Some UK buyers of Nissan’s new 2018 LEAF are ever so cross. As the BBC reports, some say charging the LEAF can take three times longer than claimed on Nissan’s website, and others have found that the range is far shorter than the 235 miles (378 km) they were promised. Nissan denies that there’s a… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "raw material"
A closer look at film capacitors
Plastic film capacitors relentlessly continue to take over many of the duties in EV power electronics that were once performed by the venerable aluminum electrolytic type, mainly because film capacitors exhibit much lower losses and have a much longer operational lifespan, especially at ambient temperatures in the 75-85° C range. The tradeoff is that film… Read more »
New R&D partnership aims to put Québec in the Li-on battery race
Hydro-Québec and Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG) have reached a research and licensing agreement that they hope will make Québec a contender in the booming battery business. The government-owned utility Hydro-Québec will assist NMG in developing small-scale mining operations to produce graphite which will be used as anode material for Li-on batteries. NMG’s graphite operation began… Read more »
A closer look at contactors
Contactors may not be the sexiest component in an EV, but they are critical both for safety and general functioning. Basically a heavier-duty version of the relay, a contactor is used to switch power to any of the loads supplied by the traction battery in an EV. The motor drive, the heating and cooling systems,… Read more »
PNNL research finds that optimal salt concentration increases battery life
Researchers at the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered that the “special sauce” of batteries is all about the salt concentration. By getting the right amount of salt right where they want it, they’ve demonstrated that a lithium-metal battery can undergo about seven times more charge/discharge cycles than batteries with conventional electrolytes. Finding an electrolyte solution… Read more »
Garnet ceramic electrolyte helps block dendrite formation
Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a new template that they hope will enable a safer alternative to liquid electrolytes, which have several drawbacks, including flammability, leakage and dendrite formation in the electrodes. In “Lithium-ion conductive ceramic textile: A new architecture for flexible solid-state lithium metal batteries,” published in Materials Today, UMD researchers… Read more »
2018 smart fortwo loses its top – and its gas engine
The smart isn’t for everyone, and it has never pretended to be. The media buzz these days centers around the trendy trio – Model 3, the Bolt and the new LEAF, each of which aspires to be “your affordable, every-day, one-and-only car,” as Motor Trend recently put it. The smart does not aspire to any… Read more »
Battery expert examines Tesla Roadster claims
Elon Musk raised some eyebrows when he announced that the new Tesla Roadster will do 0-60 in 1.9 seconds and have a range of 620 miles. That would make it not only by far the longest-range EV in existence, but also the quickest car ever produced. “These numbers sound unreal but they’re not,” said Musk…. Read more »
Fisker files patents on solid-state battery tech
Reborn automaker Fisker has filed patents for a new type of solid-state battery technology that it says could lead to much greater energy density and faster charging times. According to Fisker, current limitations of solid-state technology include low electrode current density, limited temperature ranges and non-scalable manufacturing processes. Other drawbacks include: low power and low… Read more »
Long aluminum, double-sided chip cooling solutions enhance electrified vehicles
Sponsored by Dana. Today, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are looking for cooling solutions that reduce costs and enhance efficiency. Long® double-sided insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) cooling systems produced by Dana enable electrified vehicles to achieve consistent operation and long-lasting performance. As OEMs design electrified vehicles that compete with traditional combustion engines, the need for… Read more »