Red-blooded Americans were disappointed at Honda’s announcement that its new Honda E city car will not be coming to the US, but we have to compliment the company on its electrifying plans for the European market. The E is scheduled to go on sale on the Continent in summer 2020 with a $33,000 price tag,… Read more »
Earlier this year, Tesla revealed the Full Self-Driving (FSD) computer, with a proprietary Tesla chip. The company says the new board outperforms the older Nvidia-based hardware by a factor of 21. Since April, the new computer has been installed in every new Tesla. Owners of older vehicles who have paid for the Full Self-Driving package… Read more »
Michigan-based parts supplier BorgWarner has announced a partnership with an unnamed Chinese EV maker to supply its fully-integrated e-axle, the iDM, for an upcoming EV. This partnership is BorgWarner’s first iDM project in China. The automaker expects the EV to go into mass production in 2021. BorgWarner’s e-axle system integrates the power electronics, transmission, and… Read more »
Atieva, the technology wing of Silicon Valley-based Lucid Motors, has earned an impressive vote of confidence. The Formula E electric racing series has chosen Atieva’s battery pack for a second consecutive season. The Atieva pack will power the entire 24-car Formula E field for the upcoming 2019/20 season, which will consist of 14 races. Atieva’s… Read more »
In show business, when you don’t like an act, but you don’t want to say anything negative, you say it’s “interesting.” Well, the word “interesting” is getting a lot of use today, after Tesla unveiled what is definitely its most radical-looking vehicle, and perhaps the most radical-looking production vehicle in automotive history. I think the… Read more »
Cree, a US maker of silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors, has partnered with German parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen to supply SiC semiconductors for electric drives. ZF will initially use Cree’s technology to fulfill pre-existing orders from several auto manufacturers for silicon carbide-based electric drives, but ZF hopes to make silicon carbide electric drivelines available to the… Read more »
Volvo has received what it says is the largest single order to date for electric buses in Europe. Starting in 2020, Volvo Buses will deliver 157 electric articulated buses to French public transit operator Transdev. The buses will operate on a number of routes in Gothenburg, Sweden. As they produce less noise and emissions than… Read more »
Brits of a certain age may wax nostalgic for the Morris J-Type delivery van, which was produced from 1949 to 1960. Now Morris Commercial has announced that it will produce a new electric edition of the iconic van. The Morris JE features a carbon fiber chassis, a 60 kWh battery pack, a 200-mile range, a… Read more »
BorgWarner has developed a system that can enable EVs to use torque vectoring with just one electric motor instead of the traditional two. The Michigan-based parts supplier says its solution is cost-effective, light and compact. The company will start producing the system in the first half of 2022 for an unnamed auto manufacturer. Traditional torque-vectoring… Read more »
In December, Danish maritime transportation company Maersk will add a 600 kWh battery system on board the container ship Maersk Cape Town in a trial run to improve vessel performance and reliability while also reducing CO2 emissions. Maersk warns that powering vessels with battery power alone is still years away from being a technologically and… Read more »