As the EV scene heats up, we’re starting to see a steady stream of studies and surveys analyzing the growing market. Assessments of consumers’ EV awareness vary considerably, and predictions for the future are all over the map. A recent report by investment analyst Goldman Sachs sees big changes ahead for the auto industry, but… Read more »
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Tesla acquisition of German engineering firm should help with production ramp-up
Tesla has announced plans to acquire Grohmann Engineering, a German company that the California carmaker called “one of the world leaders in highly automated methods of manufacturing.” Grohmann currently has around 700 employees, and had revenues of 123 million euros ($136 million) in 2015. It has developed battery production lines for several automakers. The company… Read more »
Improving aerodynamic modeling: Combining airflow dynamics with vehicle-handling models
Tuning a vehicle’s aerodynamic features is nothing new. Engineers have been using wind tunnels for decades, and more recently they’ve also employed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to reduce drag, minimize noise and increase stability by preventing undesired lift forces. In the expanding world of EVs, car builders are doubling down on efforts to push… Read more »
Tesla Model X: The all-electric crossover hits the road
Tesla was founded on a single profound insight: If you want to sell EVs, you have to sell them the way all other cars are sold – not on practicality, but on style and glamor. A related idea is summed up in Elon Musk’s oft-stated promise to build “not just the best electric cars, but… Read more »
Tesla shifts focus to Model 3 as engineers prepare to start work at the Gigafactory
Tesla’s Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel gave a talk at the University of Nevada in Reno this week, as the company announced a new internship program and an investment of $1 million in the university’s battery research program. Saying that the transition to a truly sustainable world won’t be accomplished in a single generation, Straubel… Read more »
Silicon Valley’s Motiv helps electrify heavy-duty trucks, shuttles and buses
Sometimes kids can’t wait to be grown-ups, but growth takes time. An acorn doesn’t become an oak tree overnight. Electric vehicles are a growth industry, and many people in that industry would like to see explosive expansion, rather than the slow and steady gains that have characterized the market for years. Yet even slow progress… Read more »
Every inch an EV: Tesla’s Model S redefines the automobile (new book excerpt)
This article is an excerpt from Tesla Motors: How Elon Musk and Company Made Electric Cars Cool, and Sparked the Next Tech Revolution by Charged Senior Editor Charles Morris. This 270-page book is a comprehensive history of Tesla, told by the entrepreneurs who made it happen, as well as an assessment of the company’s lasting influence… Read more »
New anode extends the life of lithium-sulfur batteries
Many researchers are interested in lithium-sulfur batteries, because they can offer up to four times the energy density of lithium-ion chemistries. However, current lithium-sulfur batteries have a much shorter lifespan. In a paper published this week in Nature Communications, a team from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) described a “hybrid” anode… Read more »
Berkeley Lab researchers get to the root of the lithium anode problem
In the quest for higher energy density, the use of lithium metal anodes would seem to be a promising approach, if it weren’t for those doggone dendrites. Dendrites are microscopic fibers of lithium, which sprout, tree-like, from the surface of the lithium electrode and spread through the electrolyte until they reach the other electrode, possibly… Read more »
Web of Power: Spider9’s Operating System for Energy
Spider9 weaves a matrix for stationary energy storage and shows that when it comes to fitting battery technology into electric vehicles, it’s not all for one and one for all. Many real-world technologists and engineers take inspiration from the worlds of science fiction, where recurring themes of systems theory take shape in the Grid of… Read more »