UK solid-state battery technology developer Ilika has verified the high performance of its Goliath batteries manufactured via an industrially scaled process at The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre.
This confirms the battery is on track on its route to market, the company said.
The announcement follows Ilika’s announcement in February reporting large-scale preparation of the Goliath electrolyte and coating of its composite electrolyte-electrode. Ilika has used these materials to build a batch of solid-state 10 Ah prototype cells.
Analysis of the performance of these cells indicated that the scaled manufacturing process at UKBIC resulted in a higher manufacturing yield and delivered higher-performing cells than cells made with similar starting materials on Ilika’s pilot line. This resulted from enhanced handling robustness after coating and fewer defects from the drying process. The superior performance was measured as higher battery capacity under rapid charging protocols, Ilika said.
“This data set confirms the suitability of Ilika’s Goliath process for gigafactory deployment. Following the announcement in the 2024 Autumn Statement from the UK Government of further support for the electrification of the automotive sector, we look forward to further opportunities to benefit from accessing the expertise of UKBIC,” said Ilika’s CEO, Graeme Purdy.
In October 2023, the company received grant support from the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) through an 18-month, £2.7-million collaboration program code-named Project SiSTEM, to scale up its solid-state battery production capability. The program partnered Ilika with Mpac, a global supplier of packaging and assembly automation, UKBIC and Agratas, the global battery business of Indian conglomerate Tata.
Project SiSTEM has now ended and the associated delivery of a 1.5 MWh solid-state battery assembly line from Mpac is planned for the second half of this year. The assembly line will be capable of producing Ilika’s Goliath prototype large-format pouch cells for automotive original equipment manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers.
As electric and gas bills rise across the country, a poll released today finds that an overwhelming majority of people in the U.S. are concerned about growing energy costs — and experiencing greater financial stress because of them.
In a nationwide survey of about 2,000 adults, conducted by the consumer education nonprofit PowerLines and the polling company Ipsos in late March, 73% of respondents reported feeling concerned about rising utility bills. Nearly two-thirds of surveyed billpayers said they have seen their gas and electric bills rise over the last year, and 63% reported feeling more stressed as a result of energy costs. The results held consistent across the political spectrum, with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike expressing similar levels of concern.
The findings arrive as the Trump administration’s continued attacks on clean energy — and its support for coal and other fossil fuels — threaten to raise utility bills even higher, according to energy experts.
“Bottom line is, American energy consumers are hurting and they’re stressed out,” Charles Hua, executive director of PowerLines, said of the survey’s findings.
Yet according to the poll, most Americans aren’t familiar with the state entities in charge of regulating energy utilities and setting those prices: public utility commissions. That’s a problem, said Hua, because a lack of public participation prevents consumer interests from being fully considered when state regulators receive and approve rate-hike requests from utilities.
In the survey, 60% of respondents said they aren’t familiar with the state or local authority that oversees gas and electric bills. Around 90% of people couldn’t name their public utility commission as the correct regulatory body.
Meanwhile, these relatively unknown regulators have approved ballooning utility cost increases in recent years. In 2022, state utility regulators collectively approved $4.4 billion in bill increases; in 2023, they approved $9.7 billion. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, gas and electric utilities requested or received rate hikes totalling about $20 billion. Residential electricity costs have grown by nearly 30% since 2021, while gas prices have risen by 40% since 2019, far outpacing inflation, according to a separate report released today by PowerLines.
Utilities have spent increasing amounts of money to replace aging infrastructure and repair or harden the grid after storms, wildfires, and other disasters made more likely by climate change. State rules guarantee investor-owned utilities a rate of return on those investments, creating a financial incentive to overspend on grid infrastructure that some researchers have estimated costs consumers billions of dollars each year. Volatility in global gas markets has also contributed to rising gas bills.
The Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution supplies a lot of power to a lot of electric vehicles. But these days, the company’s North American president and chief strategy officer, Bob Lee, has steamships on his mind.
“Pretend it’s 1875,” Lee told InsideEVs at the New York Auto Show last week. “Sailboats have been crossing the Atlantic for a couple of centuries. Years earlier, the first steamships crossed, and they’d take longer than the sailships. But the writing is on the wall. Nobody is investing in better sails.”
Lee said that nautical metaphor is one he’s been touting a lot lately, as the automotive industry struggles with its own steamship moment: electrification. Many car companies are slowing down their once-aggressive electric-vehicle goals as sales continue to grow, but not at the warp-speed pace they predicted.
Meanwhile, the United States—the world’s second-largest car market—is now hitting reverse on its previous climate goals, its investments in clean energy and its policies that were both pushing and supporting a mostly-electric future for its car sector.
LG Chem to Establish Largest Cathode Plant in US (in Tennessee) for EV Batteries
It’s a tough time to be in the battery business. But Lee warns that backtracking too much will simply mean that the U.S. and its automotive industry will simply be left behind by new players who figure out how to make this technology cheaper and better.
If the U.S. does go down such a path, “We lose the auto industry,” said Lee, a longtime technology executive with two decades’ experience in the battery space.
“If [America] decides not to do EVs, if we decide we’re going back to internal combustion, and the rest of the world is moving on to cleaner things, what is the rest of the world going to buy?,” he said. “If we’re not the ones out there investing and building that next technology, then I think the risk is serious.”
To be clear, a slowdown in the EV sector is a serious risk to LG Energy Solution’s bottom line, too. The company supplies batteries to a variety of automakers in the U.S., including General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Group and Toyota. The company has bet big on this, and any pullback will hurt it.
Lee said that LG has eight planned battery plants in North America, seven of which are in the U.S. Three are currently producing batteries. It has slowed down on some investments, temporarily pausing an Arizona plant last summer. But the company is also buying out GM’s stake in what was to be a joint venture plant in Michigan once called Ultium Cells LLC.
“There are two plants that are going into production within the next year, and then we have three that’s probably the following year after that,” Lee said. “We’re working very closely with our customers to ramp up production in a very smart way, so that we’re not overextending ourselves.”
LG Energy Solution batteries
Avoiding that outcome does depend on EV demand, which itself depends on a lot of other factors. Right now, President Donald Trump’s administration is reversing most of the pro-EV policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden. That includes seeking an end to the EV tax credits, cutting investments in charging infrastructure and rolling back fuel economy and emissions rules that were pushing the auto industry to go more electric.
And that’s all before the tariffs, which Lee said “kind of hit everything” in the entire sector. In March, Lee told The Detroit News that those, too, will affect the timelines of battery plant investments. (“Overall, the auto industry right now is not in a position to make big investment decisions,” he told the newspaper.)
Lee told InsideEVs that gutting the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s signature climate investment legislation, “is going to potentially impact us,” and so LG is talking to both the Trump White House and members of Congress to “influence that discussion the right way.”
In doing so, LG will join a slew of automakers and elected officials looking to protect billions in EV-related investments and tens of thousands of jobs across America, primarily in red and purple states. At the grand opening of Hyundai’s new EV plant near Savannah, Georgia, one GOP congressman also told InsideEVs he hoped not to see the EV tax credit system get completely gutted.
But Lee also noted that investments in battery plants don’t have to be part of partisan politics; after all, Lee said, LG opened its first U.S. battery plant in 2011 under the Obama administration and announced many more projects during Trump’s first term.
“The overall focus on trying to produce here in the U.S. We agree with that, right?” Lee said. “I think having less dependency on China, we agree with that. So actually, you know, as far as the Trump administration, it’s not like we are against any of their aspirations.
“If we put out faster [EVs] that are cheaper and that last longer, then there’s going to be a natural transition,” he added. “This is really the primary focus for us right now, trying to get to more affordable vehicles. We’re working on new chemistries, new formats to really try to drive down battery prices.”
But with the White House now focused on driving up U.S. auto exports, then the car companies that operate here need to make EVs that can compete globally. And that’s where failing to make moves to incentivize an American battery sector as a matter of industrial policy, as China and South Korea have done, may come with steep price in the end.
“For us to put our head in the sand and say ‘We’re going to make the best internal combustion engines, we’re going to revert back,’ I just think we’re putting ourselves in a very bad place,” Lee said.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
Source link by Battery Tech – News and Trends | InsideEVs
One of the advantages of owning a Tesla compared to many other makes of electric vehicles is the ability to access home servicing. Tess (our Tesla) is coming up to 160,000 km driven over the past five and half years. The odometer tells me that we have driven 154,567 km actually. This will be the end of the warranty period for the drivetrain, so I thought it’s worth getting the car checked out. I don’t want to take the risk of the motor or battery failing as soon as the warranty finishes.
Having a Tesla technician service your car at home is wonderful. Photo courtesy Majella Waterworth
No, I don’t believe the oft repeated FUD that batteries have to be replaced at 160,000 km just because that is the length of the warranty. It could be a hangover from driving petrol cars for 50 years, or just that we still don’t know how long the average modern battery electric car will last. Or are we programmed to think we need a new car every 5 years? A year ago, we upgraded to Enhanced Autopilot — has this affected our range?
Majella used her magic app to book the appointment, and the technician arrived in his Model S. We had asked for a battery check-up, replacement of the air conditioner filters, and replacement of the wiper blades. We had already been notified by the screen icon that we should change the filters and also rotate the tyres. We also got the technician to check the brake fluid — it got a clean bill of health. As did the wiper blades.
Tesla battery state of health check. Photo courtesy Majella Waterworth.
I was concerned about battery degradation, as it appears that on the few occasions when we charge to 100%, we are not getting as much range as we used to. When we bought the car in 2019, a 100% charge would give us a displayed range of 325 km. After an over-the-air software update, the range went up to 345 km. The car is currently on charge to take it to 100% to determine exactly what range we now have. Then we will go for a drive so that we don’t leave it sitting on 100% for too long. … Okay, we’re done — the car made it to 309 km range at 100%.
As we sat on our back deck, sipping coffee and watching the cruise ships go by (we have a view of the bay), our hard-working technician carried out his tasks. He declared that the tyres weren’t worth rotating, as the back tyres were ready for replacement. That will be a job for our local mechanic. I try to give him some work. He used to make good money from us when we were driving 3 petrol cars. Not so much now that we just have the one car and it is electric.
Changing the air conditioning filters is a tough job. Photo courtesy Majella Waterworth.
As Majella was taking photos, the technician complimented her and the condition of the car after the years and km of driving. He sees a lot of cars, so that was a considered comment. Majella does a great job of keeping the car looking good. Not always an easy task when it is frequently used to transport our grandchildren.
I reached out to a few Australian Tesla Facebook groups to see if I was alone in wanting the car checked as it came out of warranty. Only one of my correspondents said that he had done so. Specifically, he was worried about the state of his suspension. It checked out well. I thought that that was a good call, as we had had two ball joints replaced in the first few years — one under warranty and one without. “I got Tesla to do an ‘end of warranty health check service report at just under 80,000 km, a small bump on the steering wheel was found and reported. The wheel was replaced under warranty. It was a very good experience.”
Others Tesla drivers with high mileages chimed in to let us know how far they had driven, trouble free, in their Model S’s. One had done 410,000 km, another 200,000, with no problems to report. I have written previously about Uber drivers who have clocked up massive numbers of kilometres in their electric cars. Nathan Merrit of Ride4U tells me he is now above 351,000 km on his 2021 Model 3.
Probably the most interesting comment was: “My experience is that Tesla warranty is too damn short compared to every other car.” I asked: “How long would you like? The MG is ten years. Any others you can think of?”
The valid response was: “If they are confident in their product and are more reliable with less moving parts as they say, why not give a 10 year warranty? Tesla should double the longest ICE warranty considering there is practically a 1 piece motor. Most petrol and diesel cars have a much better warranty.” I asked for an example and was offered the “Mazda ICE — 5 years unlimited km bumper to bumper, extendable by invitation by dealer.”
I had a quick look at Google: Similar to the Mazda quoted above, the Toyota RAV 4 has a 5-year unlimited km warranty for the entire vehicle. The battery is covered for ten years unlimited km, “provided annual hybrid health inspections are completed.” Engine and drivetrain are covered for 7 years if properly serviced. The unlimited km is good. Perhaps Tesla should consider extending its warranty. Your thoughts?
In my search, I came across the servicing information for a Toyota RAV 4. The costs for a service at 160,000 km could be anywhere from $500 to $1000. Reading through the list of what gets done, it was obvious that most of the items would not apply to a BEV. We just don’t have the ‘bits’ — exhaust pipe, muffler, filters for fuel and oil, timing belt, spark plugs, etc.
BEVs are cost effective to service. Photo courtesy Majella Waterworth.
Another Facebook commentator was concerned about conflict of interest: “I like the idea of ‘someone’ doing a health check. But my worry with Tesla doing it is that it’s a bit like marking your own homework. They would be incentivised to say ‘no problem’ when there could be a problem, no? An independent doesn’t have to cover anything under warranty. No conflict of interest.”
Others thought it might be a good idea to get their cars checked as they were coming up to the warranty points.
Owning an electric car involves changing your mindset and becoming part of an ecosystem. The ecosystem is evolving and we are still learning what an electric car does, and how long it will last. One commentator said: “Wake me up when you get to half a million.” The conventional wisdom surrounding car durability in the ICE age is no longer valid. Over-the-air updates, mobile home servicing, and Superchargers make the Tesla experience smooth, convenient, and long lasting.
Whether you have solar power or not, please complete our latest solar power survey.Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one if daily is too frequent.
Advertisement
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica’s Comment Policy
Source link by CleanTechnica Reviews Archives
Author David Waterworth
#Tesla #Home #Service
ENFIELD, NORTHCAROLINA — When history buffs reenacted a Revolutionary War general’s visit to this tiny, rural North Carolina town in February, its top elected official was notably absent.
General Marquis de Lafayette may have helped liberate America from England, but over 240 years later his story has little relevance to Mayor Mondale Robinson.
“I find it extremely hard to be celebrating the Revolutionary War when people in Enfield — households of four people — are living on $24,000 a year,” said Robinson, sitting in his windowless office, sparsely decorated with small, framed photos of Black leaders. “I don’t know what freedom looks like, because you can’t tell me people in Enfield are free to live the way they want to.”
Robinson, who was elected in 2022, envisions a day when Black people in his community are able to live a life of pride, freedom, and economic stability. He believes clean energy will play a central role.
Alongside other community leaders and clean energy advocates, Robinson is planning a new solar farm that could meet most of Enfield’s electricity needs. He wants a modern substation to replace the town’s dilapidated one. And he aims to create a “storefront” for energy efficiency that could help residents reduce energy waste and their electric bills.
“We’re trying to be energy independent,” Robinson said. “Besides green energy being good for the environment, it’s also going to help our people … live a life with dignity. That includes the housing, the grid, figuring out how to do renewable energy in a way that is not just sustainable but also job-creating.”
Some formidable barriers stand in the way, from the Trump administration’s antipathy to clean energy and communities of color, to pockets of local opposition to the large solar farms that have become common across the region. But with money still flowing for now from Biden-era climate laws — which were intended to fund progress in historically disadvantaged communities like Enfield — Robinson and his fellow visionaries say their aspirations are within reach.
“[It’s] a place that has more than 260 sunny days per year on average,” said Robinson. “I’m super excited about what’s possible.”
(Binh Nguyen)
After leaving the “bleak reality” of his hometown, a political organizer returns
In many ways, Enfield typifies Eastern North Carolina and the rural South. Once a trading post for peanuts, tobacco, and other crops, the town’s commercial district, five miles east of Interstate 95, now stands nearly empty. Like much of the state, the town faces increasingly frequent natural disasters, like hurricanes. It’s devastatingly poor and overwhelmingly Black, home to many descendants of those who remained enslaved long after Lafayette’s victory tour.
Robinson grew up in Black Bottom, Enfield’s historically Black section. The neighborhood still has no sidewalks, and he says indoor plumbing wasn’t a given here until the 1990s. On a walk through town, he pointed out the shotgun home he lived in for a time as a child with his parents and some of his 12 siblings.
“I’m 45 years old,” he said. “I should not know what an outhouse is.”
When Robinson looks back on his childhood, he sees clearly how the lack of infrastructure and the quality of the environment impacted the health of those around him. Many of his schoolmates had ringworm, a result, he thinks, of poor sewer systems, water contamination upstream, or a combination of the two. Severe asthma, which can be triggered by air pollution, kept one brother in the hospital for most of 4th grade.
Dumpster diving for glass bottles and other recyclables as a teenager, Robinson found a copy of W.E.B. Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folk.” He must have read it four times cover to cover. The seminal essay collection helped Robinson draw the line between systemic racism and Black public health.
“My people suffer the most,” Robinson said. When America sneezes, he said, “Black people get a flu.”
In 1997, Robinson left “the bleak reality of Enfield” for a stint in the Marine Corps, then Livingstone College, a historically Black university in Salisbury, North Carolina. After graduating, he ran dozens of progressive political campaigns around the country and the world, from the Congo to Illinois.
In the lead-up to the 2020 elections, Robinson founded the Black Male Voter Project — aimed at communicating year-round, on- and off-season, with a demographic often taken for granted by the Democratic establishment.
“I wanted to do something for the brothers,” he said. “Maslow would say they would be on the bottom rung,” referencing the late American psychologist who conceptualized a hierarchy of needs to explain what motivates human behavior. “They don’t have their basic needs met.”
A constellation of political projects still occupies him. But he returned to North Carolina to run for mayor because he felt like a “fraud” for not organizing his people back home.
One of his first official acts: livestreaming the removal of a prominent Confederate monument in town. Any headwinds he’s facing over his clean energy vision are akin to the blowback he’s still experiencing over that day in 2022, Robinson said.
“I’m getting pushback because I’m loud, and I’m a Black man, and I should know my place.”
A storage-equipped solar farm, such as this one envisioned by Vote Solar, could cover most of Enfield’s power needs and stabilize costs for customers. (Vote Solar)
Creating a solar-powered vision for an energy-independent Enfield
About 30 miles south of the Virginia border, in Halifax County, Enfield is in a part of the state largely untouched by Duke Energy’s grid and its monopoly. The town owns its electric utility, a holdover from when private electric providers couldn’t foresee profiting from serving far-flung hamlets of 2,000 people. Much of the area connects to a regional transmission organization called PJM Interconnection, in which wholesale electricity has long been bought and sold on a competitive market. That means independent power producers can enlist customers besides Duke, and they’ve already built scores of solar farms in the area, demonstrating the economic viability of the resource.
Those factors drew William Munn, regional director of the Carolinas for advocacy group Vote Solar, to Enfield.
“In late 2023, we were looking for communities to share the great news around the Inflation Reduction Act,” Munn said, referring to the 2022 climate spending law that includes incentives for historically disadvantaged towns.
The fact that the town owned its own utility was especially enticing. “If you have the political will,” Munn said, “you can do whatever you want, and that’s rare in this regulatory environment.”
The town’s atrocious energy burden is generating a lot of that will. Despite having small homes and even smaller incomes, Enfield households have average winter electric bills of $650 a month, according to the town finance director. That’s in part because much of the housing stock is old, poorly insulated, and inefficient.
“These are [800– to 1,200-square-foot] homes that have bills this high. These aren’t big homes,” said Reggie Bynum, Southeast community outreach director at the nonprofit Center for Energy Education, based up the road in Roanoke Rapids. “It’s old wiring; it’s old insulation. Weatherization needs are definitely there. These aren’t modern homes.”
Higher-than-average rates compound the problem. The town buys electricity from Halifax Electric Membership Corp., which in turn buys from the statewide association of electric cooperatives. The association owns some generating facilities but also buys wholesale power through PJM and from investor-owned utilities like Duke. In Raleigh, one of the wealthiest areas in the state, Duke charges 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. In Enfield, one of the poorest, the rate approaches 14 cents.
Enfield, North Carolina, Mayor Mondale Robinson stands amid the city’s aging electrical substation on March 4, 2025. (Elizabeth Ouzts)
A three- to five-megawatt solar farm on about 20 acres of land, backed up by a battery with a duration of four hours or more, could supply all of the town’s 1,200 electric meters, most of them residential. The move would likely cut rates, especially if government grants covered all or part of the approximately $10 million solar array and backup battery. All told, experts believe the generation system could pay for itself in about 15 years.
The town would remain connected to the surrounding grid during emergencies, Munn said, “but the most important part is that for 95% of the time, they are going to be drawing on their own battery bank and solar generation, and that’s going to stabilize the cost for the long term.”
Replacing the town’s dilapidated substation, which requires frequent repairs, is also a priority. Its wooden poles were erected in the middle of the last century, and its power lines have limited capacity — not enough to receive and transfer power from a five-megawatt solar farm, advocates say.
Six of the substation’s seven lines are at 2,400 volts, said Nick Jimenez, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “It’s so low that they don’t make equipment to fix that anymore.”
“It’s like having an antique car,” Robinson said. “Waiting on parts.”
Source link by Canary Media
Author Elizabeth Ouzts
#rural #N.C #mayor #betting #big #clean #energy #uplift #hometown
Volvo has unveiled an interesting energy storage system designed to meet your charging needs anywhere and anytime—even when the power grid is unavailable due to disruptions related to weather events or other disasters.
Volvo’s stationary battery is called the PU500 Battery Energy Storage System. As its name suggests, it can store up to 500 kWh of energy. According to the Swedish company’s energy division, this is more than enough to power homes, plants and even construction sites built to work in areas affected by natural disasters.
Photo by: Volvo
Volvo PU500 Energy Storage Unit
Or, if you want to stick to more pleasant subjects, just enough to power a concert or any entertainment show. And it could well be a godsend for electric vehicle drivers who find themselves far from a plug.
Charging At 240 kW
The PU500 can receive and supply power at speeds of up to 240 kW. That’s enough to charge most EVs in mere minutes, and the unit itself should be able to reach a full charge in a matter of hours.
Volvo FH Electric: the Swedish manufacturer’s electric truck
“With an integrated CCS2-type charger, the PU500 is designed to work with all electrical equipment on the market, regardless of the company that produces it,” said Niklas Thulin, stationary systems manager at Volvo Energy. “This ensures that any device, including electric cars, can be powered, greatly increasing the flexibility of our product.”
Charging Up To 20 EVs Per Day
And it’s meant for more than just one EV as well. Thanks to the presence of a large lithium-ion battery, the PU500 can recharge as many as 20 electric cars in a day. Alternatively, it can supply electrons to three electric trucks or even construction vehicles such as wheel loaders or other construction vehicles.
Photo by: Volvo
Volvo PU500 Energy Storage Unit
Volvo stressed the speeds at which it can deliver power. “The PU500 offers an impressive ability to recharge a heavy-duty truck in approximately 1.5 hours and can charge up to three electric heavy-duty trucks or 20 electric cars daily when fully charged, making it an essential asset for industries relying on electric vehicles,” the automaker said.
The Volvo PU500 is designed to be easily moved around in a truck. This way it can be easily installed anywhere, and once placed, it can start supplying electricity even if it’s placed in remote areas.
Volvo hasn’t yet said when the unit goes on sale, but did add that it will receive digital services to let users to monitor and schedule its charging operations.
Source link by Battery Tech – News and Trends | InsideEVs
It’s good to have a look around sometimes and see what is happening in other countries. After reviewing the sales statistics provided by James at EVDB, I thought to reach out to New Zealand EV drivers and get their thoughts on driving in the land of the long white cloud. After a little hesitation, they graciously shared their stories with me.
One reader was a little wary — some Facebook groups have been infiltrated by journalists looking for negative stories to bash EVs. He asked if I owned an EV and was reassured by the group that I did and if I had a bias, it was definitely pro EV. He was then happy to help, informing me that he has a 2017 Nissan Leaf. It pays to be careful on social media. Another was pleased that I was reporting on developments in Australia and New Zealand. “Hey David, just wanted to say I enjoy your articles on Cleantechnica. Nice to have a down under perspective.”
New Zealand imports a lot of used Nissan Leafs, consequently a lot of the comments were about those.
“Nissan Leafs were a trail blazer for sure. We’ve had ours for over 5 years now, still love driving it. And they’re still popular as a shopping cart for many. The EV market wouldn’t be where it is without them, IMHO. There still could be a market for cheap battery pack replacements I reckon. Even if it is a 24kWh pack that gives back the original, new range.”
“We imported a 24kw Nissan Leaf in 2012 with the help of a friend, before you could buy them here, & before there was any charging infrastructure – & drove it (slow charging) around the country.”
Nissan Leaf in New Zealnd. Photo courtesy Het Conroy.
“We had a leaf for 6 years but needed to keep an ICE vehicle for towing our caravan. Last month we finally replaced the ICE with a used Polestar 2 – long range RWD. Yay! We will definitely get over Lewis Pass with the caravan no problem, assuming 1/2 range when towing (Lewis pass is one of NZ’s routes with limited charge options). Recently drove from Picton to Moeraki in a day without caravan (620km). Went like a dream. Only needed to charge once but did a couple of top ups because we were stopping for refreshments/swapping drivers every two hours anyway. There was absolutely no problem finding charges (but was not a holiday time or weekend). I’m  looking forward to hitching up the caravan soon.
“And a historical perspective: A few years ago, driving around New Zealand required detailed planning, heavy use of ABRP (A Better Route Planner), and a good chance the charger was available when you wanted it. There were heady tales of EV’s milking the range to its absolute max, and getting the turtle got a nod from fellow drivers. Fast forward to now, it’s just jump in and drive. The car goes further than I physically can drive while various businesses are dumping good amounts of money setting up chargers.
“Is it perfect? No. But it’s not shit by any stretch of the imagination.”
“We toured the South Island from Auckland over the summer holidays in our Model Y. Three adults plus luggage. We covered over 4,000 kms including long drives such as Nelson to Hokitika, Franz Josef to Wanaka, Queenstown to Lake Tekapo, Christchurch to Blenheim. Charging was a breeze using Tesla, ChargeNet, Z and BP. Also charged at Airbnb and motels with prior approval. It was a wonderful trip. Spent $248 in charging. My son did a similar at the same time and spent over $1000 on diesel.”
Ford Mustang Mach-E in New Zealand. Photo courtesy Sue Hingston.
“Around 10 years ago I was angry that my Kiwisaver fund was being traded as a commodity and was ‘owned’ by one bank or insurance company after another and my annual interest return was ****% so… I cashed in and put 8 solar panels on the roof. Then I had to buy a battery storage as too much power was being wasted. Then I had to buy 12 more panels to fill the battery. Then I had to figure out how to use more power…..EV time!
“In Feb 2020 my husband and I bought our 2018 Hyundai Ioniq. An amazing car! I still think they are great value and economical. We needed to change as it was too small and low to accommodate mobility challenges so had to upgrade. Last year we bought a 2023 Mustang Mach E and love it. People stop and stare as we cruise past and I can’t resist doing an eye catching take off at the lights if I get a chance.
“The frunk/froot is my space. My husband can put his tools and toys in the rear one.”
Preparing for a long trip, frunk is my space. Photo courtesy Sue Hingston.
“First part of our journey was to install of 5 kw solar system 3 years ago. We decided not to buy a battery as we planned to buy one with wheels and use the excess solar to charge the eventual car. We splashed the cash a year later and bought a Tesla Model Y performance. We had a New Zealand made EVnex charger installed in the home at the same time.
“The Tesla has been a revelation. It effortlessly tows our 6 meter boat, completes all family tasks efficiently and goes like the clappers on the odd hoon around the backroads.
“Using excess solar for 75% of its charging needs it costs under $180 a year to fuel. On a road trip we find the availability of superchargers better than we initially expected. The car has been totally reliable in the 2 years of ownership. My only complaint would be excessive cabin noise.
“Owning an EV is a learning experience. It takes time to get past all the negative BS that does the rounds. The biggest issue is getting your head around daily range, instead of the fill her up and drain to empty as per ICE cars. We typically charge our car to 60% every day for local trips. We wind this up to 70% for a 200km day. We try keep the battery in the middle of its percentages to prolong its life – NMC chemistry.
“I can’t see a reason to consider an ICE car in the future as a daily driver unless it competes with the EV. The ICE car would have to be…tailpipe emissions free, around 500 bhp; have the extra functionality and storage of an EV; fully fuel overnight for under $200 per annum; with a 8 year drive train warranty; and no scheduled service requirements.
“Just not seeing that as a possibility.”
“We’ve had a few Hybrid cars over the years. First Prius I bought was in 2013. It was a brilliant car, great fuel economy and returned about 20km/l constantly. Then I bought another in 2019. Same thing. Really economical and was so happy with the reliability & fuel economy.
“My partner and I bought a house in 2023 and that is where the penny really dropped. We were on a mission to reduce costs and set ourselves up for future gains. We bought a 2018 Hyundai Ioniq with almost nothing on the odometer. I have been a ‘greenie’ almost all my life. I grew up in South Africa where my grandparents had solar back in the 80’s already. I have always been fascinated by solar panels, batteries, inverters – Technology in general. South Africa’s power issues have forced a lot of people to install solar at home and at businesses out of necessity.
Hyundai Ioniq in New Zealand. Photo courtesy Nic and Kerry van der Poll.
“When we crunched the numbers on owning and running an EV, we were both a little shocked. Not only would we save on the ‘fuel’ powering the car, we would also be able to jump onto a power plan that would reduce our night time tariff – saving us hundreds of Dollars a year. It ended up being so close to break even (the cost of the loan vs. savings in fuel and overall power bill) that we decided to jump and buy an EV. I have been following Youtubers like Robert Llewellyn from Fully Charged since I was a teenager. I’ve been following EVs since Tesla started out in 2005/2006 with their Roadster. I test drove the first Leaf the moment I had an opportunity in 2012 at the Johannesburg International Motor Show. I have spent hours looking into battery chemistries, SoH over time etc. etc. By the time we were able to buy an EV, I had so much accumulated knowledge that it was so easy figuring out what to go for and what to look for.
“The reason for buying the Ioniq was the fact that they tend to be reliable and keep their batteries very healthy for very long. The $23,000 price tag also helped, let’s be honest. Here we could have a vehicle that cost less to buy than a Leaf, with a battery that was still at 100% SoH. Comparable Leafs (KM travelled and age) cost another $2-3k more and the batteries were already showing degradation with total SoH remaining between 80% – 88%. A real no-brainer.
“When we bought the Ioniq in July of 2023 and had to drive up to Auckland from Wellington to pick it up (I say ‘had’, we could have loaded it onto a truck, but who doesn’t want to drive a new car back home??). I had no range anxiety for most of the trip. The 200-ish-kilometers it can do on a charge did not phase me. I knew from looking on the ARBP (A Better Route Planner) App that we would easily get to a charger if needed. The only stretch of road that really made me panic was the Desert Road on the way back down. We charged up to 90% at Turangi and headed off. The steep inclines, the cold (I think it went down to minus 2 degrees at one stage) and the use of the heater, DRAINED that battery so quickly. The guess-o-meter was showing 170-ish-kilometers of range after charging at Turangi, the GPS was saying the next charger was only 65 km away.”
Driving the Ioniq home. Photo courtesy Nic and Kerry van der Poll.
“‘That should leave us with plenty to spare’ – I thought….
“By the time we got to Waiouru there was only 40 km to left – yikes. The range dropped pretty quickly. But all was good. We did not get stranded. Had a quick top-up in Waiouru and off we went again.
Charging the Ioniq. Photo courtesy Nic and Kerry van der Poll.
“In January of this year, we had a 5 kW solar system installed. 6.6 kW of Solar Panels, 5 kW Inverter and 6.4 kWh of battery storage. Now most of our charging is done during the day as we don’t typically need to use the car to commute to work and back. We’ve seen a massive drop in monthly power bills. It’s been the best investment so far. Our bill in summer went from roughly $200 a month to our power company owing us about $40.
Driving an Ioniq in New Zealand. Photo courtesy Nic and Kerry van der Poll.
“Overall our experience has been great. We love owning an EV. We love being able to charge it off the sun (mostly). It is a great vehicle to drive, lots of grunt. Really reliable too. Guess-o-meter is pretty accurate and sometimes you get more out than what it estimates.
“New Zealand’s public charging infrastructure is good, all things considered. Yes, we need more chargers, yes they could cost less, but you CAN do a long road journey – even with a smaller battery and limited range.”
Charging. Screenshot courtesy Nic and Kerry van der Poll.
Whether you have solar power or not, please complete our latest solar power survey.Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one if daily is too frequent.
Advertisement
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica’s Comment Policy
Source link by CleanTechnica Reviews Archives
Author David Waterworth
#RealLife #Stories #Driving #Zealand
GM is ending production of the gas-powered Cadillac SUV XT6 sooner than expected, and a new luxury EV will replace it. The three-row electric SUV will be placed by a new luxury Cadillac EV at GM’s Spring Hill plant in Tennessee.
GM ends XT6 production for a new luxury EV
After the XT4 was killed off earlier this year, we learned that several more Cadillac models, including the XT5 and XT6, were destined for the same fate.
It looks like that will happen even sooner than planned. According to a memo viewed by the Detroit Free Press, GM confirmed it’s ending production of the XT6 in Spring Hill later this year.
The XT6 will be replaced by Cadillac’s new three-row electric SUV, the Vistiq. GM told workers in Spring Hill that the plant is due for upgrades with planned downtime next month, starting the week of May 12. Those required to work will be notified by their supervisor.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
Cadillac is in the midst of what could be its biggest brand revamp so far. GM’s luxury brand is coming off its best quarter since 2008 with its best retail market share since 2014.
2026 Cadillac Vistiq electric SUV (Source: GM)
After delivering the first Optiq models last quarter, Cadillac’s most affordable EV, the Vistiq, is up next. The Vistiq is a three-row electric SUV and smaller sibling to the massive Escalade IQ.
Powered by a 102 kWh battery, the “mini Escalade” has an EPA-estimated driving range of up to 305 miles. With up to 615 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque, the three-row SUV can hit 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds.
The interior is packed with GM’s latest software and connectivity tech. At the center is a curved 33″ LED infotainment display with Google built-in.
Cadillac’s three-row electric SUV is available in three trims, starting at $78,790: Luxury, Sport, and Premium. A flagship Platinum trim is coming this summer, starting at $97,890.
2026 Cadillac Vistiq trim
Starting Price
Luxury
$78,790
Sport
$79,290
Premium
$93,290
Platinum
$97,890
2026 Cadillac Vistiq electric SUV prices by trim (including the destination fee)
The Cadillac Vistiq is slightly longer than the Rivian R1S at 205.6″ compared to 201″. In comparison, Rivian’s electric SUV starts at $75,900 and runs up to 270 miles. The Dual and Tri Motor models offer 329 miles and 371 miles of range, starting at $83,900 and $105,900, respectively.
Although GM is ending XT6 production sooner than expected, the XT5 will stick around a little longer. GM confirmed it will continue building the smaller SUV until 2026.
What do you think of Cadillac’s new three-row electric SUV? Would you take one over the Rivian R1S? Let us know in the comments.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Source link by Electrek
Author Peter Johnson
#dropping #gas #SUV #sooner #expected #luxury #step
This analysis and news roundup comes from the Canary Media Weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it every Friday.
On Wednesday, President Trump unveiled a suite of new tariffs that target pretty much every country and territory in the world — including some where nobody even lives. The full extent of the tariffs’ reach remains unclear, but wind developers, solar manufacturers, tech companies, automakers, and even fossil-fuel producers are already sweating.
The wind industry, already suffering under the Trump administration, is likely to face further setbacks. Wind turbines rely on components from around the world, even if they’re usually assembled in the U.S. The same is true for solar panels and batteries. Endri Lico, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie, told The New York Times that a 25% tariff on imports could raise the cost of building onshore wind turbines by 10% and renewable energy overall by 7% — and many of Trump’s tariffs exceed that 25% threshold.
Higher clean energy costs will pose a big challenge for tech companies looking to expand energy-hungry data centers to power AI, Semafor reports. Renewables are the cheapest, quickest way to add new power to the grid, especially amid yearslong waits for new gas turbines.
The EV industry is also at risk. Most auto factories being built in the U.S. are focused on EVs and batteries, but they still rely on foreign metals and materials. Manufacturers and dealers fear sticker prices on cars could rise as much as $10,000 under the tariffs, Politico reports, exacerbating one of the biggest deterrents to EV adoption: high up-front costs.
The White House exempted imports of oil, gas, and refined products from the tariffs, alleviating fears for refiners that rely on crude oil imports. But oil prices still plunged Thursday morning, as investors worry the tariffs will slow economic growth and lower fuel demand around the world.
The potential slump in overall economic activity could result in one climate upside: a drop in emissions. “In the short-term, any decline is likely to have a positive impact on emissions reduction,” writes finance professor Rakesh Gupta in The Conversation. “We saw this effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, when global production and trade fell.”
But longer-term progress on U.S. clean energy manufacturing and deployment will likely stall if the announced tariffs hold, with implications that go far beyond decarbonization. Here’s how Vanessa Sciarra, vice president of trade and international competitiveness for American Clean Power, put it in a Thursday statement:
“The policy whiplash from these tariffs will ultimately undermine the ability to realize a domestic supply chain and will constrain efforts to deliver energy security and reliability for Americans.”
More big energy stories
Illinois pushes for stronger vehicle emissions rules, despite House threats
Illinois advocates are pushing their state to embrace California’s nation-leading vehicle emissions standards, Canary Media’s Kari Lydersen reports — even as President Trump and House Republicans threaten to eliminate the rules.
Crushing the rules would be a setback not only for efforts to decarbonize transportation but to clean up local air quality, too. Illinois advocates said a key reason they’re pushing these rules is to rid places like Joliet and Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood of the air pollution caused by diesel trucking.
Nissan says it’s on track to launch an all-solid-state battery (ASSB) by March of 2029.
The company says it’ll go into both EVs and hybrids.
Nissan claims it’ll be able to charge to 65% in around 5 minutes.
Nissan is on track to launch an all-solid state battery (ASSB) by the end of fiscal year 2028, executives affirmed to InsideEVs during the brand’s future tech preview event in Japan.
“That’s our ambition,” Shunichi Inamijima, Nissan’s vice president for the powertrain and EV engineering division, said via a translator.
He added that Nissan is in the “climax” of engineering the pack itself, and is about to start working on the cars themselves. That’s a tight turnaround time, as the 2028 fiscal year in Japan ends on March 31, 2029. This timeline has already been pushed back a bit, as Nissan—like everyone else—initially expected more EV demand than has materialized.
But the late 2028/early 2029 timeline was already announced last spring. This time, though, Nissan has a pilot plant for mass production up and running. The company is nowhere near full-rate production, but it’s far along the process of finalizing the design.
Nissan’s ASSB will use lithium-metal anode, with a sulfur electrolyte. The company says it can use a nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), Nickel Manganese (NM) or—eventually—a sulfur manganese cathode. The latter two chemistries would allow the company to forgo having to source cobalt, an expensive and rare metal, while a sulfur-manganese cathode could make things even cheaper. Regardless, the company is targeting density of 1,000 watt-hours per liter. That’s considerably ahead of most modern lithium-ion batteries, which top out around 700 watt-hours per liter. Nissan also says it’s heat resistant at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) and the most durable of any experimental SSB with published results.
The company claims the ASSB will be able to charge to 65% in as little as 5 minutes, also a big leap over most EV batteries. According to one executive, these also won’t be unique to EVs. Solid-state batteries will be useful for hybrids, especially larger SUVs. The weight and stability benefits of ASSBs will make hybrids more efficient, cheaper and more durable.
Photo by: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes has begun testing its solid-state EV prototype on public roads, a major milestone.
There’s no word on what EV will get this technology first. Still, Nissan’s timeline makes it more aggressive here than most companies. Many have pledged to launch their ASSBs by the end of the decade, but few have been bolder than that. Mercedes and Factorial are far along together, and semi-solid-state batteries already exist in China. But the race to get a true solid-state battery to market remains an open contest. Let’s see if Nissan has what it takes to win.
Contact the author: Mack.hogan@insideevs.com.
Source link by Battery Tech – News and Trends | InsideEVs
