Screw it in and drive Among the companies pushing the boundaries of packaging efficiency is the German engineering colossus Siemens. The company has developed an integrated motor and inverter contained in a single housing, the Siemens Sivetec MSA 3300. The new drive unit reduces weight, frees up six to seven liters of additional space, lowers… Read more »
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Chicago charging network owners charged with fraud
Every emerging industry attracts its share of scamsters – especially when there’s an opportunity to rip off the government – and the EVSE biz seems to be no exception. The owners of a company that won a contract to build an EV charging network in Chicago have been charged with fraud. The Chicago Tribune reported… Read more »
Chevy Volts recalled over idling problem
With new technology come new and unforeseen problems. Apparently, some Volt drivers, lulled into absent-mindedness by the plug-in hybrid’s silent running, forget to shut the car off. This drains the battery, causing the gasoline engine to turn on and possibly leading to dangerous carbon monoxide buildup. General Motors is recalling about 64,000 Volts from the… Read more »
Real-time images of lithium dendrite structures could lead to better batteries
Scientists at the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have captured the first real-time nanoscale images of lithium dendrite structures in lithium-ion batteries. The ORNL team is confident that its research, published in Nano Letters, will be of great benefit to scientists who are experimenting with different ways to tackle the dendrite problem. Dendrites form when… Read more »
Nissan and Endesa partner to develop mass-market V2G system.
Nissan and Endesa have agreed to work together to develop a mass-market vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system. The two companies plan to introduce V2G services in the European market and to explore the use of second-life EV batteries for stationary applications. “Every Nissan electric vehicle battery contains a power storage capability that will prove useful in contributing… Read more »
Researchers develop redox flow battery with high energy density
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed a new zinc-polyiodide redox flow battery that could offer more than two times the energy density of existing designs. Flow batteries, which use ionized liquids stored in external tanks in place of traditional electrolytes, have garnered a lot of publicity lately, as the storage medium of… Read more »
San Diego utility integrates EVs into California’s wholesale energy market.
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has launched a pilot vehicle-to-grid project under which it will bid a group of energy storage systems and EV fleets as one resource directly into the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) energy markets. Utilities use storage resources like this to address short-term imbalances in electricity supply caused by such… Read more »
February plug-in sales slow overall, but BMW i3 powers ahead
There are plenty of legitimate excuses: winter is always the slow season for auto sales; a couple of key vehicles are in rundown mode as buyers wait for a new and improved model; and, although logic tells us they shouldn’t, ultralow gas prices may be taking a bite out of demand for plug-ins. Be all… Read more »
The charging port-to-EV ratio: residential versus commercial
You may have noticed that just about every electrical supply equipment manufacturer thrust into the home charging business as the EV market developed over the last few years. However, only a handful stuck their toes into the networked-public-charging pond – and some quickly decided that the water was too cold to swim in, and scaled… Read more »
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (book review)
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, by Naomi Klein, is a powerful, important book, meticulously researched and beautifully written. I also found it a very disturbing book, and in a way I wish I hadn’t read it. The thesis is that the kind of action required to avert climate catastrophe is incompatible with the… Read more »