One of the many ways in which current EVs differ from legacy vehicles is that they don’t shift gears. While modern ICE vehicles sport 8- and 9-speed automatics, 7-speed manuals and continuously variable transmissions, which help to improve fuel efficiency, most EVs get by with a simple single-speed gearbox. Conventional wisdom is that, because electric… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "US Hybrid"
DOE offers funding for research into fuel cells, batteries, Schottky diodes
The DOE’s Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for fiscal year 2015, which spans the range of energy technologies, includes a few EV-related topics. Phase I grants of up to $225,000 will be made to small businesses to evaluate the feasibility of ideas that have commercial potential. Topics of interest include: Fuel Cell-Battery Electric Hybrid for Utility… Read more »
France to build nationwide EV charging network, phase out diesel cars
French industrial giant Bolloré plans to invest 150 million euros over the next four years to build a network of 16,000 public charging points across the country. Economy and Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron said that Bolloré may be granted tax relief for installing the charging stations on public highways. “Through a private initiative with public… Read more »
Hitachi supplies inverters and DC/DC converters for Mercedes PHEVs
Hitachi Automotive Systems has begun to supply Daimler with compact, high-output inverters and DC/DC converters for use in the Mercedes S500 and S550 plug-in hybrids, which recently went on sale in Germany. Hitachi developed a third-generation inverter that is 40% smaller and offers higher output than the previous version, and a high-output DC/DC converter with… Read more »
November plug-in sales: LEAF (still) leads, Ford falters, Toyota tanks, smart surges
The US auto industry had another banner month, and plug-ins were present at the party, though perhaps not first in line at the punchbowl. PEV sales were down a tick from October, but eked out a gain compared to November 2013. Year-to-date sales have now surpassed 2013’s total, and it appears that annual sales will… Read more »
Daimler invests €100 million to expand lithium-ion battery production
Daimler plans to invest around €100 million ($125 million) to expand production capacity for lithium-ion batteries at its Deutsche ACCUmotive subsidiary. A new building is under construction in Kamenz, Germany, and when it is completed in mid-2015, Deutsche ACCUmotive will have nearly 20,000 square meters of production and logistics space. “Deutsche ACCUmotive will be producing… Read more »
BMW unveils 3 Series PHEV prototype
BMW’s new 3 Series plug-in hybrid prototype combines a four-cylinder TwinPower Turbo gas engine from the new Efficient Dynamics engine family with an electric motor and power electronics based on the eDrive technology used in the i3 and i8. It’s designed to offer performance on a par with the legacy 3 Series six-cylinder model, with… Read more »
Utilities launch initiatives to electrify their vehicle fleets, encourage workplace charging
Utility industry bigwigs joined Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz at the White House to announce two initiatives to promote electric transportation technologies. More than 70 investor-owned electric utilities will increase investment by about $250 million over 5 years to add more electric vehicles to their fleets, starting in 2015. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and the… Read more »
EV Fleet targets the commercial vehicle market with a pure electric pickup truck
Several small companies hope to electrify the commercial fleet vehicle market. Most of them are taking what they see as the path of least resistance – converting existing trucks to plug-in hybrids. However, a North Carolina-based firm with the evocative name EV Fleet is going all the way, betting that companies will opt for the… Read more »
Toyota researchers work with Brookhaven National Lab to investigate magnesium batteries
Toyota researchers are collaborating with the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at the DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory to probe molecular structures and track chemical reactions in magnesium batteries. “Issues related to cost, power, energy density, and durability of Li-ion batteries have slowed their implementation in large-scale applications, such as electric and hybrid vehicles,” said Toyota… Read more »