BMW

RUSNANO partner to make batteries

At first glance, Liotech's $413 million Siberian factory that plans to churn out a million batteries a year appears to be a showcase of Russian industry, innovation and expertise.

Future Australian trucking: silent and green

RMIT University researchers have developed Australia's first hydrogen fuel cell truck, demonstrating how vehicle design and new sustainable technologies can make freight transport clean, green and silent.

Industrial e-concept vehicles from Nissan

From July 2011, Nissan began efforts to widen the EV range into the LCV sector, with the launch of global proving tests for the NV200 based EV.

Electric car unplugged - Daimler to test inductive charging

Charging electric cars without an electric cable - how does that work? Daimler AG is about to test inductive charging for the first time on a vehicle in everyday use in the form of a technically modified Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-CELL.

DOE awards over $7 million to advance hydrogen storage technologies

Energy department awards more than $7 mllion for inovative hydrogen storage technologies in fuel cell electric vehicles.

Valeo acquires electric supercharger technology

As part of its strategy of developing solutions to reduce CO2 emissions, Valeo has acquired the Variable Torque Enhancement System (VTES) business of British automotive technology development company Controlled Power Technologies (CPT).

Distinguishing good from bad Li-ion battery suppliers

It is now urgent for the good manufacturers of lithium-ion traction batteries and their systems in electric vehicles to be distinguished from those encountering problems.

Charging emphasis turns more to contactless

It always was strange that nearly all of the focus for charging on-road and off-road vehicles has been on the awkward concept of a plug when we all have contactless electric toothbrushes and widespread contactless charging of laptops and mobile phones is being planned under global standards.

Energy harvesting case studies analyzed

Energy harvesting is the use of ambient energy to provide electricity for small and or mobile equipment, whether electrical or electronic. In 2011, $700 million is spent on the energy harvesting component itself, rising to just under $5 billion in 2021.

Auto manufacturers collaborate on harmonized EV fast charging solution

Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Porsche and Volkswagen have agreed to support a harmonized single-port fast charging approach for use on electric vehicles in Europe and the United States.

Ubisense Group plc, interim revenues up 41%

Ubisense Group plc has announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2011.

Waste heat recovery systems in vehicles

In recent years, there's been a surge of energy harvesting applications in the automotive sector, with a host of technologies utilized, each characterized by different achievable levels of power.

The BMW Group showcases its visions of future mobility

The BMW Group showcases its visions of future mobility in the shape of the BMW i3 Concept and BMW i8 Concept studies. Unveiled for the first time, these concept vehicles provide a glimpse of the first electrically powered production cars from the new BMW i sub-brand, due to be launched as the BMW i3 in 2013 and the BMW i8 in 2014.

Energy harvesting markets analysed: a $4.4 Billion Market in 2021

In 2011, IDTechEx research finds that the amount of money spent on energy harvesters will be $0.7Bn, with several hundred developers involved throughout the value chain.

Come back fuel cells all is forgiven

Billions of dollars have been spent on fuel cells over the last few decades with few commercial successes as a result. US Energy Secretary Steven Chu is reportedly against them as a major option in electric vehicles: certainly he ensured that the Obama EV billions were not directed that way. However, the two US rulemaking bodies, EPA and NHTSA, are now considering incentives for electric vehicles, including fuel cell vehicles.

Energy harvesting comes alive

Next week the annual IDTechEx Energy Harvesting & Storage event will open in Munich to attendees from 20 countries.

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.

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.

European Commission makes €24.2 million available for e-mobility

The European Commission will support a cross-European electromobility initiative, Green eMotion, worth €41.8 million ($59.2 million), in partnership with forty two partners from the industries, utilities, electric car manufacturers, municipalities, universities and technology and research institutions.