What the Heck is Happening in China regarding E-bikes?
Thomson Reuters article titled
"Sparks fly as China quarrels over battery-powered bikes" says a green transportation
group in Beijing is concerned about the lead-acid batteries in some e-bikes as an
environmental issue. As if the motorcycles and cars that will take the place of the
e-bikes in danger of being panned don't have lead-acid batteries in them for starting,
lighting and ignition. And those gas-burners bring a host of other environmental issues
with their expanded use, including more sprawl and traffic congestion. It also ignores
that the lead in the batteries is sufficiently valuable to encourage recycling.
The rest of the world has largely standardized on 32 km/h (20 mph) as the acceptable
electric assist maximum speed. Presumably the manufacturers only want to sell what they
export within China as well. Keeping the official limit at 20 km/h (12 mph) will only force
the small manufacturers to divide their resources over two model lines, one for each power
rating. Given China is a large market, this could encourage those manufacturers to focus on
the domestic market rather than models suitable for export, which could slow their acceptance
in the rest of the world which has so much of its manufacturing done in China now.
No word on what support will be provided to owners of the newly orphaned
car line.
That leaves only Nemo as a supplier under the current Quebec pilot project,
and they only build a truck; no cars in their line. That's going to make the
value of the pilot project pretty questionable unless another passenger LSV
is allowed to acquired under the project.
When is Orange Green?
You decide if it's green with envy, green that will have to come from
your wallet, or environmentally green. Yet another of the automakers
have learned that electric doesn't have to mean boring. The Audi e-tron
got fresh orange paint for it's lastest round of exhibitionism.
[dead site: http://www.leftlanenews.com/audi-e-tron-concept.html]
Left Lane News article
Let's hope the R4 retains much of the spirit of the concept vehicle,
and sports a price that means it actually takes to the road, and not just
the Audi museum.
[dead link: http://www.audi.com/com/brand/en/experience/technology_study.html]
Audi's Web page on the e-tron concept car
December 4, 2009
B.C. = Beyond Confusing
I have long maintained that the biggest obstacle facing the widespread adoption
of environmentally-superior electric vehicles is NOT the technology, but the minefield
of regulatory barriers as governments at all levels take bizarre stands and enact
Kafkaesque rules to delay their adoption. The sheer breadth and depth of these
inanities makes we wonder if it is intentional at some level.
[dead link: http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/northshoreoutlook/news/78180597.html]
The story that brings me back to this theme today comes from British Columbia, our
scenic left coast and nominal home of Canada's preponderance of treehuggers.
In June of 2008, the B.C. government, which had previously legalized
low speed electric vehicles (LSV), turned the rules upside down, and devolved the
authority to allow LSVs (or not) to the municipalities. So, instead of using the
established provincial regulatory infrastructure, LSV owners in B.C. now have to get
permits from both the provincial and municipal governments in order to be able to drive
their cars. To my knowledge, this need for two levels of permits for a vehicle class
is unique in Canada. Clearly, the municipalities were not prepared for the hand-off,
and many have fumbled the ball. For example, the article reports that on the North Shore
of Vancouver, the current patchwork of regulations means that it is not legal to drive
your LSV to the works yard where you have to go for the required inspection.
If that weren't confusing enough, the provincial government has confused LSVs with
highway-capable EVs in some of their literature, and the province has introduced yet
another term - Neighbourhood Zero Emissions Vehicle or NZEV - to describe the vehicles.
They are usually called LSVs in most other Canadian jurisdictions and NEVs in most of
the U.S.
In hopes that it will help some current and prospective LSV/NEV/NZEV owners in B.C.,
we continue (sporadically) to maintain our list of which municipalities have
legalized these neighbourhood and climate change friendly vehicles. We're doing this because,
having created this regulatory nightmare, the provincial government has declined to
provide this valuable information to its constituents and taxpayers. (B.C. municipal
officials: please feel free to provide us with updates. [has not happened as of 2024])
November 17, 2009
If you want an electric car, make your own
It all has a dreary familiarity to it. The mainstream media pump up the arrival of the
electric car prototypes (1970s, 1990s and again now), then the automakers and our
governments (cheered on by Big Oil) take them away from us like Lucy with Charlie
Brown's football. (If you remember that from the Peanuts comic strip, maybe you
also remember the previous alleged comings of the electric car.)
Ontario finally legalized the Low Speed electric Vehicle (LSV) this past summer,
just a decade after U.S. states did so. But in an artful display of doublethink,
they then added regulations that ensured no production model could qualify. Then,
when they announced incentives for electric cars in July to take effect in the
second half of 2010, the LSV was specifically excluded from the incentives, although
it would have qualified based on the skimpy details provided at the time of the
announcement. Stay tuned while they find a reason to exclude conversions and the
few EVs already on the road in Ontario from the incentives as well. It's not as
though we really want to foster a new, green industry in the province that would
create jobs (vehicle manufacturing, sales, batteries, electric motors, other components).
[2024 update: oh wait, apparently Ontario did want to do that after all.]
Now with confusion as to what incentives will really apply in the U.S., and when,
it appears more of the erstwhile EV makers will likely disappear.
Last week,
Chrysler walked away from its earlier commitment to deliver 3 different
models of electric and electric-hybrid cars.
Today, there is a rumour that forward-looking EV darling
Aptera is in trouble.
While GM continues to advertise their Volt plug-in hybrid prototype, the actual
delivery date keeps sliding off into the future. Remember, when originally announced
in 2006, it was supposed to be in showrooms by now. Most recent guess - late 2010 -
in limited numbers. GM will yet find a reason not to deliver. The last time they
were forced to deliver (1996), they started a blood war with the State of California
that concluded with a concerted search and destroy mission to eradicate the EV-1 from
existence. They got that concession in return for a promise to deliver hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles to showrooms in quantity in 2008. Per usual with GM and environmental
commitments, never happened. GM may have to change its colours due to government
and UAW ownership, but green isn't one they will adopt willingly.
If you want a sense of how this is going to end, find a copy of The Lost Cord by
Barbara Taylor.
Enthusiasts and small conversion companies have built literally thousands of on-road
electric cars, trucks and motorcycles in North America in recent years. It's a viable
option, and more likely to achieve results than continuing to wait automakers that have
fought the technology tooth and nail for decades while pretending they'll deliver someday.
Air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, climate change, dependence on
foreign oil; you can continue to wait and hope that someone else will solve the problem
for you, or you can ACT!
October 1, 2009
PHEV 09 Trade Show
I visited the trade show for the Plug-in and Hybrid Electric Vehicle conference
(PHEV09) in Montreal yesterday, hosted by
Electric Mobility Canada. [Disclosure: I am a member of EMC.]

The PHEV09 Trade Show at Complexe Desjardins (Montreal) 2009.09.30
Two things really struck me. The first was how few companies
made an appearance here given the apparent level of interest in EVs in the world
media and the Obama Administration. Perhaps this is a reflection of the total lack
of interest, or even hostility, towards EVs being demonstrated by the Canadian
federal government and most provinces, even those starting to talk 'green'.
By contrast, the delegates at the conference seemed very upbeat about what they
were hearing at the presentations.
The second thing that struck me was the David and Goliath image presented by
Steve Dallas and his stunning home-built electric car that works today vs. the
GM Volt prototype. While Steve invited people to sit in his car, GM reps were
on hand to ensure no one took that liberty with their vehicle.
Steve is from the Toronto area, in Ontario. The Ontario government recently
announced incentives to take effect in 2010 that would substantially subsidize
the price of the GM Volt (which will not be built in Ontario, if it should ever
become available for sale. Because Steve showed initiative and built his own
electric car, it will not qualify for any incentive under the provincial program.
With that sort of tilted playing field (announced tax dollars support for an unavailable
hybrid to be made outside the province; no support for an electric car built
in the province), it should come as small surprise that Steve has no interest in
producing more copies of his smart 2-seater electric car. Pity.

Steve Dallas's electric car 2009.09.30
September 22, 2009
Better Place orders 100,000 Electric Cars
The mainstream media completely ignored this story. That's unfortunate, as this
could be the moment that changes everything for automobile transportation in the
next decade! Renault now has the order they need to start real mass production of
an all-electric, battery-only, car. That's the volume that can achieve volumes of
scale to make electric cars truly affordable, at least in Europe, in the next few
years.
Video of Shai Agassi making the announcement at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show (2009.09.15)
Those of us living in North America can rest easy, knowing that our domestic automakers
have no intention of providing us with a real electric car any time soon.
July 25, 2009
Ontario Announcement Regarding Incentives for EVs and PHEVs
An Open Letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty
Dear Premier McGuinty:
I would like to thank you for your government's recent apparent reversal regarding
support for clean air transportation in Ontario.
[dead link: http://www.news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2009/07/ontario-leading-the-charge.html]
The announcement on the Ides of July 2009 included statements which were as stunning
to a long-time Ontario electric vehicle advocate as they were ambitious and sweeping.
Statements like “The McGuinty government aims to have one out of every 20 vehicles driven
in Ontario to be electrically powered by 2020. “ and “Ontario will also add 500 electric
vehicles to the Ontario Public Service fleet.“
It's as if someone flipped a switch and your government finally got the message.
You know, THE message. As if someone finally put together the devastation of climate
change from burning fossil fuels in our vehicles, the burden of health effects caused
by automotive emissions, and the need to foster an economic environment that is about
sustainability instead of the extinction of the human species, and grasped that there
is an answer.
It's hard to believe that this came from the same government that had to be badgered
into allowing electric-assist bicycles in the province, and only relented in 2006 with
a pilot program. Or the same government that only grudgingly permitted Low Speed
electric Vehicles (LSVs) on our roads this year, and with such harsh restrictions that
no one will build a vehicle to meet the unique and oppressive Ontario regulations; and
that a decade after the federal government created the classification. Or the same
government that took away preferential license fees for electric cars a few years ago.
Or the same government that still prohibits electric motorcycles from using major Ontario highways.
However, I am confused by the one-year phase-in period before any of the announced
incentives come into effect. Why not let the pioneers that already drive battery
electric and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles benefit now? Why not provide a retro-active
reward payment to those with licensed vehicles as of the effective date showing a Motive
Power of E(lectric)? If the motivation really is putting clean air, electric cars that
produce less Greenhouse Gases on Ontario roads, why not reward those innovators that are
already doing so?
My fear is that this government is not so much interested in cleaner air as they are
in providing an additional bail-out to GM and Chrysler, now that you are shareholders.
The devil is in the details, and my concern is that your government will restrict the
incentives to specific makes and models, as it did with the fuel efficiency incentives of recent years.
On reflection, if your government had taken this stance just three years ago instead
of putting it off another a year into the future, perhaps we would have a domestic market
for the burgeoning surplus of electricity in the province. A surplus that has reached
such proportions that we are now shutting down perfectly functional nuclear reactors to
reduce the supply. Further, last summer, when gasoline was over $1.40 a litre, Ontarians
would have had another option for their transportation needs – electric vehicles.
Personally, I look forward to getting my Green Plates for my current, highway-capable, electric car, and I
hope this signals a pervasive change in your government's attitude toward electric
and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Now, if only there were HOV lanes in Ottawa.
May 4, 2009
Edmonton's Trolley Folly
After almost 30 years of reliable service, Edmonton chose to accelerate its removal
of the remaining fleet of electric trolleybuses. I was in Edmonton on the day in
question, and composed a
photo-essay on the subject. I can't help but think that the
residents will come to regret this decision in years to come.
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The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy
Other Sources for EV News and Information
[dead link: http://www.hybridcars.com/electric-car] HybridCARS Web site
EV World
Electric Motor News (Italian)
About the Author:
Darryl McMahon built his first electric car in 1978, and has had at least one
electric vehicle EVer since. He was a founding member of the Electric Vehicle Association of Canada.
He is the author of The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy and many
articles about electric vehicles, related technology and history. He is currently a member of the
Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa, Electric Mobility Canada, Historian for the Electric Auto Association,
and President of Econogics.
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