Electric vehicles

Eaton has introduced a new battery disconnect unit (BDU) for EVs that acts as an on/off switch to the battery for different EV operating modes such as charging and driving. The BDU can be linked to Eaton’s Breaktor circuit protection technology, which provides current switching and resettable bidirectional short-circuit protection. The company says, “Eaton’s Breaktor circuit protection technology enables up to 350 kW DC fast charging when used to protect and switch the DC fast-charge circuit, allowing EVs to charge in 15 minutes or less.” “Our Breaktor circuit protection technology’s self-triggering design, diagnostic electronics and mirror contact help achieve BDU...

Lithium supplier Livent has announced an agreement to boost its ownership of a lithium hydroxide development project called Nemaska Lithium to 50%. Livent says it expects the site in Quebec, Canada to begin production in 2025. “We believe that Nemaska, as a large and low-cost integrated lithium hydroxide project, will be an important part of the supply of sustainable critical battery materials,” said Livent CEO Paul Graves. “Nemaska is strategically located to serve growing lithium demand in North America and Europe.”  Livent has performed an optimization study of Nemaska aimed at improving the value chain from the mine to battery-grade...

Tata Power is about to start a nationwide plan of setting up Electric vehicle charging stations from North to south beginning from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from East to West, from Guwahati to Dwarka and Bikaner over the next 3-5 years downline. The move is the part of the transformation program, Tata Power 2.0, which focuses on customer-centricity, sustainability, and digital to become the utility of the future said CEO Praveer Sinha. Tata Power 2.0 Future plans: As we can see Tata power has already tied up with OEMs like Tata motors under home charging solutions are provided to each...

Buyers of the 2023 GV60 electric SUV will receive 3 years of 30-minute complimentary charging sessions on the Electrify America public charging network. GV60 drivers will be able to locate and access charging stations via the Electrify America mobile app. Electrify America’s network includes some 800 charging stations, comprised of about 3,500 individual chargers. It offers charging speeds ranging from 150 kW to 350 kW. “We are continuing to transform the ultra-fast charging experience for EV drivers through our collaborations with leading automakers,” said EA CEO Giovanni Palazzo. “As we take steps into our fully-electrified future, Genesis is pleased to...

The KATEK Group, a European electronics company, has introduced a new white-label wallbox charging station. The ghostONE is a 22 kW Level 2 charger that companies can customize with their own brand identities. “With ghostONE, KATEK’s subsidiary eSystems is targeting the European market for wallboxes in the residential and semi-public sectors, which, according to recent market studies, will reach an installation base of 65 million boxes y 2035,” said Jochen Paukert, Managing Director of eSystems, the KATEK brand that developed the ghostONE. The ghostONE is a networked smart charger that features remote management and connectivity via Ethernet, WiFi and LTE,...

Sponsored by Chroma The emerging growth of the EV market has created significant challenges to battery manufacturers on how they test and validate the functionality of battery modules and packs effectively and efficiently, especially during high voltage tests. It is also critical while manufacturing to adhere to associated test standards and regulations during the test phases.  The four primary test phases with associated test functionalities and systems: Sub-Module Welding Test: Quality verification on welding for the battery sub-modules Module-level End-of-Line (EOL) Test: Functional verification for the individual battery modules under a systematic test  Automatic Test System (ATS) for module-level In-Line...

Radio frequency technology company Qorvo (formerly UnitedSiC) has announced a new SiC Field Effect Transistor (FET) product line, which it says has best-in-class figures of merit for on-resistance. The FET is designed for the 800 V bus architectures in the onboard chargers of EVs as well as industrial battery chargers, industrial power supplies, DC/DC solar inverters, welding machines, uninterruptible power supplies and induction heating applications. The UF4C/SC is a 1,200 V FET product line. “Expanding our 1,200 V range with higher-performance Gen 4 options allows us to better serve the engineers who are moving their bus designs to 800 V,”...

Research commissioned and funded by The Aluminum Association’s Aluminum Transportation Group has studied the content and economics of aluminum in EVs. In a White Paper, authors from FEV Consulting, Novelis and Constellium found that current BEVs have a higher aluminum content than comparable ICE vehicles and that aluminum content rises as EV size and performance rise. “Despite expected improvements in battery cost and storage density, aluminum lightweighting solutions are expected to remain economically attractive for at least the next decade,” the authors write. “Lightweighting battery-electric vehicles with aluminum provides additional economic benefits when the entire sales fleet is considered, creating...

Taiwan tech company Foxconn about to start Electric Vehicles. in a few countries like Europe, India, and Latin America, as well as indirectly coordinating with German automakers chairman Liu Young-way said O Wednesday. Foxconn, the world’s largest assembler of iPhones, is planning to make a foray into the electric vehicles business, on Monday by revealing three concepts of Electric vehicles, and these include the model C SUV and the Model E sedan which looks like racing-car level acceleration with the range of 750 km per charge. At the same time they also revealed Model T bus which gives a range...

Solar EV company Lightyear says the EV powertrain it has co-developed with in-wheel-drive technology company Elaphe is the most efficient production EV powertrain in the world. Lightyear says, “we’ve achieved an efficiency of 97% from the in-wheel motors, losing just a fraction of energy through heat.” The in-wheel motor relies on a modified version of Elaphe’s proprietary electromagnetic layout, is currently being tested as part of the final steps of Elaphe’s design and validation methodology, and will be produced at Elaphe’s facilities in Slovenia. Lightyear plans to install the motors in all four wheels of its forthcoming Lightyear One solar...