Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology could turn the challenge of EVs’ power consumption into an opportunity, allowing vehicle batteries to help balance electrical grids and facilitate the use of renewable energy. Alas, a recent study from the University of Hawaii suggested that the additional cycling could harm battery performance. Now a study from the University of Warwick… Read more »
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DOE awards $6 million to first crop of Battery500 Seedlings
The Battery500 consortium, led by the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), intends to build a battery pack with a specific energy of 500 Wh/kg, which would more than double the 170-200 Wh/kg per kilogram in today’s typical EV battery. Part of the initiative is the “Seedling” program, which identifies new and risky battery research… Read more »
DOE awarding $19 million to 22 advanced vehicle technologies projects
The DOE is awarding $19.4 million to 22 new cost-shared research projects in the fields of advanced batteries, lightweight materials, emission control, and energy-efficient mobility systems. Fifteen of these are Phase 1 Battery Seedling projects, aimed at battery materials and approaches that complement the Battery500 Consortium’s research. Promising Phase 1 awardees will be competitively weeded… Read more »
Alta Motors says its electric dirt bike has world-class energy density
Alta Motors claims that its dirt bikes have a battery pack with energy density that’s among the highest of any production vehicle. With help from Scheugenpflug’s custom production equipment and Wevo-Chemie materials, the motorcycle builder says its thermal design was the key to achieving that. Seven years ago, a group of motorcycle and off-road dirt… Read more »
New Eagle teams up with Inventev to offer electric Ford Transit vans
The business case for electrifying commercial vans would seem to be a no-brainer – the savings on fuel and maintenance are substantial and demonstrable. In the real world however, pilot projects are plentiful, but substantial orders have been slow to materialize. More than one promising startup has gone under while waiting for fleet customers to… Read more »
Tesla founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning talk EVs
Here’s a treat for any EV fan: a long and meaty talk with Tesla founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, delivered at Stanford last October. While there are several substantial talks with Tarpenning available on YouTube (he also graciously granted me a lengthy interview for my book about Tesla), Martin Eberhard has seldom sat down… Read more »
New fluorinated sulfone electrolytes enable high-voltage, high-energy Li-ion batteries
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have synthesized a new class of fluorinated sulfone electrolytes to enable high-voltage, high-energy Li-ion batteries. In “Oxidatively Stable Fluorinated Sulfone Electrolytes for 5-V Lithium-ion Battery,” published in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science, Chi-Cheung Su and colleagues explain how they evaluated the physical and electrochemical properties of the new… Read more »
POSCO begins lithium production in Korea
Korea-based steel-maker POSCO has begun commercial production of lithium in South Korea for the first time. In February, POSCO completed a lithium extraction plant with an annual capacity of 2,500 tons. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Jong-joo Kim, the Director of the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, noted that Korea, a major battery… Read more »
AKASOL says its battery modules ace long-term endurance tests
German battery builder AKASOL subjected the latest generation of its battery modules, AKAMODULE 46Ah and 53Ah, to an eight-month endurance test featuring a range of brutally extreme conditions. The test showed service life to even longer than expected. At 50 to 55 degrees, the battery components worked for 1.5 years in full cycles at a… Read more »
Hyundai announces pricing for Ioniq Hybrid and Ioniq EV
Hyundai’s new Ioniq offers three ways to go electric – it’s available in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric versions. The Ioniq Hybrid and Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid both feature a 1.6-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder gas engine that delivers 104 hp and 109 ft-lb of torque, along with a six-speed double-clutch transmission. The Hybrid sports a 32 kW… Read more »