Electric vehicles

Researchers from Nanotek Instruments, Inc., and its subsidiary Angstron Materials, Inc. have proposed a new principle for energy storage that can be applied to electric vehicles, as published in //Nano Letters//.

IDTechEx Technology Analyst Harry Zervos interviewed Leyden Energy's Aakar Patel, discussing the company's battery technology, the attributes that make it a technology that's attracting the interest of electric vehicle, consumer electronic, smart grid and EV developers as well as the company's prospects and aims for the future.

An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle AUV that is a pure EV is part of an experiment aimed at getting toxic mercury out of reservoir water. Under the waters of Newcastle Reservoir, Utah USA, and on the surface, it is doing the work of scientists.

Kongsberg is the world's largest manufacturer of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. These are almost always pure electric vehicles but some can have fuel cell range extenders, making them hybrids. A leading researcher developing and deploying AUVs including ones that can surface to garner wave and solar power to charge the batteries before diving on their way is Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Magmotor Technologies Inc., a fast-growing, innovative motor developer and manufacturer in Massachusetts, announced that it is expanding its design and manufacturing capacity in response to increased customer demand and continued new development of its electric motor technologies.

Last week in Utah, USA the land speed record for production electric bikes was broken by 30mph by Lightning Motorcycles LLC.

Siemens has received a major order for its model Charge CP700A charging point from Portugal. As part of the Portuguese program to promote electromobility (MOBI.E), Siemens Portugal concluded a framework agreement for delivery of up to 300 charging points. A binding order for 100 of these charging points was placed immediately by the customer INTELLI, as the coordinator of the Portuguese program. INTELLI is planning the setup of the charging infrastructure network in Portugal and intends to install the charging points in 25 cities by 2012, at public parking lots and near shopping centers, hotels and airports.

The local fishing industry today sailed into a low carbon era with some 500 vessels and mariculture rafts taking part in a programme sponsored by HK Electric, a subsidiary of Power Assets, to use micro-photovoltaic (PV) panels to harness solar energy for daily operations.

We all know about peak oil but peak car has arrived in many respects. Thus although we shall enjoy two decades of rapidly rising sales of electric cars, starting with the decade of the hybrid, the ceiling of the number of cars needed overall is going to drop. In many countries, we have already reached both peak car ownership and peak per-person car travel, though of course the emerging countries are compensating for this temporarily.

Ford and SunPower Corp. have teamed up to offer customers a rooftop solar system that will allow Focus Electric owners to "Drive Green for Life" by providing customers with enough clean, renewable energy to offset the electricity used to charge the vehicle.

Oxford YASA Motors has an axial flux synchronous motor technology with exceptional power to weight ratio that it is putting into racing cars, motorcycles and sports cars with partners in Malaysia and elsewhere.

IDTechEx visited Polaris Industries in Switzerland to learn more about this acquisitive and highly successful company that grew 20% last year, when so many others were fighting for survival. Polaris Industries is world leader in off-road vehicles with $2 billion in sales. It owns lifestyle motorcycle brands Victory and Indian as well as having leadership in snowmobiles and a rapidly growing military activity including small pure electric vehicles.

Professor Ray Baughman from the University of Texas at Dallas discussed in his keynote presentation the bi-scrolled yarns developed by his team.

An attempt to beat a UK land speed record this weekend is being fuelled by the expertise of electrical engineers at the University of Bristol.

The BMW Group showcases its visions of future mobility in the shape of the BMW i3 Concept and BMW i8 Concept studies. Unveiled for the first time, these concept vehicles provide a glimpse of the first electrically powered production cars from the new BMW i sub-brand, due to be launched as the BMW i3 in 2013 and the BMW i8 in 2014.

Steve Heckeroth has been designing, promoting and installing integrated renewable energy systems since 1975. Here, Steve discusses the energy issues surrounding agriculture and food production.

The Motorcycle Industry Association (MCI) recently announced its intention its launch the eMCI, a 'partner' Association of the MCI, which will proactively promote and develop a positive market and political environment for the UK's embryonic but highly significant alternative powered two wheeler (e-PTW) sector.

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have created a graphene and tin nanoscale composite material for high-capacity energy storage in renewable lithium ion batteries. By encapsulating tin between sheets of graphene, the researchers constructed a new, lightweight "sandwich" structure that should bolster battery performance.

In mid 2011, Reuters reported that, even with government support and the popular support of e-taxi customers, challenges remain for electric vehicles such as the e-taxis to gain broader acceptance and widespread use. In China, charging stations are few and far between, repair shops are hard to find and the pure electric cars used as taxis are costly. Even after generous government support, the Shenzhen e-taxi costs 80% more than the Volkswagen Santana that is a typical taxi on the streets of Shenzhen.

Brammo Inc. recently announced that production of its electric motorcycles is now under way at the Flextronics production facility in Sàrvàr, Hungary.