Energy storage system manufacturer NAWA Technologies has begun manufacturing its Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube (VACNT) material. NAWA’s process grows VACNT simultaneously and homogeneously on both sides of a substrate at atmospheric pressure, using a chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) process, in a roll-to-roll manner. The process has demonstrated the ability to grow up to over 200-micrometer-long… Read more »
Battery swapping is an old idea with a troubled history. Better Place, an Israeli startup that was a promising early promoter of EVs, made battery swapping a centerpiece of its strategy—it went bust in 2013. Tesla demonstrated a swapping system for Model S in 2013, but dropped the technology in 2015. Chinese EV startup NIO… Read more »
The Faraday Battery Challenge, a project initiated by the UK government to promote advanced battery technologies, has announced a new £10-million round of funding, which will be shared across 17 projects being undertaken by businesses and research institutions across the UK. The funded projects cover a wide range of topics, including a new sodium nickel… Read more »
Texas has wide-open spaces, and a wide-open deregulated electricity market with over 120 players at last count. It also has problems with grid reliability that were brought to light last year, when a cold snap caused widespread outages. Tesla to the rescue—Texas Monthly reports that Tesla Energy Ventures has applied with the Texas Public Utility… Read more »
Rivian Automotive has filed for an initial public offering and is seeking a roughly $80 billion valuation, Bloomberg reports. The Irvine, California-based EV startup has submitted its S-1 registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and hopes to make its IPO around the Thanksgiving holiday. Among the thundering herd of EV startups, Rivian is widely… Read more »
LG Energy Solution, one of Tesla’s battery suppliers, has entered into “a binding long form offtake agreement” with Australian Mines Ltd. for nickel and cobalt, which will be supplied in the form of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MPH) from the Sconi Project in North Queensland. Under the agreement, LG will have access to 71,000 tons of… Read more »
Rivian, which is nearing production of its eye-catching electric pickup truck, has a factory in Normal, Illinois, and has been actively scouting sites to build a second. Now the city of Fort Worth, Texas, has approved a package of incentives to tempt the EV startup to build its next factory there. The Fort Worth City… Read more »
Charging plug locks secure EV plugs against unexpected unplugging, preventing possible damage to the system and protecting against theft of the charging cable (especially important in Europe, where many public chargers require drivers to use their own cables). German electromechanical manufacturer Marquardt has developed a new locking system designed to make charging safer and more… Read more »
Bollinger Motors has taken a different path than most EV startups. Its Class 3 Bollinger B1 SUV, which debuted in 2017, was designed as “a no-nonsense back-to-basics all-electric sport utility truck.” Now the company plans to add Class 4 and 5 electric platforms to its lineup. “We started from day one working on Class 3… Read more »
Rhombus Energy Solutions’s new RES-D3-CS20 DC fast charger dispenser is now available for immediate ordering. The D3 design allows multiple remote EV charging dispensers to be connected to a single Rhombus power control system (PCS), potentially reducing total EVSE costs for electrified fleets. Most of today’s DC fast charging systems that support remote dispensers have… Read more »
