Search Results Found For: "MIT "

A closer look at regenerative braking

Regenerative braking (usually called regen for short) is simply the act of turning a motor into a generator, so that it slows down the load it was previously driving. Instead of converting momentum into heat with friction brakes, regen puts some of that energy back into the traction pack, not only saving wear on the… Read more »

Proceed with caution: charging for EV charging

ChargePoint President and CEO Pat Romano on the danger that high fees for public charging could pose to the industry. ChargePoint (formally known as Coulomb Technologies) does not install, own, or set rates for EV charging stations – although it often gets confused with companies that do. ChargePoint provides a broad-based, open network for EV… Read more »

The promise of the Prius Plug-in

On the march toward widespread adoption of 100+ MPGe plug-in vehicles, the Prius Plug-in could take the most significant step. “When you think of hybrids, you think of Prius.” So says Geri Yoza, National Manager for Advanced Technology Vehicles, Product Planning Department at Toyota.  Of course, that would be the standard company line at Toyota,… Read more »

Fleet of 50 BYD electric minicabs to start trials in London

Chinese automaker BYD and London minicab operator greentomatocars have signed a memorandum of understanding calling for BYD to supply 50 e6 electric vehicles to greentomatocars, which operates about 300 minicabs in Cool Britannia’s capital (“minicabs” are ordinary cars used as cabs, as opposed to the city’s famous diesel-powered black taxicabs). The new zero-emission taxis are… Read more »

CalBattery’s new Si-graphene anode triples Li-ion battery capacity

California Lithium Battery, a finalist in the DOE’s 2012 Start Up America’s Next Top Energy Innovator challenge, has announced the record-setting performance of its new “GEN3” silicon graphene composite anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Independent test results in full cell LIBs reveal an energy density of 525 Wh/kg and specific anode capacity 1,250 mAh/g. In… Read more »

IPC’s new bi-directional Battery Converter offers vehicle-to-grid capability

Ideal Power Converters (IPC) announced that the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has successfully demonstrated vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities using IPC’s bi-directional Battery Converter. V2G allows vehicles to exchange power with the electricity grid, providing benefits such as local peak demand reduction. IPC’s wall-mounted Battery Converter is based on a hardware platform… Read more »

New class of power inverter could lead to lighter and cheaper EVs

A researcher at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has invented a new class of power inverter that could lead to cheaper and lighter traction motors and power electronics for EVs.  Power inverters are a key component of EVs, as well as related technologies such as solar power and battery storage. Current inverters with multiple switching… Read more »