The Big Apple took a big step towards electrification this week, as the New York City Council passed a law requiring that a minimum of 20 percent of any new parking spaces be equipped with buried electrical conduit that can support future EVSE installation. Retrofitting a parking lot for EV charging requires trenching to bury… Read more »
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Honda joins V2G demo project
Honda has joined a demonstration project for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology aimed at providing energy storage to the electrical grid while providing a financial incentive to EV drivers. Partners in the ev2g project include: the University of Delaware; NRG Energy; BMW, which is providing 15 MINI Es; Milbank Manufacturing, which is providing charging stations based on… Read more »
Virgin and Venturi racing teams round out Formula E roster
Two high-profile groups have announced plans to field teams for Formula E, the all-electric racing series that will take place in 10 city centers around the world, beginning in Beijing in September 2014. The Virgin Racing and Venturi teams became the ninth and tenth to join, making the roster complete. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin empire… Read more »
WiTricity to provide wireless charging technology for Prius Plug-In
The Prius Plug-In is going wireless, and WiTricity will be providing its resonant power transfer technology. This week, the Massachusetts-based MIT spinout announced an intellectual property license agreement with Toyota, which has been an investor in WiTricity since 2011. Toyota announced plans to add wireless charging to the Prius line in August. “We have heard… Read more »
Researchers develop smart nail for battery penetration tests
We’ve got smart cars, a smart grid…and now a smart nail. Jeff Dahn and his colleagues at Dalhousie University have added some intelligence to the lowly steel nail in order to improve penetration testing on Li-ion batteries. The team described its project in the current issue of the Journal of Power Sources. An abstract: Nail… Read more »
Model S fires: NHTSA requests information, German agency finds no defects
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a formal request for detailed information from Tesla for the agency’s investigation into the recent Model S fires. NHTSA is investigating “underbody deformation in the Model S resulting from impacts with road debris including, but not limited to, consequent intrusion into the battery compartment and associated… Read more »
Utah bill would remove regulatory hurdles to public charger installation
The Utah Legislature has introduced a bill that would allow businesses or cities that provide public EV charging stations to recoup their costs without running afoul of the state’s utility regulator. Representative Patrice Arent (D-Millcreek), told the Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee that her measure would provide assurances that collecting a fee for EV… Read more »
Graphene supercapacitor packs basketball court-size surface area into one gram
Supercapacitors (aka ultracapacitors or ultracaps) represent one of the most exciting technologies in the EV world today. Because of their superior charge/discharge rates and long cycle life, they could make great companions to lithium-ion batteries, which offer higher energy density. Some brave souls predict that they could someday replace batteries altogether in some applications. Now… Read more »
Nissan and British Gas launch UK’s largest commercial EV pilot
British Gas will be testing 28 Nissan e-NV200 vans through the coming Blighty winter to determine the future viability of EVs as part of its fleet. Also involved are Hitachi Capital Commercial Vehicle Solutions, which manages BG’s fleet, and Gateshead College, which has trained the drivers in the proper care and feeding of the 100%… Read more »
Dow sells battery-making division Dow Kokam
Industrial giant Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) has sold its interest in battery manufacturer Dow Kokam to MBP Investors LLC, an affiliate of Townsend Ventures. Dow Kokam makes large-format nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion cells and systems for the fleet transportation, stationary storage and industrial markets. The company’s Midland Battery Park in Michigan includes one of… Read more »