Echo Automotive, a developer of aftermarket plug-in hybrid powertrains, plans to extend its EchoDrive system to GM 2500 and 3500 vans, including the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana, model years 2010-2014. EchoDrive is already available for Ford E-Series vans – orders are currently being accepted and production is scheduled to begin later this year. Production… Read more »
Volkswagen’s new e-Golf is now on sale in Germany at a price of €34,900 ($47,833.94). It joins the smaller e-Up! which is already at dealerships in several European markets. The Golf is indisputably the most successful European car of all time, with over 30 million sold. If VW is serious about selling the electric version,… Read more »
The big buzz on the EV tech scene these days is about silicon anodes, which could offer ten times more storage capacity than carbon anodes. Scientists around the world are looking for ways to overcome the remaining obstacles to using silicon for a new generation of lithium-ion batteries. Researchers at Stanford University and the DOE’s… Read more »
London’s second-largest minicab operator has pulled the plug on a plan to put 50 electric taxis into service in the capital. Green Tomato Cars, which already operates a fleet of 500 Prius hybrids, signed a deal with Chinese EV maker BYD in 2012 to purchase 50 of BYD’s E6 EVs. Alas, this week Green Tomato… Read more »
According to IHS Automotive, EV sales are about to take off like a Model S on a freeway onramp. The research firm predicts that worldwide production of plug-ins will soar to more than 403,000 in 2014, a 67% increase. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region will account for the largest share of production at… Read more »
Vehicle-grid integration is one of the hottest topics in the EV world, with pilot projects cropping up all over the globe. The relationship between EVs and the electrical grid is complex – charging must be managed to avoid overloading local grids, but on the other hand, EVs and/or used EV batteries can help utilities to… Read more »
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed a prototype EV motor drive system with a built-in silicon-carbide inverter that it claims is the smallest of its kind. As EVs require large spaces to accommodate their battery systems, Mitsubishi sees a strong need to reduce the size and weight of motor systems to leave a decent amount of… Read more »
Power and automation technology group ABB has announced a strategic collaboration with BYD Daimler New Technology (BDNT) to supply DC fast chargers over the next six years for the DENZA EV, which is scheduled to make its debut at the Auto China trade fair in Beijing in April. The Chinese government has introduced a DC… Read more »
Things are looking a little brighter for battery startup Envia Systems, as three of the company’s former executives dropped a lawsuit with little explanation. The suit, which was filed last November, alleged that co-founder and CTO Sujeet Kumar created the company using intellectual property that he stole from his previous employer, a nanotech startup called… Read more »
Toyota will begin verification testing of its newly developed wireless charging system in late February. Toyota developed the system in cooperation with WiTricity, an MIT spin-off that the automaker has been cooperating with for several years. Toyota Managing Officer Satoshi Ogiso announced in August that the next-generation Prius Plug-in Hybrid would include a wireless charging… Read more »
