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Shell, Toyota, ION Mobility EVs in the “hope and hype” – Wired PR Lifestyle Story

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It looks like 2021 is the year of electric vehicles. As Tesla enters our shores and more charging stations are growing on the island, Singapore is fully embracing this change.

With more technological advances and Covid-19 increasing the momentum of the most sustainable forms of mobility in the city, EVs are always here, whether they like it or not.

At a roundtable discussion entitled “The Future of Electric Vehicles” at SWITCH 2021 yesterday (November 8), panelists discussed the complexity of adopting electric vehicles, the transition to an electrified future, the practicality of this decision, and the obstacles involved.

The panel was moderated by Amr Adel Shell, Vice President of Mobility Ease, ION Mobility Founder and CEO James Chan, Toyota Asia Vice President Prasanna Ganesh and Dale Hardcastle, Global Sustainability Innovation co-moderator. Bain & Company Center

A year of “hope” and “hope”

Prasanna Ganesh, Toyota Asia’s executive vice president, began the debate by classifying this year as “hope” and “hope”. He cites the last 18 and 20 months as an unprecedented time where we have faced a life-changing pandemic, and the effects of climate change can no longer be ruled out.

For Prasanna, the year was a promising one as many governments made commitments to their zero net in the context of mobility. In addition, many new technologies are getting the attention and funding they need to scale.

Many new electrified products are being announced, and (and) new battery chemistry and technology, including some policies, are advancing.

Personally I am very happy to see the progress we are making around hydrogen. Investments are now being rewarded for being green and the fast-growing segments are in the areas of climate change.

Prasanna Ganesh, executive vice president of Toyota Asia

While Prasanna acknowledged the progress made in the EV sector and green energy in general, he also noted the areas that have fallen short.

“The debate on decarbonisation tends to focus only on banners and slogans, and real action on the ground is not a priority,” he said.

The debate has no nuances on how to decarbonise while maintaining mobility as it requires economic transition, industrial sustainability and customer opportunities. As is the case in the age of social media, this discussion often differs from the real problem to the simplification of a small bite.

Prasanna Ganesh, executive vice president of Toyota Asia

Despite significant doubts, Prasanna is still hopeful for the future of EVs, leading to carbon neutrality.

What is stopping the path to decarbonization

Image Credit: SWITCH 2021

After all, the ultimate goal of electrification is decarbonization. To move forward with this goal, we must first understand where these COs are2 spills come.

Prasanna reduced it to two major elements in a formula for decarbonization: vehicle CO2 discharges and full transverse distance.

When it comes to reducing vehicle CO2 Explaining the view of carbon neutrality to many policymakers and industry actors would often be declared a heavy or overwhelming adoption of battery electric vehicles.

Although Prasanna admits that “zero emissions, be they electric vehicles or battery-powered electric vehicles, are one of the optimal solutions to be implemented,” these are still “dependent on the energy mix.”

Several studies have shown that until renewable energy rises to an important part of a country’s energy grid, a powerful hybrid electric vehicle can be an equally beneficial or better alternative, considering battery production and electric charge emissions. Unfortunately, despite the growth in renewable energy, most Asian countries are still highly dependent on fossil fuels.

Prasanna Ganesh, executive vice president of Toyota Asia

The second main element is guided distance. In terms of the number and type of product trends, Prasanna cites critical factors such as availability, usage patterns, and available infrastructure.

He sees the potential of electric vehicles powered by renewable energy for personal use as well as logistics.

“We need to maximize all low-carbon technologies that support the massive deployment of policymakers and that the industry should accept and embrace all electrified or low-carbon technologies.”

However, for a sustainable transition to a future EV, many rely on customer acceptance.

“A lot of people talk about TCO (the full cost of ownership), but a lot of people can’t really afford a vehicle that gives you TCO for a year or seven years. People need to make sure they’re able to get the product that can be lower emissions fairly quickly.”

From this perspective, Toyota would like to offer multiple avenues for carbon neutrality. The goal is carbon neutrality, Prasana stressed.

An integrated approach to an electric future

amr adel shell
Image Credit: SWITCH 2021

Amr Adel, Shell’s vice president of Eastern Mobility, shared his feelings about the decarbonisation of Prasanna as Shell is also moving towards a clean zero carbon footprint by 2050.

For Shell, they have been extremely busy in terms of innovation, and creativity in terms of “managing and implementing the energy transition”.

“I have seen a clear movement for dialogue and an understanding that there is a migration from slogans to actions and implementations,” Amr said. To understand the movement for an electrified future, it is important to know that the solution must have many branches.

It has been wonderful to see and observe that it is clear to realize, from my point of view, that there is no intention for an isolated solution. It is a multidimensional solution, and one that truly promises that everyone is acting in that tune with the government, society, industry actors and, in any case, customers.

Amr Adel, Vice President of Eastern Mobility at Shell

To alleviate our current carbon problems, he stressed that we cannot rely solely on the energy sector to solve the problem. It is not practical and unrealistic for the world to immediately stop using fossil fuels and diesel.

Instead, it’s an energy transition, and more time is needed to scale the EV infrastructure that supports current hunger.

“It is offering a mosaic of low-carbon, LNG (liquefied natural gas), hydrogen and EV charging options. Then work in sync with governments and industry players.”

Electric motorcycles and their special challenges

James Chan ion mobility
Image Credit: SWITCH 2021

In the field of electric vehicles, things become even more interesting when you throw electric motorcycles into the mix. For James Chan, founder and CEO of ION Mobility, two-wheeled electric bikes also pose their own unique set of challenges.

Although the pandemic has slowed social and economic activity, the number of personal mobility devices has remained healthy. There have been bands of fully sold out motorcycles, but sales of electric motorcycles have been silenced.

“This tells us that there is a gap between the desirability and availability of what is currently on the market and what consumers want to pay for,” James said.

Considering that motorcycles are sold more than six times in Southeast Asia compared to cars, I think we have chosen this interesting space where to bring a hardware first business, and hopefully what can evolve over time to become a software business.

James Chan, CEO of ION Mobility

Electric vehicles, electric bicycle Ion mobility
Image Credit: ION Mobility

When we talk about being an electric vehicle, one of the limitations is always the lack of a charging station. James acknowledges that the problem extends to motorcycles, but unlike electric cars, the battery for motorcycles is 10-20 times smaller.

Also, in the B2B motorcycle space, battery exchange is a solution. However, for the B2C space, most people should use their phone to secure a place.

To deal with this, James believes the solution is involved. “There will be no full exchanges. You don’t want so much lithium and nickel on the net waiting for you. It’s not quite like gasoline, you can throw it away, ”he explains.

One of the advantages of having an electric motor is that it can be charged from a wall outlet. With these automotive-level bikes, James believes we can have a power grid as the best distribution to move forward with increased exchanges.

For him, the answer lies in the area of ​​carbon offsets and renewable energy certifications.

Between our REC and carbon offsets. I don’t see them as one or the other. I see that the journey to carbon offsetting is much longer. I see that REC travel is much faster. Because not everyone has the luxury of land and technology and infrastructure to produce all the green energy they want.

James Chan, CEO of ION Mobility

The EVs field is a rapidly evolving field where innovation is constantly happening and new developments are happening every day.

When it comes to taking EVs, there is a lot of variability and there is no quick and easy answer and there is no single approach for everyone. However, the subject of EVs remains a living and interesting space and is our first step. a more sustainable world.

Featured Image Credit: SWITCH 2021 screenshot by Vulcan Post



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