Author: Floyd Hawkins

At the Tesla Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday, an exciting development took place as JB Straubel, the co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Tesla, was elected to join the esteemed Board of Directors. Straubel, having previously ventured into the world of recycling with his company Redwood Materials after departing from Tesla, is now returning to his roots with a prominent seat on the board. This announcement marks a significant milestone for both Tesla and Straubel, highlighting the company’s commitment to embracing and harnessing the expertise of its visionary leaders. During the Annual General Meeting, Tesla also unveiled…

Volkswagen Group has announced a major restructuring of its software unit, CARIAD, with a new boss set to take over on June 1. Peter Bosch, former chief of production at Bentley, will replace Dirk Hilgenberg as head of the troubled unit. Bosch, who previously worked for Volkswagen before joining Bentley in 2017, is widely credited with turning around the fortunes of the luxury carmaker. His appointment comes amid ongoing software development issues that have delayed the launch of several new electric vehicles from the Group. See also: Volkswagen cooperate with Bosch to develop electric vehicles software CARIAD’s initial plans to…

In a recent development, the planned joint venture between Volkswagen Group and Bosch to equip battery cell factories has been called off. Instead, Volkswagen and its battery subsidiary PowerCo will pursue the plan alone, while Bosch will remain on board as a supplier. The original plan was to establish a supply chain for battery cell factories and to supply integrated battery production systems. The aim was to support battery cell and system manufacturers in ramp-up and maintenance on-site. However, Stefan Hartung, CEO of Bosch, confirmed that they are no longer setting up a joint venture, without giving any reasons for…

FEV has partnered with Impression Technologies (ITL), a specialist in aluminium metal, to develop an innovative battery housing concept for electric vehicles (EVs) that promises to optimally utilise the space available for energy storage. This has been achieved through the use of ‘HFQ technology’, which allows for the relocation of structurally relevant components to the outside and the integration of the battery housing into the overall vehicle. See also: Nextcell to Develop Semi-Solid State Batteries with Gel Inside The resulting ‘exoskeleton’ for battery housing creates space for additional battery cells, which can translate into more range for EVs. Alternatively, the…

SK IE Technology (SKIET), a South Korean company, has signed a letter of intent with Chinese battery manufacturer Sunwoda to supply separators for electric car batteries. Initially, the agreement will focus on the Chinese electric vehicle market, with SKIET supplying separators from its plant in Changzhou, China. This marks the first large-scale supply of EV battery separators to a Chinese EV battery manufacturer for SKIET, which has previously supplied separators for IT and electronics products to Sunwoda Group. See also: SK On Targets $2.4 Billion in New Funding Round for EV Battery Business However, the collaboration between the two companies…

New York City is accelerating its efforts to decarbonize transportation with the announcement of plans to establish 13 electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs at municipal parking facilities across the city. The project, which is a joint venture between the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and the New York Power Authority (NYPA), aims to install around 50 fast-charging plugs. The roll-out is part of several initiatives aimed at bringing New York City closer to achieving the goal of having all residents living within 2.5 miles of a fast charger by 2035. The charging hubs will be located primarily…

Fortum, the Finnish state-owned energy company, has completed the construction of its lithium-ion battery recycling plant in Harjavalta, Finland. The new facility, which is the largest recycling plant in Europe in terms of capacity, combines mechanical and hydrometallurgical technologies to sustainably recycle end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery production waste on an industrial scale. The plant disassembles and mechanically processes the batteries at Fortum’s facility in Ikaalinen before collecting and transporting the resulting black mass, which contains critical metals, to Harjavalta for hydrometallurgical processing. This process recovers 95% of the valuable and critical metals from the black mass, which can be…

Leoni, a major automotive supplier, has announced the launch of a new business unit called ‘Charging & Power Solutions’. This new unit will integrate the company’s cable business and will focus on electromobility. The product suite, named ‘EcoSense’, will cover cables for all types of charging, including new liquid-cooled solutions for High Power Charging (HPC). Leoni’s latest addition to its range is the liquid-cooled HPC cables, which will complement its cables for 1- and 3-phase AC charging for domestic and public charging stations as well as DC charging for fast charging systems. According to the company, all products are approved…

According to Tesla’s latest 2022 Impact Report, the reliability of the Tesla Supercharging network remained exceptionally high throughout the year. The report states that the average uptime of Supercharger sites in 2022 was 99.95 percent, slightly lower than the previous year’s 99.96 percent but higher than the figures from 2018 to 2020. Tesla proudly referred to this achievement as “Chargers that just work” during their presentation. However, it is important to understand the methodology behind these statistics. Tesla defines uptime as the average percentage of Supercharger sites worldwide that had at least 50 percent daily capacity functioning throughout the year.…

The Nissan Ariya has attained an impressive 5-star rating and has confidently achieved a Weighted Overall Index of 9.6 at Green NCAP. This independent initiative aims to recognize car manufacturers and models that surpass minimum sustainability requirements and cause minimal harm to the environment. Green NCAP employs a rigorous testing process that thoroughly examines all aspects of a car’s sustainability credentials. The assessment consists of three distinct sections: Clean Air Tests, Energy Efficiency Tests, and Greenhouse Gases Tests. These evaluations are then used to calculate the model’s overall score. See also: 5-Star Euro NCAP rating For Hyundai IONIQ 6 electric…

In the ongoing debate surrounding how autonomous vehicles (AVs) should communicate with other road users, a team of researchers from Cornell University claims to have discovered a breakthrough solution. Their study, titled “Designing Robot Sound-In-Interaction: The Case of Autonomous Public Transport Shuttle Buses,” challenges developers to reevaluate their approach to AV sounds. Malte Jung, associate professor of information science and co-author of the study, emphasizes the need to shift focus from the “what” to the “when” of sound when creating sounds for social engagement. This perspective marks a significant departure from previous discussions surrounding AV communication. The research team focused…

Samsung SDI recently presented its groundbreaking advancements in solid-state battery technology during the InterBattery 2023 expo. One of the notable innovations showcased was their proprietary Super-Gap Edge technology. To test the feasibility of mass production, Samsung’s team plans to launch a pilot production “S line” for anode-less cells in the latter half of this year. The Chairman of Samsung, Mr. Lee, personally inspected the solid-state battery production line not long ago, emphasizing the company’s commitment to this cutting-edge technology. Samsung’s solid-state cells employ a stable oxide electrolyte instead of the flammable lithium hexafluorophosphate electrolyte solution found in conventional batteries. This…