Search Results Found For: "MIT "

Plug-in vehicle sales set a new record in March

Please don’t tell any of the mainstream media, but US plug-in vehicle sales reached a new all-time high in March. Interestingly, pure EV sales (4750) outnumbered PHEV sales (3080), which, if its not just a temporary market gyration, would seem to be a reversal of the current conventional wisdom. In first place for March is… Read more »

KAIST discovers method to extend Li-air battery life

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have discovered a means to extend the lifetime of lithium-air (Li-air) batteries, a technology that offers the promise of higher energy densities than those achievable with conventional lithium-ion batteries. They report their findings in the February issue of the journal ChemSusChem. Li-air batteries are… Read more »

Tesla stock blasts off as sales exceed target and profit predicted

It’s no April fool. Tesla Motors has announced that it sold 4,750 units of its Model S electric sedan in the first quarter, cruising past the target of 4,500 that it set in its February shareholder letter. As a result, the company will adjust its Q1 financial guidance from achieving an operating profit (which excludes… Read more »

Rolls-Royce to supply Azipull propulsion system for Norway’s electric ferry of the future

Rolls-Royce plc has signed a contract to deliver its Azipull propulsion and control system for the battery-powered “ferry of the future.” The new vessel is being built at the Fjellstrand yard in Norway, and will go into service in 2015 on the route between Lavik and Oppedal, across the Sognefjord, operated by Norwegian transport company… Read more »

Michigan powertrain producer teams with a Chinese company to produce plug-in commercial vehicles

Michigan-based ALTe Powertrain Technologies, developer of a range-extended electric powertrain for light commercial vehicles, has announced this week that it will establish a new commercial vehicle manufacturing joint venture with the Henan Benma Company in the Henan province of China. Benma currently produces 20 models of commercial vehicles for the Chinese market, and has a… Read more »

Geely won’t bid for Fisker

China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group will not bid for a majority stake in Fisker Automotive, mainly due to the automaker’s obligations to the US government, Reuters reported, citing two confidential sources. Geely, the owner of Volvo, was expected to win the deal for the maker of the Karma, but the Chinese firm doesn’t care for… Read more »

President Obama pushes research into EVs and other advanced transportation technologies

In a speech at the Argonne National Laboratory, President Obama proposed a new Energy Security Trust Fund to invest in research into post-petroleum transportation technologies, including electric vehicles. The plan sets aside $2 billion over 10 years from royalty revenues paid to the federal government by oil and gas producers. The government collects more than… Read more »

Its not just EVs that are selling slowly in Europe

Many of us have been puzzled about the fact that plug-in sales are taking off more slowly in Europe than in the US, given the continent’s compact cities, high fuel prices and tradition of greenery. However, looking at 2012’s auto sales figures may provide a simple explanation. While the US auto industry had a spectacular… Read more »