Electric vehicles

A detailed understanding of battery technology and the underlying physics processes is necessary to design high-performance, durable, and safe batteries. Physics-based modeling is being used for building accurate simulations of batteries, incorporating different aspects through predefined physics-based interfaces, from detailed structures in a battery’s porous electrode to the battery pack scale, including thermal management systems. In this free webinar at our Fall Virtual Conference (October 17-20, 2022), we will discuss and demonstrate how COMSOL Multiphysics® and the Battery Design Module provide different features and functionalities for battery design and analysis, which can help in the development of the next generation...

Miami-Dade Transit has ordered 42 electric transit buses from commercial vehicle OEM Proterra (NASDAQ: PTRA). The agency will also install 75 Proterra chargers across three bus depots. The 42 Proterra ZX5+ 40-foot e-buses pack a total of 19 megawatt-hours of battery storage capacity, and the charging installation will crank out a total of 9 megawatts of power. This latest order will give Miami-Dade a total of 75 Proterra electric transit buses. The first buses from this batch are to be delivered later this year. Proterra prides itself on delivering a comprehensive EV solution for commercial fleets, including battery systems, buses...

Oil giant Shell has selected the Driivz EV charging and smart energy management software platform to support its build-out of new charging locations in 10 European countries. Initially, Shell will deploy Driivz’s EV charge point operations management software as the framework for new installations in Austria and France. The Driivz platform provides real-time monitoring of charger status and remote self-healing capabilities that the company claims can proactively resolve up to 80% of charger issues. The platform is hardware-agnostic, and supports many charger types and standards, including all OCPP protocols. The Driivz solution will integrate with the oil company’s Shell Recharge...

Sponsored by CSM Fuel cell powered vehicles are becoming an essential part of the electromobility transformation. The core component of the powertrain is the electrochemical reactor, known as the fuel cell stack. Commissioning is carried out on test benches where all essential functions are tested. Afterwards, the requirements for the entire fuel cell-electric drive are checked with a system validation. All basic data of the entire system need to be measured with high precision for the performance parameters can be verified. Background  The fuel cell stack is a series of individual fuel cells, where the energy from the chemical reaction...

VIA Motors is one of the most venerable names in the commercial EV space—we’ve been covering the company since its 2010 founding. The company got a lot of early press, thanks to its mediagenic chairman, the unlikely EV pioneer Bob Lutz, but later dropped off the radar. The commercial EV market has been frustratingly slow to develop, but unlike many companies founded around that time, VIA is very much alive. Now the company has received a purchase order for 2,000 Class 3 electric cutaway chassis cabs from Pegasus Specialty Vehicles. Pegasus will use VIA’s chassis to build Type A school...

Electric vehicles have high voltage systems that require precise connections, and demand for innovative components is rapidly increasing around the globe. Recently acquired by Eaton, Royal Power Solutions is recognized for its numerous industry-leading electrical components, including stamped battery and eyelet terminals specially designed for electrified vehicles. These power connection technologies provide vehicle manufacturers with components possessing superior reliability, while its in-house design expertise specializes in manufacturing efficiency and system architectures. Watch this free webinar at our Fall Virtual Conference on EV Engineering, presented by Eaton, to learn how these connection solutions help reduce complexity, time-to-market while optimizing EV system...

GM and OneD Battery Sciences will cooperate to research the possible use of OneD’s silicon nanotechnology in GM’s Ultium cells. Meanwhile, OneD has raised $25 million in Series C funding from investors including GM Ventures and Volta Energy Technologies. “Given a licensing business model and low operational costs, Series C funds will be used to continue SINANODE research and development, while advancing pilot production and providing OEMs and battery manufacturers a seamless integration into the manufacturing of EV batteries via licensed manufacturing partners,” says GM. OneD’s SINANODE platform includes technology that puts more silicon into anodes by fusing silicon nanowires...

Bidirectional electric school buses are such a good idea, they almost sound too good to be true. School buses represent a perfect use case for V2G technology, revenue from providing grid services can help defray the costs for school districts, and protecting schoolchildren from diesel fumes is a worthy goal that should be popular on all sides of the political divide (as long as school boards make sure the pitchfork-and-torches crowd understands what “bidirectional” means). US Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has introduced legislation that aims to promote electric school buses and...

Bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, (ADL) a subsidiary of the NFI Group, is expanding its zero-emission bus portfolio with the addition of two new electric bus products fully designed and integrated in-house. The two new models, a small bus and double-decker, are expected to be available for customer delivery from late 2023. They will complement the products of ADL’s partnership with Chinese bus-builder BYD, which will continue to be sold and supported. The move advances Alexander Dennis’s long-established strategy of offering its own integrated vehicles alongside buses built on selected partners’ chassis. Buses for the United Kingdom and Ireland will be...

Public charging networks have been coming in for their share of criticism lately. Recent studies from UC Berkeley, J.D. Power and Plug In America (among others) have quantified what EV drivers already know: the uptime performance of public chargers is abysmal. As EV sales have grown, accounts of malfunctioning chargers have spread from bitch sessions on PlugShare to articles in the mainstream press. Naturally, the anti-EV crowd has seized the opportunity, citing the unreliability of public chargers as yet another reason that we’d better just stick with gas-burners. Electrify America, which claims to be the largest DC fast charging network...