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Daimler’s car2go launches large-scale all-electric vehicle car-sharing fleet in Amsterdam

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Part of the Amsterdam car2go EV fleet. Click to enlarge.

Daimler subsidiary car2go launched one of the first large-scale all-electric vehicle car-sharing fleets in Amsterdam. Beginning 24 November, 300 smart fortwo electric drive vehicles will be available for on-demand mobility, without the necessity of returning them to a fixed rental station. Recharging of the electric vehicles is not mandatory after each rental, because the range of the smart fortwo electric drive is eight to ten times higher than the average operating distance of a car2go rental.

Amsterdam will be the fifth city with a car2go service globally, but the first in Europe with an all-electric fleet. Amsterdam’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure only uses energy from renewable resources. The launch of car2go Amsterdam also will introduce a new pricing structure for car2go, not only for Amsterdam but also for existing and future car2go locations throughout Europe.

The 300 car2go vehicles and other electric cars in Amsterdam will have access to more than 250 charging stations in the city area right now, most of them with two load-points. The number will increase significantly up to 1,000 by end of 2012.

car2go Amsterdam will operate in an area of 80 square kilometers, which covers large parts of the city. The approximate dimension of this business area is within the highway belt, excluding Amsterdam North but with hubs in Zuidas, Arena and IJburg. Customers can drive with their car2go everywhere during the rental period, but must return to the business area to finish the rental. The vehicles can be picked-up and dropped-off at any public parking spot inside the business area or at one of 36 specially marked car2go parking spots in six Q-Park garages in the city center.

The rental does not need to be ended every time at a charging station. However, if the battery capacity (state of charge) is lower than 20%, rentals must be finished at one of the charging stations, which are displayed in the on-board navigation. If the battery level is lower than 40%, drivers will receive 10 free minutes for re-charging the car. The charging does not need to be completed before a car2go can be rented again: if there is a minimum 50% state of charge, the vehicle is available for the next customer.

All 300 smart fortwo electric drive vehicles are equipped with telematics technology, allowing fully automated, easy and convenient rental operations. It allows customers to rent the cars spontaneously without having the burden to commit to a specific return time or location. The cars have a lithium-ion traction battery, an automatic gearbox and a range of 135 km (84 miles). On-board are air-conditioning, a radio and a navigation system.

Under the new pricing model, one minute of car2go driving costs 29 Euro cents (US$0.41). The hourly rate will be €12.90 (US$18.23) and there will be a daily rate (24 hours) of €39 Euro (US$55.10). If car2go is used for stop-overs, a special parking rate of 9 cents (US$0.13) per minute (€5.40 (US$7.63) per hour) will be calculated. Insurance, taxes, electricity and parking costs are fully included in this price.

In Amsterdam, due to the limited range of electric vehicles, kilometers will not be limited. In the other European cities where car2go is operating combustion engine vehicles, the first 20 kilometers are included in the rate. Additional kilometers will cost 29 cents each. Based on the experience of hundreds of thousands car2go rentals in four cities worldwide, more than 95% of all car2go rentals will not hit the 20 kilometers mark, so that for the majority of the customers the new pricing scheme is a great price-cut.

In total, more than 45,000 members have used the 1,100 car2go units more than 900,000 times. The average duration of a car2go rental is between 15 and 60 minutes and the average range lies between 5 and 10 kilometers.

Comments

Engineer-Poet

It's not mentioned if the coverage of the business area includes the airport. Is that an oversight, or is some other interest (e.g. taxi drivers) keeping it from happening?

Herm

its a lot cheaper than owning a car in Amsterdam, if you are too lazy to ride a bike like everyone else does :)

Still, very green.

mahonj

"The rental does not need to be ended every time at a charging station"

oops

thus the charging requirements are a bit of a pain.
They need normal 13A 240V charging stations all over the place so you can let them top up at many charging stations.

The computer could tell you whether the car was required in a hurry, in which case you should bring it to a fast charging station, or not, in which case you could bring it to a normal plug board.

Pao Chi Pien


The reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE) has been, and continues to be, analyzed and evaluated utilizing thermodynamic principles and tools. Rather than a thermodynamic system, however, the RICE can be more accurately viewed as a mechanical system with mechanical work being transformed into the cylinder gas internal energy, and vise versa. When so viewed, analysis and evaluation of the RICE is greatly simplified. Moreover, when the RICE is evaluated as a mechanical system, it is possible to design RICE that achieves significant increases in efficiency over existing engines.

Traditionally, the equivalent air cycle of RICE is modeled with a pressure-volume diagram. From the perspective of power production, however, the equivalent air cycle should be modeled by a plot of total internal energy E versus total volume V. More specifically, during an adiabatic compression process 1-2, a moving piston compresses cylinder gas from V1 to V2 doing compression work to change E1 to E2. with E2 = E1 (V1/V2)k-1 with E1 equal to the average ambient T1 times the constant volume specific heat cv. This equation E2 = E1 (V1/V2)k-1 is directly derived from the mechanical work done when cylinder volume changes from V1 to V2 without involving absolute temperature T. Therefore it can be applied to real gas.

For a constant volume combustion process 2-3, at point 3, V3 = V2, E3 = E2 + Q. For a constant-pressure combustion, at point 3, E3 = E2 + Q/k and V3 = V2(E3/E2). For a limited-pressure combustion process 2-3a-3b, E3a = E2 + x and E3b = E3a + y with x + yk = Q and E3b/E3a = V3/V2. E3a and E3b are obtained by solving these two equations.

An expansion process begins at point 3b, with E4 = E3b(V3/V4)k-1. The indicated fuel conversion efficiency is equal to (E2 + Q – E4)/(E2 + Q).

It should be noted that E4 is determined by expansion ratio and E2 is determined by compression ratio. Compression ratio and expansion ratio are independent of each other. For more complete fuel combustion, a high compression ratio is chosen to obtain a compression temperature just below the fresh point of the fuel/air mixture. An appropriate fuel equivalence ratio is chosen to limit the combustion temperature for avoid NOx formation and excessive heat loss to coolant. A high expansion ratio is chosen for reducing E4

For each energy transformation process, cylinder volume determines the cylinder gas total internal energy and a plot of E-V can be produced. This fact has greatly simplified the reciprocating internal combustion engine in theory and practice. After the combination of compression ratio, fuel equivalence ratio, and expansion ratio has been chosen, the only thing a engine designer has to do is to shorten the combustion time as much as practical for achieve the maximum possible fuel efficiency with minimum emissions.

It is hoped that those readers thinking about all electric vehicles would comment on the E-V plot and the internal energy balance for computing indicated fuel conversion efficiency.

Engineer-Poet

Enough with the off-topic comments, Mr. Pao.

Pao Chi Pien

Engineer-Poet

The E-V plot computed by E2 = E1(V2/V1)k-1 and using internal energy balance for computing fuel energy conversion efficiency could double fuel efficiency. Then there is no immediate need for electric vehicles.If you are interested, I will be more than glad to sent you more information.

HarveyD

PCP...the majority is not yet interested in more fuel efficient, less noisy, cleaner running vehicles. We still want our vehicles to be large, big, heavy, noisy with double smoking exhaust pipes to impress the neighbors. Fuel at $10+/gal may be required to promote a behavior change.

HarveyD

The 2-wheel Harley-Davidson are perfect examples.

HarveyD

StreetScooter 2-passenger street and highway legal BEVs will come to the market place @ $7,500 (without batteries) in late 2012 or early 2013. It could be ideal for much lower cost car sharing organisations and private owners with short distance (30 miles) uses. Future improved batteries will certainly expand range 2X to 5X.

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