Another grim milestone on the road to vehicle autonomy has been reached – the first autonomy-related lawsuit against an automaker. Ironically, it happened not in the litigation-obsessed US, but in China. Gao Jubin’s 23-year-old son, Gao Yaning, died in January after crashing his Model S into the back of a road-sweeping vehicle on a highway… Read more »
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Researchers use wide-bandgap material to make inverter smaller and lighter
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new type of inverter that offers superior efficiency in a smaller and lighter package than current models. Conventional inverters rely on components made of silicon. The NC State team has developed an inverter using off-the-shelf components made of the wide-bandgap semiconductor material silicon carbide (SiC). “Our… Read more »
Albemarle to acquire lithium salt production assets in China
Specialty chemical firm Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) has signed an agreement to acquire the lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate conversion assets of Jiangxi Jiangli New Materials Science and Technology. The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of Q1 2017, includes manufacturing assets located in Jiangxi and Sichuan, China, focused on the production of… Read more »
New separator membrane could enable faster charging, eliminate thermal runaway
Researchers from Ohio State University have designed a thin plastic membrane that could improve the charging speed of current batteries, and possibly enable a new type of battery as well. In a study published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, assistant professor Vishnu-Baba Sundaresan and doctoral student Travis Hery argue that current battery designs… 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 »
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 »
WattZilla designs its high-power charging stations to be the first and last EVSE you buy
One size serves all. When interviewing the founders of technology startups, we often hear a common narrative as they recount the inception of the company. They go shopping for a product, find the available options lacking and then ask themselves, “Why doesn’t a better solution exist?” That’s Frank Gangi’s story. He bought a Tesla Model… Read more »
“Faster, cleaner, cheaper” – Lifelong motorhead becomes EVangelist
Marco “Speedy” Jeanrenaud, a resident of the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland, is a connoisseur of the automobile. A lover of classic American cars, he has owned a 1976 Cadillac, a Dodge Charger, several Ford Mustangs, a Range Rover SUV, and Harley and BMW motorcycles (as well as more prosaic vehicles, including a Hyundai minivan… Read more »
Water-in-salt electrolyte boosts energy density
Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) and the US Army Research Lab (ARL) are collaborating on a new type of lithium-ion battery that uses a high concentration of salt in an aqueous electrolyte. They hope to develop a battery that offers greater energy density and better safety than current designs. “Lithium-ion batteries raise safety,… Read more »
Arbin’s new battery testing equipment offers a glimpse into the future with ultra-high precision
Arbin accelerates testing of production Li-ion cells with ultra-high precision equipment. Automakers are a notoriously conservative bunch. They go to great lengths to test and validate new designs before putting them into production vehicles. And, thanks to their cautious ways, today’s vehicles are more reliable than ever. Recently, however, the addition of advanced Li-ion battery… Read more »