Osaka, Japan – Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has established a new manufacturing company of lithium-ion batteries, Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America in Sparks, Nevada, the United States on October 1, 2014.
Tesla and Panasonic have been working together in various collaborative projects toward the popularization and growth of electric vehicles since 2007.
A new company, Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America will be built in the Tesla Gigafactory, a large-scale battery manufacturing plant which has been discussed between Tesla and Panasonic, and will produce and sell lithium-ion batteries. This new factory will enable a continuous reduction in the cost of long range battery packs in parallel with manufacturing at the volumes required to enable Tesla to meet its goal of advancing mass market electric vehicles. Through this cooperation, Panasonic will contribute to accelerate the expansion of the electric vehicle market.
Panasonic plans to continuously expand operations meeting with Tesla’s vehicle delivery schedule, driven by the progressive role out of new vehicles and across global markets.
Overview of New Company
Corporate name
Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America (ABBR:PENA)
Establishment
Oct. 1, 2014
Location
Sparks, Nevada, USA
Principal lines of business
Production and sales of lithium-ion battery cells
Stated capital
5 million US dollars (Capital investor: Panasonic Corporation of North America)
Name and title of representative
CEO: Masayuki Kitabayashi
Area of factory
555,000 square meters
About Panasonic
Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and solutions for customers in residential, non-residential, mobility and personal applications. Since its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates over 500 consolidated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.74 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2014. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company strives to create a better life and a better world for its customers. For more information about Panasonic, please visit the company’s website at http://panasonic.net/.
Image courtesy of Tesla
This article is an EV News Report repost, credit: Panasonic.
Today, we’re announcing details about new software being delivered to Model S customers through an over-the-air update. The new features further personalize the Model S ownership experience and help make the car smarter about owners’ individual preferences. This is the latest in a series of software updates issued since we launched Model S in 2012, enabling new features such as hill start assist, smart suspension controls, and energy saving sleep mode.
The Software v6.0 update introduces traffic-based navigation and commute advice, provides an in-car view of daily schedules, enables location-based air suspension settings, and allows owners to name their Model S and start it remotely using their mobile phone.
New features include:
Traffic-Based Navigation (BETA)
The Model S navigation system will be a lot smarter. Navigation will now provide route suggestions based on real-time traffic and calculate estimated travel times accordingly. It will also update dynamically as traffic conditions change throughout your trip. This feature will also take into account traffic data shared by other Tesla vehicles on the road.
Commute Advice
Navigation isn’t particularly useful when commuting between home and work because most of us usually know the way. But if traffic has an effect on a typical route, it’s helpful to know in advance. Now, Model S will monitor traffic before you even start your weekday commute and alert you with a pop-up message on the 17-inch touchscreen when a faster route is available.
Calendar (BETA)
Model S will synch with your smartphone to bring you a large in-car view of your daily schedule. If you’ve already set locations for particular events, you don’t have to worry about re-entering the details into your car’s navigation system. Instead, you can just tap on the event in your calendar to bring up route directions.
Remote Start
You will have the ability to start your Model S using only your smartphone. This function, which is particularly useful if you forget your key fob, will be accessible through the Tesla mobile app and requires you to input your password for each use.
Location-Based Air Suspension
If you regularly drive on roads or driveways that require higher than normal clearance, your Model S will remember where you previously selected high ride heights and automatically adjust the air suspension at those locations. This feature will be especially handy for people who have steep driveways. (Model S must be equipped with air suspension for this function to work.)
Name Your Car
You can now make your Model S nickname official. The car’s name will appear in the Tesla mobile app and in the About Your Tesla section on the touchscreen.
Power Management Options
A new power management option will put Model S into energy saving mode at night to help maximize available energy. There’ll also be an option that allows the Tesla mobile app to always connect immediately to the car, while still saving power.
This software update represents Tesla’s commitment to improving Model S for customers even long after it has left the assembly line. With each update, Model S becomes more attuned and responsive to its owner’s needs without requiring excessive user input. We will continuously fine-tune the software and work on new features in response to customer feedback.
First Credit Union to Announce 100 Percent Financing With Low Car Loan Rates
SAN JOSE, CA – Tech CU (Technology Credit Union) announced it is working with Tesla Motors as a preferred financing partner for their Model S, Model X and Roadster electric vehicles — offering up to 100 percent financing with a competitive annual percentage rate (APR). Tesla is also a Tech CU Member Company; Tech CU provides Tesla employees with resources that include personal and business banking, commercial lending and comprehensive wealth management services that include investing and financial planning.
Tech CU is among the first credit unions in the country to offer car loans for Tesla vehicles. The availability of affordable financing through Tech CU will help broaden Tesla’s customer base and increase the adoption of electric vehicles.
Tech CU also stands behind Tesla’s Model S resale value guarantee, which ensures the Model S will have the highest residual value of any high-volume, premium sedan (Audi, BMW, Mercedes or Lexus) after three years of ownership.
“Innovation is in Tech CU’s DNA — we were founded by Fairchild Semiconductor employees 54 years ago. Our relationship with Tesla is a natural extension of our heritage and commitment to partner with fellow innovators, while delivering the best financial services to our members,” said Tech CU’s President and CEO Barbara Kamm.
“From its first release of the Roadster, Tesla has redefined innovation in the auto industry by engineering cars that exceed expectations,” said Debra Bowman, Tech CU’s SVP of Retail Banking. “That’s why many of our members, who come from Silicon Valley’s tech community, appreciate and want a Tesla. As a finance partner, we can help them buy their dream car, while also helping to spur electric vehicle adoption by offering financing to a broader base of potential Tesla customers.”
Interested buyers can apply for a Tesla vehicle loan through Tech CU’s easy-to-use online application, by contacting a Tech CU loan specialist at (877) 988-0471, or by visiting one of Tech CU’s branches.
ABOUT TECH CU
Founded in 1960 by the employees of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Semiconductor Division, Tech CU has served the high tech workforce in Silicon Valley for more than 50 years. Today, the credit union has more than 70,000 individual, non-profit and business members and $1.8 billion in assets. Tech CU is recognized as one of the best managed and strongest financial institutions in the country, as indicated by a 5-star rating from Bauer Financial, the nation’s largest independent rating service for banks and credit unions. Tech CU’s members have access to 65,000+ surcharge-free ATMs nationwide, online and mobile banking, 10 full-service branches throughout the Bay Area, and comprehensive mortgage, wealth management, business banking and commercial lending services.
Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington, D.C. At the 2014 Washington Auto Show, the Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington, D.C., displayed some of its members’ electric vehicles, including this Porsche that is fitted with solar panels. Photo credit: Sarah Gerrity, DOE
Introduced more than 100 years ago, electric cars are seeing a rise in popularity today for many of the same reasons they were first popular.
Whether it’s a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or all-electric, the demand for electric drive vehicles will continue to climb as prices drop and consumers look for ways to save money at the pump. Currently more than 3 percent of new vehicle sales, electric vehicle sales could grow to nearly 7 percent — or 6.6 million per year — worldwide by 2020, according to a report by Navigant Research.
With this growing interest in electric vehicles, we are taking a look at where this technology has been and where it’s going. Travel back in time with us as we explore the history of the electric car.
The birth of the electric vehicle
It’s hard to pinpoint the invention of the electric car to one inventor or country. Instead it was a series of breakthroughs — from the battery to the electric motor — in the 1800s that led to the first electric vehicle on the road.
In the early part of the century, innovators in Hungary, the Netherlands and the United States — including a blacksmith from Vermont — began toying with the concept of a battery-powered vehicle and created some of the first small-scale electric cars. And while Robert Anderson, a British inventor, developed the first crude electric carriage around this same time, it wasn’t until the second half of the 19th century that French and English inventors built some of the first practical electric cars.
Here in the U.S., the first successful electric car made its debut around 1890 thanks to William Morrison, a chemist who lived in Des Moines, Iowa. His six-passenger vehicle capable of a top speed of 14 miles per hour was little more than an electrified wagon, but it helped spark interest in electric vehicles.
Over the next few years, electric vehicles from different automakers began popping up across the U.S. New York City even had a fleet of more than 60 electric taxis. By 1900, electric cars were at their heyday, accounting for around a third of all vehicles on the road. During the next 10 years, they continued to show strong sales.
The early rise and fall of the electric car
To understand the popularity of electric vehicles circa 1900, it is also important to understand the development of the personal vehicle and the other options available. At the turn of the 20th century, the horse was still the primary mode of transportation. But as Americans became more prosperous, they turned to the newly invented motor vehicle — available in steam, gasoline or electric versions — to get around.
Steam was a tried and true energy source, having proved reliable for powering factories and trains. Some of the first self-propelled vehicles in the late 1700s relied on steam; yet it took until the 1870s for the technology to take hold in cars. Part of this is because steam wasn’t very practical for personal vehicles. Steam vehicles required long startup times — sometimes up to 45 minutes in the cold — and would need to be refilled with water, limiting their range.
As electric vehicles came onto the market, so did a new type of vehicle — the gasoline-powered car — thanks to improvements to the internal combustion engine in the 1800s. While gasoline cars had promise, they weren’t without their faults. They required a lot of manual effort to drive — changing gears was no easy task and they needed to be started with a hand crank, making them difficult for some to operate. They were also noisy, and their exhaust was unpleasant.
Electric cars didn’t have any of the issues associated with steam or gasoline. They were quiet, easy to drive and didn’t emit a smelly pollutant like the other cars of the time. Electric cars quickly became popular with urban residents — especially women. They were perfect for short trips around the city, and poor road conditions outside cities meant few cars of any type could venture farther. As more people gained access to electricity in the 1910s, it became easier to charge electric cars, adding to their popularity with all walks of life (including some of the “best known and prominent makers of gasoline cars” as a 1911 New York Times article pointed out).
Many innovators at the time took note of the electric vehicle’s high demand, exploring ways to improve the technology. For example, Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the sports car company by the same name, developed an electric car called the P1 in 1898. Around the same time, he created the world’s first hybrid electric car — a vehicle that is powered by electricity and a gas engine. Thomas Edison, one of the world’s most prolific inventors, thought electric vehicles were the superior technology and worked to build a better electric vehicle battery. Even Henry Ford, who was friends with Edison, partnered with Edison to explore options for a low-cost electric car in 1914, according to Wired.
Yet, it was Henry Ford’s mass-produced Model T that dealt a blow to the electric car. Introduced in 1908, the Model T made gasoline-powered cars widely available and affordable. By 1912, the gasoline car cost only $650, while an electric roadster sold for $1,750. That same year, Charles Kettering introduced the electric starter, eliminating the need for the hand crank and giving rise to more gasoline-powered vehicle sales.
Other developments also contributed to the decline of the electric vehicle. By the 1920s, the U.S. had a better system of roads connecting cities, and Americans wanted to get out and explore. With the discovery of Texas crude oil, gas became cheap and readily available for rural Americans, and filling stations began popping up across the country. In comparison, very few Americans outside of cities had electricity at that time. In the end, electric vehicles all but disappeared by 1935.
Gas shortages spark interest in electric vehicles
Over the next 30 years or so, electric vehicles entered a sort of dark ages with little advancement in the technology. Cheap, abundant gasoline and continued improvement in the internal combustion engine hampered demand for alternative fuel vehicles.
Fast forward to the late 1960s and early 1970s. Soaring oil prices and gasoline shortages — peaking with the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo — created a growing interest in lowering the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil and finding homegrown sources of fuel. Congress took note and passed the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1976, authorizing the Energy Department to support research and development in electric and hybrid vehicles.
Around this same time, many big and small automakers began exploring options for alternative fuel vehicles, including electric cars. For example, General Motors developed a prototype for an urban electric car that it displayed at the Environmental Protection Agency’s First Symposium on Low Pollution Power Systems Development in 1973, and the American Motor Company produced electric delivery jeeps that the United States Postal Service used in a 1975 test program. Even NASA helped raise the profile of the electric vehicle when its electric Lunar rover became the first manned vehicle to drive on the moon in 1971.
Yet, the vehicles developed and produced in the 1970s still suffered from drawbacks compared to gasoline-powered cars. Electric vehicles during this time had limited performance — usually topping at speeds of 45 miles per hour — and their typical range was limited to 40 miles before needing to be recharged.
Environmental concern drives electric vehicles forward
Fast forward again — this time to the 1990s. In the 20 years since the long gas lines of the 1970s, interest in electric vehicles had mostly died down. But new federal and state regulations begin to change things. The passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment and the 1992 Energy Policy Act — plus new transportation emissions regulations issued by the California Air Resources Board — helped create a renewed interest in electric vehicles in the U.S.
During this time, automakers began modifying some of their popular vehicle models into electric vehicles. This meant that electric vehicles now achieved speeds and performance much closer to gasoline-powered vehicles, and many of them had a range of 60 miles.
One of the most well-known electric cars during this time was GM’s EV1, a car that was heavily featured in the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? Instead of modifying an existing vehicle, GM designed and developed the EV1 from the ground up. With a range of 80 miles and the ability to accelerate from 0 to 50 miles per hour in just seven seconds, the EV1 quickly gained a cult following. But because of high production costs, the EV1 was never commercially viable, and GM discontinued it in 2001.
With a booming economy, a growing middle class and low gas prices in the late 1990s, many consumers didn’t worry about fuel-efficient vehicles. Even though there wasn’t much public attention to electric vehicles at this time, behind the scenes, scientists and engineers — supported by the Energy Department — were working to improve electric vehicle technology, including batteries.
A new beginning for electric cars
While all the starts and stops of the electric vehicle industry in the second half of the 20th century helped show the world the promise of the technology, the true revival of the electric vehicle didn’t happen until around the start of the 21st century. Depending on whom you ask, it was one of two events that sparked the interest we see today in electric vehicles.
The first turning point many have suggested was the introduction of the Toyota Prius. Released in Japan in 1997, the Prius became the world’s first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle. In 2000, the Prius was released worldwide, and it became an instant success with celebrities, helping to raise the profile of the car. To make the Prius a reality, Toyota used a nickel metal hydride battery — a technology that was supported by the Energy Department’s research. Since then, rising gasoline prices and growing concern about carbon pollution have helped make the Prius the best-selling hybrid worldwide during the past decade.
(Historical footnote: Before the Prius could be introduced in the U.S., Honda released the Insight hybrid in 1999, making it the first hybrid sold in the U.S. since the early 1900s.)
The other event that helped reshape electric vehicles was the announcement in 2006 that a small Silicon Valley startup, Tesla Motors, would start producing a luxury electric sports car that could go more than 200 miles on a single charge. In 2010, Tesla received at $465 million loan from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office — a loan that Tesla repaid a full nine years early — to establish a manufacturing facility in California. In the short time since then, Tesla has won wide acclaim for its cars and has become the largest auto industry employer in California.
Tesla’s announcement and subsequent success spurred many big automakers to accelerate work on their own electric vehicles. In late 2010, the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF were released in the U.S. market. The first commercially available plug-in hybrid, the Volt has a gasoline engine that supplements its electric drive once the battery is depleted, allowing consumers to drive on electric for most trips and gasoline to extend the vehicle’s range. In comparison, the LEAF is an all-electric vehicle (often called a battery-electric vehicle, an electric vehicle or just an EV for short), meaning it is only powered by an electric motor.
Over the next few years, other automakers began rolling out electric vehicles in the U.S.; yet, consumers were still faced with one of the early problems of the electric vehicle — where to charge their vehicles on the go. Through the Recovery Act, the Energy Department invested more than $115 million to help build a nation-wide charging infrastructure, installing more than 18,000 residential, commercial and public chargers across the country. Automakers and other private businesses also installed their own chargers at key locations in the U.S., bringing today’s total of public electric vehicle chargers to more than 8,000 different locations with more than 20,000 charging outlets.
At the same time, new battery technology — supported by the Energy Department’s Vehicle Technologies Office — began hitting the market, helping to improve a plug-in electric vehicle’s range. In addition to the battery technology in nearly all of the first generation hybrids, the Department’s research also helped develop the lithium-ion battery technology used in the Volt. More recently, the Department’s investment in battery research and development has helped cut electric vehicle battery costs by 50 percent in the last four years, while simultaneously improving the vehicle batteries’ performance (meaning their power, energy and durability). This in turn has helped lower the costs of electric vehicles, making them more affordable for consumers.
Consumers now have more choices than ever when it comes to buying an electric vehicle. Today, there are 23 plug-in electric and 36 hybrid models available in a variety of sizes — from the two-passenger Smart ED to the midsized Ford C-Max Energi to the BMW i3 luxury SUV. As gasoline prices continue to rise and the prices on electric vehicles continue to drop, electric vehicles are gaining in popularity — with more than 234,000 plug-in electric vehicles and 3.3 million hybrids on the road in the U.S. today.
The future of electric cars
It’s hard to tell where the future will take electric vehicles, but it’s clear they hold a lot of potential for creating a more sustainable future. If we transitioned all the light-duty vehicles in the U.S. to hybrids or plug-in electric vehicles using our current technology mix, we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 30-60 percent, while lowering the carbon pollution from the transportation sector by as much as 20 percent.
To help reach these emissions savings, in 2012 President Obama launched the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge — an Energy Department initiative that brings together America’s best and brightest scientists, engineers and businesses to make plug-in electric vehicles more as affordable as today’s gasoline-powered vehicles by 2022. On the battery front, the Department’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research at Argonne National Laboratory is working to overcome the biggest scientific and technical barriers that prevent large-scale improvements of batteries.
Photo credit: State of Vermont.
Courtesy of Plug In America
National Plug In Day 2013, San Diego, CA
Photo credit: Vanessa Minei.
Courtesy of Plug In America
National Plug In Day 2013, Fresno, CA
Photo credit: Fiat of Fresno. Courtesy of Plug In America
National Plug In Day 2013, Las Vegas, NV
Photo credit: Stan Hanel. Courtesy of Plug In America
National Plug In Day 2013, College Park, MD
Photo credit: Lanny Hartmann. Courtesy of Plug In America
Help From Nancy Cartwright, the Voice of Bart Simpson
Cities in Italy, Canada and the Netherland Take Part, Too
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – A record number of volunteers nationwide and beyond are ensuring that others may discover the benefits of electric cars through National Drive Electric Week. The fourth annual observance, bringing test-drives and related activities to more than 130 cities in 35 states and abroad, comes just as EV sales reach their first quarter-million mark in U.S. today.
“Clean energy prosperity is on the way and there’s no turning back,” said Sierra Club director Michael Brune. “National Drive Electric Week and the dramatic increase in the number of plug-in electric vehicles on the road are just the latest examples of how American consumers are demanding 21st-century solutions to energy and the climate crisis, and given the choice would leave dirty fossil fuels in the ground.”
You might say that even Bart Simpson is excited.
“I bought a Nissan LEAF about two years ago,” actor Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart on “The Simpsons,” told National Drive Electric Week founders, “and I shaved nearly an hour off my driving to “The Simpsons” set and back because I can drive in the carpool lane. Got lots of thumbs up on the freeway. That said, I am a HUGE fan of Tesla and can’t wait to ‘fly’ with my ‘falcon-doored’ bird, the Tesla Model X. I will be the 12th person to receive the car. Aesthetic, functional and sets a great example for safeguarding our environment.”
Designed to highlight the fun, convenience, cost-savings and clean-air benefits of EVs, National Drive Electric Week is organized nationally by Plug In America, the Sierra Club and the Electric Auto Assn. These organizations team up with other local groups and volunteers staging local events from Hawaii to Vermont, where EV sales continue to be robust.
“Plug-in vehicles have had a good year,” said John O’Dell, senior editor, fuel efficiency and Green Vehicles at Edmunds.com. “Despite a slowdown in the conventional hybrid segment, battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are up about 39 percent over last year. They remain a tiny part of the market-less than a one-percent share-but more and more people seem to be considering them as they shop for fuel efficient transportation.”
Sharing the message abroad, at least one city in the Netherlands, five in Italy and 10 in Canada will take part in National Drive Electric Week (formerly National Plug In Day). Events are collectively expected to draw at least 35,000 attendees, including elected officials. Proclamations will be plentiful. But the main point is to have a good time, with seasoned EV drivers taking those new to the cars for a spin.
“Some like the high-tech efficiency of EVs. Some thrill at the instant torque. Others feel that the real fun comes in knowing that you’re keeping your carbon footprint small, especially if you charge the with renewable solar energy, like so many of us do,” said Plug In America spokeswoman Zan Dubin-Scott. “I mean, cowabunga, man. It doesn’t get better than that.”
For details about individual events, visit the Events page. Examples:
Connecticut’s Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection and the state’s Automotive Retailers Assn. will award the state dealership with highest plug-in sales.
The mayor of Huntington Beach is expected to appear at Surf City’s seaside event. A number of mayors are issuing proclamations in honor of Drive Electric Week.
Stella, the world’s first solar-powered family car and winner of last year’s World Solar Challenge, birthplace of the storied EV1, will kick-off Drive Electric Week with a visit to Venice, CA, stop in Cupertino, where organizers are attempting to break the Guinness world record for most EVs assembled, and culminate the celebration in Capitola.
An “EV bloc” of plug-in car drivers will gather at the People’s Climate March on Sept 21 in New York City. The march is aimed at putting pressure on world leaders to address climate change.
Poolesville, Maryland’s event could draw 10,000, staged next to an annual fest replete with a town parade and marching band.
Houston will celebrate EVs at a solar-powered IKEA store, which will trumpet the event on its electronic billboard, visible from a major freeway intersection. Attendant mini-events will take place at EV charging stations around the sprawling city.
Scottsdale, Arizona’s event will bring EV efficiency to the site of one of nation’s longest running gasoline-car shows.
UCLA and Santa Monica High School will share the EV message with youth through lectures and other activities of the new National Drive Electric Week Ambassador School initiative.
50 EVs in New Hampshire will scale Mount Washington, the northeast’s highest peak.
National Drive Electric Week has been directly linked to increased plug-in vehicle sales, which have jumped by as much as 23 percent the month after Drive Electric Week in every year it has been held. Plug In America produced this total cost of ownership analysis, showing that a typical U.S. driver can cut in half the monthly cost to lease and operate a car by choosing an EV over a gasoline car.
National sponsors include the Nissan LEAF, PlugShare and the Dent Agency. Take the EV quiz.
About Plug In America: Plug In America, a San Francisco-based national nonprofit organization, works to accelerate the shift to plug-in vehicles powered by clean, affordable, domestic electricity to reduce our nation’s dependence on petroleum and improve the global environment. The organization conceived National Drive Electric Week (formerly National Plug In Day) and has advanced workplace charging by pioneering regular ride-and-drive events at such leading corporations as Google, Mattel and Paramount Pictures. It developed the world’s largest, most dedicated network of plug-in vehicle owners and drivers, many of whom have driven EVs for well over a decade. We drive electric. You can, too. www.pluginamerica.org. About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization with more than 2.4 million members and supporters and chapters in all 50 states. The Sierra Club’s national electric vehicles initiative advocates for a switch to EVs as one important way to reduce emissions and cut our addiction to oil. www.sierraclub.org/EVGuide. About the Electric Auto Association: The Electric Auto Association, formed in 1967, is a nonprofit educational organization with 75 chapters worldwide that promotes the advancement and widespread adoption of electric vehicles. www.electricauto.org.