As the 2016 Chevrolet Volt’s official debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January draws closer, GM is revealing more and more details of its second-generation PHEV. In a video released this week, GM Executive VP Mark Reuss and Volt Chief Engineer Andrew Farah demonstrate the new driver-controllable regen. Like the 2014 Cadillac ELR, the… Read more »
Audi has released some details of the 2016 Q7 crossover, which will be offered in a diesel plug-in hybrid version. The new Q7 is built on the Volkswagen Group’s MLB-Evo platform for large cars with longitudinal engines. Audi says high-tech materials have allowed it to reduce the vehicle’s weight by over 700 pounds compared to… Read more »
Renault has previewed a new EV motor that it says will enter production in 2015. The synchronous electric motor offers 65 kW of power and 220 Nm (162 lb-ft) of peak torque, and features an integrated Chameleon charger. Renault designed the new motor with integration, miniaturization and simplification in mind. It uses smaller and fully… Read more »
Semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies and semiconductor foundry United Microelectronics (NYSE: UMC), which have worked together for 15 years, plan to extend their manufacturing partnership into power semiconductors for automotive applications. Infineon will transfer its automotive-qualified Smart Power Technology (SPT9) to UMC, and production will be extended to 300 mm wafers. Production of SPT9 products at… Read more »
Updated 12/19/14 12:50 pm EST to include today’s tweet from Elon Musk’s regarding battery-swap stations. Predictions are a dime a dozen (and so are alliterative clichés), but here are two that always seem to come true: any time the price of a headline stock goes down, media pundits start chiming in with “I told you so”… Read more »
General Electric, together with Con Edison and researchers at Columbia University, is working on a way to use Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition software to help operators of public EV chargers avoid expensive demand charges from utilities. The GE team has developed an EV charging station that uses software to estimate how much electricity will… Read more »
Falling gas prices and changes in Congress got you feeling pessimistic about the future of EVs? Here are 50 reasons to celebrate the advent of the electric century. The second edition of the EV City Casebook highlights 50 “big ideas” that have the potential to turbocharge EV adoption around the world. Some of the big… Read more »
We’re a long way from having a million EVs on the road, but we’re getting there. According to a new report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), there were about 70,000 EVs and 104,000 PHEVs on US roads in 2013 (out of a total of 226 million registered vehicles). Total US plug-in sales represent… Read more »
A race team sponsored by the Spanish renewable energy firm ACCIONA will be the first to enter a pure EV in the Dakar Rally, which begins the 4th of January in Buenos Aires. Drivers Albert Bosch and Agustín Payá will drive a custom-built EV in the 9,000-kilometer rally raid. The Dakar Rally was first run… Read more »
Like any energy storage medium, lithium-ion batteries can be dangerous if mishandled, so it’s necessary to establish guidelines for their safe transport and storage. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published a guide for the safe handling of lithium batteries on aircraft. The IATA estimates that each year, over a billion lithium batteries are… Read more »
