Over the first 10 years of their existence, most modern battery-electric cars have been compact hatchbacks or Teslas. While a few are marketed as crossover utility vehicles, none have been the full-size pickup trucks that make up a huge and very profitable segment of US vehicle sales. That’s about to change. What follows is a… Read more »
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Texas A&M researchers develop a method for 3D printing hard steels
Martensitic steels—materials that are both corrosion-resistant and hardenable via heat treating to a wide range of hardness and strength levels—lend themselves to applications in the aerospace, automotive and defense industries, in which high-strength, lightweight parts need to be manufactured inexpensively. Researchers from Texas A&M University, in collaboration with scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory,… Read more »
A look at BMS validation testing
The battery pack is not only one of the most expensive components in an EV—it’s also incredibly complex, in some cases comprising thousands of individual cells. The tasks of preserving a battery’s efficiency, lifespan, thermal stability and safety rest upon the battery management system (BMS), an embedded controller that regulates the flow and distribution of… Read more »
Michigan school districts to buy 17 electric buses
Seven Michigan school districts – Ann Arbor, Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Oxford, Roseville, Three Rivers and Zeeland – will be the first in the state to purchase electric buses. The districts will receive $4.2 million from the state to cover up to 70 percent of the costs of buying 17 electric buses, along with Level 2 and… Read more »
MIT researchers demonstrate new way to make thin-film lithium-rich ceramic electrolytes
Researchers at MIT have come up with a new pulsed laser deposition technique to make thinner lithium electrolytes using less heat, which they say promises faster charging and potentially higher-voltage solid-state lithium-ion batteries. Key to the new technique for processing the solid-state battery electrolyte is alternating layers of the active electrolyte lithium garnet component (LLZO)… Read more »
California Air Resources Board mandates 100% zero-emission buses by 2040
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has unanimously approved a rule that will move the state towards the goal of a 100-percent zero-emission bus fleet by 2040. Like most government programs, CARB’s Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) regulation has a long timeline – the process of proposals, meetings and workshops that led to this week’s final… Read more »
University of California, Irvine to convert its entire bus fleet to EVs
The University of California, Irvine has chosen electric bus manufacturer BYD to convert the Anteater Express bus fleet, which serves the college’s 1,500-acre campus and various off-campus locations, into an all-electric service. UCI undergraduates voted in 2013 to transform the Anteater Express shuttle, which is operated and funded by students, to a more sustainable fleet,… Read more »
20 electric buses in 3 Canadian cities to demonstrate OppCharge protocol
The Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC) is leading a pilot project in which at least 20 electric buses supplied by New Flyer and Nova Bus, along with 7 overhead chargers supplied by ABB and Siemens, will demonstrate the interoperability of the OppCharge protocol. The trial’s 18 consortium partners include manufacturers, utilities, transit… Read more »
Motiv Power Systems to power 13 electric school buses
Motiv Power Systems, in partnership with school bus manufacturer Trans Tech, will build 13 zero-emission school buses for two school districts in the Sacramento region. The project is supported by a $7.5-million grant from the California Air Resources Board. The Trans Tech eSeries buses will be built on the Ford E450 chassis, and powered by… 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 »