De Lijn, the Flemish government company that operates approximately 1,000 public bus and tram lines in Flanders, has awarded a framework agreement for 100 vehicles to Spanish bus builder Irizar e-Mobility, the EV manufacturing division of Irizar Group. Under the agreement, De Lijn has the additional option to order HOV e-buses, which are used on… Read more…

Various countries and US states have set target dates for ending the sale of new ICE vehicles. California has developed what is perhaps the world’s most comprehensive plan. The state’s Advanced Clean Cars II legislation requires that all passenger vehicles and light trucks sold in the state be ZEVs by 2035, with interim sales targets… Read more…

Delta Electronics, a supplier of power components, and Texas Instruments, a semiconductor company, have established a joint innovation laboratory for EV power systems. Delta aims to leverage TI’s experience and technology as well as its subject matter expertise in GaN, or gallium nitride, to enhance the power density and performance of its EV power systems… Read more…

Schneider Electric, a digital management and automation company, and Aveva, an industrial software company, have announced plans to partner with In-Core Systèmes, a provider of automatic surface inspection systems, to improve the EV battery production process. The collaboration is intended to  result in the development of electrode-level data connectivity and tools for makers of EV… Read more…

The European Union has taken steps to raise tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in China with provisional duties. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said that the provisional results of its investigation into Chinese EV subsidies had found that the country’s value chain “benefits from unfair subsidization.” Such subsidization, in turn, is causing a… Read more…

Some folks fear that the transition to EVs will lead to major job losses in the auto industry—and not without reason, as EVs require different (and fewer) components than legacy ICE vehicles. Auto plants around the country are in danger of downsizing or shutting down altogether, and helping these facilities to retool for EV production… Read more…

Tecman Advanced Material Engineers, a unit of the Tecman Group, has signed new distribution arrangements for its anti-thermal propagation (ATP) technology. The technology is designed to enhance cell life and optimize cell performance while simultaneously increasing the thermal propagation delay to over 20 minutes.  As the EV market continues to grow, “the time is now… Read more…

Modine Manufacturing, a 100-year-old heating and cooling systems manufacturer, has announced its new Cabin Climate System, a temperature control and heating and cooling system for the passenger cabins of commercial, off-highway and specialty EVs. The Cabin Climate System is designed to ensure “optimal passenger comfort,” and can provide immediate heating and cooling without the need… Read more…

Archer Aviation, a developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, has announced that its Midnight air taxi prototype has completed its first transitional flight. A transitional flight is defined as one in which a VTOL aircraft transitions from hovering to horizontal flight.  Midnight weighs approximately 6,500 lbs (2,948 kg) and is believed to be… Read more…

As regular Charged readers know, Toyota’s electrification strategy blows hot and cold—in Q2 2024, its EV share of total US brand sales was abysmal—below 2%, lower than any other major automaker save fellow laggard Honda/Acura. However, even as it continues to lobby against emissions standards and spread misinformation about EVs, the giant automaker is researching… Read more…

GÖPEL Electronic, which provides systems for validating the network compliance of control units, has released its updated network tester, NG+. The new NG+ system architecture supports classic bus systems, such as CAN-FD, CAN-SIG, LIN and FlexRay, as well as the latest Automotive Ethernet (AETH) standards—10BASE-T1S, 100BASE-T1, and 1000BASE-T1. The system is also prepared for future… Read more…

Making transport more sustainable isn’t only about electric powertrains—companies are finding ways to make all types of components and all aspects of the manufacturing process greener. Automotive wiring specialist Leoni has introduced a new line of vehicle cables that are 100% recyclable and can help to substantially reduce the CO2 footprint of vehicles. LIMEVERSE cable… Read more…

ZeroAvia is developing hydrogen-fueled engines for commercial aircraft, and has successfully completed flight tests of electric aircraft in the US and in the UK (see our 2021 interview with CEO and founder Val Miftakhov). Now the company has secured a conditional agreement from American Airlines to purchase 100 hydrogen-electric engines intended to power regional jet… Read more…

The first session topics for the Fall 2024 Charged Virtual Conference on EV Engineering are out now. Just like the content Charged brings you every day, conference topics will span the entire EV engineering supply chain and ecosystem, including motor and power electronics design and manufacturing, cell development, battery systems, testing, powertrains, thermal management, circuit… Read more…

Lincoln Electric’s Velion 150 kW DC fast charging station has achieved Canadian Standards Association (CSA/US) certification to standards UL 2202, UL 2231-1 and UL 2231-2 for EV chargers. The certification indicates that Lincoln Electric’s Velion EV fast charging station adheres to stringent safety and performance standards. Having earned CSA/US certification, Velion EV fast chargers are… Read more…

Japan-based Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) and Silicon Austria Labs (SAL), a European research center for electronics and software-based systems research, have completed a joint proof of concept of AKM’s eFuse technology in high-voltage applications using silicon carbide-based power devices. The growing use of power devices based on silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) in… Read more…

Sakuu, a provider of commercial-scale equipment and technologies to the battery manufacturing industry, has announced a joint development agreement (JDA) with EV battery manufacturer SK On. Central to the agreement is the industrialization of Sakuu’s dry-process Kavian platform. Sakuu says its dry-process manufacturing, together with its electrode printing technology, eliminates the use of solvents and… Read more…

Revolv, which describes itself as “a complete single-partner solution to seamlessly deploy, charge, and integrate EVs into operations,” has secured a total of $445,000 in award funding from CALSTART’s EnergIIZE program. The grant, which Revolv managed for two of its existing clients, will cover 70% of the customers’ charging infrastructure costs. As an EnergIIZE-approved vendor,… Read more…

Microchip Technology is offering an on-board charger (OBC) package designed to help developers speed their time to market by using key technologies from one supplier, including the control, gate drive and power stage.  The package uses a selection of Microchip’s automotive-qualified digital, analog, connectivity and power devices, including the dsPIC33C Digital Signal Controller (DSC), the… Read more…

Right now, the world is seeing the equivalent of what could only be termed a gold rush to build battery factories, and these plants will be able to produce many more cells than the global economy could conceivably need or use in the coming decade. That warning comes from a new report from BloombergNEF, but… Read more…