Twenty Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric cars have arrived in Melbourne to be part of a $5 million electric vehicle trial by the Victorian Government.

Victrian Premier John Brumby said “We are committed to making this state an electric vehicle friendly location and we understand how important cleaner, greener and innovative travel options are to Victorians. That’s why the Victorian Government is currently working with the RACV to find around 180 households interested in taking part in an electric vehicle trial. The successful applicants will get an electric car for three months and we look forward to Mitsubishi being part of that trial. This world-leading trial will create real conditions by testing how drivers, vehicles, plug-in charging infrastructure and the electricity network will interact in real-life situations.”

The five-year electric vehicle trial is part of the $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan to find new ways of making electric cars more efficient and practical for Victorian families and roads. The trial will include passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and electric two-wheelers. There are plans for around 180 charging points and 60 vehicles which will rotate between different households and fleets,

Australian Cleantech has released a report titled "Prosperous Sustainability" which forecasts the development of energy technologies in Australia up to 2050.

The main findings of the report include:

• Current wind technology will maintain a high level of activity through to about 2015, after which it starts to be replaced by second generation wind technologies. There will be no further installation of current technology wind after 2022.
  Second generation wind may consist to vertical axis or Darrieus turbines or other improvements on the current large scale horizontal axis turbines. This technology is forecast to take over from the existing wind technology progressively from 2015, increasing in activity through to about 2025 but reducing to low level of ongoing activity by 2035.
• Small-scale solar rooftop is forecast to increase in activity through to 2012 driven by feed-in tariffs. It will then reduce, finally becoming obsolete by 2020 as other solar technologies become more economic.
  Building integrated solar is forecast to continue to grow through to the end of the forecast period as applications continue to be extended from roofs and windows to a greater variety of surfaces.
• Large scale solar concentrating is not predicted roll out until 2018 but it will be to a major component of the industry by 2050, although down from its peak in the late 2020s.
• Geothermal is forecast to start to become significant from 2015 with an increase in the roll out in the 2030s as technology improvements increase its efficiency.
• Wave and tidal power are expected to grow through to about 2030, after which they start to decline in importance as other technologies, with fewer mechanical parts, emerge as cheaper options. By 2050, they are seen as only having niche application in some  specific geographic situations.
• First generation biofuels is expected to have steady activity on a global basis through to 2012, after which it will go into decline as it is replaced by gen-2 biofuels using algae and cellulosic technologies. Once these technologies have been proven, they are forecast to experience growth through to 2025 and then to remain steady for 10 years before going into decline with only niche uses of biofuels by 2050.
• Energy efficiency and green building are forecast to be a major part of the solution and to continue to grow and innovate throughout the entire period with a continuing focus on reducing energy requirements and using more sustainable materials.
• The smart grid is forecast to expand throughout the period with large capital projects as old grids are progressively upgraded. Widespread roll-out will begin 2012 and will significantly expand in the 2020s. There are likely to be many iterations of what is considered ‘smart’ in a grid and it is only towards the end of the forecast period that it might become fully interactive.
• The major roll out of battery electric vehicles is expected to commence in 2012 and continue to grow throughout the forecast period.
• Carbon equestration is forecast to have only modest activity throughout the period driven by the need for carbon offsetting projects. It is not forecast to grow as many of the other technologies will start to become cost competitive and there will consequently be a decreasing level of carbon to be offset.
• Hydrogen, nuclear fusion and other new technologies may become significant parts of the equation after 2030.

A copy of the report may be purchased from www.auscleantech.com.au/ACT_Reports.html

A futuristic electric taxi known as the Unicab is seen as a leading contender to replace New York’s fleet of 26,500 yellow cabs over a ten year period beginning in 2013.

The design is based on a concept from Melbourne’s award-winning RMIT student designer Damian Lucaciu. It incorporates ideas from clean-air experts and the NSW Disability Council’s founder Jacob Baldwin.

It boasts open space, low floors, a ramp for the disabled and seats for up to seven passengers.

Australia’s first public on-street electric vehicle charging station has been opened in Derby Place, Glebe. It uses 100 per cent GreenPower from Origin.

The station was installed by Visionstream and is managed by ChargePoint. It will be available to customers of the GoGet car rental company which has a converted plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius. The car has an electric motor range of 30 kilometres, 2 kilometres longer than 80 per cent of GoGet trips and can be recharged in three hours.

Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore said "I made a commitment last November at a climate change summit in Copenhagen that we would accelerate the introduction of electrical vehicles into Sydney and that we would deploy our first charging station in 2010." The Lord Mayor says she wants Sydney to be ready when electric cars start arriving in 12 to 18 months.

At the U.N. climate change summit, fourteen world cities, including Sydney, vowed to work together over the next year to make their cities more "plug-in ready" for electric vehicles.

The other cities which acmmitted to becoming ready for electric vehicles are Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Toronto, London, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, Delhi, Seoul and Copenhagen.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said Sydney will fast-track the uptake of electric vehicles by establishing charging stations and converting car fleets. She said the City of Sydney Council wanted to set up the first public charging stations before the end of next year.

A Sydney company, ChargePoint Australia Pty Ltd, has signed an exclusive agreement with Coulomb Technologies for the supply of electric vehicle charging systems. The systems will be trialled in car parks in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in the first half of 2010.

Luke Grana, CEO of ChargePoint Australia, said that he expected installations to rapidly multiply around the nation as major car manufacturers release their own pure electric and hybrid vehicles and that they will also soon to be followed by a faster charger for service stations. Home garage systems are still in development.

Chargers located outside the home will work on a pay per use system in which drivers dial a number listed on the charger or otherwise through a smart card which can be topped up online.

Mr Grana said that the average Australian car cost about $10 to drive 100 kilometres while an electric vehicle cost about $2 per 100 kilometres.

Coulomb Techologies was established in 2007 by a group of computer industry entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley. It is developing ChargePoint systems for the US, Norway, the Netherland and Germany.

Following calls from South Australian Premier Mike Rann to manufacture the Volt electric car in South Australia, General Motors Holden has said that it remains committed to bringing the US-made version to Ausralia in 2012 but it would then consider whether the car would be built in Australia.

The comapany has already taken the first step towards local production with its decision to build the Cruze, which shares its platform with the Volt, in South Australia from next year.

The Holden Cruze replaced the Astra as Holden’s small car offerring in May. It is currently imported from Korea.

The New Zealand Parliament has passed legislation exempting electric cars from road tax.

Previously, electric vehicles were taxed the same as diesel vehicles at between 3.6 and 4 cents per kilometre.

Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, said that combining highly efficient electric motors with New Zealand’s competitive advantage in renewable electricity generation would reduce the greenhouse gases produced by the transport sector.

The new legislation will come into effect on October 1 and continue until 2013 when it will be reassessed.

The Mitsubishi iMiEv has become the first all-electric car to be approved for use on Australian roads.

The iMiEV’s lithium-ion bnatteries can be fully charged in 7 hours and give a range of 160 kilometres at speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour.

Mitsubishi plans to begin mass production of the car in Japan in July. It had been planning to build 2,000 of the vehicles this year but interest has been so strong that the figure has now been increased to 5,000.

Mitsubishi CEO Robert McEniry said: ”This is really the start of the future for the car industry, I think we’ll see a lot more of these vehicles being introduced into the marketplace. The car you see is ready for volume sale. Australia is the first country to get full certification.”

Mr McEniry said the company is planning on the car going on sale in 2010 but refused to comment on a price.

The California-based electric car operator, Better Place, has announced agreements with AGL Energy and Macquarie Capital Group to raise $1 billion and begin deploying an electric vehicle network powered by renewable energy in Australia.

Better Place has already secured funding to install 500,000 uniform electric car charging points at designated parking lots in residential areas and workplaces in Israel and another 500,000 in Denmark. Renault-Nissan will build electric cars for these countries and elsewhere. A range of models will be come into mass production between 2010 and 2014.

Better Place plans to use its scalable model, which Israel and Denmark have adopted, to build an electric vehicle network in Australia. Macquarie Capital will assist in business development and help raise $1 billion for the network build. AGL will provide electricity from renewable sources to power the electric cars.

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