The California Energy Commission has awarded nearly $9 million in grants to three companies to encourage the manufacturing of heavy-duty EVs and components in the state. Proterra received a $3 million grant to develop a manufacturing line for battery-electric transit buses in the City of Industry in the San Gabriel Valley. The location is in… Read more »
Siemens’s new VersiCharge Smartgrid (SG) is a Wi-Fi-enabled charging station that allows residential owners to monitor and control usage remotely through a mobile app. Users can automatically turn charging on or off, schedule charging when rates are lowest, and view past power consumption data in graphical form. The cloud-based charging station can also interact with… Read more »
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has set out his vision for the city’s environmental goals in an upbeat report entitled “the pLAn.” It covers a wide range of topics, from water conservation to energy-efficient buildings to renewable energy to recycling to public transit. Many of the goals are very modest, such as the call for… Read more »
California is the most electrified state in the US, thanks in part to its ZEV mandate that requires automakers to produce a certain number of zero-emission vehicles. In addition to leading the way in EV adoption, the state has also installed the most public charging infrastructure, by far. According to PlugShare, there are about 6,597… Read more »
The Formula E electric racing series is only a bit more than halfway through its first season, but it’s already looking like a big success, attracting sellout crowds, major new investors, and a long list of aspiring host cities. “We have over 180 cities that have requested to have a race, and many of them… Read more »
Energy-gobbling accessories such as air conditioning can take a big bite out of an EV’s range, but a pleasant interior climate is a must. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have been working on this dilemma as part of the research program Visio.M. In a legacy vehicle, waste heat from the engine is… Read more »
Many European cities are testing battery-electric buses, and now Amsterdam has announced that it will convert its entire bus fleet. The city council and bus firm GVB have agreed that the first batch of 40 buses will be replaced by electric vehicles in two years, and by 2025 the entire fleet will be electric. The… Read more »
Hawaii Energy, a ratepayer-funded energy conservation and efficiency program, has teamed up with charging station provider OpConnect for a pilot program to encourage residents with photovoltaic (PV) systems to charge their EVs during off-peak demand hours from 9 am to 2 pm. The aim of the program is to find out at what price PV… Read more »
The main factor holding back the electromobility revolution may be a simple lack of familiarity, and Daimler has come up with a brilliant idea to change that. The German automaker has partnered with the ACADEMY chain of driving schools for a pilot project that aims to make EVs an integral part of driver training. Starting… Read more »
Semiconductor supplier Fairchild (NASDAQ: FCS) has introduced new automotive-qualified SuperFET II MOSFET and High Voltage Rectifier product families, which are designed to increase the power ratings of onboard chargers and DC-to-DC converters used in hybrid and electric vehicles. “A chief goal for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle manufacturers is keeping onboard battery chargers and DC-to-DC… Read more »
