Extending the life of your electric car's battery

Photo: Julie May

In brief:
- Battery life is extended if it is charged slowly at home with Level 1 or 2 chargers (either overnight or with solar panels) and keep super fast charging use to long trips.
- The battery lasts longer if it is kept between 20-80% charged, this is sufficient for most daily local commutes. The 100% charge can be used for long journeys.
- It is best to buy an EV that has an active thermal management system for the battery, i.e. a battery well insulated with both a heating and cooling system for cold and hot weather, respectively. The passive battery thermal management systems are cheaper but not recommended.

See full details at: Steps you can take to extend the life of your electric car’s battery. Drive Zero, April 5, 2018.

Full list of electric cars, BEVs and PHEVs, coming or available in Australia

Source: Drive Zero

“For those who look at buying electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, the electric and hybrid vehicle market in Australia, is broadening in scope. While once, there were only a handful of hybrid vehicles and even fewer full electric vehicles available to Australian buyers, the landscape for buyers in 2019 and beyond is much more positive.”

The article cited below contains a full list Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) either available now or coming within 2019.

Read more: A full list of electric cars (EVs and PHEVs) available or coming to Australia. Drive Zero, April 19, 2018.

Construction is complete at the world’s first wind-solar-battery park

Source: RenewEconomy

The first stage of the Kennedy Energy Park in far north Queensland has been completed and is due to be turned on in January after some testing. It is the world’s first on-grid facility that combines wind and solar energy with battery storage.

The energy park, developed by Windlab, contains 40MW of wind energy, 20MW of solar and a 2MW/4MWh Tesla battery – the third Tesla battery to be installed adjacent to a renewable energy facility in Australia, following the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia and the Gannawarra solar farm in Victoria.

If all goes well, and depending on grid capacity and other factors, Windlab has said it could grow the project to 1.2GW under its “Big Kennedy” plans, which could deliver the equivalent of “base-load” renewables to the north Queensland region.

However, new grid infrastructure will be needed. The Queensland government has promised support for a 500 km transmission line in the north of the state to unlock barriers to more than 2000MW of large-scale wind, solar and hydro projects in the region.

Read more: Construction complete at Kennedy, world’s first wind-solar-battery park. RenewEconomy, December 19, 2018.

Recycled plastic, glass and toner being used to make roads

The recycled additive being applied to a street in Craigieburn, Melbourne (Source: ABC News)

In Victoria and Tasmania, some town and city councils are using a mixture of recycled single use plastic bags; crushed recycled glass and recycled printer toner to make roads. Currently it is more expensive but the roads are expected to last longer and the councils are moving towards meeting their requirements to deal with waste.

A 300-metre stretch of road, on Rayfield Avenue in Craigieburn, Victoria, uses an additive that's made up of 530,000 plastic bags, more than 12,000 recycled printer cartridges and 168,000 glass bottles. The same mix was used in Tasmania to seal one kilometre of road in Snug, a town south of Hobart. In both states, the additive is developed by the recycling company Close The Loop.

The single use plastic bags are from the REDcycle soft plastic recycling that is collected outside participating supermarkets.

Read more:
Rubbish is being transformed into roads, thanks to one Melbourne company. ABC News, May 29, 2018.
Plastics, glass and printer toner recycled into road in Tasmania. ABC News, December 11, 2018.

VW to phase out petrol and diesel cars from 2026

The ID Crozz concept may be the inspiration for one of VW’s all-electric models, The Driven

“The current range of internal combustion engine cars being developed by Volkswagen AG brands will be the last ever, VW chief strategist Michael Jost said this week.

With an electrification strategy firmly in place for the group’s stable of auto brands, VW is now ready to embrace the end of ICE age and is planning the last rollout of ICE platform cars in eight year’s time.

The car maker, which works in seven-year development cycles, says its next cycle will begin in 2025 and will include electric vehicles only.”

VW already sells the e-Golf in Europe and other countries, including New Zealand. Future productions will be the upcoming VW all-electric I.D. series which will first include a “Neo” electric hatchback, as well as the I.D. Buzz (the new electric “Kombi”). It may also include an electric crossover SUV.”

Read more: VW to kill off petrol and diesel combustion cars from 2026. The Driven, December 5, 2018.