In Canada, the Ontario government has announced that it wants to have one out of every 20 vehicles driven in Ontario to be electrically powered by 2020.
To help achieve that target, buyers of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles will receive:
- Rebates of between $4,000 and $10,000 for plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles purchased after July 1, 2010.
- Green vehicle licence plates that would allow drivers to:
- Access public charging facilities and parking at Ontario government and GO Transit lots.
- Use less-congested High Occupancy Vehicle (carpool) lanes until 2015, even if there is just one person in the vehicle.
Ontario will also add 500 electric vehicles to the Ontario Public Service fleet and the people of Ontario can vote on the design of the new green licence plates.
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I'm thinking after my Chevy goes to the great dealership in the sky, I won't be owning another car. But I'd love to have a Chevy Volt. How things change! My dream car has gone from an 8 cyclinder Nova to a little Chevy that runs on a battery.
The program is expected to be implemented by early August, providing $1 billion for car sales through November. With a total budget of $4 billion, it could help some 1 million cars to be traded in for new ones.
Car owners could get a voucher worth $3,500 when trading in a vehicle that gets 18 miles per gallon or less, for a vehicle that gets at least 22 mpg. The voucher would grow to $4,500 if the new car's mileage was 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle. The mpg figures are listed on the car's window sticker.
Owners of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans getting 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV got at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV was at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle.
The new vehicle must have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of less than $45,000 and the old vehicle must be crushed or shredded.
Conversions should be included in such programs; there are many ways to convert existing vehicles to electric; you can read about one such way in this post about adding in-wheel motors to a Ford F-150 truck, one in each of the wheels.
Back in May 2009, a public bicycle sharing system called Bixi was launched in Montreal, Ontario. Bixi, a portmanteau of bicycle and taxi, started with 3,000 bicycles and 300 pay stations located in Montreal's center, and a further 2 000 BIXI bikes and 100 new stations are planned to be added in other areas. The docks housing and locking the bikes are powered by solar panels. The bike has concealed cables to protect them from vandalism and inclement weather. The tires are filled with nitrogen and designed to be puncture-resistant.
Users who want to rent a bike can get an access code obtained through online subscription or from the pay station, which is touchscreen-operated and only accept credit cards. In Montreal, subscriptions can be purchased at $5 per day (at a pay station), $28 per month or $78 per year. In Ottawa, the subscription fee is $3 for each 24-hour period. With a subscription, bike rental is free for the first half hour of every individual trip; an unlimited number of such free trips can be made per day. A trip that lasts longer than 30 minutes incurs a charge of $1.50 to $6 for each subsequent 30-minute period.
Details and photo below by Jean Gagnon through Wikipedia.
More than a year ago, the St Enoch shopping mall in Glasgow colored four charging bays green and fitted them with similar recharging facilities, allowing customers to recharge their electric vehicles for free.
As I said in a comment under the Nissan LEAF EV, beginning next year, Ecotality will market 5,000 Nissan Leaf electric vehicles and install 12,750 charge stations in urban areas and at strategic highway locations. The firm is also planning to deploy fast-charge stations at 20-mile intervals on major highways around its target markets as a means of addressing the “range anxiety” issue, reports The New York Times.
Meanwhile, the Sainsbury's supermarket chain has installed a network of electric car recharging points outside its London stores, reports Sky News Online. Charge points can now be found at nine Sainsbury's stores in London, with two more branches to follow later this month.
Electric cars such as the Reva G-Wiz typically have a range of about 70 miles on a full battery, which takes up to eight hours to charge. But an hour and a half plugged in to the charge point is enough to get the battery up to 80% full. Again, customers are not charged for recharging their electric vehicles at such recharging points.
Up to £30 million will be available for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Over £140 million for research, development and demonstration of low carbon vehicles through the Technology Strategy Board's low carbon vehicle innovation platform and the Department for Transports low carbon vehicle public procurement program.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are also generously supported through the tax systems: owners of EVs are exempt from paying vehicle excise duty and fuel duty, businesses which purchase electric and low carbon cars can claim enhanced capital allowances and people who use electric cars as their company car pay the lowest rate of benefit in kind.
The Office for Low Emission Vehicles also mentions Local measures, for example Congestion Charge exemption in London and Free/reduced price parking in the City of Westminster.
The REVA can go up to 50 miles (80 km) on a single charge depending on usage. It can be fully charged from a 230 Volt, 15-Ampere socket in 8 hours or to 80% capacity in 2.5 hours.
The REVA has eight 6-volt EV type lead-acid batteries with an expected average lifetime of two to three years depending upon the usage. These 'wet' batteries have longer life than 'dry' (sealed) lead-acid batteries found in many other EVs. They are also easier to revive and are less expensive to replace.
As I wrote in Cheap electric cars - part 2, the UK has sliding scale levels of road tax corresponding to the CO2 emitted by cars. Furthermore, in London, electric vehicles are exempt from the congestion charge and can be parked for free at most meters. The G-Wiz, as the REVA is known in the UK, costs about £9000 ($18,000) for the standard model in the UK, and is 83% less than the average small car to run, even before parking and congestion charges are included. The REVA may be exported to the USA with a speed limiter for use as a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV).
Production of the REVA NXR, a four-seat three-door hatchback, is scheduled to start beginning 2010.
To combat "range anxiety", REVA is introducing REVive. Call this roadside assistance service and they will send out a car to top up your battery, presumably in "fast-charge" mode, with enough electricity to get you home.
In Oklahoma, a credit for electric cars has been on the books since 1996, but so far only about 100 people have applied for it, said Paula Ross, spokeswoman for the Tax Commission, adding that interest is growing daily.
According to this article, there are also several federal credits for people who buy plug-in electric cars, including a credit of up to $7,500 of the car’s price, depending on the battery size and when the car is purchased.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Tax commission has responded to the criticism by limiting the electric car tax credits; vehicles that are similar to "golf carts and designed for sporting or recreation purposes” are not eligible for a state tax credit.
Germany aims to have about 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020. Earlier this year, Merkel's government backed a series of financial incentives for electric cars that is to start in 2012.
Zenn was excluded from a recently announced Ontario electric car rebate program, which offers buyers up to $10,000 toward plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, because Zenn's cars have not been deemed safe for highway use, reports CBCnews.ca.
CEO Ian Clifford said the company now wants to focus on marketing its highway-capable drive system to the big car manufacturers.
In 2020, France also plans to have 4.4 million recharging points, Paris Match reports. Of these recharging points, 400,000 will be on public roads and in public car parks.
Grants of up to 5,000 Euros for vehicles (including commercial vehicles) that emit less than 60 grams of CO2, will be extended until 2012. A budget of 470 million Euros has been made available for newly issued grants, which should cover 100,000 vehicles by 2012. Altogether, France plans to spend billions of Euros on EVs and infrastructure, such as battery recharging points, battery switching stations and upgrades of the electric grid.
Some 50,000 electric cars would be ordered in 2010, split between the government, local authorities and partner companies, while 50,000 more orders would be placed in the coming years. The energy ministry estimates that electric cars could represent 16% of new cars by 2020, and 27% by 2025.
1. Launch "enough" demonstration charging stations in 2010.
2. Integrate EVs into all new city mobility plans.
3. Help universities establishing battery development programs.
4. Purchase up to 100,000 EVs by 2015.
5. Extend the €5,000 grants for buyers of EVs.
6. Make sure all cars can be charged at home using standard plugs.
7. From 2012, require all new buildings with parking facilities to include EV charging points.
8. For existing developments, create a "right to charge" so no opposition can be made to installing charge points.
9. Starting in 2015, require all office buildings to have EV charging points.
10. Use and promote the upcoming standard European EV plug.
11. Make sure local governments get help to create EV charging stations.
12. Organize the development of an EV charging network.
13. Assure that non fossil-sourced energy is used to charge cars.
14. Promote battery recycling.
[Source: leblogauto.com and French Ministry of Environmental Affairs]
The Committee's report says: "Transport is currently responsible for a quarter of emissions in the UK and, if left unchecked, emissions will rise significantly by 2020".
Transport emissions increased 11% between 1990 and 2007 and now account for more than 131m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Car use rose by 20% during that period, and though it has since dipped slightly because of the recession, growth is expected to return as the recession ends.
"Major manufacturers are planning electric car launches over the next two years, with scope for battery cost reduction up to 70% in the period to 2020, which would make electric cars competitively priced," the report continues. "The government should lead in developing a charging infrastructure which … would make people more comfortable purchasing electric cars."
This year ministers unveiled incentives of up to £5,000 to buy an electric car from 2011 under a plans that will also see the creation of electric car cities.
The Committee has told Parliament to set up a national electric vehicle charging system for 240,000 electric cars by 2015, rising to 1.7 million by 2020. Furthermore, among other things, there should be about 8,000 new wind turbines across Britain.
Cars must be electric, says climate tsar - The Independent
Climate change committee puts electric cars at the heart of new transport policy - The Guardian
The government said it will create an environment that will speed up the mass production of electric vehicles, including financial support for research and development. The support will be mostly focused on battery development. Additionally, the government plans to provide backup development for 30 strategic parts for electric vehicles by the end of this year. [Source: Gov’t moves up electric car deadline - JoongAngDaily].
As for Ontario, I agree that it is a good region to focus on. For one thing, it doesn't seem like an exotic and unknown place where everything is unfamiliar to US readers. What Ontario can do should not be beyond our reach. What is going on in Germany, Holland, Norway, Spain, China, etc. is extremely important but may be harder for some US readers to relate to than Ontario's actions, at least initially, and especially if readers haven't traveled overseas much.
Best wishes.
The state Legislature has meanwhile put a $6,000 cap on the tax credit, to go into effect in 2010, according to this report.
Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicle Credit (Section 1141): The new law modifies the credit for qualified plug-in electric drive vehicles purchased after Dec. 31, 2009. To qualify, vehicles must be newly purchased, have four or more wheels, have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds, and draw propulsion using a battery with at least four kilowatt hours that can be recharged from an external source of electricity. The minimum amount of the credit for qualified plug-in electric drive vehicles is $2,500 and the credit tops out at $7,500, depending on the battery capacity. The full amount of the credit will be reduced with respect to a manufacturer's vehicles after the manufacturer has sold at least 200,000 vehicles.
Plug-In Electric Vehicle Credit (Section 1142): The new law also creates a special tax credit for two types of plug-in vehicles — certain low-speed electric vehicles and two- or three-wheeled vehicles. The amount of the credit is 10 percent of the cost of the vehicle, up to a maximum credit of $2,500 for purchases made after Feb. 17, 2009, and before Jan. 1, 2012. To qualify, a vehicle must be either a low speed vehicle propelled by an electric motor that draws electricity from a battery with a capacity of 4 kilowatt hours or more or be a two- or three-wheeled vehicle propelled by an electric motor that draws electricity from a battery with the capacity of 2.5 kilowatt hours. A taxpayer may not claim this credit if the plug-in electric drive vehicle credit is allowable.
Conversion Kits (Section 1143): The new law also provided a tax credit for plug-in electric drive conversion kits. The credit is equal to 10 percent of the cost of converting a vehicle to a qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle and placed in service after Feb. 17, 2009. The maximum amount of the credit is $4,000. The credit does not apply to conversions made after Dec. 31, 2011. A taxpayer may claim this credit even if the taxpayer claimed a hybrid vehicle credit for the same vehicle in an earlier year.