Category: Electric Vehicles

Impact Lab > Electric Vehicles
Automobiles, Electric Vehicles, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Tesla opens world’s largest Supercharger station

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It is located between two of Tesla’s biggest markets.

Tesla has been quickly expanding its Supercharger network lately and it just reached another milestone by opening the world’s new largest Supercharger station.

Tesla’s fleet is growing at a fast pace and the automaker is adding more electric vehicles to the road than any other automaker.

At the same time, the company is trying to keep up its infrastructure, like service centers, mobile service fleet, and charging infrastructure in order to support its growing fleet.

Tesla’s charging infrastructure mainly consists of the Supercharger network, arguably one of the company’s greatest assets.

Continue reading… “Tesla opens world’s largest Supercharger station”

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Aviation, Electric Vehicles, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News, Travel

Arriving soon: Electric aviation for passengers

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Drone pilots don’t need to be told about the wonders of electric flight. But Scientific American believes electric aviation for passengers may be here sooner than we think as the industry struggles to decarbonize.

It’s one of the top ten emerging technologies the magazine highlights in its most recent issue.

In an article co-written by Katherine Hamilton and Tammy Ma, the authors point out that air travel accounted for 2.5 percent of global carbon emissions in 2019. And that number could triple by 2050. Electric airplanes could be one solution.

Continue reading… “Arriving soon: Electric aviation for passengers”

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Automobiles, Electric Vehicles, Environment, government, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

Getting a country from moderate/high EV purchase rate to 100% EV market share – some ideas

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 Norway just hit 82% plugin vehicle new car sales in September 2020. This raises the question: “Why are 18% of the purchases non-plugin vehicles?” That got me dreaming up ideas for how to get a country from moderate EV market share (5–10%, for example) to 100% EV market share. Perhaps some of those ideas could be effective in Norway now, and other countries later as they get closer and closer to a high percentage of plugin vehicles.

Continue reading… “Getting a country from moderate/high EV purchase rate to 100% EV market share – some ideas”

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Analysis, Automobiles, Electric Vehicles, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

Electric cars cost less to own- Consumer Reports agrees with us

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 We’ve been publishing “total cost of ownership” comparisons — well, forecasts — for years here on CleanTechnica. Actually, the first ones I published were probably 7 years ago or so. As electric car technology (esp. battery technology) has improved, the comparisons have gotten more and more compelling. Nowadays, any of the most advanced, most competitive electric vehicles on the market should easily outperform their gasoline-powered class competitors while costing less (unless you drive very little). Consumer Reports agrees.

Also, whereas I have to couch my analyses in paragraphs of disclaimers and notes about assumptions and disclaimers about notes about assumptions or else I’ll get chewed out by people who think I’m being too friendly to electric vehicles, Consumer Reports just blurted it out with almost no nuance in the very beginning of its press release:

“Owning a plug-in electric vehicle today will save consumers thousands of dollars compared to owning a gas-powered vehicle, according to a new analysis by Consumer Reports comparing electrics to CR’s top-rated vehicles, as well as the best-selling, most efficient, and best-performing gas-powered vehicles on the market.”

Continue reading… “Electric cars cost less to own- Consumer Reports agrees with us”

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Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Startup, Transportation

New Texas EV startup unveils US-made electric motorcycle with the right specs and price

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Volcon Grunt electric motorcycle unveiled

Volcon is the latest startup hoping to bite off a piece of the growing electric motorcycle pie. The company’s new Volcon Grunt is poised to fill a gap in the market with an interesting mix of specs and pricing.

The Volcon Grunt is a fat tire electric motorcycle of sorts that doesn’t just talk the talk.

The bike also walks the walk, if its spec sheet is to be believed.

The Volcon Grunt’s 37 kW (50 hp) motor offers 102 Nm (75 lb-ft) of torque and propels the bike to a claimed 60 mph (96 km/h) top speed in 6 seconds.

It also comes with a maximum range of 100 miles (160 km), though there is no word on what speed that range is clocked at. Some electric bike manufacturers get away with impressive range ratings by measuring ranges at very low speeds, which require less battery power and thus are more efficient. And with giant tires like those, the Grunt could surely use all the efficiency favors it can get.

Either way, Volcon claims the batteries will be swappable, so even if the range isn’t quite as good, a spare battery could easily double it.

Continue reading… “New Texas EV startup unveils US-made electric motorcycle with the right specs and price”

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2021 Predictions, Electric Vehicles, Energy, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

The next generation of power plants will be virtual

Your next home or electric vehicle could be part of a virtual power plant

Increasing numbers of homes outfitted with solar panels and batteries have the potential to help power entire regions with renewable energy. Working together, homes with solar setups are turning neighborhoods into virtual power plants that can feed power back to the grid and prevent blackouts.

These interconnected solar power systems are popping up across the globe — from apartment complexes in California and Utah, to public housing in South Australia. In the future, virtual power plants might even be made up of fleets of electric vehicles. It’s the next generation of solar power technology.

Continue reading… “The next generation of power plants will be virtual”

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Batteries, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Tesla battery researcher shows new test results pointing to batteries lasting over 2 million miles

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A Tesla battery researcher showed updated test results pointing to batteries lasting over 15,000 cycles or the equivalent of over 2 million miles (3.5 million km) in an electric car.

Last year, we reported on Jeff Dahn and his lab, who is under contract to do battery research for Tesla, releasing a paper that shows how the latest Li-ion battery technology can produce batteries that would last 1 million miles in electric vehicles.

In a new presentation, Dahn discussed updated test results from this new battery, which he hopes becomes the new standard Li-ion battery against which new battery technologies benchmark themselves.

The scientist, who is widely recognized as a pioneer in Li-ion batteries, referenced our article from last year about their paper and said that it sparked a massive interest in this new battery chemistry and battery longevity.

Continue reading… “Tesla battery researcher shows new test results pointing to batteries lasting over 2 million miles”

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Electric Vehicles, Record Breaker, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Silver lightning custom electric motorcycle breaks 1/4-mile world record

The time to beat has remained in place for a whopping eight years.

 Hans-Henrik Thomsen pulled off an incredible 6.87-second 1/4-mile pass to break a record that has been in place for eight years. He was riding the custom-built Silver Lightning electric drag-racing motorcycle for Danish racing team True Cousins.

According to a report by Electrek, True Cousins set out to beat electric motorcycle racing records some 12 years ago. The team’s first bike had only 12 kW of electric power. However, they’ve been working hard for years to improve their chances. The team’s latest electric machine is 100 times more powerful, at a crazy 1,200 kW (1.2 Megawatts).

True Cousins’ goal was to beat the 1/4-mile electric motorcycle record of 6.94 seconds, which was set in 2012 by Larry McBride. They had nine total runs to see if they could pull it off. With two-thirds of the runs in the books, it didn’t look like they’d be able to beat the record. Their best time out of six total runs was 7.15 seconds. Ridiculously quick, but not quick enough.

Continue reading… “Silver lightning custom electric motorcycle breaks 1/4-mile world record”

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Automobiles, Batteries, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Battery Breakthrough enables ‘Holy Grail’ of super fast-charging electric cars

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Tesla vehicles and other electric cars have a range of around 500km but the battery takes around an hour to charge

Recharging a car could be almost as quick as refueling.

Engineers say they are close to achieving the “holy grail” of batteries after a major breakthrough brought forward the possibility of charging electric vehicles in mere minutes.

The advance could provide electric cars with 500km of range from just 10 minutes of charging, researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) said.

“The combination of high energy, high [charging] rate, and long cycle life is the holy grail of battery research, which is determined by one of the key components of the battery: the electrode materials,” said USTC professor Hengxing Ji.

Continue reading… “Battery Breakthrough enables ‘Holy Grail’ of super fast-charging electric cars”

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Automation, Automobiles, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Drone truck startup Einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling

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The company’s cab-less prototypes are set to hit the road in 2021

Einride, the Swedish autonomous trucking startup, unveiled a new vehicle type that the company hopes to have on the road delivering freight starting in 2021. The vehicles, dubbed Autonomous Electric Transport (AET), came in four different variations. And much like Einride’s previous prototypes, they come without steering wheels, pedals, windshields, and, in general, no cab at all.

Einride has been in the business of releasing interesting, eye-catching prototype vehicles since it was founded in 2016. There was the cab-less Pod, released in 2017, which has been used in partnership with German logistics firm DB Schenker. The company also has electric trucks hauling freight for Oatly, the Swedish food producer. A year later, the company unveiled the T-Log, built to be more powerful than its predecessor for the job of (you guessed it) hauling tons of giant tree logs. Now it has a next-generation vehicle that it hopes it can put into production.

Continue reading… “Drone truck startup Einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling”

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Amazon.com, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Shopping

‘Future of last mile delivery’: Amazon reveals first custom electric delivery vehicle built with Rivian

Amazon is lifting the hood on one of three custom-designed electric delivery vans it built in partnership with Rivian.

 The new vehicle is 100% electric and features various technology such as sensor detection, exterior cameras that provide 360-degree views, Alexa voice integration, and more.

“We combined Rivian’s technology with our delivery logistics knowledge, and the result is what you see here-the future of last mile delivery,” Ross Rachey, director of Amazon’s Global Fleet and Products, said in a blog post.

Rachey noted that Amazon is working to build technology that supports physical charging infrastructure and “enhancements and optimization of our delivery stations.”

Continue reading… “‘Future of last mile delivery’: Amazon reveals first custom electric delivery vehicle built with Rivian”

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Electric Vehicles, Entertainment, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

Formula E founder develops world’s first electric powerboat championship

 

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Image: E1 World Electric Powerboat Series

Alejandro Agag, founder of both the Formula E and Extreme E championships, has just announced the formation of an all-electric powerboat league called the E1 World Electric Powerboat Series. Once again, the whole goal of the series is to draw attention to the environmental concerns that impact marine life.

It’s a similar mission statement to that of both FE and Extreme E. Open-wheel FE races on the streets of large metropolitan cities like Paris and Berlin in order to draw attention to electric technology. Extreme E, by contrast, takes place in remote locations for the same purpose.

The powerboat series seems to have more in common with Extreme E in its mission. From Agag:

The earth’s oceans, lakes and rivers are under huge environmental pressure and the E1 World Electric Powerboat Series will lead the way in electrifying water mobility for future generations.

Continue reading… “Formula E founder develops world’s first electric powerboat championship”

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