VIA Motors has announced a voucher program for Chicago-area fleet and business owners that reduces the purchase price of its extended range electric pickups and vans. The Drive Clean Chicago program offers a voucher worth $41,200 for the VIA Motors Extended Range Electric Pickup, $42,892 for the Cargo Van, and $39,460 for the Passenger Van. Combining… Read more »
Massachusetts-based MIT spinout WiTricity has announced a licensing agreement with BRUSA Elektronik AG, a global supplier of EV power electronics. BRUSA will license WiTricity’s IP to commercialize wireless charging systems. BRUSA’s ICS wireless charging system, using WiTricity’s technology, uses a charging pad on the ground to transfer power to a vehicle using magnetic resonance. The… Read more »
EV heating and cooling presents a dilemma: how to keep a vehicle’s occupants comfortable without draining the battery? Engineers are working on various solutions, from heat pumps and adsorption chillers to passenger-focused AC and heat. A group of researchers from the University of Utah, HRL Laboratories and GM Global R&D has developed a novel approach… Read more »
In his usual highly entertaining style, Elon Musk announced the new Tesla Energy line of energy storage products. “We have this handy fusion reactor in the sky called the sun…that shows up every day and produces ridiculous amounts of power.” Batteries are the “missing piece” that will allow us to capture this energy and build… Read more »
CLEVER, a Danish “Electric Mobility Operator” that’s owned by five utilities, is opening a subsidiary in Sweden, with the Swedish energy company Öresundskraft as majority shareholder. “With five years of experience as an operator of both electric vehicles and charging in Denmark, the company is now ready to scale up, and transfer our knowledge and… Read more »
EVSE manufacturer eMotorWerks has delivered over 3,500 of its JuiceBox charging stations since it began volume shipments in October 2013, and expects sales to double in 2015. The lightweight plug-in JuiceBox comes in two versions: the Classic, which starts at $449, and the Pro, which adds additional functionality including WiFi data collection and remote control…. Read more »
Sevcon (Nasdaq: SEV), a global manufacturer of controls for electric and hybrid vehicles, has received a £400,000 grant from a UK government fund, which it will use to develop the next generation of its Gen4 controller. The new low-voltage controller will provide additional functionality and improved performance in a smaller package than its predecessor. “The… Read more »
Four years ago, researchers from nine European countries launched the MotorBrain project, which aimed to develop an EV drivetrain that didn’t need costly rare earth metals in the motor. Now they’re ready to present a prototype of a fully-integrated drivetrain with a rare-earth-free permanent magnet synchronous motor at this year’s CWIEME Berlin exhibition. “Rare earth metals… Read more »
The plug-in hybrid version of Cadillac’s CT6 large luxury sedan, which made its debut at this month’s Shanghai Motor Show, will use a version of GM’s second-generation Voltec hybrid system. The 18.4 kWh battery pack is the same size as the one in the 2016 Chevrolet Volt, which should give the new Caddy an electric… Read more »
We hear a lot of discussion in the EV industry about all the possible business models for public charging. Will paid public charging ever be a profitable business in its own right? Will plug-in vehicle drivers pay a premium to charge away from home? Or, will it make more sense for businesses to offer charging… Read more »
