The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has granted a federal charter to a new credit union based in Boulder, Colorado, called the Clean Energy Credit Union (CECU), which will serve members of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), also based in Boulder. CECU’s mission is to promote clean energy by offering low-cost loans tailored to… Read more »
The DOT’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced $55 million in grants to local transit agencies through the Low or No Emission (Low-No) Vehicle program. Fifty-one projects in 39 states will receive funding. One recipient is the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), in Charged’s home town of St Petersburg, Florida. PSTA will receive $1,000,000 to… Read more »
Babcock & Wilcox MEGTEC’s new GigaCoater wide-web coating line for lithium-ion battery electrodes is designed to facilitate high-volume production of battery electrodes. The GigaCoater coating platform uses B&W MEGTEC’s simultaneous 2-sided coating system. The dual-coating method, in combination with coating rheology, maximizes production time and delivers in-line quality control. Each GigaCoater can produce up to… Read more »
The Tesla Semi is on its way, but it’s been stuck in traffic on the Interstate. Elon Musk now says the new electric and autonomous Class 8 tractor is “tentatively scheduled” for unveiling and test rides on October 26, about a month behind the previously announced schedule. “Worth seeing this beast in person,” tweeted Musk…. Read more »
The Electrification Coalition (EC) has released a case study documenting the nation’s first EV accelerator community: Drive Electric Northern Colorado (DENC). The EC first described its accelerator community concept in its 2009 Electrification Roadmap. The idea is to leverage public-private partnerships to drive widespread EV deployment. DENC was launched in 2013 in the Colorado cities… Read more »
Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller rejected predictions of diesel’s demise, saying that the diesel engine has “a great future” ahead of it. “The diesels we are offering today are clean,” Mueller told CNBC at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show. “They comply with the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure requirements, and they meet the requirements and… Read more »
The Trump Administration has just held a hearing to solicit public comments on its effort to weaken the EPA’s fuel efficiency standards. The EPA has reopened the previously-completed mid-term review of vehicle efficiency standards. While the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers supports re-opening the review, it has suggested that it would prefer to keep existing vehicle… Read more »
Bosch has developed a new electric axle drive, or e-axle, that integrates the motor, power electronics, and transmission into one compact unit that directly drives a vehicle’s axle, saving both space and costs. An electric axle delivering 150 kilowatts weighs roughly 90 kg – far less than currently available individual components. Bosch has had electric… Read more »
Waste Management NZ has demonstrated its first electric truck for residential wheelie bin waste collection. The city of Christchurch will put an electric truck into service in October, and more are scheduled to join the fleet in other New Zealand cities by the end of the year. The company has already introduced more than 20… Read more »
Williams Advanced Engineering unveiled a lightweight EV platform concept called the FW-EVX at the recent Low Carbon Vehicle Show in Millbrook, UK. The concept features several innovations in battery pack design, cooling systems and lightweight structures, all integrated into a single scalable platform. Williams’s engineers developed an automated, near-zero-waste process that creates fiber-reinforced suspension components… Read more »
