Ford

Electric bicycles and ebikes - the next ten years

IDTechEx has issued another report in its series on the various types of electric vehicle - hybrid and pure electric - and their future entitled Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) Industry Worldwide 2011-2021 (www.IDTecHEx.com/LEV). Electric vehicles by land, water and air will be a market of over $210 billion in ten years from now. The segments of this market are very different in certain respects yet they increasingly share some technical challenges and vehicle and component suppliers. This report concerns electric bicycles, ebikes and other Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) that constitute an important part of the overall EV business. Other reports in the series cover aircraft, marine, buses/taxis, military/police/security and cars.

Research into batteries to give electric cars the same range as petrol

Research is being conducted at Risø DTU into the development and manufacture of new battery materials, e.g. improved electrode and electrolyte materials for the next generation of Li-ion and Li-air batteries. This requires insight and 'nano-scale engineering' as well as detailed understanding of the underlying processes.

BASF entering into electrolyte activities

BASF is entering the business of electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) and is forming a global electrolytes team in its Intermediates division for this purpose. By adding electrolytes to its existing portfolio for the LIB industry, BASF is able to offer another key component for the battery technology.

Boxster E prototypes

The Boxster E, with one electric motor apiece on front and rear axle, runs on purely electric power with four-wheel drive and is equivalent to a Boxster S in terms of driving dynamics. Together with two other Boxster Es, in which an electric motor drives the rear wheels, the prototype is being used to explore the everyday practicality of all-electric vehicles and how they are used, especially in terms of driving and battery charging. What the researchers are after is an understanding of the requirements facing future products, where to go next with Porsche Intelligent Performance and how to integrate electric vehicles into the infrastructure.

BASF and Dow move further into EV technology

The world's largest chemical company is either BASF of Germany or Dow Chemical of the USA, depending on how you make the measurement. Both have been belatedly but strongly entering the electric vehicle business with materials and participation in device manufacturing joint ventures.

Advances in thermoelectrics

The goal of the effort is to reduce fuel consumption by converting exhaust gas waste heat into electricity using a Thermoelectric Generator.

New e-mobility event is better for component suppliers

Those making subsystems, components and materials for electric vehicles gain little from meeting only the high profile electric car companies at e-mobility events. The queue is very long to supply these companies and the pricing is often extremely challenging. By contrast, a look at the big picture of electric vehicles by land, water and air reveals a huge number of often highly profitable niche applications.

Report on advanced energy storage technology highlights big changes

A report covering the analysis of over 40,000 patents granted in the last five years in the field of energy storage technologies for electric vehicles - meaning e-mobility - shows that two Japanese players - Panasonic and Toyota now dominate the scene closely followed by two Korean firms - Samsung SDI and LG Chemical.

Report on advanced energy storage highlights big changes in five years

A report covering the analysis of over 40,000 patents granted in the last five years in the field of energy storage technologies for electric vehicles - meaning e-mobility - shows that two Japanese players - Panasonic and Toyota now dominate the scene closely followed by two Korean firms - Samsung SDI and LG Chemical.

Electric vehicles become electronic

About 80% of the value of a military jet aircraft lies in the circuitry, up from almost nothing a century ago. Civil airliners are about 50% electric and electronic, whereas the family car is around 30% so far, all these percentages steadily rising. The point is that an aircraft has far more than the radar, communications and other instruments accessed by the pilot: it is a sea of sensors, fuel controls and servo systems in the engines, wings and elsewhere. Even the family car adds much more than the satnav, phone, proximity sensors and other electronics directly assisting the driver, the MEMS accelerometer controlling the air bags being just one of an increasingly huge number of out-of-sight safety and other measures controlled by circuitry.

Goodbye 100 mile range electric vehicles

150 miles range is the new benchmark for affordable electric vehicles: the 100 miles range of today's pure electric vehicles will quickly become an embarrassment.

New report on advanced energy storage technologies

A report covering the analysis of over 40,000 patents granted in the last five years in the field of energy storage technologies for electric vehicles - meaning e-mobility - shows that two Japanese players - Panasonic and Toyota now dominate the scene closely followed by two Korean firms - Samsung SDI and LG Chemical.

Best for batteries: Not too hot, not too cold

With average U.S. gasoline prices approaching $4 a gallon, drivers and automakers are thinking electric. Previously steered in this direction by concerns about pollution and dependence on foreign oil, consumer interest in electric-drive cars continues to surge. But before Americans are able to flip the switch from gasoline to electricity, automakers need batteries for the next generation of electric vehicles that can deliver the range, performance, reliability and safety drivers expect.

Can foreign EV makers prosper in China?

To understand the burgeoning electric vehicle EV industry, it is important to look at all forms of electric vehicle, land, sea and air. China has ambitions across all of them but none of the EV leaders are currently in China. It is bargaining access to its potentially large internal EV market in exchange for the intellectual property of aspiring foreign participants.

School bus to use energy harvesting and biofuel

The Georgia Institute of Technology and the Ford Motor Company Fund are partnering on the nation's first conversion of a school bus to a hydraulic hybrid vehicle that runs on recycled biofuel.

Intense interest in energy harvesting for electric vehicles

Two forthcoming events in Germany reflect the intense interest in energy harvesting for electric vehicles. Energy Harvesting Europe 21-22 June covers many forms of harvesting for other applications as well and drills into the technology, investment and other aspects of harvesting in general. On the other hand Electric Vehicles Land Sea Air in Stuttgart 28-29 June is entirely vehicle oriented.

Azure Dynamics Sells 18 Transit Connect Electric Vans

Azure Dynamics Corporation, a world leader in the development and production of hybrid electric and electric components and powertrain systems for commercial vehicles, today announced 18 Ford Transit Connect Electric van sales, including a five unit sale to Ford Motor Company to support various engineering, marketing and demonstration programs.

Intense interest in energy harvesting for electric vehicles

Two forthcoming events in Germany reflect the intense interest in energy harvesting for electric vehicles.

Van conversion succeeds

Deploying the same successful distribution strategy utilized in North America, Azure Dynamics Corporation (TSX: AZD)(OTC:AZDDF) today announced that it has named RohneSelmer Company AS in Oslo, Norway as its first official European dealership for sales and service of the Transit Connect Electric van.

Hybrids at no price penalty

IDTechEx forecasts of sales of hybrid cars presume that, as the decade progresses, more and more of them will be offered at no price premium.