molten sodium chloroalumi-

nate and its internal temperature is 250°C.

• Nickel-Zinc - NiZn

These are considered to be the new generation o bat-

teries and are still being developed. They are similar toLi-ion batteries in terms o perormance and should be

considerably cheaper.

A great increase in battery production capacity

Since the EV1 with its NiMH batteries and since the 106

and Saxo cars with their NiCd batteries at the end o the

1990s, the manuacture o battery packs or EVs has mo-

ved rom experimental stages to mass production. The

advent o lithium cell technology sparked an enormous

growth in production capacity. To meet the demand in

batteries or the “personal mobility* ” industry, the elec-

tronic giants set up automated production chains. Their

actories produce tens o millions o units a year and their

manuacturing processes have been adapted to produce

larger and larger batteries o the kind needed to power

electric vehicles. The world leaders in this sector are in

Asia, three in South Korea, fve in Japan and about ten

in China. All these manuacturers produce batteries or

electric vehicles and they are preparing to increase pro-

duction within the next two years.

In the USA, 14 companies have united under the banner

“National Alliance or Advanced Transportation Battery

Cell Manuacture“. Their aim is to open giant production

units to supply the North American market. New produc-

tion units are also being set up in Europe. One o these,

built in Nersac in France, is the result o a 15 million Euro

investment made by the Franco-American joint venture

Johnson Controls-Sat. The Nersac actory produces Li-

ion batteries or electric and hybrid cars made by Ford

and Daimler among others.

*Mobile telephones, laptop computers, MP3 players, GPS,

electrically assisted bicycles, etc.



nson Controls-Sat , Nersac actory. Quality control during the installation o electrodes. © Sat-Didier Cocatrix



41

Another major investment in Europe, amounting to over

30 million Euros, was that made in 2008 by the Evonik

group in partnership with Daimler to set up a joint subsi-

diary or the production o Li-Tec batteries.

Alliances in all directions among major manu-

acturers

Ater years o expectation it looks as though the major car

manuacturers have fnally turned their strategy towards

electric cars. To acquire the necessary know-how in batte-

ries, a vital part o any EV, they had to set up partnerships

with those manuacturers who had the skills and capacity

or production, the giants o electronics and new genera-

tion batteries. Indeed now it is the batteries, and not the

engine, that lie at the core o an electric vehicle’s value. To

ensure against any problem with uture supplies the major

car manuacturers ormed partnerships with established

electric energy specialists.

- Toyota signed a partnership with the Matsushita group to

create Panasonic EV Energy. This new company also supplies

Lexus, Honda, Ford and Mercury.

- Nissan set up a subsidiary with the NEC group, a giant in

the feld o networks and micro-electronics, called Automo-

tive Energy Supply Corp. The company’s main business is the

production o Li-ion batteries or cars.

- GS Yuasa Corp, another specialist in Li-ion batteries,

signed two agreements, one with Mitsubishi in 2007 to

create Lithium Energy Japan, and the other with Honda in

late 2008.

- The Volkswagen group chose Sanyo as its partner or the

production o uture Audi hybrids. For their supply o Li-ion

batteries VW signed an agreement with Toshiba.

- General Motors made its arrangements or the supply o batteries or its uture Volt car. The supplier is the Korean

giant LG Chem through its subsidiary US Compact Power. LG

Chem already supplies packs or the prototypes. Later GM

will produce batteries in its own actory using components

supplied by LG Chem.

Recycling batteries

Problems caused by used batteries are directly linked to

recycling organisation and efciency. The cost and sup-

ply o raw materials also make it absolutely essential to

recycle worn-out batteries.

It is the manuacturers and importers who have the res-

ponsibility o inorming users and o providing a recy-

cling service. They are assisted in this by organisations

set up according to the type o battery to be processed.

Companies specialised in collecting and recycling deadbatteries already exist or the ollowing types: Lead,

NiCd, NiMH and Li-ion. The collection o lead batteries

is done at a national level through salvage specialists,

garages, at waste sorting units and at car centres. For

the other types o battery, including NiCd, NiMH and

Li-ion, specifc organisations have been set up to pro-

cess accumulators rom computers, mobile phones, etc.

The considerable volumes generated, and thereore to

be recycled, have led to the setting up o specialised

companies or services. The specialists in France are SARP

Industries, a subsidiary o the Veolia group, and SNAM,a subsidiary o the German company F.W. Hempel & Co.

Recupyl, a start-up company based in Grenoble, has de-

veloped and patented an operational method o pro-

cessing lithium batteries. Used Zebra batteries are taken

back and processed directly by the manuacturer.




42

Geographic origin o raw materials

The meteoric growth o means o production o batte-

ries involves a proportionate increase in the amounts o

raw materials needed. Reserves o these materials, in-

cluding nickel, cobalt, lithium and zinc, among others,

exist in large quantities around the world. The geogra-

phic distribution o sources o these materials, which is

quite dierent rom that o ossil uels such as oil or

gas, means that the economic maps o the world have

to be redrawn. Other states have consequently become

producers o strategic raw materials, which has greatlybeneftted their balance o trade. Reserves o cobalt are

owned by the Republic o Congo, Australia and Cuba.

The largest nickel mines are in Australia, Cuba, France

(New Caledonia), Russia and South Arica. Australia,

China, Peru, Kazakhstan, the United States, Mexico and

Canada own the world’s reserves o zinc. At the present

rate o consumption, reserves will last or ± 43 years in

the case o nickel, ± 95 years or cobalt and about 20

years or zinc.

Enough lithium to supply battery producers

Lithium is a special case. Traces o lithium exist in the

world’s oceans, but are hard to exploit proftably. Lithium

is also ound in deposits o pegmatites (magmatic rock),

in some clays and in salt deserts. The largest o these salt

deserts are in South America, in Argentina, Chile and Bo-

livia, as well as in China and Tibet. One o these, which has

so ar not been mined, is in Bolivia, the “Salar de Uyuni”,

the largest salt desert in the world, covering 10,582 km2.

Industrial groups such as Mitsubishi and Sumimoto in

Japan and the French group Bolloré have approached the

Bolivian government with proposals to mine this enor-

mous reserve. The world’s resources o lithium, as estima-

ted by USGS (U.S. Geological Survey), amount to about4.1 million tons, which would make it possible to produce

several tens o millions o battery packs or EVs without

any major difculty in supply.

Source o data: usgs.gov


ar de Uyuni, the largest salt desert in the world. It lies at the southern edge o the altiplano and contains several million tons o lithium.ESA - European Space Agency - Envisat - May 2008



43 www.observatoire-vehicule-entreprise.com

Electric currents,rom socket to engine



44

The technical eatures o electric vehicles are described

in terms o electrotechnical units o measurement. The-

se units o measurement, which are dierent rom those

used or internal combustion engines, may be difcult

to understand. A ew points need to be understood in

order to decipher the technical specifcations o EVs.

Charging batteries and connecting to a mains

supply

EV batteries can be recharged rom European standard

mains supply sockets. In France mains electricity is 220 Volts

(V) and delivers a maximum intensity o 16 or 32 amperes

(A). 16 A sockets are standard, 32 A sockets being reser-

ved or appliances with heavy consumptions such as ovens

or electric burners. The maximum power* delivered is ex-

pressed in Watts (W) or kilowatts (kW). The duration o

use expressed in hours generates consumption expressed in

Watts per hour (Wh) or in kiloWatt per hour (kWh). The time

it takes to recharge a battery depends on the way they are

constructed and the technology used. Lead batteries take

a long time to charge (six to ten hours), whereas the most

recent types such as NiCd, Li-ion or Zebra batteries can be

recharged in our to eight hours. Electricity consumption

is calculated according to the type o charger ftted in the

vehicle. For example a light EV equipped with a 1,500 W

charger will consume between 7 and 12 kWh or a completecharge. The variation is determined by the capacity o the

batteries.

Battery capacity

The capacity o a battery is expressed in Ampere-hours

(Ah); this is the amount o electricity the battery can

supply. Depending on the voltage, the energy stored is

measured by the ollowing ormula:

Ah x V = Wh (or kWh).

For example, a 210 Ah battery pack under 48 Volts sup-plies 10 kWh, whereas another 210 Ah pack under 72

Volts supplies 15 kWh.

In practical terms the power loaded determines the ve-

hicle’s mileage range depending on the power o the en-

gine, the vehicle’s weight and the nature o the journey.

* The calculation ormula is W = V x A,i.e. 220 x 16 = 3,520 W or 3.52 kW or a standard 16A socket.1 kW = 1,000 W

Engine power

The power o an engine is expressed in kW. Figures given

as a general rule express nominal power, or example

4 kW or light quadricycles and a range o 8 to 30 kW

or EVs. In some cases manuacturers also give the engi-

ne’s peak power. This is a maximum value that lasts or

a ew seconds during starting or when going uphill. In

all cases the engine’s power is regulated by an electronic

variator which in turn is commanded by the accelerator

pedal.

Consumption per kilometre

The way to compare the electricity consumption o EVs

o a same category is to calculate the consumption per

kilometre driven. This is expressed in Wh per kilometre

or kWh per kilometre. Electricity consumption depends

o course on the weight o the vehicle, its payload, the

nature o the journey and average speed. Consumption

values are thereore expressed in ranges. These are around

0.08 to 0.15 kWh/km or vehicles in the quadricycle cate-

gory and vary between 0.10 and 0.25 in minicars. A simple

extrapolation or 100 km makes it possible to compare

the energy consumption o electric vehicles with that o

internal combustion engine vehicles. Urban electric cars,

rom the smallest to the highest perormers, consume8 to 20 kWh over 100 km. This means that batteries

charged at the “daylight hours” rate will cost 0.8 to

2 €/100 km. Batteries charged at night during“o hours”

rate will vary between 0.5 and 1.15 €/100 km.





45

“Filling up”

Electricity is available almost everywhere. This act is a

major advantage or the development o electric vehi-

cles. Added to that is the act that an ordinary mains

socket is all that is needed. Plug in an extension lead and

the car is recharged in just the same way as we already

recharge everyday appliances such as mobile telepho-

nes, laptop computers or a cordless electric drill.

Recharging times vary according to the type o batteryused. Lead batteries take a long time to charge (six to

eight hours), whereas the most recent types o battery

can be charged in fve to six hours. Rapid recharges,

which take one to two hours, partial recharges, top-up

charges are also possible with these technologies. Provi-

ded that one has the right sort o charger and access to

industrial type mains sockets.

Recharging a vehicle in public areas and at work

Charging points have been designed to withstand the ha-

zards entailed by installing them outdoors in public areas.

There are more and more o these charging points in areas

reserved or electric cars in parking lots. About 200 public

charging points, each with several sockets, were installed

in France in the late 1990s. There are about one hundred

in Paris.In early 2009 the government launched a vast national

programme to develop charging points that involves car

manuacturers, energy suppliers, local authorities, builders

and managers o public areas. The objective is to create a

charging inrastructure (in homes, in workplaces, on public

roads and also rapid charging points) to serve several tens o

thousands o electric vehicles by 2012.




This inrastructure is airly simple to build, as the work

required to install the points is light, indeed much lighter

than the work required to build flling stations selling petrol,

diesel or hydrogen.

The Better Place project

In late 2007 Shai Agassi, a wealthy entrepreneur in the

IT sector, announced the creation o Better Place. This

start-up venture has benefted rom an investment o

over 200 million dollars to organise the setting up o

networks o recharging points or electric cars. His aim

is to remove one o the obstacles to electric cars being

adopted by the general public.

Shai Agassi is an unusual person. He let his job as ma-

nager o the multinational company SAP to ound Bet-

ter Place (SAP is the largest supplier o inter-corporation

sotware in the world, and the third largest supplier o

sotware in general). His assessment is unequivocal: the

automotive industry is undergoing proound change

and is moving rom the present model, the 1.0 Car based

on the internal combustion engine to the 2.0 Car that

runs on renewable energy.

By the end o 2008, Better Place had achieved a series o impressive results, including:

- A partnership with the Israeli government and

Renault-Nissan or the building o a recharging inra-

structure covering the whole o Israel. Israel will thus

be the frst country in the world to build a national

network or electric cars.

- The signature o an agreement with Dong Energy in

Denmark and an investment o 103 million Euros or the

installation o a nationwide network.

- Better Place is associated with the Japanese automo-

tive giants and with the ministry o the environment

to develop a network o ultra rapid charging points in

Japan. The system rests on a simple principle: the battery

packs are interchangeable, so it will only take a ew mi-

nutes to change batteries beore driving o again.

- A charging network in Australia exclusively using re-

newable energies.

- The Irish government plans to have 10% o road vehi-

cles replaced by electric ones by 2020. To this end it has

invested one million dollars in an experimental project

with Better Place.

- In North America, Ontario in Canada and Caliornia

in the USA have chosen Better Place as partner to build

their recharging networks.

The rapid success o Better Place can be reproduced eve-rywhere, because it is based on a simple principle: cars

remain parked on average 23 out o every 24 hours; it

should be possible to recharge cars wherever they are

parked.

Future Better Place charging station © Better Place

Scooter Vectrix on an electromotive terminal© Elektromotive Ltd

46





47

Carbon emission fguresor electric and hybrid vehicles

It is a act that electric and hybrid vehicles emit less CO2

into the atmosphere at the local level: zero emissions

in the case o all electric cars and the lowest in each

category or hybrid cars. These are undeniable advan-

tages anyway, but when one adds the the consequences

o global CO2 emissions rom “well-to-wheel” or uels

derived rom oil, the advantage o electric engines over

internal combustion engines is much greater still.

Well-to-wheel efciency

Global counts o “well-to-wheel” emissions take into account

the CO2 emitted during energy production, transport (o cru-

de oil rom oil wells to storage acilities), during refning etc.as well as the CO2 emitted by the vehicle itsel.

In the case o electric vehicles it is necessary to quantiy the

CO2 emitted during the production o electricity. This varies

according to the orm o initial energy used. Electricity pro-

duced using renewable sources o energy (hydropower, wind

turbines, solar panels, biomass uel, etc.) has low levels o

emissions. Electricity produced in power stations using gas,

uel or coal on the other hand results in high levels o emis-

sions o CO2. Electricity produced in nuclear power stations

occupies a position somewhere in between that produced byrenewable energies and ossil uel energy. Global counts the-

reore vary according to country and the orm o energy used

to produce electricity. The notion o “energy mix” is used to

compare the CO2 emissions rom one country to another. That

or Western Europe (fgure 1) shows how much – more than

51% - electricity is still being produced using ossil uels.

France’s energy mix (fgure 2) consists largely o low emission

energy, including both nuclear energy and renewable energy,

and only 9.9% o ossil uel energy. France, whose electricity

production releases on average 75 grammes o CO2 per kWh,

is the leading country in Europe or its low CO2 emissions

fgure. The calculation o energy efciency in terms o “well-

to-wheel” provided by ADEME (fgure 3) show the overwhel-

ming superiority o electrically powered vehicles over ones

using other sources o energy.

The increase in eets o electric vehicles and

renewable energy sources

The progress achieved in terms o efciency and profta-

bility in the feld o renewable energy, particularly wind

turbines and solar panels, have led to an exponential

growth o production capacity all over Europe. Europe’s

objectives in developing renewable energy up to 2020

will continue to grow in this sector. For example energy

production rom wind turbines was 56,000 MW in 2007,

and will rise to 89,000 MW in 2010. The objective set by

the latest European directives is 180,000 MW by 2020.

The trend is similar or energy produced by solar pa-

nels. The 4,700 MWc capacity o installations in 2007

is projected to rise to 13,500 MWc in 2010. Expectedincreased sales o electric vehicles in the next ew years,

or example the objective o 100,000 “decarbonised”

vehicles by 2012 set by the French government is syn-

chronous with the development o low CO2 emissions

energy production.




48

Figure 1- Eastern Europe (Source EurObserv’ER 2007)

Figure 2 - France (Source EurObserv’ER 2007)

Figure 3 - "From well-to-wheel" (Source ADEME)

Structure o electricity production - 2007

Structure o electricity production - 2007



Geothermal 0,3%

Wind 3,1%Biomass 2,5%

Solar 0,1%

Non-renewable waste 0,6%

Hydraulic 15,7%

Nuclear 26,2%

Fossil 51,3%

Wind 0,7%

Biomass 0,7%

Non-renewable waste 0,3%

Hydraulic 11,2%

Marine energies 0,1%

Nuclear 77%

Fossil 9,9%



49

Short and medium-termprospects

This change in the automotive landscape is set to continue,

driven by many government programmes and thanks to the

advent on the market o a host o new vehicles in addition to

the existing range. Major initiatives involving energy producers,

government authorities, the world o research, consumers and

battery and car manuacturers are emerging in many parts o

the world. The quantities involved, rom a ew thousand to aew million units, show that we are seeing a real change o

scale in the market or electric and hybrid vehicles. The impact

o some state programmes on production capacity is going to

open the way to new players on the international market.

Colossal means in Asia

China plans to supply its internal market with a high per-

centage o electric and hybrid vehicles. Following the launch

in 2007 o a vast research and development programme cal-

led “Initiative 863” involving universities, research institutesand manuacturers, the Chinese government organised a

large scale demonstration programme in 2008. This pro-

gramme involves thousands o vehicles and the building

o a recharging inrastructure or EVs in the larger Chinese

cities. To ollow this up large unding has been set aside to

build a vast network o electric recharging points to match

the scale o the country.

In Japan, the prime minister’s ofce announced that

by 2020 hal the vehicles marketed in the country will

be powered by energy sources other than ossil uels.

Japan encourages the use o EVs by means o substantial

grants and converting the eets or large corporations

to electricity. The same is to be done with the Japanese

post ofce’s 21,000 vehicles. The government supportsa programme to install hundreds o recharging points

involving industrial manuacturers, energy producers,

builders and battery suppliers.

New players and established manuacturers

Every year manuacturers, whether new players or old

established corporations, announce more and more new

vehicles to go soon into production. For the USA, the

world’s single greatest market, the big Detroit manuac-

turers GM, Ford and Chrysler are preparing their switchto electric and hybrid cars.

• General Motors has attracted the most media attention

since 2007 with their announcement o the Volt project,

plug-in hybrid cars that are to be manuactured on a large

scale starting in 2010, frst in the USA under the Chevrolet

brand and then in Europe by their subsidiary Opel.




50

• Ford’s “electrifcation” plan centres on three new products:

- an electric commercial vehicle which will be available

in the US in 2010;

- a small electric car or the general public designed in

partnership with the Canadian equipment manuacturer

Magna;

- a range o new generation hybrid cars (including one

plug-in) rom 2012.

• Chrysler has come up with a new product in the US,

the Chrysler ENVI. The group is to launch a new range o

electric vehicles in the USA in 2010. The technology uses

the internal combustion engine to recharge the batte-

ries. Four models will be produced, the Patriot EV and

Wrangler EV jeeps, a minivan, the Town & Country EV

and a sports car, the Dodge Circuit EV. Global Electric

Motorcars (GEM), the group’s subsidiary specialised in

leisure vehicles, has announced production at the end

o 2009 o the Peapod, a small urban car.

• Still in the USA, a new manufacturer, Fisker Automotive

has raised more than $ 60 million in capital to build a

top o the range sports car, the Fisker Karma. This is a

high perormance plug-in hybrid with a top speed o

200 km/h and an acceleration o 0 to100 km/h in under

six seconds.

In Europe, new players in the industry have set out tocompete with the large groups who do not plan to enter

the market beore 2011 or 2012.

• PSA

The PSA group presented many diesel hybrid prototypes

rom 2006 on, including the 307, 308 and C4, beore

deciding not to go ahead with them. The latest o those

prototypes, the Peugeot Prologue HYmotion, should

have been the basis or a 3008 Hybrid4 in 2011, but the

date has been postponed to 2013. For all electric cars

PSA approached Mitsubishi with a view to marketing amodel derived rom the iMIEV around 2010.

• Renault/Nissan alliance

The group is planning to produce demonstration vehi-

cles or their validation eets beore the end o 2009.

The frst country involved is Israel in the context o the

Better Place project.

Mass production o a Mégane type saloon and a mo-

del derived rom the Kangoo is planned or 2011. A new

mass produced all electric car is announced or 2012. It

might resemble a concept car presented by Nuvu at the

Paris Motor Show in Paris in 2008.

• Bolloré

Electric cars designed by the Bolloré group have been

shown at European motor shows since 2005. These

shows and many articles in the press generated a real

interest among the general public. Ater working with

the demonstrator, developed with the help o engi-

neers at Espace Développement (the designers o the

Renault Espace), the Bolloré group turned to the Italian

coachbuilder Pininarina to produce Bluecar, a fve-door

fve-seater electric saloon car. Production is due to start

in late 2009.

• FAM Automobiles

This French company is a subcontractor to car manuac-

turers. Specialised in the mass production o LPG kits and

conversions o mass produced cars to our wheel drive,

FAM turned in 2008 to designing an electric urban car,

the F-City. F-City was designed to be a sel-service urban

mobility tool that does not require a driver’s licence. This

compact car is only 2.5 m long and 1.6 m wide. Its top

speed will be around 65 km/h, and it will have a range o

60 to 80 km depending on driving conditions.

• DuraCar

This start-up venture based in the Netherlands is

concentrating on a single model, an urban and suburban

commercial vehicle called Quicc. The aim is to market

a ully electric minivan by 2010. Duracar relies or this

project on the production acilities o the German group

Karmann, a German sub-contractor to the automotive

industry.

• ThinkIn addition to the Think City, production o which began

in Norway, Think’s Scandinavian engineers have desi-

gned an all electric fve door saloon car. Think Ox was

designed to be produced in several dierent versions.





51

Vehicles available in spring 2009

Mild hybrids

Honda Civic Hybrid

Insight 2009Mercedes S400

BMW X5

7 Series

Parallel hybrids

Toyota Prius

Lexus RX400h

GS 450h

LS 600h

Electric commercial vehicles

Smith Ampere

Edison

Newton

Modec Modec Van

Piaggio Porter

Micro-Vett Fiorino

Doblo

Electric-Road ZX40 STAGV Truck

AGV Van

VEM Gigione

Orso

Scudel

Doblet

Micro hybrids

Citroën C2 Stop & Start

C3 Stop & StartSmart Fortwo mhd

Mini One

BMW 1 & 3 Series

Kia Ceed ISG

Mercedes A Classe

Toyota IQ Optima Drive

Yaris Optima Drive

Auris Optima DriveFiat 500 PUR-O2

Hyundai i10 & i30 Blue

Mazda 3 2.0 DISI

Suzuki Alto

Land Rover TD4e

Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion

Passat BlueTDI

Electric cars

Venturi Fetish

Eclectic

Tesla

Motor Roadster

Loremo EV

Think City

Start Lab Street

Maranello

4 Cycle SCE electric

Reva Reva "i"

Mega City "e"

Matra M.S. GEM

Movitron Teener




Type o technology Pb NiCd NiMH Li-ion LiPo LiFePO4

Zebra NiZn

Wh/kg (weight) 40 60 80 160 200 200 120 80

Wh/l (volume) 75 150 250 270 300 220 181 140

Number o cycles 400 1,400 1,200 1,250 1,800 1,500 1,100 1,000

Power pack 10kWh

kWh/kg 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.16 0.2 0.2 0.12 0.08

Weight in kg 250 167 125 62,5 50 50 83 125

Lifetime in kilometres

Base 140 km per charge 56,000 196,000 168,000 175,000 252,000 210,000 154,000 140,000

Hypothesis 1 - 2009

Price per kWh 450 1 200 1,400 1,600 1,750 1,600 1,250 n/a

Price pack 10 kWh 4,500 12,000 14,000 16,000 17,500 16,000 12,500 n/a

Price per km 0.080 0.061 0.083 0.091 0.069 0.076 0.081 n/a

Hypothesis 2- Estimation or the end o 2010

Price per kWh 450 1,200 1,300 1,400 1,550 1,500 1,100 n/a

Price pack 10kWh 4,500 12,000 13,000 14,000 15,500 15,000 11,000 n/a

Price per km 0.080 0.061 0.077 0.080 0.062 0.071 0.071 n/a

Comparison table: weight / power / price


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