San Francisco-based eMotorWerks is demonstrating the grid balancing potential of its smart-grid EV chargers with a 30-megawatt, distributed “virtual energy storage battery,” which has been active in California since the start of 2017. With an energy capacity of 70 MWh and eMotorWerks’s JuiceNet cloud software platform as the Battery Management System (BMS), the eMotorWerks virtual… Read more »
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German automakers struggle to find a profitable road to electrification
It has gradually become apparent that Big Auto’s reluctance to embrace EVs is not due to mere Luddism or fear of the future. There are several reasons to believe that electrification will take a major bite out of industry profits, as Daimler execs acknowledged in March. Now Volkswagen has warned that its stated plan to… Read more »
Chinese EV-makers are coming: NIO debuts on NYSE
China is by far the world’s largest EV market – nearly 373,000 plug-in passenger cars were sold there in the first half of this year (according to EV Volumes). It’s widely believed that Chinese automakers hope to ride the electrification wave to the top of the global industry, but so far the only Chinese company… Read more »
ZAF to use $300,000 grant to increase production of nickel-zinc batteries
Nickel-zinc (NiZn) specialist ZAF Energy Systems has received $300,000, the first installment of a $600,000 investment from Missouri’s Department of Economic Development. With the new funding, ZAF will increase production capacity to meet the increasing demand for its NiZn batteries. The company claims that the batteries have double the storage capacity and triple the power… Read more »
Sila Nano raises $70 million in funding for silicon-dominant battery anodes
Battery specialist Sila Nanotechnologies has received $70 million in Series D funding from Sutter Hill Ventures, Next47 (backed by Siemens), and Amperex. Sila Nano will use the funding for the development and commercialization of its silicon-dominant anodes. Overall, Sila has raised $125 million from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Chengwei Capital, Matrix Partners, Samsung, and… Read more »
Dana to design drivetrain for Mecalac’s electric excavator
Auto tech specialist Dana has been working to create a drivetrain for the Mecalac e12 electric compact wheeled excavator. The vehicle will use Mecalac’s 12MTX as a base frame, Spicer 112 axles and a Spicer 367 shift-on-fly transmission. The e12 will be equipped with a 146 kWh LiFePO4 battery pack that can charge in seven… Read more »
DC-link power capacitors technological advances for power electronics design
Sponsored by EPCOS, a TDK Group Company By Matt Reynolds, Director of Marketing, Piezo and Protection Devices The technology behind capacitors has been around since late 1745 when a physicist in Germany found that an electrical charge could be stored by connecting a high-voltage electrostatic generator by a wire to a volume of water in a hand-held… Read more »
A closer look at DC-DC converters
As far as we know, all EVs in production by major automakers use a conventional lead-acid battery for the 12 V system (surprising, but true – more on why in a bit) and this battery needs charging, just as it does in an ICE vehicle. While you could hang an alternator off the traction motor… Read more »
Hyundai invests in solid-state battery materials specialist Ionic Materials
Hyundai’s venture capital division, Cradle, is investing in Massachusetts-based battery materials developer Ionic Materials. Ionic says its patented solid polymer material enables solid-state batteries that are inherently safe, high in energy density and operational at room temperature. The special properties of Ionic’s polymer electrolyte also support lithium-ion cells with little to no cobalt in their cathodes…. Read more »
FreeWire deploys battery systems to increase the scalability of EV infrastructure
Rolling out the charging stations necessary to enable wide-scale adoption of EVs is a challenging task. Though valiant efforts are being made, there are still a lot of problematic applications that could benefit from innovative solutions. One young company, FreeWire Technologies, believes it has an answer to help with scalability: batteries on wheels. Business school… Read more »