The city of Ashland, Oregon is offering a $100 incentive for the installation of an EV charging station in new homes. Only homes built to Earth Advantage or Energy Star program standards are eligible for the payment. Local resident Laura Lawrence is currently building an energy-efficient home, complete with solar panels that she hopes will… Read more »
Some fine day, as second- and third-generation EVs take over the roads, there will be loads of used lithium-ion batteries kicking around. According to a new report by the Mineta National Transit Research Consortium (MNTRC), by 2035 there will be between 1.3 million and 6.7 million post-vehicle batteries across the US, “enough batteries to justify… Read more »
UK-based battery maker OXIS and Multi Source Power (MSP), a manufacturer of hybrid and electric marine drivetrains, have formed a partnership to develop lithium-sulfur batteries for marine applications. The new product will be part of the Ghost Power Brand, and is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2015. It will be a versatile battery… Read more »
The next-generation Chevrolet Volt will debut at next January’s Detroit Auto Show. GM has released a teaser image of the new model, which seems to have a slightly more rounded rear liftgate. Other than that, little has been revealed about the second-generation PHEV. In April, supplier sources hinted that the Volt would be offered in… Read more »
Using a new method to track the electrochemical reactions in a battery, scientists at the DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have gained new insight into why fast charging inhibits performance. The results, published in Nature Communications, could help battery makers to optimize materials for faster-charging batteries. “Our work was focused on developing a method to track… Read more »
EV lovers may consider this good news or bad, but the US auto industry is making better progress than expected toward meeting the EPA’s long-term fuel-economy standards, as Ward’s Auto reported this week (via Green Car Reports). “Innovations are coming at us faster than originally anticipated,” says Michael Olechiw, Director of the EPA’s Light-Duty Vehicle… Read more »
Nissan and Mitsubishi have agreed to expand their current partnership, and could jointly develop an EV. The two companies already work together to build the little egg-shaped Kei cars (of which the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is one example) for the Japanese market. They now plan to develop vehicles for sale abroad, with Mitsubishi introducing two sedans… Read more »
July plug-in sales were lower than in May or June, but 2014 is still on track to handily beat 2013’s figure. Sales of the industry-leading LEAF surged to 3,019 in July, the 17th consecutive monthly record, and just a little shy of May’s all-time monthly best. The 2015 LEAFs are now available for adoption –… Read more »
A team of chemists from New York University and the University of Cambridge has developed a method for examining the inner workings of supercapacitors. Their technique, based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), offers a way to monitor and possibly enhance the performance of such devices. The work, which appears in the latest issue of the… Read more »
Mercedes-Benz has begun taking orders for the S 500 Plug-In Hybrid. Prices (in Germany) start at €108,944 ($146,000). The new sedan will begin arriving at dealerships in September. The plug-in Benz features an 85 kW, 340 N·m electric motor and a new 245 kW, 480 N·m, 3.0-liter biturbo V6 gas engine. Combined system output is… Read more »
