Month: September 2023

A look at improving motor efficiency in two main categories: electrical and mechanical. Regular readers of Charged don’t need to be told that the typical EV drivetrain is way more efficient from battery to wheels than its ICE-based equivalent, but it is perhaps less well-known that the approximate drivetrain efficiency ranges from 75-90% for the

Q&A with Mack Trucks’ Scott Barraclough Most followers of tech trends probably think of electric vehicles as luxury performance cars, but here at Charged, we get just as excited about commercial vehicles. As regular readers know, the electrification of trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles is quickly picking up, driven by both regulation and technological developments.

Ford on Tuesday announced plans for a plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger mid-size pickup truck. It will go on sale in select markets from early 2025, though availability in the U.S. hasn’t been announced. The electrified truck’s powertrain will pair the Ranger’s standard 2.3-liter turbo-4 with a single electric motor likely integrated with the

Battery materials firm NOVONIX and enterprise SaaS provider SandboxAQ will collaborate to predict the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries, using SandboxAQ’s AI-driven chemical simulation software and NOVONIX’s Ultra-High Precision Coulometry (UHPC) technology and battery cell prototyping and testing capabilities. The companies expect to use the resulting models for data products and services in the first half

Regenerative energy sources such as solar and wind power often have unstable and intermittent power supply problems that affect the power grid stability. Setting up an ESS (Energy Storage System) can offset the difference problem among power generation, distribution and utilization. Besides reducing the impact of regenerative energy in grid connection and increasing the stability

After the first three rounds of the 2023 Formula One World Championship, Red Bull Racing is already in a dominant position with its two drivers at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, and the team sitting on close to double the points of the next best team in the competition for the Constructors’ title. Reigning

Autocar, a US maker of Class 7 and 8 severe-duty trucks, recently delivered its 10,000th terminal tractor, an all-electric model E-ACTT, to Lazer Logistics, a US yard-management company that operates over 1,800 units at 500 sites across North America. “We need zero-emissions terminal tractors, but we don’t want to compromise performance, durability, cab familiarity or

The US DOE has announced a $15.5 billion package of funding and loans primarily focused on retooling existing factories for the transition to EVs. This includes $2 billion in grants and up to $10 billion in loans to support automotive manufacturing conversion projects, along with $3.5 billion in funding to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries,

Here lyes the body of M. Samuel Brown Dec’d May ye 3d 1739 in the 43d Year of his age Poor Sam Brown. His slate tombstone has grown moss-covered in just the six years since I saw him last, and more of his neighbors’ memorials have cracked and crumbled. The last decade has taken more of a toll than

Sustainability is one of the fundamental features in electric motors. Whether it is a traditional PSM motor or advanced magnet-free motor with powered rotor coils, Schaeffler focuses on optimal use of both the space and materials to achieve requirements without waste in the design. The company uses specialized tools for eMotor optimization—looking at torque, power,