By HDK / Published on Fri, 2010-01-15 16:35
This paper describes the performance of the network of a typical future residential concept area, as has been studied in the Intelligent E-Transportation Management project. Several scenarios have been elaborated by load flow simulations. The study investigated what level of introduction of electric vehicles, heat pumps, photovoltaic systems and micro combined heat and power plants is feasible in this network. Possible overload situations are examined and the opportunities of demand side management for the power grid are investigated.
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Electric Vehicles
By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 13:32
The Electric Vehicles market has gone from barely noticed to one of the biggest stories in 2008/09.
This microsite aims at gathering information on the solutions available for electric vehicles, their batteries and the necessary charging infrastructure. The challenges, opportunites and the role Electric Vehicles can play on decarbonizing the economy will be analysed here.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 13:20
The success of the electric vehicle will depend on a number of factors that need to be tackled within the near future. Incentives by governments and the premise of environmental concerns will probably not balance the limited range or the grid integration issues.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 13:14
Electric vehicles may be going mainstream very soon! Whether it is just trendy to have one or not, governments and industries across the world are getting to grips with them. All it takes is to have the vehicles on the market, because the grounds for buying one are there. The reduction in emissions and energy savings convince many customers, but to counter the price premium, governments across Europe (and the world) are bringing up a number of incentives.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 12:56
The recently established Electrification Coalition, a group of business leaders committed to promoting the deployment of electric vehicles though a variety of policies and actions, has published its Electrification Roadmap: a sweeping report outlining a vision for the deployment of a fully-integrated electric drive network.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 12:47
Transport & Environment, a Brussels-based organisation whose mission is to promote transport policy that is based on the principles of sustainable development, has recently published a report analysing what role electric cars could play in the decarbonisation of transport.
Visitors to the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show may have been left with only one impression: the future is electric. Virtually every manufacturer exhibited a car powered by batteries. Electric cars are the talk of the town.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 12:36
In 2008, WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) published Plugged-in: The end of the oil age making the case for electric vehicles.
This book aims to demonstrate how automotive electrification can ease the necessary transition towards a transport paradigm which is both highly efficient and compatible with a sustainable renewable energy future.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-09-29 05:30
Car makers collaborate with utility companies
A successful transition to electric vehicle (EV) transport will require more than electric cars that perform well on the road. It will also require charging systems that fulfil the consumer’s needs.
The development of such systems can only be accomplished through collaboration between car makers and utility companies. The latter have to ensure that the appropriate charging technology is in place and that the national electric grid can support the increased demand.
Since drivers will need to be able to charge their vehicles wherever they are, smart charging meters will have to be installed in large numbers. Moreover, car makers and utility companies will have to agree on an industry standard to ensure that those meters communicate with all the EVs.
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By HDK / Published on Mon, 2009-09-21 14:04
This paper extends a broad functional category approach for the study of technological capability progress recently developed and applied to information technology to a second key case—that of energy based technologies. The approach is applied to the same three functional operations—storage, transportation and transformation—that were used for information technology by first building a 100 plus year database for each of the three energy-based functional categories.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Wed, 2009-09-09 11:54
This document is an overall report of the seminar “Electricity in the next decade”, the first in an annual series of events regarding “Low carbon electricity systems”. KEMA, ECI and Leonardo ENERGY are jointly organising these events.
Next to the topics presented during the first event, a few additional topics have been added in order to create a white paper and a more complete picture on the theme “Electricity in the next decade”.
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By HDK / Published on Wed, 2009-08-26 13:49
Electric vehicles have gained much attention in the last few years. Though the concept of electric vehicles is already known from history and almost every decade had an upsurge, a real breakthrough for this kind of transportation has yet to be made. The main reason was the limited capacity of the battery systems, but with new developments in the field of electricity storage, new battery systems are being developed with higher energy densities and longer lifetimes.
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By HDK / Published on Fri, 2009-08-21 19:52
A new paper from Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center
We examine the potential economic implications of using vehicle batteries to store grid electricity generated at off-peak hours for off-vehicle use during peak hours. Hourly electricity prices in three U.S. cities were used to arrive at daily profit values, while the economic losses associated with battery degradation were calculated based on data collected from A123 Systems LiFePO4/Graphite cells tested under combined driving and off-vehicle electricity utilisation.
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By HDK / Published on Fri, 2009-08-21 18:27
A new paper from Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Tue, 2009-08-18 16:41
The implementation of millions or even hundreds of millions of electric vehicles (EVs) will require a lot of effort on technical and financial aspects, but also on socio-economic aspects.
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By HDK / Published on Mon, 2009-08-17 13:59
President Obama announced on August 5 2009 the start of 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects that will receive $2.4 billion in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The aim of the projects is to accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of electric vehicles, batteries, and components for the next generation of advanced vehicles. The announcement marks the single largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles made in the US, and shows that the US is willing to invest in the vision of electric cars.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Fri, 2009-05-29 11:49
At the moment, the market is dominated by conventional cars, with a combustion engine fuelled by fossil fuel. Some car manufacturers also introduced hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), that make use of both electric motors and other types of engine. Batteries of hybrid vehicles can be charged from an external source, the so called plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). The coming decade will show us whether the electric vehicle will be capable to oust these types of cars and will be worthy to win the trust of car drivers…
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By HDK / Published on Fri, 2009-05-29 08:41
Date & Venue: June 16, 2009 - Arnhem
A new annual congress has been established with the intention of exchanging knowledge on low carbon electricity systems. The congress invites the participation of professionals interested in developing their vision of low carbon electricity, including policy makers, utility planning managers, consultants, energy industry representatives, research journalists and academics. Participants can expect a realistic, market-oriented approach with academic validation.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-05-19 05:30
Electronic management system controls temperature
Last March, the Société de Véhicules Electriques (SVE) presented its new battery system for electric vehicles (EVs).
SVE is a joint venture of the Dassault Group and the Heuliez Company. Dassault is known for the design and manufacture of military and civilian aerospace equipment. Heuliez is specialised in car design, engineering, and OEM manufacturing. The mission of SVE is the development of electric and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles, EV drives, and equipment.
The new system combines the Cleanbat modular battery set, containing one or more lithium-ion units with a capacity of 7 kWh, with the Digital Vehicle Management System (DVMS) control unit. The DVMS controls the charging, discharging, and temperature of each battery unit and the battery system as a whole for optimal performance and safety.
Temperature control is one of the key issues in a battery-powered electric vehicle drive system. If the battery cells become too cold, the autonomy of the vehicle drops. If they become too hot, the battery thermal controls may fail, creating a safety problem. Moreover, both too much cold and too much heat have a negative influence on the life expectancy of the system.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Mon, 2009-05-11 05:30
Improving operational, environmental, and financial performance
In discussions regarding electric vehicles, the argument is often heard that electric drives have to surrender to internal combustion drives when it comes to output power. That is a myth, as is proved by giant electrically driven mining trucks of 3,000 hp.
These trucks are used in mines throughout the world. They convert power from a diesel engine into electricity, which is then used in an electric drive system. The main reason for this energetic detour is to ease braking and speed regulation. Using an internal combustion engine for such a powerful truck would require an enormous gearbox and a complex braking system, involving a considerable amount of maintenance.
Siemens recently developed a new technology for improving the performance of this kind of electric vehicle: trolley trucks.
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