The Newsletter of Electric Vehicle Society

November 2020

We’re Making Some Changes

EV Surge has gotten to be a fairly big document. That’s why we’re expanding the use of links to connect you directly to articles that will be stored on EV Society’s website. Articles will be introduced with an image and a brief description, followed by a clickable link, just like our Industry News items. This should keep the size of the EV Surge email more consistent and expand our options for content. Hope you like the change!

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Episode #6

"Busting Common Myths about EVs”

When: Tuesday 3 November 2020

Time: 7:30 PM EST

Where: On-line

Electric Vehicle Society is excited to announce episode #6 of the “Canada Talks Electric Cars” webinar! This episode is entitled "Busting Common Myths about EVs". Our guest speaker is Jeff Turner, Senior Research Lead, Clean Mobility at Dunsky Energy Consulting.

EVs are all over the headlines these days, and a lot of questions are raised about how EVs can fit into an individual’s life, a business’s fleet, or how they fit into our broader energy system: Aren’t EVs too expensive? Can an EV get me where I need to go? What about in the cold? And are EVs really “green”? Won’t our electric grid collapse if everybody switches to an EV? We’ll dive into these questions and address some common misconceptions that sow unwarranted doubt about the transition towards electric mobility.

If you are unable to attend the webinar on October 6, it will be recorded and made available for viewing on the Electric Vehicle Society’s Youtube channel. Please visit and subscribe.

Canada Talks Electric Cars webinar brings you Canadian leaders and experts from the electric vehicle industry and provides a forum to ask questions about a wide range of EV related subjects. Hear about the latest news and developments in our transition to electric mobility.

Don’t miss out! Register to receive your personal link to the webinar below.

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/2416033270345/WN_w9M5UUUgT2uIVNU47ZpWmQ

After you register, you will be e-mailed a link to access the webinar.

SparkCharge, makers of the Roadie mobile EV charging system, was featured on the season premiere of the hit ABC show, Shark Tank last Friday, and came away with a million-dollar investment.

And the good news doesn't end there. Co-founders Joshua Aviv and Christopher Ellis landed not one, but two sharks, as Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner teamed up for the $1,000,000 offer.

SparkCharge just recently unveiled the 20 kW Roadie portable DC fast EV charging system. It's the 2nd generation of their scalable EV fast charger designed primarily for roadside assistance service. However, during the show, it was revealed that the team is also working on a smaller, less expensive unit that would be consumer-focused. We suspect that this new consumer product is still in the early development stage as the company has been focusing on the Roadie system first.

The Roadie is a modular charging system that uses 3.7 kWh battery modules. The system is scalable and can accommodate up to 5 modules that simply stack up on top of each other for a total of 18.5 kWh. SparkCharge estimates that the usable system capacity of 17.5 kWh is good enough to provide 60 to 75 miles of range.

Complete article at

https://insideevs.com/news/449438/sparkcharge-shark-tank-deal/?fbclid=IwAR22NpHGayThM2Xwm0Yhy_aqNF_yNvPXQkYgAaDTjS_1ep8lz8c4ILI2O1U

German automaker Volkswagen is believed to be amongst the most serious legacy automaker when it comes to deploying electric vehicle production capacity.

Today, it reaffirmed that by announcing it placed a massive order of 2,200 industrial robots to be deployed at three different factories.

The robots are to be mainly used for body production and battery assembly. The three plants are currently being prepared for the production of electric cars using highly advanced facilities. From 2022, the ID.4 is to be produced at Chattanooga (USA) and Emden, while the model known under the show car name of ID. BUZZ is to roll off the production line at Hanover.”

ID.BUZZis the highly-anticipated revisited classic VW minibus with now a long-range electric powertrain.

It’s VW’s biggest EV that will be using its MEB platform for electric vehicles.

Complete article at

https://electrek.co/2020/10/15/vw-massive-robots-build-id4-suv-idbuzz-electric-minibus/

Over the last few years, GM’s Cruise self-driving division has been operating a fleet of autonomous Chevy Bolt EVs in San Francisco.

The test program is regulated by the California DMV and now the agency has given them permission to operate vehicles without a backup driver.

GM Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said that he believes they will be the first to test a truly driverless system in a major US city.

The company said that the driverless testing will start later this year:

“Before the end of the year, we’ll be sending cars out onto the streets of SF — without gasoline and without anyone at the wheel. Because safely removing the driver is the true benchmark of a self-driving car, and because burning fossil fuels is no way to build the future of transportation.”

The news come after Waymo launched its own driverless ride-hailing service to the public in Phoenix.

However, the streets of San Francisco are notoriously more difficult to navigate than Phoenix streets (Amen. -Ed.)

FCA Windsor

For the second time in three weeks, a major North American automaker has unveiled a multi-billion-dollar investment to manufacture electric vehicles in Canada. The news comes by way of a joint deal between Unifor and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).

It comes on the heels of a $2-billion deal between Unifor, Ford Motor Co. of Canada and the Ontario and federal governments to build EVs in Oakville.

Unifor has clearly made EV manufacturing mandates and battery manufacturing central to the current round of contract negotiations with the “Big Three” automakers and at least two have been ready to pivot.

Under the new deal the Windsor plant will have two platforms: one for manufacturing Pacifica and Voyager minivans and the other, launching in 2024, for a new plug-in hybrid or EV model.

The Ford deal for in Oakville, meanwhile, will see the plant transition to a battery electric vehicle facility in 2024 with five new EVs being produced by 2028. Industry experts speculate the Ford deal set the tone for Unifor’s talks with FCA.

Complete article at

https://electricautonomy.ca/2020/10/15/fiat-chrysler-unifor-build-evs-windsor/?fbclid=IwAR0tLyH8O5_OhpTyhV3qArHWGAiWcVKjidcuJ3-rBVIloOBT9T4nT192fJM

APMA

After months of consideration, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Associationhas unveiled the design for Project Arrow.

The collaborative project, launched by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association to showcase Canadian expertise, now moves to the engineering phase, with the car’s construction and release slated for 2022.

The winning proposal, dubbed Traction, from Carleton University’s School of Industrial Design, was picked as part of a national competition that drew nine submissions, three of which made it to the final round.

Project Arrow, introduced at CES 2020, aims to produce a full-build, zero-emission concept vehicle “that will showcase what Canada’s world-class automotive supply sector, its auto-tech SMEs and academic institutions can do on the global stage if we work together,” according to the announcement.

This announcement marks completion of the first of four planned project phases, leading up to the physical vehicle launch in 2022. Phase 2, the Engineering Specifications release and Supplier RFP, is to be completed later this fall, followed by the Virtual Concept Unveiling in 2021 and the Concept Car Release and Tour the year after.

Complete article at

https://electricautonomy.ca/2020/10/13/apma-unveils-winning-design-for-project-arrow-an-all-canadian-concept-ev/?fbclid=IwAR0tLyH8O5_OhpTyhV3qArHWGAiWcVKjidcuJ3-rBVIloOBT9T4nT192fJM

California governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Wednesday morning that will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035.

The policy will complement regulations adopted in the state to take all of its commercial trucks electric by 2045.

On the way to these goals, the state will need to do some substantial upgrades to its grid. This summer, amid blackouts, the state’s grid operator revealed a lack of adequate generating capacity in the daily transition from solar arrays—leading to the use of diesel-powered generatorsto fill the demand “gaps.”

Unless there’s an accompanying incentive to retire gasoline vehicles early, it could be long after 2045 before California’s fleet will be mostly electric.

It’s not yet clear whether the policy will have provisions allowing extended-range electric, or plug-in hybrids—and how it will treat the evolution of fuel-cell vehicles that run on hydrogen produced with fossil fuels.

The order also calls on CARB, state agencies, and its energy commission and public utilities to accelerate deployment of “affordable fueling and charging options for zero-emission vehicles, in ways that serve all communities and in particular low-income and disadvantaged communities.”

Under Newsom’s order, state leaders will need to meet and come up with a plan, including near-term actions, by July 15, 2021.

EV Society’s Kawartha Chapter will be participating in Selwyn Township’s federally-funded program to reduce the township’s carbon footprint and encourage EV adoption.

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