EV startup Faraday Future has begun construction of a $1-billion, 3-million-square-foot manufacturing plant in North Las Vegas. Industrial construction firm AECOM (NYSE:ACM) is handling the project, and is already engaged in demolition and grading at the site. The facility will include sustainability features such as prismatic skylights for daylighting, roof-mounted solar panels, and energy-efficient heating… Read more »
Ube Industries and Mitsubishi Chemical have agreed to form a joint venture to supply electrolyte to the Chinese market. The JV will enable the two companies to combine their production technologies and to use their technology resources, including intellectual property, to enhance cost competitiveness. Ube Industries manufactures Purelyte electrolyte at a factory in Japan and… Read more »
The California Air Resources Board has adopted a revised funding plan for proceeds from the state’s cap-and-trade program that aims to help more lower-income consumers buy clean vehicles. It also includes investments in zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and buses. Highlights of the revised plan include: $133 million to the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP), which offers… Read more »
Boeing has placed an order with GS Yuasa Lithium Power for LSE190 lithium-ion cells, which will be used to power two ViaSat-3 geostationary communications satellites. Each satellite will provide one terabit per second of throughput. The LSE190 cell is specifically engineered to support these kinds of high-power duty cycles, and to achieve a 15-year mission… Read more »
Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV has become a big hit in the UK – sales recently passed the 25,000 mark, and the Japanese SUV now represents about half the total number of PHEVs registered in the island nation, where some 13 plug-in hybrid models are available. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV was first launched in Japan in 2013,… Read more »
MINI execs have previewed the brand’s first plug-in hybrid model, and announced that the series development process is almost complete. The upcoming MINI can drive in all-electric mode at speeds of up to 50 mph. Said Head of MINI Brand Management Sebastian Mackensen, this is a question of character: “In a hybrid MINI model, driving… Read more »
Commercial electric aircraft may lie far in the future, but NASA is conducting research on several fronts. Engineers at the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) at NASA’s Glenn Research Center ran the new facility’s first test in September. Dr. Rodger Dyson led a team that successfully tested a 600-volt electrical power system that could realistically… Read more »
Infineon Technologies has launched the next generation of its AURIX microcontroller family. The TC3xx microcontrollers include a hexa-core architecture and features for connectivity, security and embedded safety. They are suited for a range of automotive applications, including engine management, transmission control, hybrid domain control, inverter control, battery management, and DC-DC converters. The AURIX TC3xx family… Read more »
XALT Energy has announced that its Lithium Titanium Oxide (LTO) battery cells have been certified under China’s new GB/T quality control standard. The new and more stringent standard replaces the QC/T standard under which the cells were previously certified. XALT launched the LTO cell in China last year, and was ramping up production volume to… Read more »
There are now over half a million plug-in vehicles on US roads, the DOE reported. The milestone of 500,000 cumulative sales was reached in September. The first mass market plug-in vehicles, the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF, were introduced in the US in December of 2010. By the end of 2012 there were 11 different… Read more »
