Electric vehicles

The 2nd Annual Automotive Thermal Management Online Conference was held on the 20th-21st of January 2022. Whilst the conference is relevant for the automotive industry as a whole, the focus was towards electrification, especially battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and some content on fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). In this article we cover the main highlights from talks relating to thermal management for electric vehicles (EVs).

Thursday 24 February 2022 - Mobile Robotics in Logistics: Hundreds of Billion Dollar Market in 20 Years? An introduction to mobile robots and how they can be used in logistics; What makes mobile robots an attractive solution to logistics automation; Discussion of key enabling technologies and components; and much more.

Bobcat are a North American subsidiary of South Korean multinational Doosan Group, at CES 2022 they launched the Bobcat All-Electric T7X, the world's first electric tracked compact loader.

At CES 2022 John Deere revealed their fully-autonomous Deere 8R 410 tractor, announcing that it is ready for production and will be available to farmers in the US later in 2022.

Demand for Li-ion batteries is forecast to grow significantly, driven primarily by the adoption of electric cars and vehicles. With this comes an increase in material demand and there are fears of material shortages and deficits acting as bottlenecks to the level of Li-ion demand, and electric vehicle demand along with it, that can be met in the future. As the two materials where demand is already dominated by the Li-ion battery industry, this premium article considers supply and demand outlooks for lithium and cobalt.

The past two years have been extremely turbulent for many industries with production lines shutting down, chip shortages, and a host of general supply chain issues. Amongst the dismay, electric vehicles (EVs) have been a shining light. In 2021, sales of EVs globally grew by around 80% over 2020 which in turn was a growth of 44% over 2019.

Through this alliance, Wingcopter will work with UAV del Peru, a subsidiary of UAV LATAM, deploying the Wingcopter 198, Wingcopter's new flagship Unmanned Aircraft System, to carry out drone delivery operations for local clients. With the partnership, Wingcopter, UAV LATAM and UAV del Peru become leaders in the drone delivery space in Peru.

Comau announces a strategic alliance with Mullen Automotive Inc, an emerging electric vehicle manufacturer for the build out of a vehicle body shop at Mullen's Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Center in Tunica, MS, United States.

Egypt project to produce 300,000 tons of green hydrogen per year. Following a multimillion $ investment, H2-Industries is now poised to undertake several projects which will convert organic waste, including plastic and agricultural waste and even sewage sludge, and turning same into useable hydrogen.

The Tipton plant aims to increase Recyclus' lead-acid battery recycling production capacity from an estimated 16,000 tonnes in the first full year of production, to circa 80,000 tonnes by 2027.

An electric vehicle charging platform and EV charge point installer have announced a new partnership aimed at supercharging the UK's electric infrastructure. EV charging platform, Monta, and EV charge point manufacturer, EN+, say the move will improve the number of public and private chargers accessible to drivers while unlocking new features for commercial operators.

The premium article covers the products available from tier 2 suppliers and identifies which are considering the move to new semi-conductor technologies. It also highlights different automotive radars available to OEMs from tier 1 suppliers. Finally, there are a number of start-ups entering the market, this article explains what makes their offerings different from the existing tier 1s.

Maersk Supply Service, a part of A.P. Moller-Maersk, is launching its offshore vessel-charging venture, Stillstrom, to support the decarbonisation of the maritime industry by eliminating idle emissions. Together with Ørsted, Stillstrom will demonstrate the world's first full-scale offshore charging station for vessels at an offshore wind farm, scheduled for installation later this year.

Tevel, founded in 2017 in Israel, is developing autonomous flying robots for fruit picking combining AI with computer vision, advanced robotics, aeronautical engineering, state-of-the-art flight control and data fusion and perception.

InnovationLab announces BaMoS, its innovative battery monitoring solution for automotive applications. BaMoS uses ultra-thin printed pressure and temperature sensors to capture detailed battery data down to the individual cell level, which can be used to extend battery lifetime by up to 40%.

Widespread and uncontrolled EV charging could double peak loads on distribution networks. Yet EVs using smart, two-way charging can feed power back into the network from their batteries at times of peak demand, recharge at times that avoid peak demand on the electric grid and store surplus power when demand is low. The energy and mobility sectors will converge in the future. Energy will flow bi-directionally - from the grid into an electric car and discharged to power appliances, homes and back to the grid itself. This premium article covers the current state of bi-directional technology, limitations and the roadmap to achieving full vehicle to everything (V2X) capability. It also includes an analysis into the role of utilities and why their participation in the growth of charging infrastructure is important.

Renault Group, Nissan Motor Co Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announced common projects and actions to accelerate and to shape their shared future towards 2030, focusing on the mobility value chain.

Activities of automotive OEMs for battery thermal management

Researchers have set a new record in the power conversion efficiency of solar cells made using perovskite and organic materials. This technological breakthrough paves the way for flexible, light-weight, low cost and ultra-thin photovoltaic cells which are ideal for powering vehicles, boats, blinds and other applications.

Bentley Motors has announced an acceleration of its forward-thinking Beyond100 strategy, and key to the ambitious programme will be the Five-in-Five plan, which commits Bentley to launching a new electric model each year, from 2025, redefining Bentley's credentials as the benchmark manufacturer in sustainable luxury mobility.