Search Results Found For: "department of energy"

Tom Gage on ZEV mandates, Tesla’s early days, BMW’s EV commitment and V2G tech

Q&A with the EV trailblazer Tom Gage Tom Gage is one of America’s true EV pioneers. He’s perhaps best known as one of the designers of the tzero electric sports car that provided the inspiration for the Tesla Roadster. However, that is far from his only contribution to the electric mobility field. Charged recently caught up… Read more »

Legislative update: California, Georgia, Utah and federal EV incentives

California clean vehicle rebate funds run out, waiting list openedOn March 28, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced that it has run out of available FY 2013-14 funding for the Clean Vehicle rebate, and it has opened a $5 million rebate waiting list.   CARB estimates that it will need a total of $30 million… Read more »

DOE Inspector General criticizes agency’s oversight of Ecotality awards

The sad story of Ecotality’s demise entered another chapter, as the DOE’s internal investigator said that problems at the company should have been spotted sooner. The DOE’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a report concluding that the DOE “had not fully disclosed known concerns regarding Ecotality’s ability to meet its EV project obligations”… Read more »

DOE’s Alternative Fueling Station Locator now available as a free iPhone app

The Energy Department has launched a new mobile app to help drivers find “alternative fuel” stations – electricity, biodiesel (B20), natural gas, ethanol (E85), hydrogen and propane. The new app is a mobile version of the Alternative Fueling Station Locator web site, and it lists over 15,000 stations across the country.  The app displays addresses,… Read more »

The new A123 looks a lot like the old A123: Q&A with Jeff Kessen

Start-ups are tough. The majority of them do not succeed, particularly those built around new technologies in burgeoning industries. Nowhere is this more evident than in the EV industry. Even with political support and government grants, many companies have miscalculated the market and the capital required to make it into the black.  In October 2012,… Read more »

ARPA-E awards $27 million for power electronics research

The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has selected 14 projects to receive $27 million in funding to support the development of next-generation power conversion devices. These devices, which convert electrical energy from high to low voltages, are critical to all electronic devices, and represent a key enabling technology for electric vehicles.  The DOE’s talent… Read more »

DOE to auction off Fisker loan

Got a plan to bring Fisker back to life? You’ve got a couple of weeks to put an offer together. The DOE has announced that it plans to conduct an auction for Fisker’s loan, which has a $168 million unpaid balance, on October 11. The deadline for submitting initial bids is October 7. “After exhausting… Read more »

German investors submit offer for Fisker

A pair of German investors has submitted a formal offer for Fisker Automotive, according to Green Car Reports. Last month, the German magazine AutoBild reported that Fritz Nol and Ingo Voigt group were interested in acquiring what remains of Fisker for $25 million. “I am proud to tell you that we just sent our detailed… Read more »

Plug-in fleets: small challenges, huge savings

Four plug-in truck companies talk to fleet managers about electrification opportunities Plug-in vehicles are different. Aside from the obvious changes in technology, they present a different financial model for corporate number crunchers. This means some challenges for those pitching EVs and PHEVs to fleet operators. Fortunately for the EV industry and the fleets of the… Read more »

Australian researchers announce supercapacitor breakthrough

Researchers at Australia’s Monash University have developed a compact graphene-based supercapacitor device that lasts as long as a conventional battery, an advance with the potential to bring next-generation energy storage a step closer. Professor Dan Li of the Department of Materials Engineering and his team published their work this week in Science. Supercapacitors (SCs) are… Read more »