TDK’s new high-voltage-resistant temperature sensors for connectors are designed to protect batteries operating at high voltages. The company designed these sensors to respond quickly, remain stable at high temperatures, and integrate directly into connectors. The company says its challenge in the design was finding a material with both high electrical insulation properties and strong thermal… Read more »
Mitra Future Technologies, also known as Mitra Chem, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Social Capital Holdings. The startup aims to boost the North American battery supply chain by producing an iron-based cathode. Iron-based battery chemistries have long dominated the market in China, while US and European automakers have… Read more »
How well do electric school buses do in extreme cold? One anecdotal answer comes from Gerald Blackard, co-owner of Tok Transportation, which operates a single electric bus for the Alaska Gateway School District in the small village of Tok in eastern Alaska. The bus, which was manufactured by Thomas Built Buses, and features a battery… Read more »
ABB has placed an order with AFC Energy for its S Series hydrogen fuel cell system. The order is worth £4 million, and the system is scheduled for delivery in early 2023. ABB will use the first 200 kW S Series system, which can be fueled with either hydrogen or ammonia, for high-power EV charging,… Read more »
Swedish manufacturer Northvolt, which is partially owned by Volkswagen and BMW, announced that it has produced its first lithium-ion battery cell using 100% recycled nickel, manganese and cobalt. The company recovered the materials from battery waste through a low-energy hydrometallurgical treatment, which involves the use of an aqueous solution to isolate the metals and separate… Read more »
The road to faster charging runs through greater cooling capacity (so to speak). Higher charging power levels mean higher current, which means that greater amounts of heat must be removed from charging cables. Purdue University engineers have invented a new, patent-pending charging cable that uses a novel cooling method. The researchers say their wonder cable… Read more »
Johnson Matthey has been working to commercialize its high-nickel cathode materials for the automotive industry, but has now concluded that the potential returns from its battery materials business will not be adequate to justify further investment. Citing competition from alternative technologies and other manufacturers, the company’s board has decided to pursue the sale of all… Read more »
BMW i Ventures will invest in Our Next Energy (ONE), a Michigan-based energy storage company that’s working to develop longer-range, lower-cost batteries. ONE will use the investment to scale production of its first products. ONE has demonstrated two proprietary technologies. The first, called Aries, uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry in a structural cell-to-pack architecture… Read more »
Engineering services provider Ricardo has received funding from the UK’s Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles, in partnership with Innovate UK, for a project to optimize in-car thermal and energy management systems to improve EV range and battery performance. Partnering with Jaguar Land Rover and using a Jaguar I-PACE as a demonstrator vehicle, engineers will look… Read more »
Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH), a supplier of microinverter-based solar and battery systems, has agreed to acquire California-based charger manufacturer ClipperCreek. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2021. ClipperCreek has served the EV charging market since 2006, and has sold more than 110,000 Level 2 AC charging stations since its inception. Enphase… Read more »
