Hitachi ABB Power Grids, a newly formed joint venture between the two electronics giants, has launched a new “grid-to-plug” EV charging system for public transport and commercial fleet operators. The new solution, called Grid-eMotion Fleet, is designed to enable fleet operators to efficiently scale up their operations. The Grid-eMotion Fleet solution comes in standard containers… Read more »
Hitachi Automotive Systems recently established a spinoff—Hitachi Automotive Electric Motor Systems America—for the development, manufacture and sale of EV motors. The new company, led by President Shingo Nakamura, will utilize the existing 260,000 square-meter Hitachi office and manufacturing facilities in Berea City, Kentucky. Full production is expected to start in 2022, depending on the effects… Read more »
Hitachi Automotive Systems is starting mass production of its 800-volt, high-output EV inverter. The company says that, thanks to its strong cooling performance, the new inverter delivers twice the voltage and 2.7 times the power density of previous generations. Most EVs are based on a 400-volt system, so in order to increase driving range, additional… Read more »
The Fraunhofer Institute and Hitachi Metals say they’ve produced an on-board charger (OBC) prototype that delivers both high power output and compactness by using soft magnetic materials developed by Hitachi. Hitachi says the technology enables the OBC prototype to generate a power density of 3.8 kW/l. Hitachi explains that there is typically a trade-off between… Read more »
Hitachi Automotive Systems and Honda have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a joint venture, with a capitalization of around 5 billion yen ($45 million), to develop and manufacture EV motors. Hitachi first started selling motors for electrified vehicles in 1999, and has since delivered “a high volume” of these motors to vehicle manufacturers… Read more »
A research team sponsored by Hitachi and Tohoku University’s Advanced Institute for Material Research (AIMR) has demonstrated technology that reduces the internal resistance of all-solid-state Li-ion batteries through the use of LiBH4-based complex hydrides as solid electrolytes. A conventional Li-ion battery uses a volatile organic electrolyte solution with a maximum operating temperature around 60˚ C…. Read more »
Hitachi Automotive Systems has begun to supply Daimler with compact, high-output inverters and DC/DC converters for use in the Mercedes S500 and S550 plug-in hybrids, which recently went on sale in Germany. Hitachi developed a third-generation inverter that is 40% smaller and offers higher output than the previous version, and a high-output DC/DC converter with… Read more »
When demand drives innovation, the state of the art can progress quite rapidly, but if the demand is not there yet, the end result is often the proverbial “solution in search of a problem.” One of the most prominent examples of this is the lithium-ion battery, which was developed in the 1970s, but didn’t really… Read more »
USA Rare Earth has purchased the neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) permanent magnet manufacturing equipment formerly owned and operated in North Carolina by Hitachi Metals America. Demand for rare earth magnets is being driven by plug-in vehicles (electric motors and batteries), wind generators (direct drive generators), medical devices (personal vital sign monitors and medical imaging machines)… Read more »
When the Chevrolet Volt was launched at the end of 2010, I must confess that I gave it little chance of success. It seemed like an awkward compromise – buyers who wanted to go electric would surely prefer a pure EV, and buyers who weren’t ready to take that plunge had every reason to stick… Read more »