Australia-based EVSE manufacturer Tritium has always emphasized the compactness and elegant design of its DC fast chargers. Now it aspires to bring EV charging speed closer to that of visiting a gas station. Tritium says its new RT175-S smart charging system can charge some EVs to an 80 percent charge level in 15 minutes. The… Read more »
Author: Charles Morris
London V2G pilot includes 28 electric double-decker buses
V2G is one of the hottest topics in the EV world. Using EVs as a giant virtual battery is a promising prospect for electric utilities—it would offer them an efficient, cost-effective way to manage demand and facilitate the integration of more renewable energy sources into the grid (and create a powerful incentive for them to… Read more »
Teardown expert Sandy Munro compares 10 leading EV motors in new video
Auto manufacturing expert Sandy Munro knows what makes cars tick. For years, he and his company have performed teardowns, taking new cars apart and analyzing every little bracket and screw—what it’s made of, who made it, and how much it cost. This week at the Charged Virtual Conference on EV Engineering, Sandy compared an assortment… Read more »
Oxis Energy’s ultralight Li-sulfur batteries are aimed at aviation
Oxfordshire-based Oxis Energy has been working on lithium-sulfur battery technology since 2004 (Charged has reported on the company several times over the years). In a recent article in IEEE Spectrum, the company’s Head of Battery Development and Integration, Mark Crittenden, explains why lithium-sulfur tech is uniquely suited to electric aviation. Weight is a critical constraint… Read more »
Tesla has a huge team of “Jedi engineers” working on Autopilot
Tesla’s Autopilot is designed to seem simple, smooth and effortless to the driver. We all understand that there’s a tremendous amount of work going on behind the scenes, but few realize how many highly skilled people are working on this ever-evolving system. CleanTechnica’s Zachary Shahan was fortunate to score an interview with Elon Musk, who… Read more »
Bollinger Motors explores a new market with the DELIVER-E delivery van concept
When Robert Bollinger founded Bollinger Motors in 2015, he did not follow the typical EV startup formula. There were no former Tesla executives and no deep-pocketed Chinese investors, and the strategy was not to build a luxury sedan, but rather a rough-and-ready electric work truck. With a no-nonsense design, powerful specs and a $125,000 price… Read more »
California PUC approves $437-million program to deploy up to 38,000 new charging stations
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has unanimously approved Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Charge Ready 2 program, a $437-million EV infrastructure program that will support the deployment of up to 38,000 new charging stations across Southern California over the next four years. SCE says Charge Ready 2, which builds on the $22-million Charge Ready program… Read more »
Elon Musk expects manufacturing to be Tesla’s ace in the hole
Tesla is increasing its focus on perfecting its manufacturing process. As Zachary Shahan writes in a recent CleanTechnica article, “the machine that builds the machine” just may be Elon Musk’s favorite phrase these days. In fact, Musk expects Tesla’s manufacturing prowess to give it an edge over other EV-makers. “Tesla’s long-term competitive advantage will be… Read more »
Amazon orders 1,800 Mercedes-Benz electric vans
Amazon made a splash in the EV world last September when it ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans from EV startup Rivian. Now the company says it will buy an additional 1,800 electric vans from Mercedes-Benz. The order includes 1,200 large eSprinter electric vans and 600 medium-size eVito electric vans. It represents Mercedes-Benz Vans’ largest order… Read more »
Kia to introduce 800-volt battery system, goosing charging speeds
Charging time is the Achilles’ heel of EVs. Much faster refueling could be enabled by boosting the voltage of an EV’s battery system from the 400 volts used by most current models. The Porsche Taycan uses an 800-volt battery architecture, which means the current can be cut in half, so wires can be lighter and… Read more »
