Does anybody remember Better Place? It seems quite a few people do, especially in Israel. Shai Agassi is one of many brilliant businessmen to come from the country that many know as Silicon Wadi or the Start-Up Nation, but according to Brian Blum, the author of the new book Totaled, “Agassi was, and remains one… Read more »
Porsche has been ahead of the curve on fast charging, developing its own 800-volt charging system, while also participating in cross-brand infrastructure projects including Electrify America and Ionity. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to deploy a network of 500 charging stations in North America in time for the launch of its Taycan EV… Read more »
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will hold a hearing this week to consider increasing the state’s plug-in vehicle purchase incentive from the current $2,500 to $4,500, in order to compensate for the phase-out of federal subsidies on Tesla and GM vehicles. The $7,500 federal EV tax credit is designed to sunset for each individual… Read more »
Cummins (NYSE: CMI) unveiled the PowerDrive, a suite of plug-in hybrid powertrain solutions spanning light, medium and heavy-duty applications, at the recent IAA Commercial Vehicle Show. The Cummins PowerDrive offers both parallel and series capabilities. It replaces the conventional transmission and switches in real time between two hybrid and two pure electric modes, optimizing the… Read more »
One of China’s top producers of lithium has agreed to supply a fifth of its lithium hydroxide production to Tesla’s battery suppliers. The agreement with Jiangxi-based Ganfeng Lithium runs from 2018 to 2020, and could be extended by three years. EV-makers have been scrambling to secure supplies of lithium for the past couple of years…. Read more »
San Francisco-based eMotorWerks is demonstrating the grid balancing potential of its smart-grid EV chargers with a 30-megawatt, distributed “virtual energy storage battery,” which has been active in California since the start of 2017. With an energy capacity of 70 MWh and eMotorWerks’s JuiceNet cloud software platform as the Battery Management System (BMS), the eMotorWerks virtual… Read more »
Scientists from the University of Waterloo have devised several new electrochemical processes which greatly increase the lifespan and stability of lithium-oxygen batteries. On paper, Li-O2 batteries have high energy densities and low weights. However, they also have internal reactions (involving superoxides and peroxides) that slowly corrode their carbon cathodes. The superoxide also destroys organic electrolytes in the… Read more »
Circular economy and resource recovery specialists Axion, Aspire Engineering and Aceleron have launched an initiative to tackle the growing number of end-of-life EV batteries. They are currently providing a recovery service that begins with Aspire processing the batteries for remanufacturing, reuse and recycling. Next, Aceleron tests and repurposes the batteries. If the batteries cannot be reused, Axion will then… Read more »
BYD has delivered a K11 60-foot battery-electric bus to Indianapolis public transportation provider IndyGo, the first of 13 ordered by the agency. “BYD has delivered the first bus on time, and this allows us to begin working with operations and emergency services on training, and testing battery range.” said Justin Stuehrenberg, IndyGo’s VP of Planning… Read more »
Siemens Mobility launched two new additions to its portfolio of charging solutions at the recent Cenex-LCV exhibition in the UK. The company says its new “ultra-fast” HV charger is capable of fully re-charging the latest long-range EVs in less than 15 minutes. The system uses the CCS fast charging standard, and features a liquid-cooled cable… Read more »