Green

Recharge Wrap-up: Jaguar's aluminum recycling, lithium demand rises

DEEP funds EV charging; carsharing removed 25,000 cars from London.

Jaguar Land Rover has recycled over 50 metric tons of aluminum over the past year. As Jaguar celebrates a year of sales of the XE – which makes use of recycled aluminum – its closed loop recycling program has prevented some 500,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions. The XE is the first car in Jaguar's REALCAR (short for REcycled ALuminium CAR) program, and the company says it has recycled an amount equal to almost 200,000 XE body shells. "Its success so far marks a significant step towards our goal of having up to 75 percent recycled aluminium content in our vehicle body structures by 2020," says Group Engineering Director Nick Rogers. Check out the video above, and read more from Jaguar.

Electric vehicle manufacturers are putting a strain on lithium supplies. Since the metal is used in the batteries of most electric vehicles, demand is expected to grow by 8.8 percent a year through 2019. While Tesla has deals with natural resource companies Pure Energy Minerals and Bacanora Minerals, they won't be able to keep up with the automaker's goal of 500,000 EVs by 2020. Tesla, BYD, and other EV manufacturers are going to be competing for these resources, and new lithium firms will enter the market to compete for automakers' business. Read more in the press release or the blog post from Market Research.

Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has announced a new funding opportunity for building public EV charging infrastructure. DEEP is accepting applications from private entities for awards of up to $10,000 for installing a public dual-head charger or two single-head chargers, for up to 17 new charging stations. It prefers proposals for underserved areas with major traffic, such as downtowns. Connecticut has a goal of putting 3.3 million EVs on the road by 2025. Read more in the notice from DEEP, or visit DEEP's website.

Car clubs are responsible for the removal of about 25,000 cars from London roads. According to a new survey, every club car removes 10 private cars, as club members sell their own vehicles. The survey of 4,000 Londoners also shows that carsharing members drive an average of 750 fewer miles every year after joining. London is currently home to 186,000 car club members using 2,800 cars, while the UK's 220,000 club members use over 3,800 club cars. Also, many car clubs offer access to electric vehicles, which helps to further reduce emissions. See the full survey results from CarPlus, and read more in the press release below.

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Survey Reveals 25,000 Fewer Cars on London's Roads As a Result of Car Clubs

London, 26th April 2016 – It was revealed today that for every car club car, 10 privately owned cars are taken off the road. This equates to 25,000 fewer cars on London's roads as a result of car club members selling their private vehicles.

The Carplus Annual Survey has, for the first time, presented data and analysis on the usage and impact of flexible and one-way car club operators in London, such as DriveNow. The report revealed that car club membership in London grew and diversified in 2015, changing patterns of travel, reducing congestion and improving air quality all over the UK. Car club vehicles are cleaner and greener than the average car in the national fleet – emitting 30% less CO2.

The Carplus survey of 4,000 Londoners demonstrates that when joining a car club, members reduce their annual mileage by an average of 750 miles. By replacing these miles with services such as DriveNow - who with 50 BMW i3s, have the largest electric car-sharing fleet in the UK - reduces CO2 emissions by over 50,000 tonnes per year.

In London, there are currently 186,000 car club members using 2,800 cars – which can be booked on-demand and hire by the minute, 24/7. Car club use is also growing outside London. There are now over 220,000 car club members with over 3,800 vehicles across the UK.

Joseph Seal-Driver, Managing Director of DriveNow UK, said:

"Finally we have proof that car-sharing works in London. As several European studies have already shown, not only is it a convenient way to get around town, but by using DriveNow and other car-sharing services we are directly contributing to reducing congestion, getting cars off the streets, and improving the air quality in London. In short, these positive effects on traffic levels are helping make London a better place. "

To see the full results visit: http://www.carplus.org.uk/tools-and-resources/annual-survey-of-car-clubs/. For more information about DriveNow, or to register, visit www.drive-now.com

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