Charged Magazine

By Peter Banwell, Senior Manager, EPA
The ENERGY STAR label is one of the most widely known consumer symbols in the country – more than 90% of American households recognize it. ENERGY STAR-certified products helped consumers save $23 billion in energy costs just in 2015, contributing to cumulative energy cost savings …read more

Most mainstream EVs from major automakers have used some form of permanent magnet traction motor technology, with two high-profile exceptions: Tesla’s Model S and Model X both use induction motor technology. Internet engineering forums are full of compelling arguments for using both technologies in vehicles, as well as loads of …read more

Human nature would seem to be the same, East or West, and China’s rush to dole out generous EV subsidies has inspired a wave of fraud and abuse, some of it highly creative. A whimsical plan for a traffic-straddling electric tram fell apart amid a scandal that resulted in 32 …read more

Volkswagen has finalized the last of three settlements with the US Department of Justice, part of the German automaker’s penance for its evasion of emissions regulations. Almost $3 billion of the settlement funds is being directed to the Environmental Mitigation Trust, which will fund state-level clean transportation grant programs.
States are …read more

Lithium metal is considered an ideal anode material due to its exceptional charge and storage capability, but it has a tragic flaw: root-like growths called dendrites, which can lead to short-circuiting and spontaneous combustion.
Now, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have announced a breakthrough in their quest to solve …read more

Tesla has several different infrastructure initiatives going on, including the Supercharger network, Urban Superchargers, and the Destination Charging network. Now the California trendsetter is adding another piece to the puzzle.
Tesla’s new Workplace Charging program is similar to the Destination Charging network, in that it offers free charging stations to businesses, …read more

In some areas, the Trump administration may seem aimless and disorganized, but when it comes to environmental and energy policy, it is moving with brutal efficiency to terminate America’s transition to renewable energy and electrified transport.
The president’s budget request for fiscal year 2019 decimates EPA and DOE programs that drive …read more

Start-up ION Energy, which builds energy storage systems and EV infrastructure, has acquired French battery management company Freemens SAS. Freemens founder and CEO Alexandre Collet joins ION as VP of Engineering.
Freemens products include the FreeSafe Extended (FS-XT) battery management system, the FreeSafe LT battery management system, Fusion firmware and Freeway …read more

Battery management specialist Sendyne has unveiled new technology it says can predict cell and pack behavior of lithium-ion batteries with better than 5 percent accuracy in real time.
CellMod, a lithium-ion battery simulation tool, has already been deployed by a US battery manufacturer. It’s designed to reduce design time and costs …read more

Analysts with the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) recently compared greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of electric cars to emissions from cars equipped with combustion engines.
The findings were not surprising.
Among other things, the ICCT analysis indicated that the typical EV produces 50 percent fewer GHG emissions than the average passenger …read more