Pretty much ever since the current generation of EVs began to show up on the roads, automakers and government regulators have been talking about requiring the vehicles to make some sort of artificial noise when traveling at low speeds, for the safety of pedestrians. The federal Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act was signed into law in… Read more »
SolidEnergy, an MIT spin-out company commercializing solid electrolyte technology, plans to release a 20 Ah EV battery in 2017, which it says will offer more than two times the range of current Li-ion batteries. The core of SolidEnergy’s technology is a Solid Polymer Ionic Liquid (SPIL) electrolyte, which enables the use of an ultra-thin lithium… Read more »
Power semiconductors are key components of the power control units (PCUs) used in all types of vehicles with electric powertrains – EVs, hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. Current power semiconductors are leaky, accounting for around 20 percent of a vehicle’s electrical losses, so raising their efficiency could be a rewarding area of study. Toyota has… Read more »
Batteries do degrade over time, and unfortunately most EV models haven’t been on the road long enough to provide a lot of data, so there is still much to be learned about how quickly capacity loss takes place. Plug In America has conducted battery longevity studies for the Nissan LEAF and Tesla Roadster, and is… Read more »
A new study identifies two psychological barriers that are holding back EV sales. One neurosis that we’re already familiar with is range anxiety. Another is resale anxiety, the concern that the price of used EVs will plummet, which sounds like a reasonable fear these days, as the automakers continue to improve their new offerings every… Read more »
Chuck Martin, a Republican Georgia state representative has introduced a bill that would put an end to Georgia’s $5,000 state tax credit for EV purchases, which has been credited with making Atlanta the #2 market for plug-ins in the country. “Is it really good state policy to pay $50 million per year to let a select… Read more »
The latest invention to spring from the fertile mind of man is a device that generates electricity from passing traffic. New Energy Innovations has developed a product called the Traffic Powered Renewable Energy System (TPRES). TPRES uses a series of air pumps embedded in the road. Each time a car passes over, the pumps force… Read more »
An amateur video of what appears to be a Tesla Model X being test-driven has surfaced. Shot from a distance on a zoomed-in cell phone, the clip shows a camo-clad car going through some acceleration and cornering maneuvers. There’s also a still photo that seems to confirm that the vehicle is a Tesla. According to… Read more »
Those doggone dendrites are a bane of battery builders. These pesky fern-like growths can form on the surfaces of anodes during cycling, reducing battery life or even causing a catastrophic short circuit – this is how the battery fires on the Boeing 787 are thought to have started. A team of researchers from the University… Read more »
While several companies are building electric city transit buses, China-based BYD has unveiled what it calls the world’s first electric over-the-road coach bus. The BYD C9 is a two-axle, 40-foot two-axle coach with a seating capacity of 47, top speed of 62.5 mph and range of over 190 miles. “The transportation industry is still just… Read more »
