News

Alpine late on Tuesday took the covers off the A290 Beta, a concept car that previews the first member of the French performance marque’s future electric fleet. The A290 Beta is a subcompact hatch that’s due to spawn its production counterpart in 2024. Alpine said the production version will share the concept’s exterior styling but

Water treatment company Aquatech has been awarded a contract for the lithium refining and purification process plants by Lithium Americas for the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada, the largest known lithium reserve in the US.  Aquatech specializes in delivering process technology for the refining and purification of battery-grade lithium chemical products from clays, brines

Japanese automotive component manufacturer DENSO has produced its first silicon carbide (SiC) inverter. This inverter, which is used in BluE Nexus’s eAxle electric drive module, will be utilized in the Lexus RZ, an EV released in March. SiC power semiconductors have lower power loss than silicon-based devices, the company said. SiC semiconductor inverters reduced power

The Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, the model largely credited with kicking off the coupe-like sedan trend with the arrival of the first generation in 2004, will soon be discontinued. First reported on Tuesday by The Drive, and since confirmed by Mercedes, the CLS-Class will bow out of production on Aug. 31, 2023. The date is when Mercedes

France-based electrical equipment maker Legrand has expanded into the EV charging market with the launch of the Legrand Networked Level 2 Commercial Electrical Vehicle Charger, designed for such commercial applications as offices, parking garages, multi-unit residential buildings and vehicle fleets. The 48 A (11.5 kW) Level 2 networked charger comes factory-configured with customizable charging-management subscription

In the past few decades, the widespread adoption of alternative and renewable energy systems and transportation electrification has garnered increased attention, research, and development in the field of batteries. As new battery chemistries are being investigated and new hardware and software algorithms are being developed to improve the utilization and safety of batteries, advanced battery

A new record has been set for the price paid at auction for a Nissan GT-R. An R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R driven by Paul Walker in 2009’s “Fast & Furious,” the fourth installment of the franchise, went under the hammer last week at a Bonhams auction in Brussels, Belgium, and the final sale price including

Food distribution giant Sysco (NYSE: SYY) has unveiled plans for the Riverside Electric Vehicle Hub, which will transform the company’s distribution center into the focal point of its electrified fleet. Currently, Sysco operates 11 Freightliner eCascadia electric tractors at its Riverside facility, and expects to have 20 in operation this year. In 2021, Sysco announced

Many power electronics today are being designed for use in high-temperature, high-voltage environments, such as inside electric vehicles (EVs). However, size, weight, and power (SWaP) are also key factors driving electronic product development. These conflicting design criteria are an issue for many electrical engineers because space is not available to simply add a cooling system,

1967 Dodge Deora concept vehicle (Courtesy of Stellantis Media) 1967 Dodge Deora concept vehicle (Courtesy of Stellantis Media) 1967 Dodge Deora concept vehicle (Courtesy of Stellantis Media) 1968 Dodge Daroo II concept car (Courtesy of Stellantis Media) 1968 Dodge Daroo II concept car (Courtesy of Stellantis Media) 1968 Dodge Charger III concept car (Courtesy of

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently voted to finalize its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, a set of regulations that requires new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold or registered in the state to be zero-emission by 2036, and requires all trucks to be zero-emission by 2042. The rule is a complement to CARB’s Advanced

ZeBeyond, a new UK-based software company, has released its Electrified Propulsion Optimisation Process (ePOP) platform to help manufacturers and suppliers make data-driven decisions in developing EV designs. At the 2023 European Automotive Decarbonization & Sustainability Summit, ZeBeyond demonstrated its software as a service simulation platform, which is designed to “allow users to solve the performance,

Ford is launching an app that helps Bronco drivers better plan their off-road trips. Announced this week at the 2023 Bronco Safari event in Utah, the Ford Bronco Trail App allows owners to find places to take their vehicles and actually exercise the Broncos’ off-road capability. Available exclusively to Bronco owners, and designed to be

Dry-electrode pioneer AM Batteries (AMB) and battery producer Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) have teamed up to develop solvent-free electrode manufacturing technology. AMB has developed a unique electrostatic spray deposition technique by which dry cathode and anode electrode materials are electrostatically charged and deposited onto metal-foil current collectors, which are then processed to their final state

ChargeUK, which says it brings together 18 of the largest companies installing EV charge points in the UK, has announced that the association will invest more than £6 billion in the installation and operation of new EV charging infrastructure by 2030. Plans call for tens of thousands of new chargers this year, doubling the size

Rimac Technology, a sister company of the Bugatti Rimac hypercar company, and a growing supplier of electric vehicle technology to major automakers, is ready to expand into the battery-based energy storage business. Rimac Technology on Thursday announced the new division Rimac Energy, which is headed by Wasim Sarwar, and tasked with developing and manufacturing the

EV boosters are hopeful that Toyota’s new CEO Koji Sato will preside over a new era at the world’s second-largest automaker, transforming the electrification laggard into a leader. In a recent “New Management Policy & Direction Announcement,” three of Toyota’s top execs assured us that the company is serious about electrification, but also reaffirmed a

In 2022, Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources and BlackRock Alternatives formed a joint venture called Greenlane to develop a US public EV charging and hydrogen fueling network for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Now the companies say their $650-million JV has made significant progress (no timeline has been announced). Greenlane’s first site will be

Germany’s Nürburgring is one of the most popular racetracks in the world, thanks in part to the track’s management regularly hosting “tourist rides” where members of the public can bring their own vehicle and take on the Green Hell. The current cost of a lap is 35 euros (approximately $39), and the entry also comes

Starting in 2025, global technology company ZF will purchase silicon carbide devices from STMicroelectronics. The components are to be integrated into ZF’s new modular inverter architecture scheduled for series production in 2025. To match customers’ performance requirements, ZF is able to connect a variable number of the devices together without altering the design of the

Uptime is a critical factor in the success of public fast charging networks. It measures the functional availability of chargers, and is an indicator of the reliability of the charging infrastructure. A high level of uptime is essential for EV drivers, as it ensures that they have access to charging when they need it.  In

Audi has been spotted testing a prototype for the successor to the current A4 Avant wagon sold overseas. However, the new model is thought to be classified as an A5 Avant under a new naming strategy at Audi that will see models with internal-combustion engines feature an odd number in their name, and the names

Fleet electrification can be complex and time consuming. The multi-faceted nature of such a challenge and the interdependency of many variables can make system performance projections difficult for organisations, large or small. A careful focus on feasibility analysis and planning can help ensure a smoother transition for your fleet’s shift to EV. In this webinar,

InCharge Energy, a provider of turnkey fleet electrification services, has launched a new portfolio of bidirectional DC fast chargers. The new ICE-22 V2X, ICE-44 V2X and ICE-66 V2X chargers are aimed at fleet operators, and are designed to optimize operations and increase cost efficiencies while supporting grid stability, and to enable fleets to qualify for

Porsche this year is celebrating its 75th anniversary of building sports cars, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans race is marking its own centennial. In honor of both anniversaries, Porsche’s trio of 963 LMDh race cars set for the French classic will feature a psychedelic livery in which each color used has its own

Standards authority SAE International has released a new standard document, SAE J3235, which aids in mitigating risk for the storage of lithium-ion cells, traction batteries and battery systems intended for use in automotive-type propulsion systems and similar large-format applications. A need for recommendations on how to store lithium-ion batteries has been identified due to multiple

At long last, the US Postal Service is preparing to add some EVs to its delivery fleet, and is planning to install chargers for these fleet vehicles at some facilities. The Government Accountability Office (a sort of watchdog agency that keeps track of who in the sprawl of government agencies is spending what) has made

A concept car from the height of the muscle car era has reappeared after decades in hiding, and it’s headed to auction. The 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Rapid Transit is one of four show cars built for the Rapid Transit System Caravan, which toured auto shows and car dealerships in 1970 and 1971 promoting Plymouth’s muscle

Motiv Power Systems has been in business for 14 years, providing electric step vans, box trucks and shuttle buses with payloads of 2-6 tons. The company has deployed more than 150 vehicles with fleets across North America.  Now the company has announced its next-generation electric trucks for medium-duty fleets. The new generation features a new

Frito-Lay will deploy over 700 electric delivery vehicles in the US by the end of 2023. The company has already introduced a new electric fleet to serve the Dallas-Fort Worth area and recently made its first third-party shipment as the first company to contract transport on logistics firm Schneider’s electric truck fleet. “The introduction of