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The Next Generation of Cars will be Electric.

 “COP 26, organised by the United Nations, is now behind us and the strongest message that came out was that the world must decarbonize the motorised vehicle fleet.”

        All the major world wide vehicle manufacturers have announced multiple electric vehicle models and some have even announced they will no longer manufacture petrol or diesel cars after 2035.”

        “Governments around the world are applying penalties and emission rules around petrol and diesel vehicles to make their operation and ownership more expensive, to drive change as they scramble to meet their CO2 emission promises.”

          “Hydrogen has a place as it is a great store for “ green “ energy but is about 3 times more expensive than battery electric options. However it has advantages for long haul trucks, ships, remote mining operations, buses and maybe aeroplanes.

         “Battery technologies are developing at a rapid rate. By 2025 we are expecting dry cell battery technology that can charge a vehicle in 10 minutes and offer a greatly increased range at a reasonable cost.”

         “It is even possible that internal combustion engines may run on fuel other than hydrocarbons.”

        “Around town delivery trucks will be electric.”

        “Slowly but surely automation of the vehicle will creep in and ride sharing will become more common. Vehicle ownership by individuals will become less common. Vehicles will become a computer on wheels.”

   These are all thoughts expressed by Alex de Boer, Managing Director of The Electric Motor Vehicle Company Ltd ( EMV ), Southland’s only dedicated Electric Vehicle Company. 

  “ When buying and owning an electric vehicle you need to focus on the idea that the battery is the engine. It is sealed and therefore no physical maintenance is required but that does not mean you don’t need to look after it to make sure it will last a long time. Also the battery replacement industry is very young at this time” says Alex. “ Therefore we spend a lot of time with our clients as advisers to understand what use the vehicle is intended for and eventually make the right vehicle choice.”

   EMV do not buy or recommend older electric vehicles as these will have a reduced range and will eventually stop driving altogether. “We want to be with our clients throughout their ownership and we do our best to ensure we can keep their cost of ownership down over the life of the vehicle. With replacement batteries we expect EVs can do over one million kms.  “says Bob Turner, Sales Manager. “In many cases right now in Southland,  with more rural driving hybrid vehicles are often the best option.”

   The EMV business is as a one stop shop to bring Mobility as a Service ( MaaS ) in electric or hybrid form to everyone that seeks it. This includes leasing or finance to own. “The savings in running costs can even cover the cost of finance so there is no direct capital outlay,” concludes Mr de Boer.

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Fact & Fiction of EV Batteries

Electric vehicles are growing in popularity, but there are frequent claims the batteries in them aren’t up to snuff. Andrea Graves sets the record straight.

The electric vehicle feebate announcement has spurred keyboard warriors to “educate” others on the harms of EV batteries. Environmental and human rights advocates have emerged from unexpected quarters: Winston Peters is concerned about labour conditions in African mines and joins Judith Collins in fretting about a looming stockpile of depleted EV batteries. 

These alarming claims deserve more than research via social media. Are they true?  

Fiction: EV batteries will form a waste mountain

The worried politicians could turn to New Zealand’s Battery Industry Group (BIG), a stakeholder group of businesses, individuals, organisations and academics from energy, transport, waste and battery sectors. It’s committed to avoiding a large-battery legacy problem and co-designed a circular product stewardship scheme that is now with the Ministry for the Environment. 

If the scheme becomes a regulation, all large batteries will have their chain of custody tracked after import. Their life expectancy varies by make, but the life of a Nissan Leaf’s relatively small and faster-degrading battery might look like this: five years with an owner who needs a long-range vehicle, who sells to someone who’s willing to charge up more often, who after another five years sells cheaply to someone who only tootles around town. A few years later, its remaining capacity can remain useful for a “second life” outside a car. Counties Power, for example, will shortly install ex-Nissan Leaf batteries to store electricity to cover outages and voltage fluctuations in remote locations. It’s also working on a battery bank to store off-peak electricity to power EV charging stations. 

Fiction: EV batteries aren’t recyclable

BIG proposes collecting a fee when a battery is imported, which would fund the dissemination of batteries for second-life uses or recycling. Dr Peng Cao of the MacDiarmid Institute and the University of Auckland says that EV batteries are completely recyclable – but it’s not profitable and existing methods are polluting. Local recycling options are being explored, and nationwide scrap dealer Metalman hopes to soon offer a recycling service for all common battery types. 

Fact: EV batteries (and all electronics) contain toxic materials

All electronic gear, from cellphones to televisions and electric toothbrushes, includes materials that can be toxic. Like oil, the materials are extracted from somewhere on the planet, and the resulting environmental destruction is comfortably distanced from our shopping experience. EV battery metals are no exception, but there is a mammoth push to do better.

“Developing environmentally friendly, less toxic batteries is a really hot research topic globally,” says Cao, who is part of this effort. “The second generation of EVs tried to minimise the use of cobalt. Now producers are trying to move away from it altogether. And the new chemistry batteries should be cheaper.”

A battery based on aluminium, an abundant and less toxic metal, is being developed by Wellington startup TasmanION.

Fact: Children mine cobalt for batteries (and oil refining etc)

This is true and troubling. About 40,000 children are thought to be involved in dangerous, unregulated mining in Democratic Republic of Congo. Poverty drives their families to it. The most valuable metal they unearth is cobalt – the same metal battery manufacturers are trying to retire from their products. International coalitions are working to improve the conditions that drive children to work in the mines and to source less exploitative cobalt from the murky supply chain.

But before you throw stones in a cobalt revolt, check whether you’re living in a glass house. Cobalt is also used in oil refining, the superalloys of aircraft engines and prosthetic joints. And do you own gold, drink coffee, eat chocolate, sugar or bananas or wear cotton? These are some of the products produced by an estimated 160 million children who labour in often dangerous conditions.

There are also valid concerns about rechargeable batteries’ other metals, particularly lithium. Again, there’s a huge research thrust to address that, with a local company at the cutting edge.

Fiction: EVs generate more carbon dioxide than conventional cars

Many “lifecycle assessments” have calculated the carbon dioxide produced to build, use and dispose of vehicles. They consistently show that although more carbon emissions are generated by EVs than conventional cars during manufacturing, EV lifespan emissions are much lower after a few months or years of average driving (it’s faster for smaller EVs and in countries like ours where renewable electricity predominates). 

Fiction: EVs are pointless if we’re burning coal

It’s not intuitive, but even where electricity is generated by coal, EVs result in lower carbon emissions than conventional vehicles. That’s because internal combustion engines are so inefficient, converting less than 30% of petrol’s energy into power at the wheels. EV batteries convert nearly 80% of grid energy into wheel power. And more renewable electricity is imminent.

So what should an ethical driver do?

All vehicles step heavily on the planet, so an advocate for the environment and human rights would, whenever possible, use a less taxing option such as their feet, a bike or public transport. 

It’s exhausting to examine how every purchase impacts distant people and environments, but it’s only fair to compare apples with apples. A fair player would balance concerns about child labour and environmental harm from battery metals with the injustices they fund with their other purchases. They would factor in the pollution, corruption and wars that result from relying on oil. 

They would weigh up battery issues against the vast suffering to be inflicted on billions of future humans and other species by the continuing massive blow-out in atmospheric carbon dioxide caused by burning fossil fuels. The resulting three or more degrees of warming predicted by 2100 seems measly (we’re already at one degree), but there is little doubt the consequences will be profound. 

The sea will engulf many cities. Widespread heatwaves, drought, famine, intense storms, fires and severe economic depression are inevitable unless we cut carbon emissions deeply and rapidly. Transport produces nearly half of New Zealand’s carbon dioxide emissions, and although EVs are imperfect, they’re a ready-to-roll way to start eradicating those emissions. 

Original Article – https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/05-07-2021/ev-batteries-sorting-the-fact-from-the-fiction/

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Electric Farm UTVs – Revolutionary

Earn Back Your Purchase Price and More

     Farmers now have a choice but it is a “ no brainer” says Alex de Boer, Managing Director of The electric Motor Vehicle Company  when explaining why farmers should purchase the Hisun range of electric farm UTVs stocked and offered by his company.

     “ Price is always an issue, as it should be, but it is important to evaluate the lifetime cost.

        A model similar to our HS5D offering 18.8HP and 120Nm of torque in petrol or diesel power will set you back about $24,000 ( excluding gst ). Our fully electric UTV with lithium -ion batteries is just under $30,000 ( excluding gst).

       However once the purchase is made there are now nil petrol or diesel costs. This is a cash expense and the average farmer could easily spend up to $7500.00 on fuel per year. This means that even after 1 year the non electric UTV has now cost $31,500 or this cost could be applied to the electric UTV and reduced this to $22,500. But this saving adds up every year of ownership and use so it is not long before the non electric bike has doubled in cost and the electric bike has recovered all its cost.

      The difference is even greater when you add in the savings in maintenance costs. There is no petrol motor that won’t start and creates  maintenance bills of roughly $1500 per year. In the electric UTV the motor is effectively the battery and with the same Lithium Ion batteries that are found in all electric cars we know that these will cycle for at least 2000 full cycles. This saving in maintenance also means less downtime and more use—therefore making money.

       On top of all the cash savings there is a saving of 2.3kg of CO2 per litre of fuel no longer being pumped into the atmosphere. This can be credited against the farm’s  emissions budget. This can easily exceed 10 tonne of CO2 emissions per UTV per year.

      Then there are all the other advantages like a quiet ride, no more ear muffs or deafness, no need to shout, play music, better hunting, ease of starting, electric supply for drills etc.

        Also if you have a small flat farm, lifestyle block, or garden centre we also have the option of a dry cell battery electric bike for $16,500.00 ( plus gst). Other than a shorter range it has all the other advantages described above. “

        The government is determined to meet its “ Climate Change “ commitments and farmers will need to be proactive to embrace this change and play an important part. It is likely that more and more tax will be applied to fuel prices to drive change just as we have seen in the past with cigarette prices. Changing fuel to electric where you can do this and earning back expenses at the same time seems like a no brainer.

       Please also see our advertisement on this page for more insight.

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THE JOY AND FREEDOM OF POWERED CYCLING

The Electric Motor Vehicle Company in Southland specialise in providing electric and hybrid mobility as the future for our transport system.

     “ We are pleased to advise that we have expanded this into the field of bicycles. Traditionally the motive power for bikes was via the rider pedalling. Now we are able to offer the pedalling effort in conjunction with a geared electric motor “ says Mr Alex de Boer,  Managing Director.

      Cycling was usually seen as a way to exercise for moderately fit people. With the introduction of electric powered cycles offering assistance to the effort of pedalling the field of users has been dramatically extended. “ We now get people coming in aged 80 plus able to consider riding the Rail Trail and other holiday destinations in the outdoors. There are up to 4 levels of power assistance so even steep hills can be easily managed, “ notes Mr Bob Turner, Sales Manager.

    “ In conjunction with Electrify.nz we now stock the KTM ( Austrian ), Gepida ( Hungarian), and Magnum (USA), and Black ( NZ designed) brands. These offer the full range of options from serious mountain bikers to road cycle commuting in various size options “ says Alex.

     

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The Electric Power Revolution Comes To The Land Via UTVs.

The Electric Motor Vehicle Company is proud to be involved in a world first by introducing the Lithium Ion all electric UTV. This is the same power source that is used in all electric cars.

“ We have teamed up with HISUN who are world’s fastest growing UTV brand and now represented in over 50 countries. Designed and engineered in a state -of -the art premises in McKinney, Texas and manufactured in China in a 160,000 sq.m. facility the Hisun Lithium Ion battery powered bikes offer everything a farmer would desire “ says Alex de Boer , Managing Director of TEMVC.

  * No fuel bill. Electric charging can be done on a 15 amp single phase plug. The battery likes being charged and can be plugged in whenever the machine is not in use.

  * Reduce your farm carbon footprint. This is a requirement to get your Resource Consent. One UTV can save over 10,000 kg of CO2 per annum. It might mean you do not need to lower stock numbers.

  * Will climb 31 degree slopes.

  * Very quiet. Keep stock calm. Great for hunting.

  * Very few moving parts so maintenance costs are very low. This also means less downtime and having the vehicle out of use.  The battery needs no maintenance. Battery life depends on the number of complete charge cycles. In cars this is at least 5000 cycles so it should be similar with these bikes. Battery costs are constantly coming down and the battery technology is constantly improving.

  * Range can be up to 120km depending on how hard it is driven and the terrain. Topping up the battery during lunch and other work breaks could overcome any concerns here.

  * There are 3 driving speeds—max range, high, and low. There is no gear lever or clutch. Max speed is 45 km/hr.

  * A 1500 kg electric winch is standard.

  * There is front wheel diff lock in 4WD mode.The bike can also operate in 2WD to extend the range.

  *  All switches are dash mounted and electronic.

  * A tow fitting is provided with a towing capacity of 680kg.

  * There is a rear tilt tray with a load capacity of approximately 230kg.

  * There are ventilated hydraulic disc brakes on all 4 wheels.

  * The UTV has 4 wheel independent suspension which is nitrogen assisted and has many dampening options

  * Fitted with a cigarette type electric plug and also A USB connection.

  * The UTV could be adapted to power electric tools.

  * As the bike is so quiet there is no need to wear ear muffs and a sound system  could be fitted.

  * There are 18.8 HP, 25.5 HP, and 50 HP drive options.

  * Electric motors generate amazing torque so acceleration is instant with no grinding through gears necessary.

All this is available at a price similar to the larger petrol and diesel  UTVs from other suppliers . When this is coupled with all the above features and the savings in fuel and maintenance and complying with CO2 emission requirements it is really a great purchase option.

“ We have stock available “ says Mr de Boer.

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ENJOY ‘ DRIVETIME ‘ BY GOING ELECTRIC

At The Electric Motor Vehicle Company Ltd we constantly focus on staying up to date with the rapidly developing  world of electric and hybrid vehicles. “There are many issues and options to consider and a number of anxieties to overcome. We specialise in ensuring we can answer all the concerns “ says Mr Alex de Boer, Managing Director.

   Electric and Hybrid vehicles are the future of transport. This includes buses , trucks, and even air travel.

    Worldwide, governments are on a mission to reduce the CO2 in our atmosphere  to slow down global warming and eliminating petrol and diesel vehicles plays a large part in achieving this.

    However there are many other advantages . “ This change is the evolution of technology that will greatly improve safety, efficiency, and even the need to own vehicles “ says Mr de Boer. “ We can show you how these changes can benefit you and help reduce the cost transport in your financial budget.”

    “ It would be great to see Southland embrace these changes and lead NZ in the uptake of this technology “ says Bob Turner , Sales Manager. “ At this time we are dead last while our nearest neighbour is leading the charge! Yet Southland is largely flat. Air pollution is not just about global warming, it is also about the harmful chemicals we breath in daily which gradually harm our body’s metabolism.”

   Many people believe there is currently a range issue with electric vehicles. However if you have this anxiety you have not chosen the correct vehicle. In the larger cities where you spend a lot of time waiting at the lights, and in traffic jambs and queues a fully electric vehicle is ideal as you are not covering large distances. When the vehicle is stopped there is no running motor. Also there is instant, powerful, and smooth acceleration. Also any deceleration causes the electric motor to generate electricity and recharge the battery. “ If your journey is generally down hill you can end up with more energy than when you started” says Mr De Boer.

    However it is not ideal to constantly recharge the vehicle using fast chargers. These use Direct current (DC) at about 150 amps  and this will shorten the battery life. “I even saw a claim that the new 300 KW fast chargers can charge a vehicle in 15 minutes. This is not true. The onboard battery management will not allow this. Ideally the fast charger should be used in an emergency for a quick ‘top up’ to reach your destination. Most charging should be done at home, at work, or when you reach your destination with AC chargers. We can also supply these. We have vehicles that can cover 1000km, cost 10 cents per KM to run, and are much cheaper to buy than those with very large battery packs that still only have a 200 to 400 km range.  Please come and talk to us.”

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Invercargill Last in NZ For Uptake of Electric Vehicles

“ It is sad and difficult to understand that Invercargill ranks last in NZ for the uptake of Electric Vehicles while our nearest neighbour, Dunedin, is at the top of the rankings,” says Alex de Boer Managing Director of Invercargill based EV specialist, The Electric Motor Vehicle Company Ltd.

      Yet Invercargill is essentially flat and could lead NZ in this new technology uptake.

     “ It is the future of transport and I can assure you that once you have driven them you won’t want to go back to a traditional petrol or diesel vehicle. There is no conventional gear box or starter motor and acceleration is smooth, instant, and very fast, “ says Mr de Boer.

     There are very few moving parts that wear out and these vehicles could achieve a million KM or more in their operation.

    The batteries have an alternative life once they can no longer power the vehicle.

       “ Many people believe there is a range issue but this is not true, “ explains Mr de Boer. “ If this is an issue for you it just means you have the wrong vehicle. Fast charging during a journey should be seldom necessary and only for emergencies. Your charging should be at home, at work, or wherever you are staying overnight. Frequent fast charging does shorten the battery life and can be very inconvenient for most travellers.”

      The savings in running costs and maintenance over traditional vehicles can exceed 80%.

     “ I expect them to hold their value very well. With Governments all over the world pushing  to reduce our carbon footprint and with vehicles contributing to a large part of this, together with improving our  health by not having to breath in such noxious fumes, the push to transition  to this new technology will continue to get stronger, “ says Bob Turner, Sales Manager at TEMVC.

     At The Electric Motor Vehicle Company Ltd we specialise in all forms of electric transport and can sit down with you to answer your queries and fears and find the best solution for you. We can also arrange finance and have a great 5 year lease option with a vehicle upgrade at the end of the lease.

    Why not come in and talk to us.     “ Let us , together, make this the EV capital of NZ so others can look up to our example.”

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BMW i3 94AH EV

New to the yard and a lot of fun to drive!

A fine example of a NZ New BMW i3 that’s fully electric and rear wheel drive. Three driving modes-Comfort, Eco, and Eco Plus. Fantastic drivers seat, and steering wheel adjustment puts you in the ideal driving position.With wide opening front and rear doors for easy access. Excellent safety features with BMW’s Driving Assistance Plus. Parking assist is great in those tight parking spots.

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All about Automation!

As the level of automation increases a lot of computer “ learning” is required. This involves computers on board each vehicle sharing information and storing it in the “cloud”.

This knowledge then identifies every situation the vehicle may encounter on a journey.  In this way individual vehicles will not have to be programmed but they will be able to see the situation and almost instantly communicate this to the “learned” information stored in the cloud and take appropriate action.

Therefore individual vehicles do not need to do any “relearning” and once the data base is developed the vehicle will be able to deal with any situation. This process has been underway for some years in Silicon Valley in the USA and the first vehicle has just driven right across the USA from coast to coast without any human interference.

All the new EVs are also fully fitted with GPS location devices. These vehicles will soon be equipped to communicate with each other to determine their relative locations and take avoidance measures to avoid collisions. This will be particularly useful when passing and at roundabouts and intersections. This ability alone could greatly reduce the road toll.

Automation In New Zealand

I don’t envision that the upper levels of automation will be reached in NZ for many years as there are still many issues to be resolved. These issues include (but are certainly not limited to) the following:

—- Protocols being reached between the manufacturers to share information and use systems that mesh seamlessly between all vehicles and the cloud. I can see manufacturers wanting to control their own vehicle data to try to dominate the market.

— To work safely information is going to have to be transferred in great quantities almost instantly. The current 4G level of communication recently reached will not cope with this. We will need to roll out 5G communication systems which is only just now starting in the USA. This will be very expensive for NZ to install as this setup involves much shorter wavelengths and therefore the repeater stations need to be very close together. However the speed of data transfer is well over 100 times faster. A full length film can be downloaded in several seconds!

— Liability and insurance cover issues need to be resolved. If there is an accident who is at fault? The driver/ passenger who has no direct involvement or the vehicle manufacturer? I cannot envisage insurance companies not being able to lay the blame at somebody’s door! On the other hand there will be far less accidents, there will be far fewer cars on the road as we turn to shared use of vehicles, and driver mistakes will be greatly reduced. Considering all these pluses insurance costs should reduce so maybe we should all pay a little ( just like ACC cover ) and all be covered .

We are standing at the crossroads of a very exciting generational change which will help resolve many growing costs and other issues including of course the vexing issue of global warming which I prefer to lump in with pollution of the earth in general.

Alex de Boer- Director

The Electric Motor Vehicle Company Ltd

    The 5 Accepted Driving Levels For Autonomous  Vehicles

The latest EVs that are in development include computer and associated control systems built in that will allow the vehicle to be driven with different levels of autonomy when the artificial intelligence ( AI) becomes available to allow the driver to pass over control of the vehicle: The different levels of control are classified as follows:

LEVEL 0

Automated system has no vehicle control but may issue warnings.

LEVEL 1

Driver must be ready to take control at any time. Automated system may include features such as Adaptive Cruise Control ( ACC ), Parking Assistance with automated steering, and Lane Keeping Assistance ( LKA ) Type II in any combination.

LEVEL 2

The driver is obliged to detect objects and events and respond if the automated system fails to respond properly. The automated system executes accelerating, braking, and steering. The automated system can deactivate immediately upon takeover by the driver.

LEVEL 3

Within known, limited environments ( such as motorways ), the driver can safely turn their attention away from driving tasks but must still be prepared to take control when needed.

LEVEL 4

The automated system can control the vehicle in all but a few environments, such as severe weather. The driver must enable the automated system only when it is safe to do so. When enabled, driver attention is not required.

LEVEL 5

Other than setting the destination and starting the system, no human intervention is required. The automatic system can drive to any location where it is legal to drive and make its own decisions.

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How to get the most out of your battery

Running a battery powered car is a whole new world and a big learning curve! Check out these tips from EECA on how to run your vehicle to get the most out of your battery.

Battery Best Practise Guide