Parker’s Electromechanical Automation Division has announced its new GVM142 generator and auxiliary motor series, which is intended to be used in electric and hybrid vehicle accessory applications. Pre-production units are currently being tested for high-power alternator replacements as well as electrohydraulic pump applications such as power steering and aerial lift hydraulics. The latest addition to… Read more »
Tesla plans to double its Hong Kong workforce to over 100 people by the end of the year, and has hired a country director for the Chinese city. “Hong Kong could potentially be the place to showcase the success of electric vehicles to the rest of Asia,” said Veronica Wu, Tesla’s VP for China operations…. Read more »
The German cabinet is backing a bill to let municipalities offer drivers of plug-in vehicles incentives such as free parking and the right to use bus lanes. Germany’s goal is to have a million electric vehicles auf der strasse by 2020 (as of the beginning of 2014, there were about 21,000). “Electric cars will get… Read more »
Tesla has launched a new offensive in the ongoing War of the Auto Dealers, claiming that New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) did not have the authority to stop the company from selling its electric cars at showrooms in the state. Tesla sold cars directly to customers at two New Jersey showrooms for a couple… Read more »
Every EV driver understands the importance of an accurate “fuel gauge.” Engineers working on the batteries of the future also need a reliable way to measure the state of charge (SOC), even in cases where they may be testing different battery chemistries. Researchers at the University of Connecticut have developed a chemistry-adaptive battery fuel gauge… Read more »
The City of Grenoble, France has launched a unique car-sharing service featuring ultra-compact EVs and close integration into the local public transport system. Cité lib by Ha:mo (for Harmonious Mobility), which is patterned after a system that Toyota has been piloting in Japan, opens October 1 for a three-year trial period. Toyota is providing 70… Read more »
After years of operating in secrecy, battery startup Sakti3 has been much in the news lately, the subject of feature articles in Scientific American and Fortune (via Green Car Reports). The Ann Arbor company, founded in 2008 by Ann Marie Sastry, has developed a solid-state electrolyte, which could eliminate some of the drawbacks of liquid electrolytes, including… Read more »
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory are using a new imaging technique to learn more about the process that causes lithium-ion batteries to degrade over time. Using coherent X-ray diffractive imaging at the DOE’s Advanced Photon Source facility, a team of researchers mapped the three-dimensional strain in individual nanoparticles within the electrodes of operating batteries. In… Read more »
What’s more efficient, using natural gas to power an ICE vehicle, or using it to generate electricity to power an EV? A well-to-wheels (WTW) analysis by a team of researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has found that, with a high PTW (pump-to-wheels) efficiency and the potential for high generation efficiency with NGCC… Read more »
It’s becoming apparent that EV charging should be considered as part of an “ecosystem” that also includes renewable energy generation and stationary storage. France’s Eco2charge consortium, coordinated by Bouygues Energie, has launched an R&D program to study the deployment of solutions of this kind, especially for commercial buildings. Eco2charge notes that an average EV consumes… Read more »
