Renewables

SCALEXIO now has a special new board for HIL tests of electric drive ECUs: the DS2655 FPGA Base Module.

The day is coming when electric vehicles (EVs) land, water and airborne are as much as 80% electronics and electrics if we include the power components. It is even true of hybrids as they shed piston engines and employ ever smaller range extenders, the fuel cell option being fully electric.

Despite numerous initiatives, electromobility has yet to achieve a major breakthrough in the area of passenger vehicles. Has the industry been focusing on the wrong market? When compared with private passenger cars, e-mobility is already very attractive for commercial vehicles, says Professor Martin Wietschel of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe.

One of the most promising new kinds of battery to power electric cars is called a lithium-air battery, which could store up to four times as much energy per pound as today's best lithium-ion batteries. But progress has been slow: The nature of the electrochemical reactions as these batteries are charged remains poorly understood.

ECOtality Inc and Texas Instruments Incorporated today announced TI will install 46 Blink Level 2 charging stations at 12 office locations throughout Texas, including nine at its corporate headquarters in Dallas. TI is the latest in a fast-growing list of leading companies to offer workplace charging benefits to employees.

As photovoltaic arrays become more common, consumers need to make informed decisions about the energy storage systems they use, so how should a consumer choose? Dr Alexander Hirnet, General Manager, Energy Storage Systems, VARTA Micro Storage GmbH, explores this issue further in this article from ES Design magazine.

REO Germany has recently partnered with the University of Freiberg in an attempt to encourage and promote eco-friendly vehicle technology by organising an electric vehicle race.

Design engineers are charged with creating the most innovative designs at the cheapest price, as fast as possible. Yet as a relatively young industry, the solar/clean technology industry lacks the deep worldwide manufacturing ecosystem that surrounds more mature industries such as telecommunications, industrial or medical. By Josh Chien (responsible for leading the New Product Introduction (NPI) Advanced Manufacturing solutions on behalf of Sanmi...

Gallium Arsenide is the industry’s most efficient photovoltaic material, the trouble is it’s so expensive — or is it? Philip Ling talks to a company that believes it can deliver more efficient solar cells at a price that will generate world wide demand.

Buyers considering an electric car must bear in mind that using battery-powered heating and air conditioning can decrease the car's range by a third or more. A New York Times reviewer recently ran into this problem on a test drive, ending up stranded with a dead battery.