The battle over US fuel efficiency standards is likely to be a long and complex one. The new administration has made its zeal for rolling back environmental regulations clear, and that’s music to the ears of automakers, which have devoted much time and treasure over the years to watering down existing and proposed standards. The… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "SIC"
New fluorinated sulfone electrolytes enable high-voltage, high-energy Li-ion batteries
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have synthesized a new class of fluorinated sulfone electrolytes to enable high-voltage, high-energy Li-ion batteries. In “Oxidatively Stable Fluorinated Sulfone Electrolytes for 5-V Lithium-ion Battery,” published in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science, Chi-Cheung Su and colleagues explain how they evaluated the physical and electrochemical properties of the new… Read more »
Tesla’s chief motor engineer discusses the potential of next-generation motor technologies
Tesla spends a considerable amount of resources on basic research into EV systems – as well it should. EV technology is very young compared to that of ICE vehicles, so it’s safe to assume that, in a few short years, the aggregate of many incremental technology advances could lead to significantly better EVs. Of course,… Read more »
Tesla updates Autopilot, Musk debuts as an artist
Another milestone on the road to self-driving cars was reached this week as Tesla released a software update that apparently brings the capabilities of cars with Autopilot 2.0 to near-parity with those of the first-generation Autopilot suite. As aficionados know, Tesla vehicles built since October 2016 are equipped with second-generation Autopilot hardware (including eight cameras… Read more »
Southwest Research Institute consortium conducts independent battery benchmarking
Comparing the spec sheets from different parts manufacturers is tricky business for engineers in any industry. However, the advanced battery market seems to be uniquely challenged in this regard. As Tesla CEO Elon Musk often points out, when it comes to batteries, the BS factor is outrageous. Even if you assume that every vendor provides… Read more »
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV: The era of long-range, mid-priced EVs is here
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will surely be remembered as a milestone model in automotive history – and hopefully for more than just the hype that heralded it. For several years, the punditocracy has been saying that the “killer app” that would bring electromobility to a “tipping point” and build that all-important “critical mass” would… Read more »
Wolfspeed launches a new silicon carbide MOSFET for EV inverters
Wide Bandgap (WBG) semiconductor technologies have attracted a lot of attention and research funding in the past decade. Both public and private institutions around the world have been obsessed with accelerating the evolution of WBG tech into commercial power electronics applications. What’s all the fuss about? WBG materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium… Read more »
Navigant Research analyzes how transition to shared vehicles will effect energy markets
By Scott Shepard, Senior Research Analyst at Navigant Research’s Transportation Efficiencies program Smartphones have really changed the way things get done, and the continuous and sometimes overwhelming revolutions enabled by our hand-held devices are only just beginning. The transformations still to come include the basic process by which people and things are moved. The addition… Read more »
Wolfspeed expands MOSFET platform to 1,200 V
Wolfspeed, a pioneer of silicon carbide (SiC) power products, has expanded its C3M platform to include a 1,200 V MOSFET. The new device is designed to enable an increase in frequency while maintaining efficiency, lowering system cost, reducing circuit EMI, and enabling 99% efficiency levels in three-phase power factor correction circuits. The device uses Wolfspeed’s… Read more »
Rocket Man – Elon Musk In His Own Words (book review)
Like Einstein, Picasso and Muhammad Ali, Elon Musk is a great aphorist. His pithy sayings are continually quoted in contexts ranging far beyond the techie press. In fact, whole web sites (shitelonsays.com) have been devoted to the utterances of the Californic oracle. Not all those who do great things are good at explaining how they… Read more »