A new excerpt from Tesla: How Elon Musk and Company Made Electric Cars Cool, and Remade the Automotive and Energy Industries, Edition 4.1. An inside look at the early days David Havasi was a car guy from birth. He grew up near Auburn Hills, and his dad worked in the auto industry. “My childhood was… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "Toyota"
Fiat Chrysler CEO talks about electric pickup
Fiat Chrysler has long been a favorite whipping boy for EV journalists. Of the US Big Three, it’s been the proudest defender of the gas-powered status quo, joining GM in the fight against US emissions standards, and agreeing to pay Tesla hundreds of millions of euros in order to avoid producing EVs in Europe. However,… Read more »
Consumer Reports: Popular EV models cost less to own than comparable legacy vehicles
Surprise, surprise! An analysis by Consumer Reports has confirmed what EV boosters have been saying for a few years now: opting for a plug-in vehicle will save you thousands of dollars compared to owning a gas-powered vehicle. Savings on fuel and maintenance more than offset the higher purchase prices of EVs and PHEVs over the… Read more »
Considerations for selecting automotive-grade multilayer ceramic capacitors in EVs
Sponsored by Knowles Precision Devices The worldwide electric vehicle (EV) market is exploding in demand and mainstream adoption as governments push for fuel economy improvements and automotive companies look for new market opportunities. According to Forbes, “by 2020, EVs are likely to cost the same as conventional fuel powered equivalents.” Major manufacturers – like General Motors, Toyota,… Read more »
Volkswagen ID.4 and Nissan Ariya bring EV drive to compact crossovers…chasing Tesla Model Y
Can new electric entries in a hugely popular segment convince US buyers to buy EVs from Nissan and VW as family vehicles? Two new battery-electric models from major global car brands are about to bring electric cars into a category where they’ve been notably absent: family crossover utility vehicles. The 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 and 2022… Read more »
New study reaffirms carbon emissions of EVs lower than ICEs, lists flaws in long-tailpipe arguments
Journalists sometimes have to write the same articles over and over, like teachers repeating the same lecture for a new class each semester. The myth of the “long tailpipe”—the notion that EVs generate just as much carbon emissions as ICE vehicles do—has been debunked by dozens of scientific studies (see below for a partial list)…. Read more »
Teardown expert Sandy Munro compares 10 leading EV motors in new video
Auto manufacturing expert Sandy Munro knows what makes cars tick. For years, he and his company have performed teardowns, taking new cars apart and analyzing every little bracket and screw—what it’s made of, who made it, and how much it cost. This week at the Charged Virtual Conference on EV Engineering, Sandy compared an assortment… Read more »
Elon Musk offers to let automakers license Tesla’s tech (again)
Tesla’s mission has always been to advance the transition to electromobility, and Elon Musk has said many times that he’s open to licensing deals that would allow other automakers to use the company’s technology. As far as we know, only two major brands have ever taken Tesla up on the offer: back in the 2010s,… Read more »
Scale up micro-solid-state batteries to large EV cells? It’s not so simple.
Q&A with Ilika Technologies Every other scientist in the battery world seems to be working on commercializing large-scale solid-state batteries for use in EVs. The potential for technical and safety benefits is substantial, so there will be a big pot of gold for those who first make real advancements on the automotive level. Using solid… Read more »
How to ensure EV traction motor magnets aren’t pushed beyond their operating limits
Avoiding motor demagnetization: John Wanjiku, Technical Specialist at Mentor Graphics, explains the goals of a detailed traction motor design analysis. Neodymium permanent magnets are used in EV traction motors because of their powerful magnetic fields and relatively strong resistance to demagnetization, but they tend to lose their magnetism when exposed to excessive operating temperatures, opposing… Read more »