A solar carport is the perfect complement to an EV. Not only does it ensure that your pretty new automobile, and the electrons powering it, stay clean, but it keeps things cool, making for slightly more efficient charging, and it serves as a visible advertisement for the new energy future. Charged recently spoke with the… Read more »
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New study: Lithium cost swings unlikely to impact battery prices
Global lithium prices have doubled over the last six months, sparking a scramble to secure sources of the metallic element, and causing pundits to ponder whether white lightning may be the new black gold. However, a new study by a Carnegie Mellon University team has found that even large increases in lithium prices are unlikely… Read more »
Model 3 mania has increased demand for other Tesla products
The tidal wave of reservations for Model 3 carries both good and bad news for Tesla – it’s cool to have all those future sales in the pipeline (over $14 billion worth, the company figures), but it’s a bummer to have to wait two years to get the cash. However, all the publicity comes with… Read more »
A closer look at wire bonding
Wire bonding technology – widely utilized in the microelectronics and power electronics industries since the 1970s – is finding its way into interesting new applications in the growing EV industry – in particular, battery connections. We’re quite certain that a few EVs are using wire-bonding technology for production battery pack connections, but Charged was unable… Read more »
Seaward’s new handheld charge point tester will help bring quality control to a new level
There is no doubt that the early days of charging infrastructure rollout had some bumps in the road. Plug-in vehicles interact with the outside world in a much more complicated way than legacy gas-guzzlers do, which led to early interoperability issues. The automakers needed to quickly learn how to work with many infrastructure and hardware… Read more »
WAVE wireless charging helps transit agencies save money by going electric
Wireless charging technology is almost ready for the big stage. Qualcomm has demonstrated its Halo system in various vehicles, including the Drayson B12/69 electric race car. Evatran’s Plugless aftermarket system is now commercially available for the Volt and the LEAF, and a Model S-compatible version is coming soon. Several major automakers have indicated that they’re… Read more »
BMW’s X5 xDrive40e spearheads its plan to offer PHEVs in every market segment
BMW has taken a bold approach to electrification. It began test-marketing EVs in 2012 with the Active E and Mini E, and escalated to full-scale production in 2013 with the i3 EV and i8 plug-in super-sports car, which together passed the milestone of 50,000 worldwide sales in January. BMW deserves a lot of credit for… Read more »
Electric torque vectoring: Q&A with GKN’s Advanced Engineering Director (Full Interview)
Torque vectoring technology is generally defined as a vehicle’s ability to vary the power to each wheel. Quickly controlling the torque applied to the wheels independently of one another allows the driving characteristics of a vehicle to be improved in significant ways – more stability, more responsiveness and more agility. A conventional differential distributes the… Read more »
Ford has no plans for a 200-mile EV
At a Ford conference about a year ago, Charged asked CEO Mark Fields (and every other exec we could buttonhole) if the company had any plans for an answer to the 200-mile Bolt that GM had just announced. His coy answer of “nothing we can talk about” led willing minds to believe that there was… Read more »
Airbus and Siemens collaborate on hybrid electric propulsion systems for aircraft
Airbus Group and Siemens have launched a joint project to explore the electrification of aviation. The goal is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of various hybrid/electric aircraft propulsion systems by 2020. The two giant companies plan to develop prototypes for propulsion systems with power classes ranging from a few hundred kilowatts up to 10 or… Read more »