Beijing Hosts Debut of Formula E as Engines Whir Rather Than Roar

The first carbon free, fully-electric racing championship is held in Beijing. Video Credit 

By Jonah M. Kessel on Publish DateSeptember 13, 2014. Image CreditAdam Dean for The New York Times

BEIJING — The world’s first fully electric motor racing series, featuring battery-powered racecars that can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in three seconds, opened here Saturday.

Known as Formula E, this 10-stop international circuit is approved by the International Automobile Federation and aims to inspire developments in electric car technology and attract a new generation of fans.

The inaugural race, the Beijing ePrix, was unexpectedly dramatic. A crash at the last turn of the final lap involving the leading cars allowed the Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi of the Audi Sport ABT team to win.

Nicolas Prost had long been in the lead when his car touched Nick Heidfeld’s. Heidfeld’s vehicle flew end over end and landed upside down in pieces. He emerged unscathed.

The Beijing ePrix took place in Olympic Park, site of the 2008 Olympics. The cars made 25 laps on the 3.44-kilometer course (about two miles), weaving between the Water Cube and Bird’s Nest.

Among the 75,000 people reportedly on site were a large number of local residents who were pleasantly surprised to find an international sporting event to attend as long as they paid the park entrance fee. 

Photo

Lucas Di Grassi of Audi Sport ABT won the first Formula E electric motor race on Saturday at the Olympic Park in Beijing.CreditAdam Dean for The New York Times

The series was the brainchild of the federation’s president, Jean Todt, and a Spanish businessman, Alejandro Agag, who came up with the idea in 2011.

“We expect this championship to become the framework for research and development around the electric car, a key element for the future of our cities,” Agag told the event’s website.

The championship has strong backing — it took $100 million to get the project off the ground — and a number of Formula One veterans like Jarno Trulli strapped into racecars. Sir Richard Branson, the four-time Formula One champion Alain Prost and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio are among the team owners.

Unlike other racing series, Formula E schedules practice rounds, qualifying and races into a single day’s program instead of three, making it less disruptive to the host cities where the street circuits have been built.

To engage spectators, a gimmick called the FanBoost allows fans to vote for their favorite drivers; the top three get a chance to bump their car’s power for two and a half seconds.

“We have 1.4 billion people,” said Steven Lu, chief executive of the China Racing team. “If even .0001 percent of them vote, that’d be enough to win.”

The fan favorites proved to be di Grassi, Bruno Senna and Katherine Legge, one of two women in the 20-car race.

For the series, Michelin designed an 18-inch all-weather tire intended to last an entire race. Each Formula One car receives 52 tires per race weekend; Formula E cars receive 10.

All drivers drove a version of the Spark-Renault SRT_01E, equipped with a battery weighing nearly 800 pounds. It has enough power for 20 to 30 minutes of hard racing, so drivers switched cars midway through, substituting the poetry of Formula One pit stop tire changes for a hop into another vehicle.

Ho-Pin Tung, a Dutch driver of Chinese descent on the China Racing team, said that the best drivers in this series would be those who mastered the ability to manage the battery’s energy.

“In race mode, we will be playing around with the power all the time,” he said. “We have six different engine mappings on the steering wheel, which we have to adjust while driving.”

The local fans were disappointed by China Racing’s finish, as Tung placed placing 16th and his teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. placed eighth. What caught Tung by surprise the first time he drove the SRT_01E was the sound of the wind in his helmet.

“It’s always there of course, but normally there’s a screaming loud engine behind you,” he said.

The electric car’s motor emits an 80-decibel whir, about the same as a garbage disposal, compared with Formula One cars that sound like jet engines.

“I had no idea electric cars could be so fast,” said Wang Zhigang, 60, a Beijing native who had seen racing only on television. He added, however, that he would not buy one soon.

“The government gives subsidies for them,” he said, “but there are just too few charging stations. What would you do if you ran out of battery here?”

But China is seeking to put five million electric cars on the road by 2020 in an effort to cut pollution. Indeed, Lu, whose team played a crucial role in bringing the race to Beijing, said that the Chinese government was willing to host because it wanted to promote electric cars.

Speaking of government officials, Lu said: “They said: ‘Wow, this is really new. It’s a golden opportunity. Let’s do that.’ ”

Stops on the Formula E circuit include Miami and Long Beach, Calif. The final race is in London in June.

A few years ago, few believed this series could come to fruition. Standing on a hastily built viewing platform, Lu was optimistic, saying, “It’s real, it’s fast, and it’s the future.”

ORIGINAL: NY Times

By BECKY DAVIS

SEPT. 13, 2014

Taxis Eléctricos en Bogotá. (Avance)

QUÉ SON LOS TAXIS ELÉCTRICOS

¿De qué se trata el proyecto?

Consiste en la operación de un piloto de taxis con motores de tracción eléctrica (eTaxis), alimentados por baterías internas recargables. Fue autorizada mediante el Decreto 677 de 2011, con el cual la Administración Distrital expresó la necesidad de desarrollar instrumentos y herramientas que sustenten y favorezcan la posterior formulación de una política de movilidad eléctrica, dando pasos firmes en la modernización y adopción de tecnologías ecoeficientes en el transporte de Bogotá.


¿Cuantos eTaxis circularán?

Se autorizó la operación de máximo 50 vehículos eléctricos en el servicio taxi. Sin embargo, se espera iniciar el proyecto piloto con al menos el 20% de estos, y al corto plazo tener circulando los 50. Luego, en el mediano plazo y por fuera del proyecto, se espera una reposición de taxis de combustión por eTaxis, es decir que cualquier persona que hoy tenga un taxi de combustión en circulación podrá hacer uso de su derecho a reposición o cupo con un taxi eléctrico.

¿Quienes participan en la implementación de esta operación piloto?

El Distrito Capital, en cabeza de las Secretarías de Ambiente y de Movilidad, ha desarrollando el papel de coordinador, gestor y facilitador para la ejecución de acciones por parte del sector privado, que converjan en el inicio de la operación piloto de taxis eléctricos. Esto no sería posible sin la participación y esfuerzo de entidades como CODENSA, Fundación Clinton, Organización C40, IDRD, Praco Didacol, BYD y las empresas de Taxis, que hasta el momento son Taxatélite, Taxis Teleclub, Taxi Roxi Internacional y Radio Taxi Aeropuerto.

eTaxis = electric taxis

VENTAJAS, BENEFICIOS Y SOSTENIBILIDAD DE UN eTAXI

Ventajas de los vehículos eléctricos
Un vehículo totalmente eléctrico a baterías tiene una mayor eficiencia energética que los vehículos de combustión y no genera emisiones directas a la atmósfera. Esta tecnología no genera ruido en su operación, y al tener menos partes en movimiento los costos de mantenimiento se reducen. Además no requiere la utilización de aceites lubricantes (que una vez usados se convierten en residuos peligrosos).

Beneficios con la operación de taxis eléctricos
Por ahora, el mayor beneficio es conocer en condiciones reales el comportamiento de este tipo de vehículos, además de la experiencia en la instalación de la infraestructura de recarga; con esto arrancaría en la ciudad la masificación de la movilidad eléctrica y la disminución del uso de los combustibles fósiles. En el campo ambiental, cuando empiece la sustitución de vehículos de combustión por vehículos eléctricos, se obtendrán beneficios como la mejora en la calidad del aire, ya que estos vehículos no generan emisiones directas; se reducirán las emisiones de Gases de Efecto Invernadero (causantes del cambio climático); y disminuirán los residuos de aceites lubricantes usados (peligrosos) y las exigencias a los proveedores de tecnología en movilidad eléctrica para responsabilizarse de la retoma, reúso o reciclaje de elementos como las baterías y otros.

¿Qué tan sostenible es tener un eTaxi?
Las condiciones estudiadas entre la Administración Distrital, las empresas de taxis participantes, el proveedor de electricidad y demás entidades de apoyo, indican que el proyecto es sostenible y permite márgenes de utilidad razonables. Sin embargo no se puede garantizar el derecho a reposición una vez culmine el piloto, ya que el parque automotor de taxis se encuentra “congelado” (en cantidad), y los vehículos autorizados en este proyecto obedecen a un incremento temporal.

Los “peros” de los vehículos eléctricos
Al igual que toda tecnología nueva y más avanzada, la principal desventaja es el costo inicial, ya que estos vehículos cuestan entre 2 y 3 veces más que uno de combustión. Sin embargo, por ejemplo los eTaxis previstos para la operación piloto tienen un costo que ronda los 86 millones de pesos, en el que ya está incluido el beneficio arancelario; esto quiere decir que se requiere una mayor inversión inicial, pero los costos de operación y mantenimiento son mucho menores que los de un vehículo de combustión en el servicio taxi.

RECARGAS Y BATERÍAS DE ESTOS TAXIS

¿Dónde se recargarán las baterías de los eTaxis?
Los puntos o estaciones de recarga están siendo concretados con CODENSA, el IDRD, las Secretarías de Ambiente y de Movilidad y el sector privado. El objeto es completar progresivamente cuatro estaciones de recarga, con un total de 55 conectores, en puntos estratégicos. Mientras se realizan las intervenciones y las obras definitivas, que conllevan una serie de trámites de necesaria aplicación, el proyecto iniciará con dos estaciones de recarga con 17 conectores entre ambas.

¿Cuánto rodarán estos taxis con la batería cargada?
La autonomía que tienen prevista estos vehículos es de 250 kilómetros, cifra cercana al rodamiento de un taxi de combustión en un turno largo de trabajo. Estos 250 kilómetros se obtienen con la carga completa de la batería (100%), que tardará dos horas en cargarse si está vacía; preferiblemente se hará en horas de la noche, lo que depende del taxista. Se tiene la posibilidad de que con una hora adicional de recarga en el transcurso del día, se pueda obtener autonomía adicional de hasta 100 kilómetros más.

TAXISTAS Y CARRERAS DE LOS eTAXIS

¿Cuánto costará una carrera en un eTaxi?
Las tarifas de servicio son las mismas que aplican para un taxi de combustión en Bogotá.

¿Cómo un taxista puede hacer parte del piloto?
Un taxista puede participar en los sorteos de adjudicación de derechos, a través de la empresa de taxis a la que se encuentra afiliado. El postulante no debe contar con multas ni otras sanciones en el momento de la presentación de los documentos, mientras que la empresa debe ser persona jurídica habilitada en la prestación del servicio público de transporte terrestre automotor individual de pasajeros tipo taxi, y poseer al menos 50 vehículos con tarjeta de operación vigente a la fecha.

 

ORIGINAL: Secretaría de Medio Ambiente Bogotá

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¿Cómo están operando los taxis eléctricos en Bogotá?

Se espera que antes de finalizar el año entren en circulación los 50 taxis eléctricos.

Foto: ARCHIVO PARTICULAR.

Conozca cuáles son los beneficios ambientales y cómo puede abordar estos vehículos en la ciudad.
Hace más de dos meses comenzaron a circular alrededor de 14 taxis eléctricos en Bogotá, de la marca China BYD –representada en Colombia por Praco Didacol– con el objetivo de generar beneficios en el medioambiente.

Este proyecto se viene realizando por el ‘plan piloto de movilidad eléctrica en el transporte público’, en el que se busca “lograr sustituir los vehículos de combustión por carros eléctricos”, explicó la Secretaría de Ambiente (SDA).

Los taxis eléctricos o ‘Biotaxis’ no requieren de cupo –para entrar en circulación– ni tampoco están sujetos al pico y placa, por ser vehículos que no generan impacto negativo en la atmósfera (ayudan a reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, causantes de calentamiento global) y además, no producen emisiones sonoras.

Según la SDA estos vehículos tienen una “batería de gama alta que les permite recorrer hasta 300 kilómetros por 2 horas de carga”, mientras que un taxi de combustión recorre 250 kilómetros con seis galones.

Por su parte, uno de los propietarios de estos carros dice que los conductores suelen tomar turnos de 5 a.m. a 9 p.m. para recargar la batería durante la noche y el mediodía.

Se espera que antes de finalizar el año entren en circulación los 50 taxis eléctricos propuestos desde el comienzo del plan piloto, pues ello ayudaría a generar una mejor “movilidad ambiental”.

¿Cómo abordar un ‘Biotaxi’?
Para solicitar un servicio debe comunicarse a ‘Taxatélite’ o ‘Taxi Roxi’, al número 2222222 o a ‘Taxis Teleclub’, al 5222222 (por ser las únicas empresas que acogieron este proyecto), pero no debe olvidar aclararle a la operadora que va a tomar un taxi eléctrico.

No olvide que también puede abordarlos en la calle y tenga presente que las tarifas del servicio son las mismas que se aplican para un taxi de combustión, en Bogotá.

MILENA TORRES

REDACCIÓN MI TIEMPO ZONA

ORIGINAL: El Tiempo
Por: MILENA TORRES |
07 de Noviembre del 2013

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More Ciencia en Canoa

• Bogotá Launches the Largest All-electric Taxi Fleet in South America
• Bogotá. Por fin, taxis eléctricos

Why Does EV-Phobia Plague Most British Drivers?

ORIGINAL: Electronic Design

by Paul Whytock in London Calling
Jul. 17, 2013

A majority of British drivers feel that there is insufficient infrastructure when it comes to re-charging electric vehicles

The immediate answer to that question could be they are just plain crazy and simply have no regard for the ecological advantages afforded by electric vehicles (EVs). But that’s not it. The reality is that 62% of Britain's drivers believe national infrastructure falls short in supporting EVs. The sense is that recharging, particularly on long journeys, could be haphazard. In fact, over 70% of drivers surveyed said they had never seen a public EV charger.
Well, they’re right. Let's face it, why would you buy a car that’s much more expensive than a petrol/diesel equivalent, yet becomes an inconvenience when it came to finding vacant charging points?

These reactions came from a survey conducted by Censuswide and Rexel, a distributor of electrical products and services for energy applications. Vehicle range anxiety was a common response throughout in the survey. In some regard, this reflects back to concerns about inadequate numbers of recharging facilities.

But what about the environmental issue? If the UK is to meet its agreed-upon carbon reduction target of at least 80% by 2050, the Government wants 1.7 million EVs to be operating on Britain’s roads by 2020 and 6.3 million by 2030.

However, the apparently EV-phobic attitude of drivers isn’t entirely their fault. The UK Government must shoulder some responsibility for not adequately publicizing certain facts about EV ownership.

For instance, the purchase-cost reluctance highlights a lack of awareness of the incentives available from the Government to encourage EV adoption, such as the plug-in car grant. The grant offers UK-based consumers and businesses 25% off the cost of a qualifying ultra-low emission car, up to a maximum of £5,000.

This is, of course, a positive move. Still, driver doubts remain when it comes to a national recharging infrastructure. There may be 3000 public charging points in the UK, but that’s nowhere near enough to meet demand, especially if the Government plans to reach its target of 1.7 million EV owners by 2020. That works out to one charging point for every 567 EVs…not a viable panacea when it comes to curing EV-phobia.

Voltswagon: Do-it-yourself: How to build your own electric car, hacker style

ORIGINAL: Venture Beat

Dean Takahashi

July 29, 2012

By day, David Brown is a security consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. But in his spare time, he’s one of a growing number of do-it-yourself electric vehicle creators. In the past couple of years, Brown retrofitted a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle into an electric car, and he talked about his “Voltswagon” project at the Defcon hacker conference on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Electric cars can save you a lot of money when it comes to skipping gas purchases, and they’ve been getting more popular since Tesla launched its first electric car in 2008. But the sticker price of new electric vehicles is a big barrier to adoption still, so hobbyist mechanics like Brown of Friendswood, Texas, are retrofitting their own cars for a relatively small price tag. Brown (pictured below) did it for about $6,000, not counting the cost of his car, tools, and about 100 hours of labor.

The whole point of designing an electric vehicle is to save energy. So it pays to keep that in mind when you’re adding a bunch of new things to an older car. When you are retrofitting a car, you need to install electric vehicle components such as a motor, controller, batteries, a charger, and accessories.

“If you are doing this to save the environment, you probably don’t want to convert a high-performance race car,” he said. “You want to maximize the utility, and figure out how far you need to go and how fast you need to go.”

You have to figure out your budget for the project and your own skills for doing the work. The good thing about building an electric vehicle is that a lot of hobbyists have done it before. Open ReVolt is a community dedicated to openly sharing learnings about electric cars including chargers and motor controllers.

“This is the part that I wished I had known about before I built my electric car,” Brown said.

A lot of the work is pulling out the old internal combustion engine and other parts that you no longer need in an existing car. You can pull the radiator out of the car since you don’t need it any more, making it lighter. If you convert a car from power brakes to manual, you can save on power consumption.

Brown said that the open-source EV Dashboard puts the makers of electric vehicles to shame with visual gauges that measure the state of your electric car in terms of speed and battery power. The dashboard electronics can be displayed on an iPad or Android tablet. (Android OS Option: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/EMW+Moves+to+Production.-a0289930916)

One of the tough problems is getting a vehicle charged in a timely manner. On a 110-volt electrical socket in a home, charging happens at a rate of 8 miles of charge per hour. On a 220-volt electric dryer plug, the rate is 44 miles per hour. A J1776-2009 charger can charge at 76 miles per hour. And a Japanese CHAdeMO charger can charge at 250 miles of charger per hour using 500 volts.

Brown’s car can get a top speed of 70 miles per hour and it goes from zero to 40 miles per hour in two to four seconds. It has 10 12-volt batteries and it gets 250 watt-hours per mile. It has a Curtiss 1221C controller and a D&D Motor Systems electric engine. The range is 16 to 26 miles. That short range is a drawback, for sure, but it is improving over time. And Brown noted that 80 percent of U.S. commutes are under 40 mile, and there is no energy wasted while sitting in traffic. The typical cost is about 2 cents per mile.

For electric vehicle resources, he used vendors including Wilderness EV, KTA Services,Cloud Electric, Sam’s Club, Calib Power, eBay, Lightobject, andChennic. Other helpful web sites included DIY Electric Car, EVTV Motor Verks, EVDL, V is for Voltage Forums and Ecomodder. You can check out the possibilities for projects with DIY electric cars on EV Album.

Brown said some technologies that just aren’t ready for prime time, especially for hobbyists, are: solar, hydrogen, supercapacitors,

hub motors, and DIY hybrids. Modders have to be aware that the laws for each state are different. It’s sometimes tough to get an electric vehicle certified in a smog test because the regulators don’t believe that the emissions for any car are “zero.”

Brown said that the project cost him a fair amount of money. He paid $1,200 for a motor, $1,000 for a controller $800 for batteries, $600 for a charger, $500 for an adapter/charger, and $800 for miscellaneous.On top of that, you need a lot of tools. (Make sure you put electrical tape around the tools, as you don’t want to accidentally hit the battery and short it out).

If you’re doing it yourself, you want to buy your batteries last. That’s because the technology is changing fast and it may change several times in a six-month to two-year project.

But he added the cost for no longer being the “bitch” of OPEC and Exxon: priceless.