China is Buick’s largest market, and the brand seems to be GM’s chosen channel to introduce its new energy vehicles. Buick offers a wide range of electrified models, from 48 V mild-hybrids to pure EVs, in China. Last October, Buick launched the Velite 6 Plus, an EV with a range of 255 miles. Now Buick… Read more »
What a difference a few years (and some judicious government policy) makes. Back in 2014, the US was the center of the EV scene, and sales in Europe had yet to crack the one-percent mark. Now the Continent has left us behind. In June, the market share of plug-in vehicles exceeded 8% in all of… Read more »
A team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) used a vehicle dynamics model to evaluate the effects of automated driving on EV range and battery longevity. They compared autonomous vehicles (SAE levels 4 and 5) with human-driven EVs by calculating the additional energy required to power the automated driving components, as well as the… Read more »
Fight fans have been following the fortunes of the competing DC fast charging standards, CHAdeMO and CCS, for the past several years, but it’s been apparent for a while that the tide of the struggle has turned. When we reported on recently released figures from the DOE showing that the two standards account for similar… Read more »
Motor technology is meaningless if the inverter that controls all functions is not designed properly. In a new webcast session announced this week at the Charged Virtual Conference on EV Engineering, Munro & Associates’ CEO Sandy Munro will discuss what has Tesla done to take control of its own destiny. The webcast will include the… Read more »
Danfoss and Infineon Technologies have signed a multi-year volume supply agreement. Infineon will supply chipsets of IGBTs and diodes to Danfoss Silicon Power, to be used in power modules for inverters that control EV motors. “The market for electromobility is picking up noticeably, and the supply industry is getting ready for this,” said Claus Petersen,… Read more »
Hyliion, a developer of electrified powertrain solutions for Class 8 commercial vehicles, has launched a new natural-gas series-hybrid electric powertrain. The Hypertruck Electric Range Extender (ERX) combines an electric drivetrain with a natural gas-powered onboard generator. It delivers 25 miles of electric range. Hyliion says it can also produce electricity locally at roughly 30% less… Read more »
Commercial EV supplier Lightning Systems is tripling the size of its facility in Loveland, Colorado. Lightning moved its headquarters, manufacturing and R&D into the former Hewlett-Packard/Agilent campus in southwest Loveland three years ago. The company recently took over the entire building, expanding its square footage from 45,000 to 142,000. “Our mission is to provide commercial… Read more »
Gordon Feller serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations focused on the future of greener mobility. He formerly served as President Obama’s appointee to a US Federal Commission established to assess emerging energy-focused digital technologies. Dramatic pricing changes, shifting cost structures, new demand curves and technologies that enable efficient decentralization are driving a dramatic… Read more »
Mercedes-Benz has launched a strategic partnership with the Chinese battery cell manufacturer Farasis Energy, and taken an equity stake in the company. Key elements of the agreement include the development and industrialization of advanced cell technologies as well as goals for cost competitiveness. The technological focus is on significant increases in range through advances in… Read more »
