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Ford Pro, the division of Ford that caters to commercial fleet customers, has introduced Ford Pro Intelligence, a cloud-based platform to support EV fleet operations. Ford Pro Intelligence combines Ford Pro’s suite of services, including telematics, with Salesforce’s cloud-based CRM system. It’s designed to help fleet operators keep track of vehicles, manage drivers and share

Sponsored by Infineon While consumers are keen to reduce their carbon footprint, the move to E-Mobility, especially private electric vehicles (EV), is hindered by the limited charging infrastructure, most notably in fast charging. [embedded content] This white paper reviews the charging landscape and examines implementation approaches for fast DC chargers. Specific focus is placed on

Automotive and security technology firm Rheinmetall is setting up a joint venture company with capacitor supplier PolyCharge America to develop, produce and market PolyCharge’s DC-link NanoLam capacitors for automotive, military and industrial markets. Rheinmetall has also invested enough money in PolyCharge to hold about 13% of the shares in the US-based company. According to Rheinmetall,

EV Connect has announced the general availability of its Fleet Charging Management Platform. The new fleet management solution is designed to provide complete control over fleets and their energy consumption for fleet service providers as well as in-house-managed vehicle fleets. As a lead customer, the City of Porterville, California is now using the EV Connect

It seems even the U.S. Army is going green, and we don’t mean the color of its uniforms. Oshkosh Defense, the maker of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), the vehicle that was picked in 2015 to replace the Humvee, announced on Tuesday that military procurement services can now opt for hybrid power. The standard

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a lithium-sulfur battery which they estimate will be able to achieve 1,000 real-world cycles with fast charging. In an article published in Nature Communications, the researchers write: “Lithium-sulfur batteries have a high specific capacity, but lithium polysulfide (LPS) diffusion and lithium dendrite growth drastically reduce their cycle

Tesla has racked up an impressive collection of superlatives: largest global automaker by market cap; best-selling vehicle in several countries (Switzerland is the latest); and most compelling brand since the Grateful Dead. Now the company has added another feather to its corporate cap: Tesla’s Fremont factory has been named the most productive auto plant in

Scientists from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have used cryogenic electron microscopy, or cryo-EM, to produce high-resolution images of the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer that forms on lithium metal anodes in an approach that may improve lithium metal battery design. The scientists developed a way of collecting the SEI

Australian mining company Fortescue Metals Group announced on Sunday plans to acquire Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) in a deal worth 164 million British pounds ($222 million). Fortescue is among the world’s biggest iron ore miners and is looking to tap WAE’s expertise in electrification to help lower the carbon footprint of its mining operations. Fortescue

The European oil companies BP, Shell and Total have been buying up assets in the EV charging value chain, and some suspect there’s a sinister strategy—could the oil barons monopolize public charging in key markets, jack up the prices, and kill the electric car once and for all? Maybe. But what if the companies find

As the world’s appetite for raw materials grows, interest in polymetallic nodules—nuggets of nickel, cobalt, manganese and other in-demand metals found on the sea floor—is exploding. Several companies are pursuing plans to extract the mysterious lumps, which Gerard Barron, the CEO of seabed-mining firm The Metals Company, calls “a battery in a rock.” Barron’s company

DuPont Interconnect Solutions (ICS) plans to introduce its Pyralux HP laminate adhesive system for high-performance electronics at the upcoming Institute for Printed Circuits (IPC) APEX Exposition in San Diego. The system is part of the Pyralux product line and will be available for the telecommunications, networking, medical, industrial, military and aerospace markets. The IPC-certified Pyralux

The 2024 Ford Mustang was spotted this week, both in turbo-4 EcoBoost and V-8 GT grades. Testing on public roads under the cover of heavy camouflage, the seventh-generation Mustang, known as the S650, appears to sport an evolutionary design. Expect a hybrid model to join the lineup and possibly even all-wheel drive as an option.

Talon Nickel, a US subsidiary of Canada-based Talon Metals (TSX: TLO), has secured an agreement with Tesla to supply nickel concentrate from its Tamarack Nickel Project, a joint venture with mining giant Rio Tinto, in Aitkin County, Minnesota. Under the terms of the agreement, Tesla has committed to purchase 75,000 metric tons (165 million lbs)

WirelessCar, a provider of digital services for connected vehicles, has launched Smart EV Routing, a product designed to enable EV drivers to optimize their long-distance journeys. WirelessCar’s Smart EV Routing uses real-time dynamic vehicle data combined with intelligent routing algorithms to offer a sophisticated route planner. WirelessCar’s Smart EV Routing uses an array of input

Volkswagen Group and Cambridge, Massachusetts-based battery developer 24M Technologies have formed a strategic partnership under which VW will manufacture EV batteries using 24M’s SemiSolid platform. VW has acquired a 25% stake in 24M, and will establish a wholly-owned subsidiary that will collaborate with 24M to develop SemiSolid battery cell production technology for automotive applications. “The

Pennsylvania-based venture capital firm Green Swan Partners (GSP) has reached an agreement with Skysong Innovations, the technology transfer arm of Arizona State University (ASU), granting GSP the exclusive option to finalize commercial rights to ASU’s fire-safe battery technologies. The technologies were invented by ASU Regents’ Professor Dr. Jerry Lin, who is also the Chief Scientist

Peugeot in 2019 announced plans to enter the new Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) class of the World Endurance Championship, and on Wednesday the French automaker fully revealed its contender and showed it for the first time on the racetrack. It’s called the 9X8, and 2022 will be its first season of competition. The LMH class

California clean-energy agency CALSTART has released a new report, Zeroing in on Electric School Buses, which describes the current state of the elect. As of September 2021, there were 1,738 ESBs (every good public-sector report must introduce at least one new acronym) awarded, ordered, delivered and deployed across the US. In total, there are some

Nikola and Proterra have announced a multi-year supply agreement to power Nikola’s zero-emission Class 8 semi-trucks with Proterra’s battery technology. Proterra’s US-made battery systems feature a customizable design to fit within a variety of vehicles. The companies expect to incorporate Proterra’s products in the Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicle and Tre fuel cell electric vehicle. Proterra

California Governor Gavin Newsom has presented a $286.4-billion budget proposal for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. This so-called California Blueprint includes $22.5 billion in climate-related investment, and some $6.1 billion of this consists of EV-related initiatives. Newsom defended the aggressive scale of the state’s proposed investment, and gently chided the US federal government for its far

Parking services provider Parkopedia has introduced a new system designed to help EV owners easily find, manage and pay for charging sessions from within their vehicles. “Parking and charging are interconnected experiences,” Parkopedia points out. “A car must be parked to charge. Only a solution that successfully combines both services can create the complete user

A Porsche 911 Turbo that starred in the 1995 hit movie “Bad Boys” went under the hammer over the weekend at Mecum’s auction in Kissimmee, Florida, and ended up selling for a substantial $1.43 million. The car is a 964-generation 911 Turbo 3.6, which was only produced for the 1993 and 1994 model years, with

Semiconductor manufacturer CISSOID and digital control developer Silicon Mobility are partnering to develop a new series of SiC inverter products. The modular platform will offer a power module and its gate driver with protections and fault management, an ultra-fast field-programmable control unit (FPCU), and application software optimized for e-motor control. Each of CISSOID’s intelligent power

For months, the auto industry has been crying the blues, as a shortage of computer chips forced it to suspend production, in some cases for months, leading to empty dealer lots and skyrocketing prices. But one company seemed to sidestep the whole crisis—Tesla has been breaking records quarter after quarter, and sold nearly twice as

Finnish mining and battery chemical company Keliber Technology has been granted up to €7 million [$7.9 million] in funding from Business Finland, some of which will be used for equipment to manage the analcime sand by-product of its planned lithium plant at Kokkola Industrial Park. Keliber plans to use the plant’s side stream of analcime

Israeli battery developer StoreDot has raised up to $80 million in a Series D funding round that included Vingroup, bp ventures and Golden Energy. It will use the funding on research and development as well as mass production of its Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) battery cells by 2024. According to StoreDot, its research and development

Ken Block has been taking on all comers in his “Hoonicorn” 1965 Ford Mustang for a YouTube series called “Hoonicorn vs the World.” This time, however, Block wasn’t behind the wheel. Ken Block’s 14-year-old daughter raced the Hoonicorn against a Hemi-powered RVW Corvette drag car For the first installment of the series’ second season, Block

JuiceBar, a commercial EV charger manufacturer based in Connecticut, has entered the home charging market today with the release of a new 48-amp Level 2 charger. The new Cheetah, as the name implies, is built for speed. The home version will be available in 32-, 40- and 48-amp configurations, and will include dual safety relays,

In an independent energy efficiency test with a fully loaded heavy-duty electric Volvo truck in Germany, the truck exceeded its official range, and used 50% less energy than its diesel counterpart. The tested truck was a Volvo FH Electric, which has a gross combination weight of 40 tons, a 540 kWh battery pack and continuous