Electric vehicles

Range extenders are those technologies in charge of supporting long distance travelling in electric vehicles. Through the transition from petrol cars to electric cars, there is a strong trend to reduce the internal combustion engine and increasingly delegate the traction to electric motors, however ICE will not become the only range extender technology. This article explores all range extender technologies.

In support of President Obama's "all-of-the-above" energy strategy, the Energy Department has awarded more than $3 million to Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy for a project that could increase U.S. competitiveness in the fuel cell market and give businesses more affordable, cleaner power options.

BMW has revealed that they will be fitting OLEDs in vehicles in the near future under the name BMW Organic Light.

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have created new ceramic materials that could be used to store hydrogen safely and efficiently.

MAN AG is a middle ranking truck and bus manufacturer in Germany with global sales.

Valeo is a Tier 1 company that designs, produces and commercializes components, integrated systems and modules for the automotive industry, mainly for the reduction of CO2 emissions and for the development of intuitive driving. This interview conducted by IDTechEx was focused to learn about Valeo's activities in the area of Autonomous Vehicles.

Known as the Intelligent Charging Project, the California Energy Commission-funded endeavor brings together smart fortwo electric drives from Daimler, electric vehicle charging stations supplied by RWE - Germany's second largest utility - and the University of California, San Diego as the demonstration site.

The team looking for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet in the Indian Ocean has used Bluefin Robotics' autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to use sonar beams to create high resolution 3D images of the seabed some 4500 metres down.

The start-up ECOmove has developed a technology making it possible to manufacture an ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre-chassis, without using special equipment. The first unit has already been shipped to a company in Germany.

Transport Research Arena, Paris April 2014 coverage by IDTechEx: Renault goes for plug in hybrids, BMW to fuel cells by 2020, meanwhile VW sells now the most efficient car in the automotive history.

Together with its Chinese joint-venture partner FAW, Audi is to launch a plug-in hybrid car for the Chinese market.

Last year finally saw the kick-off in sales of electric cars with 2014 seeing a new impetus on fuel cell cars.

The ZhiDou Micro electric car was released in October 2012 by Chinese manufacturer Shandong Xindayang Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd. (XDY). The company is part of the XinDaYang Group Co., Ltd. (XDY), incorporated in 2001. This car is the result of the Micro-Travel Electric Vehicle program which has invested 3.07 billion Chinese Yuan (or 375 million Euro) with a planned annual manufacturing capacity of 300,000 vehicles on a 1.33 sq km site.

With the DualWingGenerator, Festo has developed an extraordinary technology platform as part of the Bionic Learning Network.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has announced it will support Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg in their attempt to fly around the world in a solar powered airplane in 2015.

This electric vehicle segment is usually underestimated by companies, however it is becoming interesting for those companies developing Micro EVs and off road electric vehicles.

Electrovaya Inc. is pleased to announce that the KF Hisary electric cable ferry has now been sailing between Mjanes and Hisary in Norway daily for six months, with flawless operation over the wintery seas in Norway.