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 »
Tesla has racked up an impressive collection of superlatives: largest global automaker by market cap; best-selling vehicle in several countries (Switzerland is the latest); and most compelling brand since the Grateful Dead. Now the company has added another feather to its corporate cap: Tesla’s Fremont factory has been named the most productive auto plant in… Read more »
Mining giant Rio Tinto has ordered four battery-electric locomotives for use in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Wabtec will produce the four 7 MWh FLXdrive locomotives in the US, beginning in 2023, and Rio Tinto plans to conduct initial trials in the Pilbara in early 2024. The e-locos will be tested against a range… Read more »
Primobius has reached an option and licensing agreement with Stelco Holdings to commercialize Primobius’s proprietary EV battery recycling and processing technologies in North America. Operations are expected to begin in 2023. Germany-based Primobius is a joint venture of Neometals and the German engineering company SMS group to commercialize the recycling of lithium-ion batteries. Canada-based Stelco… Read more »
