Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated a solid-state high-voltage (5 V) lithium battery with an extremely long cycle life (10,000 cycles) and high Coulombic efficiency (99.98%). The solid electrolyte enables the use of high-voltage cathodes and lithium anodes with minimal side reactions. The energy stored in a battery of a given size… Read more »
Daimler has reorganized its financial relationship with Tesla, selling its 4% stake in the California carmaker. The cooperation between the partners on the Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive is unaffected. “We are extremely satisfied with the development of our investment in Tesla, but it is not necessary for our partnership and cooperation,” said Daimler Board Member… Read more »
As part of Germany’s Visio.M electromobility project, researchers at Munich Technical University (TUM) have developed a torque vectoring transmission that’s designed to improve handling and recoup the maximum amount of braking energy. “While drive torque is normally distributed 50/50 to the wheels of the drive axle, our torque vectoring system doses the torque between the… Read more »
The Golden State is preparing for the electrified future in a comprehensive way. The California Building Code will soon require that all newly constructed housing and parking lots provide the conduit and electrical system capacity for EV charging stations, beginning in 2015. EVSE installation often requires trenching to run new electrical conduit, as well as… Read more »
The European Union has dropped proposed targets for the number of public charging stations member countries must install by 2020. The EU’s new alternative fuel law, due to come into force later this month, will contain no binding rules on how many charging stations are to be deployed. The law states only that governments must… Read more »
The relentless quest to build lighter vehicles is driven by the need to reduce emissions, but it sometimes produces other benefits as well. A German-based consortium including BMW and Daimler has built a concept EV with all-plastic windows that not only demonstrates gains in energy efficiency and range, but also delivers improved acceleration, vehicle handling… Read more »
Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) are not the future – they’re here. The 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell has been available for lease since June. Toyota’s offering is scheduled to go on sale a year from now, followed by Honda’s in 2016 (all of these will initially be sold only in California). Many EV experts are… Read more »
New Flyer Industries, a major manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses, has unveiled a battery-electric version of its popular Xcelsior transit bus. The XE40 electric bus features a Siemens electric drive system, a New Flyer lithium-ion energy storage system, a regenerative braking system and an Eaton en-route conductive charging capability. Battery capacity is scalable between 100… Read more »
Eight of the top global automakers are collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute, 15 utility companies and Sumitomo Electric to develop a two-way communication platform that would allow plug-in vehicles from all participating manufacturers to communicate with power grids via the cloud. The new technology, which was demonstrated this week, enables utilities to send… Read more »
Hyundai Motor Group plans to produce plug-in hybrid versions of the Hyundai Sonata, pictured above, and next-generation Kia K5 (known as the Optima, pictured below, in the US). RELATED: Kia announces pricing for Soul EV “We will roll out a plug-in hybrid model of Sonata and K5 next year,” said R&D Vice Chairman Yang Woong-Chul. “Since we… Read more »
