Search Results Found For: "VIA Motors"

DARPA invests $2.7 million in QinetiQ electric wheel-hub drive technology

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced a $2.7- million investment in UK-based QinetiQ’s electric hub-drive technology. QinetiQ’s hub-drive replaces gearboxes, differentials, and drive shafts with compact electric motors contained completely within the wheels, significantly reducing the overall weight of a vehicle. QinetiQ is developing the hub-drive system as part of DARPA’s Ground… Read more »

Rare earth element-free motor debuts in Honda Freed

Honda was an early electrification innovator, but the disappointing career of its Insight Hybrid apparently killed the company’s interest in electrons. However, there are signs of a turnaround – the hybrid version of Honda’s Odyssey minivan, launched in Japan in February, now accounts for 70% of Odyssey sales. Now Nikkei Asian Review reports that Honda… Read more »

Honda and Daido Steel develop rare-earth-free neodymium magnet

Daido Steel and Honda have collaborated to develop a hot deformed neodymium magnet that contains no heavy rare earth elements, but still delivers the high heat resistance and high magnetic performance required for a hybrid vehicle motor. Neodymium magnets are prized for use in electrified vehicle motors, as they have the highest magnetic force of… Read more »

Swiss students set new acceleration record with experimental EV

Human ingenuity continues to address the important problems of the world, pushing vehicle acceleration time ever faster. A team of Swiss students has set a new world record for EV acceleration with an experimental race car that reached 62 mph in 1.513 seconds. The Grimsel, built by the Academic Motorsports Club Zürich, shattered the previous… Read more »

Texas Instruments launches new motor drivers for performance powertrains

Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced two new automotive motor drivers that support high-performance powertrain applications. The DRV8305-Q1, an integrated three-phase brushless DC gate driver, and the UCC27211A-Q1, a high-current half-bridge gate driver, are designed to improve system performance and provide design flexibility for a range of automotive system requirements. For powertrain applications such as transmission… Read more »

Peugeot Citroën to produce 4 EVs, 7 PHEVs by 2021

PSA Peugeot Citroën presented its new electrification strategy at a recent company event. The group plans to consolidate development on two global modular platforms – CMP and EMP2 – that will be the basis for legacy ICE vehicles, EVs and PHEVs, starting in 2019. The Common Modular Platform (CMP), developed in partnership with Dongfeng Motors,… Read more »

Elon Musk: Supercharging will not be free for Tesla Model 3 owners

Elon Musk and JB Straubel held forth for over three hours at Tesla’s 2016 annual shareholder meeting. They recapped the history of the company, and discussed its ambitious plans for the future, before taking questions from the audience. Mr. Musk answered what is probably the most pressing question among the legions of future Model 3… Read more »

LG may work with Iran to develop EVs and infrastructure

The next frontier for EVs could be…Iran? LG International has signed a tentative deal with the Iranian government to cooperate in developing EVs and charging infrastructure, according to Yonhap News. Few details are available, but Iran’s Mehr News Agency (via Green Car Congress) reported that LG International will oversee the project jointly with the Iranian… Read more »

The new Chevrolet Bolt bares all in juicy powertrain pictures

GM has always been pretty good about showing us the details of its technology. Now it’s showing off the upcoming Bolt’s electric powertrain in a series of detailed photos. The Bolt represents the pinnacle of GM’s electric technology, and it’s particularly interesting to see how that has been steadily improving. We get an up-close look… Read more »