Are the authorities “piling on” the Volkswagen Group? In 2017, the poor little automaker pleaded guilty to fraud and obstruction of justice in the dirty diesel debacle, and has already agreed to shell out some $30 billion in atonement. Now the mean old US Securities and Exchange Commission has sued the company and ex-CEO Martin… Read more »
Researchers at Freudenberg are developing a plastic housing material for EV electronics as an alternative to heavier and more costly aluminum. To protect against electromagnetic waves that can disrupt signal flow in microprocessors and transmitter-receiver systems, EV makers typically encase electrical components in conductive metal housings, usually aluminum. Freudenberg says the additional weight of the… Read more »
Chemical company Henkel has identified several major challenges faced by battery manufacturers, including: cost efficiency and high-speed cell assembly; reliable thermal management for safety and UL94 flammability standards; and serviceability of battery packs. Henkel’s battery assembly adhesives and thermal interface materials (thermal adhesives and thermal gap fillers) are designed to address these challenges. Henkel produces… Read more »
Automotive supplier MAHLE is installing its chargeBIG charging system, and 110 charging points, at the Stuttgart Airport. chargeBIG is a centralized, scalable charging infrastructure for short-term parking lots and fleet operators. The system is designed to decrease bottlenecks in the power supply by dynamically managing the electric load. The chargeBIG chargers allow for single-phase AC… Read more »
Volvo, which previously announced plans to offer electric powertrains across its entire model range, now says it will add PHEV variants of the XC60 SUV and new V60 wagon to its 2020 line-up. Both vehicles will be available in summer 2019 and will feature Volvo’s sporty Polestar Engineered trim. The vehicles’ powertrain software has been… Read more »
In California, a controversial plan to require credit card readers on all public charging stations has generated a lot of pushback from the industry. Charging network operators, hardware manufacturers and other stakeholders say that installing and maintaining the readers would impose excessive costs on what is already a very low-margin business, and point out that,… Read more »
The Fraunhofer Institute and Hitachi Metals say they’ve produced an on-board charger (OBC) prototype that delivers both high power output and compactness by using soft magnetic materials developed by Hitachi. Hitachi says the technology enables the OBC prototype to generate a power density of 3.8 kW/l. Hitachi explains that there is typically a trade-off between… Read more »
Electric bus manufacturer Proterra has partnered with Japanese conglomerate Mitsui to create a $200-million credit to scale up Proterra’s battery leasing program. Proterra customers will be able to purchase an electric bus and lease the batteries over the 12-year lifetime of the bus. Through the battery lease, Proterra says the initial capital expense for the… Read more »
Japanese electric motor company Nidec has developed two smaller versions of its fully-integrated traction motor system, E-Axle. It has also announced a new short-range radar that doubles as a proximity sensor for automatic parking systems. Nidec first introduced the E-Axle system in April 2018 as a 150 kW system, composed of an integrated electric motor,… Read more »
SF Motors is now SERES. The rechristened EV-maker began taking pre-orders for its crossover EV, the SF5, in April. The crossover will be available in two variants. The SF5 EV will feature 510 kW of maximum power, 1,040 Nm of torque, a top speed of 155 mph, and a 3.5-second zero-to-60 time. The SF5 EVR… Read more »
