Green Deals: Hover-1 Gambit Electric Scooter drops to $200 (Save $50), more

Best Buy’s official eBay storefront currently offers the Hover-1 Gambit Electric Folding Scooter for $199.99 shipped. Also available directly from Best Buy. Typically fetching $250, today’s offer amounts to $50 in savings, is one of the first discounts we’ve seen, and marks a new all-time low. Powered by a 250W motor, this electric scooter arrives with an up to 15 MPH top speed and ability to travel as much as 9-miles on a single charge. Whether you’re looking for something to take out for joy rides this spring or want to finally get in the electric vehicle game for commuting or quick trips to the store, this is an affordable offering. Rated 4.1/5 stars from over 185 customers.

Head below for more deals on AeroGarden indoor hydroponic gardens, Lutron Caseta lighting packages, and of course Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best Tesla accessories.

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Source: Charge Forward

New paper shows atomic-scale closeups of how a lithium-metal electrode ages

Lithium-metal batteries, which use anodes made of lithium metal rather than graphite, could offer great improvements in energy density and weight. The DOE’s Battery 500 Consortium has set a goal of developing lithium-metal EV batteries with triple the energy density of today’s Li-ion cells.

Now scientists at Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have taken the first atomic-scale look at how the process of calendar aging attacks lithium-metal anodes.

In “Corrosion of lithium metal anodes during calendar ageing and its microscopic origins,” published in Nature Energy, David T. Boyle and co-authors explain how they discovered that the nature of the electrolyte has a big impact on aging.

“Our work suggests that the electrolyte can make a big difference in the stability of stored batteries,” said SLAC and Stanford Professor Yi Cui, who led the study with Stanford Professor Zhenan Bao. “This is something people haven’t really spent time looking at or using as a way to understand what’s going on.”

In this study, the team wanted to test a variety of electrolytes with different chemical makeups to get a general picture of how lithium-metal anodes age, so they measured the charging efficiency of lithium-metal batteries containing various types of electrolytes. Then they carefully dismantled batteries that had been fully charged and left to sit for a day, removed the anodes and flash-froze them in liquid nitrogen to preserve their structure and chemistry at a specific point in the calendar aging process.

Next, the researchers examined the anodes with a cryogenic electron microscope (cryo-EM) to see how the various electrolytes affected the anode at close to atomic scale.

Each time a lithium-metal battery charges, a fresh layer of lithium metal is deposited on its anode. The battery’s electrolyte corrodes this fresh metal, forming a layer called the SEI, which contributes to calendar aging. Contrary to expectations, electrolytes that would otherwise support highly efficient charging were just as prone to drops in efficiency due to calendar aging as poorly performing electrolytes, Professor Cui said. There was no one electrolyte chemistry that did both things well.

To minimize calendar aging, the challenge will be to minimize both the corrosive nature of the electrolyte and the extent of the lithium metal on the anode’s surface that it can attack.

“What’s really important is that this gives us a new way of investigating which electrolytes are most promising,” Professor Bao said. “It points out a new electrolyte design criterion for achieving the parameters we need for the next generation of battery technology.”

Hawaii DOT takes delivery of Tesla Model 3, the first of many under a per-mile cost contract

The Hawaii Department of Transportation has taken delivery of a white Tesla Model 3, the first to be received under a new service contract.

Eventually, nine EVs will replace legacy vehicles used by the State Highways division, and another 34 are to be delivered to the DOT by the end of May. HDOT plans to continue converting its aging fleet of about 300 passenger vehicles to EVs, according to spokeswoman Shelly Kunishige, and aims to convert the entire light-duty fleet by 2028.

The department procured the EVs as part of a multi-agency contract with a company called Sustainability Partners. Under the 10-year service contract, state and county agencies do not have to purchase EVs outright, but can acquire them, together with the necessary charging infrastructure, on a per-mile cost basis. The contract provides EVs from multiple vendors, including Tesla, Nissan, Ford, Kia and Chevy.

The service contract is expected to save the DOT an average of $287 per vehicle per year in fuel costs, and 75% in vehicle maintenance costs over its lifespan—to say nothing of an estimated 8,700 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

“Converting our aging vehicles to EVs is another way HDOT is saving money and working towards the State’s goal of reducing fuel consumption in ground transportation 70% by 2030,” said DOT Deputy Director for Highways Ed Sniffen. “This service contract, that is available to all State and County agencies, could expedite government fleet conversions and help lead the way for increased private adoption of EVs.”

Has Toyota seen the electric light? New electric SUV, first of a new BEV line, unveiled in Shanghai

At this week’s Auto Shanghai motor show, Toyota unveiled a concept version of a new electric SUV, the bZ4X, which will be the first in a new line of battery-electric vehicles. The Japanese giant now says it plans to introduce 15 BEV models by 2025, including 7 models in the bZ series (the name stands for “beyond zero”).

Toyota has of course long been a bête noire for EV-boosters, thanks to its periodic pronouncements of disdain for pure EVs, and its touting of ridiculous ideas such as “self-charging hybrids” (aka perpetual-motion machines). Has the apostate automaker finally seen the electric light?

Apparently so, and that’s good news. However, the announcement of the new EV line may be better described as a cautious course correction than as an existential epiphany. Even as its CEO and other spokespersons have been trashing EVs in public speeches (aimed, one suspects, mainly at risk-averse investors), the automaker’s engineers have been quietly working on a number of EV projects.

The company’s current line-up of electrified vehicles comprises 45 hybrids, 4 PHEVs, 4 BEVs (sold in limited quantities in select markets), and 2 FCEVs. The 15 new EVs will bring the total to 70 electrified models by 2025. “Toyota isn’t behind Volkswagen and others when it comes to EV development, it just hasn’t been as vocal as others,” said Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. “The ambitious announcement for new models was a surprise, but it was just Toyota finally revealing what it’s been working on for some time.”

“In the years since we first introduced the Prius, we’ve not pushed forward with any single technology, instead preparing numerous options including fuel cell, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles,” said Toyota Chief Technology Officer Masahiko Maeda.

Toyota’s new bZ4X electric SUV was jointly developed with Subaru, and is based on the e-TNGA BEV-dedicated platform that was jointly developed by the two companies. It leverages Toyota’s electrification expertise and Subaru’s AWD advances. The concept version resembles Toyota’s popular RAV4, and features a distinctive “yoke” in place of a traditional steering wheel, as well as a solar recharging system, which “cleverly recharges the battery while stationary.”

Toyota says the e-TNGA platform will speed up deployment of new EVs, reducing development time by allowing different models to be designed in parallel. The platform can be adapted to a broad range of vehicle sizes, and can accommodate different battery packs and electric motors for different models.

Toyota plans to produce the bZ4X in Japan and China, and hopes to begin worldwide sales by the middle of 2022.