Research Articles

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a new type of high-power integrated motor drive and battery charger for electric vehicles. Compared to today's electric vehicle chargers, the new system could shorten the charging time from eight to two hours, and to reduce the cost by around $2,000, according to the developers.

The suitability of the proposed technology has been analysed and it was proved that lithium-ion capacitors can act as a main power or energy source without any reduction of the system capabilities.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 26 July 2016.

The market value for residential, commercial & industrial and utility-scale battery systems will reach $6 billion in 2026, as analysed in IDTechEx's brand new report Stationary Batteries for Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Utilities 2016-2026: Market, Opportunities, Players.

In mid 2016, A. Laforgue, Automotive and Surface Transportation, National Research Council of Canada and collaborators issued a paper "Assessment of the Li-air battery technology for automotive applications through the development of a multi-electrode solid-state prototype". It comes at a time when the US Department of the Environment has told IDTechEx it has de-emphasised research on this option because of fundamental limitations.

A novel axial field switched reluctance motor design is presented which intend to improve the output torque by single flux path distribution in C- core stator while exploiting the high power density of the switched reluctance technology.

Off-grid clean power is a big focus of attention nowadays as we seek clean propulsion of land, water and airborne vehicles and clean power for buildings and remote equipment off-grid.

With hype around some of the core wearable technology sectors beginning to wane, IDTechEx have released their latest analysis of this diverse and growing industry in their brand new report Wearable Technology 2016-2026.

An electric vehicle with three energy storage systems shows the complexity of commanding different control systems in only one vehicle. Both new systems can supply the required energy to propel the electric motor and the fuel cell system can also recharge the high-voltage battery.

Triboelectrics will only be a small part of the energy harvesting EH market projected by IDTechEx to be over $7 billion in global market value in 2027.

This paper first presented at EVS29 Montreal Canada provides an overview of the Fiscal Years 2015-2016 Hybrid and Electric Systems research and development activities - with emphasis on its advanced electric drive research -funded by the Vehicles Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Thursday 14 July 2016 titled Wearables: The Next Big Thing or the Next Big Disappointment?

A research team has developed a new approach to finding fields of helium underground, and with the first use of the technique they have discovered a massive reserve in East Africa according to a new report from Oxford University in the UK.

Helium has important applications in MRI machines, welding, manufacturing semiconductors, deep-sea diving and blimps. If it was readily available and affordable, its use in EVs such as underwater vehicles and aircraft would increase greatly.

At last: the whole picture. Energy Harvesting: Off-grid Microwatt to Megawatt 2017-2027 embraces making electricity from humans, wind, sun, waves, tide, thermals and other ambient sources where it is needed and with no pollution.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 12 July 2016.

While forklifts, buses, Tesla cars and some new electric motorcycles tend to use asynchronous (induction) traction motors, most other cars and motorcycles stick to permanent magnet machines, seeing considerable development potential including using less permanent magnet material with its potentially high cost.

The first electric motor in the world was made by Michael Faraday over 160 years ago and it was axial flux yet almost all traction motors have been radial flux ever since.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are now making a steady but quiet comeback.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 5 July 2016 titled Lithium-ion Batteries: Disrupting the Energy Sector or Being Disrupted From Within?

Ecotuned Automobile specializes in electric conversion of pickups with the first reusable powertrain system in the world.

The new IDTechEx report, Energy Harvesting: Off-grid Microwatt to Megawatt 2017-2027 concerns a system architecture that can be summarised as follows.

Following the trend to two or more traction motors per vehicle, the Technical University of Berlin with Infineon is merging their motor controllers and the on-board charger (OBC). Infineon now has a special chip to assist. At EVS29 in Montreal June 2016, Dr Martin Bruell of Continental AG, Germany, revealed progress on elimination of the OBC.

At EVS29 here in Montreal Canada the six parallel conferences are world class even though the exhibition is modest.

The new IDTechEx report, Energy Harvesting: Off-grid Microwatt to Megawatt 2017-2027 tells a remarkable story of these twelve magnitudes of green electricity production.

At IDTechEx we believe that there is an excellent solution being proved for the long distance battery vehicle, starting with trucks.

The TCF industry has recently experienced sluggish growth. The industry has transitioned from being supply-limited to being commoditized and demand-limited with supply currently outstripping demand. This is a commonplace characteristic of supply industry into consumer electronic devices: there is often a scramble for supplies as demand rapidly takes off but the industry soon over-invests, the capacity overshoots demand, and competition renders the component a commodity.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 28 June 2016 titled Electric Motors and Motor Generators Grab More of the Electric Vehicle Dollars.

Very large lithium-ion battery banks were largely unknown ten years ago. Now, it is tough to keep up with the variety of uses for them.

DTechEx attended the Automechanika and the unfortunately named Subcon exhibitions in Birmingham UK 5-7 June 2016.

The unique new IDTechEx Research report, Microcontrollers and Single-board Computers 2016-2026, is the first to reveal the big picture developing from the close relationship between these devices. It provides newly researched forecasts leading to figures such as $300bn in 2026 for SBC alone.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Thursday 23 June 2016.

Stellar growth over the coming decade is forecasted by analysts IDTechEx for the electric vehicle business resulting in nearly one trillion dollars sales at ex-factory prices in 2026.

Advancements in electronics technology are enabling medical electronic equipment designed for faster diagnosis, improved patient quality of life, and new drug-based therapies.

IDTechEx interviewed Sota Nagano CFO and Shuji Nishimura EVsystem Department of GLM 8.6.16 a company that makes its own designer pure electric sports car, with successful sales despite having started as a company as recently as 2010.

Trucks have to clean up their act if they are not to become illegal under the impending 2025 and 2030 legislation and those that jump the gun will probably gain market share because that clean up typically comes with fuel saving key to profitability in fleet operations working on wafer thin margins. Everyone agrees about that - but how to do it? Complete disagreement.