The EPA’s fuel economy labels on new cars are likely ineffective in pointing out the total savings of hybrid and plug-in cars over legacy vehicles, according to a new study by two University of Kansas professors. The research team conducted a 2013 online survey of 3,200 respondents in 32 US cities, and published their findings… Read more »
Groupe Bolloré, the French conglomerate that operates electric car-sharing services in Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon and Indianapolis, has won government backing for a charging network across France. Bolloré plans to invest 150 million euros ($172 million) to install 16,000 Level 2 chargers over the next four years. Subscribers will be able to reserve time slots at… Read more »
Liechtenstein-based nanoFlowcell AG has taken a different approach to battery design. Its vehicles use a flow battery system which works like a combination of a battery and a fuel cell, using liquid electrolytes kept in two tanks and pumped through the cell. At the heart of the system is a membrane that separates two differing chemistries. A… Read more »
Worried about finding a place to plug in your EV? You needn’t be, at least if you live in Japan – Nissan recently made the surprising announcement that the number of power points in Japan has passed 40,000, more than the 34,000 gas stations in the country. “An important element of the continued market growth… Read more »
Corporate fleets can save big by going electric, but those savings can only be optimized if a company can manage its charging intelligently and minimize demand charges, potentially hefty fees that are based on a customer’s highest power usage during a month. New York utility Con Edison, together with FedEx Express, General Electric and Columbia… Read more »
Porsche is definitely working on a pure electric sport sedan, and details of the company’s plans are beginning to trickle out. In January, unnamed sources told the German magazine auto motor und sport that Porsche had dropped plans for gas and diesel versions of its Pajun (Panamera Junior) sedan, and that it would go on… Read more »
Power management company Eaton has announced an addition to its EVSE product line. The DC hyper charger is designed to serve mass transit EVs such as buses, and is scalable from 250 kW to 1 MW charging rates. Eaton’s engineers collaborated with product testing firm Intertek to devise a testing regimen for the new charger…. Read more »
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, by Naomi Klein, is a powerful, important book, meticulously researched and beautifully written. I also found it a very disturbing book, and in a way I wish I hadn’t read it. The thesis is that the kind of action required to avert climate catastrophe is incompatible with the… Read more »
Nanostructured electrodes in Li-ion batteries have several advantages, including shorter distances for charge-carrying particles to travel and a high surface area that provides more active sites for electrochemical reactions to occur. However, working with nanoscale materials is tricky – due to their tiny size, they can be hard to control and hold in place. To… Read more »
The Metrocab, a PHEV version of London’s iconic black taxi, has been licensed by Transport for London to operate on a trial basis, and the first few are already on the streets, transporting fare-paying customers around the capital of Cool Britannia. “The Metrocab has received numerous accolades and plaudits in recent months, but now it… Read more »
