Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Jilin University have investigated a promising anode material for future high-performance batteries: lithium lanthanum titanate with a perovskite crystal structure (LLTO). As the team reported in Nature Communications, LLTO can improve battery energy density, power density, charging rate, safety and cycle life without requiring a particle… Read more »
Charging time is the Achilles’ heel of EVs. Much faster refueling could be enabled by boosting the voltage of an EV’s battery system from the 400 volts used by most current models. The Porsche Taycan uses an 800-volt battery architecture, which means the current can be cut in half, so wires can be lighter and… Read more »
Lonestar Specialty Vehicles has partnered with Los Angeles-based In-Charge Energy to offer customers turnkey energy and charging solutions for fleet conversion to EVs. Texas-based Lonestar is a supplier of fully electric remanufactured commercial vehicles. The company has deployed more than 3,000 Class 8 trucks and tractors. Its mission is to provide an alternative to internal… Read more »
The Chevrolet Bolt EV has earned some impressive reviews since its 2016 launch. Earlier this year, it performed the notable feat of increasing sales by 36% in the first quarter—a period during which overall Chevy sales were down (at least part of that success was due to heavy discounting). The Bolt is believed to be… Read more »
Mercedes-Benz and Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) are collaborating to create new battery technology for the high-volume electrification of Mercedes vehicles. The carmaker is accelerating its Electric First strategy, and plans to use carbon-neutral battery cells, modules and systems supplied by CATL. The agreement covers the full range of battery technologies, from cells to modules for… Read more »
A new survey reports that the use of aluminum is growing faster than that of any other automotive material, and is expected to grow to content levels of 514 pounds per vehicle (PPV) by 2026, up 12% from 2020 levels. The survey, conducted by DuckerFrontier, analyzes the latest information on material content for North American… Read more »
The transport treehouse podcast is a good place to hear some of the world’s top EV experts talk about trends in the industry. Hosts Chelsea Sexton and Russell Frost are two of the most experienced EV journalists out there, and they have an ongoing stream of guests who have expertise in various aspects of the… Read more »
Energy Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) and ProfMOF have announced a partnership to promote the use of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), a relatively new class of nanotechnology materials suitable for applications in the renewable energy and battery storage fields. Capable of separating, transporting and isolating specific elements at the ionic level, MOFs are dense and malleable materials made… Read more »
The state of California is offering $27 million in funding to replace polluting trucks with zero-emission vehicles. This is the first installment of $90 million that will be made available for the Zero-Emission Class 8 Freight and Port Drayage Trucks category, which includes freight trucks (including drayage), waste haulers, dump trucks and concrete mixers. Existing… Read more »
Vitesco Technologies, a maker of electric powertrains, will provide drive control units for the Volkswagen ID.3. “This product makes us part of Volkswagen’s electrification ecosystem, which is proof of our strong system and electronics expertise across the entire vehicle propulsion system and beyond,” said Vitesco VP Wolfgang Breuer. Vitesco developed the drive control unit for… Read more »