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 »
Private aviation company JetSuite has announced plans to add up to 100 Zunum Aero electrified aircraft to its fleet. Washington-based Zunum Aero, profiled in the July/August issue of Charged, is developing a “hybrid-to-electric” plane with a capacity of 12 passengers, a maximum cruise speed of 340 mph and a take-off distance of 2,200 feet. The aircraft is optimized… Read more »
Indiana-based heavy-duty engine specialist Cummins unveiled its lithium-ion battery portfolio at the recent Battery Show Europe in Hannover, Germany, including battery packs and modules that can be integrated with the company’s new electric and hybrid powertrain portfolio. Cummins’s product range includes the BM44E (44 kWh) and BM20E (20 kWh) low-voltage modules, designed to power material… Read more »
Los Angeles-based Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing (AVM) has signed a memorandum of understanding with UBSI, an operator of more than 650 buses in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, to purchase 58 of AVM’s commercial electric vehicles. AVM unveiled the first vehicle in its line of electric mid-size shuttle buses, the EV27, at the recent Advanced Clean… Read more »
