Electric vehicles

A new government funded support scheme has been introduced to assist homeowners install an electric vehicle charge point on their property.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group announced it has reached agreement with Cevian Capital to acquire its entire 8.2% share capital holding and 15.6% voting rights in AB Volvo, the leading Swedish manufacturer of trucks, buses, construction equipment, diesel engines, and marine and industrial engines.

YAPE, an acronym of Your Autonomous Pony Express, is a compact self-driving robot which moves on two wheels, powered by electric motors which have a range of around 80 kilometres. Thanks to its sensors and video cameras it is able to travel along pavements and cycle lanes to deliver packages of up to 70 kilograms in weight.

Toyota Motor Corporation announces today its plans toward the popularization of electrified vehicles for the decade 2020-2030.

LEVC (London EV Company) announces that Oslo-based Autoindustri is its chosen importer for the new electric taxi. This marks the second deal to export the TX eCity to Europe, following a deal signed with Dutch mobility firm RMC which was announced earlier this year.

Waymo, formerly Google's Self-Driving Car Project, is the first company in the world with a fully self-driving fleet on public roads today. In November, Waymo announced that it would launch a commercial ride-hailing service to members of the public in Phoenix, Arizona in 2018.

Under the terms of a newly signed MoU, the two companies will examine in particular applications that may combine Williams' innovation culture, lightweight composites and battery expertise with Airbus' Zephyr High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) programme.

The BMW Group has sold 100,000 electrified vehicles in 2017, hitting its annual target and signifying an important shift in consumers mindsets towards their individual carbon footprints. This is more than 60 percent up from the 62,255 electric cars BMW sold last year.

On grid electricity has demonstrated outstanding reliability, flexibility and cost advantages for the last century, off grid production declining as a percentage of the mix - the "use it if you have to" option. However, as off grid costs have tumbled and grid prices have rarely dropped at all, it is off grid sources that increasingly claim the crown of reliability, flexibility and cost.

Martti, the robot car developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, is the first automated car to have driven fully autonomously on a real snow-covered road.

Electrify America LLC announced that it will install more than 2,800 workplace and residential charging stations by June 2019 in 17 of the biggest metropolitan areas in the United States.

Enevate Corporation announces HD-Energy® Technology for Electric Vehicles which features extreme fast charging in only 5 minutes with high energy density and long driving range.

The train operates on energy from the sun. Solar panels on the train and train storage shed will generate the equivalent amount of energy required to operate the train daily, charging the on-board battery bank.

iDAR, a new form of intelligent data collection that enables rapid, dynamic perception and path planning. iDAR (Intelligent Detection and Ranging) combines the world's first agile MOEMS LiDAR, pre-fused with a low-light camera and embedded artificial intelligence - creating software-definable and extensible hardware that can adapt to real-time demands.

Raghu Das introduced the technologies covered and an introduction to the IDTechEx Show! USA 2017

The following article summarises some of the key observations made by IDTechEx analysts during the IDTechEx Show! It contains details of many of the companies demonstrating products during the exhibition, notable presentations given and summaries of relevant conversations and recent updates.

As proof of IDTechEx's long-standing collaboration with the EU Commission, technology analyst Lorenzo Grande was invited to deliver a talk on the state of the art of battery manufacturing and how Europe can catch up with its Asian and North American competitors. A selection of the slides presented during the meeting have been included at the end of this premium article.

The improving business cases for off grid are a contrast to much grid supply, where high voltage grid extension at a swingeing $1-6 million per mile is not involved, nor even low voltage extension at $15k-50k. It attracts where grids are being neglected or are based on bad choices increasing prices.

The research group of Prof. Yang-Kook Sun at Hanyang University has developed a cathode material for Li-ion batteries based on a core shell gradient, which ensures both long cycle life and high capacity.

Around 60 per cent of all new Panamera models that have been delivered in Europe were equipped with a hybrid drive. The new Panamera plug-in hybrid models were launched on the European market in June 2017.