Italian motorcycle maker Energica (profiled in the December 2013 issue of Charged) builds a bike designed for the connoisseur of speed, with 0-60 mph acceleration of 3 seconds and a top speed of 150 mph. Now Energica is addressing the issue of fast charging for motorcycles. The Energica Ego features CCS Combo charging that allows… Read more »
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is steadily electrifying its public transit. Transport operator Sales-Lentz bought its first Volvo hybrid buses in 2009, and now has 24 Volvo hybrids and 12 Volvo PHEVs in its fleet. The company is now taking the next step in electrification with the purchase of four Volvo 7900 Electric buses, which… Read more »
Fuji Pigment is synthesizing ionic liquids for use as electrolytes in Li-ion batteries, as well as for the company’s own aluminum-air battery, which is currently under development. Ionic liquids are compounds composed of organic cations such as imidazolium ions and pyridinium ions, and anions such as bromide, fluoride, and chloride. Fuji Pigment has synthesized imidazolium-,… Read more »
XALT Energy has won a contract to supply cells for the two largest battery-powered ferries in the world. Each of the two Scandlines ferries, which run between Helsingborg, Denmark and Helsingör, Sweden, will have 4.16 MWh batteries to provide power for primary propulsion. The energy storage system was designed by Plan B Energy Storage (PBES),… Read more »
Power and automation giant ABB is supplying fast chargers to MAN Truck & Bus for its new e-bus R&D program. Volkswagen subsidiary MAN, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of heavy commercial vehicles, has announced that it will begin pilots of e-buses in 2018, and begin serial production by 2019. The company is developing e-buses at… Read more »
Five years since the launch of its first EV, Renault has handed over the keys to its 100,000th electric customer. The milestone vehicle is a Renault ZOE, sold to an Oslo gentleman, who will receive five years of free recharging as a bonus. Renault is Europe’s leading EV-seller, with a 27% market share. In the… Read more »
Another grim milestone on the road to vehicle autonomy has been reached – the first autonomy-related lawsuit against an automaker. Ironically, it happened not in the litigation-obsessed US, but in China. Gao Jubin’s 23-year-old son, Gao Yaning, died in January after crashing his Model S into the back of a road-sweeping vehicle on a highway… Read more »
NOHMs Technologies (Nano Organic Hybrid Materials), a Cornell University spin-out founded in 2010, has raised $5 million in Series B venture capital financing to commercialize its non-flammable battery electrolyte technology. NOHMs has developed a family of ionic liquid-containing electrolytes that are stable above 4.5 volts in lithium-ion cells. The two electrolyte product lines currently under… Read more »
A123 Systems has announced an agreement with Argonne National Laboratory to collaborate on a three-year, multi-million-dollar cathode development program that will focus on improving cathode safety without compromising energy density or battery life. A123 will leverage its battery expertise to commercialize advances in nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) technology originally developed by Argonne, which already… Read more »
Karma Automotive, the successor to the ill-fated Fisker, has officially launched the Revero, a plug-in hybrid based on the earlier Fisker Karma. The Revero has a 21.4 kWh LiFePO battery pack mounted in the center of the vehicle. Electric range is an estimated 50 miles, 0-60 time is 5.4 seconds, and top speed is a… Read more »
