A team of researchers from the University of Maryland (UMD) and the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) have devised what they call a “water-in-salt” electrolyte that could offer power, efficiency and longevity comparable to Li-ion batteries, but without the toxic chemicals and fire risk. In “Water-in-salt electrolyte enables high-voltage aqueous lithium-ion chemistries,” published in the… Read more »
Silence is often noted as a nifty feature of EVs. But the danger to pedestrians has led government regulators to discuss requiring the vehicles to make an artificial noise when traveling at low speeds. The federal Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act was signed into law in 2011, but there is still no requirement for EVs to… Read more »
Ford has partnered with charging network operator NRG EVgo in a program called EV 1-2-3 Charge, which offers three years of complimentary charging to California and Maryland customers who purchase or lease a 2016 Ford C-MAX Energi. EV 1-2-3 Charge provides unlimited charging sessions of four hours each at EVgo and partner public stations across… Read more »
The Koreans are plugging in. The 2016 Hyundai Sonata PHEV, which made its debut at January’s Detroit auto show, arrives at “select dealerships” this week. The Sonata’s cousin, the Kia Optima, is also expected to appear in a plug-in version in the second half of 2016. The Korea Herald recently reported that Hyundai plans to… Read more »
Dutch charging network operator Fastned has partnered with the municipality of The Hague to install five DC fast charging stations in the city in 2016, Fastned’s first installation in an urban location. The stations, which the company says can serve 150 cars per day, will be located along busy city streets. “Stations in the city… Read more »
Diehard fossil-fuel fans are fond of speculating that EVs may be no cleaner than legacy ICE vehicles, once the emissions resulting from power generation and manufacturing are taken into account. In fact, study after study, including reports from the Union of Concerned Scientists (2012), the University of Minnesota, and Carnegie Mellon University, has shown that,… Read more »
As part of its ChargeNow DC Fast program, BMW of North America is supporting EVgo’s installation of an additional 500 DC Fast Combo chargers. The first phase of ChargeNow DC Fast saw the installation of 100 EVgo DC fast charging stations throughout California, which BMW i3 owners can access for free with their ChargeNow cards…. Read more »
The California-based EV startup Faraday Future (FF) has presented innovative ideas and assembled a talented team, raiding the ranks of such companies as Tesla, BMW, Audi, Apple, SpaceX, and Hulu. So far however, it has offered few details about its organization or its strategy. More is sure to be revealed soon. The company will participate… Read more »
Sendyne, a maker of battery measurement systems and modeling tools, has been awarded a patent for a novel active cell balancing topology. Active cell balancing is the process of transferring energy to and from individual cells in a battery pack so that all cells will operate at the same State of Charge (SOC). Because individual… Read more »
The DOE has announced a new batch of topics for the 2016 Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs. Under the SBIR and STTR programs, federal agencies set aside portions of their R&D budgets for small businesses. Companies that win awards keep the rights to any technology developed, and are encouraged… Read more »
