Ford is winding up the wick with electric vehicles.
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A Melbourne company is launching re-manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries.
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Now you can have your E Type Jaguar factory converted to electric.
One way to make a statement about the future of the automobile.
Second hand E-type in Australia valued around the $150k -$200k price range and some twice that. Fully restored vehicles might be even more valuable.
If you can afford the donor car the electric conversion might be small change.
At our first home, a neighbour bought 2 E Types separately in the 1980’s for $6,000 each, did some work on them, sold each one one for $12,000 each, and was feeling very pleased with himself.
He is probably not a happy camper now.
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A micro electric vehicle to be made in Italy.
And best of all, if the battery runs out of charge, you can simply pick the vehicle up and carry it home.
Love in concept that it is small, which makes it light, cheaper to manufacture, and also the smaller battery.
You might need to keep it at home?
I can see all sorts of mischief arising with other motorists parking really close to the front door access making it difficult to get back in. And then if you get crunched in a head to tail, hope there is a rooftop escape hatch?
Considering the Australian Design Rules for motor vehicles:
The Microlino has 4 wheels, which for now will require full compliance with the ADRs. Same as for your Toyota Echo or Jeep Renegade. Something Jeep, Toyota, and just about every other major car manufacturer will be keen to retain.
Otherwise we’d all be driving our low cost cheap to run electric golf carts to the shops.
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All Jaguars to be electric.
US electric vehicle sales grow without Government subsidies.
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Meanwhile Porsche is working on producing synthetic fuels for ICE vehicles.
Presumably it is for existing ICE vehicles and not future Porsche vehicles.
They did not say what’s new compared to the existing technologies. They did say:
Speaking to European media outlets earlier this week, Mr Walliser suggested these fuels would be more environmentally friendly than traditional petroleum-based alternatives. He further noted that the petrol substitution would be compatible with existing and unmodified combustion engines.
Note it does not say zero carbon, or carbon neutral in the announcement, only ‘environmentally friendlier’.
P.S.
It’s well known that hydrogen from a green energy source can be recombined with CO2 collected from a concentrated source of emissions. The Porsche Siemens project details as opposed to the marketing spin of the more recent brief press releases. It’s still a press release though!
Alternate systems ExonMobile are using methanol as the feedstock.
The most significant drawback is the relative total inefficiency of liquid hydrocarbons (15-30%, petrol as a fuel), compared to battery (80-90%) or HFC (40-50%). Petroleum fuels also have higher energy costs in production and distribution, especially when compared to solar PV direct to battery.
Similar projects are yet to demonstrate they can compete with pure electric, or direct conversion of hydrogen on cost.
With many companies spending considerable R&D on hydrogen fuel cell systems for cars, Toyota has announced its packaged fuel cell system module
It is also pursuing Mirai FCEV along with Hyundai which it is rumoured will be announcing its own mass production modules from work currently underway, to complement it’s own FCEVs.
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Toyota has foot in both camps!
Solid State batteries have been one of the long forecast step changes in battery technology. More than twice the energy density, (1000Wh per litre) in the following example, lower cost card like cells and safer than current lithium batteries used in BEVs (EG Tesla).
Toyota is just one of many automotive businesses with a bet on the technology. Refer to the link. Whether the forecasts of a 2025-26 adoption date (based on the success of QuantumScape) is realistic?
If it was a Tesla announcement it might be far more ultraistic. Tesla for now is going down the well proven path with it’s 4680 round cells, although much physically larger than the old ones. There are plans to transition off NCA chemistry to cobalt free. Easier to read the linked article than explain here. There is also a plan ‘C’ for Tesla, but not solid state.
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I’ve been thinking of autonomy as the next major disruptor, but a $5,000 vehicle will do nicely.
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A bit of a side step, but a historical ‘research program’ of an alternative powerplant, if not an alternative fuel.
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If memory serves, the Chrysler turbine would run on any flammable liquid. Bourbon power, anyone?
Victoria is introducing the tax on EVs legislation to Parliament
The Australian Institute have put a paper in on the matter of Taxes for EV, they argue that there should be no taxing to encourage uptake and they also support the introduction of tax incentives.
They have also provided a Media release on how a majority of Australians want subsidies for uptake of EV and that a majority want a ban on petrol and diesel cars
The poll attachment can be found in the link in the media release. The only group polled that had more disagreement than agreement was One Nation supporters. For the sake of ease it is:
I think the information is pointing to a disconnect of our politicians on uptake of Fossil Fuel free anything and the large support from everyday Australians for fossil fuel free anything. When will the pollies cut the apron strings to the Fossil Industries and move to support the large Community who want change.
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Another reason to uptake EVs and other Renewable Energy powered transport is that because of CO2 emissions some Countries may suffer Credit Rating downgrades:
Australia in the report table (https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/media/uploads/files/Rising_Climate_Falling_Ratings_Working_Paper.pdf)
Table D.1. Additional cost of sovereign borrowing due to climate-induced sovereign downgrades (RCP 2.6, 2100)
| Sovereign | Outstanding sovereign debt ($ bn) | Sovereign downgrade (notches) | Cost of sovereign borrowing ($ bn) (lower bound) | Cost of sovereign borrowing ($ bn) (higher bound) |
| Australia | 384.50 | 1.09 | 0.33 | 0.50 |
For Corporate debt in the same scenario
Table D.3. Additional cost of corporate debt due to climate-induced sovereign downgrades (RCP 2.6, 2100)
| Sovereign | Sovereign downgrade (notches) | Outstanding corporate debt ($ bn) | Increase in cost of debt ($ bn) lower bound | Increase in cost of debt ($ bn) higher bound |
| Australia | 1.09 | 213 | 0.11 | 0.20 |
The RCP 8.5 tables are starkly worse, with Australia possibly suffering a 4 notch downgrade to it’s Credit Rating.
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Why not. Bourbon has to be at least 40% ethanol. E40 coming to a gas station near you.
Except the other 60% is water, not petrol.
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Hmm. Better go top shelf Bourbon and go over-proof. Maybe 200 proof and then it will be E100. 
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