US Department of Energy announces $45Mn in battery funding
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $45 million in funding to support the domestic development of advanced batteries for electric vehicles.
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ARPA-E grants millions in funding to clean energy and mobility projects
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $175 million for 68 R&D projects. The projects, selected by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), include a wide range of clean energy solutions, with this report focussing on electric transportation.
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US Department of Energy grants SCALEUP funds
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding further $47 million in funding for seven projects as part of the SCALEUP program.
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Wright Electric to develop electric aviation for ARPA-E
The electric aircraft developer Wright Electric was contracted by the DoE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to support the development of lightweight and ultra-efficient electric propulsion motors, drives, and thermal management systems for commercial electric aircraft.
Read moreBosch, Gigafactory, Umicore, ARPA-E.
World premiere: Bosch premiered its electric axle drive system (eAxle) at the motor show in Detroit. The modular system fits multiple platforms and brings together powertrain components in one compact system.
bosch-presse.de
Gigafactory details: Elon Musk spilled some beans at an investors’ event at the Gigafactory 1, such as that a recycling unit is currently under construction. It will use materials from old Tesla batteries and use them in new cells. The Gigafactory also makes due without any energy from conventional sources. It instead gets its power for a solar roof, said to be seven times the size than any other solar roof currently installed.
electrek.co
Patent purchase: Company Umicore has bought patents for three Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) cathodes from 3M. The cathodes are the reference in a wide range of lithium ion rechargeable batteries, including in the automotive sector. The patents cover South Korea, China, Japan, Europe and the U.S. and are valid between 2021 and 2024.
greencarcongress.com, umicore.de
New subsidy programme in the U.S.: As part of its programme “Circuits,” the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has earmarked up to 20m dollars in subsidies for the development of a new class of efficient, lightweight, and reliable power converters based on wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors. These will be used in electric cars, hybrids and charging stations.
greencarcongress.com
Delta Motorsport, Silicon Mobility, Heraeus, ARPA-E.
Micro range extender for race cars: Delta Motorsport presented a range extender with micro-turbine technology at the LCV2016. It is the result of a recent research project and the prototype delivers 17 kW. Sport car manufactures Ariel and Morgan have already voiced their interests and have signed up to develop a 35 kW version.
eurekamagazine.co.uk, autocar.co.uk
Microcontroller for EVs: Silicon Mobility presented its new microcontroller OLEA T222 for hybrid and electric powertrain controls. It is said to enable carmakers to reduce the size of the electric motor without losing output or performance.
prnewswire.co.uk
Extending range with additives? A newly developed porous carbon powder by Heraeus is said to increase capabilities and power capacity of Li-ion batteries by about 20 percent, as first tests have shown. That would make it especially interesting for the electric/hybrid automotive market.
heraeus.com
Funding innovation: The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy has given a total of 37m dollars to 16 research projects that a looking into improving solid-state batteries as well as fuel cell technology. The programme is called Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion-Conducting Solids (IONICS).
greencarcongress.com
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eHorizon, Camal, Floatility, ARPA-E.
eHorizon widens: Continental brings a dynamic version of its cloud based eHorizon technology to CES after previously demonstrating the fuel saving abilities of a static version in its 48-Volt mild hybrid. The dynamic eHorizon uses cloud and crowd intelligence to refresh the digital map in the backend with accurate information.
greencarcongress.com
Hybrid hyper car: Italian design house Camal presents the Ramusa (Italian for lizard) SUV concept with all-wheel drive. The hybrid drive is said to have an output of 800 hp, with the electric motor powering the front wheels. The Turin-based firm plans to produce only a few units of its grippy off-roader.
worldcarfans.com, autoevolution.com
3D-printed solar LEV: German start-up Floatility introduces the e-floater, a light-weight electric scooter that runs on solar power. Some components are 3D-printed and the stand-up scooter is ready for production. Developed together with BASF (we reported), the last-mile vehicle weighs only 12 kilos.
techtimes.com, 3ders.org, floatility.com
Solid state funding: The Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy (ARPA-E) granted 3m dollars to develop an all-solid-state sodium battery. The proposed battery operates at room temperature, uses a scalable stack design and is expected to be 20 percent more energy dense than Li-ion batteries. The project is led by a research team at Iowa State University with collaborators.
greencarcongress.com
Formula E, Fraunhofer IPA, Tesla vs. Google, ARPA-E.
Battery competition postponed: Formula E will only open its battery competition in season five and not as previously planned next year. There will be a new battery in year three and four however, but the same for every team and again developed by Williams.
autosport.com, insideevs.com
Modular battery brain: Researchers at the Fraunhofer IPA have created a power pack in which each cell has its own built-in microcontroller that records relevant physical parameters. The cells then exchange information on their condition and can also communicate with other devices. As the cells function independently, range and battery life increase.
nanowerk.com
Job shift: Tesla’s specialist for automated driving, Robert Rose, has joined Google’s robotic division. If Rose has been hired to work on the IT giant’s self-driving cars is unconfirmed. The engineer previously worked for Space X and signs responsible for much of Tesla’s Autopilot. Consequently, Elon Musk is personally looking for software engineers that will work towards full autonomy.
9to5google.com, businessinsider.de, insideevs.com (search for engineers)
A total of 6.6 million dollars goes to two projects developing manufacturing techniques for ceramic electrolytes for solid-state EV batteries. The money comes from ARPA-E that awarded 3.5m to a consortium led by the University of Michigan, and 3.1m dollars to Corning Incorporated.
greencarcongress.com
Toyota & Hino Motors, ARPA-E, Johnson Controls & Toshiba.
Mirai-based H2 bus: Toyota and Hino Motors have built a new version of their fuel cell bus equipped with the Toyota fuel cell system developed for the Mirai. It will be tested in Toyota City starting today. The new bus comes with eight hydrogen tanks, two fuel cell stacks and two electric motors. Its NiMH battery is able to supply electric power to buildings.
electriccarsreport.com, greencarcongress.com
125 million dollars will be invested by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to foster innovations in all areas of energy research and development, i.e. for fuel cells, electric drive systems, batteries, and power electronics.
greencarcongress.com, arpa-e-foa.energy.gov
Commonwealth e-racer: Birmingham City University announced its plan to develop an electric race car for the Formula 1 together with three Indian universities. The agreement is to be signed today.
business-standard.com
Supplier cooperation: Together, Johnson Controls and Toshiba have developed a new Li-Ion battery for start-stop applications to debut in a 2018 model production vehicle in Europe. The new battery will be showcased at the NAIAS in Detroit next week.
autonews.com, jsonline.com, greencarcongress.com
– Feedback –
Most clicked link on Thursday was the report from Kevin Bullis revealing how Tesla manages to boost its Roadster’s range by 50 percent
technologyreview.com
ARPA-E funding.
The U.S. government has invested 900 million dollar in 362 projects included in its ‘ARPA-E’ (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy) programme so far. Another 625 million were added from private-sector funding following initial investments of 95m dollars by ARPA-E.
energy.gov, greencarcongress.com
