Q&A with Arun Banskota and Brendan Jones. In the past year, the NRG EVgo network has quietly passed some major milestones in the EV charging industry. The company now has more public DC fast charging sites than anyone else – even more than Tesla’s vast Supercharger network. EVgo also has the highest number of CHAdeMO and… Read more »
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Volkswagen brings new plug-in Passat to Europe
Volkswagen is expanding its stable of plug-in vehicles with the new Passat GTE plug-in hybrid. The VW Group now offers no less than ten plug-ins: the Audi A3 e-tron, Q7 e-tron and R8 e-tron; the Porsche Cayenne and Panamera S E-Hybrids; the Golf and Passat GTE plug-ins, the low-volume XL1, and the battery-electric e-up! and… Read more »
Canadian study: Government initiative needed to boost EV use
A team of researchers from Canada’s Simon Fraser University have published a report that paints a pessimistic picture of EV adoption in the Great White North, at least in the short term. “Electric vehicles are not likely to make up more than one percent of vehicle sales in the next decade and no more than… Read more »
Tesla may not spend on advertising, but it is actively selling
A bit of conventional wisdom about Tesla, repeated often in the media, is that the company does no advertising – as Elon Musk has said, if you create a truly revolutionary product, the marketing takes care of itself. Tesla has not indulged in the mass marketing activities that are so important to other automakers –… Read more »
Chinese telecom giant develops high-power wireless charging system
ZTE, China’s largest listed telecom equipment company, is developing high-power wireless charging systems for public transport applications. At a recent China-US workshop on EV standardization, Academus Tian, VP of ZTE New Energy Vehicle, said the company’s inductive charging module, which operates at a frequency of 85 kHz with a gap of 20 cm. It has… Read more »
Formula E releases season two calendar
The FIA Formula E Championship has wrapped up a highly successful first season, which spurred many technical advances and introduced thousands around the world to the capabilities of EVs. Now the FIA has announced the calendar for Formula E’s second season. There will be 11 races in 10 cities, with London hosting two. The first… Read more »
EV sales may be in a holding pattern in the US, but they’re booming worldwide
Those of us who follow the month-by-month plug-in sales figures can’t help but be a little disappointed by the tale so far this year. In three of the last six months, US sales failed to equal the monthly figures of a year ago. We’re now halfway through the year, and total sales of 54,388 are… Read more »
BioSolar claims polymer cathode can deliver twice the range at a quarter the cost
Energy storage startup BioSolar (OTCQB: BSRC) will extend a sponsored research program at the University of California, Santa Barbara to further develop its “super battery technology.” The extension funds the research program until June 2016. BioSolar’s baby is a novel polymer cathode that leverages fast redox-reaction properties, rather than conventional lithium-ion intercalation chemistry, to enable… Read more »
California Energy Commission grants $10 million for electric buses and trucks
The California Energy Commission has approved more than $10 million in grants for four projects demonstrating medium- and heavy-duty vehicle technologies using battery-electric or fuel-cell powertrains. The Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program projects include: $2.9 million to CALSTART, Inc. to buy four 33-foot BYD battery-electric buses, which will be built at BYD’s… Read more »
Skeleton Technologies’ new ultracapacitors target heavy transportation market
Skeleton Technologies has launched a new range of cylindrical ultracapacitors that offer specific power performance of up to 111 kW/kg, specific energy up to 9.6 Wh/kg, and capacitance up to 4500 farads. Skeleton hopes that the high energy density achieved by the SkelCap 4500 series will be a good fit for the heavy transportation market,… Read more »