With a newly-acquired magnetic material caster, NASA’s Magnetic Materials Lab allows researchers to create custom alloy magnetic ribbons as large as one mile long and 50 mm wide. This ribbon can then be used to manufacture parts that generate or transform electrical power more efficiently and at a larger scale than ever before. “As the… Read more »
Car buyers have a growing array of options for going electric, especially in California. However, getting the information they need to decide which plug-in vehicle meets their needs is no simple task – getting objective information from auto dealers has always been difficult, and many of them are sadly uninformed about EVs. A new web… Read more »
January 20 was an important day for transportation electrification in California. That was the deadline for the state’s three major investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to submit applications for major upgrades to electric transportation infrastructure. California’s Senate Bill 350 (2015) requires the IOUs to establish programs that will increase “access to the use of electricity as a… Read more »
IMAGE: Using specialized equipment, a team from MIT did tests in which they used a pyramidal-tipped probe to indent the surface of a piece of the sulfide-based material. Surrounding the resulting indentation (seen at center), cracks were seen forming in the material (indicated by arrows), revealing details of its mechanical properties. Battery scientists are the world are exploring… Read more »
The Harrogate Bus Company of the UK has placed an order for eight Volvo 7900 electric buses. The vehicles will operate in Harrogate, 90 km northeast of Manchester. When the vehicles enter service in 2018, the project will be the first in the UK to use opportunity charging via the common interface OppCharge. The charging stations can also be… Read more »
Argentina’s Ministry of Environment plans to support the purchase of 50 electric buses as a pilot project in several cities throughout the country, and has recommended Chinese EV-builder BYD as the vendor. A bid evaluation committee chose BYD from a pool of five bidders on the strength of its 12-meter electric bus, which is already… Read more »
The University of California, Irvine has ordered 20 buses from BYD for $15 million. The e-buses will make the student-funded and -operated Anteater Express shuttle service 100% emission-free. The vehicles are being built at the company’s Lancaster, California plant. A survey of students last year found that, of an array of transportation options, the top… Read more »
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has submitted a proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for seven EV infrastructure projects with a total budget of approximately $253 million. PG&E’s proposal addresses three areas: Expanding electrification for fleets with medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including school buses, transit agencies and delivery fleets. PG&E’s five-year, $211-million… Read more »
Image: Rheinmetall Automotive’s electrical coolant pump Germany’s Rheinmetall Automotive is known as a supplier of hard parts (pistons, blocks, cylinder heads, etc.) and mechatronics. However, CEO Horst Binnig says that “products with a cable” already constitute 40% of total sales. “We really see pure e-mobility more as an opportunity than a risk. The percentage of purely… Read more »
At a recent standards meeting, carmakers, Tier 1 suppliers, and technology providers have reached agreement on key technical and procedural elements of the upcoming SAE Recommended Practice (RP) for Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) and automated parking alignment and charging. The goal of this standardization is to ensure interoperability among different brands of EVs and wireless… Read more »
