Battery-maker Kokam’s new XPAND battery pack is aimed at heavy vehicles such as electric buses, trams, trucks and other commercial and industrial EVs. The XPAND battery pack will be offered in two versions: the 7.1 kWh XMP71P and the 11.4 kWh XMP114E. Both are scalable to support EV applications from 7.1 kWh to 1.5 MWh… Read more »
ChargePoint, which operates a network of more than 33,000 independently owned charging spots, has secured $82 million in funding, the first part of a larger fundraising round led by Daimler. The new investment will support the expansion of the company’s charging network into Europe. BMW i Ventures and other existing investors also participated in the… Read more »
As expected, the USA’s Climate-Change-Denier-In-Chief will move towards rolling back federal regulations on vehicle emissions. The change, which could undo one of President Barack Obama’s most significant environmental legacies, does not require action by Congress. Reuters reports that an announcement is expected from the Trump administration as soon as Tuesday. The expected order will reopen… Read more »
We may not have flying cars, but we could have flying packages very soon. In a recent test in a suburb of Tampa, UPS used a drone, launched from the top of an EV, to autonomously deliver a package and return to the vehicle, while the delivery driver continued along the route to make a… Read more »
A new process developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory could alleviate a bottleneck in battery manufacturing and deliver higher capacity batteries. It also conserves lithium, which improves battery capacity. In “Fast formation cycling for lithium ion batteries,” published in the Journal of Power Sources, Seong Jin An and colleagues explain that the formation process,… Read more »
Charged’s hometown of St Petersburg has become the second city in Florida to begin electrifying its bus fleet (Tallahassee’s StarMetro operates five Proterra e-buses). After two years of deliberation, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), which serves the St Pete/Clearwater metro area, has decided to buy two BYD electric buses. The e-buses will serve Beach Drive,… Read more »
Fortum Charge & Drive has signed a cooperation contract with Enspiron, a subsidiary of the Polish energy company Energa, to provide its Charge & Drive cloud solution, which Energa will use to operate its EV charging infrastructure. Energa currently operates six charging facilities in the cities of Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia, and the company plans… Read more »
A new program funded by proceeds from California’s cap-and-trade program aims to encourage the transition of California’s school bus fleet to zero-emission and low-emission buses. The Rural School Bus Pilot Project offers funding for the purchase of new fuel cell and battery-electric school buses and associated charging equipment. Plug-in hybrid buses, or new buses that… Read more »
Volvo will introduce a new variant of its Twin Engine plug-in hybrid system in 2018, featuring front-wheel drive and a 3-cylinder engine. In 2019 it will launch its first production battery-electric vehicles and a new 48 V mild hybrid system. This news comes from Mats Anderson, Senior Director of Electric Propulsion Systems, who spoke to… Read more »
Maven, General Motors’ year-old car-sharing service, is adding over 100 Chevy Bolts to its fleet in Los Angeles. Maven also plans to offer the Bolt in San Diego and San Francisco in the near future. According to GM, Maven has been “doing gangbusters” in LA: since launching in October 2016, the service has seen average… Read more »
