South Korean chemical company LG Chem has a clear message for its competitors: It wants to “dominate” the global market for advanced EV batteries and – if it has to – enforce its patent rights for cathode materials with a high nickel content in court.
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The previously unknown Chinese company had filed a patent with China’s State Intellectual Property Office in May last year for a car that looks like a carbon copy of the classic Mini.
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Hofer Powertrain has applied for a patent for a new megawatt charging concept for electric trucks. The so-called “multi-sector overhead line” relies on short sections of overhead wires installed on motorways.
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Ambition is in total supply at Tesla. The company wants Supercharger technology to become standard in North America and opened the design to third parties. Calling it the North American Charging Standard (NACS), Tesla is also set up against CCS.
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Tesla has apparently acquired a small Canadian company called Springpower International as part of the plan announced at Battery Day to greatly reduce water consumption in cathode production.
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BASF and Umicore have entered into a non-exclusive patent agreement covering a broad range of cathode materials and their precursors. The cross-licensing deal covers more than 100 patent families filed in Europe, the USA, China, Korea and Japan.
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Mazda has patented an extraordinary hybrid drive with a Wankel engine in Japan. The system works with a total of three electric motors and, according to Mazda, is primarily intended to be lighter than current electric four-wheel-drive systems.
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Harley-Davidson has been working on other electric two-wheelers such as an e-scooter in addition to its LiveWire electric motorcycle for some time. Now sketches have appeared showing the planned electric Harley scooter in detail.
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Tesla has submitted a new patent for improved battery cell chemistry under the title “Dioxazolones and nitrile sulfites as electrolyte additives for lithium-ion batteries”. This is intended to increase the performance and service life of the batteries as well as reducing costs.
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A new patent from Tesla shows a liquid-cooled charging connector. This could be used in the future in conjunction with the planned Megachargers for Tesla’s electric trucks.
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Toyota has released almost 24,000 patents stemming from over 20 years of hybrid technology development for public domain use. The main focus of the patents lies in core technologies such as electric motors, control units and system controls used in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.
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This may be the strangest range extender patent ever given it has been filed by an automotive company. Toyota in this case clearly wants to take ride sharing and zero emissions to the next level and arrives where others have long been before.
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Hyundai-Kia and the Volkswagen Group will work together on hydrogen fuel cells. Audi will lead the cooperation that includes all Volkswagen brands and Kia. In a first step, they agreed to cross-license patents and on access to non-competitive parts.
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Nikola Motor has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, claiming the Semi electric truck to be “substantially” similar to Nikola Motor’s fuel cell electric semi-truck design. In the filing, the infringement is estimated to be worth a loss of two billion dollars to Nikola. Tesla denies the allegations.
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Musk building “the entire thing”? Various start-ups working on concepts to realise hyperloops based on Elon Musk’s brainchild could be left empty-handed as it seems that he could develop the high speed transportation system and the according technology on his own, reports Bloomberg referring to a “person close to Musk”. Initially, he did not plan to execute the tech in order to remain focussed on Tesla and SpaceX. Besides, Musk also holds a trademark for “Hyperloop” through his company SpaceX, other companies would not be allowed to use the term.
bloomberg.com
Promising patents: InsideEVs has successfully dug for further patents targeting electric mobility evolution. This time eye-catching: Rollable solar panels for electric cars and Ford’s idea to enable the stowage of electric bikes in electric cars and to charge both at the same time.
insideevs.com
Heavy-duty truck with FC range extender: Canadian company Loop Energy’s fuel cell range extender has been successfully implemented in a heavy-duty terminal tractor of China’s National Heavy-Duty Truck Company (CNHTC). In this case, Loop Energy’s system is combined with an electric battery system to enable peak power and to capture energy derived through regenerative braking.
greencarcongress.com, marketwired.com
SGL to take over JV with BMW? SGL Carbon is considering a complete take-over of a joint venture founded with BMW in 2009 and specialised in carbon fibre production. Exclusivity agreements have been expired, according to SGL CEO Jürgen Köhler, who assumes that “BMW does not want to become a manufacturer of carbon fibre”. His assessment derives from the fact that BMW did not make use of carbon fibre anymore in its new 5-series, whereas it still was utilized in its i3, i8 and 7-series.
automobilwoche.de, produktion.de (both in German)
Honda prototypes three-wheeled HEV: According to an emerged patent, Honda is currently working on a hybrid electric trike. If this motorcycle with two wheels in the front will ever go serial remains to be seen, esp. as the patent emphasises motor cooling. Talking about hybrid motorcycles – we have to admit that BMW got us good and fooled us this April. Yesterday’s “news” of a hybrid BMW Enduro due for mass production was nothing but a joke. We apologise for what must have been too much wishful thinking from our side.
rideapart.com (Honda), press.bmwgroup.com (fake news BMW)
Job campaign for Gigafactory: Tesla partner Panasonic is to hold a job fair in Reno today as it wants to recruit 2,000 new employees for battery production in their Gigafactory this year. So far, 1,000 workers are employed in Panasonic’s plant in Nevada. Until 2020 both partners want to reach a production capacity of 150 GWh – achieved by up to 10,000 helping hands.
electrek.co
Delta focuses on wireless charging: Delta is currently impressing the expert audience of the ProMat in Chicago with its wireless charging systems for industrial EV. It can be applied to a wide range of vehicles from forklifts to AGVs with up to 30 kW.
prnewswire.com
Promising patents: Countless new patents present the dynamic pace of the EV branch and Inside EVs picked a few favourites like the DC fast charging system of Ludic Motors. A particularly creative solution is from Hon Hai alias Foxconn, which aims to put an end to ICEing.
insideevs.com
FAST: LG Electronics is among the first suppliers selected by Volkswagen to take part in the joint “Future Automotive Supply Tracks” initiative (FAST). The strategy is to ensure speedy supply and quick implementation of innovation designed to keep VW ahead of the pack.
greencarcongress.com
Battery race is on: Renovo Motors joins the race to become the Formula E’s next sole battery supplier. The Californian start-up thus competes with Croatian Rimac and British William’s (we reported). Renovo might team up with Mahindra to get their foot in the door.
motorsport.com
Patenting progress: While the number of conventional engines stagnates, electric and hybrid engines made for 85 percent of patents filled last year, says the Center of Automotive Management (CAM). About 6,000 of the 13,300 patented innovations are hybrid, another 4,000 electric. Toyota applied for most patents (26%), followed by Honda and GM.
autozeitung.de (in German)
Locate, unlock, and steal: A hacker has devised a tool that overrides GM’s OnStar system, making it possible to find, unlock and even start a car like the Chevy Volt. Driving still requires a key, but clearly the mockingly named “OwnStar” app poses a security risk that GM is now working to fix.
wired.com, venturebeat.com
Battery market on the rise: According to market research firm CCM, the market for Li-ion batteries produced in China will grow 400 percent by 2017, due to the growing EV market there. Moreover, the firm suggests that because most domestic Chinese battery manufacturers are lagging behind their competitors in Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. in terms of their ability to manufacture high performing EV batteries, international players could gain market share.
greencarcongress.com
Patent filing numbers on the rise: According to a new report, carmakers have increased research efforts and patent filing in the field of propulsion technology for the past five years. The reason are the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) regulations and manufacturers trying to avoid penalties if their portfolios are not green enough.
forbes.com, reuters.com
ABB on board: The solar-powered plane ‘Solar Impulse 2’ will start its flight around the world in late February or early March. Engineers from ABB India will accompany the Solar Impulse crew and improve control systems for ground operations, enhance the charging electronics for the plane’s battery systems and resolve obstacles that emerge along the route.
business-standard.com
Most clicked link on Wednesday was the all-electric DKW Schnellaster from 1956 fully restored by Audi Tradition.
autoevolution.com
As it holds 757 EV battery patents, LG Chem is the most innovative battery manufacturer, according to SNE Research. Samsung SDI takes second place with 528 patents followed by Hitachi (349).
sneresearch.com
Reading tip 1: Transport Evolved’s Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield muses on Tesla’s move to open up its patents. While she surely welcomes it, she is also certain it will take years for it to bear fruits, or to change the face of the automotive industry forever.
transportevolved.com
Reading tip 2: Electric scooters are welcomed alternative for travelers in India, only that most of them still use lead batteries. This article gives an overview of current e-bike technologies and of how the start-up Ather Energy is working on new battery packs, to push the market the next generation.
pluginindia.com
Selected events for the coming week: 18th International Forum on Advanced Microsystems for Automotive Applications AMAA (23-24 June; Berlin, Germany) ++ 14th Ulm ElectroChemical Talks (23-26 June; Ulm, Germany) ++ 5th Congress of the Swiss Forum for Electric Mobility (24-25 June; Lucerne, Switzerland) ++ 3rd International Conference on Energy Efficient Vehicles ICEEV (24-25 June; Dresden, Germany) ++ Hansa Green Tour 2014 (25-28 June; The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark)
You can find a complete list of upcoming industry events at electrive.com/calendar
Click tip: uAutoInsurance looked at how many patents Tesla actually has, counting 249. Alone 104 of those have to do with batteries, followed by charging (28) and motor patents (13).
uautoinsurance.com via cleantechnica.com
Reading tip: Bill Howard is putting the BMW i8 head to head with the prolonged Model S. The latter, he finds, is still too short for China’s rich executives but indeed stretches into BMW territory. However, the Bavarian super hybrid might win over a Tesla fan or two – if only it were fully electric.
mobile.extremetech.com