Originally published on CleanTechnica. By Mike Barnard Compared to gas, diesel, or electric options, hydrogen distribution and fueling will be more expensive, lose a lot of hydrogen, be harder to use, be dangerous in a way people aren’t familiar with, and won’t deliver any environmental benefits to speak of. Yet major automotive vendors and some politicians […]
A total of $6.6 million in new funding has been awarded by ARPA-E to two projects currently working to develop manufacturing techniques for ceramic electrolytes for solid-state electric vehicle batteries, as part of a new 2015 OPEN funding round. The new round is seeing $125 million awarded to 41 different projects. The $6.6 million will […]
The first sodium-ion battery in an 18650 format was recently developed by researchers in the RS2E network (Réseau sur le stockage électrochimique de l’énergie) in France, according to recent reports. The new sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery prototype possesses an energy density of 90 Wh/kilogram — putting it on roughly equal ground with early lithium-ion batteries. The […]
Originally published on CleanTechnica. We cover a lot of Tesla news here and that’s because Tesla is bringing disruptive change across the auto industry on a very regular basis. But while its innovation and cool tech may be the sexy parts of the company, it is leading the charge on an electric vehicle revolution that is one of the […]
The potential use of silicon in lithium-ion batteries as a means of improving energy density has long been sitting in the open, but the relative lack of operational stability with silicon-based anodes has remained something of a stumbling block (though, some batteries do already incorporate limited amounts). New research from the University of Waterloo is […]
The German company Bosch is apparently aiming to, over the coming years, create a 50 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery for use in electric vehicles that only weighs 190 kilograms, based on recent comments made by a company researcher. Considering the amount of money that the company is currently pumping into related research — €400 million ($455 […]
Carbon pricing is a more cost-effective means of reducing carbon emissions than fuel-economy regulation, but fuel-economy regulations are notably more effective at reducing overall fuel use, according to new research from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. The new research was essentially just a comparison of various planned fuel-economy […]
All of the drama over the last few years concerning where Tesla would build its first Gigafactory carried with it a lot of potential implications for the states in question, hence the jockeying for position and the various meetings between Tesla officials and state officials. On that note, one of the perhaps lesser of these […]
You know that smog that you hate breathing when you’re stuck in traffic? Yeah, it’s killing you. I suppose that’s something that most of us know in the back of our heads, but it probably doesn’t come to the forefront all that often. New research published in the journal Nature might change that, though, as […]
Via CleanTechnica: By Tina Casey Earlier this year, we thought we caught hints that sodium-ion energy storage technology is ready for its closeup, and this makes it official. The University of Texas at Austin has just let out word that a research team guided by professor John Goodenough has come up with a new cathode […]
A hot issue of complaint with a number of Tesla P85D customers over the past several months or so has been what they deem to be an inflated horsepower figure. Part of this is that the horsepower figure of the P85D is much higher than some other Tesla vehicles (like the P85+ that many owners upgraded from) while […]
Mass adoption of electric transportation (this includes off-road applications) would lead to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The new report — “Environmental Assessment of a Full Electric Transportation Portfolio” — also notes that such a mass […]
A number of prominent auto manufacturers in the US are currently considering using “Gorilla Glass” as a means of cutting down total vehicle weight, thereby improving fuel economy, according to recent reports. The idea is that, since Gorilla Glass is stronger than conventional glass, less would be needed — perhaps reducing material weight by 25–30%, according […]
In a very interesting move, the Chinese auto manufacturer Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company (BAIC) has apparently opened up a new electric vehicle (EV) research and development (R&D) center in Silicon Valley. As it stands now — during the “launch phase” — the research center is reportedly home to 20 employees, who are expected to […]
The cornerstone-laying ceremony for BMW’s new Lightweight Design Center under construction at the Landshut site was recently held by the company, bringing the research center one step closer to reality. Once completed, the center is expected to host around 160 engineers, who will be working on the creation of new “innovative materials and manufacturing processes,” […]
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart researchers recently created a new film-based panel heater for electric vehicles (EV), according to recent reports. Worth noting up front, is that according to the researchers, the new panel heater is more effective than conventional electric heaters, especially on shorter trips. Since EVs don’t produce nearly […]
Here’s yet another reminder of why we are so interested in seeing the EV revolution advance. Even “safe” levels of particulate and nitric dioxide (NO2) air pollution are associated with a notably increased risk of severe heart attacks, according to new research presented by Dr Jean-Francois Argacha of UZ Brussel-Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. The […]
Earlier this year, when I completed my list of “43 battery storage companies to watch,” Bosch and Seeo were both on the list. I guess I need to update the list now, as Bosch has just acquired Seeo. In all honesty, I was much more excited about Seeo when making that list, since there had […]