Thanks to the internet (for better or for worse), anyone can publish their own book or magazine. What if anyone could build their own car? That’s the idea behind OSVehicle’s TABBY EVO, a modular open-source hardware platform for EVs. The platform includes pretty much everything but the body and interior of the vehicle: chassis, powertrain,… Read more »
Electrification is slowly spreading throughout BMW’s line-up – over the next three years the Bavarians plan to introduce electric versions of up to three models in their current fleet, as well as updating the two models of the i sub-brand, Autocar reported. Chairman Harald Krüger has announced that the company hopes to deliver 100,000 electric… Read more »
German battery builder AKASOL has built two new production sites: a new facility with over 3,000 square meters of production halls and office space in Langen, as well as an additional 700 square meters of production space at the company’s headquarters in Darmstadt. The automated production line in Langen will be set up by the… Read more »
Magnet Applications has announced a major upgrade to its neodymium compression-bonded magnet product offerings. The new B12 magnet has a typical maximum energy product (BHmax) of approximately 12 MGOe, compared to the previous generation’s 10 MGOe. The BHmax of a bonded magnet is determined by the density and the volume fraction of the magnetic material… Read more »
When Tesla introduced Model S, all EVs were new and unproven products, and many prospective buyers were worried about running out of juice. Free Supercharging for life was a sort of teaser offer that probably closed many a sale, but common sense will tell you that it couldn’t have lasted forever. Tesla replaced the “free… Read more »
The all-new 2017 smart electric drive will be $1,200 less expensive than the outgoing model, starting at $23,800 for the coupe and $28,000 for the cabrio (not including a $750 destination charge and federal and state incentives). Arriving at US dealers this summer, the next-generation smart electric drive will have improved range, more power, more space and additional standard features. Daimler… Read more »
150 kVA – 16kW/L SiC power stack for heavy-duty EV Mersen partnered with AgileSwitch and FTCAP to develop two high performance 3-phase inverter power stack reference designs. The SiC MOSFET version uses Wolfspeed SiC modules to deliver 150 kVA at a power density of 16 kVA/l, exceeding the DOE’s 2020 roadmap for electric vehicle applications…. Read more »
Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics has demonstrated what it calls the world’s first monolithically integrated GaN half bridge for the 600 volt class. Half bridge circuits are the centerpiece of many voltage converters. Monolithic integration combines several components on a single GaN chip, enabling small, powerful systems to be created. Monolithically integrated… Read more »
Ford has replaced CEO Mark Fields with Jim Hackett, the head of the company’s Smart Mobility division. The company also appointed a new executive in charge of “strategy and business model development for electrified vehicles and autonomous vehicles.” The buzz in the media is that the new regime will put more emphasis on electric and… Read more »
All EVs that use lithium-ion batteries are designed so that their full capacity can’t be used in driving – a few kWh are always left over as a buffer. Sometimes you’ll find this figure in spec sheets, which might (for example) quote capacity as “60 kWh (55 usable)” or some such. What is the reason… Read more »
