The DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory has teamed with Colorado-based Dynexus Technology to develop a new battery diagnostic technology for the energy storage industry. Under an exclusive licensing agreement, Dynexus will commercialize INL’s embedded wideband impedance technology for analyzing and forecasting the health, aging and safety characteristics of batteries. The wideband impedance technique delivers in-depth diagnostic… Read more »
Electric bus manufacturer Proterra has raised $140 million in a Series 5 financing round. The company will use the new money to double its production capacity in order to meet exploding customer demand from transport authorities across the US. Proterra’s 2016 sales awards more than doubled from 2015. The new capital will allow Proterra to… Read more »
GKN Driveline’s eAxle technology enables automakers to add plug-in hybrid and AWD capabilities to their vehicles. Customers include BMW, Volvo and Porsche. Now GKN has announced that it will invest nearly $179 million to expand its manufacturing facilities in four North Carolina counties. The new investment, to be made over the next five years, is… Read more »
ChargePoint, which operates over 31,000 independently owned public charging stations around the world, has announced a higher-level DC charging solution designed to accommodate the coming generation of longer-range EVs. ChargePoint Express Plus can deliver up to 400 kW, plenty of power to charge new EVs such as the Chevy Bolt at their maximum rates, as… Read more »
Faraday Future (FF), the intriguing EV startup that employs several alumni of Tesla and other automotive and tech giants, revealed its first production vehicle, called FF 91, at a press event prior to the recent CES trade show. FF 91 features a monocoque vehicle structure that integrates the chassis and body, and a multi-motor setup… Read more »
Engineers at Germany’s Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have developed a new concept for current and voltage sensors that may be particularly relevant to EV batteries. Battery monitoring typically requires as many current and voltage sensors as there are individual cells. RUB’s system uses only one of each, regardless of the number of cells. Moreover, both sensors… Read more »
Korean batterymaker LG Chem is one of the rising stars of the EV revolution. Its cells power the Chevy Volt, and its components are an integral part of the new Bolt. It will also supply the battery pack system and controls for the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan. This is translating into jobs in the… Read more »
December plug-in sales blew away last year’s figure, a cheery finale to a year that saw a huge increase. 159,139 EVs and PHEVs changed hands in 2016, a 37% increase over 2015’s 116,099. A new breeze seems to be blowing through boardrooms around the industry, from Toyota to Chrysler to Ford. As usual, Tesla heads… Read more »
It seems we’ve been waiting forever, but in fact, as these things go, it happened with lightning speed. Tesla’s game-changing Gigafactory has started producing battery cells, destined for the Powerwall and other energy storage products and, beginning in the second quarter, the Model 3. The sprawling Nevada plant is already assembling utility-scale Powerpacks for Southern… Read more »
China is one of the epicenters of the electromobility revolution, and a new proposal could make it much more so, while also giving a boost to American EV-makers such as Tesla. Currently, foreign automakers are allowed to produce vehicles in the country only through a joint venture with a local partner. Now China’s National Development… Read more »
