Charged Magazine

Plug-in sales have failed…to reach the milestone of 200,000 units. Total US sales for 2017 were 199,826 (according to InsideEVs), a 26% increase compared to 2016’s 158,614. Worldwide sales were well over a million. December saw the biggest US monthly sales in history, and was the 27th consecutive month that …read more

The California Energy Commission has awarded nearly $3 million to car-sharing programs using EVs in disadvantaged communities.
Stratosfuel will demonstrate a fuel cell car-sharing platform using the hydrogen-refueling network in Riverside and Ontario.
Calstart will use battery EVs in a ride-hailing service targeting community college students who attend Fresno City College from …read more

Renault’s SYMBIOZ concept car, revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, is currently performing road tests in France to demonstrate Level 4 autonomy, which frees the driver from all dynamic driving tasks. Level 4 automation is currently not permitted under French road rules, but trials are allowed if a …read more

Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a way to mitigate the risk of battery failure during automobile accidents by including slits along the electrodes.
In “Limiting Internal Short-Circuit Damage by Electrode Partition for Impact-Tolerant Li-Ion Batteries,” published in the journal Joule, the research team explains how this …read more

Carbon fiber-reinforced plastics represent a promising lightweight replacement for heavy steel. However, for carbon fiber to be widely adopted, new, more economical composites need to be developed. Unfortunately, carbon fiber properties are difficult to model, as they depend on complex features such as fiber loading, length distribution and orientation.
Now researchers …read more

Toyota and Panasonic have agreed to begin studying the feasibility of a joint automotive prismatic battery business.
Panasonic has positioned lithium-ion batteries as one of its key businesses, and its automotive batteries are used by many automakers worldwide. Toyota, maker of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, has …read more

The California Air Resources Board has approved $663 million in new funding for projects to reduce emissions, particularly in disadvantaged and low-income communities.
The plan allocates $398 million to incentivize clean heavy-duty trucks, buses and freight projects. While diesel trucks account for only 2% of vehicles in the state, they emit …read more

Volvo subsidiary Mack Trucks has demonstrated a PHEV truck that can recharge by means of an overhead catenary. The prototype Mack Pinnacle DayCab recently participated in a one-mile, zero-emission eHighway demonstration in Carson, California, near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The goal of the project, which is sponsored …read more

Ultracapacitor manufacturer Skeleton Technologies has signed a distribution agreement with Sumitomo Europe to provide energy storage solutions for the EV industry.
Skeleton’s graphene-based ultracapacitors boast high power density, a recharge time of 2-3 seconds and more than one million life cycles. In EVs, ultracapacitors can be used in tandem with lithium-ion …read more

Workhorse Group (NASDAQ:WKHS) has several electric irons in the fire, so to speak. It says it has pre-orders for over 5,000 units of its W-15 plug-in pickup truck (profiled in the May/June 2017 issue of Charged); it has an electric truck on the short list to be selected as the …read more