Initial shipments will support the CHAdeMO fast-charging standard, and SAE/Combined Charging System units will be available later this year.
Newswire
Fisker furloughs workers
Its production line idle since July, and its search for a suitor seemingly in limbo, Fisker Automotive put its US workforce of about 200 employees on furlough this week to cut costs.
Long Beach Transit votes to buy BYD buses, Proterra protests
After several delays and much controversy, the Long Beach Transit Board voted on Monday to award a $12.1 million contract to purchase 10 electric buses to a US subsidiary of the Chinese firm BYD. The contract is funded mainly by the federal government’s Transit Investment for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) program, one of… Read more »
New report: Solid-state batteries will rule by 2030, driven by consumer electronics
A report from technology advisory firm Lux Research predicts that new battery technologies will become strong competitors with existing lithium-ion technology by 2020, and that solid-state batteries will surpass Li-ion by 2030. However, consumer electronics, not electric vehicles, will be the market driving the advances. “While much of the motivation for next-generation batteries – whether… Read more »
Rolls-Royce to supply Azipull propulsion system for Norway’s electric ferry of the future
Rolls-Royce plc has signed a contract to deliver its Azipull propulsion and control system for the battery-powered “ferry of the future.” The new vessel is being built at the Fjellstrand yard in Norway, and will go into service in 2015 on the route between Lavik and Oppedal, across the Sognefjord, operated by Norwegian transport company… Read more »
Oak Ridge researchers give solid Li-ion electrolytes a new spin
Their novel approach offers an advantage in terms of safety and also results in a broad (5 V wide) electrochemical window.
Automakers: Safety sounds for EVs could hurt sales if done the wrong way
Love the way your EV glides silently through the city? Well, it might be dangerous for pedestrians, especially the blind. The US government addressed this issue with a 2010 law that requires automakers to provide EVs with some sort of artificial sound generator to announce their coming. Japan and the EU have implemented similar regulations…. Read more »
Michigan powertrain producer teams with a Chinese company to produce plug-in commercial vehicles
Michigan-based ALTe Powertrain Technologies, developer of a range-extended electric powertrain for light commercial vehicles, has announced this week that it will establish a new commercial vehicle manufacturing joint venture with the Henan Benma Company in the Henan province of China. Benma currently produces 20 models of commercial vehicles for the Chinese market, and has a… Read more »
Washington State proposes fines for ICEing out EVs
In EV-friendly Washington, the state Senate easily approved a $124 penalty for parking an internal-combustion engine vehicle in a space clearly labeled “Electric Vehicles Only.”
Geely won’t bid for Fisker
China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group will not bid for a majority stake in Fisker Automotive, mainly due to the automaker’s obligations to the US government, Reuters reported, citing two confidential sources. Geely, the owner of Volvo, was expected to win the deal for the maker of the Karma, but the Chinese firm doesn’t care for… Read more »