Rivian Automotive is the brightest rising star in the EV firmament at the moment, and it’s flush with cash following a $11.9 billion stock offering in November. Now the company has announced plans to put some of that nest egg to work at a new $5-billion battery and assembly plant east of Atlanta, which is… Read more »
Automakers that are serious about producing EVs understand that they need to build new supply chains, including major battery manufacturing capacity and secure sources of raw materials. The Volkswagen Group has been steadily turning up the voltage, raising its planned investment in EV and self-driving technologies to 73 billion euros ($86 billion) over the next… Read more »
Microchip Technology is collaborating with Mersen on a new 150 kVA 3-phase silicon carbide power stack reference design. Mersen’s current offering provides designers with a compact, high-power silicon carbide system without the need for individual device sourcing, testing and qualification. The reference design includes Microchip’s SiC power modules and digital gate drivers and Mersen’s busbar,… Read more »
Commercial EV OEM Proterra (NASDAQ: PTRA) plans to open a new manufacturing plant in South Carolina to produce battery systems for its Proterra Powered division, which provides batteries for other EV-makers’ commercial vehicles, including delivery and work trucks, industrial equipment, buses and more. The new factory will be Proterra’s third battery production facility. In December… Read more »
Vehicle parts supplier Dana has announced that one of its business partnerships is planning to open an electric motor factory in Åmål, Sweden in late 2022. Called Dana TM4, the partnership joins Dana with Hydro-Québec to make electric motors for EVs. Production is to begin in the first half of 2023. US-based Dana designs and… Read more »
Will 2022 be the year of the electric pickup truck? Startup Rivian snatched the first-mover advantage with its impressive R1T, and Ford recently grabbed some headlines with the announcement that demand for its upcoming F-150 Lightning has been far greater than anticipated. Hope springs eternal that Tesla’s unorthodox Cybertruck will hit the road sometime in… Read more »
SEA Electric and Midwest Transit Equipment (MTE), a major US bus dealer, have partnered to update 10,000 school buses with battery-electric power-systems. The deal will cover both Type A and Type C school buses, and deliveries will take place over the next five years. The buses will be powered by SEA Electric’s SEA-Drive power system…. Read more »
Parker LORD has expanded its EV product portfolio to include thermally conductive (TC) adhesives and one-component low-density gap fillers. The new adhesives are part of a strategy to create lighter-weight and smaller-footprint products that can help deliver additional energy density. Methods under development include bonding individual cells directly to the cooling plate and bonding directly… Read more »
KACO has further developed its quick-venting modular system for battery deflation. The products include reversible and irreversible solutions with a configurable breathing membrane. If an unintentional fault occurs in the traction battery of an EV or hybrid, rapid emergency venting is needed to reduce the pressure in the affected battery segment. Depending on customer specifications,… Read more »
Hypercharge Networks, a provider of turnkey charging solutions, has formed a long-term partnership with Toronto-based parking operator Target Park. The two companies will deploy 2,500 Level 2 public charging stations across North America over the next 36 months. Starting in early 2022, Hypercharge EV charging will be available at several of Target Park’s Toronto locations…. Read more »
