Charge masters Anode materials suppliers are pouring resources into improving the performance of EV cells. Nick Flaherty reports on the latest advances  Carbon, in the form of graphite, is the mainstay of the current generation of lithium-ion batteries for e-mobility. Its theoretical maximum energy density is 372 mAh/g, but the industry is looking to increase its […] More…

Hyundai Motor Company has shared details about the winter testing of its Ioniq 5 N at the Hyundai Mobis proving ground in Arjeplog in Sweden.  The proving ground features low-grip coefficient icy surfaces and temperatures as low as -30 ºC (-22 ºF). For the Ioniq 5 N, Hyundai Motor has combined the EV’s Electrified-Global Modular […] More…

Whether EVs are more likely to catch fire than IC-engined vehicles is uncertain, as small sample sizes make reliable statistical comparisons difficult (writes Peter Donaldson). Nonetheless, lithium-ion battery fires are difficult to extinguish because they release oxygen and hydrocarbons from the thermal breakdown of compounds in their cathodes and liquid electrolytes. A major focus for […] More…

Flexible response BMS developers are offering products that are compatible with the growing range of OEM vehicle models, as Nick Flaherty explains The trend for battery management systems (BMSs) is to combine elements more flexibly for many different types of vehicles while still maintaining measurements that are as precise and accurate as possible, both at […] More…

Hydrogen-powered commercial vehicle manufacturer Hydrogen Vehicle Systems (HVS) has confirmed that its zero-emissions hydrogen-electric heavy goods vehicle (HGV) will have a range of up to 370 miles/600 km (depending on load and route) coupled with a refuelling time of 15-20 minutes. It will be revealed at the Commercial Vehicle show on April 18 at the […] More…

Bel Fuse has developed a 20 kW power conversion unit for heavy-duty EV designs (writes Nick Flaherty). The BCV200-700-8 combines a 15 kW bidirectional inverter-charger, a 4 kW 12 V down-converter and a 1 kW 24 V down-converter in one unit with an efficiency of 92%. The unit can produce 12 and 24 V outputs […] More…

Renault has announced it is testing the future electric Renault 5 using nine prototypes. Known as mules, their platform, powertrain and battery are technically the same as the future production vehicle. The mules are being put through their paces in low-grip (ice, snow) conditions in Arvidsjaur (Swedish Lapland) as well as average-to-high grip conditions at […] More…

Lithium-ion pouch cells supplier Farasis Energy has developed a module design concept to prevent thermal runaway in its latest generation of pouch cells, Generation 4. Under new legislation, EV manufacturers have to ensure that their vehicles can withstand a thermal runaway for at least 5 minutes, to give their occupants time to escape to safety.  […] More…

Hybrid haulage The CEO of Tevva Trucks explains his thinking behind offering goods vehicles with a dual energy system. By Rory Jackson One of the most prominent differences between Tevva Motors, based in Essex, England, and other EV manufacturers is that its 7.5 tonne battery-electric and hydrogen-electric trucks originated not from motorsport or automotive OEM […] More…

Xing Mobility, which provides immersion cooling battery technology for industrial applications, has announced a partnership with Nordic Booster, which supplies battery solutions for construction machines and mobile high-power charging systems for heavy-duty industrial vehicles. The collaboration will bring Xing’s patented Immersio XM25 immersion-cooled battery system into the northern European construction, agriculture and mining EV markets. […] More…

ABT e-Line and WiTricity have announced plans to deliver aftermarket wireless EV charging across Europe. ABT e-Line will initially upgrade the VW ID.4 to support wireless charging from WiTricity, with availability targeted for early 2024. The company plans to offer the system to other EV models after that, including the Audi e-Tron GT and Porsche […] More…

Premo has developed a triple 3.6 kW LLC set (suited for 400 V Input) with a transformer and resonance inductor designed for onboard chargers capable of handling up to 11 kW of power. The BCBM-11KW-004 series is a designed to minimise energy losses during the charging process. The combined unit features a measures 158 x […] More…

Inverters VisIC Technologies has successfully tested its 2.2 mΩ 650 V half-bridge power module with a mainstream permanent magnet synchronous motor (writes Nick Flaherty). The module consists of four parallel 8 mΩ direct drive D-mode gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors in a three-phase configuration, and was connected to a PMS motor used by a major […] More…

Cissoid and Silicon Mobility have announced a partnership to deliver a complete and modular SiC inverter reference design supporting electric motor drives up to 350 kW/850 V. The Cissoid module integrates the gate driver board and control board with Silicon Mobility’s OLEA T222 FPCU, DC and phase current sensors, DC link capacitor and EMI filtering […] More…

Keeping it clean Rory Jackson charts the development of this e-bike, whose entire manufacturing  process is geared towards producing zero emissions Supporters of e-mobility as a means of reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change ned to remind themselves that battery-electric vehicles are only zero-emissions machinery at the point of use. The extraction, refinement, fabrication […] More…

Gradall has unveiled an electrified concept model of its XL 4100 V wheeled telescopic boom excavator, which will powered by Volvo Penta’s electric driveline. The zero-emissions machine is named the EL41H4. It is powered entirely by two Volvo Penta batteries, which fit into the existing engine bay. The electric driveline also includes the complete HV […] More…

Start-up business Hyliko is planning to integrate Toyota’s second-generation hydrogen fuel cell modules into its heavy-duty trucks. Hyliko will offer two fuel cell truck models: a 44 t tractor and a 26 t straight truck, available in 6 x 2 and 6 x 4 variants. Each one will be equipped with two Toyota fuel cell […] More…

Universal Hydrogen has flown a 40-passenger regional airliner using hydrogen fuel cell propulsion. It is the largest hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft to take to the skies so far and the largest to cruise principally on hydrogen. It flew for 15 minutes and reached an altitude of 3500 metres above sea level. The flight, conducted under […] More…

The all-electric BYD ATTO 3 C-Segment SUV is now available to order in the UK. There are three variants in the range – Active, Comfort and Design. The ATTO 3 is the first SUV to be built on BYD’s e-Platform 3.0, which comprises what the company says is the world’s first mass-produced 8-in-1 electric powertrain […] More…

Allegro Microsystems, a provider of power and sensing solutions for motion control, has released samples of its ACS37601, an ASIL C safety-rated field current sensor for traction and auxiliary inverter systems as well as EV BMSs.  The ACS37601 is a programmable linear Hall effect current sensor IC with overcurrent, overtemperature and self-test capabilities. It is […] More…