According to a recent article in Business Korea, SK Innovation – a subsidiary of Korea’s giant SK conglomerate – is planning to invest $1.05 billion USD to build an EV battery manufacturing plant in Yancheng, China. The new plant will join the company’s pre-existing battery plant in Changzhou. SK Innovation’s plans for the new plant… Read more »
Even experienced auto writers approach driving high-performance cars with caution. If you mostly test mass-market cars, as I do, trepidation may creep in: Will I be able to do this car justice? Will it be manageable on the road? Are there special steps I should take to avoid damaging a car that costs six figures?… Read more »
After positive feedback at London’s 2019 Freight of the City Expo, Tevva Motors has confirmed that in addition to its six-month rental scheme, it will now support vehicle leases and direct purchases of its e-truck. Series production is set to begin in 2020. Through its Electrify initiative, Tevva offers urban distribution companies a six-month rental… Read more »
Volkswagen will begin manufacturing a server developed by parts supplier Continental for its upcoming ID family of EVs. VW will use the technology as an in-car application server that will allow wireless updates in the future. The new server forms just one part of the more comprehensive ICAS1 processor, one of three central processors that… Read more »
In September 2019, sales of new passenger EVs with NCM 811 battery cells accounted for 18% of all passenger EV battery capacity deployed in China and 7% of all capacity deployed globally, according to Adamas Intelligence’s latest EV Battery Capacity Monthly report. For the second month in a row, NCM 811 was second only to… Read more »
A consortium of companies led by the BMW Group has launched the Bidirectional Charging Management (BCM) research project to develop backfeeding power technology, which will allow vehicles to transfer energy back into the power grid or customers’ homes when plugged into a compatible charging station or wallbox. The goal is to allow EVs to operate… Read more »
The record for “largest order of electric buses in Europe” is proving to be a rapidly moving target. In November, Volvo sold 157 e-buses to a French public transit operator, and proclaimed that this order was the largest in Europe to date. Now Keolis, a private public transport operator that manages bus and metro systems… Read more »
VW of America recently commissioned California-based EV conversion specialist EV West to construct an electrified VW Type 2 Bus to showcase the company’s e-Golf powertrain. The stock powertrain and 35.8 kWh battery system from the donor 2017 e-Golf gives the e-Bus an approximate range of 125 miles. The powertrain will reside in the rear compartment… Read more »
Hitachi Automotive Systems is starting mass production of its 800-volt, high-output EV inverter. The company says that, thanks to its strong cooling performance, the new inverter delivers twice the voltage and 2.7 times the power density of previous generations. Most EVs are based on a 400-volt system, so in order to increase driving range, additional… Read more »
Researchers at Germany’s esteemed Fraunhofer research organization have developed a casting technique to produce lightweight aluminum windings with a higher groove fill factor than conventional copper wire. The coils are composed of cast aluminum, and are based on a flat conductor arrangement, which leads to a higher slot fill factor and thus better use of… Read more »
