Audi has unveiled a new all-electric drive architecture that it says offers greater efficiency and noticeably improved performance over its current platforms. The new Premium Platform Electric platform, designed in partnership with fellow Volkswagen Group brand Porsche, is intended to be the foundation of Audi’s EV strategy going forward. In developing PPE, Audi completely redesigned… Read more…

DHL Group has opened an EV Center of Excellence to support EV manufacturers and their logistics networks. The facility, located in Pozzuolo Martesana, near Milan, “will offer solutions for the entire EV supply chain, encompassing everything from component procurement to vehicle delivery to aftermarket logistics support.” The new 10,000-square-meter facility will serve as an inbound and… Read more…

Metals and mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto have announced plans to test large battery-electric haul truck technology in Australia’s Outback. The two companies will collaborate with both Caterpillar and Komatsu to test the latter two’s battery-electric haul trucks in the rugged weather and terrain of the Pilbara, which has an arid and tropical climate… Read more…

A bill aimed at cutting major Chinese battery manufacturers out of the Department of Homeland Security’s supply chain recently advanced in the US House of Representatives. The Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act, which was sponsored by Congressman Carlos Gimenez (R—Florida), has strong bipartisan support and appears likely to pass. The proposed legislation would… Read more…

US-based school transportation provider First Student has received $200 million in rebates from the third round of funding of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. The new funding brings First Student’s total program awards to $401 million across the three funding rounds. This round will enable the company to deploy up to an additional 670… Read more…

Sponsored by Piher Sensing Systems. Engineering today is focused on developing better energy storage and fuel cell technologies. These advancements are crucial for progress in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and keeping the power grid stable. Battery Management Systems play a critcal role in monitoring and managing the performance of batteries. They ensure optimal performance by… Read more…

Cable and connector specialist HUBER+SUHNER has been making significant investments in its in-house production capability, and has expanded its high-voltage portfolio to deliver complete cable assemblies to customers. The company has launched a new purpose-built high-voltage modular cable assembly (mCAY). The solution has been designed to be simpler to assemble and to save development efforts… Read more…

EVSE installation specialist Qmerit has launched a new suite of residential electrification installation and integration services. The new PowerHouse by Qmerit service is designed to streamline the complex process of deploying residential electrification equipment such as bidirectional EV chargers (which enable vehicle-to-home emergency power), solar panels, energy storage, load centers, heat pumps and other related… Read more…

Portuguese EV charging solutions provider i-charging has announced that its blueberry fast charging family has received an ETL certification update from Intertek for the NACS plug standard (now more properly known as SAE J3400). (The company’s products were already ETL-certified for CCS-1 and CHAdeMO plugs.) The ETL certification process involves extensive assessments of the design,… Read more…

APM Terminals Elizabeth, a division of shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, is dipping its corporate toe into electrification. The company will invest $5 million in its Electrification Pilot Project, including a $1.4 million Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant from the EPA. The DERA grant has facilitated the replacement of seven diesel terminal tractors with new… Read more…

Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging North America, a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz Group and MN8 Energy, is moving ahead with its planned $1-billion investment in public EV charging. As part of this investment, Mercedes-Benz HPC announced plans to deploy Alpitronic’s Hypercharger 400 throughout its network.   Manufactured in Wisconsin, the Hypercharger 400 offers charging power levels up… Read more…

New Jersey-headquartered TOPDON USA, an EVSE and specialty equipment supplier, has partnered with Georgia-headquartered EV charging station contractor Electrify EVSE, which will serve as national distributor, installer and service provider for the TOPDON EVSE Charger Division. TOPDON’s chargers include its PulseQ line of AC Level 2 chargers, which offers maximum power outputs ranging from 7.2… Read more…

Silicon Mobility, an Intel company that provides automotive semiconductor and software control solutions, has announced the OLEA U310 Field Programmable Control Unit (FPCU) as part of its next-generation OLEA FPCU series. The new OLEA U310 consolidates the functionalities of multiple traditional microcontrollers into a single system on chip (SoC). The OLEA U310 is specifically engineered… Read more…

UK-headquartered engineering consultancy Ricardo has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer Wuzheng to research and develop powertrains for electric tractors and agricultural machinery. The companies will work together to investigate new technologies and more efficient powertrains for Wuzheng’s agricultural machinery equipment product range. Ricardo’s global network of automotive engineers and energy… Read more…

Amerit Fleet Solutions has agreed to provide 24/7 maintenance and support services for medium-duty specialty vehicle manufacturer The Shyft Group’s Blue Arc EV trucks across the US. Blue Arc EVs will soon be available through a network of dealerships, each staffed by technicians trained and certified by Shyft’s Blue Arc engineering team. Shyft’s integrated service… Read more…

Q&A with Synop co-founder Gagan Dhillon Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is a hot topic—many EV industry execs say it has the potential to transform the transport and energy industries (we hear the term “game-changing” a lot). However, others have told Charged that they expect it to be more of a niche technology, useful only in certain… Read more…

V2G specialist IoTecha has been awarded a grant of up to $27 million by the California Energy Commission’s (CEC’s) Clean Transportation Program. During Phase I of this initiative, IoTecha will deploy a network of 120 new EV smart charging stations at single- or multi-family homes. For Phase II, IoTecha intends to extend this network to… Read more…

Switzerland-based semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics plans to build a new high-volume silicon carbide (SiC) manufacturing facility for power devices and modules, as well as test and packaging, alongside its SiC substrate manufacturing facility in Catania, Italy. The two facilities will form ST’s Silicon Carbide Campus, fulfilling the company’s strategy to create a fully vertically integrated manufacturing… Read more…

Sumida America, a manufacturer of inductive components and modules, has introduced the CDPQ/T150 series of high-current power inductors suitable for EV on-board chargers. The new design combines precision flat-wire windings and large tinned copper surface mounting pads to maximize current handling capacity. The flat-wire coil is closely wound together to increase its effective cross-sectional area… Read more…