Israeli company Electreon is joining forces with Toyota and component manufacturer Denso to develop a vehicle receiver based on Electreon’s existing technology. The receiver will make it possible to retrofit electric vehicles with wireless charging capabilities.
Bavarian electric air taxi startup Lilium has entered into a partnership with Honeywell and Denso to jointly develop and produce the electric motor for the Lilium Jet, whose market launch has been postponed to 2025.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has unveiled the race car it will enter in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) this year. In line with the new hypercar regulations, the GR010 Hybrid features an all-wheel drive powertrain with system power capped at 500 kW.
In India, Japanese companies Suzuki, Toshiba and Denso are building a battery cell factory for electric vehicles in Gujarat. The Automotive Electronics Power Pvt. Ltd (AEPPL) joint venture was established for this purpose and is owned 50 per cent by Suzuki, 40 per cent by Toshiba and ten per cent by Denso. The JV is […]
Chinese vehicle manufacturer, Guangzhou Automobile Group, has completed construction on the EV plant at their new industrial park in their home city. In addition, the company’s subsidiary, GAC Motor, and Japanese supplier Aisin AW intend to establish a joint venture for drive modules at the park.
German semiconductor specialist Infineon is intensifying its cooperation with the Japanese supplier Denso. They want to expand their system know-how in areas such as e-mobility and automated driving together and committed through investments.
Four additional manufacturers are about to get involved in the EV Common Architecture Spirit, a Japanese JV recently created by Toyota, Mazda and Denso to jointly develop electric vehicle technologies.
Intensified cooperation: EV manufacturer Via Motors has bought Prodigy Engineering, its former contractor. The purchase gives Via Motors an exclusive license to an advanced cooling technology for Li-ion batteries. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed. automotive-business-review.com, greencarcongress.com
Fuel saving semiconductor: Together with in-house partner Denso, Toyota is developing a new power semiconductor said to save up to ten percent of fuel in its hybrid vehicles. The semiconductor sits in the power control unit (PCU) of the hybrid system and uses silicon carbide (SiC). Road trials in Japan are set to start within a year. greencarcongress.com, greencarreports.com
Hybrid with a memory: Researchers at Chalmers Uni of Technology, Sweden, developed a method to identify recurrent routes from logged driving data and make optimal use of the hybrid powertrain. This strategy is said to save up to ten percent of fuel in hybrid vehicles and has already been verified in Volvo’s V60 plug-in. sciencedaily.com
Domestic battery production: German BASF has just launched its commercial production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials in Weimar, Germany. The LFP cathodes will be used for lithium-ion batteries. basf.com
Denso tests wireless charging: The corporation will start a ten-month field test of its wireless charging system next week in Toyota City, Japan. Denso uses a Yamato delivery truck that has been equipped with a power receiver for the trial. The wirelessly charged battery is then used to power the vans refrigeration system. greencarcongress.com, automotive-business-review.com
Nissan hybrid system updated: Details of the next version of Nissan’s hybrid drivetrain, which can be found in the Infiniti Q50, Q70, Qx60 and the Pathfinder, have just been presented at the recent SAE 2014 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technologies Symposium. Numerous improvements were applied, such as a 6% reduction of friction or an increased engine starting time by 20%. greencarcongress.com
E-drive made in Britain: Drive System Design is developing a powertrain based on an axial flux motor from Yasa and a multi-speed transmission. The MSYS engine weighs only 55 kilos and could expand EV range by 10-15%, according to the company. greencarcongress.com, thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Missing 500,000 dollars are what keeps the Kenguru company from jumpstarting production of the ‘Equal’ EV. The little low-speed EV was designed with easy access for wheelchair users in mind but financial as well as technical difficulties have delayed the project so far. green.autoblog.com
Hybrid refrigerator truck: Jointly developed by Hino Motors and Denso Corp., the ‘Hino Profia’ heavy duty truck uses energy from its hybrid system solely to power its refrigeration system. The power is generated while driving or regenerated from the hybrid unit. The refrigerator truck comes with a stand-by unit that can be plugged in to keep the fridge running when the motor is turned off. greencarcongress.com, densomediacenter.com
Fuel cell range extender: Ballard Power Systems will supply its FCvelocity-HD7 fuel cell module to Solaris Bus & Coach from Poland. The fuel cells will charge the batteries of Solaris’ electric buses to be deployed to Hamburg, Germany later this year. greencarcongress.com, ballard.com
Turbulences in the battery industry: Polypore’s subsidy Celgard filed a complaint against LG Chem, alleging a patent infringement of Celgard’s separators for high-energy li-ion batteries. At the same time, Celgard announced a long-term supply agreement with Samsung, which will use Celgard separators for the EV batteries. Samsung also recently invested in XG Sciences, a graphene manufacturer. greencarcongress.com (Celgard vs LG Chem), greencarcongress.com (Celgard & Samsung), greencarcongress.com (Samsung & XG Sciences)
Diesel-hybrid boat: Slovenian company Greenline Hybrid just presented its latest addition to its ‘Greenline’ series of hybrid yachts. Greenline 48 is the largest in the range. Its electric motor offers 20 nautic miles of range at four knots (4.6 mph). The 46 kWh battery can be supplemented with solar panels on deck. technologicvehicles.com