Search Results Found For: "DOE "

Why did Porsche go to the trouble of designing an 800 V Taycan EV?

How higher-voltage battery packs enable faster charging ecosystems Porsche took on a considerable engineering challenge when it decided to design an 800 V EV system for the Taycan, because nearly every other hybrid and EV in the world operates at 400 V or less. There simply was not a wide range of high-voltage off-the-shelf parts… Read more »

Honda accelerates electrification plans for Europe, passes over US

The good news: global automakers are getting more serious about electrification, announcing numerous new models and planning massive investments. The bad news: the trend is increasingly bypassing the North American market, as many of the new EVs, including models from US automakers, are to be sold only in China or Europe. Honda recently underlined this… Read more »

PNNL scientists pinpoint cause of dendrites in lithium batteries

Scientists at the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Lab have uncovered a “root” cause of the growth of needle-like structures – known as dendrites and whiskers – that plague lithium batteries and can cause short circuit, failure, and even fire. Dendrites are tiny, rigid tree-like structures that can grow inside a lithium battery. Their needle-like projections… Read more »

Eaton launches transmission for heavy-duty EVs

The e-mobility business of power management company Eaton has launched a four-speed transmission for heavy-duty commercial EVs. Designed for Class 7 and 8 vehicles, the new transmission features fine-pitch helical gears and low-noise operation. Eaton said its new gearbox does not have a clutch and is synchronized via the traction motor. The transmission is scheduled… Read more »

Zero Automotive launches e-truck based on Toyota Landcruiser

Australian startup Zero Automotive has launched an electric pickup truck for commercial use, based on the Landcruiser 79 series. “It’s available in 20 to 120 kWh battery packs, with modular battery packs and a 700 Nm electric motor,” said Zero Automotive co-founder Tim Possingham. “That has more torque than the factory turbo-diesel V8 that’s normally… Read more »

GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler side with Trump in fight to gut fuel economy standards

GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler have announced that they will side with the Trump administration in its war with California over fuel economy standards, in direct opposition to competitors Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW, which struck a compromise with the California Air Resources Board in July. CARB’s deal with the four automakers calls for fleet… Read more »

Wildcat Discovery Technologies raises $20 million in Series C funding

Wildcat Discovery Technologies, a company that uses high-throughput methods to develop next-generation battery materials, has raised more than $20 million in a Series C financing round. Led by Flint Hills Resources and IPM Group in consortium with InoBat, the financing will be used to improve and expand Wildcat’s high-throughput research platform, hardware, modeling, and artificial… Read more »

Argonne develops electrolyte for next-gen lithium battery with silicon anodes

Researchers at the DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new electrolyte mixture and a simple additive that could have a place in the next generation of lithium-ion batteries that feature silicon anodes. The report findings were published in July in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Scientists have long seen the silicon anode… Read more »