Electric and hybrid cars in China by 2020: GM

on 06/05/2017

General Motors Co. plans to launch 10 electric and gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in China by 2020, an executive said, as automakers speed up the roll-out of alternative vehicles under pressure from Beijing to promote the industry. GM will start production of a pure-electric model in China within two years, Matt Tsien, president of GM China, told a news conference during the Shanghai auto show. He said GM expects annual sales of 150,000 electric and hybrid cars in China by 2020 and possibly in excess of 500,000 by 2025. Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen AG, Nissan Motor Co. and other automakers also have announced aggressive plans to make and sell electric vehicles in China, the biggest auto market by number of units sold. GM unveiled in April a hybrid version of the Chevrolet Volt to be manufactured in China and sold under its Buick brand. China’s communist government has the world’s most ambitious electric car goals, hoping both to clean up smog-choked cities and to take a lead in an emerging industry. Regulators are pressing foreign brands to help develop the industry. Regulators jolted the industry by proposing a requirement that electrics account for at least 8 percent of each brand’s production by next year, rising to 10 percent in 2019 and 12 percent in 2020. Automakers say they may be unable to meet those targets and regulators have suggested they might be reduced or postponed. Beijing also is due to enforce what auto executives say are the world’s most stringent emissions standards. They say that is likely to require all manufacturers to include electrics in their lineup to meet targets for average fleet emissions. “In the next several years, out to 2020, we expect to launch at least 10 new energy vehicles into the marketplace,” said Tsien, using the government’s term for electric and hybrid vehicles. “We have a pipeline that is going to materialize, that’s going to put us in a very good position from a fuel economy requirement perspective.” All the vehicles will be manufactured in China, he said. GM, which competes with VW for the status of China’s top-selling automaker, reported 2016 sales rose 7.1 percent to a record 3.9 million vehicles. Foreign automakers had been reluctant to sell electric cars in China because regulators required them to transfer valuable intellectual property to local partners or face import duties of 25 percent even if the vehicles were produced at a Chinese factory. Beijing has eased those requirements in an effort to attract foreign participants, though automakers say the final ground rules for electric vehicle production have yet to be announced. “We have concerns relative to amount of IP that has to be shared. We have a fairly clear understanding of what the rules of engagement are,” said Tsien. “For vehicles where General Motors owns the IP, we have had longstanding technology licensing agreements with our partner. Those work effectively.” The government is expanding China’s network of charging stations to reduce “range anxiety,” or buyers’ fear of running out of power. The Cabinet’s planning agency announced a goal in February of having 100,000 public charging stations and 800,000 private stations operating by the end of this year.

کچھ لفظوں کی کہانی————– حرام

on 05/05/2017

محمد صلاح الدین

ملک صاحب میرے  گھر تشریف لائے، رکھ رکھائو سے کامیابی اور امارت جھلک رہی تھی۔ ڈرائنگ روم میں بیٹھتے کے بعد گپ شپ شروع ہوئی

وہ مجھے اپنی کامیابی کی داستان سنانے لگے کہ کس طرح انہوں نے انتہائی غربت سے انتہائی امیری کا سفر طے کیا

کھانے کے وقت میں نے ان کے سامنے مٹن کڑھائی، چکن بریانی اور کھیر رکھی

   انہوں نے کہا میں روٹی، چاول اور میتھا نہیں کھاسکتا، بس ایڈہ وغیرہ کھا کر گزارہ کر لیتا ہوں

مجھے بڑا دکھ ہوا کہ اتنی دولت ہونے کے باوجود ملک صاحب  کچھ کھا  نہیں سکتے

مجھے خاموش دیکھ کر ملک صاحب بولے “اگر ساری زندگی اللہ کی نعمتوں سے لطف اندوز ہونا چاہتے ہو تو حرام سے بچنا، آدمی

” ۔ جتنا حرام سے لذت لیتا جاتا ہے اللہ تعالی بھی اس پر اسی تناسب سے حلال لذتین  بند کر

New coaches inducted with Pakistan Express

on 05/05/2017

Pakistan Express has been inducted with new coaches each refurbished at the rate Rs.11 million. The train connects Punjab with Sindh (Rawalpindi to Karachi via Faisalabad). The carriages of Pakistan Express had been overhauled at the Railways Carriage Factory in Islamabad around five to seven years ago and had recently undergone maintenance at the Railways Carriage Shop, at Mughalpura in Lahore. The refurbishment of these carriages cost Rs11 million per coach. By comparison, a new carriage costs Rs80 million. The old coaches of the train have been replaced with reconditioned carriages. Moreover, the old bogies had been equipped with 110 volts power supply which will now be switched to 220 volts, provided through a dedicated power plant.

Pakistan lags far behind- Alternate Energy costlier than Thermal power!

on 04/05/2017

Federal Minister of Water and Power Khawaja Asif has admitted that a few solar and wind based IPPs are producing electricity at Rs18 per kilowatt hour. Alternate Energy is known as one of the most economical source of power generation in the world but in Pakistan some of the alternate energy projects are even costlier than the thermal power plants. In a written reply to the National Assembly, Khawaja Asif wrote that Appolo Solar Development limited, Best Green Energy Pak. Ltd, Crest Energy Pak Ltd were generating electricity at the cost of Rs18.04 per kilowatt hour. He said the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park has been granted tariff of Rs19.52 for every kwh while wind power projects Younas Energy and Tapal were charging Rs18.42 and Rs18.44 for every unit of electricity. The cost of producing electricity from hydel was Rs1.88 during 2015-16 when some of the above power plants were granted a generous tariff by National Electricity Power Regulatory Authority. According to the NEPRA’s tariff in 2016, the tariff for power generation from High Speed Diesel was Rs11.78, Furnace Oil Rs5.25, Gas Rs6.03, and Power Generation cost from nuclear was Rs1.15 per kwh. All the projects under the CPEC are also under IPP mode and each project has or would be awarded individual tariff. Some of the projects will increase cost of total energy mix by providing them high tariff and end consumer would have to pay for costlier electricity in the near future.

Punjab prefers Hydel over Coal: Two coal-fired power plants marked infeasible in Punjab

on 02/05/2017

Two coal-fired power plants supposed to be installed in Punjab seem set to face a similar destiny as did a power complex in Gadani, Balochistan. Reports from Lahore and Islamabad suggest Rahim Yaar Khan coal-fired power plant and Muzaffargarh coal-fired power plant have been marked as infeasible. Thus, the government may drop them. Rahim Yar Khan and Muzaffargarh Power Plants which were supposed to generate 2,640MW of power were included in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) portfolio projects. The Punjab government is pursuing Islamabad that these projects may be incorporated in the CPEC umbrella projects. The officials in Lahore are of the view that since there is no coal in abundance in Punjab, these projects will be run on imported coal which turn them impracticable. Punjab Power Development Board (PPDB) is supervising agency for Muzaffargarh plant while Shanghai Electric Power Generation, China Machinery Engineering Corporation and Nishat Power Company were to build the plant in in Rahim Yaar Khan. Yet another report says Punjab had decided to go for hydro power projects instead of coal-fired power plants. Punjab has moved the JCC which met in China. It was agreed that hydro power projects, in the northern Indus region would be included in the CPEC umbrella projects.