The Nation Newspaper

Tag: electric car

  • Firm unveils affordable electric car, others

    Firm unveils affordable electric car, others

    A leading electric automobile store, Simply E-Mobile, has launched affordable electric cars, tricycles, motorcycles and scooters in Lagos.

    Its Managing Director, Cynthia Eboh, said the automobile firm located in the heart of Lekki area in Oniru is a one-stop store for  quality electric motorcycles, tricycles and cars for the citizens.

    Unveiling the various brands before journalists at the weekend, Eboh explained that the electric motorcycles and tricycles can be used for both personal and commercial purposes.

    According to her, the tricycles use the medium and acid batteries and that the ones with medium batteries are the seven and four seaters.

    Explaining that the acid battery tricycles are four seaters, she said: “There are cool van that can be used in hospitals and for commercial purposes as well.

    “We also have electric cars that are SUVs and Salons. What you need to do is to charge the battery. We have the one that goes for 100 kilometres and the one that can go for 120kilometres.

    Also, the company’s Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Gbemi Soyinka, said that the electric motorcycles and tricycles are suitable for use in housing estates to ease mobility within the environment.

    Read Also: Lagos partners school in unveiling electric car

    Soyinka, during the brand tour at the firm’s office, explained the advantages of using electric automobiles.

    He noted that the electric motorcycles and tricycles can be used in religious camps like churches for easy mobility and commuting.

    The automobiles, he added, are easy to maintain, adding that they are not expensive and that there is one year warranty on the products.

    “We have electric power-bikes and electric motorcycles for logistics purposes. The electric cars have two chargers. The one for the home and the other when you are not. It takes about 4 hours to fully charge at home, while the fast charger takes only 20 mins. The fast charger is 50kilowatts charging station. One of the stations has been installed at Marriott Hotel in Ikeja. You can as well charge with the normal domestic power supply.The car when charged can travel 300 kilometres although it is a function of the load and weight it carries,” he said.

  • Toyota partners Mazda, Denso for electric car venture

    Toyota partners Mazda, Denso for electric car venture

    Toyota Motor Corporation will partner Mazda Motor Corporation and auto parts supplier Denso Corporation to form a joint venture for developing electric vehicles, as Japan’s biggest automaker plays catch up in the expanding race for battery driven cars.

    The new company, called EV Common Architecture Spirit Co., will cooperate on the developing the architecture and components of electric cars for use in a wide range of segments, from mini-vehicles and Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) to light trucks, the companies said on Thursday.

    The deal will create a toolbox of components that both Toyota and Mazda can dip into when making their own electric vehicles. The deal builds on a fledgling alliance between the country’s largest automaker and one of its smallest that was cemented in August.

    The companies announced a capital tie up then, saying they would work together in a variety of fields, including electric cars.

    Toyota Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi said then that sharing technology would give Mazda and Toyota extra volume and drive down costs.

    Terashi was tipped to head the new venture as president.

    The companies said increasingly stringent emissions regulations were forcing carmakers worldwide to develop electric vehicles. But the high cost of electric cars, driven partly by their expensive batteries, makes it necessary for erstwhile rivals to pool resources. The new venture, they said, will be open to participation from other automaker and suppliers going forward.

    “The huge investments and time required to cover all markets and vehicle segments is a pressing issue for individual automakers,” the companies said. “New regulations that mandate a certain proportion of electric vehicle sales are beginning to emerge,” he said.

    The industry’s frenzy for EVs was on full display around this month’s Frankfurt auto show. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen were among the makes rolling out ambitious plans to unleash waves of EVs over the coming years. Jaguar Land Rover weighed in with plans for full electric and hybrid cars from 2020, and Honda unveiled its next EV.

    The new Toyota Company will pull select engineers from all three companies and have about 40 employees. It will be based in Toyota’s high-rise office building in downtown Nagoya.

    Toyota will wield disproportional influence. It will hold a 90 percent stake in EV C.A. Spirit, while Mazda and Denso each take 5 percent. The two directors under Terashi also come from Toyota. They are Kiyotaka Ise, head of Toyota’s advanced r&d and engineering, and Toshiyuki Mizushima, president of the carmaker’s powertrain sub-company.

    Toyota long remained skeptical about EVs in favour of the hybrid technology pioneered by its flagship Prius, as well as the potential for hydrogen fuel cells. But the automaker finally joined the EV race late last year when President Akio Toyoda put himself in charge of a new EV Business Planning Department.

    It was envisioned as a flat, fast-moving organisation to mimic the nimble corporate culture of the Silicon Valley startups. At its helm were just four people, including Toyoda and counterparts from Toyota Group suppliers Aisin Seiki Co., Denso and Toyota Industries Corp.

    That EV planning department will remain, while the new JV incorporate elements of its work and feeds new EV technology back into it.

  •  Aston Martin to release electric car in two years

    Aston Martin are known for making some of the most beautiful and powerful cars around, but they’re not famed for their fuel efficiency.

    The company’s looking to change that soon, with plans to release a completely electric car based on the petrol-powered Aston Martin Rapide Sedan at some point in the next two years.

    Speaking to Automotive News, Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said that emissions and fuel economy legislation means that the company could soon find itself having to make less powerful cars to meet standards – something Aston and its customers don’t want to see.

    However, if they produce a zero-emissions car, they’ll also be able to work on their traditional offerings. As Palmer says: “If you want to keep making V-12 engines, then you’ve got to do something at the opposite end of the spectrum.”

    There’s no specifics yet, but the CEO told Automotive News that the company was looking at an all-wheel drive, 800 horsepower car with a 200 mile range.

    That’s a challenge to Tesla, who currently lead in the high-end electric car market. However, Aston Martin look likely to go even higher.

    Palmer didn’t give anything away about the price when speaking to the publication, but hinted it would be in the $200,000 to $250,000 range (£128,000 to £160,000)

  • UNILAG students design electric car

    UNILAG students design electric car

    A group of Mechanical Engineering students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has unveiled a zero-emission automobile built to reduce global warming. KAWTHAR BABATUNDE (300-Level Petroleum Engineering) reports.

    The project was conceived last year and the aim was to build an automobile that will not be powered by fuel. Months after they started the project, the engineers came out with a design of the car.

    The eco-friendly automobile was unveiled last Wednesday at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

    The engineering students, who designed the zero-emission vehicle, named it DOVE P1 at an exhibition organised by Designed for Zero Vehicle Emission (DOVE) Initiative at the Julius Berger Hall.

    The 200 kilogramme automobile is powered by a high voltage battery and has no carbon emission. It has only a driver’s seat and a speed limit of 15 kilometres per hour. It is fitted with a tabular frame chassis and a 16-inch diameter tires.

    The project was initiated by Olusanya Olukoya, a graduate of Mechanical Engineering of the university, who said the car was built with locally-sourced materials.

    Olusanya told CAMPUSLIFE that the car was designed out of their desire to encourage eco-friendly inventions. He praised the school management for supporting the project and their passion for practising what they were taught in the class.

    He said: ‘The project DOVE Initiative is a design and innovation group established to encourage innovativeness of the youth to design and create vehicles of the future in Nigeria. We want to create pure, clean, eco-friendly and energy efficient automobiles. This informed our idea to build an electric car as against the conventional fuel-powered cars.”

    He said electric vehicles would be become a new trend in the future, noting that the world was running out of fossil fuels. Electric cars, Olusanya said, has an advantage over the conventional vehicle, because it reduces carbon emission into the atmosphere.

    During the presentation of the techniques behind the design, Peace Omoruyi, a 500-Level Mechanical Engineering student and leader of the project team, said they had already started the design of DOVE P2, which would be an improvement on the DOVE P1.

    According to him, the new automobile would have an ergonometric design, accident prevention system, fingerprint port and anti-theft technology.

    The exhibition was attended by guests from the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Corporation, Mr. F.A. Akandu.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Rahmon Bello, represented by the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Prof A.O. Fakinlade, hailed the students, expressing hope that the project would place the nation on the global map.

    He said: “We must learn from countries that have vibrant automobile industries. The extent to which our automobile industry goes depends on the level of support we give young inventors and how fast we can learn. I urge other engineering students to emulate this initiative and design life-changing projects that can boost local inventions.”

    The Managing Director of Elizade Nigeria Limited, Mr Adedamola Adeojo, said he was impressed by the students’ creativity, noting that the development could boost local expertise for vehicles’ production.

    He said: “We are here to celebrate ingenuity of our youths. I see inventions like this to have to potentials to change the thinking of unemployed youths to become inventors. I will encourage the designers of DOVE P1 to transform the project into a business idea.”

    Prof Oluremi Olatunbosun, Head of Automotive Engineering Laboratory of the University of Birmingham in United Kingdom, said he was surprised by the students.

    If supported, Prof Olatunbosun expressed optimism that the project could make Nigeria a vehicle-manufacturing nation, adding that it could provide jobs to the unemployed youths.

    He said: “One of the areas we can create jobs is manufacturing industry and that is how countries like China and Singapore developed.”

    Akandu said Lagos government would maintain partner with the DOVE P1 designers to create opportunities for youths in the state.

    Maduka Smart, a final year Mechanical Engineering student and a member of DOVE Initiative, while unveiling the group’s plan for the future, said the team had the plan to take to take the initiative beyond the campus. He solicited support of the government and engineers.

    The NSE through its representative, Mr Tunde Jayesinmi, pledged its support, saying it would maintain cordial relationship with the group.

     

  • ‘Latest electric car innovation can recharge batteries in minutes’

    Imagine the fender of an electric car not just preventing mud splatters but also turbocharging the vehicle’s battery in a matter of minutes. And imagine this technology on the road in about five years.

    Stop imagining. Scientists at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia report that they have developed inexpensive supercapacitors that can be used in tandem with ordinary batteries to increase the acceleration of an electric car and can recharge the batteries in a matter of minutes.

    The supercapacitors are thin films made up of an electrolyte, which conducts electricity, sandwiched between two electrodes made of graphene, a sheet of carbon one atom thick. This film is flexible and so can be embedded in a car’s body panels, such as the roof, fenders, hood, even the floor.

    And their power density — the amount of electrical energy they can store — is so great that it can quickly and fully turbocharge a car’s battery.

    “Vehicles need an extra energy spurt for acceleration, and this is where supercapacitors come in,” said Marco Notarianni of QUT’s Science and Engineering Faculty.

    “They hold a limited amount of charge, but they are able to deliver it very quickly, making them the perfect complement to mass-storage batteries,” Notarianni said.

    And, Notarianni said, cars with such technology could be commercially available in five years. The researchers’ findings are published in the Journal of Power Sources and another scholarly publication, Nanotechnology.

    One member of the QUT team, Jinzhang Liu, a postdoctoral research fellow, said today’s graphene-based supercapacitor has a lower energy density than a Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery used to power a car. Despite this, a supercapacitor’s ability to release power quickly is far greater than a conventional battery.

    “In the future,” Liu said: “It is hoped the supercapacitor will be developed to store more energy than a Li-Ion battery while retaining the ability to release its energy up to 10 times faster, meaning the car could be entirely powered by the supercapacitors in its body panels. After one full charge this car should be able to run up to 500km, similar to a petrol-powered car and more than double the  limit of an electric car.”

    Some researchers once looked to graphene-based supercapacitors as an eventual replacement for Li-Ion batteries for powering electric cars. But even if that turns out not to be possible, the devices’ role as a complement to Li-Ion batteries remains extremely valuable.