Security company Brink’s, famous for its armored trucks, operates a fleet of 7,800 vehicles in 150 countries. The company recently purchased two plug-in trucks from Workhorse Group (profiled in the May/June 2017 issue of Charged). Brink’s bought one Workhorse Class 5 E-GEN and one E-100 chassis, both paired with a custom Brink’s body. The two… Read more »
Circuit protection specialist Littelfuse has introduced a series of 16 A silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) switching thyristors developed especially for EV on-board charge (EVOBC) applications. Littelfuse’s S8016xA Series thyristors are designed to offer excellent AC handling capability and surge robustness, allowing them to handle Level 1 charging up to 16 ARMS at 120 V, and Level… Read more »
Tesla’s Model 3 is finally taking to the roads, and the rave reviews are taking to the internet (most of them based on little more than a short test drive at the launch event). Tesla gave us a good bit of information about the new EV at that event, but it’s revealing some of the… Read more »
Automotive supply giant Continental has developing a new type of wheel and braking system to meet the specific requirements of electrified vehicles. The New Wheel Concept is based on a new division between the wheel and the axle. The wheel consists of two parts, the aluminum carrier star, which remains permanently bolted to the wheel… Read more »
Automakers have expended much time and treasure lobbying for government fuel efficiency standards to be watered down. Now it appears that they aren’t interested in scrapping the current standards altogether, but only in extending the deadlines for them to be applied. The US administration has announced that the EPA will reopen the midterm evaluation of… Read more »
BYD has announced the delivery of an electric 60-ft articulated transit bus to the city of Albuquerque. The new e-bus, which will be a part of the city’s new bus rapid transit line, Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART), is the first of 20 to be delivered by the end of 2017. According to BYD, its buses… Read more »
The Battery500 consortium, led by the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), intends to build a battery pack with a specific energy of 500 Wh/kg, which would more than double the 170-200 Wh/kg per kilogram in today’s typical EV battery. Part of the initiative is the “Seedling” program, which identifies new and risky battery research… Read more »
SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM’s Chinese joint venture, has launched the brand’s first EV, the Baojun E100. Available in two variants, it is priced at RMB 35,800 ($5,290) after national and local subsidies. Sales will initially be limited to the Guangxi region, but demand is strong – the company received more than 5,000 pre-orders. The E100 is powered… Read more »
Honda and Yamaha have partnered with Saitama City, Japan to evaluate and test electric motorcycles. The pilot is part of the city’s E-Kizuna Project, which aims to promote the spread of EVs. Evaluation testing will utilize Honda and Yamaha’s electric technology and Saitama City’s existing infrastructure. Electric motorcycles will be tested in the Class 1… Read more »
The UK’s Royal Mail has agreed to purchase 100 Peugeot Partner L2 Electric vans, to be used as delivery vehicles. The vans will go into service from December 2017 at delivery offices around the UK, supported by a rollout of charging infrastructure. This is the first major fleet order for the Partner L2 Electric, which… Read more »