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A closer look at switched reluctance motors

The electronically-switched reluctance motor – often shortened to the switched reluctance motor, or SRM – has been gaining in popularity over the last decade because it is simple, robust, and arguably the least expensive of all motor types to manufacture. The reasons for the relatively late blooming of the SRM – the first reluctance motor… Read more »

Accelerating battery development, part 2: Wildcat Discovery Technologies

Wildcat Discovery Technologies is a venture-backed start-up residing in sunny San Diego. Launched in late 2006, it makes efficient use of just 32 employees. The company has developed proprietary methods for rapidly synthesizing energy-storage materials.  Serial entrepreneurs Prof. Peter Schultz and Robert Downs have worked together for a number of years at the Genomics Novartis… Read more »

Retroactive federal tax credit now available for EV charging stations

If we’re going to drive off a cliff, at least we can do so with our batteries fully charged. As part of the agreement that slammed on the brakes just short of the so-called “fiscal cliff,” the federal government reinstated a tax credit for EV charging stations that had expired at the end of 2011…. Read more »

December 2012: best month ever for plug-in vehicle sales

Even as the mainstream press continues to insist that no one is buying plug-in vehicles, December set a new monthly sales record, as the three market leaders continue to battle for the top spot, and a couple of new entrants posted impressive early results.  The Chevrolet Volt rebounded from a weak November to sell 2,633… Read more »

Pike Research makes 10 predictions for the EV industry in 2013

Pike Research has issued a white paper entitled Electric Vehicles: 10 Predictions for 2013, that should make (mostly) cheerful reading for EV enthusiasts. Saying that “doubts about the long-term viability of the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market were put to rest” in 2012, Pike predicts “the industry will be racing ahead in second gear in 2013.”… Read more »

VIDEO: Nissan opens Tennessee battery plant, celebrates two years of LEAF sales

Nissan has announced the launch of the United States’ largest lithium-ion automotive battery plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. The first batteries produced at the plant have completed the required aging process and are ready to receive their first charges. The new facility, adjacent to the vehicle assembly plant where the LEAF is built, is part of… Read more »

Wanxiang wins A123 at auction

Chinese auto parts firm Wanxiang is the proud owner of battery maker A123 Systems, having won this week’s bankruptcy auction with a bid of between $250 million and $260 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Other bidders included Johnson Controls, NEC and Siemens. Wanxiang will not be buying the segment of A123 that provides… Read more »