The idea of Apple building a car is media catnip – it sends ordinarily sober journalists (yes, there are a few) into flights of wild speculation. In the wake of a Wall Street Journal article that seems to confirm that the Cowboys of Cupertino are indeed dabbling in the automotive realm, one writer gushed that… Read more »
The Chinese are coming. Joining most of the American automakers, BAIC has opened an R&D facility in Silicon Valley. The BAIC EV R&D Center will be dedicated to the research and development of four to six models per year, and will become an important part of BJEV’s globalization plans, the company said. The BAIC subsidiary… Read more »
A pair of professors at the University of Maryland Energy Research Center have been awarded a three-year, $460,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an onboard fast charger for EVs. Professors Alireza Khaligh and Patrick McCluskey are collaborating with Steven Rogers of Genovation, an EV builder in nearby Rockville, Maryland on the project,… Read more »
Competing fast charging standards are a major impediment to electric road trips. If Tesla’s vast Supercharger network could be used by other automakers’ EVs, it would do much to remove this roadblock. Elon Musk has discussed this possibility in the past, and at a recent press conference in Germany, he hinted that it may soon… Read more »
Visitors to one of the world’s top tourist destinations now have the option to drive electric. Enterprise Rent-A-Car has added 14 Volts to its Orlando car rental fleet. EVs have a high profile in Florida’s tourism capital, thanks partly to Drive Electric Orlando, a local organization that partners with the major theme parks and over… Read more »
The world’s second-largest automaker has admitted that it systematically broke the law in order to evade environmental regulations. “Our company was dishonest with the EPA, and the California Air Resources Board and with all of you,” said Volkswagen’s US chief Michael Horn. “We have totally screwed up.” Tipped off by the International Council for Clean Transportation, the… Read more »
EVSE LLC, Greenlots and Southern California Edison control peak charging demand Electric utilities around the world have been studying the potential impact of EVs on the grid. The largest pilot program with smart grid demand response (OpenADR 2.0b) that we’ve seen is an 80-unit deployment of EVSE LLC’s Level 2/Level 1 combo smart charging stations at… Read more »
There’s a new macro trend occurring with electricity rate structures. In an effort by utilities to match their real-time costs with pricing models, new variable rates are being tested and implemented. The problem is that the cost to generate and distribute power is extremely variable, and has a lot to do with what’s happening on… Read more »
If you have a plug-in hybrid powertrain for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that’s ready for commercialization, you may be eligible for a grant from the DOE. The agency has issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0001349) entitled “Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicle Powertrain Electrification and Dual Fuel Fleet Demonstration.” The objective of the Powertrain Electrification area… Read more »
Highways England, the government-owned company that manages England’s road network, plans to conduct off-road trials of a system that can charge EVs as they roll down the motorway. The trials follow a feasibility study into ‘dynamic wireless power transfer’ technologies, completed by TRL and Halcrow. “The potential to recharge low-emission vehicles on the move offers exciting possibilities,”… Read more »
