Tesla Motors have confirmed their attendance at the 2009 London Motorexpo and will use the event as the platform for an interactive display of their Tesla Roadster – giving potential UK customers one of the first public opportunities to test drive the most efficient high performance production sports car on the planet.

The Tesla display will be located within the superb marble lobby of the Canary Wharf Estate's primary building, One Canada Square, for the duration of the 14th Annual London Motorexpo - which runs from 8th to the 14th June 2009 and is completely free for the public to attend.

Commenting on their attendance Don Cochrane of Tesla Motors said: "We are extremely excited to be bringing the Roadster to Canary Wharf and we greatly look forward to letting people finally experience how good electric cars can really be."

Amongst the wide range of cars and motorbikes on display, a total of 13 new vehicles will make their UK debut. This list includes the Aprilia RSV4 Factory, two new Aston Martin's in the form of the V12 Vantage and DBS Volante, Jaguar's all-new XFR and XKR and the eagerly awaited Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Land Rover will present their full 2010 model year line-up while BMW have confirmed that they will have on display, in an exclusive viewing area, a recently announced new car that has not yet received its full public debut.

US brands Cadillac and Corvette will also use the London event to showcase the CTS-V and ZR1 respectively, the fastest vehicles that the brands have ever produced, while other confirmed manufacturers include Hummer, Piaggio, Vespa, McLaren, Smart, Volvo and Saab – who will be showcasing their all-new 9-3X for the first time anywhere in the UK.

Manufacturers have also increased the Motorexpo's interactive appeal for this year with a record number of test drive opportunities on offer to visitors. As well as the Tesla Roadster, other highlights will include the all new BMW Z4, Land Rover’s Freelander 2 TD4_e (the world's first SUV featuring intelligent Stop/Start technology), and Volvo's new XC60.

Graeme Carver, Motorexpo managing director added: "We are pleased to be welcoming Tesla Motors, as a new exhibitor, to the 2009 Canary Wharf London Motorexpo and I am sure that their Roadster will be a big hit with our ever growing audience."

London Motorexpo 2009

The EV manufacturer TH!NK has signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver 550 TH!NK city EVs to the Spanish market. Ahead of the order, five of the vehicles will be delivered to Spain this summer for a demonstration programme.

Spain's Industry Ministry is enthusiastically supporting the introduction of EVs in Spain, and is aiming to install electric car infrastructure in several cities, as well as subsidising the government, municipal and private purchase of smaller EV fleets.

"The Spanish government is providing &euro:10 million to support the early introduction of electric vehicles," said Mr. Juan Luis Pla, Manager of Transport. "I am delighted to see that TH!NK’s cars are being delivered already this year, so we can prepare the ground for a fast transition to clean vehicles."

Richard Canny, CEO of TH!NK, added: "The combination of government-led demonstration programs followed by incentives for consumer to purchase EVs is a pattern that leading governments around the world are following. It helps get EVs on the market, increases the scale for Lithium-ion battery producers and drives the cost of these batteries down."

The TH!NK city has also been granted the first ever pan-European homologation certificate for an EV. The new homologation certificate, which was issued on 1st May in the Netherlands, will help the company fast-track the introduction of the zero emission TH!NK city EV in all European markets. The car can now be registered in each European member state without additional national tests or approvals, as were previously required.

To secure the new homologation certificate, each vehicle is tested for compliance with more than 40 directives, covering areas like response to impact, braking, lighting and emissions. Fully equipped with ABS brakes, airbags and three-point safety belts with pretensioners, the TH!NK city meets all of the the primary safety requirements expected of modern passenger cars.

Newspress

A consortium including Ricardo, Jaguar-Land Rover, E.ON and Amberjac Projects, has announced the results of new simulation studies, which suggest that a substantial medium-term rise in the number of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles would have a much lower impact on the UK national power grid than has previously been estimated.

The research study has been carried out by the consortium as part of the Range Extended Hybrid Electric Vehicle (REHEV) project, which is led by Jaguar-Land Rover and part-funded by the Technology Strategy Board. The study marks completion of the first stage of the REHEV project and has focused on a range of vehicle charging scenarios and levels of market penetration in order to predict the likely increase in national energy usage.

Four fleet charging scenarios were simulated, comprising uncontrolled domestic charging, uncontrolled off-peak domestic charging, `smart` domestic charging and uncontrolled public charging throughout the day – for example, by commuters who recharge their vehicles while at work. Charging was assumed to be single phase AC, as this is the most likely near-term solution, but the study also considered fast-charging scenarios as for a large number of vehicles the energy demanded over a time period is likely to be the same and distributed evenly.

Assuming a 10% market penetration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles in the UK vehicle parc (a proportion representing approximately 3 million passenger and light goods vehicles) the study showed a daily peak increase in electricity demand of less than 2% (approximately 1GW) for the scenario of uncontrolled domestic charging – the `worst case` in terms of peak power demand.

Other scenarios are less challenging: off-peak domestic charging, for example, increases electricity consumption throughout the night but has no impact on the peak daily demand. Since it will be a number of years before a 10% level of market penetration is achieved even with the recently announced UK government incentive plans, grid capacity at a national scale should be adequate for this significant electrification of the vehicle fleet.

While the national impact is shown to be manageable, the research team emphasise that local improvements may nevertheless be necessary – for example, where local network capacity is marginal or where particularly high concentrations of electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles occur.

Further work is ongoing to look at the timeline for reducing CO2 emissions from power station – a key issue if electric and plug-in hybrids are to achieve true ultra-low carbon status. Future reports of the REHEV project will look at fast charging infrastructure which would offer significant consumer benefits in the use of electric and plug-in hybrids.

Commenting on the results presented by the REHEV project, Neville Jackson, Ricardo group technology director (and new chair of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership), said:

"The increasing electrification of road vehicles is likely to be a key enabler for future significant reductions in transport related CO2 emissions. While the provision of publicly accessible street level infrastructure in the form of recharging points remains a challenge, the research findings published today by the REHEV project show that existing UK power grid capacity will be sufficient in the medium term to support a significant expansion of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle use and is therefore not a constraint on implementation."

Source: Ricardo

This week's Annual General Meeting of Renault shareholders in Paris witnessed the unwrapping of the manufacturer's new prototype electric vehicle: the Kangoo be bop Z.E (Zero Emissions), which will be embarking on a Europe-wide tour in July.

Renault have suggested that the technology featured on the prototype is very similar to that featured on the brand's upcoming production electric vehicles (EVs), which are currently under development through the Renault-Nissan Alliance, and are scheduled for mass-market production in 2011.

The Kangoo be bop Z.E. is derived from the traditional production version and is instantly recognisable. The car's aerodynamics have been significantly reworked however; in an effort to reduce energy consumption it now sits on 18-inch full disc wheels, and its ground clearance has been lowered by 20mm compared with that of the production model.

Kangoo be bop Z.E. is an all-electric zero emission (in road use) vehicle, meaning it has no direct emissions. It is powered by a 44kW (60hp) electric motor which revs to 12,000rpm and which Renault suggest is 90 per cent more efficient than an internal combustion engine.

It utilises innovative lithium-ion batteries produced by AESC (Automotive Electric Supply Corporation), which greatly improve performance, reliability, safety and efficiency when compared to nickel metal hydride batteries. Currently, the 15kw battery in the prototype delivers a range of around 100km, however, when released, Renault expect their mass produced EVs to have profited from the continued evolution of battery technology, which they anticipate will help to extend range to around 160km.

Like the Z.E. Concept car which was unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, the Kangoo be bop Z.E. is equipped with low-energy LED (light-emitting diodes) front and rear lighting with a view to optimizing energy use; with a further energy saving measure taking the form of a brake energy recovery system, which enables the vehicle to be charged while on the move.

Linear displays on the outside of the vehicle's doors show how much charge is left in the battery when the remote central locking is activated, and inside, a gauge to the left of the instrument panel provides the driver with a permanent indication of charge levels.

The battery is charged via a Marechal-type socket located behind a flap at the front of the vehicle alongside the right-hand headlamp. The other end of the cable is fitted with a normal plug which connects to the mains supply. The vehicle can be fully charged from a standard socket in 6-8 hours, but it can also take a quick charge using a 32A 400V three phase socket, enabling up to 80 per cent capacity in approximately 30 minutes.

Renault is currently working with around twenty car manufacturers and energy groups and the German group RWE with a view to developing a universal standard plug, which will feature on future EVs. The Renault-Nissan Alliance has also been actively forging associations with governments, city authorities and energy companies with a view to promoting the widespread use of electric vehicles across the world, with twenty-four such partnerships having been confirmed to date.

Source: Renault