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EV technology developer Voltempo has launched a new charging system called HyperCharging, which it claims can deliver 1,000 kW of power, and can charge up to 24 vehicles at the same time.
HyperCharging technology is designed to serve the needs of service stations and fleets. According to the company, its modular system enables it to be installed faster than other charging systems, with lower installation costs.
Voltempo has installed a demonstration version of the new HyperCharging system at its Technology Design Centre in Birmingham, UK. The first commercial installation will take place in 2022 at a charging hub at the Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham.
“Earlier this year, we announced a world first when we carried out a public demonstration in which we designed and installed a prototype battery in an electric vehicle and completely charged it in under six minutes,” said Voltempo CEO Michael Boxwell. “Our new HyperCharging system already gives up to 30% faster charging in current electric vehicles through dynamic power management. The demonstration showed that it will be able to charge the next generation of electric vehicles in a similar time that it takes to refuel a conventional, petrol-driven vehicle.”
Researchers have developed a prototype lithium-ion battery that uses water as an electrolytic solution. The water replaces a flammable organic solvent.
Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed and tested a new concept for simultaneous coating and drying of two-layered electrodes. Drying times can be reduced to less than 20 seconds—one half to one third of the usual production time—without capacity losses.
The institute continues to focus its research on coating and subsequent drying of electrodes, which it says represent the majority of battery production costs. Standard electrode drying times are up to one minute, and production speeds are one hundred meters per minute and more, which requires long drying lines. This is difficult and expensive to achieve when electrodes have a high coating weight. The new concept is based on the idea of using different active materials for the layers and applying them simultaneously. One layer is responsible for adhesion, another for specific capacity. This layer structure enables manufacturing at a very high drying rate, resulting in shorter drying times.
The group is now working on ways to develop the simultaneous concept to industrial scale. For this purpose, it is testing purely convective drying with high-performance nozzles and laser drying modules. The next step will be testing other materials and optimizing the electrodes of sodium-ion batteries.
“Our work shows that in principle, we can manage all process steps needed to produce batteries more rapidly at lower cost in the future without affecting quality,” said KIT Professor Wilhelm Schabel. “Our research demonstrates that it may be possible in principle to increase battery production speed by two hundred to three hundred percent.”
Imagine a hybrid vehicle that could not only heat a home when the power goes out, but that could also pull a bigger trailer than its non-hybrid brother while using less fuel. Ford Motor Co. did just this with the new 2021 F-150.
To enable that hybridization, Schaeffler designed and industrialized a hybrid module that could be mated with Ford’s 10R80 transmission. The P2 Hybrid Module (P2 refers to its placement between the engine and transmission), can be used to generate electricity for powering homes, job sites, camp sites, tailgates or any remote location; it can be used to propel a vehicle in pure electric mode; and it can be used in conjunction with the gasoline engine to increase towing and straight-line performance.
Schaeffler’s P2 Hybrid Module—a parallel hybrid—is garnering notable praise in the mobility industry for its host of features and benefits. It earned a coveted Automotive News2021 PACE Award for its superior innovation, technological advancement and business performance.
A case for parallel hybrids
Stricter regulations in the US are demanding fuel economy improvements to all vehicles. For years, customers had two powertrain options:
Powerful engines that deliver standard fuel economy; or
Low-power engines that deliver improved fuel economy.
This leaves vehicle manufacturers with a dilemma: how can the fuel economy be improved without compromising performance? A parallel hybrid arrangement—where fuel economy is improved—is the solution.
With a parallel hybrid, an electric motor is added to a conventional drivetrain. This type of arrangement adds the power from the electric motor to the power of the internal combustion engine. It delivers a no-compromises solution where vehicle performance is improved relative to the same vehicle with a traditional internal combustion engine.
A disconnect clutch is placed between the internal combustion engine and the hybrid transmission. This disconnect clutch allows the engine to be turned off during light driving events when the electric motor has enough power to meet driver demands. It also allows for integration of regenerative braking with a traditional powertrain and increasing fuel economy.
There are different places that an electric motor can be placed to deliver a parallel hybrid vehicle. Schaeffer designed a P2 Hybrid Module that is mounted in between the engine and transmission to house the electric motor and disconnect clutch, while keeping space demands to a minimum and retaining the majority of the conventional powertrain.
Tight integration of the torque converter with the electric motor reduces the overall length of the hybridized transmission. This allows the transmission to fit in more vehicle platforms and keeps manufacturing complexity to a minimum. It also allows for as much re-use of current transmission hardware and software reducing customer system integration efforts. Through innovative engineering and system expertise, Schaeffler engineered a next-generation hybrid system that is taking the mobility industry by storm.
BMW was an early EV leader with the innovative i3, but later seemed to lose interest. The i3 remains on the market, posting decent but unremarkable sales in Europe and getting an occasional upgrade. Now, after eight years, the next electric Beemer has arrived. BMW delivered the first units of its new i4 EV at the recent BMW World event at corporate HQ in Munich.
The new i4 will be offered in different variants. The launch version has an 83.9 kWh battery pack and a dual-motor powertrain that delivers 390kW (530 hp) of power. Range is up to 300 miles (on the EPA cycle), and 0-100 km/h acceleration is around four seconds. A single-motor option will also be offered. DC fast charging happens at “up to 205 kW.”
BMW says the i4 will be launched in the US next year at a starting price of $56,395.
“With the BMW i4, we have absolutely struck a chord,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, Senior VP BMW Group Market Germany. “You can see this from the very high demand for this car. We are delighted to be expanding our electrified product line-up with this sporty, fully-electric Gran Coupé at exactly the right time and to present the first vehicles to our customers today—three months earlier than originally planned. The first delivery of a BMW i4 today, and the first BMW iX in about a week, are further milestones for the BMW Group on the road to electromobility.”
Kuhnt went on to tout BMW’s expanding electrification efforts. “One in four BMWs delivered in Germany [is an EV or PHEV]. By the end of the third quarter, around 41,900 electrified BMWs and 8,820 electrified MINIs had been delivered to customers this year. The fully-electric MINI Cooper SE already accounts for about 20 percent of MINI brand sales. The BMW Group has almost doubled its sales of electrified models in Germany compared with the previous year, at around 25 percent.”
More EVs are in the pipeline: “in the coming years,” we’ll see fully-electric versions of the BMW 7 Series, BMW X1 and the high-volume BMW 5 Series, as well as a successor to the MINI Countryman and the all-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre.
By 2023, the BMW Group says it will offer at least one fully-electric model in about 90 percent of its current market segments. It expects pure EVs to account for at least 50 percent of its global sales in 2030.
Of course, BMW, like all automakers, tells different stories to different audiences. Even as the company trumpeted its EV bona fides in Germany, it was reassuring US auto buyers that gas-guzzlers are still very much in style. At the recent Art Basel show in Miami Beach, BMW presented the Concept XM (aka “Exhibit A for the argument that PHEVs should not be eligible for government subsidies”). This behemoth, which is expected to go into series production at the end of next year, combines a V8 engine with an electric motor, and delivers maximum output of 550 kW (750 hp). Electric range is a ho-hum 50 miles.
