Electric Vehicles

“Electronic vehicles will have five times the number of circuitry and electronics than a diesel vehicle has. There is an opportunity,” CEO Peter Huntsman told the Houston Chronicle in March.

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The move leverages Huntsman Corp.’s position as the only U.S. producer of cyclic carbonates and supports the rapid growth of lithium-ion battery markets for electric vehicles, which represent a small segment of the $953 billion U.S. auto industry. Still, auto makers are heavily investing, introducing new electric pickup trucks and sports cars to showrooms to establish footholds in the burgeoning market.

Tesla is constructing a gigafactory outside Austin to produce electric cars, pickup trucks and batteries. The manufacturing plant is expected to be completed before the end of 2021, with some operations potentially coming online sooner.

General Motors in January announced it would produce only electric vehicles by 2035. That same year, California’s ban on sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles will go into full effect.

Ford unveiled the F-150 Lightning, an all-electric version of its best-selling F-150 pickup, last month. The Michigan-based automaker has committed $11.5 billion to electrify some of its most popular vehicles.

But will Texas go for it? The shift from fossil fuels to solar panels and wind turbines would have profound economic implications for the state’s oil and gas industry. Transportation accounts for about a quarter of total U.S. energy consumption, and is currently dominated by petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel.

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These shifts have a number of implications. Some ports and storage facilities will be better prepared with charging infrastructure. Other ports are looking at a change in the proportion of vehicle imports versus exports. On the roads, finished vehicle carriers need to consider the higher average weight of EVs.

Hybrids and full EVs still make up a minor portion of the global vehicle trade but their share is growing rapidly, as shown by the new report by Automotive from Ultima, the business intelligence arm of Automotive Logistics.

Download the full EV and lithium-ion battery supply chain analysis report

On a macro level, Europe is likely to see a much larger influx of Chinese-made cars than before. Volvo, Polestar and BMW are already building a number of vehicle for the European market in China and once the global aspirations of the Chinese OEMs start gaining momentum, that flow is only going to increase. MG already has already gained a good foot in the door with its keenly priced EV offerings.

Manufacturing majors
A trend over the last few years is that some smaller manufacturing countries have become major exporters when it comes to EVs. Belgium, for example, was the second largest exporter of EVs in 2019 by value, thanks mainly to production and export of the Audi e-tron SUV. Volvo Cars’ recent launch of the XC40 Recharge EV is giving that a further boost for the coming years. Sweden, meanwhile, is the third largest global exporter of plug-in hybrids thanks to the wide range offered by Volvo.

The US is normally more focused on producing for its home market as the cars it makes are not suited to the European market. However, in 2019, it was the largest pure EV exporter in the world, and the third largest for EVs and hybrids combined, thanks in large part to Tesla. While Tesla continues to increase output, it is also notably expanding its global footprint, having already launched production in China and looking now to start production in Germany.

Germany was in second place with decent EV output, but also buoyed by the popularity of the German premium brands’ many plug-in hybrid models.

A similar trend, but amplified, was visible for Japan, which was the leader in electric and hybrid vehicle exports, despite very low numbers of pure EVs leaving the country.

This was the result of the many Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi full hybrids manufactured in Japan. Hybrid giant Toyota has been reluctant to move into EVs and was vindicated in that strategy in 2020 as it met the EU’s fleet CO2 cap with relative ease. Meanwhile, Nissan’s popular Leaf EV has always been built locally, in Sunderland for Europe, in Tennessee for North America, and in Japan only for the Asian market. That may change in the coming years, as Toyota starts taking EVs more seriously, Nissan’s upcoming mainstream EV SUV, the Ariya, will be built in Japan.

According to the report, exporting electric vehicles may not happen in as large a volume as they do for internal combustion engine (Ice) vehicles. The logistical concerns and the high cost of production and components will likely encourage more OEMs to localise EV production. It is also probable that as battery plants and capacity increase, OEMs will produce EVs on a highly regional strategy, so the export champions of the Ice age might have to give way to new regions when EVs become dominant.

Download the complete battery supply chain report for more data

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tesla and other electric-vehicle manufacturers will have to wait yet another year to receive approval to sell their autos directly to customers.

Senate Bill 127, which the state Transportation Committee passed, 25-10 in March, failed to be called before the General Assembly’s regular session expired at midnight on Wednesday. Similar measures have failed over the past five years.

At issue is the effort to bypass the need for automakers like Tesla and Rivian to operate brick-and-mortar dealerships.

Many of the state’s current statutes were passed as far back as the 1930s and were intended to protect independent auto dealers from auto manufacturers looking to own licensed dealerships and/or sell cars directly to consumers. Enacted when the American auto industry was dominated by the Big Three – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler – the laws are viewed as outdated by Tesla and others in an era when electric vehicles are becoming popular.

Proponents of SB 127 – including cosponsor Sen. Will Haskell (D-Westport), Senate Chair of the Transportation Committee — say that the state is missing out on significant income. Tesla, which last year accounted for about 80% of EV sales, offers models priced from $36,990 to $200,000.

Other Transportation Committee members who voted in favor of the measure include Reps. Aimee Berger-Girvalo (D-Ridgefield), Laura Devlin (D-Fairfield), Cristin McCarthy Vahey, (D-Fairfield), Tom O’Dea (R-New Canaan), Stephen Meskers (D-Greenwich), David Michel (D-Stamford), Christopher Rosario (D-Bridgeport), Travis Simms (D-Norwalk), Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westport), andStephanie Thomas (D-Norwalk).

Among those voting in opposition was Rep. Matt Blumenthal (D-Stamford).

The Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association, which says it does not oppose EVs in principle, commissioned a study that said the legislation could cost more than 40,000 jobs, $3.9 billion in economic activity, $1.1 billion in personal income, and $431 million in state revenue by 2040.

The Nissan Leaf sitting in Paul Kershaw’s driveway outside Cambridge, England, might look like just another car, waiting for its driver to take it for a spin. But the electric vehicle has been more than a means of transportation. It’s also powered appliances, streetlights and other grid-reliant machinery in the neighborhood.

The exchange of power is part of a trial launched in 2019 by Ovo Energy Ltd., the U.K.’s second biggest energy supplier. When Kershaw heard about the program, he applied to be one of 330 people to register his car as an energy-storage device.

“I use my car only 1% of the time, so knowing that my car is there, and it’s active and it’s doing something — it’s being used to balance the grid,” Kershaw said, “it’s great knowing that.”

The one key requirement: to own a Nissan Leaf. The model, first introduced in 2010, is the only passenger EV in production that offers what is known as vehicle-to-grid capability — essentially, a bidirectional flow of electricity allowing an owner to charge up the battery or to draw on that when it’s needed by the grid.

With major car manufacturers from Bayerische Motoren Werke AG to Fiat SpA rolling out new models of electric vehicles, the global push to electrify transport is gathering momentum. Demand from cars will make up 10% of total power use in the U.S. and Europe by 2040, according to BloombergNEF, Bloomberg L.P.’s clean-energy research group. But battery-powered cars could supply power, too. In the U.K., which along with the U.S. is leading the way in vehicle-to-grid projects, tapping into vehicle batteries would enable grid operators to meet more than a quarter of peak power demand by the end of the decade.

For Ovo Chief Executive Stephen Fitzpatrick, one of the first challenges was to understand what might motivate customers to participate. Those in the trial got more than 4,800,000 kilometers of free driving, with Ovo paying for charging, as well as the chance to reduce home energy bills. By feeding the battery power into the grid, vehicle owners get paid like energy suppliers.

Convenience was a key consideration for Kershaw, 50. “I’m based at home and I knew that at peak times my vehicle would be at home fully charged,” he said. “I’ve been able to just change over to the vehicle to grid charger and not change any of my routines at all.”

Other participants expressed concerns about battery depletion from continued use. Would this kill a battery faster? Ovo worked with battery chemists over a year to study the batteries and ensure those in the trial remained in the warranty that Nissan issues to Leaf owners.

“We were able to improve battery lifetime by not leaving the batteries fully charged overnight,” Fitzpatrick said. “If you want to prolong the life of the battery, the best thing to do when you plug your car in is draw the power down to about 50%. That’s the most stable place for the battery to be.”

There are drawbacks, though. The vehicle-to-grid hardware and installation cost is higher than a smart charger. The current price, about £3,500 ($4,800), is expected to drop to £2,000 within two or three years as manufacturing scales up. Participants in Ovo’s trial get to keep their charger but the cost could be a significant barrier for consumers.

“When you’ve spent a lot of money on the car, I think the majority of people will be thinking, ‘I just want the cheapest charger that I can get,’” Kershaw said. “That was kind of my concern.”

Ovo has plans to roll out vehicle-to-grid charging on a commercial scale, Fitzpatrick said, backed by a change in charging protocols that’s coming in 2025 and should make it easier for car manufacturers to use bidirectional charging. According to BloombergNEF analyst James Frith, drawing on the power of battery EVs will help grid operators better manage unstable and inadequate supplies.

Similar efforts are being explored throughout Europe and by other power suppliers. In Germany, the Charging Interface Initiative, an association of the nation’s biggest car makers, is working to develop a combined charging system as the global standard for charging battery powered electric vehicles. The group has a roadmap for implementing vehicle-to-home connections, followed by linking to the grid. The U.K. arm of French utility Electricite de France SA is offering vehicle to grid charging to business customers.

The cost for consumers will come down in time “but the price of the asset is still very, very important to how the business model can develop,” said Vincent De Rul, EV Solutions Director at EDF Energy. Also, as car manufacturers recognize that there is more a benefit to this model and as consumers learn more about such options, Fitzpatrick said, the push will gather greater momentum.

Haskell, a Westport Democrat, and other backers in March rolled out the legislation that would permit electric vehicle manufacturers including Tesla, Rivian and Lucid to sell directly to the consumer. Connecticut law authorizes dealers, not manufacturers, to sell to buyers, which runs counter to the business model used by Tesla and other electric vehicle manufacturers.

Ford Motor Co. nearly tripled its electric vehicle sales last month, according to a company report.

The auto giant increased its EV and hybrid sales this May by 184% compared to May 2020, marking a record number of 10,364 EVs sold in a given month, the sales report found.

The significant increase is due in part to low sales last April and May during the height of the pandemic. Ford had also not started selling its electric Mustang Mach-E, which this year totaled 10,510 sales with 1,945 last month.

Still, spokesperson Said Deep said the growth is notable.

“It’s significant because the increase in Mach-E sales continues to grow month to month,” he said. “It’s selling as soon as it hits the dealer, and we’re doing everything we can to keep up with the demand.”

Additionally, the auto manufacturer announced a “massive number” of reservations for its new, all-electric F-150 Lightning truck. Ford Vice President of Sales Andrew Frick said in a statement that reservations have topped 70,000 pickups.

The F-150 Lightning is the first electric truck Ford has manufactured in 20 years. The first was the Ranger EV, which the company once tried to reclaim and destroy (Climatewire, June 3).

Ford’s EV sales growth comes as policymakers and auto manufacturers try to pivot away from internal combustion engines in an effort to combat climate change. The transportation sector makes up the biggest source of greenhouse gas releases in the United States and a quarter of total emissions globally. Several European countries, along with California, are issuing plans to phase out all gas-powered vehicles. Meanwhile, President Biden has promised to spend billions of dollars on charging infrastructure, tax credits and rebates to fuel the transition.

To stave off catastrophic warming, electric vehicles must account for 60% of global sales by 2030, according to a recent International Energy Agency report. EVs currently account for 5% of global sales (Climatewire, May 18).

Ford said it expects 40% of its global sales to be battery-electric vehicles by 2030.

Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2021. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.

NANPING, China, June 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Happiness Biotech Group Limited (the “Company” orNasdaq: HAPP), an innovative China-based nutraceutical and dietary supplements producer and e-commerce services provider, announced today that Taochejun (Fujian) Automobile Distribution Co., Ltd. (“Taochejun”), a subsidiary of the Company in China, has entered into a distribution agreement with Zhejiang Fengsheng Automobile Sales Co., Ltd (“Maple Auto”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Geely Technology Group Co., Ltd., or Geely, to distribute electric vehicles under the brand “Maple” .

According to the distribution agreement, Taochejun will become the sales agent for “Maple 80V” in Ningbo City and Hangzhou City. The minimum sales target for the six months ended December 31, 2021 is 200 vehicles. Maple Auto will provide complete after-sales service and technical support. Taochejun is an upgraded version of Happy Auto. The Company has redesigned and upgraded its auto Business Unit, which was initially under the brand name of “Happy Auto”, including the brand logo, marketing campaign and the future planning, etc. Taochejun will replace Happy Auto as the unified brand of the Company’s Auto Business Unit in the future. The Company has registered the trademark of Taochejun in China and launched the WeChat App of Taochejun in May 2021. Taochejun will fully inherit the resources and mission of Happy Auto, and further strengthen the sales and service of new and used cars, especially new energy vehicles.

“We are very happy to cooperate with Maple Auto and reach an agreement regarding distribution of Maple automobiles. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely, Maple Auto has strong technical support and industry influence. We believe that our cooperation will achieve good results. We also have very high hopes for Taochejun, as the upgraded version of Happy Auto, it will have more layout in the field of new energy vehicles. At present, we are still discussing cooperation with more manufacturers and large distributors to further expand our client base. We believe that with the growth of our platform, we will gain more attraction and trust from our clients in the future,” said Mr. Xuezhu Wang, CEO of the Company.

About Happiness Biotech Group Limited

Headquartered in Nanping, China, Happiness Biotech Group Limited has two business segments: nutraceutical and dietary supplements and e-commerce. The nutrition and dietary supplements business is focusing on the research, development, manufacture and marketing of various products made from Chinese herbal extracts and other ingredients. Over the past 17 years, we have established a product portfolio consisting of 32 PRC National Medical Products Administration registered “Blue-Cap” SKUs of nutraceutical and dietary supplements products. Our e-commerce business focuses on providing e-commerce solutions and services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Our mission for the e-commerce segment is to constantly enable small and medium-sized enterprises to fully leverage the power of e-commerce to grow rapidly. For more information, please visit: www.happ.org.cn

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. When the Company uses words such as “may, “will, “intend,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate” or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the following:  the Company’s goals and strategies; the Company’s future business development; product and service demand and acceptance; changes in technology; economic conditions; reputation and brand; the impact of competition and pricing; government regulations; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in China, the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on our operations and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing and other risks contained in reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

SOURCE Happiness Biotech Group Limited

Related Links

www.happ.org.cn

Oshkosh Corporation’s Fire & Emergency segment unveiled the Volterra platform of electric vehicles with the introduction of two new trucks under the Pierce Manufacturing and Oshkosh Airport Products brands.

Oshkosh Corporation has been developing electric products and equipment since the mid-1990s when the Company’s JLG Industries business launched its first electric boom lift. The Volterra platform unveiling continues Oshkosh Corporation’s successful history of electrification across a broad spectrum of products.

With more than two decades of electrification experience, we will continue to introduce electric vehicles and products that are environmentally responsible and purpose-built to enhance safety, productivity and performance. We look forward to serving the municipal and airport fire and emergency markets with the Volterra platform of electric vehicles.

—John Pfeifer, Oshkosh Corporation President and CEO

The first Pierce Volterra zero-emissions pumper has been placed on duty with the City of Madison Fire Department in Wisconsin, making this the first electric fire truck in service in North America. The Volterra pumper is serving front line duty at Station 8, the City of Madison’s busiest fire station, supporting a population of over 250,000.

Simultaneously over the next several months, the Striker Volterra performance hybrid Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicle will be showcased at airports across the United States, providing firefighters the opportunity to experience first-hand Volterra technology.

The Pierce Volterra zero-emissions pumper and Striker Volterra performance hybrid ARFF vehicle feature patented Oshkosh Corporation Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) and hybrid vehicle technologies.

The Volterra platform uses Oshkosh’s parallel-electric drive train.

• Electro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission (EMIVT)
• Integrated onboard batteries
• Internal combustion engine for continuous and uninterrupted power to the pumping system or drive system

The chassis will operate under electric power in all normal operational situations and will leverage the internal combustion engine for backup power in extended emergency operations. Standardized Pierce pumping configurations, up to 2000 gpm, are driven through the electric driveline and are powered by either the integrated onboard batteries or the internal combustion engine.

The driveline allows for zero emissions during quick attack responses, and has the ability to transition seamlessly to internal combustion power for extended pumping operations.

The Oshkosh Airport Products Striker Volterra uses an Oshkosh-patented hybrid-electric drivetrain featuring an electro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission allowing zero-emissions operation when powered by the integrated onboard batteries, and can be coupled to the internal combustion engine to provide continuous and uninterrupted power to the pumping system or drive system.

The Striker Volterra is capable of achieving 28% improved acceleration when fully loaded, resulting in a quickened response time. Idle reduction for up to one hourstandby using onboard energy storage is possible. The vehicles has available Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) options for further electric vehicle driving capabilities.