Daikin’s new refrigerant claims to increase EV range by 50%

In a major new development, Daikin announced that it has developed a new refrigerant that may increase the range of EVs by almost 50% as it boils off at 10-15 degrees less than conventional refrigerants. Thus, an electric car with a rated range of 300 km could unlock an additional 150 km using the new refrigerant as its batteries would have to dedicate much less power to run its climate control system. 

The refrigerant may hit the market by 2025, although its pricing is still being studied and it will be tested by SAE International before being certified for commercial use in the US. 

46% of Kiwis willing to buy EVs

A new survey across New Zealand revealed that 46% of the respondents would buy an electric car as their next vehicle, with the strongest support (56%) coming from Gen Z (people born roughly between 1990-2010). The relatively small country stretches only 1,600 km from north to south and already has 350 free and paid EV chargers. However, amongst the ones that wouldn’t consider buying an EV, the concerns ranged from the higher upfront purchase cost to battery life. Curiously, 8% of the cohort also cited Tesla CEO Elon Musk as the reason they would not make the switch, although the reasoning behind that was not reported. 

BEVs account for more than 10% of all new car sales in the UK 

Battery EVs now account for more than 10% (10.7%, to be exact) of all new cars sold in the UK, with petrol Mild Hybrid EVs (MHEVs) posting a record 286.7% year-on-year jump in sales for June 2021. Purely electric cars saw a jump of 123% in the same period, while diesel cars numbers fell by 34.7%, possibly owing to the strict air quality standards enforced across several UK cities. Yet, although an impressive 186,128 units were registered in the UK last month, Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) continue to post better numbers over fully-electric cars as customers still seem to prefer the safety of being able to access a petrol pump at any point, if needed. 

United Airlines orders 100 electric aircraft from Heart Aerospace 

One of the US’s largest airlines, United Group, ordered 100 electric aircraft from Swedish aerospace startup Heart Aerospace, after the latter revealed its latest 19-seater aircraft that could fly 250 miles on a single charge. The ES-19 aircraft are likely to enter service by 2026 after thorough certification tests, but Heart Aerospace claimed that they will cost 100X less in maintenance costs over equivalent, jet fuel-powered units. The aircraft will also use established airport systems instead of specially-built, vertical take-off infrastructure and would thus be easily integrated into United’s operations.

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