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Recharge Wrap-up: Kia Soul EV, Renault Zoe range boosts

California has removed its limit on the number of HOV lane access stickers available for plug-in hybrids. While the state removed limits for white stickers for solo drivers of battery electric vehicles to use the carpool lane, the green stickers for PHEVs and range-extended EVs had a limit of 85,000, which was reached months ago. Now, BEVs and PHEVs will each have an unlimited number of access stickers until the program expires on January 1, 2019. Read more at Green Car Reports. Kia could improve the driving range of the Soul EV in order to better compete with newer offerings. While its 93-mile range was competitive with most EVs when it was launched as a 2015 model, the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3 have since surpassed it, and other forthcoming affordable EVs like the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 will set the bar even higher. As such, Autocar says the Soul EV should get a range boost with a mid-cycle refresh for the 2018 model year. Read more at Autocar, and at Green Car Reports. Renault said to be set to unveil a new Zoe EV with a driving range of over 200 miles. With a debut at the Paris Motor Show in October, the popular European EV hatchback will about double its current range. Using a new battery pack from LG Chem, as well as a smaller, more efficient electric motor, the improved range would help make the Zoe even more popular as people make the switch to electric driving in Europe. Read more from Electrek. Related Gallery 2016 Renault Zoe Z.E.: Geneva 2016 View 16 Photos News Source: Green Car Reports, Green Car Reports, Autocar, ElectrekImage Credit: Kia Government/Legal Green Kia Renault Electric recharge wrapup

Recharge Wrap-up: Kia Niro caught at Nurburgring, Tesla & Ben & Jerry

The Kia Niro hybrid was spied testing at the Nurburgring. The prototype of the 2016 Niro — which originally appeared as a concept at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show — is heavily camouflaged, so it is hard to tell which exterior features have been carried over. Its plate is registered to a hybrid, but other powertrain details are unavailable (the concept was equipped with a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine and electric drive system good for 158 horsepower). When it goes on sale, positioned below the Soul in Kia's lineup, it will only be available as a hybrid, with a plug-in hybrid version expected in later years. See the video above, and read more at Autoevolution and at Hybrid Cars. A new report from IHS Automotive predicts the EV charger market to surpass 12.7 million units by 2020. In Japan, the number of EV charging stations has surpassed the number of gas stations. The Netherlands, UK and Norway are the leaders in EV chargers in Europe, while Germany and France are slow in their infrastructure growth, relative to their size. CHAdeMO is the more popular charging standard worldwide, but CCS is expected to close the gap. According to the report, PHEVs will become more abundant than BEVs in 2016, and will remain so for a while. Read more at Green Car Congress. Kandi Electric Vehicles has signed a strategic agreement with telecommunications company ZTE Corporation and EV leasing company Zhejiang ZuoZhongYou Electric Vehicle Service (ZZY). The three groups will work together to improve Kandi's "Micro Public Transportation (MPT)" carsharing program. They'll collaborate on promotion, creating a research institute, doing research and development for wireless charging and making their operating system easier to use, among other endeavors. "We are excited to connect Kandi's innovative MPT model with ZTE's cutting-edge technologies," says Kandi Chairman and CEO Hu Xiaoming. "By leveraging ZZY's premium services, our goal is to accelerate MPT's market penetration, maintain our leadership position and achieve greater success in China's booming EV industry." Read more in the press release below. Ben & Jerry's debuted a new ice cream flavor at the Tesla Motors factory in Fremont, CA. Tesla built a special Model S in honor of the event and the new flavor, which is called Save Our Swirled.

EV battery prices to stop falling in 2020, Hyundai says

SEOUL — Hyundai believes electric vehicle battery prices will level off by 2020 due to supply constraints of key ingredients, ending years of sharp declines that have helped stimulate activity in the booming sector. Despite its cautious outlook, the South Korean carmaker and smaller affiliate Kia plan to release 38 green models using a variety of technologies by 2025, Hyundai Motor Senior Vice-President Lee Ki-sang said. "Not a single ingredient is going in a positive direction in terms of pricing," Lee, who oversees Hyundai's green car operations, said in remarks to reporters last week that were embargoed until Wednesday. "So far battery prices have been declining at a rapid pace, but the pace will moderate significantly or maintain the status quo by 2020." While rivals have announced ambitious plans for electric vehicles, some analysts say Hyundai has been late to the game. It plans to launch a long-range electric vehicle next year, well behind the likes of General Motors and Tesla. Demand for minerals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium used in electric car batteries is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. Batteries are the most expensive part of electric vehicles, and their affordability is key to the take-up of the technology. Lithium-ion battery cell prices fell about 60 percent in the five years to 2016 as larger-scale production made them cheaper to make. In September, Reuters reported that Volkswagen was moving to secure long-term supplies of cobalt for the group's electric vehicle plans, but its talks with cobalt producers in November ended without a supply deal. Lee said that although Hyundai saw the need to develop batteries in-house, it still relied on outside suppliers due to a lack of economies of scale to secure raw materials. It aimed to release vehicles powered by solid-state lithium batteries by about 2020, promising greater range and safety than existing lithium-ion units. Japanese rival Toyota also has announced a similar schedule for the development of vehicles powered by new, potentially revolutionary solid-state batteries. In addition to hybrids and battery-powered vehicles, Hyundai was "coordinating" with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles over hydrogen cars propelled by electricity generated from fuel cells, Lee added.