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 »
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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 »
UC Irvine orders 20 BYD buses, converts fleet to all-electric
The University of California, Irvine has ordered 20 buses from BYD for $15 million. The e-buses will make the student-funded and -operated Anteater Express shuttle service 100% emission-free. The vehicles are being built at the company’s Lancaster, California plant. A survey of students last year found that, of an array of transportation options, the top… Read more »
Using fungi to recycle Li-ion batteries
As rechargeable batteries proliferate in everything from cars to smartphones, recycling is becoming a critical issue. Now a team of researchers at the University of South Florida has found a way to use naturally occurring fungi to extract cobalt and lithium from waste batteries. The scientists presented their work at a recent meeting of the… Read more »
Bender launches a new off-the-shelf automotive-grade isolation monitoring device for EVs
Traditional 12-volt automotive batteries are grounded to the metal chassis of vehicles for a few different reasons, mainly driven by cost. Using the metal frame as a common ground essentially reduces the number of wires needed for all of the 12-volt systems by half – saving money and reducing weight. For example, to power a… Read more »
Evercar brings its fleet of EVs to Uber, Lyft, Instacart and other on-demand services
Evercar uses short-term rentals to accelerate the potential for electric ride-sharing and delivery services. If it can clear regulatory hurdles, its electric-miles-as-a-service tools could change the growing industry. On paper, EVs seem like the perfect choice for the on-demand economy. In a world where vehicles are being pushed to spend more time on the road… Read more »
Smart charging pilot tests new ISO vehicle-to-grid standard
As EVs proliferate, smart charging, in which vehicles, charging stations and the grid are able to communicate with each other in real time, will be necessary, in order to avoid overloading local grids and to smoothly integrate EV charging with renewable energy sources. A new pilot project at the University of California, San Diego uses… Read more »
Big charge on campus: EV charging at US colleges increases by 35%
It’s back-to-school time, and many of the nation’s college and university students will return to campus to find more EV charging stations than ever. ChargePoint reports that there are currently 1,134 charging spots at colleges and universities in its network, an increase of about 35% from the same time last year. On-campus EV charging is… Read more »
California program to demonstrate electric school buses with V2G technology
The California Energy Commission has approved a $1.4-million grant to the consulting firm National Strategies (NSI) for an electric school bus demonstration program. Together with a previously awarded grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the total of $2.2 million will finance the development of six electric school buses that will be deployed… Read more »
2014 Cadillac ELR: Technology trickling up
Nowadays, when the in-crowd thinks of the planet’s coolest car, a Model S or one of the European brands might come to mind, but there was a time when the unchallenged monarch of automotive luxury was the Cadillac. Surely no other car has been mentioned in as many classic movies and blues songs. And a… Read more »