Earlier this month Hyundai announced to slash the Korean price of their Tucson Fuel Cell by 43% to the equivalent of US$ 77,000. Yesterday Hyundai announced the new price in Europe: € 55,000 (US$ 62,700). In the Netherlands that results in a consumer price of € 66,550 incl. VAT. In Europe the Tucson is called ix35. In comparison the Hyundai Fuel Cell is available in the USA for lease only at a monthly price of $ 499.
The new price is close to being a competitive offer to traditional cars with combustion engines. If Hyundai doesn't lose too much on it, it would mark a significant step towards making fuel cell vehicles competitive, although there still is a long way to go. The ix35 with combustion engine is available in the Netherlands at prices starting at € 27,495 (incl. VAT).
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
2014 good year for CNG in the Netherlands
Figures published by Aumacon show that CNG / green gas vehicles were the most popular alternative fueled vehicles in the Netherlands in 2014.
The largest vehicle category in the Netherlands in terms of sales remains the traditional gasoline car. 248,796 of these were sold in 2014. This is a drop of 6% compared to 2013. Traditional gasoline cars are slowly losing ground.
Diesel cars sales were better. 105,102 were sold in 2014, a growth of 1,5%.
The third category in the Netherlands in terms of sales is the hybrid vehicle (including plug-in hybrids and range extended electric vehicles). Compared to the top year 2013 sales decreased by 38% as a result of reduced fiscal stimulation. Despite this (as I wrote yesterday) the number of these vehicles on the road is still increasing.
Number four in the Netherlands in terms of cars on the road is LPG. Sales of LPG however are declining because the Dutch government no longer stimulates LPG despite verbally advocating its use. Sales dropped by 53% to 988. As a result the number of LPG vehicles on Dutch roads is decreasing. This is in sharp contrast to worldwide developments.
2014 was a great year for CNG / green gas vehicles. 3,232 CNG vehicles were sold, an increase of over 500% compared to 2013. Despite these impressive numbers CNG still has a long way to go to overtake LPG as the most popular alternative fuel.
Next are the fully electric cars. 2,982 of these were sold which is a 14% increase compared to 2013. Electric cars are slowly gaining market share.
Other than these fuels not much is happening in the Netherlands. When the first public hydrogen station was opened it was already known that the Dutch government would leased two Hyundai ix35's. No other hydrogen vehicles were registered in 2014.
The sale of cars on ethanol has come to a near complete stop in 2014: only one was sold compared to 17 in 2013.
The largest vehicle category in the Netherlands in terms of sales remains the traditional gasoline car. 248,796 of these were sold in 2014. This is a drop of 6% compared to 2013. Traditional gasoline cars are slowly losing ground.
Diesel cars sales were better. 105,102 were sold in 2014, a growth of 1,5%.
The third category in the Netherlands in terms of sales is the hybrid vehicle (including plug-in hybrids and range extended electric vehicles). Compared to the top year 2013 sales decreased by 38% as a result of reduced fiscal stimulation. Despite this (as I wrote yesterday) the number of these vehicles on the road is still increasing.
Number four in the Netherlands in terms of cars on the road is LPG. Sales of LPG however are declining because the Dutch government no longer stimulates LPG despite verbally advocating its use. Sales dropped by 53% to 988. As a result the number of LPG vehicles on Dutch roads is decreasing. This is in sharp contrast to worldwide developments.
2014 was a great year for CNG / green gas vehicles. 3,232 CNG vehicles were sold, an increase of over 500% compared to 2013. Despite these impressive numbers CNG still has a long way to go to overtake LPG as the most popular alternative fuel.
Next are the fully electric cars. 2,982 of these were sold which is a 14% increase compared to 2013. Electric cars are slowly gaining market share.
Other than these fuels not much is happening in the Netherlands. When the first public hydrogen station was opened it was already known that the Dutch government would leased two Hyundai ix35's. No other hydrogen vehicles were registered in 2014.
The sale of cars on ethanol has come to a near complete stop in 2014: only one was sold compared to 17 in 2013.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Dutch electric vehicle registrations in 2014
The Dutch government has revealed registration numbers for electric vehicles in the Netherlands in 2014. The number of electric vehicles is still rising rapidly.
The number of fully electric passenger cars went up by 64% from 4,161 to 6,825. Especially the months of October and December saw a lot of new registrations. The number of registrations is often high in autumn in anticipation of increasingly strict requirements for fiscal stimuli.
While the number of plug-in hybrids went up almost sixfold in 2013, last year saw more normal, but still impressive growth. The number of plug-ins grew from 24,512 to 36,937 - a 51% growth rate. In contrast to electric vehicles, the number of new registrations in autumn was lower than average.
The number of electric heavy duty vehicles and electric buses grew by 18% and 10% respectively. Most growth took place in the first four months of 2014. Possibly growth halted as a result of lower oilprices later in the year.
In terms of models, the Mitsubishi Outlander is the most popular plug-in hybrid vehicle. 15,725 of thse are now registered in the Netherlands. The second place is for the Volvo V60 with 9,707 registrations. The Opel Ampera is in third place.
The Tesla Model S is the most popular fully electric vehicle with 2,645 registrations, followed by the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe.
The number of fully electric passenger cars went up by 64% from 4,161 to 6,825. Especially the months of October and December saw a lot of new registrations. The number of registrations is often high in autumn in anticipation of increasingly strict requirements for fiscal stimuli.
While the number of plug-in hybrids went up almost sixfold in 2013, last year saw more normal, but still impressive growth. The number of plug-ins grew from 24,512 to 36,937 - a 51% growth rate. In contrast to electric vehicles, the number of new registrations in autumn was lower than average.
The number of electric light duty vehicles grew by an impressive 88% from 669 to 1,258. This makes this vehicle category the fastest growing. Here also October and December were top months. Both months saw more registrations than in the entire year of 2013.
The number of electric heavy duty vehicles and electric buses grew by 18% and 10% respectively. Most growth took place in the first four months of 2014. Possibly growth halted as a result of lower oilprices later in the year.
In terms of models, the Mitsubishi Outlander is the most popular plug-in hybrid vehicle. 15,725 of thse are now registered in the Netherlands. The second place is for the Volvo V60 with 9,707 registrations. The Opel Ampera is in third place.
The Tesla Model S is the most popular fully electric vehicle with 2,645 registrations, followed by the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe.
A striking development is that the number of normal hybrids (such as the Toyota Auris and Prius) is no logner growing. The number of registered vehicles rose by only 0.3%: almost as many hybrids were unregistered as registered. The number of these vehicles is however still almost three times higher than the number of plug-ins and fully electric vehicles combined.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Audi H7 H-tron
Audi hads a fantastic new prototype on the Los Angeles Auto show: the A7 H-tron. The H-tron is Audi's vision for the future of hydrogen. And it shows that Audi has a much better vision of what it can sell to its customers than its competitors Hyundai and Toyota who are now leading the actual sale of hydrogen vehicles. Those cars are attempts to just about offer the same as the average family car. Only they cost a lot more. Audi shows they can do a lot better.
The novelty in Audi's design is not the fuel cell powering the car: their fuel cell offers roughly 100 kWe: the same as every body else's fuel cell. But Audi uses this power much more effectively by storing energy into a 8,8 kWh battery system. This allows the vehicle to accellerate much faster and regenerate braking energy. The H-tron is designed as a plug-in hybrid, allowing the battery to be charged from the power grid, making the vehicle less dependent on the lacking hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
Because the fuel cell is the most expensive component in the vehicle, Audi can offer much better performance at only marginally higher cost. The performance speaks for itself:
- 50 km range on batteries, 500 km total
- four wheel drive
- 152 hp power from the electromotors
- 0 - 100 km/h in 7.9 s
- no emissions, little noise
It looks to me like Toyota and Hyundai can go back to their drawing boards.
The novelty in Audi's design is not the fuel cell powering the car: their fuel cell offers roughly 100 kWe: the same as every body else's fuel cell. But Audi uses this power much more effectively by storing energy into a 8,8 kWh battery system. This allows the vehicle to accellerate much faster and regenerate braking energy. The H-tron is designed as a plug-in hybrid, allowing the battery to be charged from the power grid, making the vehicle less dependent on the lacking hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
Because the fuel cell is the most expensive component in the vehicle, Audi can offer much better performance at only marginally higher cost. The performance speaks for itself:
- 50 km range on batteries, 500 km total
- four wheel drive
- 152 hp power from the electromotors
- 0 - 100 km/h in 7.9 s
- no emissions, little noise
It looks to me like Toyota and Hyundai can go back to their drawing boards.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
CNG keeps on growing in China
These past years, China has been one of
the countries with the largest number of CNG stations (over 5,700)
with a steady development. Both national and municipal governments
support CNG and create policies to promote its use in an effort to
reduce air polution and transport cost.
Aspro reported in a newsletter about
its developments in China. For Aspro China is a strategic country
both commercially and industrially. In a joint venture with Teesing,
Aspro has been present in China for 4 years. The JV is called AsproTIS Beijing Co. Ltd.
Aspro TIS has established an industrial
plant where compressors are assembled alongside other products in
accordance with international quality and safety standards.
Aspro reports that through this JV they managed to sell 100
compressors in four years throughout China and are busy developing new projects in
order to go ahead on their growth path.
Friday, September 5, 2014
CNG popular alternative in the Netherlands
A prognosis released by Aumacon shows that CNG is an increasingly popular alternative vehicle fuel in the Netherlands in 2014. Sales of NGVs will jump from 530 to 2,500, a spectacular 372% increase.
Sales by fuel type 2013 2014 prognosis +/-
Petrol 264,586 257,000 -3%
Diesel 103,557 82,500 -20%
Hybrid (incl. PHEV and EREV)
43,335 34,000 -22%
LPG (factory fitted)
2,081 1,500 -28%
EV 2,619 2,500 -5%
CNG (bifuel) 530 2,500 +372%
Biofuels 17 0 -100%
Hydrogen 1 2 +100%
Total 416,726 380,000
Although no reasons have been provided it seems that changes in tax measures have driven a shift towards CNG. CNG is called 'groen gas' (green gas) in The Netherlands as (almost) all gas sold at public CNG stations is made green by purchasing certificates for biogas injected in the gas grid. A recent agreement intends to ensure that all CNG sold will be green by 2015.
Stimulation measures for green gas have hold firm, while many other alternative fuels saw their incentives reduced (PHEVs and EVs) or excises raised (LPG). Also in recent years a green gas filling station network has been rolled out.
This is an updated translation of an old article I published in Dutch earlier.
Sales by fuel type 2013 2014 prognosis +/-
Petrol 264,586 257,000 -3%
Diesel 103,557 82,500 -20%
Hybrid (incl. PHEV and EREV)
43,335 34,000 -22%
LPG (factory fitted)
2,081 1,500 -28%
EV 2,619 2,500 -5%
CNG (bifuel) 530 2,500 +372%
Biofuels 17 0 -100%
Hydrogen 1 2 +100%
Total 416,726 380,000
Although no reasons have been provided it seems that changes in tax measures have driven a shift towards CNG. CNG is called 'groen gas' (green gas) in The Netherlands as (almost) all gas sold at public CNG stations is made green by purchasing certificates for biogas injected in the gas grid. A recent agreement intends to ensure that all CNG sold will be green by 2015.
Stimulation measures for green gas have hold firm, while many other alternative fuels saw their incentives reduced (PHEVs and EVs) or excises raised (LPG). Also in recent years a green gas filling station network has been rolled out.
This is an updated translation of an old article I published in Dutch earlier.
First Dutch public hydrogen station opened
This week on 3rd september the first Dutch public hyrdrogen station was opened along the A15 highway near Rotterdam. This is intended to be the first of 20 public stations to be opened in the Netherlands until 2020.
Hydrogen is considered a clean alternative fuel for use in cities as it does not pollute the air as the only emission is water and because the electric drive is less noisy.
The Dutch ministry of Infrastructure and Environment will be the first user with their two Hyundai ix35 FCEVs. The location in Rotterdam was chosen as it is close to a hydrogen pipeline from Rotterdam to Belgium and France. In Rotterdam a major share of the hydrogen for the European market is produced. The station near Rotterdam is owned by the French company Air Liquide, which intends to build a larger European network of hydrogen stations.
Until recently only a few trucks, a delivery van and a number of busses used hydrogen. They could refuel at private stations in Amsterdam, Arnhem and Helmond. This new station makes hydrogen also available to passenger vehicles. Currently there are concrete plans to move the Amsterdam station to a location where it can be public as well as to upgrade the Helmond station so this station to can be made public.
Hydrogen is considered a clean alternative fuel for use in cities as it does not pollute the air as the only emission is water and because the electric drive is less noisy.
The Dutch ministry of Infrastructure and Environment will be the first user with their two Hyundai ix35 FCEVs. The location in Rotterdam was chosen as it is close to a hydrogen pipeline from Rotterdam to Belgium and France. In Rotterdam a major share of the hydrogen for the European market is produced. The station near Rotterdam is owned by the French company Air Liquide, which intends to build a larger European network of hydrogen stations.
Until recently only a few trucks, a delivery van and a number of busses used hydrogen. They could refuel at private stations in Amsterdam, Arnhem and Helmond. This new station makes hydrogen also available to passenger vehicles. Currently there are concrete plans to move the Amsterdam station to a location where it can be public as well as to upgrade the Helmond station so this station to can be made public.
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