Dongfeng Box Coming To Norway, Denmark Introduces Interactive Charging Parks

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

Dongfeng Field Coming To Norway

Dongfeng Motor is a state-owned manufacturing firm that makes a full line of passenger vehicles and heavy-duty vehicles. A few of the manufacturers in its portfolio embody Nammi, Voyah, and M-Hero. Final yr it launched the Dongfeng Field electrical SUV, which is an in depth cousin to the Dacia Spring bought in Europe. Nomenclature is a tough factor for Chinese language firms. The automotive coming to Norway can have the Dongfeng emblem on the hood and the Nammi identify 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 a very powerful factor in regards to the automotive is that it’s going to 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 Means, has stated it can value the automotive very aggressively in Norway, “even if they have to bleed.” Google Translate is an excellent device, however it could not at all times get the nuance of varied languages precisely proper. It sounds as if the importer is saying the automotive might be priced very aggressively, even when the revenue is minimal.

When Are first emailed me in regards to the Dongfeng Field, my first response was that it was a pleasant wanting automotive that’s fairly cheap. However he stated I missed the entire level, which is that it’s not solely a reasonable electrical automotive, it’s the least expensive new automotive you should buy in Norway — interval! It prices lower than any automobile powered by a gasoline or diesel engine, hydrogen gasoline cell, or moon beams. Now rivals can be confronted with the dilemma of tips on how to make typical vehicles that don’t value greater than an EV!

Electric carthe official information outlet for the Norwegian Electrical Automotive Affiliation, says the Dongfeng Field is 4 meters lengthy, 1.8 meters huge, 1.57 excessive, and has a wheelbase of two.6 meters. For individuals who insist on measuring issues primarily based on the size of a British monarch’s shoe, that’s 13 ft lengthy, 6 ft huge, 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 info on a website for the Philippinesthe place a model of the Dongfeng Field is bought. It says the automotive 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 alleged to be 351 kilometers (218 miles). Nonetheless, that determine is measured utilizing the extremely optimistic Chinese language normal. WLTP will doubtless be extra like 250 kilometers or fewer. Precise vary will doubtless be a bit 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 dwelling to the French Riviera. It’s a metropolis automotive, pure and easy. Seen by that lens, it’s fairly an interesting package deal. The sprint is uncluttered with a digital instrument show in entrance of the driving force and a central touchscreen that manages all the automotive’s controls. The entrance seats recline totally so two individuals can sleep within the automotive (cue Carly Simon’s Dan My Fling).

The glovebox has been changed by a slide-out drawer and the seats are lined in some material that’s alleged to resemble the feel and appear of leather-based. There are even cameras and sensors that enable the automotive to park itself. All in all, the Dongfeng Field is a full featured city runabout for a really small value. Now to see how prospects in Norway really feel about it. The automotive isn’t any Tesla Mannequin 3, however at that value, it doesn’t must be. If European producers are apprehensive about low-cost vehicles from China, the Dongfeng Field is more likely to maintain them wakeful at evening.

Luxurious EV Charging In  Denmark

One other story in Electric car caught the eye of our crack reporting staff 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 could 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 wish to keep longer.

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

“Electric cars are experiencing momentum at the moment, but if we are to have even more people choose a greener car and reach the government’s target of one million electric cars on the roads, we must expand and develop the infrastructure. It should be easy to charge, when you are on the move and at a transparent price. The turntable is a traffic hub, and therefore it is obvious that the first of a series of Norlys charging parks will be built here,” says Ellen Trolle, director of the charging division of Norlys.

All 15 Norlys charging parks can 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 identical time, Norlys charging needs to be an expertise.

“Our lightning chargers are fast, but it only takes a little longer to charge than refueling a traditional fuel car. We therefore arrange our charging stations in such a way that you don’t have to sit and twiddle your thumbs or juggle children who are bored in the back seat. With our concept, we hope to set a completely new standard for how to create ‘charging joy’ and thereby motivate even more Danes to take the leap to electric cars,” says Trolle.

Experimentarium will develop quite a few actions near the charging station. 5 of the 15 places can be geared up with a really particular expertise universe underneath the theme “The hunt for good energy.” Every of those expertise universes will characteristic interactive actions that target a inexperienced future.

“We hope, of course, that when the children spot the red Norlys logo from the back seat in the future, they will beg their parents to take a charging break with us, because we make it fun and inspiring to take a break. We hope that we can start thinking with young and old and provide inspiration for good dialogues in the car on the road ahead,” Trolle explains.

What an idea. Take a damaging and switch it right into a constructive. Sooner or later, individuals may very well look ahead to charging their electrical vehicles reasonably than dreading it. With luck, different charging networks will hear about this concept and incorporate it into their very own designs. It is a full cultural shift from the “gas and go as fast as possible” mannequin that afflicts house owners of gasoline and diesel powered vehicles. Danish trendy design is extraordinarily common in lots of nations. Maybe the Danish idea of charging in an “experience universe” will discover favor elsewhere as effectively.