News

Like Tesla, Daimler will start offering energy storage solutions, according to recent reports. They will be commercially available in September. In 2009, Daimler founded the subsidiary ACCUmotive to develop lithium-ion batteries for its plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles, and smart vehicles. Since then, solar power costs have decreased and the energy […]

The British firm Faradion is working on sodium-ion batteries, which show promise as a successor to Li-ion technology. In collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering, which provided batteries for the Formula E electric race car, Faradion has built a sodium-ion-powered electric bike to prove the concept. Sodium-ion intercalation batteries use the […]

Graphene, a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice of carbon atoms, has great potential in a number of EV-related applications, including anodes, lithium-sulfur batteries and ultracapacitors. With current technology, however, it’s impractical to use on a large scale, and researchers have been limited to using small flakes of the material. Now a team […]

The iCar is still just a rumor, but Apple surely has been showing a lot of interest in EV-related technology, including large-format batteries. This week, the Cupertino computer-maker agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging that it had been showing a little too much interest in engineers working for Massachusetts battery-maker […]

The Tesla Model S looks to be on track to match (at the least) the battery longevity performance of the Roadster, based on a recent survey of 80 European Model S owners. While you might be saying, “well, 80 owners isn’t much of a data pool,” it’s all that we’ve […]

Q&A with LG Chem Power’s CEO: Dr. Prabhakar Patil on how the company became a Li-ion battery front-runner, the economics of building batteries, and why it spends little energy on what comes after lithium. Among Tier 1 automotive suppliers of lithium-ion cells, LG Chem is off to a clear lead, based […]

think one of the lessons of the day is to trust Elon Musk. When he said approximately a month ago that Tesla would be announcing a “major new product line” on April 30, he wasn’t using the term “major” in a light way. [Full Disclosure: I’m long (very long) TSLA.] […]

Tesla may have some competition in the residential storage market. Battery giant LG Chem has partnered with Eguana Technologies to develop a modular energy storage system called AC Battery. AC Battery is targeted at homeowners who want to store electricity from solar panels for later use. However it could also […]

While batteries and motors tend to get most of the press, a vehicle’s power electronics is just as important to the overall efficiency of a powertrain, and thus to its range and performance. International automotive supplier Continental, which produces power electronics components for five European automakers, has announced that its next-generation […]

Tesla’s new residential and utility-scale batteries, which have the potential to revolutionize the energy market, are expected to be publicly unveiled this week. Invitations to the April 30th event teased the new product line as “the missing piece.” The company has been quietly installing systems for a while now – […]

As every truck driver or heavy equipment operator knows, diesel engines can be difficult to start in low temperatures, or after not being started for long periods. Maxwell Technologies’ Engine Start Module (ESM) is an ultracapacitor-based system that takes over the engine cranking function and remains fully charged, even if […]

Branding is one thing Tesla has absolutely nailed. Well, one of many things. This week (or month) provided a rather obvious example of that for me. But first, a little background: As I think anyone who follows Tesla rather closely knows, Panasonic is Tesla’s big battery partner. That makes it the top […]