Volvo has announced a major expansion of its electrification plans. The company says it will introduce PHEVs across its entire range, and bring a pure EV to market by 2019. In the first phase of the new strategy, Volvo will introduce plug-in hybrid versions of its 90 series and 60 series larger cars, based on… Read more »
Reindeer are far from the only way to get around Lapland these days. The Fortum Charge & Drive network, which operates in Norway, Sweden and Finland, will cooperate with Renault to install seven new charging units in the northern region of Finland. The new 22 kW Level 2 chargers will be located along typical tourist… Read more »
Liquid Sky Technologies’ new 80-Amp WattZilla Level 2 charging stations have passed UL certification testing. WattZilla, which is based on the OpenEVSE platform, is designed for commercial installations that require high-current chargers. Both the Uno (single-vehicle) and Duo (two-vehicle) versions can be wall- or pole-mounted in interior or exterior locations. The company is now working… Read more »
Tesla’s Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel gave a talk at the University of Nevada in Reno this week, as the company announced a new internship program and an investment of $1 million in the university’s battery research program. Saying that the transition to a truly sustainable world won’t be accomplished in a single generation, Straubel… Read more »
Can this be true? Consumer Reports, which published a glowing review of Model S in 2013, and again in August, calling it “the best-performing car we’ve ever tested,” now says that it is dropping the Tesla sedan from its list of recommended vehicles. Only models with above-average reliability make the recommended list, and CR was… Read more »
Tesla touts its Supercharger network as a no-compromise solution for electric road trips, and has strategically placed Superchargers along well-traveled highways. Elon Musk himself has embarked on a coast-to-coast adventure in a Model S to demonstrate that it can be done in about the same timeframe as with any other vehicle. On the other hand,… Read more »
The German city of Cologne plans to deploy eight electric bendy buses on an all-electric bus route, one of the first in Germany. The 18-meter e-buses will be manufactured by VDL Bus & Coach, with battery systems produced by AKASOL GmbH in Darmstadt. The electric buses will go into service on Cologne’s route 133, a… Read more »
Battery-electric buses are operating on a trial basis in dozens of cities around the world, but some planners are still concerned about the constraints common to all pure EVs: short driving ranges and long charging times. Electronics giant ABB has introduced an automated fast charging system that aims to relegate these problems to the past…. Read more »
EV charging stations are getting connected, allowing users to remotely manage charging, and utilities to take advantage of demand response capabilities. The market for EVSE communications tech is expected to take off like an EV on an onramp. The Californian company eMotorWerks includes considerable connectivity capabilities in its JuiceBox line of chargers, and now offers… Read more »
Thermoplastics supplier Solvay Specialty Polymers has expanded its Amodel AE-8900 series of products for automotive electronics applications. The new Amodel polyphthalamide (PPA) materials provide high voltage resistance and retention of dielectric properties at high temperatures. The new Amodel AE-8900 series comes in five versions, offering 30, 35, 40, 50 or 60 percent glass fiber reinforcement…. Read more »
