China accounts for forty percent of global electric cars sales. Ford wants to crack that market with Fully Electric Vehicles Sold Under a New Brand, made in China of course.
Ford announced plans on Tuesday to form a new joint venture with Anhui Zotye Automobile Co., a Chinese brand that specializes in all-electric vehicles.
Ford and Zotye are exploring a 50:50 partnership to produce a line of electric vehicles. Ford said the cars would be sold under a new brand, but did not offer additional details.
China already accounts for 40% of all electric cars sold worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency. Zotye, which does not produce gas or diesel cars, sold more than 16,000 electric vehicles through July this year — a 56% increase from the same period in 2016.
Bill Russo, managing director at Gao Feng Advisory Company, said Ford is the first global automaker to partner with a local firm that exclusively produces electric cars.
GM Sells $5,000 Electric Car
Counting government incentives, GM is Selling a $5,000 Electric Car in China.
General Motors will start selling a tiny electric car in China this week that will cost about $5,300 after national and local electric vehicle incentives, according to GM.
For that sort of price, the Baojun E100 is no Cadillac, of course. The two-seat car’s wheelbase — the distance from the center of the front wheels to the center of the rear wheels — is just 63 inches. That’s about 10 inches shorter than Daimler’s (DDAIF) Smart ForTwo, a car that is already remarkable for its stubby proportions.
The E100, which is Baojun’s first electric car, is powered by a single 39-horsepower electric motor and has a top speed of 62 miles an hour. The E100 can drive about 96 miles on a fully charged battery, according to GM (GM).
Baojun is a mass-market car brand from General Motors’ SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture in China. It’s China’s eighth most popular car brand, according to data from LMC Automotive, ranking below brands like Volkswagen, Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC) and Buick.
India to Sell Only Electric Cars by 2030
Finally, please consider India to Sell Only Electric Cars by 2030
India is one of the world’s most polluted countries. Its energy department said in a blog post that it has set the “ambitious” target to stop selling gas-powered vehicles in an attempt to clean up its air.
As the country’s economy has boomed, new industries and commuters have spewed pollutants in the air at staggering rates. Now, its 1.3 billion residents are suffering. One estimate says India’s air contributes to 1.2 million deaths per year. Doctors have said breathing the air in New Dehli, the nation’s capital, is like smoking 10 cigarettes a day.
India’s energy minister, Piyush Goyal, said recently that the country will help facilitate the electric car effort by offering subsidies for a couple of years. “After that,” he said, “the cost of electric vehicles will start paying for themselves.”
Tesla hasn’t actually entered the Indian market yet, but Musk has frequently talked about his plans to open up shop there. He said earlier this year that it could happen by summer, but those plans appear to be delayed.
India is anxiously awaiting Tesla’s arrival. Even the head of Mahindra, India’s leading electric carmaker, told Musk he’ll welcome the competition.
Tesla Challenge
Greener Grass
Will electric cars really be greener?
If China or India burn coal to produce the electricity to recharge the batteries they sure won’t be.
Nuclear has its own set of problems as Japan found out.
Natural Gas?
OK but China wants to be energy independent and it has a lot of coal. Natural gas is expected to account for only 10% of Chinese energy needs by 2020 according to Wikipedia.
Considering China’s immense demand for energy, gas plays a relatively small role in its energy use, with only 5% of total energy in 2012. However, Chinese authorities see natural gas as a lower-polluting and less carbon-intensive alternative to coal, and gas consumption is increasing rapidly. Natural gas is expected to supply 10% of the nation’s energy supply by 2020.
China produced 112 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2013, making it the sixth largest gas producer in the world.Gas production more than doubled over the period 2005-2013.
Despite rapidly rising natural gas production, in 2013 China imported 52 billion cubic meters of natural gas, making it the world’s fifth largest gas importer. Imports increased more than tenfold in the period 2008-2013. China has worked to diversify its sources for natural gas imports.
Greener or not, electric vehicles are coming by government mandates and subsidies.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
The beauty of electric isn’t that I’m necessarily removing any of the pollution today, but that I’ve converted my vehicle to a form of power that can be substituted for a green option at a later date. Sure you may be fueling your car with electricity from a coal powered plant today, but there is nothing stopping you from getting that same electricity from hydro, solar, or wind tomorrow. And if I recall correctly China is also the largest installer of solar panels and actively looking to “green” up their energy production. (No idea about India, but presume they are taking smaller steps in the same direction.)
LikeLike
Yes, that is my thinking also – it will create a demand for clean sourced electricity. I hope that nuclear is not chosen, it has a powerful lobby also.
In honesty I actually applaud the introduction of diversity technologies, but I do not like imposition and subsidy. The arguments that race us to false conclusion are that other forms have been subsidised to attain market dominance. Though that may be so, two wrongs don’t make right.
Where the proper open debate on future direction?
Or is it a question of “national security” and not for the common person to consider?
One example of a weakness of AV for its enthusiasts
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/08/22/hacked-family-robots-could-turned-weapons-spying-tools/
is that you create a dependency on centralised oversight of all software and its interactions. That creates a single point of weakness and control for all vehicles were they to be AV.
Would you trust a programmer and backoffice official “security” that much?
LikeLike
Cars with WIFI have already been hacked and disabled in transit. I won’t buy a car with WIFI or built in GPS if I never buy a new car again. I’d be willing to bet that there is already a back door for law enforcement. There is no freedom under surveillance. Way too much surveillance already.
LikeLike
Even without wifi – if I remember one was via regular dashboard radio reception. Even modern electronic engine control systems are a weakness. Basically anywhere a control system reads an outside communication is potentially flawed, and that is not to mention purposefully bugged software that could be programmed to act in a certain way under a certain scenario… say a known energy pulse that triggers a certain reaction by normal engine sensors….going off the deep end a bit there but I can guarantee that these sort of exploits are searched for, if not purposefully incorporated, and pretty much untraceable also. Just does not reassure, the more complex the greater the vulnerability. The benefits will be balanced against drawbacks… but what happens when 9/10 autos are “controllable”, it leaves room for a lot of mischief.
LikeLike
GPS is one way communication dude.
LikeLike
Plenty of things will prevent the substituting of “green” electric power for those nasty coal plants. For example, the limited availablity of even very inefficient hydropower, wind power, and solar power sites. Also, the need to balance intermittent power on the grid. And the many trillions of dollars of infrastructure investment that would be required to replace efficient coal and nuclear power with 4th rate alternatives.
You are talking about a world in which blackouts are the norm, and access to reliable power will be strictly for the upper classes….
LikeLike
To the contrary, the ability to generate local power supported by a power bank provides greater up time in many situations. From a business continuity standpoint I would much prefer to generate my own power on the roof of my building than rely on a grid. (And it makes economic sense to do so now.)
LikeLike
“Greener or not, electric vehicles are coming by government mandates and subsidies.”
…
China?
US?
If US:
“Since 2010, buyers of qualified plug-in electric-drive vehicles have been eligible
for a federal tax credit of up to $7,500. These credits are available for the first
200,000 customers of each auto company producing eligible vehicles.
…
Federal tax credits for EVs are a part of broader set of EPA policies, which
require congressional approval to adjust. So the Trump administration may
not eliminate them prematurely but is unlikely to extend these credits. Without
these credits, this market is likely to crash.”
https://static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/industry-center/analysis/EV_Report_April17.pdf
LikeLike
Why has no magazine road tested the Tesla 3? Is it a #FakeCar
LikeLike
Am I the only one that recalls that a few years ago hydro power was NOT considered green power because it alters the river environment so much?
Am I the only one that knows that you need electricity in order to start up a wind turbine?
Or that solar power is not even close to a replacement to electricity due to its complete lack of reliability?
And last, am I the only one that is aware of both the human and environmental costs of producing the metals and materials for batteries?
Sometimes the solution if worse than the problem, as witnessed what happened when paper products were replaced with plastic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That thing GM is selling for $5,000 is an extended-range electric golf cart with doors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Except it doesn’t even have room for golf clubs!
LikeLike
Which is all, and more, you need for travelling < 62mph for <90 miles. And plenty more than Americans had available to them, back when America was a better country than it has been for the past 50 years or so…….
LikeLike
Back before ….
LikeLike
Following your logic, let’s regress back to the horse and buggy—which is all and more you need for travelling…
LikeLike
Most people, most of the time, drive 1 or two to a car. At less than 62mph. For less than 90 miles. No matter what kind of car they happen to have. This thing does that as well as any Lexus, Ferrari or Rolls out there. Very different from a horse and buggy.
LikeLike
That’s exactly right. Except for all those other times that are outside the normal day-to-day commute most people don’t really need much more than an electric.
Then the real issue is that renting a car is a pure hassle and incredibly expensive, so much so that people will pay much more for a daily driver to avoid having to rent when taking a trip.
LikeLike
Some people certainly would. If this thing really is good for 2/62/96, is of GM quality, reliability and warranty, and did sell in the US for $5K, I bet it would have takers up the yazoo. As a second car, high school/college kid car, easy to park urban dweller car, what have you.
LikeLike
Lets all agree on the basis for electrical cars. There are two long term fundamental advantages.
1. They shift the pollution from cars to where ever the power plant is located. This is important for Peking, Paris, and Los Angeles.
2. The cost of energy is $200-300 less per year for equivalent cars. This is because NG, coal, and nuclear are so much cheaper then oil.
These advantages are underwhelming. For example, most people that buy >$30K cars couldn’t care less about saving $200/y, IMO.
So I think that the electrical cars will die unless the USA State and Federal Govt. renew their substities.
LikeLike
They can always tax the alternative to make petrol/diesel more expensive.
LikeLike
The gas car is already dead. It just doesn’t know it yet. Go test drive an electric car.
1. Improve customer experience. Quieter, dramatically lower maintenance, no need to stop for fuel in daily use, easy to make extremely high performance.
2. In some cases, already cheaper than a gas car. As production scales, costs will continue to fall until electric is cheaper in most cases.
These are the only points that matter. People will contemplate whether it is worthwhile to pay extra and deal with the dirty noisy nonsense of a hybrid to make cross-country trips a little quicker. Nobody will seriously consider a pure gas vehicle except for very special use cases – like military and rural fire fighters.
3. Extremely fuel flexible (you can have a solar powered or coal powered car, if you’re part of the 0.01% of people who cares where their energy comes from).
4. Shift pollution from millions of nearly uncontrollable sources that degrade over time to thousands of sources that are tightly controlled and have been dramatically improving over time. Getting the real life emissions performance improvements that EVs offer can’t be done with gas vehicles.
Most technical people argue about point 4, but it is nearly irrelevant to consumers. Engineers talk technical analysis. Consumers buy what they want. EVs are awesome, so they win.
LikeLike
You can’t call yourself an environmentalist if you are not in favor of nuclear power.
LikeLike
Without government subsidy EVs will always be too expensive. Battery costs will go up with scaling up production instead of the other way around. Because of the limited and cost of components in batteries.
And batteries are filthy. Separating and recycling the components is expensive.
A $22,000 gasoline car with 35 mpg will hurt low end EV sales. The government subsidy will be huge. Oh well, we only had a $1 trillion federal negative cash flow last year so what is some more welfare.
LikeLike
Ultimately they will tax gasoline cars to “level the playing field”.
LikeLike
The gasoline ICE engine may still be a contender for a “green” environment — search “Mazda HCCI engine”.
P.S. Has any progress been made on building a Thorium based molten salt reactor? Its high temperatures could be used to convert coal into liquid fuels which HCCI engines may be able to burn.
LikeLike
“The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is conducting Phase 1 of a pre-licensing vendor design review on the Terrestrial Energy molten salt IMSR, which it expects to be completed in September 2017 as it moves into the engineering phase.”
http://bit.ly/2x9EQ8k
Thorium is good but so is uranium. Best are going to be the fast reactors that burn so called spent fuel.
LikeLike
Top speed 62 MPH? Not suitable for freeway driving! My 1929 Model A Ford with a flathead 4 cylinder engine has 1 more horsepower and a higher top speed. My Model A Ford also has a much longer range with it’s 10 gal. fuel tank, and holds 4 or 5 people. I’m not impressed with the new electric cars.
LikeLike
Anybody who gets into an accident in one of those $5000 cars is as good as dead.
LikeLike
Much less so than the average Chinese he gets into an accident with. The latter overwhelmingly likely to be on a sub 250cc bike……
LikeLike
Coal can produce electricity cleanly. It’s just a much more expensive process than burning it directly.
Likewise, new nuclear plants, in theory, can produce no nuclear waste and are guaranteed to never melt down.
Problem is people hear the words coal or nuclear and freak out.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
LikeLike
Read MarketWatch.com…..”Want to fight climate change? Don’t invest in Tesla.”
LikeLike
All-electric vehicles will continue to grow in number, but the number of hybrids will grow faster and dominate the roads for the next 20 years. The cost/benefit of simple hybrids is the main reason why. Simple hybrids shut off the engine when braking or stopped and restart the engine when you step on the gas. That is a big saving in gas and pollution. Adding smaller inexpensive batteries to these hybrids allows them to travel short distances (up to 50 km) which makes them perfect for city use. The fact that they still use gasoline (or another fossil fuel) makes them good for long highway trips as well.
China is very smart to try to be the leader in both electric and hybrid vehicles. They are pushing for a Chinese auto firm to buy a stake in (or outright buy) Fiat Chrysler Jeep. Why just sell steel to the US when you can sell the entire car.
Regarding generation of electricity: currently all type of generation are needed, but the trend is towards more renewables as time goes on. Solar seems to be the winner (at the moment), as technological improvements continue to lower costs and improve output from solar panels.
Good old human ingenuity continues to improve the cost/benefit of generating electricity and driving more cleanly/efficiently. Now, if the car could just do the driving for me!
LikeLike
Yeah well human ingenuity created socialism, too.
Ingenuity without economics is a recipe for disaster.
LikeLike
China owns the world’s rare earth market. As long as that is true, they will own any tech that requires lots of rare earths such as high efficiency motors for electric cars, etc.
The “trend” towards renewables is being driven by government policy pushing that up our collective arss’ if you ask me. I do not believe that trend is evidence solar and wind are good choices for the future.
If we want a bright future, plentiful, reliable, dispatchable energy is needed. Solar and wind are not reliable nor dispatchable. In ways that matter they are not that plentiful, either.
LikeLike
Residents in The Villages (a Florida retirement community) have had these golf carts… um, I mean “cars”… for at least two decades. I doubt that is the only retirement community that has them.
Elsewhere in Florida, huge development communities (not exclusive to retirees) also use golf carts extensively.
Residents on Cape Cod, Mass and planned communities near Milwakee, WI also use pimped out golf carts to get around.
Island communities in North and South Caroline have residents using golf carts. Georgia too.
I doubt this is an exhaustive list… just pointing out this Ford golf cart thing is nothing but a marketing gimmick.
LikeLike
Yeah, these cars are probably best in urban environment catering to singles … home of public transportation, uber, zip cars, expensive parking, etc.
Why bother?
LikeLike
You can put a license plate on golf carts in Florida if you meet the criteria for safety etc.. You can only use them on roads with 35mph speed limits or less.
LikeLike
The media reacts to Trump’s latest speech (same cartoon can be used for the next three years without changing anything):
http://assets.amuniversal.com/027d18a063b80135e319005056a9545d
LikeLike
Here are a few recent tidbits aside from carbon footprint discussions associated with electric cars. How come they can’t completely manufacture electric cars with solar or wind power only? Think about that.
https://fuelingusforward.com/dirty-secrets-electric-cars/
LikeLike
For two car families the answer could be a cheap Electric built in China but sold in the U.S. and a Mazda HCCI non-hybrid with a 900 mile range and a less than $25000 price tag.
The Mazda should be good for 300,000 miles with normal service and the cheap Electric should be good for 100,000 to 250,000 miles depending on proper service.
After that technology should provide many other choices including not owning any car, just rent when you need.
If you made a good choice before, you can hang-in there for five years to get these. I can for five to ten years.
LikeLike
Indias pollution is just India being India.
https://www.google.ca/amp/indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/take-steps-to-check-rampant-adulteration-at-fuel-pumps-sc-to-govt-2998446/lite/
Expect the fix to be worse than the problem
LikeLike
What a joke:
India: Total primary energy use of 775 Mtoe in 2013
Coal (44%)
Biomass and waste (23%)
Petroleum & oth liquids (23%)
Natural gas (6%)
Nuclear (1%)
Hydroelectric (2%)
Other renewables (1%)
LikeLike
“Nuclear has its own set of problems as Japan found out.”
All of Japan’s nuclear problems are self-inflicted:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2013/01/11/like-weve-been-saying-radiation-is-not-a-big-deal/#5df0cc2f3a7e
FTFA:
UNSCEAR also found no observable health effects from last year’s nuclear accident in Fukushima. No effects…
UNSCEAR’s chair Wolfgang Weiss stated that no radiation health effects had been observed in Japan among the public, workers or children in the area of the damaged nuclear power plants, in keeping with studies already published by the World Health Organization and Tokyo University. Doses of radiation received by people near the damaged power plant were so low that no discernible health effect could be expected.
LikeLike