Battery Metals

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country’s largest passenger carmaker, has ruled out any plans of introducing an electric Alto (800 or K10) anytime soon. “There are no plans as of now to introduce electric mobility on Alto,” RS Kalsi, senior executive director, MSIL, said. However, a BSVI-compliant Alto is scheduled to be launched in India before the deadline of April 2020.

Since the Alto is an entry-level car, porting electric technology onto it will make it pricier as the input cost is still on the higher side in India, he stated. For instance, the lithium-ion batteries aren’t manufactured locally and are thus imported, incurring additional costs.

However, Maruti Suzuki has already laid the foundation for India’s first lithium-ion battery plant in collaboration with the tech giants Toshiba and Denso. Based near Hansalpur, Gujarat, the facility will be operational by the end of 2020. Parallely, the Japanese carmaker is also working on a completely new, made-for-India electric car, along with training its dealers on setting up new charging networks.

Presently, the Alto is offered with two petrol engines (0.8-litre and 1.0-litre) and a CNG option. While the smaller motor produces 48PS/69Nm the bigger one pumps out 68PS/90Nm. Both the engines are mated to a 5-speed manual transmission; however, the K10 also gets an automated manual transmission (AMT).

The carmaker has already sold over 35 lakh Alto cars in India and the model will soon be upgraded to meet the upcoming BSVI emission norms. We expect prices of the Alto to go up by around Rs 20,000 as it becomes BSVI-compatible, and gets ABS and airbags as standard. Presently, the Alto 800 range starts from Rs 2.51 lakh but the base variant is devoid of features like airbags and ABS. The Alto K10 range starts from Rs 3.33 lakh and goes up to Rs 4.18 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

Maruti Suzuki displayed a new concept at the Auto Expo 2018 called the Future-S. The carmaker says that it forms the basis of a new design language that we can expect from future compact Maruti cars. Will Maruti Suzuki take this opportunity to dramatically change the Alto twins inside out while shifting to BSVI norms or will these cars retain their original conservative styling? Only time will tell.

Elon Musk will have to reckon with a new fast gun in town when it comes to battery-powered SUVs.

When Porsche brings its first pure electric vehicle to market in late 2019, it will bear a strong resemblance to the Mission E Cross Turismo concept unveiled at the Geneva auto show.

This is the second iteration of Porsche’s Mission E concept—which bowed in 2015 as a four-passenger sports car with suicide doors and promises to beat Tesla with more than 600 horsepower, 440 kW and an 800-volt system to charge its lithium-ion batteries twice as fast.

Although many cool European wagons never make it across the pond, this is a global vehicle so North America gets it, too. The only real variation by region will be choice of paint colors.

Porsche has built two prototypes so far, both in light gray metallic paint, said Michael Mauer, vice president of Style Porsche. It was important that the Mission E family retain brand identity with flat hoods and pronounced fenders, a tapered roof or “flyline,” and big rear shoulders and a sculpted rear. “These elements you will find in all our cars,” Mauer said simply.

With features like headlamp shapes that differ with each model, Mauer wants Mission E vehicles to be instantly recognizable as electric vehicles. The trick was determining how different. He thinks he got it right with the Cross Turismo. In an exclusive interview with Motor Trend ahead of the Geneva show, he admitted the production car has been in development alongside the concept. Hence, what you see here is pretty much what we’re going to get. The Cross Turismo name is still being vetted.

The Cross Turismo headlights are rectangular with rounded corners, where the bulbs are concentrated. The unit sits inside the air intake and appears to be floating. There is no grille, and the body-colored lower airflow vent presents a closed-nose look in keeping with Porsche design heritage, said Peter Varga, director of exterior design. Where exhaust pipes would be in back, there is now an air diffuser.

But it is the light bar across the back of the car that will be a true Mission E signature, with “Porsche” lit up in white against a blue background of blue lines. The final “e” in the backlit glass nameplate pulsates when the vehicle is charging. Mauer said it is unclear whether illuminated lettering will be deemed legal on public roads, but there are no laws against it flashing in the garage or driveway to let the owner know the state of charge.

This is no ordinary electric vehicle. Like the first Mission E, the 440-kW system sends power through two permanent synchronous electric motors, enough to go from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3.5 seconds and 0 to 124 mph in under 12 seconds—with repeatable track performance—to show an EV with a Porsche badge will live up to the brand’s performance heritage.

There are charge ports that open with a touch on both sides. The 800-volt charging system can be done through induction, a charging dock, or Porsche’s home energy management system, and it can provide 250 miles of range in 15 minutes. Porsche is spending $870 million on charging infrastructure. It is working with dealers to build a fast-charging network in North America and in Europe is part of the Ionity network partnership with other automakers.

One challenge of electric vehicles is the low center of gravity with packs of lithium-ion batteries in the floor and people sitting above it—not conducive to the dramatic proportions of a sports car, Mauer said. An SUV is easier.

Don’t let its squashed-Macan look or electric powertrain fool you into thinking this is Porsche Lite. Billed as a lifestyle vehicle, the Cross Turismo has Dynamic Chassis Control, rear-axle steering, all-wheel drive with torque vectoring to each wheel, and air suspension to raise the ride height almost 2 inches. It rides on 20-inch wheels with 275/40R20 tires.

Mauer admitted a sporty vehicle with no engine sounds takes some getting used to. Driving the prototypes, he has come to appreciate the different experience of performance and dynamics without sound: “It’s like driving a jet.” His ideal garage: a 911 GT3 RS and a Mission E, he said with a smile.

The Cross Turismo is 194.9 inches long, 78.3 inches wide, and 55.9 inches tall, making it smaller than a Panamera. The panoramic roof extends from windshield to tailgate and offers some design delight with a diamond pattern painted into the glass. The diamond pattern is repeated throughout the vehicle, including the backlit Aniline leather door inserts and the carbon-fiber cargo area floor with diamond rubber nubs.

The interior of the first Mission E concept was Porsche’s vision of the future, said Ivo van Hulten, director of interior design. “This is closer to something we could do mass production of,” he said, clarifying that 70 to 80 percent of the concept interior is feasible.

The curved instrument cluster is angled to the driver for a cockpit feel. Interestingly, the instrument panel is wider than the steering wheel, a throwback to 911s in the ’60s. There is no need for a rev counter, but eye tracking software recognizes which of three instrument displays the driver is viewing and moves it to the foreground. The screen continues across the dashboard to access apps, navigation, and other controls.

Taking a page from Tesla and Mercedes, the electronic air vent is adjusted by swiping the strip of screen below each vent. The raised center console adds to the feeling of being ensconced in the car.

The on button is activated by touchscreen—and remains to the left of the steering wheel, per Porsche tradition. One of the few holdover traditional knobs is the drive mode button in the steering wheel. Two stalks behind the steering wheel serve as the PRNDL selector and turn signal.

Those familiar with Porsche’s wild array of buttons and switches will find them noticeably absent. Although the screen system is reminiscent of the Tesla Model 3, Porsche executives insisted their systems are more intuitive and don’t require drilling into menus for basic functions. Van Hulten said classical knobs are for more traditional combustion engine vehicles while electric vehicles represent the future with minimalist interiors that shed unnecessary buttons. “We want people to recognize they are sitting inside an electric Porsche.”

There are Nordic blue accents everywhere: around the air vents, window switches, seat belts, mood lighting, and the unique wheels.

Inside the Cross Turismo, futuristic, show car bucket racing seats are almost molded into the body of the car—though those won’t reach production. Rear passengers have their own wireless charging pad for devices.

Shown in the cargo area is a Porsche-branded drone, something Van Hulten says can be used to scout scenic areas ahead or take shots of you blasting around in your Cross Turismo.

The whole vehicle looks like an advanced wind tunnel experiment with air intakes and diffusers, as well as touches like the ribs on either side of the spoiler to direct the air—all in the name of better aeronautics.

“We tried for the right combination of old and new world,” Mauer said.

Mission E was not designed just to go after Tesla, Mauer said. “We are so self-confident we say there is no competition,” he said. So should Tesla be worried? “The whole auto world should be worried.”

The Cross Turismo will be the first Mission E, but it certainly won’t be the last. After all, this is Porsche. There will be derivatives.

New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) The government today said non-availability of sufficient charging infrastructure and absence of lithium battery technology is hampering promotion of the electric vehicles in the country.

Under the National electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020, there is an ambitious target to achieve 6-7 million sales of hybrid and electric vehicles by the year 2020.

As part of the plan, the government notified FAME India scheme in March 2015 to promote electric and hybrid vehicles (EVs) in the country.

“Based on the experience gained in the phase-1 of FAME scheme, it has been observed that non-availability of sufficient charging infrastructure and absence of lithium battery technology in the country are the main impediments for smooth roll out, with the expected outcome, of this scheme,” Minister of State for heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He said technology in other critical areas such as motors, controllers are also yet to be fully developed.

“This adds to costs and makes price of the vehicles uncompetitive,” he added.

At present, phase-1 of the FAME scheme is underway, which was originally for a period of two years from April 2015 to March 2017 and has now been extended till March 31 this year.

The scheme offers sops on electric and hybrid vehicles for bikes and cars, thereby lowering their price.

With an aim to promote eco-friendly vehicles, the government had launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-India) scheme in 2015.

The scheme is aimed at incentivising all vehicle segments, including two-wheelers, three wheeler auto, passenger four-wheeler vehicle, light commercial vehicles and buses. The scheme covers hybrid and electric technologies like a strong hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles. PTI RR CS ADI ADI

As Volkswagen prepares to launch its I.D. series of electric cars in 2020, the company unveiled the I.D. Vizzion concept at the Geneva International Motor Show on Monday. While Volkswagen has not announced concrete plans to make a production version of the I.D. Vizzion, its electric drivetrain and self-driving technology point toward the automotive industry’s future.

The car features a 111 kWh lithium-ion battery and a two-motor, all-wheel-drive system that packs 302 horsepower and has a range of 413 miles per charge under the European testing system (which can produce inflated results).

The I.D. Vizzion’s most striking feature is its Level 5 autonomy, the highest level of autonomy in a self-driving car, which means the car is capable of driving itself in all situations without any human assistance. As a result, it doesn’t have a dashboard, pedals, or a steering wheel. Instead, passengers would control it through voice and gesture control systems, and would have the option to use Microsoft’s Hololens augmented reality glasses if they own a pair.

AI technology allows the car to learn its passengers’ preferences on climate, entertainment, lighting, and seating preferences. Volkswagen also indicated that passengers can control scents that are pumped through the car’s interior.

In a press release, Volkswagen says the I.D. Vizzion is “a vision of what may be possible by the year 2030,” so don’t expect to see this exact version on the road anytime soon. But the company does plan to release a production version of the vehicle by 2022, and also plans on production versions of the I.D. compact car, I.D. Crozz crossover, and the I.D. Buzz, which is a reboot of the company’s iconic minibus, in the next five years.

Graphene is proper ‘disruptive technology’. Every press release in the tech industry now contains that awful phrase, but graphene is the only material capable of changing the world of electronics as we know it.

It’s ultra-light, just an atom thin, and yet it’s 200 times stronger than steel. It’s flexible, transparent, and more conductive than copper. Scientists have been promising stronger, lighter, flexible products, faster transistors, bendable phones, and many other breakthrough graphene gadgets for over a decade. So, what’s taking scientists so long to make the graphene era a reality? Or, is it really taking as long as some think?

Time to market

“It’s amazing people say it’s taking a long time because if you look back in history it’s taken a lot longer for new tech to get to market than graphene has,” says Frank Koppens from the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Barcelona, and the Scientific Chair of the Graphene Pavilion at last week’s MWC 2018. “If you look at your smartphone, the technology inside it was invented 30-40 years ago – there are about 25 Nobel Prizes for Physics inside in there,” he says. “All those inventions were made in the 1960s, and it wasn’t until much later on that they found their way into consumer products.”

Discovered a little over 10 years ago, it is already possible to buy products that contain graphene. “So I would say the opposite,” says Koppens. “Graphene has been remarkably fast to market.”

What is graphene?

You’ve heard of graphite. It’s in pencils. Now imagine millions of atom-thin flakes of it. That’s graphene, which was theorized as a super-material for decades, but only isolated in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester.

It was a fundamental scientific discovery. The story goes that Geim and Novoselov used sticky tape to remove some flakes of graphite from a lump of bulk graphite, and noticed that some were thinner than others; the smallest were just one atom thick – graphene. Six years later they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics, and since then there’s been an explosion in graphene research around the world. The number of graphene-related patent applications is now well over 50,000.

Where can I buy graphene?

Products using graphene for sale include the Xiaomi Mi Pro HD earphones, which contain a graphene diaphragm ‘for faster sound transmission’, and to retain 100% of the circuit’s original signal for higher-res audio.

Then there’s HEAD, which sells both the YouTek Graphene Speed tennis racket and its Kore freeride skis, which uses a composite of carbon, graphene and koroyd.

Italian luxury brand Momodesign sells a graphene motorcycle helmet, Vittoria Corsa G+ produce graphene-infused tires that don’t wear out as quickly, McLaren puts it inside its RM 50-03 luxury watch, and the BAC Mono supercar, which has graphene in its panels.

Lamborghini and MIT just announced a project to develop a graphene-enhanced super-capacitor electric vehicle. There are even airships that use graphene, though perhaps the most exciting use for graphene in gadgets are the incoming batteries from Samsung and Huawei’s Central Research Institute. Promising to extend the battery life of an iPhone, the NanoCase will also soon be on sale.

Why is graphene so special?

“It’s very versatile, and what’s very special about it is its electronic properties – there is no other material that is so conductive,” says Koppens. “It also has lots of other properties that are crucial – it’s flexible and easy to integrate it into micro-electronics, and as a raw material, it’s cheap,” he says. “It’s just made out of carbon.”

Isolating it as one-atom thin sheets was the breakthrough, but now that’s been achieved, producing graphene flakes is a straightforward process. Those flakes can now easily be mixed into inks to print flexible graphene-infused electronics.

However, graphene shouldn’t be thought of as something that will replace silicon in electronics, but rather as something that will improve upon what we have now. “Silicon has been very successful for electronics, but it has limitations on speed and power consumption,” says Koppens. “The nice thing about graphene is that it can be added as an additional component to existing chips.”

When will we see graphene in phones?

Indium-tin oxide is currently used for touchscreens because it conducts well, but it’s brittle; cue graphene.

When are the first flexible graphene screens coming from the tier-1 brands? “The big brands just don’t tell say – they keep things very secret when they’re using graphene,” says Koppens. This is partly because there’s an industry-wide race to produce the first foldable, bendable and/or flexible phones. “I know some companies are making flexible screens that they claim will be on the market this year or next year, and there are smartwatches in China that use graphene in touchscreens,” says Koppens.

It’s something that scientists at the University of Sussex are also working on. “Those screens will be curved at first, and then eventually become flexible,” says Koppens, who nevertheless believes that the next high-profile use of graphene in gadgets will be in ultra-fast charging smartphone batteries.

Graphene’s 5G opportunity

It might be pushing 5G as hard as it can, but the telecoms industry knows that more radios means more heat in antennas and data centres – and in 5G phones. “5G requires speed and low power consumption, and that’s what graphene is good at,” says Koppens.

On the Graphene Pavilion in Barcelona last week was an all-graphene optical communication link from Italy’s National Inter-University Consortium for Telecommunications (CNIT), which was also showing on the Ericsson booth. “A transmitter and detector both made from graphene can detect and modulate light very fast at a very low power consumption,” says Koppens.

Although it’s been seeping onto the market in various ways and in a great variety of products, for graphene to truly go mainstream in the world of electronics, something critical has to happen; commercial mass-production. That’s risky. “It always takes a long time for new materials to get into mass production,” says Koppens. “The first transistor was invented in the 1950s using silicon, and it took another 30 years before we had microelectronics … graphene needs investors to take a risk.”