Things are stirring at Fisker Automotive. New owner Wanxiang plans to relaunch the Karma plug-in luxury sedan next year, and the company is hiring – its online job board lists some 45 open positions, including engineers, managers and interns. Fisker is renewing its relationship with Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies, the supplier of the Karma’s powertrain… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "motiv power"
Media skeptics pile on Tesla as stock enters the slow lane
Updated 12/19/14 12:50 pm EST to include today’s tweet from Elon Musk’s regarding battery-swap stations. Predictions are a dime a dozen (and so are alliterative clichés), but here are two that always seem to come true: any time the price of a headline stock goes down, media pundits start chiming in with “I told you so”… Read more »
DOE offers funding for research into fuel cells, batteries, Schottky diodes
The DOE’s Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for fiscal year 2015, which spans the range of energy technologies, includes a few EV-related topics. Phase I grants of up to $225,000 will be made to small businesses to evaluate the feasibility of ideas that have commercial potential. Topics of interest include: Fuel Cell-Battery Electric Hybrid for Utility… Read more »
Hitachi supplies inverters and DC/DC converters for Mercedes PHEVs
Hitachi Automotive Systems has begun to supply Daimler with compact, high-output inverters and DC/DC converters for use in the Mercedes S500 and S550 plug-in hybrids, which recently went on sale in Germany. Hitachi developed a third-generation inverter that is 40% smaller and offers higher output than the previous version, and a high-output DC/DC converter with… Read more »
Daimler invests €100 million to expand lithium-ion battery production
Daimler plans to invest around €100 million ($125 million) to expand production capacity for lithium-ion batteries at its Deutsche ACCUmotive subsidiary. A new building is under construction in Kamenz, Germany, and when it is completed in mid-2015, Deutsche ACCUmotive will have nearly 20,000 square meters of production and logistics space. “Deutsche ACCUmotive will be producing… Read more »
Wisconsin poised to impose annual fee on EVs and hybrids
As the average fuel economy of US vehicles increases, gas tax receipts around the country are declining, leaving less funding available for road construction and maintenance. In an effort to make up the shortfall, Wisconsin could join five other states in imposing a fee on fuel-efficient vehicles. The $50 annual charge, which would apply to… Read more »
Air Force rolls out plug-in vehicle fleet with V2G
Los Angeles Air Force Base has replaced its entire general-purpose vehicle fleet with plug-in vehicles. The 42-vehicle fleet includes 13 Nissan LEAFs, five Ford pick-up trucks with EVAOS PHEV kits, 9 VIA Motors VTRUX vans, four Electric Vehicle International medium-duty trucks and one Phoenix Motorcars 12-passenger bus. Most are equipped with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability, allowing… Read more »
BMW’s fast charging strategy: Clarifying some nuanced announcements
Range anxiety: we’re not sure whether it’s a serious disease or a psychosomatic ailment, but it’s one of the most commonly-cited objections heard from potential EV buyers, and automakers take it quite seriously. All of the top EV-makers are investing heavily in public charging infrastructure in an effort to eradicate this dreaded malady. At the… Read more »
Coca-Cola fleet deploys XL Hybrids’ retrofit kits
XL Hybrids, a Boston-based developer of hybrid powertrain technology for commercial and municipal fleets, has announced that its customers have logged a cumulative total of four million on-road miles. The company’s XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive for passenger and cargo vans requires less than a $10,000 investment, and is designed to be installed in about five… Read more »
Next-gen battery pack testing: AeroVironment launches the AV-900 EX
In the late 1980s, General Motors contracted with the California-based firm AeroVironment to develop the Impact electric concept car. It was the prototype that evolved into the infamous EV1 production car. While designing the Impact, AeroVironment needed the ability to test large-format battery packs for automotive applications. However, at that time, essentially no one else… Read more »