Layer by layer Peter Donaldson reports on how lamination technology has evolved in recent times to meet changing demands from the EV industry Whether or not governments eventually ban the manufacture of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, it is clear that the electrification of transport fleets is set to accelerate and that the EV industry will therefore […] More…

With charging capacity increasingly seen as a limiting factor in the growth of EV markets around the world, BorgWarner Systems has been sharing more details about its new Iperion 120, a 120 kW charging station designed to form the heart of its efforts to create modern charging infrastructures (writes Peter Donaldson).   A key feature […] More…

Finding a material with several applications in state-of-the-art EV powertrains that literally grows on trees might seem unlikely, but that is exactly what Portuguese company Amorim Cork Composites is offering with cork (writes Peter Donaldson). The raw material is the bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus suber), which in addition to its best-known application […] More…

Talking the talk The head of EV strategy at ePropelled tells Rory Jackson how he came into the role and shares details of the company’s dynamic torque switching technology Predicting growth or decline across different areas of the e-mobility world is challenging at the best of times. These days it is even more complex, with […] More…

Mobility technology company Togg and Avalanche public blockchain developer Ava Labs have announced plans to develop and launch safe and secure mobility services powered by smart contracts. The collaboration was announced at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. As part of its Usecase Mobility initiative to expand the functionality of mobility and smart devices, Togg has […] More…

Sony has released more details of its Vision-S 01 prototype EV, which it first unveiled at the CES 2020 expo.
Over the past 2 years it has road-tested the vehicle in Europe, and is currently conducting functional verification tests in Europe toward the release of Level 2+ advanced driver assistance systems. It plans to establish an operating company, Sony Mobility, in spring 2022 through which to explore its entry into the EV market. More…

Tau has started shipping prototype environmentally friendly winding wire to the automotive industry.
The wire combines minimised partial discharge, high fill factors and improved temperature resistance for high-voltage and frequency optimisation for electric motors. More…

The consumer EVs sector is welcoming a constant tide of all-new electric cars, often designed from blank sheets. However, this approach neglects not only the many existing IC-engined cars on the road now, but the countless classic car designs that remain some of the automotive world’s proudest and most cherished examples. More…

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its Vision EQXX concept EV, which has a range of more than 1000 km on a single battery charge, equating to a consumption of less than 10 kWh of energy per 100 km. More…

The Venturi Antarctica exploration vehicle is now in service at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research station in East Antarctica. It is a world first for operating an EV with caterpillar tracks on the White Continent. More…

Drying rooms are critical to lithium-ion battery manufacture to ensure that the electrodes are prevented from absorbing moisture, which can lead to a reduction in lifespan and even catastrophic failure (writes Peter Donaldson).
Running these dry rooms typically takes a lot of energy, mostly to provide hot air. However, Danish company Cotes has developed a much more efficient way it calls Exergic Technology to do this that significantly reduces the battery’s overall carbon footprint.
Understanding humidity is key to getting rid of unwanted moisture from air, and warm air holds more water than cold air.
Absolute humidity is the amount of water vapour in a given mass of air, and is typically expressed in grams per kilo. Relative humidity, meanwhile, is the amount of water in the air expressed as a percentage of the maximum it can hold at a given temperature. When that percentage exceeds 100, the water begins to condense out. More…

Volvo Penta has delivered and integrated its electric driveline into the first of a series of prototype fully electric terminal tractors for US customer TICO, who will be testing the prototypes with various fleet partners.
The driveline is based on proven Volvo Group technology tailored to TICO’s application in terms of performance and energy needs. Volvo Penta’s approach of handling the development and installation of the complete electric driveline and its integration into the vehicle has allowed TICO to focus on improving the vehicle’s functionality.
Ports and distribution hubs have highly organised fleets and operations with favourable environments for developing charging infrastructures, as they have well-defined duty cycles. Volvo Penta analysed customer operations and based its electric system on that data and simulations. More…

Keen to show off what the latest generation of advanced high-strength steels can do, WorldAutoSteel, the automotive arm of the World Steel Association, has chosen Ricardo to design an EV family that could be offered in the nascent market for mobility as a service from around 2030 (writes Peter Donaldson).
The first two designs created under this Steel E-Motive (SEM) initiative were revealed at the recent Battery Show Europe and Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo in Stuttgart, where WorldAutoSteel’s technical director George Coates and Ricardo’s chief engineer for vehicle attributes Neil McGregor outlined the progress with them so far. More…

Operating EVs in extreme temperatures is a demanding exercise, as lithium-ion batteries generally work best between 15 and 35 C, so a four-week trial conducted throughout February 2021 above the Arctic Circle in Sweden was a severe test of a truck and its charging infrastructure (writes Peter Donaldson).
In the test, the battery-powered truck carried loads of 14 t of iron ore sludge over a 280 km round trip in temperatures down to -32 C, says Adam Holmer of power-as-a-service provider Vattenfall.
The trial was a cooperative effort between Vattenfall, Volvo Trucks and dealer Wist Last och Buss, charger manufacturer ABB and mining company Kaunis Iron. More…

Honda has announced plans to begin a battery-sharing service for electric rickshaws in India in the first half of 2022, using the Honda Mobile Power Pack e: (MPP e:), its new portable and swappable battery.
There are more than 8 million auto rickshaws in India, and they are an essential means of daily transportation for people. In urban areas, they are powered mainly by compressed natural gas and have been a key challenge for electrification. More…

Saiettta has used its AFT140 axial motor for a flat chassis for urban vehicles (writes Nick Flaherty). Mounted on the corners of the chassis, the AFT 140 in-wheel electric motors provide a torque of up to 140 Nm for controllable power at low speeds in urban stop-start journeys. The chassis is a flexible platform that […] More…

French trucking company Lohr Industries will be launching a fully electric and modular e-shuttle system called the Cristal in four French cities before the end of 2021. The vehicles will be powered by batteries from Webasto, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers. Some German cities have also signalled their interest. More…

A 45 V high-withstand voltage battery monitoring device for automotive designs has implemented a supply voltage-divided output for the first time (writes Nick Flaherty). Dividing battery monitoring between high- and low-voltage sources increases the safety of e-mobility designs, as it allows 12 V batteries to be monitored by the same device that monitors the low […] More…

Electric propulsion is spawning aircraft with diverse and novel configurations. The multiple motors, rotors, propellers and fans associated with distributed electric propulsion are shaping many complex and unusual forms in the quest to enhance lift and thrust, and to reduce drag through close aerodynamic coupling with airframes.
One of the most important processes in their development is ensuring that they don’t suffer from damaging vibration. To that end, NASA has used equipment from Hottinger Bruel & Kjær (HBK) to collect and process accelerometer data in ground vibration testing (GVT) for its X-57 Maxwell aircraft. More…

Vehicle electronics supplier Actia has announced it has set up a Power division to consolidate the various activities of the wider Actia Group relating to the design and manufacture of onboard batteries, power electronics and electrification systems for electric and hydrogen hybrid mobility. It says its experience in vehicle electronics and power management means the […] More…