Jump to content

Electric Vehicles

General EV News not specific to any one brand.

84 articles in this category

  1. G. David Felt ·
    Donut Lab started with the dream of a light weight fast in-wheel motor and they delivered it in a 17" form factor that packed 150 kW (201 HP) with 1200 Nm (886 lb-ft) of torque in a 21 kg (46 lbs) weight. Welcome to the TS Ultra from the Verge Motor cycles company.  Experience Life on the Verge - Verge Motorcycles Besides delivering on the dream of a possible light cycle from the movie TRON, the performance is ama
    • Donut Lab has introduced at the 2025 CES shows the lightest in-wheel motor, and it is already in production in one of the coolest bikes around, is this the future?

    • 3 comments
    • 849 views
  2. Drew Dowdell ·
    A commonly held perception about lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and hybrids may not be true according to a Stanford University study that shows the batteries lasting longer than earlier lab tests had shown. In a paper published on December 9th, researchers from the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory monitored differences in battery health when the batteries were subjected to two types of battery charge and discharge cycled. 
    • All the worry about how long an electric vehicle battery might last might be for nothing.

    • 10 comments
    • 1,161 views
  3. G. David Felt ·
    EVgo, a publicly traded national company offering public fast charging stations across North America teamed up with various auto companies like GM, Toyota and Subaru to offer fast charging stations access to customers of newly purchased electric vehicles. EVgo had 1,000 public EV stations in August of 2023, and a year later in 2024 they opened their 2,000th DC fast charging station and are on pace to finish out 2024 with 2,850 DC fast cha
    • EVgo has secured what will allow them to grow into the future as they build out their charging stations across the U.S., find out what the future holds for EVgo and the public.

    • 0 comments
    • 945 views
  4. G. David Felt ·
    Electrify America, the largest open Hyper-Fast charging network in the U.S., and Costco Wholesale are offering electric vehicle charging at five Costco Wholesale locations. The charging stations feature Hyper-Fast chargers- capable of speeds up to 350 kW- and will help meet the growing demand for open and convenient fast charging. Electrify America - Costco Wholesale Station Facts Five charging stations in
    • Costco, a leading wholesale club has joined forces with the largest Hyper-fast charging network to open new charging stations at Costco Locations.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,084 views
  5. G. David Felt ·
    Toyota Motor Corporation has joined the IONNA network to support their EV auto's is the first part of what has happened with IONNA, but the next is that IONNA broke ground on building their first 10 Covered Stall Fast Charging station that will offer both CCS and NACS along with a place to relax and refuel the body. The 10 stalls will offer charging at up to 400kWs and 800+volt charging service. The location of this first station is APEX
    • Check out who has joined the IONNA fast charging network and what the first of many stations to come will look like.

    • 0 comments
    • 939 views
  6. Drew Dowdell ·
    Today, Toyota announced that it will join the seven other manufacturers already involved in IONNA as the eighth founding and investing member.  This move will grant Toyota and Lexus buyers access to the growing DC Fast Charging network. The IONNA charging network was founded in July 2023 to provide an alternative to the fragmented and sometimes unreliable third-party networks currently available. Several non-Tesla manufacturers expressed frustration with frequent
    • IONNA is a cooperation of seven, now eight, vehicle manufacturers set to build 30,000 charge ports in North America by 2030

    • 9 comments
    • 1,660 views
  7. Drew Dowdell ·
    Electric vehicle infrastructure news has been booming in the last few weeks and months.  Last week, Choice Hotels announced they would be rolling out EV charging at most of their properties following similar announcements by Marriott and Hilton back in September, in December Pilot / Flying J and General Motors Partnership opened their first 17 High-Speed Charging Locations, and IONNA, a charging network founded by seven auto manufacturers, commenced operations earlier this month. In a recen
    • Buried in an announcement about store remodels, Walmart announces its own charging network.

    • 2 comments
    • 2,299 views
  8. G. David Felt ·
    Back on July 26th, 2023, we reported that seven automakers came together to form a charging network to rival that of Tesla.  Today, they announced that on February 1st, 2023, CEO Seth Cutler started IONNA operations in Torrance, California with the announcement of having received approval from regulatory authorities, and is commencing operations. This joint venture of these foremost automakers will bring a open charging network that is accessible to all electric vehicles with both NACS and
    • The joint venture of seven of the world's foremost automakers begins EV charging operations in North America.

    • 2 comments
    • 3,131 views
  9. Drew Dowdell ·
    Choice Hotels has announced a deal with Tesla to install chargers across its range of properties.  Participating brands Radisson, Quality Inn, Cambria, Comfort, Country Inn & Suite, and other Choice brands can add four or more Tesla Universal Wall Connectors for guests to use.  Guests are able to filter their hotel search to find properties offering charging inside the Choice Hotels app.  Customers who have one of Choice Hotels' branded credit cards will be eligible for points bonuses when u
    • Participating Hotels will be able to install four or more Tesla Universal Wall Connectors

    • Editor-in-Chief
    • 2 comments
    • 1,254 views
  10. Drew Dowdell ·
    In a vague press release today, automobile supplier Magna announced they have signed a contract with a North American based vehicle manufacturer to produce a high-power, electrified, rear-drive unit for a high-end vehicle at an unnamed brand, with production commencing "in the next couple of years".  While details of the vehicle are cagey, there are some clues as to where the drive unit might end up. Based on Magna's eDS Duo, the unit will utilize 800v architecture and be capable of roughly
    • Someone just contracted Magna to build a 974 horsepower rear axle eDrive unit.

    • Editor-in-Chief
    • 8 comments
    • 2,010 views
  11. G. David Felt ·
    Every automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has their own platform, or they have signed an agreement with another OEM to use their EV platform. The following chart lists all of the current North American Automotive OEMs and the platform details that they have released. While there are a few oddball platform voltages such as the Toyota/Lexus/Subaru platform with a 355-volt system or the Lucid with a 924-volt system, the bulk of the OEM auto manufactures have gone with a
    • Electric vehicles (EV) are the rage globally and as such, the question that comes up is simple. What is the voltage of the OEM EV platform, and does it make a difference?

    • 1 comment
    • 1,202 views
  12. G. David Felt ·
    United States Postal Service (USPS) has taken an interesting road to updating their fleet of mail delivery vehicles.  Lets start with March 24th, 2022 the USPS signs a contract with OshKosh Defense to the tune of $2.98 billion dollars for 50,000 mail trucks and 10,019 are to be EV. These new trucks are to replace the very aged fleet that is currently running on empty and lack many modern conveniences. The LLV or Long-Life Delivery Vehicles lacked many things from AC to a wide var
    • USPS has signed commitments with three auto companies for EV vans to start updating their ancient mail delivery fleet.

    • 6 comments
    • 2,022 views
  13. Drew Dowdell ·
    Pilot-Flying J and General Motors opened the first seventeen locations of their partnership for high-speed charging across the U.S., with twenty-five total targeted to be open by the end of the month. The chargers are part of the EVgo network and can deliver up to 350 kW charging.  The partnership is targeting an additional 175 locations open by the end of next year. The newly opened locations are spread across 13 states and feature round-the-clock staff, food and restroom amenities, and fr
    • Editor-in-Chief
    • 7 comments
    • 1,997 views
  14. G. David Felt ·
    Factorial loves to quote Thomas Edison who in 1883 said the following: "The storage battery is, in my opinion, a catchpenny, a sensation, a mechanism for swindling the public by stock companies." Factorial states that this sentiment is true and has been held over the last 138 years till now. Investing in solid-state battery R&D over the last 6 years has allowed Factorial to create their proprietary FEST (Factorial Electrolyte System Technology). Factorial held their
    • Located in Methuen, Massachusetts, Factorial opens their production facility for Solid-State Batteries with massive expansion capabilities.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,304 views
  15. G. David Felt ·
    What happens when you take a CALSTART Advanced Transportation graduate with a marketing and product development leader and connect them with Lee Iacocca, many others who are specialists in the EV industry and a connection to NASA? EV FOR EVERYONE (orbiselectric.com) You get a brain trust of individuals who have access to funding and additional folks that have helped set Bonneville Salt Flats speed records with a passion to help people convert to electric vehicles in minimal time.
    • They say if you can give a way to convert an auto to the way one wants it for the future, they will come. Has ORBIS ELECTRIC found the holy grail of EV for EVERYONE?

    • 1 comment
    • 5,995 views
  16. Drew Dowdell ·
    Fresh off Hilton's partnership announcement with Tesla to install 20,000 chargers, Marriott has announced a partnership with EV Connect to deploy, manage, and service EV chargers at Marriott locations across the U.S. and Canada.  Marriott brand hotel operators will have a turnkey solution from EV Connect to add and manage charging stations at their properties. Rather than a one-size-fits-all solution, EV Connect offers various charger capacities, including DC Fast Charging, tailored to the
    • Over 6,000 Marriott locations will qualify, but each location must opt-in for charger installs.

    • Editor-in-Chief
    • 0 comments
    • 585 views
  17. Drew Dowdell ·
    Hilton has announced that they will install up to 20,000 Tesla Universal Wall Connectors at 2,000 hotels across North America, creating the largest EV charging network in the hotel industry.  The project will start in early 2024 and include at least six chargers at each selected hotel. Hilton says that customers are increasingly searching for EV charging at their hotels, with the charging availability filter being the second highest attribute that converts a search to a booking. For Hilton, allo
    • In an expanded agreement, Hilton will install at least six Tesla Universal Wall Connectors at each eligible location.

    • 1 comment
    • 728 views
  18. Drew Dowdell ·
    BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis announced a new venture today to build out an EV charging network to rival Tesla's.  The aim is to install at least 30,000 high-speed charging points in urban and highway locations across then country.  The first chargers will go online in the U.S. in the summer of 2024, with chargers in Canada following shortly after. Of the manufacturers in this venture, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz recently announced agreements w
    • Minimum of 30,000 high-speed charging points nationwide

    • 7 comments
    • 1,731 views
  19. G. David Felt ·
    Today June 29th, 2023 the North America largest independent charging station company, Electrify America (EA) has announced their commitment to a broad charging solution for Electric Vehicles today by adding NACS connectors to their stations. EA will continue to provide CCS-1 connectors throughout their network of charging stations and will add the Tesla NACS connector option to all existing and future charging stations by 2025. Robert Barrosa, president and CEO of Electrify America sta
    • EA or Electrify America has announced they will add NACS connectors to their North America Charging stations.

    • 46 comments
    • 1,802 views
  20. G. David Felt ·
    January 26th, 2022 Mercedes-Benz signed a partnership with ProLogium in developing next-generation batteries for electric vehicles. Mercedes has committed to a complete all electric auto portfolio starting in 2030. As such, having easily accessible supplies of battery packs would be needed on top of planning for next generation battery cells known at solid-state. Mercedes with a heavy financial commitment to R&D under ProLogium and a seat on ProLogium's board is looking for ways t
    • ProLogium claims it's LLCB doubles energy density and releases to European Auto companies testing samples.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,569 views
  21. G. David Felt ·
    According to the news story from NIKKEI Asia The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has designated battery cells as a crucial part of Japan's economic security and has secured $330 Billion Yen in supplementary fiscal budget to support the Japanese sector. Beneficiary of this is that $120 Billion Yen or $853 million dollars will go to Toyota Motor Corporation to support their R&D in developing the 900-mile solid-state battery that Toyota talked about in their revolutionization of th
    • The Japanese government recognizing that Japan has less than 10% of the global battery cell market, will fund Toyota R&D to help capture market share.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,044 views
  22. G. David Felt ·
    The last couple of weeks has seen a flurry of announcements in signing on with Tesla corporation around their charging stations and their NACS charging standard. First, let understand that the Tesla NACS was offered to the auto industry that snubbed it and went to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) who developed the CCS1 connector that combined the standard J1772 connector with two high-speed charging pins. Currently the existing EVs other than Tesla and plugin Hybrids use this conne
    • What is NACS and is it the new Standard that everyone is moving too?

    • 20 comments
    • 2,439 views
  23. G. David Felt ·
    FUD stands for "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" and is a communication tactic used to influence people towards having a negative perception of something, generally through deliberate misinformation or inciting fear. The term has been in use since the 1920s and has also been used to mean "fear, uncertainty, and disinformation". FUD can also refer to a general mindset of pessimism about a particular asset or market, as well as the manipulation of investor or consumer emotions so that they succumb to
    • The battle will not go away of ICE versus EV, but the FUD (FEAR, UNCERTANTY, & DOUBT) is getting Deep. What is coming and what should you know?

    • 0 comments
    • 1,049 views
  24. G. David Felt ·
    One could do a basic internet search and come up with plenty of stories on the top 8, Top 10 or Top 12 solid state battery companies in 2023. Here at Cheers and Gears we have done 9 such stories covering College Research turned into Battery Startup's that all have their own take on the ultimate Forever battery of Solid State design. What is a solid-state battery and why is it considered a Forever battery? To understand this discussion, we have to start with understanding the difference
    • The EV Revolution that many people are excited about will not happen till better batteries, forever batteries are used according to the media such as Investorplace.com, Bloomberg, etc., is this right?

    • 1 comment
    • 1,943 views
  25. G. David Felt ·
    Today's electric vehicles (EV) all have battery management systems, these systems are either the old 400V system such as Mercedes-Benz uses or new 800V systems that General Motor and Hyundai / Kia uses. Depending on the size of the EV such as a subcompact where you have 66lbs of wiring from the battery pack to the controllers or a full-size EV where you can have 198lbs of wiring or more, wiring is an area that contributes mass to the overall weight of the EV. LG Innoteck has announced their
    • LG Innotek has produced the first wireless BMS system for the automotive industry allowing gains in EV range and management.

    • 1 comment
    • 1,368 views
  26. G. David Felt ·
    University of Maryland, director of Materials Innovation and lead author of the paper seems to think we can have a greener planet and healthier life by using shell fish or more specifically the Chitin that is found in the shellfish. Crabs are among just one of the many shellfish that not just Americans, but pretty much the global population loves to eat leaving tons and tons of shellfish for the garbage dump until now.  Lithium as we know has its own draw backs when it comes to m
    • Can a Biodegradable battery be made that can make the EV industry even cleaner? Some think they have found the answer.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,078 views
  27. G. David Felt ·
    Coupe or Convertible, your choice in what could easily be a 21st century Bond car. April 2022 Wiesmann revealed a Thunderball Concept EV to considerable excitement. This car features a classic two-seat, rear-wheel drive layout and lightweight carbon fibre construction, delivering performance, responsiveness, and engagement that enthusiasts demand. Wiesmann at the start of this year opened the books and as of this past Superbowl weekend, the first year production of the Wiesmann "Proje
    • Where artistic brilliance meets cutting-edge German technology, this is the Wiesmann Project Thunderball luxury roadster!

    • 2 comments
    • 1,506 views
  28. G. David Felt ·
    Revolution is never easy on any human population and yet the revolution that IONBLOX has for global humanity is truly evolutionary in both to the air and land movement of humans. Who is IONBLOX? Founded in 2017, IONBLOX (Formerly known as Zenlabs Energy) is a next-generation energy company transforming the future of mobility be it by land or air. Ionblox’s proprietary pre-lithiated silicon oxide anode distinguishes itself by simultaneousl
    • Air or Land, IONBLOX is pushing the limits of traditional battery storage technology for the next generation of fossil-free mobility.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,940 views
  29. G. David Felt ·
    Let's get to the core of why Infinitum is a company to watch, possibly invest in if you are comfortable with risk and how it could influence the Electric Vehicle movement of the global automotive industry. First, understand that electric motors have been around for over 100 years. They are made up of an iron core, a ton of wrapped copper wiring and can be very heavy. In this regard is the biggest reason for the change coming with a company like Infinitum. Example of traditional electri
    • Infinitum is an electric motor designer that no one has heard of yet, but that is about to change with their All-in-one solution.

    • 0 comments
    • 2,062 views
  30. G. David Felt ·
    Welcome to learning about EC Power, a team of researchers from Penn State that started in 2011 as a lithium-ion battery modeling software company. The need for real data to validate battery use in EVs led this team to build a small prototyping facility focused on software development. During this manufacturing process and testing of cells for model validation, EC Power realized that temperature is everything to a lithium-ion cell. Modern
    • No matter how many people you talk to about EVs, you will always have someone say EVs are dead till they charge as fast as internal combustion automobiles, Thermal Modulation might be the answer.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,272 views
  31. G. David Felt ·
    It started with legacy OEMs trying to build and sell electric automobiles over the last 100 plus years. It took Tesla to actually grab the attention of the public and now with Rivian, GM, Ford, Kia, Hyundia, VW and so many others, we now see almost every day EVs driving all around the world. There is no doubt the future will be electric, yet the state of electric fast charging is for some a hinderance to buying an EV as vehicle purchases are one of the largest decisions households make othe
    • Thanksgiving weekend is a time that many families drive to visit family/friends and EVs are a larger part of this drive than ever before, check out the latest update by the afdc (Alternative Fuels Data Center).

    • 0 comments
    • 1,372 views
  32. G. David Felt ·
    Domino's wants to introduce you to the future with their electric delivery fleet. Ordering Pizza and entering for their Chevrolet BOLT give away can be done here: Domino's Electric Delivery Domino's Pissa Inc. the largest pizza company in the world has chosen to standardize delivery on the 2023 Chevrolet BOLT electric vehicle.  During the month of November, Domino's will take delivery of 1
    • Domino's, the world's largest pizza chain is rolling out the future of Pizza Delivery during November 2022 and more over the following months.

    • 6 comments
    • 2,009 views
  33. G. David Felt ·
    The future is charging and with-it Chevron and Texaco, a subsidiary of Chevron are moving forward with EV Ultra-Fast Charging using FreeWire battery backed chargers. Both company owned and franchised retailer/marketer stations will have FreeWire Charging available. FreeWire's approach is an integrated one that couples battery integration and energy management software with analytics to optimize the ultra-fast charging of ones EV. FreeWire calls these Boost Chargers that will allo
    • Chevron, Texaco and FreeWire have announced a 10-year plan to add Ultra-Fast EV Chargers to all Stations in the U.S.

    • 8 comments
    • 1,933 views
  34. G. David Felt ·
    The Commercial Auto industry is usually a slow-moving beast when it comes to change. You can look at how little has changed in CAT tractors, Class 8 Semi Trucks and other companies. Recently change has started as Tesla showed off their own Electric Tesla Class 8 Semi Truck that has forced Paccar, parent owner of Peterbuilt and Kenworth Class 8 and more Diesel trucks to start investing in electric trucks. Caterpillar has rolled out the first of some new Hybrid and Diesel-electric
    • Battle Motors and ZF are leading the Commercial Industry's transformation to a sustainable future in EV Autos.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,168 views
  35. G. David Felt ·
    Seems since the start of the auto industry there has always been a push in a certain direction and much of that has been driven by the oil industry with ICE autos. With the start of the electrical vehicle the media narrative has been the world will be awash in dead batteries clogging up landfills and adding an expense to consumers in having to replace a $10,000 or more battery pack. Lately an interesting counter point was made in a story by Forbes magazine in an i
    • Haters of EVs have stated that EVs will leave the world awash in used battery packs and Nissan has stated that is just not true.

    • 2 comments
    • 1,294 views
  36. G. David Felt ·
    Hertz is leading the auto rental push into the EV space with GM. Here is the nuts and bolts of this agreement. Hertz plans to order up to 175,000 EVs from GM over the next five years Hertz will offer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop EVs across multiple vehicle categories Deliveries of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV are expected to begin first qu
    • Hertz and GM have announced a 175,000 EV purchase agreement over 5 years for Hertz U.S. rental sites.

    • 48 comments
    • 1,700 views
  37. G. David Felt ·
    We here at Cheers and Gears have covered plenty of battery companies in existing or startup form. We even covered places where one could invest some spare coin if interested in taking high risks with these battery tech companies. After all the Golden Goose is the battery company who delivers ICE like charging to an EV battery pack. Every University has groups of people working on their PhD, Doctorate, Masters, etc. in one field or another. Harvard University had a team of scientists that t
    • Combating climate change with next-gen battery technologies is the mission that Adden Energy promises with new Solid-State cells.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,747 views
  38. G. David Felt ·
    The current biggest cost to electric vehicles is the battery pack. Current battery technology is all focused-on Lithium-ion cells either in hard case cells like Tesla uses or soft case pouches like GM is using. There are positive and negative aspects to either cell type, yet the one thing all these cells have in common is an Anode and Cathode construction with a separator in between. As a battery is charged you ha
    • Our Next Energy (ONE), a Michigan-based startup has unveiled an anode-free battery pack to deliver on the future of EVs.

    • 3 comments
    • 1,392 views
  39. G. David Felt ·
    As we head into the Labor Day weekend, it is amazing how much Labor is going to be going on over the next couple of years in North America. Many new announcements have been made about upcoming EVs, yet bigger yet is the massive investment into new Battery Manufacturing sites here in the US. Back in 2019 there were plenty of collaborations by auto companies with college startups of battery research such as Hyundai and Mercedes investing in a company called Factorial which Stellantis joined i
    • While everyone is jumping on the EV auto road, not everyone is doing it the same and as such, pretty interesting to see what is happening this week in the industry for EVs & battery cells.

    • 1 comment
    • 1,200 views
  40. G. David Felt ·
    Global Climate Change is making companies look for better ways to do their business and with that in mind, Walmart has chosen Canoo  to help them achieve their zero-emissions by 2040 goal. Walmart's goal to offer sustainable delivery of online orders will start with the purchase of 4,500 LDV or Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles with expected use starting in 2023. The company plans to kick off advanced delivers to refine and finalize vehicle configurations in the Dalla-Fort Worth metroplex in the
    • Walmart has signed an agreement with Canoo for the purchase of the Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,322 views
  41. G. David Felt ·
    Leclanché Energy Storage Solutions of Switzerland has achieved a significant breakthrough in the safety of performance Lithium-ion batteries for use in EVs. Leclanché has taken current Lithium-ion cell production to the next step by adding a special fire-retardant additive to its electrolyte formula composition lowering the risk of thermal events by close to 80%. Verified by independent nail penetration tests has
    • Lithium-ion battery cell with no impact on performance achieves almost 80% reduction of risk of fire goes to production for EV use.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,575 views
  42. G. David Felt ·
    GM started BrightDrop as a decarbonizing last-mile delivery company. FedEx working to deliver on their corporate goal of zero-tailpipe emissions by 2040 choose only a couple months after BrightDrop's commercialization of the Zevo 600, the fastest all-electric vehicle to market in GM's history as the corner stone in FedEx's conversion from Diesel/Petrol last-mile delivery fleet to an EV fleet. To quote Mitch Jackson, Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), FedEx: “At FedEx, we have ambitio
    • FedEx is pleased to announce that they have taken delivery of their first 150 electric delivery vehicles from BrightDrop.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,015 views
  43. G. David Felt ·
    There is a war that has just started in the auto industry, and this is the transformation from ICE or internal combustion engine autos to EV or electric vehicles. The battle ground will be as much in the variations of the EVs that come from the global auto companies as will it be the power train and especially the battery packs. Sila the material solutions company spent the last 10 years perfecting their material science to move away from rare earth elements as much as possible and to incre
    • Sila is not just a materials science company, but a material solutions company scaling their solution for millions of EVs.

    • 2 comments
    • 1,250 views
  44. G. David Felt ·
    Love them or hate them, electric vehicles are here to stay as many auto companies are promising to go full electric on their product lines by 2030 to 2035. The goal here is to bring up for discussion many common myths about electric vehicles as electricity provides just another choice of how to power one's vehicle today. Today's options are gas, diesel, hydrogen, gas-electric hybrid and pure electric and if your 45 to 50 years old, these choices will likely be available for the rest of one'
    • The auto industry in the 21st century has become a battle ground between ICE or internal combustion engine and electric vehicles.

    • 12 comments
    • 1,824 views
  45. G. David Felt ·
    Jeff Dahn and the team at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada signed a partnership with Tesla in 2016 to be part of the created Tesla Advanced Battery Research division. As a leader in the earliest research into Lithium-ion batteries the Jeff Dahn team had a 5-year partnership with the express focus or primary goal of making batteries last longer with increased energy density, decreased costs at the top of the wish list by Tesla. This team created multiple patents and papers relat
    • 2016 Tesla started their advanced battery research group with a focus on building a 1,000,000-mile battery pack. Today Tesla is now talking about a 100-year battery pack. Is this reality or fiction?

    • 0 comments
    • 1,150 views
  46. G. David Felt ·
    President Biden and senior officials in the Biden administration hosted a meeting with the major automotive leaders on the Build Back Better agenda with a focus on moving America to BEVs and the supporting needs of the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles to succeed. The list of auto companies that were at this meeting was as follows according to Reuters who reported this quiet meeting happened sometime last week at the end of March, beginning of April.&#
    • President Biden hosted a meeting with Auto Industry Leaders on the Build Back Better agenda that included Tesla on EV's and moving the Nation forward.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,241 views
  47. G. David Felt ·
    Korea's Institute for Basic Science or IBS has announced that they believe quantum charging of EV batteries will cut home charging from 10 hours to 3 minutes and public fast charging from 30 minutes to 9 seconds. As society moves to renewable energy or green energy due to humanity outstripping the ability for finite nature fossil fuels to support, one must also consider on how that energy gets to the end user. R&D around the world into renewable sources has ac
    • IBS or Institute for Basic Science in Korea has stated that Quantum Charging of EV Batteries could make Charging faster than gas fueling, why?

    • 0 comments
    • 1,208 views
  48. G. David Felt ·
    Energy transition is the ultimate challenge in electric vehicles (EVs) and technological advances are reducing costs while offering greater efficiency as demanded by consumers. Driving the market is the entire powertrain made up of power-dense batteries, electric motors and wide-bandgap semiconductor solutions. GaN or Gallium Nitride is a wide-bandgap material with outstanding intrinsic characteristics that can offer system level advantages with better performance
    • May 23rd to 25th, 2022 transphorm Demonstrated their 1200 Volt GaN Power Transistor at the International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs (ISPSD) in Vancouver, Canada. What is a GaN Power Transistor and how will it affect the Electric Vehicle Industry?

    • 0 comments
    • 1,867 views
  49. G. David Felt ·
    2019, Volkswagen CEO Dr. Herbert Diess and Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett form a partnership that covers the following: Volkswagen to join Ford in investing in Argo AI, the autonomous vehicle platform company, at a valuation of more than $7 billion. Tie-up allows both automakers to independently integrate Argo AI’s self-driving system into their own vehicles, delivering significant global scale Ford will
    • In 2019 Ford and Volkswagen signed a partnership covering autonomous driving, MEB architecture, commercial vans, medium pickups and to create annual efficiencies for both companies. Fast forward to 2022 and now they are expanding that partnership and Ford is committing to an All-Electric Future for Europe starting in 2026.

    • 1 comment
    • 1,375 views
  50. G. David Felt ·
    QuantumScape is on a mission and their mission is as follows: Let's get to the nuts and bolts of this battery company and answer the first question that many would want to know, "Who are the companies that have signed on to use QuantumScape's battery technology or invested in the company?". Volkswagen Toyota Daimler Ford
    • QuantumScape has announced that they now have four large OEM Automakers signed on to use their solid-state ceramic battery in future EVs. Who is on board and what is the big deal about their Solid-state batteries?

    • 1 comment
    • 2,748 views
  51. G. David Felt ·
    Started in 2013 at the University of Maryland Chemistry lab, ceramic solid-state batteries we the brainchild of Dr. Greg Hitz and Dr. Eric Wachsman. The focus was to increase energy density while making it safer and this gained attention when Samsung Note Phones, especially the Note 7 started to catch fire in 2016. As per the Wall Street story, the United States is far behind the global rivals in the race for energy supremac
    • Is a $574,275 government grant to the University of Maryland Chemistry lab the future battery of the American BEVs?

    • 0 comments
    • 2,098 views
  52. G. David Felt ·
    We have all been told, large-scale electric vehicle adoption can and will greatly reduce emissions from vehicle tailpipes giving us cleaner air. We have also been told by industry analysts that increased indirect emissions from electricity production and battery production that are not regulated by transport policies will offset the change from ICE to BEV having no affect. With these two statements in mind, a group from Yale SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENT set out to study which statement is
    • Over the last decade there have been many news stories that electric vehicles (EVs) create more emissions than internal combustion engines (ICE) due to increased energy consumption during the manufacturing process of the auto and battery packs. The environmental analysis by Yale discovered those claims are just not true.

    • 14 comments
    • 2,022 views
  53. G. David Felt ·
    The nearly $5 billion dollar NEVI program is to help states create a network of EV charging stations along the Interstate Highway System. The total amount available under Fiscal Year 2022 is $615 million and states must submit an EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan before access is given to the funds. A second, competitive grant program will be announced later this year with the details on how additional funding can be accessed with a focus
    • Today the President of the United States, Department of Energy and Department of Transportation announced the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program, established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build out the national electric vehicle charging network as a step towards making EV charging accessible to all Americans everywhere.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,367 views
  54. G. David Felt ·
    We have had lots of talk about the various BEVs or battery electric vehicles coming and occasionally a few posts on battery tech. Some have been in depth while others have been a 60,000-foot skim on new battery technology that looked and sounds cool. I thought it was about time we took a closer look on what all is going on in the auto battery world. First let's have a visual understanding on conventional Lithium-ion battery versus solid-state battery. A few key be
    • Lithium-ion and lithium polymer batteries are the dominant battery forms today, but the future is bright for big changes and with that these companies seem to be doing something about it.

    • 4 comments
    • 11,821 views
  55. G. David Felt ·
    January 31st, 2022, Koenigsegg introduced revolutionary BEV technology starting with the David unit, yes this is a revolutionary 6-phase inverter called David. This is followed by the company new Quark Electric Motor that utilized a novel torque/power-rish balance between radial (power-dense) and axial (torque-dense) flux topology called "Raxial Flux". Furthermore, per Koenigsegg press release they have integrated two Quark E-motors with one David inverter, plus planetary gear sets, in or
    • Koenigsegg a Swedish company ends January on a high note by introducing class leading electric motor and 6-phase inverter to the market. Pioneering Raxial Flux topology is brought to market in their first EV-drive unit.

    • 2 comments
    • 2,696 views
  56. G. David Felt ·
    Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas has announced the plans to expand auto services for electric and hybrid vehicles services and vehicle charging at 44 Firestone Auto Care and Wheel Works stores. To quote: Bridgestone-owned Firestone Complete Auto Care and Wheel Works service centers in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, Calif., will now offer advanced electric and hybrid ve
    • Bridgestone, the owner of the Firestone Complete Auto Care centers in North America is expanding auto offerings by expanding into electric vehicle services and vehicle charging.

    • 2 comments
    • 1,679 views
  57. G. David Felt ·
    VOLTEMPO is deploying in the UK first their scalable, modular hyperfast HyperCharging stations for both business and consumers. This 1,000kW or 1MW chargers is a game changer and is backwards compatible with all current EVs. This DC HyperCharging system can support up to 24 EVs at the same time delivering a full charge in approximately 6 minutes depending on your EVs onboard charging support. VOLTEMPO is working c
    • VOLTEMPO of the UK has released their all new 1MW Ultra Chargers in the UK and it is coming to a city near you soon.

    • 0 comments
    • 2,032 views
  58. G. David Felt ·
    Factorial Energy has had a major 4th quarter as they secured Agreements with Stellantis, Daimler, Hyundai and Kia to use their 40Ah battery packs in their electric vehicles. The company backed by major investors such as Former President and CEO of Ford Motor Company, Mark Fields; former senior advisor to the Obama Administration's presidential task force on the Auto Industry, Harry Wilson and investment firms Gatemore Capital Management and Wave Equity Partners have enabled Factorial
    • US battery company Factorial Energy based in Woburn Massachusetts secures major Auto OEMs for their groundbreaking 40 Ah solid state battery. Bringing superior energy density, safety and scalability to the OEM EV industry.

    • 1 comment
    • 1,562 views
  59. G. David Felt ·
    Founder, Chairman and CEO of NIO, William Li announced with Executive VP István Kapitány of Shell Mobility have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to collaborate on electric vehicle charging and battery swapping across China and all of Europe. Nio and Shell will jointly construct and operate the battery charging and swapping facilities. Initial phase 1 will be to have 100 battery stations up and running in China by 2025 and to jointly build and operate an un
    • NIO has announced that they have a strategic agreement with Shell for battery charging and swapping facilities across China and Europe.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,448 views
  60. G. David Felt ·
    According to the latest poll from Yale University, George Mason University and Climate Nexus commissioned by the nonprofit Coltura, finds that 55% to 35% margin in requiring all new autos sold in their state to be electric starting in 2030. As per multiple scientific and university groups, carbon pollution biggest source is gasoline powered cars and world leaders coming off the heels of the COP26 climate gathering are trying to address this mounting climate crisis. Yes, not everyone will ag
    • Washington state was the first state in the USA to pass a 2030 auto electrification through both chambers marking an end to ICE sales in the state. Since then additional states have passed legislation or signed executive orders halting the sales of ICE such as New York and California by 2035. Now polling of registered voters is telling a message of support for this.

    • 56 comments
    • 1,923 views
  61. G. David Felt ·
    Be it grid storage, computers, cell phones and especially electric vehicles, a safe, long-lasting, and energy-dense battery in a smaller form factor is what every company is looking for in selling their products today. ICE or internal combustion engine vehicles have dominated the last 100 years, but the next 100 years seems to be looking at a major change and while ICE auto's will be with us for some time, technology is going to change the way humans get around in the 21st century.
    • Be it a AA battery size cell or a pouch, the holly grail of battery research is smaller size with denser energy. Recently some major break throughs have happened on the Solid State front that brings Safe, Long-lasting and Energy-dense that can possibly revolutionize the BEV industry.

    • 31 comments
    • 2,947 views
  62. G. David Felt ·
    President Biden was joined by the auto industry Executives of FORD, GM and Stellantis in the executive order targeting 50% of new auto sales by 2030. While largely symbolic, this nonbinding order sets federal expectations for automakers to rapidly transition from ICE to BEV cars and trucks. Transportation is the largest share of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. While not in attendance, BMW, HONDA, VOLKSWAGEN and VOL
    • The south lawn of the White House is where President Biden nudged the auto industry forward on the move to battery electric auto's targeting new auto sales of 50% by 2030.

    • 16 comments
    • 2,247 views
  63. G. David Felt ·
    Permanent magnets made using rare-earth metals is what currently drives the electric auto motors. These rare-earth metals are 15 elements that run the periodic table from 57 to 71 including yttrium and scandium which are soft silvery-white heavy metals. Very destructive to the environment and almost entirely controlled by China, but used in a wide range of electronics from computers, cell phones to current electric/hyrid auto's. Not much in the electronic industry is not using some rare-e
    • MAHLE offers an electric motor with advantages not combined in any other motor of this type by any other vendor or auto OEM to date.

    • 2 comments
    • 1,863 views
  64. G. David Felt ·
    The west coast green highway has served millions and the website has been a well used source to ensure all trip planning allowed for proper charging options to those using BEVs to go on a road trip. Level 1 & 2 chargers with the occasional Level 3 fast DC charger has been the norm over the 10 year life for the WCEH. Now Washington and Oregon is moving forward to enhance this by contracting with EVCS who also purchased a series of charging sites in both states and will work with lo
    • British Columbia to Baja California (BC to BC) West Coast Electric Highway has served millions in ensuring there was basic electric charging for battery electric vehicles. Now a major change is coming to the WCEH.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,759 views
  65. G. David Felt ·
    Alpha Motors Corporation or AMC has shown up here at Cheers and Gears earlier this year when they unveiled multiple electric auto's from trucks to cars all in model form. Now we get an update on the actual concept truck they have built as August 24th, 2021 AMC will unveal to the public at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California the Debute of the WOLF. The pure electric truck with a soul according to their press release. The public has expre
    • Wolf is a simple work truck with a soul that performs everyday tasks and is yet fun to drive as an adventure vehicle and will have a public debut during the month of August.

    • 1 comment
    • 4,155 views
  66. G. David Felt ·
    The final development tweaks are being done ahead of the first customer deliveries and with that the AC Cobra is staying faithful to the recreation roots with one twist. Emissions-free electric powertrain is the start of this British marque builders future. The specifications clearly show that this car is staying as much as possible to the roots of the Cobra history that started in 1962 with a Ford Small Block V8 and 60 years later in tribute to that history, the AC Cobr
    • AC Cars has had a long history of building cars, but the ICE era is coming to an end and the storied British auto builder has chosen to move into the 21st Century with a lineup of fun to drive electric auto's.

    • 0 comments
    • 1,441 views
  67. G. David Felt ·
    Canoo is excited to announce their preorder reservation system is now open with a minimal $100 deposit. Canoo Inc. has stated that their first BEV will be their Lifestyle vehicle launching in 2022 with a targeted pricing of starting from $34,750 and rising to $49,950 for delivery, base and premium models before incentives or optional equipment. Pickup Truck and MPDV scaled production are scheduled to begin in early 2023. CEO and Executive Chairman of Canoo Inc. Tony Aquila states the
    • This week Canoo opened its reservations for preorders of their three BEVs. The LifeStyle vehicle, MPDV (Multi-purpose delivery vehicle) and pickup truck can be reserved in the United States with a $100 deposit per vehicle at www.canoo.com.

    • 12 comments
    • 1,824 views
  68. G. David Felt ·
    Electrify America has released that they will have 800 Ultra-Fast charging stations with 3,500 fast charging connections by early 2022 covering 47 states and the District of Columbia. Currently Electrify America is working on new Ultra-Fast charging stations in Hawaii, South Dakota, Wyoming and Vermont that will complete the 47 states. Electrify America says they are also opening additional stations in Montana, Minnesota and New Hampshire, states with a small EV charging network prese
    • May 2, 2018 in Chicopee, Massachusetts, Electrify America opened their first Ultra-Fast Charging Station. Less than three years later they have 600 Ultra-Fast Charging Stations with 2,600 fast charger connections.

    • 4 comments
    • 2,108 views
  69. G. David Felt ·
    As of February 23rd, 2021 ion Ventures and LiNa Energy released their results of their first successful trial of the proprietary solid-state sodium battery platform at an undisclosed South East England location. ion Ventures, a 21st century utility and energy storage infrastructure specialist with LiNa Energy a solid-state battery technology developer had finished the final milestone of the prestigious UK BEIS Award. LiNa Energy was formed in the summer of 2017 as a spin-out of Lancas
    • LiNa Energy is commercializing a cobalt and lithium free solid-state sodium battery suited for the growing BEV and grid storage markets. LiNa technology believes it can not only help the world get to a net-zero by 2050, but help achieve it sooner.

    • 0 comments
    • 2,085 views
  70. G. David Felt ·
    According to China Daily Wuling Motors, a joint venture of GM, Shanghai Automotive and Wuling Motors sold 36,000 mini EVs in January 2021 toppling Tesla's Model 3 as the worlds best-selling electric car and to add insult even if you combine Tesla Model 3 and Y combined they still did not sell as many EVs as Wuling Motors. Wuling Motor's Mini EV, has no connection with BMW Mini and it comes in two configurations, two or four seater, range of 106 miles and top speed of 62 mph and depending on
    • The three way joint venture of GM, Shanghai Automotive and Wuling Motors has a home run with their Mini EV as they sell 200,000 EVs in 200 days.

    • 15 comments
    • 3,326 views
  71. G. David Felt ·
    Canoo is an EV startup that in 2019 showed to the world a subscription service auto called the Life Style Vehicle. This EV had a center based driving position and to some reminded people of the VW Microbus. Fast forward a few years and Canoo is now a publicly traded company that has considerable patents on EV powertrain and other components and under a new CEO had up to today two products planned that the public knew about. The Canoo LifeStyle auto pictured above and their MPDV or Mul
    • Canoo Life Style vehicle company confirmed today that a slip on Reddit about a pickup truck is factual and will be out for sale in 2023. 

    • 11 comments
    • 3,554 views
  72. G. David Felt ·
    Echion Technologies is addressing today's biggest challenge for electric vehicles is the speed at which the battery is recharged. Current technology pretty much has your 300 mile battery recharging in 45 minutes to 1 hour. In 2017 Toshiba came out with a battery that goes into production for select new EVs that come out at the end of 2019 with general availability in 2020. The Generation 1 SCiB battery was 200 miles in 6 min and with generation 2 they have now made it 353 miles fully rechar
    • Empowering super-fast charging batteries is the moto for Echion Technologies unique platform for battery material and composite manufacturing.

    • 3 comments
    • 1,531 views
  73. Drew Dowdell ·
    Electrify America is working hard to build up the largest network of electric chargers in the US.  They have already partnered with Chargepoint, so that if you have an account with one company, you can use your account at either company's charging stations without additional fees.   Now the network has gotten even larger as an interoperability agreement has been reached with EVgo, one of the largest charging networks out there.  So now, if you have an Electrify America account, you can charge yo
    • ...two of the largest EV charging networks join forces...

    • Editor-in-Chief
    • 3 comments
    • 1,907 views
  74. G. David Felt ·
    The more people say we cannot do something or everything is already good enough why change, society goes through a major revolutionary change. This has never been more true than in the 21st century with those that say why change when ICE or internal combustion engines are perfect do we need to change to a different power train design? The PNW or Pacific Northwest has been a source of disruptive technology for the last 40 years. From Microsoft, Google, Apple to Intel corporation we have seen
    • ...XNRGI to develop the first-ever porous silicon chip based Lithium Metal rechargeable battery technology...

    • 1 comment
    • 3,095 views
  75. Drew Dowdell ·
    Norway, a country that produces a lot of its own oil, has become the leader in electric vehicle sales.   According to a report by Reuters, 48.4% of all new car sales for the first half of 2019 have been electric vehicles.  This is up from just over a quarter of the market in the same period of 2019.  Tesla is the sales leader with a 24.5% share of all vehicles sold during the month of June, most of that being the Model 3. Telsa is not the only benefactor of the sales gain,  Nissan, Hyundai, and
    • ... Tesla Model 3 is the best selling car in Norway...

    • Editor-in-Chief
    • 8 comments
    • 1,899 views
  76. Drew Dowdell ·
    Google has released an update for the Google Maps Navigation app when searching for Electric Vehicle charging locations. Now when a user searches for a charging location, the app will show how many ports are currently in use out of the total in real time. This way, the driver no longer needs to physically check the location to see if charging is available without a wait.  It will also give information like charge port type, charge speed, and ratings from other drivers.  The feature works wi
    • ... lets users know how many chargers are available...

    • Editor-in-Chief
    • 26 comments
    • 1,933 views
  77. G. David Felt ·
    Your probably thinking, did I read the teaser right? Did it really say 2,581 lb-ft of torque or 3,500 NM from a 160 horsepower or 120 kW motor with torque vectoring? Yes, Yes you did!  GKN Automotive is proud to unveil the world's first battery electric vehicle (BEV) with a two-speed transmission and torque vectoring. GTD19 demonstrator vehicle is built from a Jeep Renegade and is currently in Arjeplog, Sweden undergoing winter testing. To prove the industry-leading standards of effici
    • Do you want a 160 horsepower / 2,581 lb-ft of torque JEEP Renegade with torque vectoring? GKN thinks you do!

    • 5 comments
    • 4,117 views
  78. G. David Felt ·
    Royal Dutch Shell us a global oil / gas producing company and yet even they see that the future will be about servicing the needs of energy by more than one traditional source as they have expanded in the last few years with solar, wind, natural gas, bio-fuel, hydrogen effectively covering various energy fronts. Shell then took this a step further last year when they bought NewMotion Charging with operates for profit 30,000 plus charging points across Netherlands, Germany, France and the U.K.
    • Greenlots, will become a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc.

    • 9 comments
    • 1,785 views
  79. Drew Dowdell ·
    According to Reuters, Nissan is working with two partners E.ON and EDF to develop technology and services to allow power stored in electric vehicles to be sold back to the grid at peak times.  The technology is called vehicle-to-grid (V2G). In ideal situations, users charge their vehicles during off-peak energy prices and sell the energy back to the grid during times of high usage. By buying low and selling high, this would allow EV drivers to potentially have net zero charging costs. There
    • As long as you are willing to sell some of your battery's juice back to the grid.

    • 4 comments
    • 1,561 views
  80. William Maley ·
    One key selling point automakers have been using to move electric vehicles is the federal tax credit of up to $7,500. But a new tax cut bill being proposed by House Republicans could eliminate that credit. The bill announced today includes a provision of eliminating the credit after the 2017 tax year if the bill goes into law. The credits are important as it helps level the playing field between internal combustion engines and EVs. Currently, the credit will begin to phase out once an
    • This will make EVs even a tougher sale

    • 113 comments
    • 4,466 views
  81. G. David Felt ·
    Previous Page Next Page All-electric zero-emission that can finally replace all petro powered buses in North America was unveiled at the Annual APTA (American Public Transit Association) meeting in Los Angeles. Proterra which is known to have launched the first fleet of alternative fuel buses has pushed American engineering with over $130 million in private equity funding to produce a true replacement for all diesel / alternative fuel buses. The Catalyst E2 bus series hi
    • Proterra Buses set new world record for longest mileage run on a single charge! 

       

    • 26 comments
    • 3,251 views
  82. G. David Felt ·
    G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com   Tesla has set the auto world on fire with their sedan and now their Tesla X CUV. While most of us cannot afford a $100,000 dollar plus auto, what about our older auto's? Does it make sense to convert a traditional gas powered auto to an EV? Should I wait till a lower priced EV arrives like the Chevy Bolt? Many states have come out strong in their support for CNG home and business fueling equipment such as Penn
    • Does it make sense to convert a traditional gas powered auto to an EV?

    • 46 comments
    • 12,555 views
  83. G. David Felt ·
    By G. David Felt Be for or against EV autos one cannot help but acknowledge that they are here to stay. California has long been one to push the industry in one direction or another. With change often came some interesting observations such as Tesla who has been funded and helped by government grants and yet for being in a state that pushed auto companies to build EV autos they lack a solid growing infrastructure for the Electric Highway in comparison to other states. Electric Highway Map Wash
    • Be for or against EV autos one cannot help but acknowledge that they are here to stay. Yet where is the best place to drive them? Electric Highway West Coast Style!

    • 9 comments
    • 6,374 views
  84. G. David Felt ·
    G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com Wednesday, November 07, 2012 Tax Payer supplied Charging stations. Are we getting our money’s worth? Recently, a newly expanded Park and Ride by my house went live with charging outlets for 20 cars having been installed at the Mountlake Terrace park-and-ride lot at 236th Street SW and I-5. A dedication "plug-in" ceremony was held Saturday a few weeks ago even though completion of the place happened back in May. Each of the
    • With Charging stations showing up all over the west coast and especially in the Greater Seattle area, A questions came to mind. Tax Payer supplied charging stations, Are we getting our money's worth? This editorial hopes to expand on that question and show people what the current status is and point a light on it for you to decide if this is a smart spending of tight tax dollars.

    • 16 comments
    • 5,889 views