XL Hybrids, a Boston-based developer of hybrid powertrain technology for commercial and municipal fleets, has announced that its customers have logged a cumulative total of four million on-road miles. The company’s XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive for passenger and cargo vans requires less than a $10,000 investment, and is designed to be installed in about five… Read more »
Following up on its earlier review of national EV incentive programs, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has released a new study showing that state incentives are playing a significant early role in driving EV sales. As described in their white paper, Evaluation of State-level US Electric Vehicle Incentives, the researchers found that some… Read more »
Toyota researchers are collaborating with the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at the DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory to probe molecular structures and track chemical reactions in magnesium batteries. “Issues related to cost, power, energy density, and durability of Li-ion batteries have slowed their implementation in large-scale applications, such as electric and hybrid vehicles,” said Toyota… Read more »
Tesla’s third-quarter shareholder letter was a mixed bag: profits are up, but mainly due to sales of California ZEV credits; Model S deliveries are right on track; and the Model X will be delayed once again. Tesla reported a small third-quarter profit of $3 million, using non-GAAP figures, which include healthy sales of Zero Emission… Read more »
Contrary to popular belief, the small, practical city car is not necessarily the best candidate for electrification. Battery costs will keep EVs more expensive than legacy vehicles for some time to come, and many drivers won’t recoup the higher purchase price in fuel savings in a reasonable number of years. In a new article, John… Read more »
GM has released a wealth of information about the new and improved Voltec electric-drive system that will power the 2016 Volt. A new video from CNN takes us inside a GM plant for a quick look at some of the Volt’s innards. Under the watchful eyes of the pros, presenter Peter Valdes-Dapena says it takes… Read more »
A set of three recent studies funded by the Korean government investigated a family of lithium-ion batteries composed of nickel, cobalt and aluminum. NCA batteries offer high energy density, but degrade significantly with each charge/discharge cycle. The high heat of vehicle environments can intensify the degradation, and even cause complete battery failure. Researchers at the… Read more »
Korean battery giant LG Chem held a ground-breaking ceremony this week in Nanjing, China, where it started construction on a new EV battery plant. The new facility will be able to produce enough batteries annually to supply more than 100,000 EVs when it opens by the end of 2015. It will supply batteries to Chinese… Read more »
The US auto industry had a good month, as automakers reported their strongest October sales in a decade. Most of the action was in gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs – alas, plug-in sales were down compared to last October, for the first time in 46 months of EV sales. Annual sales are still on track to handily… Read more »
Elon Musk’s recent interview at the MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium made headlines for his warning against the careless development of artificial intelligence, which he likened to “summoning the demon.” However, while he didn’t say a lot about Tesla, he did make an interesting comment about the challenges of designing electric motors. A questioner asked (around… Read more »
