Siemens’s new VersiCharge Smartgrid (SG) is a Wi-Fi-enabled charging station that allows residential owners to monitor and control usage remotely through a mobile app. Users can automatically turn charging on or off, schedule charging when rates are lowest, and view past power consumption data in graphical form. The cloud-based charging station can also interact with… Read more »
Screw it in and drive Among the companies pushing the boundaries of packaging efficiency is the German engineering colossus Siemens. The company has developed an integrated motor and inverter contained in a single housing, the Siemens Sivetec MSA 3300. The new drive unit reduces weight, frees up six to seven liters of additional space, lowers… Read more »
As gains in energy efficiency and the plummeting cost of home-generated solar power threaten to shrink their revenues, some electric utilities seem to see EVs as a source of future demand for centrally-generated power. A case in point is Duke Energy, which, while leading the charge against efficiency and solar in its Florida service area,… Read more »
The latest idea for reducing vehicle weight comes from the German engineering colossus Siemens, which has developed a way to integrate an EV’s motor and inverter in a single housing. An inverter, which converts the battery’s direct current into alternating current for the motor, is a key component of any EV. Siemens’ Sivetec MSA 3300… Read more »
As part of Germany’s Visio.M electromobility project, researchers at Munich Technical University (TUM) have developed a torque vectoring transmission that’s designed to improve handling and recoup the maximum amount of braking energy. “While drive torque is normally distributed 50/50 to the wheels of the drive axle, our torque vectoring system doses the torque between the… Read more »
Siemens, in partnership with EV manufacturer StreetScooter, is developing a centralized computing architecture for EVs that will make it possible to retrofit new features using a “plug-and-play” process, and to push software updates to vehicles as is currently done with smartphones (and Tesla vehicles). The RACE (Robust and Reliable Automotive Computing Environment for Future eCars)… Read more »
Electric aircraft may be taking to the skies sooner than you think. EADS (the parent company of Airbus) and various partners have several “E-aircraft” research projects underway, and have already flown a couple of electrified airplanes. In 2010, EADS Innovation Works (IW) and Aero Composites Saintonge (ACS) flew a single-seat, 375 lb plane called the… Read more »
Volvo’s demo fleet of 100 C30 EVs, which is now being evaluated by European leasing customers, will be upgraded this summer with a new, more powerful motor from Siemens and a new on-board charger from BRUSA. The new Siemens motor has a peak power output of 89 kW (120 hp), torque of 250 Nm, and… Read more »
Do the lower operating costs of EVs justify their higher purchase prices compared to legacy gas-burning vehicles? That question may have no definitive yes-or-no answer (it depends on an individual’s driving habits), but more data is always welcome. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, in cooperation… Read more »
The Siemens Drive Technologies Division has signed an agreement with Semikron International, under which Siemens will take over Semikron’s VePOINT subsidiary, and the two companies will increase their cooperation in the field of EV power electronics. VePOINT’s technology is meant to complement the Siemens range of products by adding systems with attractive power densities and… Read more »