Electric vehicles

EST-Floattech was founded in 2009 in the Netherlands where it supplies premium battery modules branded Green Orca to electric boats and ships.

Leading Edge Associates have developed a patented method of cooling and heating batteries in electric vehicles with the combination of a vapour chamber and a thermoelectric device.

Forte is partnered with Best Circuits and VMG to manufacture an electric motor pump relevant for battery cooling in heavy-duty electric vehicles.

Flisom describes its flexible solar panels as customizable currently, meaning made to customer formats in their factory, developed in the Empa Photovoltaics Laboratory.

Most car manufacturers are finding it very hard to combat loss of share to Tesla and other pure electric vehicles. Many of those are even struggling to avoid penalties for emissions. FCA has already had to pay Tesla $2 billion for emissions credits.

TDK is a Japanese multinational electronics company. At the recent ChargedEVs event they demonstrated their portfolio of temperature sensors for EV thermal management.

At the recent ChargedEVs event, Heraeus demonstrated a new material for interconnects in electric vehicle power modules, that combines the advantages of aluminium and copper.

Hanon Systems are a global tier-1 automotive parts supplier focussed on thermal management. The growing electric vehicle market presents new opportunities for Hanon.

Many people enjoy driving... until it's time to park. So why not leave the task to the vehicle? Ford Motor Company, Bedrock and Bosch are launching a demonstration project with connected Ford Escape test vehicles that can drive and park themselves inside Bedrock's Assembly Garage in Detroit using Bosch smart infrastructure.

Traction batteries and motors in electric vehicles (EVs) are very different to the powertrain components of the internal-combustion engine vehicles they replace.

Vertical Aerospace has revealed the VA-1X flying taxi, designed to be a high performing aircraft able to connect entire regions as well as carrying out shorter missions across single cities. VA-1X is set to be the world's first certified winged all-electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft, and is on course to start commercial flights in 2024. Build will begin shortly, with manufacturing taking place in the UK.

Li-ion cost declines have stemmed primarily from improvements to manufacturing, plant utilisation, Li-ion chemistry and increasing economies of scale with demand for Li-ion batteries increasing by nearly an order of magnitude over the past 10 years.

The electric motor is the unifying component across electric vehicles. The type, number and power output of electric motors varies between manufacturers and across markets, with trends shifting quickly. Several new technologies and improvements are being made to increase efficiency and power density, improve the thermal management or reduce the reliance on rare-earth materials. Technologies such as novel magnet design, axial flux motors, magnet free motors and aluminium windings are all introduced within this article.

This article explores motor technology choices and why the electric vehicle industry is converging on permanent magnet motors, the trend for multiple motors in four-wheelers, a motor technology outlook to 2030 and the feasibility of displacing copper windings with aluminium.

Mahindra & Mahindra, part of USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group, and REE Automotive signed a memorandum of understanding to explore development and manufacturing of electric commercial vehicles for global markets.

Activity by manufacturer of 48V mild and full hybrid cars Here is a preview of part of the survey in a forthcoming IDTechEx report on the subject.

What do you now purchase by the kilowatt hour? The new supercapacitors replacing batteries. The new IDTechEx report, "Supercapacitor Markets, Technology Roadmap, Opportunities 2021-2041", shows how supercapacitors have started to replace 10% of lithium-ion batteries and help kill lead-acid.

IDTechEx currently have a number of electric vehicle related webinars available to watch on-demand. These include presentations on electric cars; electric boats and ships; thermal management; autonomous driving; and EV charging.

This article summarises what's driving the transition to electric vehicles, and the remaining hurdles.

The defining feature of a microgrid is that it can work independently of a national grid. It is not that it does do that. Many are connected to national grids, providing redundancy and balancing. That defining feature is that it can be "islanded" as they call it.