Ramaco Carbon, a carbon technology business, is working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to create “made in America” large-scale graphite-making technologies from coal.
A fossil energy and carbon management program field work proposal supported by Ramaco Carbon and ORNL aims to take a bench-scale ORNL process to commercial scale in two years. Ramaco will deploy specialized equipment at its iCAM research facility in Wyoming to prepare coal-based feedstocks utilizing coal from its parent firm, metallurgical coal miner Ramaco Resources. Currently, this carbon comes from more expensive petroleum and petrochemical feedstocks.
The US government has declared graphite a “critical requirement” substance for national security due to its role in EV batteries and other vital technologies. Currently, 80% of graphite supply is produced offshore.
”If it is successful, then the ability to use lower-cost coal as the feedstock to make synthetic graphite could be transformational,” said Randall Atkins, chairman and CEO of Ramaco.
Qnovo, a provider of intelligent charging software, has announced a collaboration with NXP Semiconductors. The companies are working to integrate Qnovo’s new SpectralX software with NXP’s BMS and onboard charger hardware.
“The growing demand for energy-efficient modes of transport is directly boosting the growth rate of the electric two- and three-wheeler market, and battery software optimization offered by Qnovo will strengthen our system solutions,” said Robert Li, NXP’s VP, Product Line Driver and Energy Systems. “Its edge software is particularly suited to emerging markets, where cloud access to manage batteries remotely is not guaranteed.”
“Our collaboration with NXP will help resolve some of the major barriers to the market adoption of electric vehicles, especially in emerging markets,” said Nadim Maluf, CEO and co-founder of Qnovo.
Volkswagen plans to expand its ID range of EVs into the upmarket sedan segment. The 2025 ID.7 is an electric hatchback sedan that’s a little smaller than a Tesla Model S, and VW-watchers are describing it as a successor to the Phaeton.
However, as James Morris writes in Forbes, the ID.7, which will be built on VW’s MEB platform, represents more than just a new body style—it introduces a major update to VW’s electric drivetrain. Innovations include the APP550 motor, which packs 210 kW (282 hp) and 545 Nm of torque into the same space as the previous 201 hp motor, and incorporates various improvements, including optimized magnets and a new inverter.
European ID.7 buyers will be able to choose Volkswagen’s largest EV battery pack to date, with 91 kWh of energy (86 kWh usable). At this time, US variants are expected to offer a 77 kWh (usable) pack. VW says configurations with the 86 kWh battery will achieve a range of up to 435 miles (WLTP). One key to this bladder-busting range—apparently more than Tesla, Mercedes or BMW can muster at the moment—is the ID.7’s drag coefficient of 0.23, one of the lowest in the industry.
The DC fast charging rate has also been improved, to at least 170 kW—a very respectable rate, but still short of what Porsche (which uses a different EV platform) can offer, to say nothing of the current CCS maximum of 350 kW.
The ID.7 will be launched this fall in China and Europe, and US deliveries are to begin in 2024. North American and European ID.7s will be built at the recently updated EV plant at Emden, Germany. Pricing is expected to start in the mid-50-grand range.
New York utility Con Edison has expanded its SmartCharge New York program, which rewards owners for charging vehicles during off-peak hours, to include more than 60 EVs and model years. According to the company, enrollment in the program expanded from 5% of eligible EVs in its service area in 2017 to 24% in 2022.
The company has also partnered with charging app ev.energy to add new features and cash incentives based on data collected from charging stations or the vehicles’ onboard telematics.
The aim is to support the EV transition, maintain service reliability for all customers during periods of high demand and manage future grid build-out to reduce customer costs.
Specialty materials developer Alkegen has begun commercial production of SiFAB, its new silicon fiber anode material, at its manufacturing facility in New Carlisle, Indiana. Large-scale production of the product, says Alkegen CEO John Dandolph, is intended “to meet growing demand from customers across a wide range of industries, including EVs, renewable energy storage and consumer electronics.”
According to Alkegen, SiFAB’s engineered structure of micron-sized silicon fiber allows for higher energy density than graphite, and provides a “drop-in solution for existing electrode formulations and mixing equipment.”
The company says that comprehensive testing of the material confirms its high-rate and high-temperature performance, which makes it ideal for fast-charging and high-power applications.
bp pulse and APCOA Parking Group have partnered to open more than 100 EV fast charging hubs across Europe.
Under the agreement, bp pulse plans to install ultra-fast charging at APCOA car parks in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK over the next three years to help expand its charging network in city centers. The project is part of APCOA’s plans to transform its car parks into Urban Hubs that will provide physical and digital infrastructure for mobility, logistics, EV charging and technology-based services.
The two companies aim to work together to provide a convenient customer journey through digital integration of the bp pulse and APCOA Connect app in the UK and APCOA Flow app in Europe. Registered users will be able to locate, access, book and pay for their charging and parking at the car park from their mobile phones, and the car park’s entry and exit barriers will open automatically as the vehicle approaches.
“This agreement will help us to build our EV charging network across Europe by offering customers the fastest and most convenient EV hub charging experience,” said Stefan von Dobschuetz, General Manager of bp pulse Europe.
APCOA’s CEO, Philippe Op de Beeck, said: “Working with bp pulse is another step to achieve our plan to deploy 1,000 fast charging stations through commercial partners in APCOA’s car parks. Doing so, we are providing customers added services in our locations and make a relevant contribution to the transformation of individual mobility.”
Two Urban Hubs in Berlin and Bremen in Germany are expected to open in the third quarter of 2023.
With the rise in popularity of the EV market, so comes the increase in the necessity for EV charging stations in more convenient locations, like public parking garages.
Covered public parking garages, and other busy urban environments, present a unique challenge: The ability to connect devices and communicate without interruption. That’s where a partnership between Digi International and FLO EV Charging thrives.
Join this webinar, hosted by Charged on May 10th, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT, to learn how to navigate the design challenges of EV charging station devices and networks with FLO EV Charging and Digi International.
In this one-hour presentation, we’ll cover the following:
A case study on FLO EV Charging and Digi’s partnership
Description of unique communication requirements for EV charging stations, like DigiMesh®
Dissecting the future of EV charging station requirements
Specialty chemicals company Albemarle has announced plans to build a lithium hydroxide processing facility in Chester County, South Carolina.
Plans for the facility include an initial investment of at least $1.3 billion.
The so-called Mega-Flex plant will be able to process diverse lithium feedstocks, including lithium from recycled batteries. Albemarle expects the facility to produce approximately 50,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide annually from multiple sources, and to have the potential to expand to up to 100,000 metric tons.
Production at the facility would support the manufacturing of around 2.4 million EVs annually, according to the company’s estimates.
Pending permitting approvals, the facility will be located within a nearly 800-acre parcel. Albemarle estimates the facility will create around 300 permanent jobs, and more than 1,500 construction jobs.
“This facility will help increase the production of US-based lithium resources to fuel the clean energy revolution while bringing us closer to our customers as the supply chain is built out in North America,” said Albemarle CEO Kent Masters.
Today, Charged is hosting a virtual conference on EV engineering that’s free to attend. The conference includes live webinar sessions with interactive Q&As and on-demand webinars. View the daily session schedule online here.
All live sessions will be recorded and available to view after the broadcasts. You can access the recorded videos on each session’s registration page.
ABB E-mobility has made an investment in London-based startup Switch EV, describing the move as “the start of a collaboration to advance a seamless EV charging ecosystem.”
Noting that “the global charger network remains fragmented, with a different charging experience from location to location, and operator to operator,” ABB sees the need for “a more integrated approach to EV charger operation and management.”
ABB and Switch mean to develop “an integrated digital solution, which extends across the full value chain, from the vehicle [to] the EV charger to the grid.”
The Switch system is designed to offer “deep insights into the complete charging process from start to finish,” based on the protocol-based conversations between EV and charger and between charger and backend, including grid integration for smart charging and V2G applications.
The Switch system is based on open communication protocols such as ISO 15118-2/-20 and OCPP 2.0.1. It includes an embedded charger operating system (Josev) and a cloud-based charger management platform (Switch platform) built entirely on these standards.
“The integrated Switch system, combined with our smart and connected charging solutions, has exceptional potential to fix and restructure the EV charging ecosystem,” said Daniel Alarcon-Rubio, Chief Digital Officer at ABB E-mobility. He foresees “a vertically integrated EV charging solution,” and notes that Switch is “trailblazing the field with their sophisticated software offering built on forward-looking protocols.”
Marc Mültin, CEO and founder of Switch, adds: “Both ABB E-mobility and Switch are dedicated to levelling the barriers that are fragmenting the EV charging space. This helps to really boost customer convenience, and to maximize charging network utilization and the ticket size of business models.”
GreenPower Motor Company (NASDAQ: GP) has received an order for 41 purpose-built Type D BEAST and Type A Nano BEAST electric school buses totaling $15 million from the state of West Virginia. As part of the deal, GreenPower will begin manufacturing electric school buses in the state.
“Since we first announced our intent to manufacture in West Virginia, we’ve made tremendous progress on our mission to be the leading manufacturer of purpose-built, all-electric school buses,” said Brendan Riley, President of GreenPower. “We look forward to continue providing a positive impact on West Virginia’s economy with clean energy jobs.”
GreenPower took possession of a manufacturing facility in South Charleston in 2022, and has been performing final assembly and inspection on EV Star Cab & Chassis there as part of its supply agreement with Workhouse Group. Over the next few weeks, GreenPower will begin producing its Nano BEAST Type A electric school bus there, followed by the Type D BEAST.
The BEAST and Nano BEAST have been in pilot operation in several West Virginia counties for some weeks. “Over the course of the 2022-23 school year our BEAST and Nano BEAST have proven their capabilities in cold weather, snowy conditions and mountainous terrain in both rural and urban counties across the state. In short, the GreenPower school buses have performed exactly as we expected them to,” said GreenPower CEO and Chairman Fraser Atkinson.
GreenPower predicts that operation and maintenance costs for its electric school bus will be 70% to 80% less than those of a legacy diesel bus.
GreenPower will increase the number of employees at its West Virginia facility, and expects to reach a head count of 200 by the end of 2024. The company will conduct employee training programs in partnership with BridgeValley Community & Technical College.
“The fact that our workers will be manufacturing the school buses being purchased by the state that their kids and grandkids will be riding to and from school on brings me great pride,” said Mr. Riley.
A charging hub for heavy-duty vehicles requires a tremendous amount of power, and local utilities can take years to install new electrical service. Part of Zeem’s competitive advantage is that it has secured access to plenty of power in a prime location near LAX.
Charging-as-a-service is a popular option for fleet operators who want to focus on their core businesses and let experts handle the charging infrastructure. Zeem’s fleet-as-a-service model adds vehicle leasing and ancillary services to the equation.
Zeem is able to offer a cost per mile below that of diesel, thanks to California subsidies. Gioupis believes that, as more economical electric trucks come on the market, using Zeem’s model, the need for subsidies will fade over the next three to five years.
Q&A with Zeem Solutions CEO Paul Gioupis.
Charging-as-a-service is a hot business proposition these days, and for good reason. Electrifying a vehicle fleet is a complex undertaking that requires specialized skills and resources that most companies don’t have. It makes sense for organizations to focus on their core activities, so just as they outsource things like IT or building maintenance, many want to outsource the charging infrastructure for their electric fleets.
A growing number of companies, including vehicle OEMs and specialist startups, are responding to this demand by offering charging-as-a-service. A few are going a step further and offering the whole enchilada: fleet-as-a-service, which includes not only everything to do with charging, but the vehicles and their ancillary services such as maintenance, warranties, insurance and even supervised overnight parking. A fleet operator no longer needs to actually operate a fleet—all a company has to do is provide the drivers and load the trucks.
One of the (many) difficult aspects of setting up infrastructure is securing enough electrical power to charge large numbers of electric trucks or buses. Getting local utilities to provide new service can take years. Companies that can secure adequate supplies of energy up front—staking out the electrical real estate, so to speak—have an ace in the hole. That’s part of the competitive advantage of Zeem Solutions (the name stands for ZEro EMissions).
Charged spoke with Zeem Solutions CEO Paul Gioupis, who’s been involved with commercial EVs since the early days, and he had a lot to say about various aspects of fleet electrification.
Charged: Covering electric truck OEMs over the past few years, it used to puzzle me that companies kept going out of business, but it finally dawned on me that fleets weren’t willing to go all-electric without doing lengthy pilots. They wanted to buy one or two trucks and test them for several years, and startup companies couldn’t stay alive that long. It sounds like you went down that same path and you found a way to sidestep all that.
Paul Gioupis: I started off in the EV industry in 1998. I was involved in the funding of Smith Electric Vehicles, and I helped to build the entire technology stack on the vehicle—battery system, wire harnesses, onboard charger, battery management system, you name it. I helped them source it, pulled together partners, and they either white-labeled it or built it on their own.
Fast-forward to 2017. Smith Electric didn’t succeed. I started to see that there were dozens of OEMs that were starting to build commercial electric vehicles, and that there was quite a bit of commonality in the components. When you look at things like controllers, motors, e-axles, really not too many manufacturers are out there.
I got compelled to start Zeem about five and a half years ago, and started to realize that the vehicles and the charging infrastructure were commoditizing. So we started focusing on the services. We started as a call center and made over one million phone calls to fleets all across the United States. We had a qualification process. How many vehicles in your fleet? Do you run 150 miles, 200 miles or less? Do you own or lease your vehicles and your facilities? How much power do you have? We took all that information and qualified over 14,500 prospects who were ready to convert to electric
We started acquiring vehicles about four years ago. At the time, there were eleven OEMs. This is your Lightning eMotors, Motiv, Phoenix Motors—early days. I went to all of them and said, “I want to buy one or two pieces, I want to run them around for a while, come back to you, give constructive feedback, build the product to what our fleets are suggesting, and then from there we’ll place large volume orders.”
I realized the future wasn’t going to be building the electric truck, it was going to be providing the service.
We gave deposits to eleven companies, and four delivered (a bunch of them went out of business). Then we worked closely with them on cultivating the product and fixing issues that fleets would point out to me. That helped us get our vehicle mix to what we have today. I started bringing these vehicles to fleets in New York, New Jersey and California. I realized that our sales team kept sending me to all the same places. I would end up by the airport, by the port, or by the distribution centers, and I started to realize that’s where this EV activity’s going to be.
Because I was funding Smith, every single OEM came to me and said, “I need money.” I saw them from day one, and I realized that they didn’t have enough capital or engineering power to keep up. So I realized the future wasn’t going to be building the electric truck, it was going to be providing the service.
I started asking potential customers, “What if I centralized my location? If I was within a few miles of your operations, if I had the EVs and charging infrastructure, if I was servicing, maintaining and housing the vehicles overnight, is that something you would consider?” And we had over 80% of fleets say, “Yeah, if you took on everything and it was just turnkey for me, then I would consider it.” So it started compelling us to look in certain areas, and we arrived at LAX [Los Angeles International Airport].
Around LAX right now we have over 400 fleets that are qualified. They aggregate to 6,500-plus vehicles—buses, shuttles, Class 8 tractors, box trucks, vans, and so on. That vehicle mix helped us determine that this was a good place for us to be.
We’re in Southern Cal Edison territory. We did a capacity study in the area and we realized that there was a very tight industrial zone right outside of LAX, where we had this huge interest from customers, and there was seven megawatts of available power that was sitting on the grid at that time. So we said, “We want to take all seven megawatts. We’re going to put in an EV charging depot.”
Around LAX right now we have over 400 fleets that are qualified. They aggregate to 6,500-plus vehicles.
The Charge Ready Transport Program with Southern Cal Edison (SCE) is fantastic. Our team is very fluent on it. That’s a big basis of our business. We know all the utility make-ready programs across the US. It’s first-come, first-served at the utility. “You want seven megawatts? What’s your vehicle purchasing schedule?” The moment we came back and said, “We have 70 vehicles in the fleet right now,” the utility said, “We can deliver that load to you. You actually do need all seven megawatts.” And they assigned us every bit of capacity that was available on the grid.
Now, all of that is significant, because if anybody wants to come in to build charging in this area, they just can’t get power. Get in line. To get a primary electrical line—minimum four to five years.
So we locked in all the capacity, then we put in what we think is the best design to maximize vehicle parking and charging overnight. We were in a prime area where electrification was going to happen very quickly. We are trucks-as-a-service, and we are the only group that I know of that actually owns a site, has vehicles in the fleet, owns charging infrastructure and has contracted customers.
We are trucks-as-a-service, and we are the only group that I know of that actually owns a site, has vehicles in the fleet, owns charging infrastructure and has contracted customers.
Charged: It sounds like you got in early and grabbed all the electrical real estate. Are there other fleet operators that now want to get that capacity, but find that you’re already sitting on it?
Paul Gioupis: The answer is very much yes. The first phone call I made when we energized our first chargers was to Los Angeles World Airports [aka LAWA, the owner and operator of LAX]. They’re famous for having a very aggressive electrification program. I notified them that this would be very challenging for them to do. They said, “No, no, we buy a lot of power from the utility. We’re going to have no problems getting the power we need.”
About two weeks later they came back and said they were given a timetable of minimum three years, top five years. This is LADWP [Los Angeles Department of Water and Power] and this is LAWA, so you’d imagine that there’s some sort of priority. There’s just not. It simply takes time to build more capacity.
Charged: Zooming out to the larger industry, what about the hundreds of other fleets across the country that want to electrify? Are they all going to have to wait five years to get powered up? Is this a huge bottleneck for electrification?
Paul Gioupis: It’s fragmented. Certain areas, there’s power availability. In Newark, for example, you could just about get as much power as you want within six to nine months. There are some areas of California where you can get really good power access. Washington state has an abundance of power very cheap from all the hydro. But where that scarcity issue is, is where all the fleets are: Chicago, New York City, primarily in the big cities where you’re going to get first-mover adoption.
It’s fragmented. Certain areas, there’s power availability. In Newark, for example, you could just about get as much power as you want within six to nine months.
So, for the next two to three years, part of the art of Zeem is: Where are those areas? Where are those customers ready to move right now? What Zeem is going to do, we’re going to show them what a depot looks like. We could take 20, 30 different operators on one single site. We could take a van all the way up to a tractor, manage that on this lot. We’re going to coin depot-as-a-service. I can come in there with my team and say, “This is how much power you have today. This is your crawl-before-you-walk scenario.” And then we would help them build the infrastructure for the next three to five years.
Charged: So you’ve got your site there at LAX that’s up and running, and you’ve got customers. Have you got some other locations in the pipeline?
Paul Gioupis: We have a very aggressive rollout plan over the next three to five years. What I can tell you is that the next sites are going to be Newark, New Jersey, and Savannah, Georgia. We have two other sites that we’re looking at in California where I think we’ll [soon] have executed leases and be starting to move on populating those depots.
Charged: Tell me more about the various ways of optimizing power consumption. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tech is a hot topic these days.
Paul Gioupis: We’re very mindful of the grid pull. There is very much truth to all the EVs draining the grid. And there’s a way to build these depots consciously from day one to be generous with the grid. How do you really scale EV charging? How do you use the energy the right way? Push it back and forth. Because it’s not a myth about the power draws. We need to be smart about how to address that, and I think the true answer is bidirectional charging. If you understand bidirectional charging, it’s a perfect fail-safe for keeping a depot like ours going.
Vehicle-to-grid works really well at your own site if you have 200 vehicles, which is more than 200 megawatt-hours of battery sitting there, and you have the highest-capacity [bidirectional] chargers that are smart and can send energy back and forth. If I’m drawing 10 megawatts and then suddenly everybody flips their air conditioner on, I want to be able to push that load right back and do it instantaneously, and to do that understanding that between 4 and 9 pm in California, specifically in SCE territory, we need to be giving back. Those timetables change throughout the country, so we are intimate with the timetables of the utilities, and the time-of-use rates.
Charged: How many megawatt-hours of battery capacity do you have on your lot at the moment?
Paul Gioupis: Right now, with just 70 vehicles, we have a little bit more than 35 megawatt-hours. That is a lot of power. You could power a small city with that kind of power. And when we are fully stacked, now we’re talking like 70, 80, 90 MWh plus. If you took a hundred of those Nikola trucks as an example, that right there is 73 MWh.
Charged: Do you need to have a large-scale charging operation to make V2G practical?
Paul Gioupis: Very much so. You must have a lot of scale. We are at the core of the largest vehicle-to-everything MOU, with the Department of Energy, California Energy Commission, National Electrical Contractors, Volvo, BYD. We are in the middle of this. Zeem is the only as-a-service company to have a depot with chargers and vehicles already running.
The pioneer of vehicle-to-grid is part of my team. His name is Tom Gage. I watched the BMW i3s at Delaware University [an early V2X pilot], and my mind was blown. Owning the assets and having the right charging equipment on the site for bidirectional charging, and seeing that vision through that Tom saw in 2009—that is a very important part of the foundation of Zeem going forward.
Charged: What about solar+storage?
Paul Gioupis: There’s not enough on-site generation possible from solar to support a large commercial EV depot. Take an acre of solar, and that’ll charge a few vehicles maybe, but not enough to really support a location. I think in the future, load management is going to be the most impactful way to manage power. You may have a nameplate capacity on a charger of 100 kilowatts, but you can have software within your system that could knock it down, so you’re not pulling so much power from the grid. Or you could take a lower amount of power, spread it across a number of chargers and get a lower output.
That load balancing software is out there. There were a couple of names that really dominated that market, but there’s new entrants now that have come on like bp pulse that I would be happy to put out there. Prior to that, PowerFlex was the best. The good news is that load management software is becoming more widely available.
Another snake oil sales group is the battery guys. I’m always asked, “How much storage at the site?” People come and say, “You need five megawatts of storage,” and I say, “How do you know that?” “Well, we’ve done this simulation, and we’ve taken data from this one truck and then multiplied it by 50.” None of that stuff is really going to work.
Charged: Charger reliability is a huge issue. Your chargers are not public chargers, but I have a feeling you have some ideas about why the uptime is so bad. Why do these darn things not work?
Paul Gioupis: The vehicle handshake is really critical. Tesla’s the best. If you bring a Tesla to an EVgo charger, when you plug in, the communication back and forth from the vehicle to the charger is the problem. That’s the handshake. A lot of times when you’re trying to plug, unplug, and it’s not working, you pick up the phone and you call ChargePoint or whoever it may be, and then they reset the charger, then it goes.
Why do we buy the most expensive UL-listed charger on the planet? Because it’s the best. It’s the Terra 184 from ABB. I’m happy to say it because everybody in the industry knows.
It’s 10 times worse in commercial trucks because…every single truck manufacturer has their own inlet. Hey, I’ve got this DC inlet like everybody else has, but I have a different interface, and mine is 100 kilowatts or 125 or 200 kilowatts. That needs to be standardized, because without this being standardized, the handshake is a problem everywhere you go.
Why do we buy the most expensive UL-listed charger on the planet? Because it’s the best. It’s the Terra 184 from ABB. I’m happy to say it because everybody in the industry knows. It’s got 120 volts up to 900 volts. It’ll charge anything—a bus, a truck, a Porsche, doesn’t matter. We bought the equipment knowing that’s the case. Every bit of product we put into our depots has to have the full amperage and voltage range or else it’ll never come on our lot.
Charged: For a fleet going electric using your service, are they looking at a cost per mile that’s equivalent to diesel, or does it depend?
Paul Gioupis: I’m happy to say that almost every single vehicle that operates out of our depot today operates under the cost of a diesel. Now, the reason is because we took California subsidies. I wish I didn’t have to take the California subsidy to meet that.
The good news is that more OEM product is starting to come to the market. We finally got the Ford E-Transit. It’s a $57,000 van. [GM subsidiary] BrightDrop is now adding an $85,000 van that is going to be scalable and serviceable across the US. All of that’s going to change the game. Today, we’re forced to play with nascent product, which prevents the industry from moving very fast. I think you’re going to see that change over the course of the next 12-36 months with these OEMs. It’s going to make it a lot easier to electrify, and it’s going to make our offering that much better.
The TCO right now, I can honestly say 75% or 80% operates under the cost of diesel. But the next two to three years with those OEMs supplying the market, I don’t think we’re going to need those subsidies in order to level that out.
Charged: You don’t just provide charging infrastructure—you also provide the vehicles, and even amenities for drivers.
Paul Gioupis: Yes. 24 hours a day, we have human beings on site. When a fleet pulls into our depot, the drivers are treated like kings and queens. They get out, they’re greeted by a depot coordinator, they walk around, they do a quick inspection on the vehicle. They then take the vehicle, jockey it up to a fast charger, top it up and then jockey it for the next day, or they’ll go back to that driver and say, “Hey, you’re topped up,” and they could continue their route.
Drivers have access to the lounge area, restrooms. It’s a big deal. If you’re running routes or if you’re moving people from the airport to the hotel, you can’t use a bathroom. Here at the depot, you can. You have a membership, you’re welcome. You want to grab lunch, you want somewhere to stop, that’s all part of the experience as well.
Kuehne+Nagel [one of our customers] is a great example. They have thousands of operators and they run product for high tech, fashion and healthcare, but they don’t own many vehicles. In the beginning they were saying, “I don’t know if this is going to work for us. My guys come in every day, they park here, we run our operations the same way every day.” Now it’s like, “Hey, I just added five vehicles to my fleet. I was limited to seven because I can only park seven in my lot. Now I just added five more.”
Kuehne+Nagel, by the way, took two years to do business. They’re a very conservative company that is aggressive about emission reduction but cautious to make sure the solution is a fit. Zeem, we are a full OpEx. You want a $500,000 Nikola truck and you want to be able to charge and park that every single day, give us one month down-payment and the first month, and you’re out the door. For $15,000, you’re out the door tomorrow.
That model is going to transform the way that cargo and people are moved, because it’s a different way to manage a fleet. Now you don’t need a five-year lease where you need to come in, set up an office and get a receptionist and the whole nine yards. Stop right at Zeem, and we’re a mile away from LAX. You’re not going to get a better location. We paid through the nose for that reason.
Charged: Quick thoughts on automated or wireless charging? I’ve spoken to some companies that think that’s really important for fleet charging.
Paul Gioupis: I think it’s got tremendous potential. When you’re unplugging and plugging, that’s a human interaction that if I could take that away, that makes me money and is more efficient. Inductive charging makes all the sense in the world. I’ve been following Momentum Dynamics, which is now InductEV, and WiTricity, and all the guys that are out there. I’m talking to all of them, but they want me to be a customer. I want to be able to prove their concept. I’m not going to pay full price to prove out a wireless charger. I’d rather have one sitting at my lot where 10 vehicles come in and charge on it every day. And then if you want me to turn to any customer you want and say, “Yeah, this works or doesn’t work,” that’s a good testimonial for those companies. We’re a good testing ground to prove this kind of tech.
Motor testing is designed to check the integrity of an electric motor through the use of equipment that identifies potential issues within the motor. The main objective of motor testing is to reveal latent problems and to prevent unnecessary failure by evaluating static parameters like insulation, wire damage and electrical current leakage, as well as more dynamic parameters.
The insulating system of electrical machines is critical to reliability since an insulation failure may result in a system breakdown. Standard electrical tests currently required by regulations are unable to identify all types of failure. This is because many defects produce only partial discharges and these can only be identified using the partial discharge test method. This does not replace the standard tests but has to be performed in addition.
Partial discharge measurements allow detection ofall latent defects that could generate failures in e-motors, after short operating times. This is even more true for electric motors powered by Inverter – like electric vehicles – which, due to the inevitable voltage overshooting, causes more stress to the motor windings.
A typical fault that occurs, for instance, is when a wire touches the stack of the stator. If the enamel of the wire is scratched in the contact point with the stack, even the standard AC Hi-Pot test is can identify the fault. But, as commonly happens, if the wire is well insulated, the voltage applied during the AC Hi-Pot Test, even if quite high, may not be sufficient to break the remaining insulation material and this fault may not be identified. If the measurement of partial discharges is carried out at the same time as the AC Dielectric Strength Test then 100% of these defects are always identified and filtered.
The consequence of permanent partial discharges is a gradual yet continuous weakening of the functional parts of the insulation system. This leads to a complete breakdown and failure of the electric motor. That is why it’s important that there not be a partial discharge in the electric motor during operation. And, that is why the Marposs e.d.c. partial discharge testing method is valued by automotive manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers.
The Marposs e.d.c. Partial Discharge Measurement System is based on capacitor coupling technology. As compared to antenna-type solutions normally applied in this market, the capacitor coupling technique is more sophisticated and less sensitive to external noise and, therefore, more suitable for applications in the production area. Since it does not use any external sensor, the coupling capacitor approach requires equipment that can detect the partial discharge just by connecting the terminals of the product under test with the same cables used to perform all other tests (winding resistance, AC High Pot tests, Surge Tests, etc.)
With the e.d.c. products, Marposs offers a complete range of solutions dedicated to the functional testing and the end-of-line testing of any type of electric motor, for in-line and off-line applications or for laboratory analysis and characterization.
Marposs provides customized inline and offline solutions for all electrical tests and detection of insulation problems at all stages of development and production of an e-motor and their components, such as:
Stator Tester for production lines (wound or hairpin) that includes Partial Discharges measurements,
Rotor Tester for all kinds of rotors (with permanent magnets, squirrel cage, wound),
Automatic EoL Motor Tester (with Load/No-Load tests) for production, Dynamometer for motor Load Test & Life Simulation Cycles for laboratory,
As e-mobility continues to rapidly grow, vehicle manufacturers, as well as end-users, must be confident in the reliability of the vehicle functionality. As such, partial discharge measurement testing plays a crucial role as a standard testing process for electric motor manufacturers.
e.d.c. systems employ partical discharge measurement technology to identify 100% of latent defects and can be configured for stators, rotors, advanced windings, end of line tests.
The e.d.c. partial discharge testing method is based on Capacitor Coupling technology that is more robust in relation to electromagnetic noise and consequently more suitable compared to Antenna method for the use in the production environment
Customized EoL testing system for completely assembled e-motor to be integrated inline or offline for operator use. Design-to-order test benches are available for all kinds of rotors: Back EMF analysis for permanent magnets rotor, identification of defects of the cage bars for squirrel cage rotor.
Charged is hosting a virtual conference on EV engineering that’s free to attend, and it starts today. The conference includes live webinar sessions with interactive Q&As and on-demand webinars. View the daily session schedule online here.
All of the live sessions will be recorded and available to view after the broadcasts. You can access the recorded videos on each session’s registration page.
Supply chain solution provider NFI Industries is expanding its fleet of Class 8 battery-electric trucks in Southern California as part of the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI) project. NFI will operate 30 Freightliner eCascadias and 20 Volvo VNR Electric trucks from its Ontario, California, warehouse facility to support its port drayage services.
“NFI has worked closely with its OEM partners—Volvo Trucks and Daimler Truck—during the last several years to put battery-electric trucks to the test on our routes across Southern California,” said NFI CEO Sid Brown. “By the end of this year, we will have 100 Class 8 battery-electric trucks dedicated to port drayage.”
NFI Industries (not to be confused with the NFI Group, a bus manufacturer) has a company-owned fleet of more than 5,000 tractors and 14,300 trailers. The company has participated in several electric truck demonstration projects since 2018, including Volvo’s LIGHTS, Daimler Truck’s Innovation Fleet, and the Switch-On project. NFI’s demonstration fleet of Freightliner eCascadias, Volvo VNR Electrics and electric yard tractors has traveled more than 1.5 million miles to date, avoiding an estimated 225,933 gallons of diesel fuel consumption.
The various projects have helped NFI determine which routes are optimal for electric trucks, based on the number of stops, topography, traffic patterns and the freight being transported. NFI has collaborated with Volvo and Daimler to configure trucks based on its operational needs, and to train its drivers on how to maximize range.
“The team at NFI has been working hand-in-hand with Volvo Trucks’ engineering team and local dealer partner, TEC Equipment, to validate and configure our commercial Volvo VNR Electric model to successfully run NFI’s drayage routes,” said Peter Voorhoeve, President, Volvo Trucks North America.
“By working with the NFI team as part of Daimler Truck’s Innovation Fleet, our team has gained incredible insight into the necessary steps needed to successfully deploy battery-electric trucks into freight movement operations,” said David Carson, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing, Daimler Truck North America. “We’ve been able to see firsthand the processes and stakeholders required to install the charging infrastructure to support the trucks.”
To install charging infrastructure to support its growing electric fleet, NFI is working with Southern California Edison, Electrify Commercial, and the City of Ontario to upgrade its facility’s power supply and install 19 350 kW power cabinets, with 38 EV charging points. The company expects its Ontario charging infrastructure to be installed and energized by the end of 2023.
Lithium-air batteries could theoretically deliver an energy density comparable to that of gasoline. However, in most systems, the reaction pathways either involve one- or two-electron transfer, leading to lithium peroxide (Li2O2) or lithium superoxide (LiO2), respectively.
Researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Argonne National Laboratory are investigating a way to create a lithium-air battery based on lithium oxide (Li2O) formation, which could deliver much higher energy density.
Lithium oxide formation involves a four-electron reaction that is more difficult to achieve than the one- and two-electron reaction processes. The researchers used a composite polymer electrolyte based on Li10GeP2S12 nanoparticles embedded in a modified polyethylene oxide polymer matrix and found that Li2O was the main product in a room-temperature solid-state lithium-air battery. The battery is rechargeable for 1,000 cycles with a low polarization gap and can operate at high rates.
“The chemical reaction for lithium superoxide or peroxide only involves one or two electrons stored per oxygen molecule, whereas that for lithium oxide involves four electrons,” said Argonne chemist Rachid Amine. “More electrons stored means higher energy density.”
Charged is hosting a virtual conference on EV engineering that’s free to attend, and it starts today. The conference includes live webinar sessions with interactive Q&As and on-demand webinars. View the daily session schedule online here.
All of the live sessions will be recorded and available to view after the broadcasts. You can access the recorded videos on each session’s registration page.
Many power electronics today are being designed for use in high-temperature, high-voltage environments, such as inside electric vehicles (EVs). However, size, weight, and power (SWaP) are also key factors driving electronic product development. These conflicting design criteria are an issue for many electrical engineers because space is not available to simply add a cooling system, as this will add weight and increase the product’s overall footprint. Therefore, many of these electronic components are susceptible to “running hot” at the high temperatures and high voltages used in these tiny spaces.
Given the challenges for EV components, it’s critical for designers to select the right high-voltage, high-temperature capacitors to meet application requirements and industry certifications. We’ll review how reducing losses in a DC-to-DC (or DC/DC) converter, the converter (and overall vehicle) benefits from improved energy efficiency, a more streamlined design, and diminished heating from components; how capacitor characteristics impact temperature rise and reliability; and how low loss, ultra stable high-capacitance MLCCs can optimize power electronics.
Ultimately, the more efficiently power is converted, the further distance the EV can travel on one charge. Learn more about choosing the right capacitors to operate reliably and efficiently, even in the most demanding EV applications.
Walmart’s recent announcement that it will install EV fast charging stations at thousands of US Walmart and Sam’s Club locations has gotten a lot of praise in the press, and there are reasons to be excited about it.
According to the company, approximately 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart or a Sam’s. Many of these stores are located in suburban and rural areas that currently have few public charging options, and they should make great sites for fast chargers. By the company’s own description, they’re “clean, bright and safe,” and they’re already popular spots for travelers to stop for a short (or a long) pit stop.
Walmart describes its plan as a “game-changer,” and some EV fans in the media have been throwing around equally glowing terms. However, before we consume too much sparkling wine (currently on sale for $5 a bottle), let’s consider the actual details of the company’s announcement.
All that Walmart has said of substance is: “By 2030, we intend to build our own EV fast-charging network at thousands of Walmart and Sam’s Club locations coast-to-coast. This would be in addition to the almost 1,300 EV fast-charging stations we already have available at more than 280 US facilities.”
This rather vague statement certainly implies great things. “Thousands of locations” will presumably mean many thousand individual chargers, and hopefully it will mean spreading access to charging more widely around the country. Will Walmart proactively install chargers in currently underserved regions, or will it stick to places where demand is already high? (Ironically, Walmart’s home state of Arkansas is one of the least electrified states in the country.)
Does Walmart really intend to build and operate its own network? Will this operate alongside the networks that currently operate chargers at Walmart stores, or will those be taken over? Walmart is already using EVs for deliveries in a few areas—will that fleet be expanded, and where? 2030 is 7 years away—how soon will specific projects be announced? And, most important of all for those in the charging industry—who’s going to get all these juicy contracts?
Make no mistake—Walmart’s announcement is good news, and if the company really follows through, it could be great news—but we’d like to hear some more details.
New designs for power converters demand compact, high power density components and are increasingly using higher switching frequencies. This has become a real challenge for magnetic component designers to overcome the extra losses created by large air gaps necessary for transformers and resonant inductors, those related to fringing effect.
Join this webinar at next week’s Virtual Conference on EV Engineering, presented by Prax Power, where we will introduce key rules and considerations for the design of such transformers and resonant inductors.
Multi-gap technology has been developed by PRAX to reduce winding AC losses. It allows a large air gap to be evenly distributed on a toroid to minimize fringing effect by splitting the gap into smaller gaps.
The use of multigap (XGAP TM) technology allows for the creation of cost-effective solutions with maximum power density thanks to the reduction of core volume around 30%, while overall size reductions up to 20%. Mutigap technology also minimizes losses and offers optimal heat dissipation of windings in all type of cooling systems. All of these advantages match the requirements of magnetic components in EV charging applications.
Other sessions at our Spring Virtual Conference include:
Power And Efficiency Measurements Of Electrified Vehicles
This presentation, presented by CSM, will introduce both an overview and the latest updates to the world-leading measurement hardware and software for power and efficiency measurement of inverters and electric motors. Attendees will learn the foundation and unique benefits of the Vector-CSM eMobility Measurement System which provides for the use of consistent tools throughout your product development cycle.
Broadcast live April 17 – 20, 2023, the conference content will span the EV engineering supply chain and ecosystem, including motor and power electronics design and manufacturing, cell development, battery systems, testing, powertrains, thermal management, circuit protection, wire and cable, EMI/EMC and more.
Volvo Trucks and Swedish mining company Boliden have teamed up to implement electric truck transport in underground environments.
Exhaust gases from diesel vehicles are responsible for most of the carbon dioxide emissions from Boliden’s mines. The company is committed to reducing its CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030, in which the electrification of transport is expected to play a critical role, according to the company.
According to the agreement, two heavy Volvo FH Electric trucks will be used in Boliden’s Kankberg mine outside Skellefteå in northern Sweden. The first truck will be used to transport rock bolts and other equipment into the mine and will be put into service in 2023. Based on the experience with the first truck, another one will later be put into operation and used for the underground transport of rock and ore.
If all trucks in the mine were to be electric, the CO2 emissions from the mine could be reduced by more than 25%, says the company.
“This is an exciting collaboration in a tough environment; steep slopes, heavy loads and humid air that wears on the vehicles,” says Jessica Lindholm, project manager at Volvo Trucks. “The collaboration with Boliden will give us valuable knowledge about the performance of electric trucks when driven underground, and provide insight into how the driveline and batteries are affected.”
As the deployment of high-powered EV chargers continues to grow across the US, the issue of connecting them into a facility’s existing electrical system becomes a complex problem. Level 3 EV chargers consume a lot of power, installing five of them can easily add 2,000 amps to the existing electrical service infrastructure. Modifying or replacing the service entrance equipment can be very costly and limited by space constraints.
How to Instantly Increase Your Facility’s Electrical Service with E-Bloc!
E-Bloc is a microgrid, a small-scale power grid that can operate independently or collaboratively with other small power grids. It can effectively integrate various sources of distributed generation, especially renewable energy sources. As a pre-packaged service entrance switchgear it supports the rapid deployment of high-speed charging (Level 2 and Level 3) on your premises without changing the existing electrical infrastructure. E-Bloc is installed outdoors between the utility transformer and the facility’s existing service equipment. It directly feeds both the EV chargers and the facility’s existing load. No Modification is required to the building’s existing service entrance equipment. E-Bloc can be designed for various types of applications and is available in both low and medium voltage configurations; 600 V (5,000 A) to 34.5 kV.
The Benefits of an E-Bloc Microgrid
According to NREL, “A microgrid is a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources that act as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. It can connect and disconnect from the grid to operate in grid-connected or island mode. Microgrids can improve customer reliability and resilience to grid disturbances.” E-Bloc can be equipped with the ability to support various distributed energy resources (DERs); solar, energy storage, engine generators and others. E-Bloc’s configuration is flexible, supporting DER additions as your budget permits.
Reduce Utility Bills with Renewable Energy Peak Shaving
Customers can take advantage of renewable energy peak shaving via solar and an on-board energy storage system (ESS) to lower energy bills. E-Bloc’s ESS can be customized to meet your energy consumption needs with up to 500kW of storage, residing on the same skid as the switchgear. Pre-assembled off-site, E-Bloc minimizes disruption to your facility, allowing you to operate your business as usual. Fuel cells or stand-by engine-generators can also be added to further increase resiliency. Your operation is never left in the dark with E-Bloc.
Managing and Optimizing your Microgrid
E-Bloc’s microgrid controls can be tailored to provide a basic level of functionality or complete automated real-time controls (data acquisition, monitoring, control, and optimization). The E-Bloc controller manages multiple DERs to meet your energy goals, including reducing energy costs, lowering carbon footprint (Net Zero), greater electrical reliability or any number of parameters.
Pioneer Power Solutions, E-Bloc and e-Boost’s parent company had been working with utilities on power distribution installations for decades. When Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill became law, Pioneer foresaw a delay in utilities keeping pace with the EV demand, and e-Boost was developed to bridge that infrastructure gap.
e-Boost Reduces Stress on the Grid
The electric vehicle (EV) market is poised for an explosion in sales. McKinsey estimated that the number of EVs in the U.S. would grow from less than three million today to more than 48 million in 2030. But as of 2022, there were only 5,900 locations in the US with the fastest Level 3 DCFC chargers available to the public compared to the 145K gas stations with multiple pumps in the U.S. Moreover, in its current trajectory, EV charging is aligned with grid infrastructure, which clusters around cities and dense populations.
e-Boost is a resource that reduces the anticipated stress on the grid and can provide charging along rural corridors in underserved or disadvantaged communities—a key consideration in recent funding requirements.
Flexible, Temporary or Permanent Solution and $12.5B in Funding
With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $7.5B funding ($5B under NEVI, plus another $2.5B targeting underserved areas) or the EPA’s $5B Clean School Bus grants, determining range, routes, ideal charging requirements and locations can take time to understand. Traffic patterns can change due to a special event—a weather related disaster, long holiday weekends, and other unanticipated anomalies. Under these circumstances, e-Boost can be utilized in temporary locations, relocated, and even provide backup power as needed.
Meet Funding Deadlines and 97% Uptime Requirements
Under both funding scenarios, infrastructure needs to be fully operational by specific dates. However, it often takes two years to bring adequate power, complete electrical permitting, construction, and installation at a site. e-Boost’s flexibility solves this dilemma with:
A Greener Fuel Today
Moreover, e-Boost decreases the reliance of fuel sources that produce significant amounts of GHG emissions. Propane is an approved clean fuel under the Clean Air Act since 1990. It is an approved Alternative Fuel for use along the Federal Highway Administration’s Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs), along which the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure’s $5B in funding will be applied. It emits significantly less GHG than power from the grid, diesel, or gasoline. Its storage flexibility means sensitive habitats remain undisturbed, no pipelines or high-voltage line installations are needed, and it is not reactive with the air, and therefore doesn’t harm the soil, drinking water or marine ecosystems. e-Boost can utilize renewable Propane (rLPG), commercially available today and together with renewable DME, provides a future-proofed design and pathway to net-zero.
Prevent Stranded Assets
e-Boost units are serviced by Pioneer’s Critical Power Group, which has been servicing power generation assets for three decades with a nationwide network. Ultimately, e-Boost provides the operational support that prevent stranded assets, another key consideration under NEVI funding.
Drinks on Us!
Attending ACTexpo 2023 at the Anaheim Convention Center? Join us in our hospitality suite at the Clarion Hotel Anaheim Resort, Tues, May 2nd and Wed, May 3rd, from 4:30-7:00pm.
Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPSI) is a leader in the design, manufacture, service and integration of electrical power systems, distributed energy resources, power generation equipment and mobile electric vehicle (“EV”) charging solutions.
