Electric Vehicle News

Report highlights the potential for lithium recovery from California’s geothermal industry

Developing lithium from the Salton Sea in California could help anchor a multi-billion-dollar domestic EV battery supply chain, according to a report from New Energy Nexus.

The report details the potential to recover lithium as a by-product from the Salton Sea geothermal resource area.

“The world is in a race to dominate the EV market—the Europeans have made their Battery Alliance a priority and the Chinese are chomping at the bit,” said New Energy Nexus CEO Danny Kennedy. “But America is sitting on an enormous competitive advantage with the amount of lithium in Southern California.”

Experts estimate that the known lithium resources in the Salton Sea could meet more than one third of today’s global lithium demand—and the market for lithium is expected to grow dramatically. 

Governor Newsom’s recent Executive Order requiring all new cars sold in California to be zero-emission by 2035 highlighted the issue of lithium supply. 

Recognizing the unique opportunity Lithium Valley presents, the California State Legislature passed AB 1657, a measure which will establish a Blue Ribbon Commission on Lithium Extraction in California, and Governor Newsom signed it into law on September 29..

“In the Imperial Valley, we have a significant opportunity to tap into the great potential of renewable power by developing a globally competitive lithium industry near the Salton Sea,” said Assembly member Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), the author of the bill. “This is a chance to turn an environmental and health liability into an asset for all of California by stimulating economic recovery in one of our most underserved regions and furthering our state’s overall renewable energy goals.”

Electrify America introduces B2B charging solutions with launch of Electrify Commercial

Electrify America already provides DC fast charging to EV drivers across the US. Now the company is branching out into the commercial realm with the launch of Electrify Commercial, a new business unit designed to deliver turnkey EV charging solutions to utilities, fleet owners and businesses seeking to manage their own networks of chargers.

Electrify Commercial will draw on the experience gained from building EA’s vast fast charging network in order to support its customers in the planning, procurement, execution, operation and optimization of charging stations.

The new business unit will help business customers formulate and deploy strategies tailored to their specific EV charging needs. It will offer a wide array of services, including:

  • Site acquisition, including identification, research and analysis of potential locations
  • Site development that maximizes the use of space
  • Applications from Level 2 AC to 350 kW DC charging
  • Proactive monitoring with in-depth asset management
  • Robust testing of EV charging through Electrify America’s Center of Excellence technology lab
  • Intelligent energy management recommendations in order to provide cost-saving options 

“As Electrify America works to expand the availability of public charging solutions, we have recognized a growing demand for custom charging solutions in the B2B sector,” said Rachel Moses, Director of Commercial Services at Electrify America.

KEB introduces apps for its T6 Auxiliary Inverter

KEB has released an Embedded App Pool for its T6 Auxiliary Inverter. KEB’s embedded applications are pre-programmed function blocks that give OEMs options such as motor torque/speed control and CAN J1939 communications. 

“KEB’s T6 Auxiliary Inverter has an embedded controller inside, which makes it easy to implement advanced control functionality, even when managing multiple motor axes,” said KEB Business Development Manager Tony Heiser.  “These KEB pre-engineered apps can save hundreds of engineering hours and shorten product development cycles.”

KEB’s app development environment also enables OEMs to develop their own proprietary applications. This allows them to create apps such as custom functions for motor start-up routines, low battery operation and special diagnostic and test procedures.  

Amphenol’s new sensor tech detects thermal runaway

Amphenol Advanced Sensors’ new sensor technology platform, Robust Early Detection of Thermal Runaway (REDTR), is designed to detect battery cell faults that result in battery venting (see the recent Charged webinar on this topic).

Stressed Li-ion batteries can undergo failure through a variety of factors. Failure can result in an internal reaction that generates heat and causes chemical decomposition of the cell, which can rapidly accelerate into thermal runaway. When this occurs, the cell vents gases, which Amphenol’s REDTR sensor system can rapidly detect within a battery enclosure.

Amphenol says REDTR responds to venting regardless of cell size, electrochemistry and battery pack configuration, from a single point within the pack. This sensor technology has an advertised performance life of up to 20 years in a compact configuration that can be used as a standalone device or integrated directly into the battery management system architecture. The company claims REDTR can identify the initial cell vent within seconds and qualify whether the event is contained or cascading to adjacent cells through monitoring various physical aspects of the cell ejecta plume. Fast detection enables rapid countermeasures.

NASA just completed a critical propeller test for its all-electric experimental plane called X-57

NASA is developing an all-electric experimental plane called the X-57 Maxwell as part of an effort to share insight with regulators before EV planes establish a market. Propellers for the electric X-plane recently completed wind tunnel testing at the Langley Research Center in Virginia.

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Source: Charge Forward