Charging levels are headed higher, and greater efficiency could make it easier to top up tomorrow’s bigger batteries without straining the grid. Researchers at the Advanced Power Electronics Lab at Kettering University, in partnership with auto electronics giant HELLA, now report that they have built a Level 2 onboard charger with an efficiency of 97%,… Read more »
US plug-in sales are on the rise again – February’s figure of 7,881 was the fourth consecutive monthly record, and an increase of 13% over last February’s 6,951. The Tesla Model S regained the lead that it briefly lost to the Volt in January – estimated sales were 1,550 units in the US (via InsideEVs). The… Read more »
Motiv Power Systems and Morgan Olson are collaborating to provide an all-electric option for Morgan Olson’s popular Route Star walk-in van, built on the Ford F59 chassis. The new electric Route Star has a range of 85 miles. “Many fleet managers are exploring alternative fuel solutions and finding electric to be ideal in many delivery… Read more »
Greenlots and Hawaiian Electric Company have collaborated to demonstrate a fast charger that incorporates Greenlots’ SKY vehicle-grid integration (VGI) platform, as well as stationary storage. The Greenlots SKY Smart Charging platform, which uses OpenADR and the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), can respond to demand response load modification requests and allow Hawaiian Electric to remotely… Read more »
China has been making a major push to electrify its transportation sector, an effort that has largely relied on subsidies for EV producers and buyers. Plug-in sales in 2015 were over 330,000 units – a lot of cars by Western standards, but still short of Beijing’s goal of half a million. In January, the Finance… Read more »
The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will award up to $30 million in funding for a new program focused on creating components for the next generation of batteries and fuel cells. ARPA-E’s Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion Conducting Solids (IONICS) program (DE-FOA-0001478) seeks to create transformational electrochemical cells by creating components built with… Read more »
EV startup Faraday Future (FF) has applied for more than 100 patents over the last year. This week it announced that its first one has been granted, for a new assembly process called “FF Echelon Inverter.” The inverter is designed to be small and simple. FF claims it achieves 20-30% greater power density than competitors’… Read more »
Despite the ascendance of the SUV, the station wagon (or “estate car,” to our British friends) is alive and well, at least in Europe. Now Volvo has unveiled a plug-in version of its V90 wagon. “We have a very strong position in the estate [station wagon] segment,” said Håkan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars. “In… Read more »
Dutch charging network operator Fastned has announced that it will add Tesla adaptors at all of its 50 stations in the Netherlands by the end of March. According to Fastned, there are now almost 5,000 Teslas on Dutch roads, and more being delivered every month. The 50 Fastned locations will surely make a welcome addition… Read more »
The Hyundai Ioniq, which made its debut at this week’s Geneva Motor Show, is a historic vehicle – the first from a major automaker to be offered in three versions, all of them electrified: the Ioniq Hybrid, Ioniq Plug-In and Ioniq Electric. The first to hit showrooms will be the Ioniq Hybrid, featuring a 1.6-liter… Read more »
