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Electric vehicles won’t be mainstream, says Honda CEO

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from https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com Commenting about Honda’s electrification strategy, Honda CEO said the brand will focus on petrol-electric hybrids, not BEVs, through 2030. Electric vehicles won’t be mainstream, despite the push from the governments and the auto manufacturers across the world towards e-mobility, claims a media report quoting Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo. The report further quotes Hachigo saying, “The hurdles to battery electric vehicles and complete autonomous driving are still quite high.” Commenting about Honda’s electrification strategy, he said the brand will focus on petrol-electric hybrids, not BEVs, through 2030. Also, he said Honda will prioritize incremental advances that offer real-world safety at affordable prices, instead of fancy functions and pricy lidar systems, claims the report. Honda aims to be more realistic instead of competing with rivals brands when it comes to electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology. Hachigo further said, “I do not believe there will be a dramatic increase in demand for battery vehicles, and I believe this situation is true globally. There are issues with infrastructure and hardware.” He also added, “There are different regulations in different countries, and we have to abide by them. So, it’s a must to continue R&D. But I don’t believe it will become mainstream anytime soon.”

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Paris e-scooters under pressure to prove green credentials

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Hadjali and Gompo are part of the “urban patrols” carried out by the US start-up Lime, which says the recovered units are recycled as much as possible — though the lithium-ion batteries are usually shot. Paris – Pulling on makeshift roped hooks along a sun-drenched bank of the Seine River in Paris, Youva Hadjali and Edison Gompo fish out two electric scooters — not the most ecological fate for devices billed as a carbon-free fix for strained urban transport systems. As city officials vow to rein in the use of wildly popular e-scooters, their short lifespans, along with the energy consumed to build and service them, have many wondering if they are as good for the environment as operators say. Hadjali and Gompo are part of the “urban patrols” carried out by the US start-up Lime, which says the recovered units are recycled as much as possible — though the lithium-ion batteries are usually shot. “Overall in Paris, Lime scooters have saved the equivalent of two days without any cars at all” since they arrived 16 months ago, Arthur-Louis Jacquier, head of French operations, told AFP. Critics say such claims fail to take into account the carbon emitted in constructing the scooters and the daily collections for recharging the so-called “dockless” vehicles. Those emissions are compounded by lifespans of barely a year, due to wear and tear but also vandalism. They were a specific target of activists at the Extinction Rebellion protest in Paris last month, who gathered up a huge pile of the devices to denounce what they labelled “pointless pollution.” “Scooters don’t replace cars, they motorise walking trips,” one sign said. Studies indeed show that most scooter trips are replacing walking or biking, with just a third displacing car use, said Jeremiah Johnson of North Carolina State University.

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Harley Davidson: The Road Only Goes Downhill

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Harley-Davidson delays its first $30,000 electric motorcycle after unexpected findings during final quality checks The company delayed the motorcycle after ‘non-standard conditions’ were discvoered during final quality checks Dealers had begun selling pre-orders of the bike in January Harley-Davidson had forecast shipping 1,600 bikes Harley-Davidson has delayed production on its first electric motorcycle, called LiveWire. In an email sent to dealers last week, the company announced it had found a ‘non-standard condition’ in its final quality checks but didn’t elaborate further. The LiveWire was officially announced for commercial release last fall with a planned price of $29,799. ‘We recently discovered a non-standard condition during a final quality check; stopped production and deliveries; and began additional testing and analysis, which is progressing well,’ the company said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal reported that the decision came after a problem with the vehicle’s battery charging was discovered. The manufacturer did not say when they planned to resume production. The company had already begun delivering models of LiveWire to dealers in September. The company had expected to ship around 1,600 bikes, or an estimated 1 percent of the company’s total big shipments. The LiveWire is said to go from 0-60 mph in three seconds and reach top speeds of 110 mph. Harley-Davidson recommends users go to dealers to charge the vehicle rather than trying to use standard electrical outlets in their homes. It is powered by a 15.5 kWh battery and has a 105 horsepower magnetic engine and a range of 146 miles city driving on a single charge. Harley-Davidson had told potential customers to charge the bike only at registered dealers and not in their homes. The bike was first shown in The Avengers: Age of Ultron as a sleek prototype ridden by Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow character. The LiveWire

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Berlin to tighten rules for electric scooter users

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City transport officials said after a meeting with scooter providers that they’ll designate special on-street parking zones for the battery-powered vehicles BERLIN: Berlin plans to stop electric scooters from being left haphazardly on sidewalks and other anti-social behavior that’s drawn the ire of residents in the German capital since the vehicles were made legal two months ago. City transport officials said Wednesday after a meeting with scooter providers that they’ll designate special on-street parking zones for the battery-powered vehicles, which are popular among tourists and young people. Berlin police will also step up patrols to prevent illegal behavior such as doubling. Police say seven people have been seriously injured and 27 suffered minor injuries in scooter accidents since mid-June, saying most were due to riders behaving carelessly. In Paris, where about 20,000 scooters roam the streets , authorities recently proposed limiting speeds to 8 kilometers per hour (5 mph) in areas with heavy foot traffic.

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Gogoro Announces Yamaha, Aeon Motor And PGO As Founding Members Of Its ‘Powered By Gogoro Network’ Program

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With more than 1,300 battery swapping stations and 100,000 plus vehicle battery swaps every day, Gogoro Network has established itself as the leading urban refueling infrastructure used by consumers TAIPEI, Taiwan, Aug. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Gogoro®, a technology leader transforming how innovation is accelerating the shift to sustainable urban mobility, today announced the global introduction of the ‘Powered By Gogoro Network’ program. Established to increase adoption of sustainable urban transportation, the program enables vehicle makers to design smart electric vehicles that integrate with the Gogoro Network, Gogoro’s industry-leading battery swapping platform. Gogoro also announced that leading scooter makers Yamaha, Aeon Motor, and PGO are the first vehicle makers participating in the program and will be launching new scooters this summer. Gogoro Network was established to drive new innovations, technologies, and business models that eliminate barriers to electric fuel adoption and introduce more people to cleaner and smarter urban mobility choices. Launched first in Taiwan in 2015, the Gogoro Network has facilitated more than 44 million battery swaps and has more than 1300 GoStation battery swapping locations today, making it the most sophisticated mass-market battery swapping system in the world. “Gogoro was created to ignite the mass market shift to sustainable energy in cities by establishing an intelligent urban ecosystem that introduced a new refueling system that created a hub for communities, businesses, and consumers,” said Horace Luke, founder and CEO, Gogoro Inc. “We are excited to have leading scooter brands like Yamaha, Aeon Motor and PGO as founding members of our Powered By Gogoro Network program and look forward to consumers having a variety of choices when selecting smart electric vehicles.” Enabling All Vehicles Makers To Embrace Sustainable Transportation With strong consumer adoption of Gogoro Network battery swapping, ‘Powered by Gogoro Network’ provides consumers with a variety of choices

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The Battery Wars of the near future

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U.S. legislation aims to thwart China’s electric vehicle dominance WASHINGTON: A U.S. senator plans to introduce legislation on Thursday to streamline regulation and permitting requirements for the development of mines for lithium, graphite and other electric-vehicle supply chain minerals, part of a plan to offset China’s dominance in the space. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Republican chair of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will introduce the Minerals Security Act alongside Senator Joe Manchin. “Our challenge is still a failure to understand the vulnerability we are in as a nation when it comes to reliance on others for our minerals,” Murkowski told Reuters. France, Germany agree on first battery cell consortium France and Germany have earmarked 1.7 billion euros ($1.90 billion) to support several company alliances looking to produce electric car battery cells, a step aimed at reducing the dependence of European carmakers on Asian suppliers. BERLIN: France and Germany have asked the European Commission to green-light state subsidies for a cross-border battery cell consortium involving carmaker PSA with its German subsidiary Opel and Total’s Saft, FAZ newspaper reported on Monday. The economy ministries of both countries sent a letter of intent to the European Union’s executive body asking Brussels to quickly give its go-ahead, the newspaper said, adding that the sum of the planned support was not mentioned.

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E-scooter manufacturers turn to detachable batteries to plug charging infrastructure gap

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INDIA – As the country still grapples with providing charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs), electric two-wheeler makers are turning to detachable batteries to make the charging process easier. Recent launches such as Okinawa Autotech’s i-Praise scooter (₹1,15,990, ex-showroom) and Avan Motors’ Trend E (starting price ₹56,900, ex-showroom), come with such portable batteries. “We understood the need of the hour and developed detachable batteries,” said Jeetender Sharma, Founder and Managing Director, Okinawa Autotech; Avan Motors’ Business Development Head, Pankaj Tiwari, concurred. Both Sharma and Tiwari stressed that this feature would benefit customers living in multi-storey apartments. “Charging time on our batteries is also not very high. It takes two to four hours,” Tiwari said. Okinawa’s Ridge+ (₹76,499, ex-showroom), an upgraded model of its Ridge scooter, also comes with a detachable lithium ion battery. Indigenous e-scooter manufacturers are slowly moving away from lead acid batteries and adopting lithium ion batteries, with the government’s subsidy under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (FAME) programme helping them. “We always request that the subsidy on lithium ion batteries must continue. If the subsidy comes down, it is very difficult for the consumer to purchase the vehicle,” Tiwari said. However, he also stressed that charging infrastructure development is necessary to inspire confidence among EV consumers and adopters. Localisation of parts Local component sourcing is another area where manufacturers want support from the government. “The (government) support is required everywhere for localisation. Once the volumes go up, localisation can be done more easily. Right now, the volumes are not allowing local manufacturers and suppliers to give components,” said Tiwari. However, for Okinawa, over 90 per cent parts are already localised, Sharma said. He also revealed that the company will launch a high-speed motorcycle in the second quarter of next year, which will

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Salt Torpedo Action Update Chapter 16

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Making Move on Everything! The last few weeks have been interesting and challenging. We are actually getting close to watching the Salt Torpedo sit on its own three wheels with the help of Yelvington Shocks. This week we could finish the steering system. We could link the steering with the wheels. We could have a gas tank mounted. We are getting damn close to making a battery mount, and then hooking up the drive line for a run around the block. READ the True Story of the First Streamlined trike to be registered for Bonneville Salt Flats racing. CLICK HERE. Join the Cantina. Check out the new Hal Robinson Tee-shirts and 5-Ball Racing Special Op Vest. http://shop.bikernet.com/ Ride Forever!!!

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Yamaha Expects India to Become its Largest Production Base in 5 yrs

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Markets in Indonesia, Vietnam saturating; India priority No. 1, says top executive. Japanese auto major Yamaha Motor Company (YMC) expects India to overtake Indonesia to emerge as its largest base in terms of production output in the next five years. “India sells more than 20 million two-wheelers annually and the numbers are growing. Our company’s market share is in single digits. We want to improve this. There is a lot of opportunity,” says Yamaha India Chairman Shitara. Two-wheeler sales in India increased 6.95% to 19,740,727 units till February this fiscal. In the same period, India Yamaha Motor’s sales remained largely flat at around 732,006 units. The company additionally exported 226,010 units. Yamaha Motor India’s group chairman Motofumi Shitara was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of MT-15 priced at ₹1.36 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). “India is priority number one for us worldwide. We aim to have production volume of 2.5 million units in India in the next five years,” he said. Going ahead, Shitara said the company would steer clear of the mass segment and focus on launching premium motorcycles in the domestic market. The company has also commenced a study on introducing electric two-wheelers in India. Shitara is currently defining the mid-term roadmap for the company till 2025 to lay the foundation on how the brand Yamaha takes shape the country. Apart from growing volumes, Shitara said a focus area for him is to project a strong image for the Yamaha brand in the local market. Yamaha MT-15 was launched on Friday – a 155cc bike with liquid-cooled four-stroke engine mated to a six-speed transmission. MT-15 is priced at Rs 1.36 lakh ex-showroom. It has ABS and fuel injected variable valve actuation (VBA). On the idea of electric motorcycles, the Yamaha Chairman says – “Three points are important, one

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Zero introduces bold new SR/F Electric Streetfighter

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Zero launched a new SR/F streetfighter in Amsterdam, which claims to deliver an attractive blend of “industry-leading power, control and connection.” It is a tangible improvement in range capability and recharging time, along with new styling that brings its electric powertrain with sharp and conventional – naked streetfighter looks. The Californian brand leaps forward making electric motorcycles look and perform in a way more appealing to both new and largely electric-phobic existing bikers. Vice President of Product Development, Brian Wismann, said: “The bike was inspired and influenced by the same things that inspire designers that are working on internal combustion bikes. “I don’t want anybody to think that this was meant to look like an electric Ducati, or Triumph – it’s not a derivative design, but having an understanding of where this cultural reference for having beautiful machines comes from and then integrating some of those design elements into the SR/F are pertinent in describing why it looks as good as it does.” New Zero SR/F specs 200-mile range potential One-hour charge to 95% Makes 110bhp / 140lbft Two models available in May Weight is 226kg Zero’s new SR/F has the power and charm to attract regular street racers. The torque makes this a serious streetfighter. The model uses Zero’s new ZF75-10 motor, coupled to a ZF14.4 lithium-ion battery. The powertrain uses air-cooling to improve longevity. It eliminates many routine maintenance jobs. A single charge is claimed to have the potential to deliver a 200-mile maximum range when ridden at town speeds, using Zero’s Power Tank, which arrives in Autumn 2019. The innovative Rapid Charge System works on the large and growing network of Level 2 charge stations and provides a platform that allows for up to three independent charging modules. This means the SR/F can boast the fastest recharge

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