The war between Tesla and the auto dealers is back in the news, and it seems that Tesla is winning a battle in New Jersey. This week, the state Senate Commerce Committee unanimously passed a bill that would allow manufacturers of zero-emission vehicles to set up as many as four retail locations in the Garden… Read more »
These days, the media trumpets every new plug-in vehicle as a “Tesla competitor,” so it’s perhaps not surprising that the feature of the Aoxin Ibis that’s attracting the most attention is its badge, which includes a vaguely familiar “T” shape. The new electric sedan, which is also known as the Aoxin Heying or Aoxin E45,… Read more »
Scientists at the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have captured the first real-time nanoscale images of lithium dendrite structures in lithium-ion batteries. The ORNL team is confident that its research, published in Nano Letters, will be of great benefit to scientists who are experimenting with different ways to tackle the dendrite problem. Dendrites form when… Read more »
Efficient Drivetrains Inc (EDI), a drivetrain manufacturer with offices in Silicon Valley and China, has launched a Class 3 utility truck with a plug-in hybrid powertrain that it says can reduce emissions and fuel use by up to 80 percent. The new vehicle, which is built on a popular Detroit OEM commercial fleet truck, is… Read more »
Nissan and Endesa have agreed to work together to develop a mass-market vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system. The two companies plan to introduce V2G services in the European market and to explore the use of second-life EV batteries for stationary applications. “Every Nissan electric vehicle battery contains a power storage capability that will prove useful in contributing… Read more »
Renault has extended the range of its Zoe electric hatchback by 14.6% to 149 miles (on the New European Driving Cycle) by using a lighter and more compact motor and an optimized electronic management system. The R240, designed by Renault, is a synchronous electric motor with rotor coil, with a power output of 65 kW and… Read more »
ChargePoint is the latest entrant into the crowded residential charging station market. The ChargePoint Home was announced in January, and later this year when it goes on sales, it will begin vying for a spot on garage walls up against multinational conglomerates and long-established EVSE companies like ABB, AeroVironment, Bosch, ClipperCreek, Eaton, GE, Leviton, Lite-On,… Read more »
Industry sources expect Samsung SDI to provide battery packs for BMW’s upcoming X5 Plug-in Hybrid SUV, according to Korean news agency Yonhap. In July 2014, BMW and Samsung agreed to expand their supply relationship. The Korean company’s battery cells power the BMW i3 and i8, and market research firm IHS expects Samsung to increase shipments… Read more »
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed a new zinc-polyiodide redox flow battery that could offer more than two times the energy density of existing designs. Flow batteries, which use ionized liquids stored in external tanks in place of traditional electrolytes, have garnered a lot of publicity lately, as the storage medium of… Read more »
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has launched a pilot vehicle-to-grid project under which it will bid a group of energy storage systems and EV fleets as one resource directly into the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) energy markets. Utilities use storage resources like this to address short-term imbalances in electricity supply caused by such… Read more »
