Ube Industries plans to expand production capacity for its UPORE polyolefin multiparous film for lithium-ion battery separators, in order to meet growing demand for automotive batteries. The expansion project is expected to be completed in April 2018, and will bring the company’s annual production capacity for separators to 250 million square meters. The company plans… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "Toyota"
BMW electrifies its best-selling model: the 330e iPerformance PHEV launches in the US
Which major automaker has sold the highest percentage of plug-in vehicles relative to its overall US sales? You may be surprised to learn that it’s BMW – aside from Tesla, of course, which sells 100% EVs. In the first half of 2016, BMW’s four plug-in vehicles – the i3, i8, X5 xDrive40e and 330e iPerformance… Read more »
Torque Trends offers plug-and-play electrification for fleet conversions
Startup companies often evolve as they grow, and sometimes they stumble on a new application for a prosaic product that leads to a new way of doing things, with the huge opportunities that implies. For Mitchell Yow, the CEO of Torque Trends, the journey started with a gearbox, and has led to a complete electrification… Read more »
Wireless charging and autonomous vehicles will mobilize the smart city
By Alex Gruzen, CEO of WiTricity There’s no question that autonomous electric vehicles are coming. From Google and Uber to Tesla, BMW and Nissan, the world’s most innovative brands are conceiving and bringing to market entirely new modes of transportation that will revolutionize the ways in which we travel. According to Navigant Research, by 2035… Read more »
What’s the point of BMW’s trivial Tesla-taunting ad spots?
If the major automakers really want to begin selling their EVs in volume (and not everyone is convinced that they do), sooner or later they will have to start advertising them. BMW has been ahead of the curve in this regard – it has run several TV ads for the i3 featuring cool people discovering… Read more »
GM’s South Korean design studio breaks new ground with the Bolt
GM execs are hoping the upcoming Bolt EV will sell in serious volume, and they wanted a design that’s expressive and distinct without looking too sci-fi. For this, they turned to the company’s South Korean design studio. The center began designing the Bolt in 2012, and found it to be a tall order. Designers were… Read more »
Peugeot Citroen evaluates free-piston linear generator for range extender
PSA Group, the maker of the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands, is preparing to test a free-piston linear generator from Israeli startup Aquarius Engines as a range extender for its EVs. “We are evaluating the technology,” said PSA Research and Development Director Gilles Le Borgne. “Nothing has been decided yet.” The free-piston linear generator has… Read more »
Auto industry (except Tesla) spends an average $1,000 per vehicle in advertising
Elon Musk has said several times that he rarely thinks about marketing, and that if you build a truly revolutionary product, the marketing will take care of itself. Tesla has followed this philosophy since its founding. It participates in only the largest, most high-profile auto shows, gives access to only a few carefully selected journalists,… Read more »
How the Tesla Model 3 could trigger the collapse of the traditional auto industry
Clean tech consultant Julian Cox made some interesting points about the coming disruption of the auto industry in a presentation at CleanTechnica’s recent Cleantech Revolution Tour in Berlin. Cox begins his talk with a recap of some past technological disruptions, which he says have usually played out within 20-30 years (good news for us older… Read more »
WiTricity’s new wireless charging system is designed for flexibility and interoperability
Wireless charging pioneer WiTricity has announced a new charging system that uses magnetic resonance technology to deliver a range of power over distance and through materials. According to the company, its new system enables power transfer at up to 11 kW, and has the ability to scale up to 25 kW and higher. WiTricity, in… Read more »