Clean Transport & Energy News Roundup (EV Parade, Flying Electric Tricycle, Samsung EV, SolarWindow, Solar Blockchain…)
In this edition of the clean transport and energy news roundup, we’ve got info about a world record EV parade, a flying electric ultralight tricycle, a blockchain-based solar trial, Samsung’s possible EV future, Ford’s self-driving fleet, solar window coatings, Tesla trade-in offers, and more.
[CleanTechnica isn’t the only Important Media site to cover clean energy & transport news, and if you’re looking for more stories on electric mobility, bicycles, solar and wind energy, and other related issues, we’ve got them at sites such as Solar Love, CleanTechies, Planetsave, Bikocity, Gas2, and EV Obsession. We also host a large cleantech group on LinkedIn, called CleanTechies Around The World.]
Let’s have a parade! A world record EV parade:
Those in Northern Europe interested in taking part in what aims to be the largest parade of electric vehicles in the world, ever, may want to take note of a recent post on the Tesla Motors Club forum.
Ford plans high-volume fleet of self-driving cars:
On August 16, Ford announced that it plans to introduce a “high volume” fleet of self-driving cars by 2021. The cars will not be for sale to the public, at least not yet. Instead, they will be part of a ride hailing or ride sharing service. Like the well known Google pod cars, they will have no steering wheel, no accelerator, and no brake pedal.
Go fly an electric tricycle:
An ultralight, electrically powered, 3-wheel paraglider developed by a student team at the National University of Singapore recently came to my attention. As far as student projects go, it’s quite interesting — one could imagine a number of applications, if the battery life and economics are improved, that is.
Samsung may enter electric car market:
With Apple’s desire to build an electric car “the worst kept secret in history” according to Elon Musk, Samsung now says it is thinking of jumping into the electric car fray itself. That comes straight from the lips of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae Yong. Samsung is rumored to be in talks with Fiat to purchase its electronics division, Magneti Marelli.
Tesla to match Carmax trade-in offers:
Tesla has begun to match Carmax’s appraisal offers for old Teslas, according to recent reports. In other words, those who want to get as much as possible from Tesla during the trade-in process would probably be well advised to head over to a Carmax first to get an offer, and then share that offer with Tesla if it doesn’t offer something lower.
EV range anxiety is overstated:
A study by MIT and the Santa Fe Institute published in the journal Nature Energy on August 15 finds that electric car range anxiety is overstated in most cases. The study analyzed the driving habits of drivers on a second-by-second basis. It concluded that 87% of vehicles on the road today could be replaced by a low-cost electric car even if there is no possibility of recharging it during the day.
AT&T outage affects Tesla owners:
A recent widespread AT&T service outage caused some disruptions for US Tesla owners, with many owners reporting unresponsive navigation apps and a loss of smartphone connectivity to their vehicles.
Better Li-ion battery behavior:
Researchers from the University of Windsor in Ontario have discovered a new means of improving silicon anode durability (when in use with lithium-ion batteries) through the utilization of newly observed self-healing behavior of cracks in micron-sized silicon particles dispersed “in a ductile Al matrix cycled using a high lithiation rate of 15.6 C.”
Eskom refuses PPA with CSP:
Eskom has landed the first blow to the South African renewable energy market. The SolarReserve-backed concentrated solar power project of 100 MW capacity will not be able to inject power into the grid thanks to a refusal by Eskom to sign a 20-year power purchase agreement with the project.
SolarWindow coating offers fast payback period:
Since the product is not wholly dependent on sun exposure, it can be installed in areas that receive little natural light and still provide electricity, decreasing its payback period. “When SolarWindow™ is modeled for a 50-story building, results show the industry’s fastest published financial payback of less than one year, more than 50 times the energy and more than 15 times the environmental benefit can be generated as validated by a team of independent engineers and scientists.”
Australian peer-to-peer solar trial:
In Western Australia, an eight week long experiment is underway in the National Lifestyle Villages in Busselton, near Perth. Using the virtual monetary technology behind “bitcoin,” 10 households will be able to track their energy usage and the amount of excess electricity generated by their rooftop solar systems. The software will allow them to see how much money they could be paid for that excess solar power if they were allowed to sell it to their neighbors instead of back to the grid.
India’s Anantapuram solar park expands to 250 MW:
India’s largest power generating company, NTPC Limited, has announced the commissioning of 50 MW of solar power at Anantapuram solar park in the state of Andhra Pradesh. With the commissioning of the 50 MW solar project, the first phase of the solar park is fully operational. 200 MW of capacity at the solar power park was operationalized in May 2016.
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