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Do remember that European-market list prices include VAT, so that's 20% of the price right there, as well.
Start of sales for the VW Golf eHybrid and Golf GTE PHEVs in Europe
Volkswagen is electrifying the eighth generation of the Golf with two new plug-in hybrid versions: the Golf eHybrid and Golf GTE. Sales of both models are starting now. The Golf eHybrid is designed for maximum comfort and delivers an output of 150 kW (204 PS). Price in Germany starts at €39,78...
China uses NEDC, and a bunch of other sources are confirming that that's NEDC.
400 km NEDC is a joke for a premium EV.
Lexus introduces the UX 300e, its first EV, in China; on sale in China and Europe in 2020
Lexus is introducing its first battery electric vehicle (BEV), the UX 300e, at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition. The UX 300e is scheduled to go on sale in the Chinese and European markets in 2020, and in Japan early in 2021. Lexus engineers kept the distinctive design and ...
Oh, and the Note's closest hybrid competitor is AFAIK the Aqua, which most trims get 34.4 km/l on the JC08 cycle.
For comparison, the US-market Aqua - the Prius c - gets 48 city, 43 highway.
So, I'd expect a Versa Note e-Power to get something like 47 city, but it'd fall off a cliff on the highway without at least a clutch to bypass the serial hybrid system (ala the current Honda and Mitsubishi serial hybrid systems).
INFINITI says new gasoline-generated EV system (Nissan e-POWER) central to electrification strategy
INFINITI’s future models will offer drivers a choice of electrified powertrains as the brand embraces new technology to propel its vehicles. (Earlier post.) These include fully-electric systems, as well as a gasoline-generated EV system (known as e-POWER at Nissan, earlier post) in which a gaso...
@mahonj: The 80 miles per US gallon figure is based on the JC08 test cycle, where most trims of the Note e-Power are rated for 34 km/l (there is a base trim rated for 37.2 km/l), but the maximum speed on that test cycle is 82 km/h, not even the national speed limit in Japan. Consider it a very gentle (not as gentle as the previous 10-15 mode cycle, but still gentle) city cycle, not highway.
INFINITI says new gasoline-generated EV system (Nissan e-POWER) central to electrification strategy
INFINITI’s future models will offer drivers a choice of electrified powertrains as the brand embraces new technology to propel its vehicles. (Earlier post.) These include fully-electric systems, as well as a gasoline-generated EV system (known as e-POWER at Nissan, earlier post) in which a gaso...
Wait a second, isn't diesel's higher energy density completely offset by higher carbon density? (As in, if you burn a specified volume of diesel, you'll get ~13% more energy than burning the same volume of gasoline, but you'll also get ~13% more CO2?)
Volkswagen introducing new twin-dosing SCR technology across 2.0L Evo diesel lineup; reduces NOx ~80% more
Since 2018, Volkswagen has used only SCR exhaust gas treatment systems with its diesel engines. SCR (selective catalytic reduction) technology significantly reduces nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas. Volkswagen has now developed the next evolutionary stage of its SCR system: “twin dosing”. A...
What would also be interesting is to see data on actual usage of these systems (that is, how often are they left enabled).
A lot of the non-hybrid stop-start systems introduce a fair amount of delay due to restarting the engine (whereas some hybrids can start rolling on electric before the engine's running, and even the mild systems have more power available to start the engine smoothly), and the US light-duty truck market is a market that's particularly resistant to change...
Non-hybrid stop/start systems installed on 35.7% of US light-duty trucks produced in MY2018
In 2012, less than one percent of all cars and light-duty trucks were produced with a non-hybrid stop/start system. Through 2015, cars had the greatest share of stop/start systems installed. After 2015, the greatest share of start/stop systems was installed on light-duty trucks, rising to 35.7%...
mahonj: The 95 g/km standard is NEDC, not WLTP.
The 2025 and 2030 standards will be set in WLTP terms, but based on a NEDC-WLTP adjustment factor that will be calculated in 2021.
EEA: average CO2 emissions from new cars and new vans in Europe increased in 2018
According to provisional data published by the European Environment Agency (EEA), the average CO2 emissions from new passenger cars registered in the European Union (EU) in 2018 increased for the second consecutive year, reaching 120.4 grams of CO2 per kilometer. For the first time, the avera...
mahonj: It doesn't need to vary speed to pulse and glide, though.
Pulse and glide in a conventional ICE vehicle is done to optimize engine load versus vehicle power demand. ICEs are most efficient at relatively high load (at low RPM), so in many cases, the ICE is most efficient while accelerating. So, you accelerate. Then, once you're going your maximum speed, you shut down (or as a safer option, go to neutral) and coast down to your minimum speed.
The Prius can (and does) pulse and glide a different way. (I find it's most aggressive about it at or below 60 MPH indicated. Above that, it can shut down, but there's various reasons to keep the engine running, so it rarely does unless you're decelerating.) Instead of accelerating, it charges the battery. And, instead of coasting when it shuts down the engine, it discharges the battery to continue providing the vehicle with power.
University College Dublin Study finds Prius IV hybrids drive >60% of the time in zero-emissions mode under Irish conditions
A new study carried out by University College Dublin (UCD) academics has found that under typical Irish commuting conditions, the Toyota Prius IV (fourth-generation) hybrid (earlier post) drives in zero emissions mode (ZEV) for significantly more than half (62%) of the time and more than 40% (4...
@Peter_XX: This isn't like the coolant thermos on the Gen 2 Prius, though. It merely extracts heat from exhaust gases, so in any test cycle with a sufficiently long cold soak, it'll help. (It's too short cold soaks that it won't help.)
BorgWarner Exhaust Heat Recovery System for hybrids can improve fuel economy by up to 8.5%
Developed for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), BorgWarner’s innovative Exhaust Heat Recovery System (EHRS) can improve fuel economy by up to 8.5% and reduce emissions significantly. The EHRS enters production later this year for vehicles from a major...
Toyota is using a system like this, and has been for 9 years or so, since the Gen 3 Prius came out (it replaced the coolant thermos system that the Gen 2 had).
BorgWarner Exhaust Heat Recovery System for hybrids can improve fuel economy by up to 8.5%
Developed for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), BorgWarner’s innovative Exhaust Heat Recovery System (EHRS) can improve fuel economy by up to 8.5% and reduce emissions significantly. The EHRS enters production later this year for vehicles from a major...
Of course, there's simply avoiding the idle regime altogether.
Hybridization can provide a large enough energy store to maintain climate control (except before the engine's warmed up) while avoiding idle, and also can provide for smoother acceleration with stop-start systems (avoiding the legitimate complaints people have about stop-start - the illegitimate ones, though, are another story).
Jilin study shows coolant temperature in GDI engine at idle has critical effect on particulate number emissions
Researchers at Jilin University in China report in a papaer in the journal Fuel that coolant temperature in a gasoline direct-injection (GDI) engine under idle has a critical effect on particulate number (PN) emissions and that optimizing other operating parameters will further reduce PN emissio...
What's the thermal efficiency? They say 10% better than comparable engines, but how does it compare to, say, the Toyota A20A-FXS?
Volkswagen Millerized 1.5 TSI ACT BlueMotion gasoline engine offers diesel-like fuel economy; derivatives may be applied in hybrid systems
Volkswagen has developed and deployed a gasoline engine that offers diesel-like fuel economy but is significantly cheaper to buy. Currently applied in the new Golf and Golf Variant (earlier post), the 1.5 TSI ACT BlueMotion delivers 96 kW / 130 PS with combined fuel consumption of 4.8 l/100 km ...
Actually, OK, maybe I'm not fair - maybe there's a 20% buffer in the capacity. That still means 703 Wh/mi.
Meanwhile, the giant barge of the Pacifica Hybrid gets 400 Wh/mi.
Or, how about things that this is actually kinda competing against? The Model S 100D gets 330 Wh/mi, and the Model 3 LR gets 260 Wh/mi.
Mercedes-Benz unveiling diesel plug-in hybrid preproduction models at Geneva show
At the Geneva Motor Show this week, Mercedes-Benz is unveiling two new preproduction models that combine the new OM 654 four-cylinder diesel engine with the latest-generation 9G-TRONIC 9-speed hybrid transmission. Like the S 560 e (combined fuel consumption 2.1 l/100 km (112 mpg US), combined CO...
50 km NEDC range from a 13.5 kWh battery?
So, that translates to about 16 miles or so EPA range, from the 50 km NEDC PHEVs I've seen.
844 Wh/mi.
What an amazingly funny joke.
Mercedes-Benz unveiling diesel plug-in hybrid preproduction models at Geneva show
At the Geneva Motor Show this week, Mercedes-Benz is unveiling two new preproduction models that combine the new OM 654 four-cylinder diesel engine with the latest-generation 9G-TRONIC 9-speed hybrid transmission. Like the S 560 e (combined fuel consumption 2.1 l/100 km (112 mpg US), combined CO...
@CheeseEater88: They do have a SCR, but VW didn't just have an EGR in the American cars - they either had a LNT or SCR themselves.
Hagens Berman files class-action lawsuit against Ford and Bosch claiming Super Duty diesel emissions defeat devices
The law firm of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP has filed a class-action lawsuit accusing Ford and Bosch of knowingly installing emissions-cheating software devices in 2011-2017 Ford 250 and 350 Super Duty diesel pickup trucks, allowing the affected pickups to pollute at levels up to 50 times l...
Rather strange wording on that TNGA rollout - IIRC the actual order of release of TNGA-based cars was Gen 4 Prius (which China doesn't get at all, instead preferring the locally-produced Corolla/Levin), C-HR, Lexus LC, then Camry.
Toyota introducing new EV in China in 2020, expanding scope of fuel cell feasibility study
At Auto Guangzhou 2017, Toyota Motor announced it will introduce an electric vehicle under the Toyota brand in the Chinese market in 2020, and that the scope of a fuel-cell vehicle feasibility study will be expanded to cover commercial vehicles such as buses. For years, Toyota has developed C...
@SatoruRyu: The rest of the car isn't built any better than the gasoline equivalent, modern diesels have expensive emissions control systems that can easily put the vehicle beyond economic repair when they fail (to avoid local pollution problems). Plenty of reasons why a diesel doesn't have significantly longer life than a gasoline vehicle in the real world.
And, regarding your other points, diesel being a not terrible lubricant only affects the fuel system (which is also working much harder to atomize the fuel, due to the much lower volatility and resulting much higher pressures required), and many diesels use aluminum blocks nowadays.
T&E concludes that diesel cars emit more CO2 on a full lifecycle basis than gasoline cars
A new analysis by the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) concludes that diesel cars emit more CO2 than equivalent cars on a full lifecycle basis—i.e., accounting for the emissions generated during production of the vehicle and the fuel. According to the T&E analysis, an average diesel car prod...
In automotive applications, cell counts are usually high enough that you could reconfigure the pack for more serial cell layouts.
For instance, the Tesla Model 3 has two battery configurations, based on 31 or 46 cell parallel bricks. In either configuration, the bricks are laid out in two groups of 25, two groups of 23, each brick being serially connected, for a 96S31P or 96S46P pack. (Source for that info is Electrek.)
So, the nominal pack voltage on the Tesla Model 3 in either battery configuration is 345.6 V (assuming 3.6 V nominal cell voltage), and I believe full charge will be in the area of 398.4 V (assuming 4.15 V per cell).
If these cells are 1 volt full charge, you're looking at roughly a 400S configuration. So, for the long range pack, 400S11P gives you 4400 cells (instead of the 4416 cells of the current long range pack), and for the standard pack, I'd lean towards 400S8P for 3200 cells instead of the 2976 it has currently (the other way to go would be 400S7P, and that would reduce capacity significantly... unless that capacity isn't needed).
If they're 1 volt nominal, you're looking at roughly a 346S configuration. If there's room, 346S13P gives you 4498 cells, if not, 346S12P gives you 4152 cells. 346S9P is where I'd go for the standard pack, for 3114 cells.
Do note that this is easier on Tesla packs, where there's a lot of parallel smaller cells. Other automakers use large prismatic cells and may need to use more, smaller cells to get the voltage up where they want it.
New cathode design and understanding of electrolyte delivers greater efficiency in magnesium-ion batteries
Researchers have achieved a significant boost in the storage capacity of magnesium-ion batteries through a new design for the cathode and a new understanding of the electrolyte. In an open-access paper in the journal Nature Communications, they report a battery chemistry that utilizes magnesium ...
I'd have some serious concerns about PLA's durability, considering how low of a temperature is required to break it down (60°C)...
Students of Eindhoven University of Technology are presenting bio-composite car
Students from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have designed and built a car made of bio-composite. The car, “Lina”, features chassis, bodywork and interior all made of natural materials. The team wants to show that the car is not only energy-efficient but has also been produced w...
The Lurking Jerk: Is it wrong, though, that the racial distribution likely does expose minorities to more pollution?
Also, using the argument that minorities are exposed to more pollution is likely also a political tactic - if California can prove that there is a racial bias caused by locomotive emissions, the 14th Amendment actually requires them to enact this emissions standard, to equally protect them under the law.
Finally, California does go after oceangoing vessels, at least within the jurisdiction that they're able to do so: https://www.arb.ca.gov/ports/marinevess/marinevess.htm
CheeseEater88: Worth noting that California already does do emissions testing at least to some extent on everything with a tailpipe that's at least MY1998 (because MY1997 and older diesels, and MY1975 and older gassers are exempt). It's not everything, and it's not tailpipe tests at least on the OBD-II capable ones, but...
California ARB petitions US EPA for “Tier 5” stricter locomotive emissions standards
In an effort to accelerate the movement to zero- or near-zero emission locomotives, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) has petitioned the US EPA take action to adopt more stringent emission standards for locomotives. These new standards are to include standards for newly manufactured locom...
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