It's amazing how much is going on in the EV world. Here are some choice snippets that came my way recently. Feel free to add more.
Can't park at an electric charging station? Volkswagen is working on an autonomous robot to juice your battery
Volkswagen recently showed the world its dreamed-up future where robots with digital faces roam around parking garages to charge EVs using traveling battery packs. The autonomous robot would find your car, attach a charger to it and then move on to other vehicles while your battery juices up.
The seemingly random unveil was meant to provide "a glimpse into the future in which the search for charging stations" comes to an end, VW said. The German automaker envisions you summoning the robot via an app.
Once your car battery is fully charged, the yet-to-be-named robot would come to collect the "energy storage device" and take it back to a nearby charging hub.
Want to invest in electric vehicles? Start with their parts
Seth Goldstein, chair of Morningstar’s Electric Vehicle Committee, spends his days analyzing what’s under the hood of Tesla’s Model 3, China’s NIO ES6 SUV and Ford’s new Mustang Mach-E.
That’s because for now the best potential stock investments in the electric vehicle (EV) business, which hit a soft spot in 2019, aren’t necessarily the carmakers managing the capital-intensive shift away from gas-powered autos, the Wall Street analyst says. It's companies that produce the computer chips, parts that enable electrification, and metals like lithium for longer-lasting batteries that he’s more upbeat on.
Okay, so even Sony is showing off EV concepts now
Sony surprised the CES audience today with a new concept electric car, the VISION-S prototype.
Sony shared a few details of the prototype, which is meant as a showcase for Sony’s technologies for the automotive industry.
Sony focused on three aspects on the car’s technology in its presentation – safety, entertainment, and adaptability.
Under the safety category, the VISION-S prototype includes 33 sensors to monitor the outside and inside of the car. Sony wanted to “prove the viability of sensing features” by including its sensors on the car, and demonstrate the capabilities of Sony’s solutions for the automotive industry.
Sony’s second focus was to demonstrate how its technologies can benefit in-car entertainment systems. The VISION-S includes “360 reality audio” for an “immersive audio experience” inside the car. There is also a giant panoramic screen across the dash, similar to the Byton which is also being showcased at CES. This pairs with two screens attached to the back of the front seats, for rear passengers.
Sony intends the car to be adaptable as well, with a “software-oriented design.” The car can be accessed via smartphone app, updated through over-the-air updates, and the car’s interface can be personalized for each driver. This adaptability also applies to the car platform, which could be used for various car types in the future, including SUVs and vans.
As for specs, Sony claims the car is capable of delivering 400kW (536hp) of power through an all-wheel-drive system powered by two electric motors. This allows 0-100km/h (0-62mph) acceleration of 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 240km/h (149mph).
Las Vegas Taxi Company Orders Hundreds Of Teslas
Of course they did.
Police Department Adds 2020 Tesla Model 3 & Explains Why
I know many police officers out there would love to have a Tesla (like the rest of us). It’s a matter of budget and approval. It seems the time is now to do so, though. The Tesla Model 3 is affordable and has a positive track record with reviewers and owners. Hopefully governments will soon be able to retire their hugely fuel-inefficient SUVs with Cybertrucks as well, for investigations needing heavyweight action.
It seems nonsensical if you are in government at this time to invest in anything short of a 100% electric vehicle. When you consider the total cost of ownership, costs over the lifetime of a vehicle, and the performance and safety of an electric car, nothing else compares. Especially consider the length of time in a day that police cars spend idling — while they protect society in one way, those idling cars come at a huge societal cost in other ways. Governments, which are supposed to represent us all, should not be thinking of short-term gas car options.
Battery Recycling Will Be The New New Thing, And JB Straubel & Kore Power Are Leading The Way
What tends to be overlooked as the EV revolution gains momentum is how to recycle the billions of battery cells that will be powering all those cars and trucks. Nearly 11 million tons of lithium-ion batteries are expected to reach the end of their useful life by 2030. The elements inside them — nickel, lithium, and cobalt, among others — don’t disappear when that happens. They can be recovered and used to make new battery cells, reducing the need to extract, transport, and refine new supplies of them.
Energy Storage 2020: It’s Not Just About Lithium-Ion Batteries Any More
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Sulfur Flow Batteries
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Electricity to hydrogen
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Zinc-bromine flow batteries
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Thermovoltaics
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Electricity to magnesium manganese
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Electricity to heat
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Pressurizing water underground
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Liquid Air Energy Storage