Electric vehicles

A new device could one day turn the heat generated by a wide array of electronics into a usable fuel source.

The Navy is developing ways to recharge underwater unmanned vehicles using undersea wireless technology.

James Hayward spoke with David Shin about Nidec Sankyo's recent efforts in deploying voice coil motors (VCMs) as haptic actuators. This profile builds on a previous IDTechEx profile from Nidec at CES 2017.

Electric utilities are seeking solutions to problems resulting from clustered electric vehicle charging. Electricity generation is not an obstacle, instead it is at the local level, the so called 'the last mile', that the problem occurs.

The investment will be used for the development of the five-seat Lilium Jet that will fly commercially, as well as to grow the current team of more than 70.

Last mile delivery remains an expensive affair in the parcel delivery business, often representing more than half of the total cost. Its importance is also growing thanks to a change in the composition of total deliveries with B2C deliveries rapidly taking on a bigger share.

With over two months to go until the IDTechEx Show! at the Santa Clara Convention Center on November 15 - 16, over 90% of the exhibit space is already sold. The event brings together the hottest emerging technologies including materials, components and systems with end users, who seek to use these technologies to differentiate their products through greater capability.

Charging station manufacturers would have you believe that they will swamp the world with their products although they typically have no payback. The argument is that they are essential for the deployment of the pure electric on-road vehicles considered vital in combatting both global warming and deaths in cities from noxious emissions.

With streamlined 3D printing, Local Motors design engineers are able to reduce tooling costs by 50% and reduce overall production time by a staggering 90%, all while keeping part production in-house.

Robots are becoming uncaged, mobile, collaborative and increasingly intelligent and dexterous, moving beyond their traditional strongholds to bring automation to previously inaccessible tasks.

The companies that together have sunk billions into fuel cell vehicles used to argue that the heavy things like buses and trucks could only be electrified with fuel cell. However, China is soon to celebrate 200,000 large pure electric buses in regular use and volume production of fuel cell buses has yet to begin.

The smart vision EQ fortwo autonomous concept vehicle picks up its passengers directly from their chosen location.

IDTechEx is staging the world's first conference on Energy Independent Electric Vehicles 27-28 September at the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands, where the most advanced solar racing cars and boats are made and the necessary new forms of wind, solar and elastomer generator energy harvesting are developed.

Royal Mail are currently trialling fully electric commercial vehicles from their Mount Pleasant depot in central London.

Technology developed to help neurosurgeons control electric currents during noninvasive brain stimulation could also lead to safer, more efficient batteries for electric cars and solar panels.

After several years of excitement, investment and growing interest in thermoelectrics and their potential in energy harvesting applications, it's now time to clearly look at what's hype and what's reality, and the technology developers in the field know that well.

Aquarius MRE is an advanced integrated system of rigid sails, marine-grade solar panels, energy storage modules and marine computers that will enable ships to tap into renewable energy by harnessing the power provided by the wind and sun.

Vahana intends to open up urban airways by developing the first electric self-piloted vertical take-off and landing passenger aircraft. The development of a fully autonomous aircraft requires key technical capabilities including mature obstacle detection and avoidance for aircraft take-off and landing.

Off-grid power has been in decline. Widely seeing it as the poor man's option, users have aspired to get beyond it to the more secure, "troublefree" world of on-grid - or so they believed.

A technology demonstrator for a new type of electric delivery vehicle which could make the courier industry greener and more efficient has been developed.