The hyperconnected automobile presents all sorts of opportunities for criminal mischief, and it’s no hypothetical danger – last year, DARPA researchers were able to remotely hack into Toyota and Ford vehicles and disable the brakes. At this month’s Symposium on Security for Asia Network (SyScan360), a security conference in Beijing, security buffs were invited to… Read more »
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Phinergy CEO on aluminum-air batteries and 1,000-mile range-extended EVs
Along with its industry giant partner Alcoa, Israeli startup Phinergy says it has aluminum-air batteries for EVs in the can. More than 550 feet over the National Mall in Washington, DC, the single most significant piece of American aluminum triangulates a point between the White House, the US Capitol, and the Lincoln Memorial. It is… Read more »
Q&A with Ian Wright: The CEO of Wrightspeed on Tesla, gas turbines and electric trucks
Ian Wright is originally from New Zealand. He came to California in 1993, where he happened to be a neighbor of Tesla founder Martin Eberhard. He worked with optical switching systems at a company called Altamar Networks until it went out of business, then decided he wanted to start his own company. Eberhard and his… Read more »
Daimler and BMW commit to common technology for wireless charging
Daimler and BMW have agreed to jointly develop and implement a common technology for wireless charging. The system consists of two components: a secondary coil integrated into the under tray of the car and a primary coil integrated into a floor plate that can be placed on a garage floor. Electrical energy is transmitted at… Read more »
A closer look at the semiconductor switch
In this article I’ll be giving an overview of that most important of power electronics components: the semiconductor switch. I’ll first address what a switch is, and then delve into some of the more important compromises and shortcomings that exist in real-world switches that engineers must contend with when designing chargers, motor controllers, DC-DC converters… Read more »
Will Nissan’s No Charge to Charge program drive LEAF sales?
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 »
Automotive segment consumes 10.5% of global advanced battery production
Batteries are big business. According to the latest Advanced Battery Tracker from Navigant Research, more than 6 billion advanced battery cells were sold in 2013, representing 40 gigawatts of power capacity and more than $13.4 billion in sales (a modest increase over 2012’s $12.8 billion). The majority of these batteries were manufactured in China. Most… Read more »
New simulation software provides a powerful tool for battery developers
In the holy quest for a better battery, engineering simulation software is a key tool, helping battery developers to shorten the time-consuming cycle of prototyping and manufacturing. Software developer ANSYS (NASDAQ: ANSS) has now incorporated battery models in the latest release of its Fluent software, thanks to the efforts of a team that also includes GM… Read more »
Swedish researchers: Carbon fiber can serve as both body panel and battery
It’s one of the dilemmas of EV design: It’s imperative to keep a vehicle’s weight as low as possible, but the most critical component – the battery – is necessarily quite heavy (and bulky). A little outside-the-box thinking yields an elegant solution – make the box the battery. In other words, design a battery material… Read more »
Tesla shares all of its patented technology
Last week, while speaking at the company’s first-quarter shareholders’ meeting, Elon Musk expressed frustration with the other automakers for moving so slowly into EVs, and hinted that he’s thinking about offering them a helping hand. “I’m contemplating doing something fairly significant on that front, which would be kind of controversial with respect to Tesla’s patents.” Today,… Read more »
