Tesla’s latest earnings report, for the fourth quarter and full year 2021, was another strong one. Deliveries grew by 87% in 2021, earnings per share and revenue each beat analyst estimates by over 6%, and the company claimed that it achieved “the highest quarterly operating margin among all volume OEMs…demonstrating that EVs can be more… Read more »
Ford Pro, the division of Ford that caters to commercial fleet customers, has introduced Ford Pro Intelligence, a cloud-based platform to support EV fleet operations. Ford Pro Intelligence combines Ford Pro’s suite of services, including telematics, with Salesforce’s cloud-based CRM system. It’s designed to help fleet operators keep track of vehicles, manage drivers and share… Read more »
Charging specialist CTEK has integrated its EV chargers with billing software from Fuuse Billing, a brand of the England-based company Miralis Data. Customers with CTEK Chargestorm Connected 2 chargers can now link their chargers to Fuuse Billing software to generate revenue. The payment card industry-compliant software supports payment collections from drivers, automated invoicing and secure… Read more »
Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, plans to expand its electric and hybrid vehicle services at 44 of the company’s Firestone Complete Auto Care and Wheel Works stores in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California. While EV services today account for less than 10% of total services at Bridgestone’s retail operations nationwide, the… Read more »
German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon introduced the EiceDRIVER 2ED4820-EM gate driver with an SPI interface, which is designed to protect 48 V lithium-ion battery systems from negative and positive voltages. It’s part of the EiceDRIVER APD product line, and is in production now. The new dual-channel high-side gate driver can withstand negative voltages at Vbat down… Read more »
The Rimac Group has spun off Rimac Technology as a wholly-owned independent company. Sister company Bugatti Rimac (previously Rimac Automobili) is jointly owned by the Rimac Group, which has a 55% stake, and Porsche, which owns the remaining 45%. Bugatti Rimac will continue to focus on building “hypercars,” while Rimac Technology will provide components to… Read more »
EV Connect has announced the general availability of its Fleet Charging Management Platform. The new fleet management solution is designed to provide complete control over fleets and their energy consumption for fleet service providers as well as in-house-managed vehicle fleets. As a lead customer, the City of Porterville, California is now using the EV Connect… Read more »
Automotive and security technology firm Rheinmetall is setting up a joint venture company with capacitor supplier PolyCharge America to develop, produce and market PolyCharge’s DC-link NanoLam capacitors for automotive, military and industrial markets. Rheinmetall has also invested enough money in PolyCharge to hold about 13% of the shares in the US-based company. According to Rheinmetall,… Read more »
Volvo Trucks North America is currently delivering its Volvo VNR Electric Class 8 truck to fleets across the US. Now the company has announced that production of a new model, which features an 85% increase in range, faster charging, and more configurations for heavy-duty transport, will begin in Q2 2022. The next-gen VNR Electric is… Read more »
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a lithium-sulfur battery which they estimate will be able to achieve 1,000 real-world cycles with fast charging. In an article published in Nature Communications, the researchers write: “Lithium-sulfur batteries have a high specific capacity, but lithium polysulfide (LPS) diffusion and lithium dendrite growth drastically reduce their cycle… Read more »
