The Battery Innovation Center (BIC), a hub for advanced battery testing and development, opened this week in Newberry, Indiana. The 32,000-square-foot facility will serve as a center for research and development, prototyping and contract manufacturing for industrial, academic and military customers. BIC members include corporate, academic and government entities such as AeroVironment, Eaton, Purdue University… Read more »
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) will present a unique modular battery concept for electric buses at the upcoming International Motor Show in Frankfurt. The battery system consists of flat modules that can be stacked to reach the dimensions and electric characteristics desired. The idea is that, because the size and shape of the battery… Read more »
Nissan plans to donate 47 LEAFs and LEAF-to-Home power supply systems to roadside rest area stations (called michi-no-eki) in all of Japan’s 47 prefectures. The idea is that each LEAF, paired with a LEAF-to-Home power supply system, can be used as a backup power source in emergency situations, and will also help stabilize the electrical… Read more »
California hopes to have 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025. To this end, the state’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) program requires the six largest auto sellers to earn a certain number of credits from the sale of ZEVs (which in practice means electric vehicles). Companies that don’t sell enough of their own vehicles… Read more »
As pundits agonize over the senseless war of the fast charging standards, EVSE manufacturers are simply sidestepping the issue by building chargers that support both systems. Efacec, a Portuguese company that has its US headquarters in Norcross, Georgia, has received certification from the electrical product safety organization ETL to produce chargers compatible with the new… Read more »
The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC), a regional association of local governments, has partnered with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) and Smith Electric Vehicles for a pilot program that will deploy 30 of Smith’s Newton electric trucks in the Houston-Galveston region, the country’s fifth-largest metropolitan area. The project is partly financed by a… Read more »
It’s not just trees and money that are green – it’s also the color of military uniforms. The US Army is a pioneer in electric mobility and renewable energy, especially in the field of microgrids – small independent smart grids that can power an entire military base. Last December, the Army Corps of Engineers commissioned… Read more »
Some see car sharing as a killer app for EVs – users make short journeys, return the cars to central locations, and pay per trip, so they don’t have to worry about high up-front costs. Others are more skeptical, pointing out that some customers are non-car owners who want to use shared cars to get… Read more »
Tesla unveiled the first phase of its European Supercharger network this week, charging up six stations in Norway, the continent’s current EV capital. The strategically sited Superchargers cover Norway’s busiest highways, linking the capital, Oslo, with Trondheim, Kristiansand, Stavanger and Gol, and are located near amenities like roadside diners and shopping centers. According to Tesla,… Read more »
With the entire collection of 23 Toyota and Lexus hybrid models as a backdrop, Toyota Managing Officer Satoshi Ogiso delivered an inspiring overview of the past, present and future of the Prius family at the “2013 Toyota Hybrid World Tour event in Michigan. Ogiso was one of the engineers who began developing hybrid technology at… Read more »
