Friday, November 21, 2014

London’s Iconic Black Cabs to Receive an “EV Make-Over” by 2018


Image CC by Calgary Reviews

Passengers in London’s famous black cabs could be treated to a quieter, more emissions-free travel experience over the next three years. Earlier this year, London Mayor Boris Johnson announced that any new Taxis introduced to the city in 2018 will have to be capable of emissions-free driving. The announcement comes on the heels of the mayor’s pledge last year to institute an “ultra-low emissions zone” in Central London by 2020.

London’s new plan to require emissions-free Taxis is a sign that cities are making the shift to the green economy. It is becoming increasingly evident that avoiding vehicle emissions is not just important for tackling climate change, there are also health impacts associated with spewing pollution into the air.

For instance, London has a serious air quality problem over the central city – so severe that it even surpasses Beijing’s air pollution (which has previously been referred to as the “airpocalypse”). Not only do vehicle emissions contribute to an enhanced greenhouse effect, they can negatively impact human health over periods of prolonged exposure. Traffic pollution has been linked to asthma, respiratory tract infections, and respiratory and pulmonary morbidity.

While tackling air pollution would certainly be a tall order for a city as massive as London, Nissan has stepped up to the plate to make the city’s vision of emissions-free taxis a reality. The automaker is hard at work on the electric version of its new Nissan NV200 model. It will be basing its design off of London’s black cab – one notable difference, of course, will be the lack of a tailpipe. Nissan’s new “e-Taxi” will be available in 2015.

The EV market is now in full swing, with numerous cities embracing clean technology in all aspects of transportation. Technology such as the Busbaar v3 is making EV public transit a reality while the improvement of EV infrastructure is making it easier for EV drivers to charge their cars. It is no surprise that EVs are growing at a rate of 33% per year, and numbers could hit 7.5 million by 2020. London’s move to implement emissions-free taxis is just one aspect of a wider movement towards the green economy.


What are your thoughts on London’s forthcoming fleet of e-Taxis? Do you think other cities will follow suit?


Joseph Tohill is a freelance writer and online communications specialist for organizations in the sustainability sector. He has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia and spent most of his academic career studying sustainable urban development; namely the interdisciplinary relationship between built form and natural environment.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Will the Busbaar V3 Revolutionize EV Public Transit?


Image © Opbrid
Is there a place for EV buses in the future of public transportation? Spanish company Opbrid seems to think so with the development of their new Busbaar V3.
The Busbaar V3 is designed to streamline the charging process for large public vehicles. The defining characteristic of the new technology is a pantagraph that connects to a copper bar on the roof of a bus. When a vehicle arrives underneath the Busbar, the pantagraph descends and attaches itself to the bus, thus initiating the charging process.
However, some would argue that technology like the one developed by Opbrid has been on the market for a few years. While this is true, the key distinction of the Busbaar V3 is that it is able to carry out the charging process in under five minutes.
The company has basically taken a Tesla fast-charging station and put it on steroids to create an even faster charging environment. Unlike Tesla’s fast chargers which charge at 120 kW, the Busbaar V3 charges at a whopping 650 kW, which is more than a five-fold increase! The use of lithium-titrate means batteries can charge faster and don’t degrade over time. Although these types of batteries feature lower energy densities, they are able to take up more space when deployed on a bus.  
So why will EV buses become increasingly prominent in the coming years?
With technology like the Busbaar V3 on the market, it is likely that transit authorities will increasingly embrace EV buses. With charge times of less than five minutes, busses can easily charge up at key stops on their route (or at the beginning or end). Furthermore, not only is electricity cheaper than fossil fuels in most jurisdictions, maintenance is easier and cheaper.
Of course, this doesn’t even account for the environmental benefits, which are probably the most important components of the equation. Cities are often looked to as leaders in sustainability, and having an all EV bus fleet would go a long way in reducing a municipality’s carbon footprint.
What are your thoughts on the Busbaar V3? Do you think it will help encourage the embrace of hybrid or all-electric bus fleets?

#EV #PublicTransportation #Busbaar #Opbrid #CleanTech #Eco #EcoFriendly #EnergyEfficiency #GoGreen #GreenTech #Innovation #PublicTransit #UrbanPlanning

Friday, November 7, 2014

Getting Charged Up Over Public Transportation

Image CC by Vayon Green Power Group

For me, moving away from home and coming to Washington, DC was an adventure I couldn’t wait to take on - until I experienced driving here. Annette Benning wasn’t kidding when she warned Michael Douglas’ character to “stay away from Dupont Circle,” in the movie The American President - Washington was listed as eighth in line for worst traffic in the US. Terrible traffic along with the city’s quadrant pattern that is so confusing it has conspiracy theorists buzzing was a good enough case to keep the car parked at home and take public transportation. Certainly not a bad choice in a city with amazing (and free!) museums to visit, but limited public parking options. The DC MetroRail was my usual public transportation choice, but doesn’t extend to all popular reaches of the city. For those, MetroBus or taxi cabs were the way to go.

I don’t know about you, but there always seems to be something distasteful about riding in a vehicle that spews heavy black clouds of smoke and has exhaust fumes that, if you are stuck behind it in your car, you desperately reach to close your vents and turn on the air circulation before too much of it creeps in. Kind of negates the environmental benefits of carpooling, doesn’t it? Taxi cabs are another option, but the 2011 gas spike added a fuel surcharge fee to every ride you took - while that was rescinded when fuel prices evened out, the option to put that policy back into effect if they spike that quickly again is still on the table.

Luckily, cities around the globe are taking notice; Rather than leaving our economy and our environment to chance, they’re jumping on the EV bandwagon with battery powered busses and have added EV’s to their taxi fleets. Even public transportation can face range anxiety, but to combat that, green tech company Opbrid is helping to keep electrified city busses running around the clock with their Busbaar V3. To combat London’s poor air quality, mayor Boris Johnson has instituted a plan for all London taxi cabs to be zero emission capable by 2018. In fact, Nissan is already ahead of the curve in London, planning to unveil their e-Taxi for that city in 2015, while also being involved with e-taxi projects in Barcelona, Tokyo and New York. And if you’re like me and can’t possibly think of transporting all of your groceries home on the bus, self service e-car sharing programs like Autolib are all the rage in Paris, with plans to expand globally.  

As the new Editor of the SemaConnect blog, I look forward to sharing and discussing more topics on Electric Vehicles, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and sustainability in general.  In the coming months, we plan to redesign and revamp the blog for your reading pleasure, and zero in on topics that both educate and inform on the latest trends in the green transportation industry.  I hope you’ll join us on this new journey!

Want to learn more about these initiatives? Continue to check our blog this month to learn more about the future of public transportation. It promises to be….electrifying.


Lauren Demko serves as Marketing Associate at SemaConnect and the Editor of the SemaConnect blog.  After earning her B.A. in electronic media from The George Washington University, Lauren spent the next decade working in science and media education while working towards her MFA in environmental documentary film making from American University. An award-winning filmmaker and photographer, Lauren is passionate about spending time in nature, especially with her rescue cane corso, Riley.