Image above courtesy of WSDOT/Flickr Nissan and NRG eVgo have pioneered a multi-network consortium to make topping up the bestselling EV a considerable re-LEAF. When Nissan last graced the Charged cover (March/April 2013 issue), the company was picking itself up and dusting itself off. Its LEAF had taken a shellacking in the press after the… Read more »
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University of Delaware to offer BMW Mini-E EVs for lease in V2G project
The University of Delaware is making a small number of BMW Mini-E EVs available for lease as part of an ongoing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) demonstration project. “Individual drivers are now needed to expand the demonstration over a wider range of driving patterns,” said project leader Willett Kempton. The Grid on Wheels program will lease the vehicles… Read more »
Electric bus maker Proterra raises $40 million in additional funding
Electric bus manufacturer Proterra has raised more than $30 million in additional funding, and expects to close on another $10 million within the coming weeks. Kleiner Perkins and GM Ventures led the financing, with another ten or so venture capital firms participating. Proterra electric vehicles have logged over 400,000 zero-emission miles in 11 US cities…. Read more »
ClipperCreek announces $395 Level 2 home charging station
One of the biggest beefs we hear from new EV owners is the high cost of home charging stations. ClipperCreek has made it its mission to bring those prices down. This week, the Auburn, California-based company continued the downward slide with a $395 Level 2 charger. The new LCS-20 charges at 3.6 kW, 15 Amps,… Read more »
Wildcat’s new copper fluoride cathode material offers 2.5x more capacity than today’s battery tech
The current generation of lithium-ion battery materials is quickly approaching its theoretical limit. In commercial layered oxide cathodes, like the popular nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), there is only one lithium ion for every metal. So, the most energy you could possibly store with those materials is one full lithium in and out, or about 300 mAh per… Read more »
Will Tesla really have highway autopilot capabilities within a year?
Elon Musk touched on a lot of interesting topics at Tesla’s first-quarter shareholders’ meeting, but one of the biggest bombshells of all slipped by almost unnoticed, a single sentence towards the end of the 75-minute presentation (at about 15:30 of part 2): “I think we’re making some really good progress on the autopilot side,” said the… Read more »
Volvo may test dynamic wireless charging on Swedish city bus line
The Volvo Group is studying the possibility of developing a dynamic charging solution for city buses. Dynamic charging, in which vehicles are charged by an inductive charging coil in the roadbed, is generally considered to be several years from commercialization, although a group of Korean researchers has tested a prototype system. Volvo plans to develop… Read more »
BMW joint venture to double – wait, make that triple – carbon fiber production
Back in February, we reported that SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers, a joint venture between BMW and the SGL Group, was planning to double the capacity of its carbon fiber plant in Moses Lake, Washington. Well, they’re not. They’re going to triple it. The $300-million site expansion, to be completed by early 2015, will bring production… Read more »
OLEV Technologies’ dynamic wireless inductive system charges vehicles while in motion
When one thinks of Nikola Tesla and electric vehicles, the obvious connection points to Elon Musk’s favorite part-time project. However, we also have to give the Serbian inventor proper credit for pioneering technology that eventually may become even more important to EVs than battery breakthroughs. Tesla’s obsession with wireless power transmission defined much of his… Read more »
Croatian supercar startup secures funding
Elon Musk is not the only EV pioneer who’s been inspired by Nikola Tesla. Just a few hours’ drive from the small village where Tesla was born, a Croatian company is building a 1,088-horsepower beast called the Rimac Concept_One. Like Musk, Mate Rimac, the 26-year old founder of Rimac Automobili, has plans that extend far… Read more »