Dongfeng Field Coming To Norway, Denmark Introduces Interactive Charging Parks

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Are Hansen is answerable for the CleanTechnica information bureau in Norway, the place he supervises a workers of minions whose job it’s to report on the newest electrical automobile information in Scandinavia. This week, he alerted us to 2 tales that ought to be of curiosity to our readers. First, the Dongfeng Field battery electrical SUV-like automobile shall be imported into Norway quickly. Second, Denmark is creating charging parks alongside their highways which can be so beautiful and pleasant that drivers will need to go to them only for the expertise. Charging shall be secondary.

Dongfeng Field Coming To Norway

Dongfeng Motor is a state-owned manufacturing firm that makes a full line of passenger automobiles and heavy-duty vehicles. A number of the manufacturers in its portfolio embrace Nammi, Voyah, and M-Hero. Final 12 months it launched the Dongfeng Field electrical SUV, which is an in depth cousin to the Dacia Spring offered in Europe. Nomenclature is a tough factor for Chinese language corporations. The automobile coming to Norway may have the Dongfeng brand on the hood and the Nammi title in script on the rear, however it’s a Dongfeng Field for all intents and functions.

We’ll get to the specs in a second, however crucial factor concerning the automobile is that it’ll promote for lower than 200,000 NOK in Norway — equal to 17,000 euros or 18,000 {dollars}. Ultimate pricing is but to be decided, however the importer, Electrical Approach, has mentioned it is going to worth the automobile very aggressively in Norway, “even when they must bleed.” Google Translate is an excellent device, however it could not all the time get the nuance of varied languages precisely proper. It sounds as if the importer is saying the automobile might be priced very aggressively, even when the revenue is minimal.

When Are first emailed me concerning the Dongfeng Field, my first response was that it was a pleasant trying automobile that’s fairly cheap. However he mentioned I missed the entire level, which is that it’s not solely a cheap electrical automobile, it’s the most cost-effective new automobile you should buy in Norway — interval! It prices lower than any car powered by a gasoline or diesel engine, hydrogen gasoline cell, or moon beams. Now opponents shall be confronted with the dilemma of make typical automobiles that don’t price greater than an EV!

Elbil, the official information outlet for the Norwegian Electrical Automotive Affiliation, says the Dongfeng Field is 4 meters lengthy, 1.8 meters broad, 1.57 excessive, and has a wheelbase of two.6 meters. For many who insist on measuring issues based mostly on the size of a British monarch’s shoe, that’s 13 ft lengthy, 6 ft broad, 5 ft excessive, with a wheelbase of 8.5 ft. To place these dimensions into perspective, it’s as large because the Jeep Avenger, Opel Corsa-e, and Peugeot e-208. In different phrases, it’s an actual vehicle, only a very cheap one.

Specs are absent from the Elbil article, however I did discover some related data on a web site for the Philippines, the place a model of the Dongfeng Field is offered. It says the automobile has a 28.9 kWh battery and a single electrical motor rated at 44 hp and 125 Nm of torque that powers the entrance wheels. Vary is claimed to be 351 kilometers (218 miles). Nevertheless, that determine is measured utilizing the extremely optimistic Chinese language commonplace. WLTP will possible be extra like 250 kilometers or fewer. Precise vary will possible be slightly greater than the first-generation Nissan LEAF, which had a 24 kWh battery.

However that’s considerably irrelevant. The Dongfeng Field shouldn’t be a luxurious touring machine for whisking rich Norwegians from the fjords of house to the French Riviera. It’s a metropolis automobile, pure and easy. Seen via that lens, it’s fairly an interesting bundle. The sprint is uncluttered with a digital instrument show in entrance of the motive force and a central touchscreen that manages the entire automobile’s controls. The entrance seats recline absolutely so two folks can sleep within the automobile (cue Carly Simon’s Dan My Fling).

The glovebox has been changed by a slide-out drawer and the seats are coated in some cloth that’s purported to resemble the feel and appear of leather-based. There are even cameras and sensors that permit the automobile to park itself. All in all, the Dongfeng Field is a full featured city runabout for a really small worth. Now to see how prospects in Norway really feel about it. The automobile isn’t any Tesla Mannequin 3, however at that worth, it doesn’t must be. If European producers are fearful about low cost automobiles from China, the Dongfeng Field is prone to preserve them awake at evening.

Luxurious EV Charging In  Denmark

One other story in Elbil caught the eye of our crack reporting crew in Norway. It appears that evidently Denmark has taken the EV charging conundrum and turned it right into a constructive by creating charging parks which can be so interesting that individuals might go to them only for the pure pleasure of being there. As an alternative of specializing in how lengthy it takes to cost, these islands of indulgence will make drivers need to keep longer.

Norlys, a Danish vitality and know-how firm, is developing 15 EV charging places in Denmark, 5 of which shall be designed in cooperation with Experimentarium. It calls these charging parks “expertise universes” the place households can take pleasure in  healthful actions as an alternative of grumbling about how lengthy it takes to cost their automobiles.

“Electrical automobiles are experiencing momentum in the meanwhile, but when we’re to have much more folks select a greener automobile and attain the federal government’s goal of 1 million electrical automobiles on the roads, we should develop and develop the infrastructure. It ought to be straightforward to cost, if you end up on the transfer and at a clear worth. The turntable is a site visitors hub, and subsequently it’s apparent that the primary of a sequence of Norlys charging parks shall be constructed right here,” says Ellen Trolle, director of the charging division of Norlys.

All 15 Norlys charging parks shall be established as a respite on the transfer the place motorists should buy drinks, meals, and snacks or stretch their legs in a inexperienced space, whereas the quick chargers put together motorists for the subsequent journey. On the similar time, Norlys charging ought to be an expertise.

“Our lightning chargers are quick, but it surely solely takes slightly longer to cost than refueling a conventional gasoline automobile. We subsequently prepare our charging stations in such a manner that you simply don’t have to take a seat and twiddle your thumbs or juggle kids who’re bored within the again seat. With our idea, we hope to set a totally new commonplace for create ‘charging pleasure’ and thereby encourage much more Danes to take the leap to electrical automobiles,” says Trolle.

Experimentarium will develop plenty of actions near the charging station. 5 of the 15 places shall be outfitted with a really particular expertise universe below the theme “The hunt for good vitality.” Every of those expertise universes will characteristic interactive actions that target a inexperienced future.

“We hope, in fact, that when the youngsters spot the crimson Norlys brand from the again seat sooner or later, they may beg their mother and father to take a charging break with us, as a result of we make it enjoyable and provoking to take a break. We hope that we are able to begin pondering with younger and previous and supply inspiration for good dialogues within the automobile on the highway forward,” Trolle explains.

What an idea. Take a adverse and switch it right into a constructive. Sooner or later, folks may very well look ahead to charging their electrical automobiles fairly than dreading it. With luck, different charging networks will hear about this concept and incorporate it into their very own designs. This can be a full cultural shift from the “fuel and go as quick as doable” mannequin that afflicts house owners of gasoline and diesel powered automobiles. Danish trendy design is extraordinarily common in lots of nations. Maybe the Danish idea of charging in an “expertise universe” will discover favor elsewhere as properly.