Delivery trucks are ideal candidates for electrification, and they deliver long-term cost savings as well as cleaner air and quieter operation. Major fleets around the world, including FedEx and USPS, are testing them. A few operators have already passed the pilot stage, and placed substantial orders: Deutsche Post designed and built its own electric delivery… Read more »
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2019 Audi e-tron feels like the real thing
This time, it feels different. We long-suffering EV journalists have been snookered time and again – automakers have launched new EVs, and we’ve covered them with enthusiasm and optimism, only to be disappointed when the companies failed to market them, and turned them into low-volume compliance cars. Ford, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Kia, Audi and others have… Read more »
Integral eDrive partners with McLaren and Hewland on new electric axle system
The Integral e-Drive division of Integral Powertrain has collaborated with McLaren Applied Technologies and Hewland Engineering to design a new electric axle system. The CTU-400 e-axle features integrated inverter technology from McLaren, two 200 kW permanent magnet motors from Integral e-Drive, and two reduction gear sets for torque vectoring from Hewland. The self-contained CTU-400 is… Read more »
Analysts share a behind-the-scenes tour of Tesla’s Gigafactory
Can Tesla produce Model 3s in volume, and make a profit? That’s the question of the day (or maybe, of the century). Investment management firm Worm Capital (among others) believes that the answer depends on how efficiently the company is able to manufacture its battery packs, and it recently sent a team to visit Tesla’s… Read more »
German automakers struggle to find a profitable road to electrification
It has gradually become apparent that Big Auto’s reluctance to embrace EVs is not due to mere Luddism or fear of the future. There are several reasons to believe that electrification will take a major bite out of industry profits, as Daimler execs acknowledged in March. Now Volkswagen has warned that its stated plan to… Read more »
Chinese EV-makers are coming: NIO debuts on NYSE
China is by far the world’s largest EV market – nearly 373,000 plug-in passenger cars were sold there in the first half of this year (according to EV Volumes). It’s widely believed that Chinese automakers hope to ride the electrification wave to the top of the global industry, but so far the only Chinese company… Read more »
Honda Clarity PHEV drives like a dream
The Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is a quiet star. While the Tesla Model 3 and Chevy Volt have been hogging the headlines, the Clarity PHEV has sold 8,109 units in the US since its late 2017 launch. It’s the third best-selling PHEV on the market, after the Prius Prime and the Chevy Volt. In the… Read more »
Tydrolyte releases low-corrosion, low-toxicity electrolyte alternative for lead-acid batteries
Electrolyte specialist Tydrolyte has released an electrolyte intended to replace the sulfuric acid found in lead-acid batteries. It claims that the patent-pending electrolyte is well suited for start-stop batteries, offers lower hold currents and water losses and is less toxic than sulfuric acid. Start-stop batteries must induce 100 times as many engine ignitions as a conventional… Read more »
Tritium receives DOE funding to develop high-power charging
Charging solution manufacturer Tritium will receive a portion of $3.2 million in federal funding awarded to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to develop an extreme fast charging system. EPRI has allocated about $400,000 for Tritium to develop a custom version of its Veefil-PK high-powered charging head, along with providing input for system design and… Read more »
Winnebago and Motiv Power Systems team up to develop electric mobile healthcare vehicle
Winnebago Industries (NYSE: WGO) has partnered with Motiv Power Systems to develop an electric Mobile Lung Unit (eMLU) vehicle. Powered by Motiv’s EPIC 6 all-electric chassis, which is based on a Ford F-53, the specialty healthcare vehicle features the Samsung NeuroLogica BodyTom Elite, a portable full-body, 32-slice CT scanner. The vehicle’s electric powertrain eliminates the… Read more »