The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is wasting no time after its recent near-death experience (the president’s proposed budget would have eliminated the agency, but cooler heads in Congress prevailed): it has announced up to $30 million in funding for a new program called Duration Addition to electricitY Storage (DAYS), which has a goal… Read more »
As the market for plug-in vehicles grows, so does the demand for the materials associated with production, particularly lithium and cobalt, which are used in Li-on batteries. The DOE’s Critical Materials Institute (CMI) is focused on recycling and reducing the demand for rare metals that may experience shortages in the future. The agency is also… Read more »
Target will be working with Electrify America to expand its EV charging program to over 600 parking spaces at 100 sites across 20 states over the next two years. Target began adding charging stations to its parking lots in 2012, in partnership with ChargePoint. In 2017, it teamed up with Tesla to add Supercharger sites…. Read more »
Israeli startup Chakratec has raised $4.4 million from the iArgento Group and the Singaporean company Goldbell in a series C financing round. The company will use the new funding to conduct pilot projects with three European utilities. It hopes to receive its first orders later this year. Chakratec, established in 2013, has developed an energy… Read more »
ROUSH CleanTech, a Michigan company that manufactures and installs propane autogas and compressed natural gas fuel systems for commercial vehicles, plans to add an electric option to its offerings. ROUSH’s new electric model, unveiled at the recent Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, is built on the Ford F-650 chassis. It will have a lithium-ion battery system… Read more »
China is steadily positioning itself at the forefront of Li-on battery production. One sign of this is a massive ramp-up of the production of wet-process separators (separators are a critical component of Li-on batteries – they keep the anode and cathode from touching, while allowing ions to pass through). Shanghai Energy has announced that it… Read more »
The 45-year-old Nidec Corporation has unveiled a fully integrated traction motor system. Nidec’s E-Axle is based on an earlier design that included an integrated inverter. The new design also integrates an electric motor and reduction gearbox. According to Nidec, the new design delivers higher torque than earlier models – up to 3,900 N-m. Despite the… Read more »
Pivot Power has unveiled plans to build a 2 GW network of grid-scale batteries and fast charging stations across the UK. The company plans to invest some £1.6 billion to develop 45 sites around the country, installing grid-scale 50 MW batteries at electrical substations. The battery network will store enough electricity to supply 235,000 average… Read more »
Talk about shortening timelines in the auto industry – when Consumer Reports reported that it had found Model 3’s stopping distance to be unacceptably long, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded within hours, promising to look into the matter and do whatever it takes to improve braking performance. CR announced that it would not award Model… Read more »
At least a couple of the oil giants see the handwriting on the garage wall, and are taking some baby steps toward the electric future. BP has installed over 70 EV charging stations at retail sites in several countries. It has also invested $5 million in FreeWire, a manufacturer of mobile EV charging systems, and… Read more »