Newswire

Kyocera Solar Cycle Station enables use of EV batteries for backup power

Kyocera Communication Systems (KCCS) has installed a Solar Cycle Station for EVs at the headquarters of Shintec Hozumi in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The system uses solar-generated power to charge plug-in vehicle batteries, which can then be used as backup power in times of disaster. Kyocera’s Solar Cycle Station is a solar-powered recharging station that uses… Read more »

Hybricon’s Arctic Whisper electric bus demonstrates Ultrafast Charging (Updated)

(Updated 4/19/2014 -12:00PM EDT  with added comments from Boh Westerlund, Hybricon Founder & CTO, clarifying technical details.) Hybricon Bus Systems has been testing its new Arctic Whisper electric bus in its hometown of Umeå, Sweden, near the Arctic Circle. Using the company’s Ultrafast Charging system with the Opbrid Bůsbaar, which features a pantograph and an overhead charging rail…. Read more »

Nissan throws in some free charging with purchase of a LEAF

Nissan has announced the expansion of its No Charge to Charge promotion, which provides a certain amount of free public charging with the purchase or lease of a new LEAF. The offer does come with a couple of strings attached. It’s valid for two years from the purchase date, and free charging will be limited… Read more »

Volvo to show gas PHEV in Beijing

Underscoring the growing importance of China as a market for “new energy” vehicles, Volvo has announced that it will reveal its S60L PPHEV concept car at the 2014 Beijing International Auto Show. The gas/electric plug-in hybrid will be launched in China in early 2015, and will be produced at Volvo’s Chengdu plant. There’s no word… Read more »

Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes into production

The first Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive has rolled off the assembly line in Rastatt, Germany, and is scheduled to go on sale in the US this summer. With an MSRP expected to be in the low 40s, the electric Benz may prove a worthy competitor to the BMW i3, and could really shake up the… Read more »

Freescale’s new battery sensor combines MCU and CAN with three-channel analog front end

Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) has announced a new battery sensor that it says is the first to combine three measurement channels, a 16/32-bit MCU, and a CAN protocol module in a single package. The MM9Z1J638 battery sensor measures key battery parameters for monitoring state of health (SOH), state of charge (SOC) and state of function (SOF)… Read more »

Ioxus announces new single-piece housing for its ultracapacitors

Ultracapacitor pioneer Ioxus has announced the launch of a series of module systems for a single-piece extruded housing for use with all of its axial ultracapacitors. The iMOD X-Series allows for every cell to be in thermal contact with the outside of the housing, allowing for even heating and cooling, as well as reduced heat… Read more »

GM execs discuss the challenges of marketing the Volt

After a little over three years on the market, is the Chevy Volt a hit or a miss? With 58,000 units sold, it’s one of the world’s top-selling plug-ins to date. However, its sales are still minuscule compared to its legacy gas-powered cousins. CNET’s Brooke Crothers recently spoke with Volt Marketing Manager Dora Norwicki and… Read more »

MotorBrain: a compact, lightweight motor system with no rare earths

The European MotorBrain project has presented a prototype of a lightweight electric motor system that integrates the motor, gear drive and inverter, and requires no rare earth metals. The prototype motor system is three quarters the size of models from the beginning of the project in 2011, and, at less than 77 kg (170 lbs),… Read more »

BRUSA announces a new generation of its inductive charging system

The Swiss firm BRUSA, which makes a range of electric powertrain components, including motors, controllers, power electronics, battery packs and onboard chargers, has started developing a new generation of its Inductive Charging System (ICS). The new wireless charger runs at 7.2 kW, twice the power of the previous version, with the same footprint. The company plans… Read more »