EV Musings Newsletter 123
Wizz Air invests £5m in green fuels, 1.2 Million-Mile Tesla Model S Is on Its 14th Motor, Third Battery Pack, and Electrified Trailer Cuts Fuel Consumption in Semi-Trucks by 36.3%
Intro:
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Let's get into it.
This week's podcast
No new episode this week as the podcast is on an inter-season hiatus.
Instead here's a golden oldie from the archive:
In Episode 174 Gary chats with Ron Godfrey who took his Renault eMegane 3000 miles around the UK to see what a long distance journey in an EV is really like. How was his journey, what were the issues, and how did the infrastructure hold up?
Top 5 EV or Renewable Stories
Wizz Air Invests £5 Million in Firefly Green Fuels
Another day, another company pinning its colours to the mast of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Like hydrogen, SAF is a solution which can quite easily work in a test setting with limited need and unlimited funds. Once you try and roll it out on a more widespread scale, however, the deficiencies of the solution soon start to add up.
This 1.2 Million-Mile Tesla Model S Is on Its 14th Motor, Third Battery Pack
When people say that electric cars won't last as long as current ICE cars you only have to show them this article about the Tesla Model S which has just done 1.2 million miles.
Yes, It's had a couple of new bits (including 14 motors and three battery packs). But with 3 batteries at 1.2 million miles it means a battery pack is lasting 400,000 miles. That's quite acceptable, I reckon.
Osprey Charging and Heritage Great Britain PLC Open New Rapid EV Charging Site at John O’ Groats
EV rapid-charging network Osprey Charging has increased access to public charging in the Highlands and on the popular North Coast 500 touring route with three high-powered EV chargers installed at the John o’ Groats car park
All we need is similar ones in Land's End and we could have a good thing going!
Electrified Trailer Cuts Fuel Consumption in Semi-Trucks by 36.3%
Add a battery to a semi trailer and it will immediately cut the fuel consumption of the tractor trailer pulling it.
I'm not overly excited about this as a hybrid solution. But as an adjunct to electric transportation I think it will go some way to helping range anxiety.
Of course there’s always the weight issue…
These Sleek Panels Slide Onto Apartment Buildings to Make Them More Energy Efficient
This startup, called Hydronic Shell Technologies, designs prefab panels with built-in insulation, heating, cooling, and ventilation aimed at retrofitting old apartment buildings. Because the panels are attached outside, tenants don’t have to move out when the retrofit happens
A Cool Thing
From Episode 174
We’ve always said on this podcast that the easiest way to get people into an EV is to physically get them into an EV. There are many, many ways of doing this. But I want to highlight a new one that I learned about recently.
ZIMBL is an EV hire company that allows you to take EVs from as little as an hour to as long as a whole day.
They charge £8 per hour, they’ll drop the fully charged car at your doorstep and pick-it up wherever you want them to at the end of the hire period.
The beauty of this is that there are no extras, the guys at ZIMBL will show you everything you need to know about running the EV and - because they use MG5 estate vehicles - you get a car with great range, a large cargo area and a dashboard which looks very similar to the ICE car you’re probably used to driving already.
If you’re over 25 with fewer than 6 points on your license, insurance is included in the price and if you want it for longer than 10 hours you get to keep it for up to 24 hours at no extra cost.
Mileage is unlimited so enjoy!
There’s one small downside at the moment which is that the company only operates in the Banbury area for now. But there’s a lot of potential here and I expect this to be something that expands over time.
Final Thoughts
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