Electronics giant ABB will be supplying chargers capable of charging batteries at up to 920 VDC for Volvo’s Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions (LIGHTS) project.
The Volvo LIGHTS project is a partnership among the Volvo Group, charging solution provider Greenlots (a Shell subsidiary), and several other players in the charging infrastructure space. The project aims to demonstrate the ability of EVs to optimize freight and warehouse efficiencies.
Volvo Trucks demonstrated its all-electric Volvo VNR regional distribution truck in February, and hopes to begin commercial production later in 2020.
As a technology supplier for the LIGHTS project, ABB will provide high-voltage charging technology including the Terra 54HV (50 kW, CCS) and the HVC 150 Depot Box (150 kW, CCS). All ABB charging systems are equipped with connectivity for remote monitoring, diagnostics and upgrades, and support OCPP and Autocharge open protocols. These connectivity features are designed to seamlessly integrate with the Greenlots SKY Platform.
“This project is unique in the sense of its scope, and that it takes into account the entire system from charging stations to yard haulers to solar panels to workforce development to heavy-duty trucks,” said Peter Voorhoeve, President of Volvo Trucks North America. “The Volvo LIGHTS project embodies collaboration among innovators like ABB with electrification domain expertise from the charger to the grid.”
Tesla has extended its earnings streak, posting a surprise profit in the first quarter, typically a tough one for automakers. The company reported record levels of production, and says its vehicle order backlog is the highest it’s ever been.
“Q1 2020 was the first time in our history that we achieved a positive GAAP net income in the seasonally weak first quarter,” said Elon Musk on a conference call with analysts. “Despite global operational challenges, we were able to achieve our best first quarter for both production and deliveries.”
The profit of 9 cents per share (GAAP) took Wall Street by surprise. As Fortune put it, the analysts “could hardly have gotten it more wrong.” Ahead of the earnings report, pundits were predicting a loss of up to 32 cents per share.
Automotive sales soared year over year, from $3.72 billion in Q1 2019 to $5.13 billion in 2020. Automotive gross margins are trending steadily upward—they grew from 22.5% in the fourth quarter to 25.5% during the first quarter.
Tesla says the Shanghai Gigafactory is already building Model 3s at a lower cost than at the Fremont factory, and the margin on China-produced Model 3s is now “approaching” that of US-made models. Musk also announced that the company will lower the price of some of its Chinese-made Model 3s, making them eligible for recently-revised Chinese subsidies.
Tesla installed its 100,000th Powerwall home battery pack. However, as pv magazine noted, energy storage installations were down more than 50% from Q4 2019’s record of 530 MWh, while solar installations were down 35% from Q4 2019, and down 26% compared to Q1 2019.
Other tidbits:
Production of the Tesla Semi will be delayed until 2021—2 years later than the original forecast.
Tesla plans to announce the location of a new Cybertruck Gigafactory as soon as next month.
Tesla is once again earning a tidy side income selling air pollution credits to legacy automakers who prefer not to sell their own EVs. The company earned $354 million from this source, up 64% from a year ago.
Musk seems to be on track to qualify for a payday of over $600 million. He’ll only get this pot of gold if Tesla’s market cap sustains an average of $100 billion for both 6-month and 30-day periods. Those respective figures now stand at $97.3 billion and $109.8 billion.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, a long-time Tesla follower, summed up the sunny situation: “There’s something for everyone, but modestly more material to be constructive than bearish. Profit was much better than expected, driven by China and regulatory credits.”
Apparently, all the good news has Elon Musk feeling sorry for the short sellers and his other enemies, so he decided to give them some more ammunition to attack him with. Following a late-night Twitter tirade against the lockdown that’s preventing Tesla from reopening its Fremont plant, he unleashed a profanity-peppered rant on the conference call, describing the shelter-in-place requirements that have been implemented by most of the nations of the world as “fascist.”
Predictably, most of the media were much more interested in Musk’s self-sabotaging screed than in the package of positive financial news. One mainstream media outlet called his comments “Trump-like,” and one staunch Musk supporter told me he feared that Musk’s remarks about freedom and fascists would be trotted out by the press for a long time to come.
TSLA stock, which was up as much 9% in after-hours trading following the earnings announcement, gave up all those gains and dipped into negative territory the next day, following the news of Elon’s immoderate outburst.
Mr. Musk certainly has reasons to be concerned. Credit Suisse analysts have estimated that the production pause at Fremont is costing Tesla some $300 million per week, and a seemingly inevitable recession is bound to hurt demand for upscale autos. On the other hand, Tesla has $8 billion in cash, and says it will be able to weather an extended shutdown. So far, the stock market seems to agree. Some auto industry observers also believe that legacy automakers will emerge from the crisis even further behind Tesla in the electrification race (Ford has already cancelled one EV program due to the “current environment”).
The level of uncertainty is such that Tesla declined to offer any financial forecasts until Q2 is over. “Unavoidably, the extended shutdown in Fremont will have an impact on our near-term financial performance,” said CFO Zach Kirkhorn. “We will need to work through how quickly we will be able to ramp production to prior levels.”
New Jersey’s Division of Rate Counsel, a state agency charged with representing the interests of ratepayers in dealing with regulated utilities, is seeking to block two companies from spending hundreds of millions of ratepayer dollars on EV infrastructure projects.
In separate filings with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Division Director Stefanie Brand is asking the agency to dismiss proposals by Public Service Electric & Gas and Atlantic City Electric to invest $364 million and $42 million to build out charging infrastructure in their respective territories.
“There is no legal authority for what [the utilities] are asking,’’ Brand told NJ Spotlight. “Other than tapping a special clean energy fund for ‘rebates to help motorists buy electric vehicles,’ the PIV Act does not authorize or direct the [Board of Public Utilities] to allow the investment of any ratepayer funds on its implementation.”
The agency’s could set the stage for a conflict with Governor Phil Murphy and state legislators, which recently passed a package of pro-EV measures, including several EVSE-related mandates.
The disagreement is not over whether the infrastructure should be built, but over how it should be financed, and the debate was ongoing during the time the pro-EV bills (Assembly Bill 4819 and Senate Bill 2252) made their way through the Legislature.
The question of what role utilities should play in building out charging infrastructure has also surfaced in other states. In 2016, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) put the brakes on Pacific Gas & Electric’s plans to build 25,100 charging stations using $654 million in ratepayer dollars. California now has a law that’s designed to requires utilities to invest in EV charging infrastructure in a way that leverages private-sector funding, protects competition and allows consumers choices.
The argument against ratepayer-financed EVSE projects of this kind is that utilities are using ratepayer money to unfairly compete with private-sector charging operators. “PSE&G’s program would use ratepayer funds to allow PSE&G to undercut competitors, eliminating their ability to provide those services at competitive prices without ratepayer funding,’’ reads the Rate Counsel’s filing.
The two New Jersey utilities pushed back against the Rate Counsel’s challenge. Atlantic City Electric says it is confident “that the EV programs we have proposed are entirely consistent with the legislation signed into law earlier this year and are critical to helping New Jersey meeting its environmental goals.’’
A PSE&G spokesman said, “Rather than undermining competing EV service providers, PSE&G is seeking to be the charging provider of last resort to ensure that markets underserved by private providers, like low-income communities, have access to EV charging.”
Transit agency Tri Delta Transit, which operates 15 bus routes serving some 250,000 residents in Contra Costa County, California, is using a managed charging software platform from AMPLY Power to optimize its energy usage, while ensuring that its vehicles are charged and ready to work each day.
Tri Delta Transit began operating electric buses from Proterra and BYD in 2018. It brought AMPLY in during the fall of 2019 to simplify charging operations and “address challenges presented by previously installed hardware.”
AMPLY’s hardware-agnostic, cloud-based smart charging system monitors charging status and power levels in real time, deploying algorithms to minimize utility demand charges. Using this real-time status allows AMPLY’s system to forecast when the vehicles will be ready to go, and once they’re out delivering passengers, the system can track their return SOC and length of time to recharge. Tri Delta says this is delivering up to 40 percent savings on energy costs.
“We monitor the chargers and catch error codes to improve charger uptime, and its database collects all the information Tri Delta needs to confidently move down their electrification roadmap,” said Rob Kelly, VP Business Development at AMPLY.
“Fleet operators work on a very rigorous timeline, and must adhere to a strict operational dance to ensure their vehicles run on schedule. This on-the-go structure makes finding the time to optimize an electric fleet more difficult than one might expect,” said Vic Shao, CEO of AMPLY.
In addition to managing charging operations with a depot’s existing hardware, AMPLY also offers comprehensive Charging-as-a-Service to fleet owners. This includes managing utility administration and interconnection, as well as establishing an optimal charging strategy based on drive and duty cycles.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) will provide up to $18 million for basic research to ensure the continued availability of rare earth elements. Neodymium, praseodymium, lanthanum and other rare earth materials are widely used in a variety of technological applications, including EV motors and wind turbines. The research will seek breakthroughs that increase the availability or reduce the use of rare earth elements, lead to more efficient separation approaches to enable reuse, and discover effective substitutes for rare earth materials, among other topics.
“Critical minerals and rare earth elements are essential to technologies that we use every day, from cell phones to lifesaving medical equipment to batteries for electric cars,” said Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. “Unfortunately, the US is heavily dependent on countries like China to supply these critical materials. The research and development at DOE labs is critical to harnessing our domestic supply of rare earth elements and critical minerals, and is key to developing new ways to process and recycle these elements.”
DOE national laboratories are invited to submit proposals for breakthrough research in materials and chemical sciences. Applicants are encouraged to find partners at universities, national laboratories, and other institutions. Awards are expected for both small groups and larger multidisciplinary teams.
Power inverter safety system concept for ISO 26262
By Erik Santiago & Antoine Dubois, NXP Semiconductors
One of the indisputable facts about the automotive industry is that the overall electronic system content in vehicles is increasing. As vehicles become more sophisticated and include features that sense, think and act for the driver, the type of electronic content changes. In particular, there will be massive growth in hybrid and electric vehicle content, as well as for automated drive functions.
However, a key issue that needs to be addressed is that the current business model for electric vehicles is not profitable long term for OEMs. The average estimated cost for base electric vehicles is still a major concern. OEMs will be looking to close this gap by bringing more design back in-house, or by bypassing Tier 1 suppliers to talk directly to IC suppliers. The disrupter here will be to integrate embedded electronic architectures by combining ECUs and clustering functions in a new way.
This is why NXP is working closely with partners across the industry to accelerate how these constraints are met. One way is by developing reference designs that combine our system know-how with our safety expertise. This means that reference designs include key safety system elements from the outset. To develop safety concepts for system reference designs, NXP has to be able to define the safety goals, concept and functions for the intended item to be able to identify the right system implementation into our system design.
We do this by following the ISO 26262 development process. This provides recommendations for each step along the development process for safety system products with a V cycle project management tool. The V cycle groups each step as a Part and specific work products are expected at each level. IC suppliers like NXP can anticipate and develop system ECUs just like a tier 1 supplier does. By doing this, we can speed development time and provide standard deliverables that are of benefit throughout the development chain. The goal is not necessarily to provide a solution with the same level of maturity that a tier 1 could provide, rather to accelerate the development of the work products for Tier 1.
Let’s consider as an example, how to develop a safety concept for a power inverter module as a SEooC for an EV application. As an IC supplier, we would work through parts 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the V cycle and provide the work products associated to each part. We start by defining the item within the target system – ie what are the potential hazards and safety goals that we want to apply to our reference design?
Figure 1: HV inverter for EVs
As figure 1 shows, the power inverter is the main traction system of an electric vehicle. It controls the energy conversion between the electric energy source and the mechanical shaft of the electric motor, based on the torque request from the Vehicle Control Unit (VCU). The VCU interprets the driver needs into acceleration or deceleration of the electric motor. The inverter translates the torque request into phase currents going into the traction motor. In a battery electric vehicle, this connection is usually made with a simple gearbox without a clutch. This is our first assumption. It is important to be specific here, since the safety case would be different if the vehicle has a clutch. In our case, if a hazard should occur, it is impossible for the driver or the electrical system to stop the traction of the vehicle by simply opening the connection between the electric motor and the wheels of the car.
We also need to identify possible sources of EE malfunction – whether due to driving or non-driving scenarios. These hazards are then ranked by risk level according to the ASIL levels laid out in ISO 26262. As shown in figure 2, in this case a safety goal could be to avoid unintended acceleration if the vehicle is stopped.
Figure 2: Examples of hazards and safety goals for an EV HV inverter
These safety goals lead to a functional safety architecture with functional requirements (FR) and functional safety requirements (FSR) with associated ASIL levels and FTTI such as:
FR1: The Inverter shall analyze the request from VCU, then command the following functions accordingly: traction, brake and battery regeneration. ASIL D. FTTI 200 ms.
FSR1: The inverter shall check the torque request from the VCU and alert in case of unexpected value. ASIL D. FTTI 200 ms.
Figure 3: Functional safety architecture
Now that we have the functional safety architecture, figure 3, we need to demonstrate that the system architecture will be able to fulfill the safety requirements and design constraints. To do this, we derived a technical safety concept from the functional safety concept. This combines the hardware and software sub-element functions that will be used to achieve the intended item and system functionality.
A safety analysis is then run to check that all possible system failures have been identified and that the appropriate safety mechanisms are in place. This may result in new safety requirements being allocated to the safety architecture. By doing this, the technical definition can provide the necessary evidence that the appropriate reactions have been identified and that a safe state can be achieved in less time than FTTI: therefore that there is no violation of the safety goals of the item.
In our example, safe state is complex because of the high amount of energy flowing into the electric motor. A safe state here means stopping the propulsion of the vehicle, by opening or shorting the three phases of the motor depending on the speed of the motor.
As we progress through the V cycle, the work products are developed to ensure the safety concerns a customer may have are fulfilled. A hardware design is covered by the process in the same way; the safety concept reduces the development and prototyping phase for customers by three to six months. In the NXP reference design, the complete safety architecture is built out using NXP ICs and diagnostics and reaction to safe state are tested. The reference design helps to speed development and provides a level of technical safety architecture, along with evidence of the safety integrity level as part of the overall package.
Find out more about the power inverter reference design by reading the whitepaper.
Finnish energy conglomerate Fortum has agreed to sell the majority of its public charging network operator Fortum Recharge to Infracapital, a subsidiary of investment manager M&G. Fortum Recharge owns approximately 1,300 public chargers, mostly DC fast chargers, and operates an additional 1,400 charging points in Norway, Finland and Sweden. After the transaction Fortum’s ownership in Recharge will be 37%.
Fortum will continue to own and operate its EV charging customer interface under its Charge & Drive and Plugsurfing brands, and will also continue to provide software as a service (SaaS) for operating EV charging infrastructure and customer interfaces to other charging operators.
Drake Star Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Fortum on the transaction.
“This transaction is another clear example of how the sector is evolving,” said Frank Verbeek, Managing Partner at Drake Star Amsterdam. “After years of seeing the market developed by entrepreneurs and first-mover companies, we now experience serious interest from large infrastructure funds, who recognize EV charging as a very attractive asset class, and can invest vast amounts on the basis of increasingly secure revenues.”
NASA has released a series of concept images of the X-57 Maxwell electric airplane, showcasing aspects of its final Mod IV configuration during different flight modes.
The artist’s concept image shows the Maxwell in its final configuration. This configuration, known as Mod IV, features a high-aspect ratio wing, relocation of the cruise motors to the wingtips, and 12 smaller high-lift motors with propellers for takeoff and landing.
The small high-lift motors will activate along the wing’s leading edge, spinning their propellers and providing lift for takeoff and landing. The high-lift motors will deactivate during cruise mode, and their propeller blades will fold into the nacelles to reduce drag. The motors will reactivate and use centrifugal force to spin the blades back out to provide necessary lift for landing.
NASA is making progress toward the first flight of the X-57 Maxwell—its first all-electric X-plane, and first piloted X-plane in two decades. The agency recently ran a series of structural ground tests on the Mod II Maxwell, giving engineers a look at the vehicle’s predicted characteristics during flight. In addition to testing the X-57’s cruise motor controllers, which are critical for providing power to the aircraft’s electric motors, similar ground vibration testing took place on the wing and fuselage.
USA Rare Earth has purchased the neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) permanent magnet manufacturing equipment formerly owned and operated in North Carolina by Hitachi Metals America.
Demand for rare earth magnets is being driven by plug-in vehicles (electric motors and batteries), wind generators (direct drive generators), medical devices (personal vital sign monitors and medical imaging machines) and other technologies.
More than 60% of the $14-billion-a-year global rare earth magnet market is controlled by China. The equipment purchased by USA Rare Earth can produce at least 2,000 tons of rare earth magnets annually—approximately 17% of the current US market—generating more than $140 million in annual sales (at 2019 prices). At present, no other NdFeB permanent magnet manufacturing plant is operational in the Americas.
USA Rare Earth will warehouse the equipment pending a decision about where to locate the new magnet operation, with the priority being good access to the Round Top Project, located in Texas. At the same time, USA Rare Earth plans to work with manufacturers of rare earth metals and alloys in order to convert the highly purified rare earth oxides from Round Top into magnets.
“Acquiring this capability is consistent with our mine-to-magnet strategy,” said Pini Althaus, CEO of USA Rare Earth. “We did not want the United States to lose this key equipment, so when it became clear that was an imminent possibility, we moved quickly to ensure that this essential part of the critical minerals supply chain remains in the US. We have commenced discussions with the domestic electric vehicle and defense sectors to determine their needs and to work together to establish a domestic source of not only the raw materials from Round Top, but also the finished magnet product. We expect to partner with one or more groups that have expertise in rare earth magnet manufacturing.”
This acquisition is complementary to the Company’s Round Top Project in West Texas, which it is developing with Texas Mineral Resources Corporation and its pilot processing facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Round Top is rich in heavy rare earths, including dysprosium and terbium, which are required for NdFeB magnets. Round Top is also projected to produce 10,000 tons of lithium a year for the EV battery market.
“Developing a full rare earth supply chain independent of China is essential for both the national economy and national security,” said General Paul Kern, US Army (ret.), Board member of USA Rare Earth. “This plant provides the relevant industries in the US the possibility of purchasing US-manufactured permanent magnets, without the reliance on China for this key component.”
We’re learning more about the coronavirus every day. Now it seems that it infects EVs, but not ICE vehicles. Ford and Rivian have canceled their plans to jointly develop an EV for the Lincoln brand, citing the “current environment” around the ongoing coronavirus crisis as the reason.
Although development of some of Ford’s new gas-powered models has been delayed due to the health crisis, it doesn’t appear that any will be cancelled. Production of the new Bronco Sport crossover has been pushed back to September, about 60 days later than the original target, according to Automotive News.
Ford CEO Jim Hackett recently said that the virus was not likely to have any major impact on Ford’s development of new ICE vehicles. “It’s had an effect, but it’s not going to dampen our spirits about how all these great new things have to come to market,” Hackett said. “If they’re a month or six weeks late, I don’t think anyone would think we fumbled there because of the virus.”
Ford invested $500 million in Rivian last year. In January, the company announced a partnership with startup Rivian to develop a new EV based on Rivian’s flexible skateboard platform. This was to be Lincoln’s first battery-electric model.
Lincoln says it still hopes to have its own EV eventually, and could co-develop a model with Rivian in the future. “Our strategic commitment to Lincoln, Rivian and electrification remains unchanged and Lincoln’s future plans will include an all-electric vehicle consistent with its Quiet Flight DNA,” a Lincoln spokesperson told Automotive News.
FreeWire Technologies, a provider of “power solutions for the grid edge,” has closed a $25-million Series B and venture debt financing round, which was led by existing investor BP Ventures, together with new investors ABB Technology Ventures and Energy Innovation Capital.
The financing will support the commercialization of FreeWire’s fast charging technologies. The company’s solutions are “designed to overcome the inefficiencies of today’s grid infrastructure to meet customers’ growing demand for rapid, cost-efficient power—all while mitigating infrastructure costs and the impact on the grid.”
In late 2019, FreeWire announced the launch of its new Boost Charger, a battery-integrated fast EV charging system. According to the company, the Boost Charger can be deployed with existing infrastructure at up to a 40% lower cost of installation compared to other high-power chargers. It’s expected to hit the market in the second quarter of this year.
“We’re excited to announce the addition of key strategic investors that will help scale the organization to deliver ultrafast charging to customers worldwide,” said Arcady Sosinov, CEO of FreeWire. “Our continued partnership with this diverse group of new and existing investors demonstrates their determination to resolve a wide range of energy challenges and our joint commitment to a future with flexible, sustainable electrification.”
Sunstone Engineering has expanded the energy range of its production-ready, capacitive discharge fine spot welders, adding the 1,200 Ws model to its existing line, which already includes 200, 400, and 600 Ws models.
“Sunstone’s CDDP-A welders make [EV] power cell production more efficient in two ways,” says Sunstone President Jonathan Young. “First, as a fine spot welder with digital energy control, the CDDP-A delivers the exact amount and timing of energy to repeatedly deliver the desired weld. Second, our welders are specifically designed for an automated production floor, ready to be connected to a CNC or other automated platform.”
According to Sunstone, the expanded energy range combined with the welder’s touchscreen display provides the operator with significant control. Preset weld schedules can be saved and loaded to other units while all weld settings can be cloned to other units. When paired with a pneumatic weld head, the Sunstone welder can control all aspects of actuation, squeeze time, and release, whether triggered by a foot pedal or digital signal.
OEMs have made remarkable improvements to the EV powertrain over recent years to extend range, reduce costs, and improve the driving experience. Another key item that will help drive greater consumer acceptance of full-electric vehicles is faster charging times.
Progress in achieving 400 A+ and less than 30-minute charging has been slow due to limitations in the current standardization of the infrastructure and vehicle interface, thermal management, and battery reliability.
This 60-minute Webinar will focus on the vehicle-side thermal equation in relation to DC fast charging and looks at the basic elements of the typical thermal interfaces that link the DC fast charging inlet to the vehicle battery – presented by Jeremy C. Patterson, Director Engineering, Hybrid & Electric Mobility Solutions, Automotive, TE Connectivity.
The webinar will be hosted by Charged on June 16, 2020, at 2:00pm EST, and will include a presentation and a live Q&A session.
Mercedes-Benz has ended its development of fuel cell-powered passenger cars, saying that they would be too expensive—around double the cost to produce of comparable battery-electric vehicles. The company has been working on fuel cell technology for over 30 years.
Mercedes says it will wind down production of the GLC F-Cell, which was developed in a 2013 collaboration with Ford and Nissan. Mercedes was the only automaker of the three partners to produce a vehicle under the program. It built a few hundred units of the GLC F-Cell, and provided them to business partners and a few fleet operators, but never offered the model for sale to the public.
Other automakers have also recently retreated from fuel cell development. Last November, Honda said it would put fuel cell vehicles on a back burner (and phase out diesels). In March, Volkswagen explained in detail why it decided that batteries are a superior solution for passenger cars.
BMW, Hyundai, and Toyota continue to pursue fuel cell vehicles.
Even as automakers abandon hydrogen as a storage medium for passenger cars, many clean energy advocates argue that the technology may have a role to play: in industrial processes; as a propellant for ocean-going ships; and possibly for heavy-duty long-haul trucks. In fact, Daimler recently formed a new joint venture with Volvo for “development and large-scale production of fuel cells for applications in heavy-duty vehicles and other use cases.”
Researchers have demonstrated the use of ionic liquids for recycling bonded neodymium (NdFeB) permanent magnets—-the type often used in EV motors. Their work, which could ease the strain on rare earth materials, is published in the open-access journal Green Chemistry.
“Ionic liquids (ILs) are known to be excellent green solvents for many types of synthetic polymers and biopolymers,” wrote Mehmet Önal and his colleagues. “It has also been reported that Lewis-acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquids can be used to dissolve epoxy resins of tantalum capacitors. For these reasons, we decided to explore the use of ionic liquids for the recycling of bonded NdFeB magnets for the first time. The most promising solvent system was tested on a larger scale to prepare a batch of magnet powder that was used to produce new anisotropic epoxy-bonded magnets. The magnetic properties of these new magnets were measured and compared to those of commercial counterparts to assess the overall efficiency of the recycling process.”
Using this recycled magnet powder, the researchers produced two new epoxy-bonded magnets, which showed magnetic properties nearly as strong as those made from virgin material, demonstrating that ionic liquid processing of end-of-life bonded NdFeB magnets is a promising recycling method. In addition to being environmentally friendly, the process also enables the production of secondary bonded magnets with new design and polymeric material.
Who knew that bakers would be major drivers of the electromobility revolution? Mexican bakery giant Bimbo is building its own electric delivery vans, and now we learn that German organic baker Roland Schüren is building what’s billed as Europe’s largest electric car charging park.
Plans call for the Seed & Greet charging park to be expanded to a total of 114 charging stations, including 40 V3 Tesla Superchargers and 22 fast charging stations (up to 350 kW) from Dutch supplier Fastned. The chargers will be supplied with 100 percent green power, sourced in part from a rooftop photovoltaic installation. The first phase of construction, including about half the charging stations, is to be completed in August.
German commercial and industrial battery storage specialist Tesvolt will supply 2 MWh worth of energy storage for the project. Tesvolt produces storage systems with prismatic battery cells from Samsung SDI, based on a nickel manganese cobalt oxide chemistry.
Tesvolt’s battery storage systems will store energy from the 700 kW photovoltaic installation and two small wind turbines to reduce demand charges associated with peak loads. They will also store green energy from the public grid when it’s inexpensive.
Gregor Hinz, energy consultant and general technical planner for the project, expects that the two storage systems will pay for themselves within just a few years. The life expectancy of the system is approximately 30 years.
Hinz chose Tesvolt for the charging park project because the company’s TPS flex storage container is relatively compact, and is one of the few systems on the market capable of fulfilling the high technical demands. “Of course, it is particularly important that a charging park’s storage systems can be quickly charged and discharged at any time,” says Hinz. “Currently, only a very few storage products on the market are capable of this.”
“We bakers are really feeling the effects of climate change,” says Roland Schüren. “The dry weather over the past few years has made the flour obtained from our organic farmers much harder to process. With the Seed & Greet charging park, I want to show that climate conservation is not only essential for environmental reasons, it also pays off economically.”
The first of the Irizar e-buses are scheduled for delivery in mid-2021. Each bus is 12 meters long and has a range of 220 km. Irizar will provide exclusive after-sale service.
The buses’ main components and systems, including electronics, communications and the proprietary batteries, were developed in-house by the Irizar Group.
Irizar e-mobility buses are manufactured using solar energy from what the company says is the largest solar photovoltaic farm in the Basque Country. The company offers a second life for its batteries at the end of their life-cycle in buses, as storage components in EV charging stations.
Irizar e-mobility electric vehicles are already operating in Marseille, Le Havre and other French cities.
Tesla has told some employees to report back to work at its Fremont factory as early as next week, according to internal messages seen by Bloomberg. Tesla previously told workers that it expected to resume normal production May 4, the day after the Bay area’s shelter-in-place order is scheduled to end.
Bloomberg reports that staff working in paint and stamping operations have been asked to return on April 29. This could lead to another clash with local authorities. San Francisco Mayor London Breed recently said it was “very likely” that the stay-at-home order could be extended “by a few weeks or even a month.”
The automaker suspended vehicle production on March 23, and has since had a skeleton crew working on upgrading production lines in order to increase Model Y production capacity. Credit Suisse analysts have estimated that the factory shutdown is costing Tesla some $300 million per week.
Meanwhile, Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is scheduled to reopen on May the 4th (Star Wars Day), according to Mike Kazmierski, President of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (via KOLO TV).
There will be several new rules in place to ensure employee safety. Workers will be required to wear masks at some workstations, and to practice social distancing. Tesla has set up partitions around workstation that are less than 6 feet apart. Janitors will disinfect door handles regularly, and hand sanitizer, masks and gloves will be available. Transportation shuttles will operate at 30 percent of capacity to give employees enough space to sit 6 feet apart.
Tesla will be screening employees’ body temperatures as they arrive at the plant. In case any employees test positive for COVID-19, they will be interviewed and their movements tracked to try to find out how they got infected, and who else might have been exposed.
Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new method to make ceramic-based flexible electrolyte sheets for lithium metal batteries. They combined a garnet-type ceramic, a polymer binder, and an ionic liquid, producing a quasi-solid-state sheet electrolyte. The synthesis is carried out at room temperature, requiring significantly less energy than existing high-temperature (>1,000° C) processes. It functions over a wide range of temperatures, making it a promising electrolyte for batteries in EVs.
Lithium metal anodes have a much higher theoretical capacity than the graphite anodes currently in commercial use, but in liquid-based batteries, lithium dendrites can grow, possibly short-circuiting the battery and even leading to fires and explosions. Solid-state inorganic electrolytes are safer, and a garnet-type ceramic, Li7La3Zr2O12, better known as LLZO, is now widely regarded as a promising solid-state electrolyte material for its high ionic conductivity and compatibility with lithium metal. However, producing high-density LLZO electrolytes requires very high sintering temperatures, as high as 1,200° C. This is both energy-inefficient and time-consuming, making large-scale production of LLZO electrolytes difficult. In addition, the poor physical contact between brittle LLZO electrolytes and the electrode materials usually results in high interfacial resistance, greatly limiting their application in all-solid-state Li-metal batteries.
A team led by Professor Kiyoshi Kanamura at Tokyo Metropolitan University set out to develop a flexible composite LLZO sheet electrolyte which can be made at room temperature. They cast an LLZO ceramic slurry onto a thin polymer substrate, like spreading butter on toast. After drying in a vacuum oven, the 75-micron thick sheet electrolyte was soaked in an ionic liquid (IL) to improve its ionic conductivity. ILs are salts that are liquid at room temperature, known to be highly conductive while being almost non-flammable and non-volatile. Inside the sheets, the IL successfully filled the microscopic gaps in the structure and bridged the LLZO particles, forming an efficient pathway for lithium ions. They also effectively reduced interfacial resistance at the cathode. On further investigation, they found that Li-ions diffused through both the IL and the LLZO particles in the structure, highlighting the role played by both.
The synthesis is simple and suitable for industrial production, as the entire process is carried out at room temperature with no need for high-temperature sintering. Though challenges remain, the researchers say that the mechanical robustness and operability of the flexible composite sheet at a wide range of temperatures makes it a promising electrolyte for Li-metal batteries.
As part of a field test of four comparable vehicles, the first DAF CF Electric 6×2 refuse collection truck has begun operations with Dutch public waste disposal firm ROVA. The vehicle will serve the Dutch city of Zwolle.
Since the end of 2018, DAF CF Electric 4×2 tractors have been in operation for inner-city distribution with several Dutch and German transport companies and supermarket chains.
The electric 6×2 chassis is a 3-axle vehicle that offers a payload of up to 28 tons GVW, and—thanks to a steered trailing axle—excellent maneuverability, which is a huge advantage for waste collection vehicles operating in dense urban areas.
The DAF CF Electric features a VDL electric powertrain alongside a fully electric VDL refuse collection superstructure. The VDL E-power driveline provides 210 kW of power and 2,000 Nm of torque. The battery pack has a gross energy capacity of 170 kWh, which is expected to be sufficient for covering regular garbage collection routes. Waste collection trucks typically return to the depot every few hours to unload—the DAF CF Electric can recharge up to 80% battery capacity in 30 minutes.
“The DAF CF Electric is just as good and easy to operate as any conventionally powered truck,” says ROVA General Director Marco van Lente. “It is in our DNA to take care of the future of our planet, and the use of low-emission vehicles is part of our sustainability plan.”
China has announced a cut to its subsidies on new energy vehicles (NEVs), effective immediately. It’s been something of a rollercoaster ride for the subsidies of late. In 2015, the government announced plans to end the subsidies this year. In January, it said there would be “no significant cuts” this year. In March it confirmed they would be extended, but warned of a possible reduction.
Under the new plan, purchase subsidies for NEVs, which include PHEVs and fuel cell vehicles, will drop 10% this year, 20% in 2021, and 30% in 2022. Tax exemptions on purchases will be extended for two years. Subsidies on commercial NEVs for public purposes will not be reduced this year.
The details of the plan appear to have created some winners and losers. The authorities plan to support the sale of cars with swappable batteries, a technology that Chinese EV-makers Nio and BAIC BluePark have pursued.
The government has tightened requirements for the driving range, power efficiency and sales prices of cars that qualify for the subsidies. Only passenger cars costing less than 300,000 yuan ($42,376) will be eligible. That excludes some higher-priced EVs sold by BMW and Daimler. It also edges out Tesla’s China-made Model 3, which is currently priced at 323,800 yuan before subsidies. Will Tesla reduce the price in order to let buyers benefit from the subsidies?
Sales of NEVs contracted for the 9th month in a row in March, and were down over 50% from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Toshiba Corporation‘s SCiB lithium-ion battery modules have received approval for use in marine vessels from international ship classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK). Ships with the battery system can use renewable energy sources to charge the SCiB while at sea, allowing the system to power on-board equipment while the ship is at anchor and to provide power when entering or leaving port.
The certification covers twelve storage battery system components, including SCiB lithium-ion rechargeable battery modules, current sensors and battery management units (BMUs). Certified battery system components are exempt from tests ordinarily required for storage battery system components, allowing a battery system to be built in a relatively short period of time.
Battery management unit (BMU)
The certification is based on Class NK’s “Guidelines for Large-capacity Storage Batteries,” which requires the use of a BMU in the system as a safety feature. According to Toshiba, its BMU has passed safety tests at the National Laboratory for Advanced Energy Storage Technologies (NLAB) of the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, which confirmed it to be compliant with JIS C8715-2, the safety standard for lithium-ion battery cells and battery systems for industrial applications.
Renault has announced that in the future, it will concentrate on electric vehicles and light commercial vehicles in the Chinese market. The French automaker has withdrawn from its joint venture with Dongfeng, under which it had built ICE vehicles, including the Captur, Kadjar and Koleos SUVs, in Wuhan.
The Renault Group set up joint ventures to produce EVs and light commercial vehicles in the Chinese market in 2017 and 2018. Now the French group says it has “cut [its] losses with the business of fossil-fueled private vehicles in China.” (If we’re parsing this correctly, the group will still sell ICE-powered commercial vehicles, but not passenger vehicles, in China.)
The French automaker will continue to produce EVs with its JV partners eGT New Energy Automotive (which builds the City K-ZE) and Jiangxi Jiangling Group Electric Vehicle (JMEV). Renault and Dongfeng have not entirely severed their connection: Dongfeng holds 50 percent of the shares in eGT New Energy.
“We are opening a new chapter in China,” says Francois Provost, Renault’s China Region Chairman. “We will focus on electric vehicles and light commercial vehicles, the two main drivers of future clean mobility, and more efficiently leverage our relationship with Nissan.”
Loop Energy, a provider of hydrogen fuel cell solutions for the medium-to-heavy-duty vehicle market, has received an order from a bus manufacturer in China for multiple range extenders. Loop says the order represents the start of a long-term commercial agreement with a total estimated value of $15 million over a three-year period.
Loop works with engine suppliers and vehicle manufacturers to deliver carbon-free motive solutions using both electric and hydrogen fuel cell technologies.
The company’s 50 kW Fuel Cell Range Extender Module is designed for heavy-duty trucks and buses. It recently earned certification from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC).
“We are pleased to receive this initial order for Loop’s 50 kW fuel cell range extenders immediately following product certification from CATARC, which is widely recognized as one of the premier vehicle testing organizations worldwide,” said Ben Nyland, CEO of Loop Energy. “This agreement marks an important milestone for Loop as it signifies a ramp-up of commercial activity, but it is also a testament to the growing market recognition of Loop product’s performance and cost advantages. We look forward to building on this momentum as we expand our market footprint in China, Europe and other international markets.”
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Get into the fast lane with the latest technical resources on autonomous driving. Learn about design and test of complex sensor and communication technologies being built into autonomous vehicles from the white paper and posters.
With a £5-million grant from the UK Government’s Faraday Battery Challenge Fund, Ilika Technologies has extended its product roadmap to develop large-format Goliath pouch cells. Another 15 big ones in equity funding was provided by a combination of existing and new UK-based institutional shareholders.
Ilika currently produces its Stereax batteries on a pilot line in Southampton, UK. It now intends to implement a partnering model with one or more third-party fabrication facilities (fabs) to produce Stereax at scale. This equity placing will be used to purchase manufacturing equipment which Ilika will install in its selected fab. Ilika will continue to receive orders from its customers and, where appropriate, will outsource wafer production to the fab to allow it to fulfill larger orders.
Ilika’s CEO Graeme Purdy stated, “This is an important milestone in Ilika’s development, which provides the company with an opportunity to address exciting global markets. We would like to thank both existing and new shareholders for their support and advice.”
SparkCharge, which was profiled in the July/August 2019 issue of Charged, has developed a portable, modular charger that’s designed to provide anytime/anyplace charging on demand.
Now the company has announced the closing of $3.3 million in seed round financing led by Point Judith Capital (PJC) with participation from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, M&T Bank and Tale Venture Partners. This round brings SparkCharge’s total funding to $5 million since its 2017 launch. The company plans to use the new investment to scale up manufacturing and aggressively expand development of its products.
SparkCharge’s Portable Ultra-Fast Charger is 100% electric, and is charged using traditional 120- or 240-volt household outlets, avoiding the air pollution that would be created by a gas-powered EV charger. Potential customers include roadside assistance companies, insurance firms, delivery companies, hotels and automakers.
Modules are easily stacked on top of each other, like Lego blocks, to increase the range delivered. The system is compact and light: it’s designed to fit easily in the trunk of a car and to be easily carried by hand. According to SparkCharge, it’s capable of adding range at a rate of one mile per minute of charging.
“We focus on listening to our customers and the EV market to create a product that will effectively remove the barriers to electric vehicle ownership,” says SparkCharge founder and CEO Joshua Aviv. “Our product opens the door for utilities, cities, roadside assistance and on-demand service companies to provide range to EVs faster and more effectively, regardless of location.”
“EV sales growth is far outpacing the infrastructure growth needed to support such a thriving market,” says Zaid Ashai, Venture Partner at PJC. “This dynamic puts SparkCharge’s innovative portable ultra-fast chargers in a position to partner with new and existing businesses to cure range anxiety.”
Comau has introduced new laser laboratories to support companies as they develop, implement and optimize the laser processes involved in constructing and assembling e-motors and batteries. With two labs in Grugliasco (Turin)—one specialized in batteries and the other dedicated to e-motors—plus additional labs in Shanghai and Detroit, Comau now offers a range of laser processes for various industrial sectors.
Comau’s laser labs are equipped with Comau NJ-220 robots, which are powered by the LHYTE (Laser Hybrid Technology) system. LHYTE is suitable for many different applications, thanks to a patented solution which makes it possible to automatically alternate between fiber and diode lasers to ensure optimal high-precision joining, which is vital in the assembly of a battery or e-motor. LHYTE can also work with different melting temperatures of materials such as copper and aluminum.
Comau’s laser laboratories can be adapted to suit the process required and the type of product to be manufactured. Projects are supported by engineers who develop or identify a welding solution for each customer, with services ranging from feasibility studies through process optimization.
“We can create any type of battery pack for any power level and are able to assemble the entire electrical battery, from the welding of individual cells which make up a module, to the stacking of the various modules contained in a battery pack, right through to the laser welding of the entire case,” explains Comau CTO Giovanni Di Stefano. “We are also developing a similar solution for hairpin motor laser welding at our newest lab.”
Automobiles have long been a frequent topic for Consumer Reports, and over the past few years, the popular magazine has slowly been getting used to the idea of EVs. The consumer advocate has had a couple of historic exchanges with Tesla—in 2013 it gave Model S an important seal of approval, awarding the new EV its highest possible rating: 99 out of 100. In 2018, the magazine noted braking issues with Model 3, prompting Tesla to make an immediate improvement via an over-the-air update.
Consumer Reports recently delivered its annual Auto Issue, and it includes a record amount of material about EVs. Tesla’s Model 3 is on the cover, and both Model 3 and the Toyota Prius made the “Top 10 Cars” list. There’s also a two-page spread about the new plug-in vehicles scheduled to hit the market this year.
Calling all car shoppers. CR Magazine’s April 2020 issue is dedicated to getting you all the information you need before buying your next car. Pick up your copy on newsstands now. pic.twitter.com/XJcRjyjgdt
The new issue also includes a feature called Your EV Questions, Answered (a reprint of a piece that originally appeared online in February). I found this to be pretty good—far better than most articles of this kind in the mainstream press, which often include misleading information. We had only a couple of minor quibbles. First, the general public (and many journalists) still tend to confuse hybrids, PHEVs and EVs—it would have been nice to see a clear explanation of the differences. Second, CR’s list of available plug-in vehicles includes several models that are only on sale in limited regions.
All in all, the latest Auto Issue represents a major step forward for this trusted consumer resource—readers can’t fail to be aware that driving electric is now a viable choice. Now if they could just drop the rest of the legacy ICE vehicles from that Top 10 list…
There are some flamboyant EV startups out there these days, and frankly, we tend to look at them with a skeptical eye. California-based Lucid Motors gets more respect around here than most, for a couple of reasons: the company has been around since 2007 (it was founded as Atieva, and originally focused on building battery packs); and it has built a couple of promising prototype vehicles, and made them available to the press.
In February, the company’s powertrain engineering team took a beta prototype of the Lucid Air luxury sedan on a road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles and back, demonstrating a real-world range of over 400 miles.
In a video of the trip, Lucid regales us with some spectacular California scenery. The team started at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters, drove south along coastal Highway 1, passing through Big Sur and San Luis Obispo (where they stopped to refuel the fossil-powered chase truck), and ended up at the Santa Monica pier—all on a single charge.
The next day, after charging overnight, the Lucidators drove through Beverly Hills, where the company hopes to open a Lucid Studio this summer, then headed north on Interstate 5, over the Tejon Pass and down into the Central Valley. Towards the end of the trip, CEO Peter Rawlinson (who we interviewed for a feature article in our March/April 2018 issue) joined the caravan in a second Air beta prototype for a triumphant return to San Francisco.
Lucid says it engineered the Air around the concept of “smart range,” meaning it achieves its 400-mile range by means of extraordinary efficiency, not just an enormous battery pack. The Air boasts a host of luxury fittings, as well as the sort of up-to-date features that Tesla has made de rigueur, including a large touchscreen, autonomous driving capabilities and over-the-air updates. Lucid has not yet specified a price or an expected launch date.
