Juice Bar’s EV charging stations are designed to catch the eye, with a sleek and trendy look, an LED-illuminated logo, and plenty of space for advertising, branding or sponsorship opportunities. They are also highly customizable – station owners can add amenities such as tire inflation stations, commercial vacuums and even custom-painted murals to maximize their… Read more »
The DOE is supporting six applied battery research projects, with the objective of developing cells that provide energy density of more than 200 Wh/kg, along with long cycle life and excellent abuse tolerance. All six projects are using some form of silicon-based material for the anode. A team led by the Argonne National Laboratory is… Read more »
Maxwell Technologies’ new DuraBlue ultracapacitor cells incorporate a number of upgrades over previous versions. The 2.85-volt, 3400-farad cells offer up to 1,000,000 duty cycles, with up to 18 kW/kg of specific power and up to 4.00 Wh of stored energy. They use the industry-standard 60 mm cylindrical K2 form factor, and are available with threaded… Read more »
Electric bus manufacturer Proterra has raised more than $30 million in additional funding, and expects to close on another $10 million within the coming weeks. Kleiner Perkins and GM Ventures led the financing, with another ten or so venture capital firms participating. Proterra electric vehicles have logged over 400,000 zero-emission miles in 11 US cities…. Read more »
It will take a while to digest the probable impact of Tesla’s bold move to open up all of its patents. A first step toward understanding the likely effects on the industry would be figuring out just what kind of technology the patents cover, and the insurance analysis firm uAutoInsurance is working on doing just… Read more »
Battery maker Boston-Power is closing on a new investment round of $250 million from investors in China and elsewhere, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Venture Capital Dispatch blog. The company was founded in Massachusetts, but moved most of its operations to China in 2011. It currently sells batteries to the Beijing Electric Vehicle Company…. Read more »
“You ain’t parkin’ that thing next to my hog!” growls the bearded, bandana-wearing, Bud-clutching biker. But what if the newfangled electric motorcycle is a hog? Bike Week will never be the same. Yes, believe it or not, Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) has built a prototype electric motorcycle, and starting this week, selected consumers across the country… Read more »
Batteries are big business. According to the latest Advanced Battery Tracker from Navigant Research, more than 6 billion advanced battery cells were sold in 2013, representing 40 gigawatts of power capacity and more than $13.4 billion in sales (a modest increase over 2012’s $12.8 billion). The majority of these batteries were manufactured in China. Most… Read more »
Since its 2010 launch, the Chevy Volt has driven more than half a billion all-electric miles, according to the latest figures from GM. The company made a study of 300 California Volt drivers for over 30 months, and found that many are exceeding the EPA-rated electric range of 35 miles. About 15 percent of the… Read more »
A123 Systems is back in the news. The battery-maker, now a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s Wanxiang Group, has acquired Leyden Energy’s intellectual property in battery materials covering lithium titanate (LTO) and non-flammable electrolyte (Li-imide) technology. As part of the deal, some of Leyden’s key technical staff will be joining A123’s R&D organization. … Read more »
