Keysight Technologies, a test and measurement company, plans to buy ESI Group, a virtual prototyping software vendor for the automotive and aerospace markets.
ESI Group’s software simulates product behavior during testing and real-life use. Its real-time digital twin solutions build virtual simulations using model-driven simulation and data-driven tests, enabling workflow automation and virtual manufacturing.
Completion of the acquisition of the controlling block of ESI shares is expected to take place during the fourth quarter of 2023 and the mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares of ESI Group will occur shortly thereafter.
“Keysight’s acquisition of ESI Group accelerates our strategy of providing software-centric solutions with virtual prototyping and advanced simulation capabilities,” said Satish Dhanasekaran, President and CEO of Keysight.
Bidirectional charging is on the way to your driveway, and it will soon allow you to use your EV as backup power for your home, or to save money by taking advantage of utility incentives. Kia now plans to offer Wallbox’s second-generation DC bidirectional charger, Quasar 2, to Kia EV9 buyers, starting in the first half of 2024.
Quasar 2 is an 11.5 kW bidirectional Level 2 charger. A Kia EV9 can hold between 76 and 100 kWh of energy, enough to power a typical household for up to four days. In case of a power outage, Quasar 2’s Power Recovery Mode automatically switches the user’s power source from the grid to their vehicle.
Quasar 2 can also be used to take advantage of demand response programs and time-of-use rates offered by local utilities. By scheduling charging at times when energy prices are low and discharging their car battery to power their home when prices are high, users can save on their energy bills.
“Bidirectional charging can offer long-term benefits to users, grid operators and utilities, and will accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources” said Enric Asunción, CEO and co-founder of Wallbox. “When combined with an EV capable of bidirectional charging, such as Kia’s advanced EV9, Quasar 2 offers one of the most functional and affordable home energy management solutions on the market.”
London-headquartered charging platform provider ev.energy plans to expand its global operations. The focus will be on building its reach in North America and Europe, using $33 million in Series B funding from National Grid Partners. Support is expected from Aviva Ventures, WEX Venture Capital, InMotion Ventures and existing investors Energy Impact Partners, Future Energy Ventures and ArcTern Ventures.
The company currently manages charging for more than 120,000 EVs daily. Partners include National Grid Partners, Volkswagen Group, Maxeon and Siemens. ev.energy says its new funding round will make it possible to reach an additional 400 million energy customers by using their shareholders’ energy retail, fleet, vehicle and insurance networks.
This year, the company has extended its virtual power plant to include vehicle-to-grid capabilities and has introduced its fleet-management platform, Pando, and its solar home-charging function, ev.energy SOLAR.
“In the next few years,” said ev.energy CEO Nick Woolley, “total EV demand in most developed countries will surpass the energy output of even the largest power plants. By being able to shape and control EV load, ev.energy can both benefit the grid and help drivers to charge using the greenest and cheapest energy.”
Coming soon:
Part 4: Behind the scenes of seven automakers answer to Tesla’s Superchargers
EV charging is changing, but much remains to be settled
A flurry of news over less than a year permanently altered the US landscape for EV charging. To put these startling developments in context, Charged interviewed more than a dozen executives, engineers and analysts from automakers, DC fast charging network operators, charging hardware firms and other businesses. cosystem.
Death of CCS?
US automakers seem uniformly confident that providing (or selling) adapters to buyers of their future NACS-equipped EVs will solve the problems. EV advocates are less sure, noting that three adapters will be needed during the transition. First will come Tesla-to-CCS, for today’s CCS-equipped EVs to charge at Supercharger sites. Then, separate CCS-to-NACS and J1772-to-NACS adapters—for DC fast charging and Level 2 charging respectively—for NACS-equipped EVs to use the tens of thousands of public charging sites currently equipped with those connectors.
Sure, major charging networks will add NACS connectors over time. But five or ten years from now, the US may continue to have two separate connectors on the EVs sold here. Why? Some non-US makers within the Group of Seven are wedded to the CCS standard for fast charging, since that’s what their home markets use. “Predictions by Tesla fans of the death of CCS,” said one EV executive wryly, “may prove to have been slightly premature.”
While GM has publicly stated that its future EVs will have only the NACS connector, Ford consistently declines to answer that question directly, repeating only, “Ford is transitioning to NACS starting in 2025. As we transition, our fleet will include a mix of port configurations.” That leaves Stellantis—it has announced several battery-electric vehicles for the US, but none are in production today.
While GM has publicly stated that its future EVs will have only the NACS connector, Ford consistently declines to answer that question directly.
EV advocates hope at least one automaker will find it affordable to fit both CCS and NACS connectors, which would give it an irresistible marketing advantage: the ability to say, “Our EV can charge at any station in the US—without all those confusing adapters other EVs make you use.” Whether any brand is adventurous enough to do so remains in question.
The V2H question
A final reason that CCS may stick around for a while is the ability to export power, variously known as vehicle-to-home (V2H) or vehicle-to-load (V2L), with potential vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications further in the future. Ford found unexpected enthusiasm for the idea of its F-150 Lightning serving as backup power for homes during outages, which caught the public’s attention despites all sorts of caveats. Kia (among others) is now promoting the same capability for its upcoming EV9 three-row electric SUV.
Tesla may soon be forced to implement some form of V2X, however. The California legislature is considering a bill that would require all EVs sold in the state to be capable of bidirectional charging by 2027.
Tesla’s NACS connector is capable of bidirectional charging, and Tesla has said it could provide V2X capabilities, but it has shown no signs of doing so. This is likely due to Tesla’s ancillary business selling Powerwall home energy storage batteries, which gives Tesla solid business reasons to slow-walk V2H. Tesla may soon be forced to implement some form of V2X, however. The California legislature is considering a bill that would require all EVs sold in the state to be capable of bidirectional charging by 2027.
GM and Ford, however, will need to develop and test protocols to deliver V2H to their customers via the NACS connector—having already implemented them for the CCS connector. That will take time, and it remains to be seen if the first non-Tesla EVs using the NACS connector can deliver the same V2H capabilities as their predecessors that use the CCS connector.
Researchers at KAUST, a Saudi Arabian private research university, have used laser pulses to increase MXene’s energy capacity for enhancing next-generation battery anodes.
The team, led by Husam N. Alshareef and Ph.D. student Zahra Bayhan, discovered that the chemical change that forms molybdenum oxide within the structure of an alternative electrode material known as MXene causes its degradation. MXenes based on molybdenum carbide have particularly good lithium storage capacity, but their performance soon degrades after repeated charge and discharge cycles, the researchers found.
Alshareef and Bayhan used laser scribing in which infrared laser pulses create “nanodots” of molybdenum carbide in MXene to solve this problem. These 10-nanometer-wide nanodots were coupled to MXene layers using carbon compounds. These nanodots increase lithium storage and speed up charging and discharging, decrease the material’s oxygen content, prevent problematic molybdenum oxide formation and boost MXene’s conductivity and structure while charging and discharging.
The researchers tested the laser-scribed anode in a lithium-ion battery for 1,000 charge-discharge cycles. MXene showed four times the electrical storage capacity of graphite.
“Unlike graphite, MXenes can also intercalate sodium and potassium ions,” explains Alshareef. This could help to develop a new generation of rechargeable batteries that use cheaper and more abundant metals than lithium, for example.
Lightning eMotors, a maker of medium-duty and specialty commercial EVs, has announced the deployment of two of its Lightning ZEV3 Class 3 passenger vans to transport visitors to Zion National Park in Utah.
EVZion recently deployed the two ZEV3 shuttle buses as part of the Utah Clean Cities East Zion pilot, which is designed to demonstrate the efficiency of electric transportation in rural park gateway communities.
The vans were customized with rear-facing cameras by Lightning’s partner Volition Components, in order to allow the side mirrors to be folded so that the vans can pass each other in a narrow tunnel. Lightning is also demonstrating Lightning Mobile, which provides DC fast charging in a trailer format, in order to charge EVs in off-grid locations.
“As the only electrified vehicle provider delivering customized, fully electric Class 3 shuttles and a robust range of charging solutions, Lightning eMotors is excited to be part of the EVZion project,” said Lightning VP of Marketing and Sales Operations Nick Bettis. “Our ability to customize and deliver vehicles to our customers to meet their specific needs is one of our major differentiators. Lightning has delivered more than 600 fully electric vehicles, and more Lightning vehicles are hitting the streets each week.”
“Introducing right-sized vehicles like these shuttles offers a solution that addresses safety and congestion concerns at the park,” said Tammie Bostick, Utah Clean Cities Executive Director and leader of the EVZion project. “The historic Mt. Carmel Tunnel, an iconic landmark since its inauguration on July 4, 1930, has long struggled with accommodating oversized vehicles and maintaining a safe traffic flow. By adopting these shuttles, tailored to the tunnel’s dimensions, we’re taking an active step towards ensuring a two-way traffic flow that eliminates the frustrating hours and miles of backed-up vehicles.”
“Selecting Lightning eMotors as our electrified shuttle partner was a meticulous and comprehensive process,” Bostick continued. “Their proven technology strongly resonates with our zero-emission objectives. Our aim is to expand this pilot into a nationwide program.”
The EVZion ribbon-cutting follows a recent announcement by Teton Village, Wyoming, about the acquisition of Lightning eMotors vehicles to replace the diesel buses that serve Teton Village resort.
Volkswagen has begun production of its new flagship ID.7 electric car at its plant in Emden, Germany. The sedan is VW’s largest electric passenger car to date, and the second global model based on the MEB platform.
The ID.7 is the sixth model in VW’s ID series of EVs, but it will be the second or third to hit the States when it goes on sale here in 2024. (The new ID.Buzz electric van is now on sale in Europe, and is also slated to hit North America in 2024).
The ID.7 will first launch in the Pro variant, which features a 77 kWh battery and up to 382 miles of range. The ID.7 Pro S will launch later with an 86 kWh battery that delivers up to 435 miles of range (measured on the European WLTP test cycle).
VW says it will release an entry-level model for under 25,000 euros ($27,000).
Volkswagen calls its new flagship EV an “efficiency champion” that features a new-generation electric powertrain and a body design that optimizes the aerodynamic performance, with a low front end, a coupe-like roof, a tapering rear end, an almost completely closed underbody and new wheel spoilers.
“The ID.7 is a top car from a top team,” said Thomas Shafer, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars. “A big compliment to all our colleagues in Emden who have been so active in making the start of production a full success.”
Coming soon:
Part 3: Why Tesla’s NACS is unlikely to kill CCS
Part 4: Behind the scenes of seven automakers answer to Tesla’s Superchargers
EV charging is changing, but much remains to be settled
A flurry of news over less than a year permanently altered the US landscape for EV charging. To put these startling developments in context, Charged interviewed more than a dozen executives, engineers and analysts from automakers, DC fast charging network operators, charging hardware firms and other businesses. cosystem. Only Ford provided written responses to (a few of) our questions.
NACS is not today’s Tesla connector
One aspect of the news that seems to have flown below the radar is that the so-called NACS is effectively the next generation of Tesla connector and protocols. The connector itself is slightly modified, but backward-compatible with older Teslas. Most importantly, it switches from a low-voltage/high-current mix to one with higher voltages but lower currents. This is crucial for the growing number of makers whose EV batteries can charge at 800 volts at rates up to 350 kilowatts, since the current generation of Superchargers maxes out at about 250 kW.
One aspect of the news that seems to have flown below the radar is that the so-called NACS is effectively the next generation of Tesla connector and protocols.
Tesla began fitting the European versions of the CCS connector and protocols to Model 3s and Model Ys it sells in those countries in early 2019 and it supplied a CCS-to-Tesla adapter at the same time. It thus has considerable experience using CCS protocols to control charging—and, indeed, has built them into its North American-market EVs, using its own connector, since 2021. Tesla vehicles built before then controlled charging via the CAN bus and hence require a replacement Power Line Control module to use the current Version 3 Supercharger stations. (It costs $615, including the CCS-to-Tesla adapter.) Those stations are the only ones at which non-Tesla vehicles can charge via the company’s Magic Dock CCS adapter (on the dozen or so stations where it has been fitted).
In other words, Tesla is already familiar with charging via CCS protocols—via a different connector. (Tesla no longer offers a way for reporters to contact the company for comments, so we were not able to speak with Tesla representatives while reporting this article.)
A connector is not a network
A peculiar aspect of Tesla’s deals with Ford and GM is the assumption by many EV drivers that fitting a Tesla connector to a non-Tesla EV and providing access to the Supercharger network will automatically result in a charging experience that is as seamless, reliable and fast as Tesla’s. That has yet to be proven.
Indeed, engineers and more technically literate executives we spoke to were uniformly cagey when asked whether they expected their vehicles to charge as fast at Superchargers as they did at CCS stations. The question is most acute for 800-volt pioneer Porsche, but it also applies to increasing numbers of EVs from GM, Hyundai, Kia and Lucid, with more to come.
It’s too early to offer a definitive answer to that question. Auto engineers at multiple makers are now dissecting the Tesla documents, figuring out how it functions, and negotiating what information they must provide to the Tesla charging station to validate a session. “Eventually, validation will be via ISO 15118 and Plug and Charge, but [it’s unclear] when that will come to pass,” said a source, summarizing statements by a Tesla representative within the SAE J3400 working group attempting to make Tesla’s connector into a technical standard.
Today, to use the Magic Dock adapter at those few Supercharger sites where it’s offered, drivers of non-Tesla EVs must download the Tesla app, which requires them to provide Tesla with personal identification information and a credit card number. No automaker will want to hand that info to a competitor, so validation of charging sessions at Tesla sites remains an open issue.
Three days after the press release, the lead vehicle engineer on one highly publicized future EV from a large maker said, “The [Tesla alliance] caught us off guard and we still don’t know exactly what was in the agreement they signed.”
It’s clear that the decision to ally with Tesla was one made at CEO level, then foisted on the engineers who must integrate it into future EVs within a 3-year deadline. Indeed, three days after the press release, the lead vehicle engineer on one highly publicized future EV from a large maker said, “The announcement caught us off guard and we still don’t know exactly what was in the agreement they signed.” Tesla is said to have a document with roughly 40 non-negotiable technology requirements—or what the engineers would have to do to incorporate NACS into their largely complete vehicle design.
The adapter problem
The wild card in this scenario is all those adapters. Carmakers will undoubtedly test, validate and warrant the various adapters they provide. But any adapter adds resistance between the charging station and the vehicle. Whether they can retain the same charging rates, while maintaining their required margins of safety, remains an open question. “That would be our goal,” one automaker exec said cautiously. “We’re working to ensure minimal impact to the charging experience with adapters.”
Can carmakers educate their buyers appropriately, given the generally dismal understanding of EV charging among auto salespeople and EV novices? “We hope to deliver the right level of education” on those topics, said the exec—again cautiously.
The Tesla system “is not unsafe,” said one engineer, choosing their words carefully, “but there’s no margin for error.” It’s easy when you only have four vehicles to charge, said a battery expert. Ensuring proper safety margins is now up to each automaker adopting the NACS system.
Teslas have been optimized to charge at Supercharger stations, but until now, EVs from other makers haven’t. A couple of charging engineers also expressed concerns over what they termed Tesla’s slim safety margins vis-à-vis overcharging and high temperatures within the charging circuit. The Tesla system “is not unsafe,” said one engineer, choosing their words carefully, “but there’s no margin for error.” It’s easy when you only have four vehicles to charge, said a battery expert, if you’ve designed both the hardware and software for both the charging station and the vehicle. Ensuring proper safety margins is now up to each automaker adopting the NACS system, and they may not land in the same place as Tesla.
Part 4: Behind the scenes of seven automakers answer to Tesla’s Superchargers
EV charging is changing, but much remains to be settled
A flurry of news over less than a year permanently altered the US landscape for EV charging. Now comes the hard work of making it all happen.
The last year has seen more change in the EV charging landscape than at any time since the VW Group agreed in June 2016 to pay $2 billion to set up a nationwide fast charging network in the US to settle its Dieselgate scandal.
In November 2022, Tesla released specifications for what it dubbed the North American Charging Standard (NACS), essentially offering it to the EV industry at large. Tesla fans hailed the move as another stroke of genius by the company that proved to the world that long-range EVs could be viable, attractive and profitable. The rest of the world likely paid little attention.
A deluge of support for adoption of the Tesla connector followed. As of its latest update on August 18, the EV Adoption Tesla NACS Charger Adoption Tracker page showed 53 companies planning to use the connector;
On July 26, seven automakers announced they would form a joint venture to set up a new DC fast charging network, with more than 30,000 stations, including amenities to make recharging stops a more pleasant experience. No further details are known as yet.
To put these startling developments in context, Charged interviewed more than a dozen executives, engineers and analysts from automakers, DC fast charging network operators, charging hardware firms and other businesses. Every person we spoke with wanted to talk—to vent, even—and to share conversations they’d had and anecdotes they’d heard from others in the business.
However, virtually no one was willing to go on the record, reflecting the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations, the technical challenges of a new charging connector and the complicated web of relations among the many parties within the EV charging ecosystem. Only Ford provided written responses to (a few of) our questions.
Overall, this year’s developments reflect deep dissatisfaction among automakers other than Tesla with the state of US fast charging—accompanied by fear that Tesla’s ultra-reliable and deeply integrated Supercharger network has given it a permanent competitive advantage.
Fury at Electrify America
It’s hard to overstate the disgust and anger at Electrify America among virtually every person we interviewed. The network has come to be viewed, fairly or not, as the most minimal effort VW Group could have exerted to comply with the 10-year, $2-billion settlement it jointly negotiated with the EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Five years after its first fast charging station went live in May 2018, Electrify America continues to have sites down for weeks or months and other locations where only one or two cables (out of four, six or eight) actually deliver a charge. While a majority of its stations will recharge an EV, the widely touted standard uptime figure of 97 percent still translates to 11 days a year of downtime for every location. Would you have confidence in your local gas station if you knew it might be dark almost two weeks a year—at random?
EA has steadfastly refused to discuss its reliability statistics, offering years of bland reassurances that things are improving. It will not release details on its investigations into cases in which its charging stations apparently delivered enough excess power to trip the high-voltage fuses in three different EVs in three different states. But it is likely a major contributor to EV charging problems quantified in recent studies by J.D. Power and the University of California, Berkeley.
Non-Tesla automakers have had it with EA. Initial hopes that EA would provide a new, large-scale, nationwide network of fast charging stations have now curdled into a desire to see EA out of the game altogether—with “lots of bad blood” directed at the VW Group as a whole.
Tesla aside, all networks are perceived to be more focused on getting new stations in the ground—and associated photo ops with local politicians—than funding operations and maintenance. Kameale C. Terry, the CEO of ChargerHelp, which repairs charging stations, tweeted in December 2021, “I recently spoke to a program manager for EV charging at a major utility and he said, ‘I have $18 million to build new EV chargers and $0 to fix the broken ones previously deployed.’ ”
While EVgo, Shell Recharge (née Greenlots), ChargePoint and others were included in reliability complaints, those networks are seen—rightly or wrongly—as less unreliable than EA. “EA is by far the most difficult network for us to work with,” said one automaker employee. “It’s just not clear they believe in it, or that they’re in it for the long haul.”
In other words, non-Tesla automakers have had it with EA. Initial hopes that EA would provide a new, large-scale, nationwide network of fast charging stations have now curdled into a desire to see EA out of the game altogether—with “lots of bad blood” directed at the VW Group as a whole. One engineer and one executive even suggested that Volkswagen deliberately did a subpar job. “Remember Dieselgate?” said one. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…”
One engineer and one executive even suggested that Volkswagen deliberately did a subpar job. “Remember Dieselgate?” said one. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…”
Ford’s Tesla shock
In some ways, Ford has been the most aggressive automaker in working toward a good charging experience for its EV buyers. It included Plug and Charge in its Mustang Mach-E from its late 2020 launch, replicating the Tesla “plug in the car and walk away” experience long before other mass-market brands did the same. And it claims to have tracked every failed charging attempt via telematics and worked to understand what went wrong. Electrify America was by far the most common thread among all failed charges by Mach-E drivers, according to a source.
Ford analyzed the networks, sites and even charging hardware in those failed attempts, and put pressure on the networks involved. It also launched a group of “Charge Angels,” who traveled among charging sites, testing the reliability and condition of chargers and reporting back.
None of that seems to have been enough. However, there was still widespread shock when Ford announced that its EV drivers would gain access to the Tesla Supercharger network from Spring 2024. Initially, they would connect via adapter cables; ultimately, Ford will build the Tesla receptacle into its future EV models. Tesla will supply both NACS-to-CCS and CCS-to-NACS adapters, Ford told Charged, though prices haven’t been released.
Next, Part 2: No, NACS is not today’s Tesla connector.
Note: Tesla calls its proprietary connector and protocols the “North American Charging Standard,” or NACS. It is not (yet) a technical standard, as are the connector and protocols for SAE J-1772 for AC charging and the Combined Charging Standard (CCS) used (in two variants) in North America and Europe. In November, Tesla said it is “actively working with relevant standards bodies to codify Tesla’s charging connector as a public standard.” For convenience, the term NACS may be used in this article to refer to the Tesla charging system.
US EV manufacturer Mullen Automotive recently held an open house event at its Tunica, Mississippi, assembly facility to mark the start of production of its Class 3 EV trucks.
The Mullen THREE is a Class 3 low cab forward electric truck with a gross vehicle weight rating of 11,000 pounds and a turning diameter of 38 feet. It’s designed to provide maximum visibility for good maneuverability on narrow city streets. The versatile chassis provides a clean top-of-rail for easy upfitting with bodies up to 14 feet long and over 5,800 pounds of payload.
Pricing will start at $68,500. The EV qualifies for $7,500 in federal tax incentives. According to Mullen, annual production with an initial single shift is expected to reach 3,000 Class 3 vehicles, and 6,000 vehicles after the addition of a projected second shift.
Production testing and launch of the Mullen ONE Class 1 EV Cargo Van will also take place at the Tunica facility. Deliveries of both Class 1 and Class 3 vehicles are expected by the end of 2023.
Siemens eMobility is part of Siemens Smart Infrastructure. It offers IoT-enabled hardware, software and services for AC and DC charging from 11 to 300 kW for a broad range of applications.
Siemens says this acquisition will complement its existing eMobility charging portfolio, adding products and solutions for DC fast charging focused on electric bus and truck fleets. Heliox’s portfolio will also extend Siemens’s market reach, primarily in Europe and North America.
“This is an important milestone that adds value to our fast-growing eMobility charging business” said Matthias Rebellius, Siemens board member and CEO of Smart Infrastructure. “In addition to expanding our offering, we see digitalization and software potential with regard to energy and depot management and services.”
ADS-TEC Energy, a manufacturer of battery storage-based platform solutions, has partnered with charging solutions provider eliso to install ChargeBox and ChargePost DC fast charging systems in the public car parks of specialist electrical stores in Germany.
ADS-TEC Energy’s battery-buffered fast charging solutions can temporarily store electricity from a local photovoltaic system in order to provide charging at power levels up to 320 kW, even at locations with power-limited grid connections.
ADS-TEC’s latest model, ChargePost, combines two battery-buffered charging columns, complete with charging electronics and battery storage, and offers up to 300 kW of DC power. Two optional 75-inch monitors can be used as advertising surfaces.
ADS-TEC’s ChargeBox incorporates a battery unit and all charging technology into a cube with a footprint of only 1.6 square meters, and can serve multiple charging points (dispensers) that can be flexibly positioned within a radius of 100 meters, indoors or out. The ChargeBox charges continuously from the available grid, and can provide charging power up to 320 kW at one charging point, or 160 kW at each of two parallel chargers.
“Our storage-based platform solutions are simple and quick to install, without additional grid expansion,” said Thomas Speidel, CEO, ADS-TEC Energy. “They offer outstanding charging performance, allowing EVs to charge up to a range of more than 100 kilometers in just a few minutes.”
“The partnership with ADS-TEC Energy is an important step in our plan to build a public fast charging network,” said Johannes Brodführer, Managing Director of eliso. “The battery storage in the charging stations from ADS-TEC Energy allows high-power charging at locations with low [grid] power.”
Yellow school bus icon Blue Bird is going electric—the company has nearly 1,000 electric school buses in operation today. The latest order comes from Miami-Dade County Public Schools, which will add 20 electric buses to its all-Blue Bird fleet of 1,000 school buses.
Miami-Dade County is the third-largest school district in the nation, serving more than 335,000 students. The school district received a $11.6-million grant from Florida’s Volkswagen Mitigation Settlement Trust fund to acquire the electric buses.
Blue Bird will provide its Vision electric school buses to Miami-Dade through its authorized dealer, Florida Transportation Systems in Tampa.
Each vehicle can carry 72 students, and has a range of up to 120 miles. Florida Power & Light will install 50 DC fast charging stations. Ten charging stations at the district’s Southwest Transportation Facility are expected to be operational by September 2023.
“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is excited to put its first 20 electric, zero-emission school buses into service,” said Superintendent Dr. Jose L. Dotres. “We are looking forward to a successful pilot program and to building on our decades-long relationship with Blue Bird.”
“This pilot program is a wonderful first step in the electrification of Miami-Dade’s fleet and improving the air quality for its students and the community at large,” said Blue Bird President Britton Smith. “We could not be more pleased to help a long-term and highly valued customer transition to electric buses and clean student transportation.”
KACO, a German sealant manufacturer, is selling components and assemblies for common battery cell types.
KACO’s battery quick exhaust valves release air immediately if a battery fails. The company says the flow-optimized vent valves provide an exceptional height-to-volume ratio. All designs can have extra aeration and deaeration elements to prevent failure and maintain battery pressure equalization due to pressure and temperature changes.
KACO’s battery solutions include new features for cylindrical and prismatic cells. For cylindrical cells, there are various housing designs available. Automated production includes cleaning, end-of-line testing and packaging to deliver large quantities to meet growing demand. The lid is the end cover of a cylindrical container and technically viable with a bursting function. For prismatic cells, a lid assembly forms the end cap and consists of several individual components. In a completely automated manufacturing line, the components are fed to the plant and assembled in several stages.
“KACO has used its expertise to develop innovative battery parts together with the customer to improve the performance, reliability and safety of battery systems in the automotive industry,” the company said.
As the demand for efficient and sustainable energy solutions grows exponentially, manufacturers are turning to automation to streamline their processes and accelerate speed to market.
In this tech article, Bosch Rexroth explores the transformative power of automation technology in the world of battery production. Uncover the customized approaches, robotic systems, and smart manufacturing techniques that are revolutionizing battery production, ushering in a new era of faster, more reliable, and cost-effective energy storage solutions. Join us on this journey through the automated assembly lines and discover how Bosch Rexroth is shaping the future of the battery industry.
Vertexcom Technologies, a smart charging communication chip design company, has announced support for ISO 15118-20 Bidirectional Power Transfer (BPT), also known as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) transfer, in its chipsets.
Vertexcom’s HomePlug GreenPHY SECC chipset MSE1021+MSEX24-i and EVCC chipset MSE1022+MSEX25-i support the implementation of ISO 15118-20 BPT. Drivers can save or make money by using electricity stored in their EV when rates are high and recharging when rates are low. The Combined Charging System (CCS) standard allows direct bidirectional access to the EV or its battery via the charging station, without the need to install V2G hardware in the car. CCS-enabled DC wall boxes can charge and discharge EVs at home and are compatible with high-power charging infrastructure elsewhere.
BPT is a feature of the ISO 15118-20, “second-generation network layer and application layer requirements” published in April 2022.
“Drivers using BPT can provide service to the grid for stabilization, to the home for self-consumption, to buildings such as company offices and to tools or consumer devices,” the company said. “The goal is to transform EVs into mobile energy storage systems.”
Comcast Smart Solutions, a division of telecom titan Comcast, has announced a reseller agreement with NovaCHARGE, a provider of networked EV charging solutions.
Comcast Business and Xfinity Communities customers, including local governments, multifamily properties and businesses, can now add NovaCHARGE’s utility-grade EV charging stations to their properties, including access to ChargeUP, the company’s charging platform management system, and NovaBOT proactive monitoring and analysis.
NovaCHARGE’s open standards-based EV charging solution portfolio includes hardware, software, networking, optional turnkey installation, maintenance and customer support.
“We are excited to collaborate with NovaCHARGE to enhance the accessibility of high-powered EV charging solutions across the country,” said Mike Slovin, VP and Manager of Comcast Smart Solutions. “This collaboration strengthens our solutions portfolio and caters to the specific need for secure, flexible and scalable solutions for our customers.”
“As carmakers continue to expand the availability and affordability of electric vehicles, the lack of adequate and reliable charging infrastructure remains a significant hurdle to widespread adoption,” said Oscar Rodriguez, Chairman and CEO, NovaCHARGE. “Through our collaboration with Comcast Smart Solutions, we are furthering our commitment to address this crucial need by offering highly customizable solutions that put customer needs first.”
One of the world’s largest construction companies is now testing one of the world’s largest EVs.
Turner Construction Company is conducting a pilot of Volvo Construction Equipment’s 23-ton EC230 Electric excavator. Turner is using the e-excavator on a light manufacturing reconfiguration project for Applied Materials in Silicon Valley. The enormous EV will be used for the placement of deep utilities, backfilling, building pad excavation, compaction and material movement.
“Turner is a great organization for us to partner with to test the capabilities and benefits of a zero-emission machine that is a major advancement in bringing sustainability solutions to our industry,” said Scott Young, Acting President of Volvo CE North America.
“We’re excited to provide operator feedback to equipment manufacturers and help support the low-emission equipment market,” said Turner Construction Project Executive Evan Walker.
One major challenge for EVs on construction job sites is providing sufficient charging power. As part of the EC230 Electric excavator pilot, Sunbelt Rentals is providing a mobile, off-grid energy storage solution. A 600 kWh battery energy storage system BESS will power a mobile fast charger, so the excavator can be recharged over a lunch break to provide sufficient power for a full day’s work.
“A BESS is ideal because the power can be quickly delivered to the machine with ease in remote locations without requiring the machine to move for charging,” said Brent Coffey, Director, Product Line Management for Sunbelt Rentals.
The Turner Construction Company project is one of several pilots Volvo CE has scheduled for the EC230 Electric excavator in North America.
The EC230 Electric has launched in Europe and China, and is expected to be available in North America in 2024. It will join Volvo’s lineup of commercially available battery-electric heavy equipment: three compact excavator models, two compact wheel loader models and an asphalt compactor.
Back in January, Electrify America announced plans to build a huge solar photovoltaic project in California’s Mojave Desert that would generate more than enough energy to offset the energy delivered to the company’s EV charging customers.
Now Electrify America has announced the start of commercial operation for the new 75 Megawatt (MW) Electrify America Solar Glow 1 solar photovoltaic renewable energy generation project. Solar Glow 1 is the result of a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with developer Terra-Gen.
EA says it already gets all its energy from renewable sources. However, with the construction of this new power plant, the company is adding new renewable energy generation (additionality), not just using already-existing generation.
The Solar Glow 1 project features over 200,000 solar panels and encompasses an area of over one square mile. It is expected to generate 75 MW at peak capacity, which is comparable to the power drawn by 500 EVs charging at once at an average speed of 150 kW. Total annual production is projected at 225 GWh.
“We expect the demand on our charging network to continue to rise with the increase in EV ownership,” said Jigar Shah, Director of Energy Services at Electrify America. “Solar Glow 1 adds new additional 100% renewable energy generation with estimated annual production that exceeds our 2022 network usage.”
“This solar project is a significant accomplishment, reinforcing our commitment in 2022 to back all energy delivered to customers on Electrify America’s coast-to-coast public, ultra-fast DC charging network with 100% renewable energy,” said Robert Barrosa, CEO of Electrify America.
East Tennessee Clean Fuels (ETCF) and industry partners have established a new program to encourage workplace charging, complete with a nifty new acronym. Equitable Mobility Powering Opportunities for Workplace Electrification Readiness (EMPOWER) will provide up to 24 Tennessee workplaces with free technical assistance and consulting to help them install EV chargers.
ETCF, which is housed within the University of Tennessee, is also partnering with local electric utilities, including the Knoxville Utilities Board, Brightridge, Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Memphis Light Gas & Water and the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide additional support and technical assistance for workplace EV charging, such as helping to determine the necessary electrical infrastructure, providing guidance on installation and permitting requirements, and providing information about rate options and incentives.
As a Justice40 initiative, one of EMPOWER TN’s goals is that 40 percent of the EVSEs installed will be at workplaces with historically underserved demographics. This includes workplaces owned by women or minorities, with majority minority workforces, or with employees who live in rural, low-income or low-air-quality areas.
The East Tennessee Clean Fuels web site includes a comprehensive Workplace Charging Guide that covers everything an employer needs to get started on a workplace charging plan.
Newly launched renewables services company Bullet EV, headquartered in Austin, Texas, has announced its goal of taking on the challenges of EV charger scarcity, a strained power grid and volatile electricity rates.
“Current and projected demand for EV chargers is the catalyst for the formation of Bullet EV,” said COO Mark Vogel, citing data from S&P Global Mobility showing that forecasts of EV sales demand will require the number of EV chargers to quadruple by 2025 and grow more than eightfold by 2030.
Bullet EV initially offered installation, repair and maintenance services for EV charging stations, solar panels and battery storage for commercial and residential customers in Texas, Arizona, California and Colorado. The company plans to expand nationally during 2024.
The arrival of alternative energy vehicles represents the biggest disruption to the fuel market in many years. For EV charging operators, this represents an opportunity to capture an untapped market potential that is destined to grow on a massive scale. Simultaneously, for gas stations owners, convenience stores and retailers alike, it is a matter of attracting drivers and creating new revenue streams, an element too big to be ignored.
Location technology and data are now key to many data-driven processes in various industries and is now proven to be a key differentiator in building an optimal EV charging location strategy. The growth of the EV market means that there is no “one size fits all” for charging stations. Since accelerating the adoption of EVs is a priority, and rising demand in cleaner transport are challenging the existing models, it is essential to set up accurate site selection scoring models for sales forecasting.
The main challenge for today’s charging network companies and real estate industry is how to properly develop their EV strategy, where to start, and what tools and data are available to help them in their decision-making. You don’t know what you don’t know. So, making sure you work with a partner that understands the changing market dynamics is critical.
In this webinar you will learn:
How to leverage location analytics for developing a future proof EV infrastructure strategy to reduce the total cost of ownership.
How to leverage and navigate in a geographic visualization tool built from a top-of-the-line data combination of data sources.
Trends in EV network branding strategies and the new loyalty paradigm.
This webinar will be hosted by CHARGED on Wednesday 6th September, 1pm US EDT
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced more than $192 million in additional financing for recycling consumer product batteries, forming an advanced battery R&D collaboration and continuing the 2019 Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize.
The Advanced Battery R&D Consortium funding opportunity will provide up to $60 million to convene major EV manufacturers, universities, National Laboratory partners, mineral and material suppliers and other key battery stakeholders to address critical battery needs for the next phase of wide-scale EV commercialization.
The Battery Recycling Prize launched in January 2019 has to date awarded $5.5 million for innovative solutions to collecting, sorting, storing and transporting spent and discarded lithium-ion batteries. The DOE is providing $7.4 million to fund a new Breakthrough Contest, as well as Phase IV of the Prize.
The funding supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s aim of having EVs make up half of all car sales in America by 2030 and builds on President Biden’s roughly $3 billion budget for EV and battery innovations under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As of April 2023, over 3.6 million EVs have been sold in America and over half of them were sold since President Biden assumed office. Since 2008, battery prices have dropped 90% while energy density and performance have grown.
“Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, these investments in battery production and recycling will ensure the US has a secure and sustainable domestic supply chain that strengthens our economy,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
Nissan has announced that total worldwide sales of its EVs have surpassed one million. The company’s biggest seller, the Nissan LEAF, which was introduced in 2010, has sold more than 650,000 units in approximately 50 markets concentrated in Japan, the US and Europe.
Other Nissan EVs include the Sakura minivehicle and the Ariya crossover, both launched in 2022. The Ariya features the company’s e-4ORCE all-wheel control and ProPILOT 2.0 driver support.
Cumulative EV sales as of June 30 of this year are 320,000 in Europe, 230,000 in Japan, 230,000 in China, 210,000 in North America and 10,000 in other regions.
The company plans to launch 19 new EV models by fiscal year 2030 and to offer EVs by 2028 that are powered by all-solid-state batteries developed in-house.
The first session topics for the Fall 2023 Charged Virtual Conference on EV Engineering are out now.
Just like the content Charged brings you every day, conference topics will span the entire 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.
The free-to-attend conference will be broadcast October 2 – 5, 2023, featuring live presentations, interactive Q&As, on-demand webinars, and whitepaper downloads. All of the conference session recordings will also be available to view on-demand after the live event.
Sponsorships and promotional opportunities are also available. Learn more here.
Do you have technical and practical expertise in an EV-related engineering field? Share it with the EV industry at our Virtual Conference: Call for Speakers.
Within an electric vehicle (EV) battery system, the battery management system (BMS) is the electronic system that manages the battery pack and the cells. The BMS is critical for optimum battery performance and safety which means it must operate with a high degree of accuracy and reliability. It must be able to withstand the harsh environment it resides in yet remain compact, lightweight, and limit any additional bulk to the overall battery pack.
In considering the above, we would love to share more information about the BMS in EVs and how connector systems play an integral role in achieving the requirements needed for the BMS. To learn more, register now to access our BMS Resource Kit.
The BMS Resource Kit Includes:
Application Guide: Signal and Power Connector Systems for EV Batteries
Brochure: Connectivity Solutions for Battery Management
E-Mobility Interactive Illustration
Battery Interactive Illustration
White Paper: Automotive Connector Strategies and Solutions for Space Reduction
White Paper: Battery Connectivity, Management and Protection
The electric vehicle revolution is transforming the way we think about transportation, and as a retailer, you have a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of this transformative movement. EV chargers are not just the future – they are the present. Embracing the innovation and adoption of EV chargers can set your business on a path towards sustainable success.
Consider that installing EV chargers isn’t just about being environmentally friendly – it’s about driving your retail business forward. Offering EV charging facilities attracts more foot traffic, extends customer dwell time, and creates brand loyalty among EV owners. Be a part of the green movement and watch your sales soar!
Download the eBook to gain a deeper understanding of:
The accelerated EV adoption projection
Choosing the right location
The importance of convenience for customers
City reconfigurations
How geospatial data can help you craft the right solution
Build your strategy to implement tomorrow’s vehicles with geospatial!
California-based silicon anode battery maker Amprius Technologies announced that its batteries helped power the first successful stratospheric flight trial of PHASA-35, a High-Altitude PseudoSatellite (HAPS) uncrewed aerial system designed by Prismatic, a subsidiary of UK aerospace company BAE Systems. Amprius entered into a three-year cooperation agreement with BAE Systems in 2022.
During the June test flight in New Mexico, the solar-electric drone, designed to operate above weather and conventional air traffic, reached an altitude of more than 66,000 feet before successfully landing, reports Amprius.
According to BAE, the PHASA-35, which is powered by the sun during the day and by batteries overnight, has the potential to maintain flight for up to a year in the stratosphere.
“This ultralight platform provides an alternative and flexible approach to traditional systems such as satellites or conventionally powered aircraft,” said Dr. Kang Sun, CEO of Amprius.
Many fail to appreciate the potential of wireless charging—it’s not just a way for EV drivers to save the few seconds it takes to plug in a cable. As Bob Kacergis of Momentum Dynamics explained to Charged in a 2022 feature article, wireless charging, done properly, can be truly transformative for EV fleets, delivering longer vehicle range, longer battery life and a more efficient use of charging stations—to say nothing of enabling the deployment of autonomous vehicles.
The former Momentum Dynamics is now known as InductEV, and the company recently hosted an event to inaugurate its new Research & Development Center, which is devoted exclusively to high-power, high-speed wireless charging for EVs and commercial fleets.
InductEV’s wireless Research & Development Center is housed in a 50,000-square-foot facility at the company’s global headquarters in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
At InductEV’s Unwired conference, more than 120 automotive, EV charging, and commercial fleet industry executives, analysts, investors and vendors were given a tour of the R&D facility and a demo of the company’s high-speed, high-power wireless charging.
InductEV says its proprietary solution for commercial fleets is currently being used in 20+ locations throughout North America and Europe. It has plans to launch in Asia, and is on track to achieve a tenfold growth in bookings in 2023.
“As the transport sector electrifies, it’s clear that wireless charging will ultimately replace plug-ins after one considers the cost savings, convenience and efficiency,” observed Barry Libert, Chairman and CEO, Induct EV. “Granted, it’s early days, but we’re seeing considerable excitement among public transit fleets and port vehicle (drayage) operators who’ve adopted our technology solution.”
The move from traditional engine vehicles to Electric Vehicles is driving a need for engineered equipment and infrastructure to support the transformation. The arrival of advanced technologies and the exponential growth predicted for electric vehicle charging is inviting industrial designers to consider a new mix of design challenges.
As more EV Charging Stations are deployed, there is a need for well-designed and secure enclosures to protect the equipment. These enclosures must be effectively and seamlessly integrated into existing urban environments, and they must be regularly accessed by both technical personnel and the general public. That access needs to be highly secure and well managed, yet at the same time easy to use and cleanly integrated into the built environment.
There are a range of best practices that can be followed for adding engineered access hardware to EV Charging infrastructure, including the role that usability, security and longevity of this equipment plays in the design process. Selecting the right hardware can enhance this equipment, as well as the competitive value of enclosure technologies.
Nevertheless, industrial designers need to be equally aware of ways to incorporate access systems cleanly into enclosures so that they seamlessly merge into our built cityscapes, through the use of hidden hinges and elegantly designed latches that complement industrial design.
EV Chargers: new fixtures for the smart city
EV charging stations will eventually become as ubiquitous as the gasoline station, with much of the same requirement: the ability for the EV driver to access the charger, connect it to their vehicle and “pay at the pump”. As well as appearing next to the traditional gas pump at gas stations, EV charging stations will find their way into parking lots, convenience stores and streetscapes.
That creates a security risk: EV charging stations contain expensive electrical equipment and have direct links to communications networks, making them targets for thieves and hackers. Since they are in unsupervised locations, EV charging station designers must carefully consider incorporating the same level of secure access hardware, including top-level electronic access solutions with audit trail capabilities, to provide the same level of protection that 5G enclosures require.
There is a clear trend toward designing EV charging stations to incorporate branding elements and distinctive visual designs so that EV vehicle operators can easily spot them. Electronic access solutions providers can help support this industrial design challenge with concealed locking mechanisms and hardware that help achieve marketing design goals.
Help selecting the right access hardware
The smart city is not going to be built out in an empty field — in almost all cases the technology to make a city “smarter” will need to be retrofitted into our existing cityscapes. This is one of the most critical challenges design engineers face when creating enclosure designs and selecting access hardware to secure them.
A key source of support and creative solutions for these challenges is a proven access hardware supplier with extensive experience addressing both functional and aesthetic challenges. They can often draw on existing portfolios and design concepts to help solve these critical engineering and design challenges.
Choosing a proven supplier can be the “smart” move to ensuring that the technology infrastructure enabling the benefits of the smart city is well protected, easily accessed and intelligently woven into existing urban environments.
Using funds appropriated by the Inflation Reduction Act, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy will award US mining company Graphite One $37.5 million to support development of a graphite supply chain solution based at the company’s Graphite Creek deposit on the Seward Peninsula about 37 miles north of Nome.
The grant follows the designation of graphite by the Defense Production Act as a battery material “essential to national defense.” The US is currently completely dependent on imported graphite; China is the leading producer.
The proposed Graphite One project is a vertically integrated enterprise to mine, process and manufacture anode materials primarily for the lithium‐ion EV battery market. Initial processing into concentrate at a plant adjacent to the mine would be followed by the manufacture of natural and artificial graphite anode materials and other value‐added graphite products from the concentrate and other materials at a proposed facility, expected to be located in Washington State. Plans also call for a co-located recycling facility to reclaim graphite and other battery materials.
“This Department of Defense (DoD) grant underscores our confidence in our strategy to build a 100% US-based advanced graphite supply chain—from mining to refining to recycling,” said Anthony Huston, founder and CEO of Graphite One.
TeraWatt Infrastructure recently hosted a groundbreaking event for a new charging site for light-duty EV fleets in Inglewood, California. The site will feature 26 DC fast chargers, along with amenities for drivers. It’s slated to be operational in early 2024.
The charging hub benefited from a $1.9-million California Energy Commission grant in support of ride-hail electrification. Its location near Los Angeles International Airport is likely to ensure a steady stream of business from ride-share drivers and other commercial users.
As California gradually phases out legacy ICE vehicles, charging hubs for commercial EVs will be an essential part of the ecosystem, but most fleet operators aren’t in a position to build out the necessary infrastructure themselves. As CEO Neha Palmer explained to Charged in a 2021 feature article, TeraWatt has the real estate, the utility connections and the charging expertise to offer a turnkey solution for charging infrastructure and services, enabling fleets to make a seamless transition to EVs. (WattEV, which focuses more on medium- and heavy-duty EV fleets, recently opened a similar charging hub at the Port of Long Beach, and has secured funding for two more.)
TeraWatt CEO & Co-Founder Neha Palmer, California Energy Commissioner Patty Monahan, Inglewood Councilman Eloy Morales Jr., and State Senator Steven Bradford pose with shovels and hard hats at TeraWatt’s LAX area groundbreaking ceremony in Inglewood, CA.
“Our goal is to provide a seamless charging solution with both infrastructure and services so that fleets can more rapidly accelerate their electrification efforts,” said CEO and co-founder Neha Palmer. “The move to EVs is happening now, not just for consumers, but for fleets. The Inglewood charging site is the first of many infrastructure build-outs that will enable businesses to holistically adopt a sustainable transportation strategy.”
