After years of fighting, Tesla thought it was safe from Michigan’s latest effort to prevent car dealers from having competition from new automakers, but now we learn that the state legislature is trying to shut Tesla’s legal loophole.
The post Tesla loophole for direct sales in Michigan is getting shut with impressive political backstabbing appeared first on Electrek.
Source: Charge Forward
Please, Hyundai, do the same in the States.
Source: Electric Vehicle News
Belgium-based EconCore has announced a partnership involving AZL, Audi and others to establish the potential of using composites for battery housings. This eight-month collaborative project will assess the technical challenges, opportunities and benefits of developing battery casings for EVs using a variety of materials, including thermoplastics.
The project has been established by the industry network group, AZL, which specializes in composite-based lightweight technologies. Today’s battery housings are almost entirely made from aluminum or steel. The industry membership group believes there is a potential to use lighter composite materials.
EconCore COO Tomasz Czarnecki said, “After successfully establishing the use of the technology in automotive interiors, we feel there is tremendous potential in using composite materials for battery housings, and EconCore is now actively working with Audi and other industrial partners to explore opportunities, and to learn how the thermoplastic honeycomb technology can be applied in this area.”
The first phase will focus on understanding the potential opportunities and challenges. For EconCore, this means pre-selecting thermoplastic materials, using different composite skin layers and working through various geometrical designs to optimize the honeycomb material with the most desirable characteristics.
Czarnecki added, “There’s no doubt there are some interesting opportunities to reduce weight using composite materials. We believe there are even greater potential benefits from using honeycomb sandwich materials, which have incredible strength, [and are] extremely light, compared to aluminum or steel alternatives.”
EconCore already has experience using honeycomb material in vehicle interiors, which can be compression-molded to produce three-dimensional shapes. If the initial phase goes well, the plan is to progress to a prototyping stage.
Source: EconCore
Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
The post EGEB: Ford, HP, Amazon, others call for govt climate action appeared first on Electrek.
Source: Charge Forward
The Nissan LEAF entered the market in December 2010 and since then more than 500,000 were sold globally.
Source: Electric Vehicle News
Vote Solar, the Coalition for Community Solar Access, and solar provider Sunrun (Nasdaq: RUN) conducted a study that found that if just a quarter of US households were powered by local rooftop and community solar and storage, Americans would benefit financially and environmentally overall in a very big way.
The post The US would save billions if local solar powered just 25% of homes appeared first on Electrek.
Source: Charge Forward
The 2021 Model 3 has a heat pump as standard. How much difference does it make?
Source: Electric Vehicle News
The Karma GS-6 will be a cheaper, plug-in hybrid alternative to the all-electric Revero GT, which is now the brand’s flagship.
Source: Electric Vehicle News
Charger manufacturer EVBox’s latest Level 2 commercial charging station has received UL certification, and is now available across North America. The new EVBox Iqon is designed for workplaces, parking facilities and public locations such as shopping centers and hotels.
All EVBox chargers feature Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) interoperability, which enables users to choose the right hardware and software combination for their needs, and to change their EV charging setup at any time without having to replace their hardware. Iqon is integrated with many charging management software providers, and can be configured with any other similarly OCPP-compliant charging network.
Features include:
Iqon can be configured in Hub-Satellite clusters of up to 20 ports (10 stations) that act as a single entity, allowing the stations to communicate and ensure the most efficient use of available energy. A dedicated kWh meter enables each Iqon to track energy usage and schedule reductions in output with precision.
EVBox Iqon meets or exceeds the UL testing facility’s rigorous safety and reliability requirements.
“By creating Iqon for the North American market, we are expanding our AC charging options and directly responding to the rapidly growing EV charging needs in public spaces across the US and Canada,” said EVBox VP Mark Henderson. “We are here to help meet the growing demand for reliable EV charging at work, retail, and hospitality locations with a flexible and adaptable option.”
Source: EVBox
Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine
The German team set a new world record, and it’s not dependent on the Tesla Supercharger network.
Source: Electric Vehicle News
