Originally published on Kompulsa. News on the street is that Volvo Cars has purchased Polestar Performance AB and Polestar Holding AB for an undisclosed sum, excluding their racing division. Polestar is a company that tunes cars to improve performance. Polestar AB carries out performance activities, and Polestar Holding AB owns … [continued]
Originally published Kompulsa. Carbon fiber wheels have long been known for their ability to reduce vehicle weight, resulting in improved fuel/energy efficiency and performance that will make both performance enthusiasts and conservationists happy. Weight reduction (alongside drag coefficient reduction) is one of the holy grails of performance enhancements, as well … [continued]
Originally published on Kompulsa (some edits). NV Energy, a Berkshire Hathaway-owned utility company, has signed a PPA to purchase electricity from the 100 MW Playa Solar 2 power plant at a stunningly low price of $0.0387/kWh! CleanTechnica just reported on “the world’s cheapest solar” landing in Austin, Texas, with bids under 4 … [continued]
Originally published on Kompulsa. Alberta Innovates–Energy & Environment Solutions (AI-EES) has awarded TransAlta $250,000 for the construction of Alberta’s very first large-scale commercial energy storage system. The system will be powered by 5 commercial-scale Tesla Powerpack battery modules, each the size of a household refrigerator. It is large enough to … [continued]
Originally published on Kompulsa. The SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition has been announced for independent engineering teams, as well as student teams interested in building their own Hyperloop transit pods, and a 4- to 5-foot test track for them is being constructed. The contest will be conducted in two phases: In … [continued]
Originally published on Kompulsa. Few things are more entertaining than seeing people genuinely surprised. That’s what the Tesla P85D’s ‘Insane Mode’ does. The car can accelerate from 0-60 MPH in as little as 3.1 seconds*. That’s more than enough to pin passengers to their seats and give them a good scare. … [continued]
Originally published on Kompulsa. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has recommended battery second use (B2U) as a way to offset the cost of electric vehicles and improve electricity grid stability. What is B2U? Battery second use is just another term for battery repurposing. NREL conducted a study on the … [continued]
Originally published on Kompulsa. Many years ago, I learned of a technology that could turn the energy industry upside down — the lithium-sulfur battery. It could achieve a gravimetric energy density of 400 Wh/kg. The majority of electric vehicle batteries are well under 200 Wh/kg. This means that lithium-sulfur battery technology … [continued]
Originally published on Kompulsa. Samsung researchers have developed a new technology that enables them to coat silicon battery cathodes with high crystal graphene. This means that they can now virtually double the capacity of lithium-ion batteries! This energy density increase could almost double the range of electric vehicles without adding a … [continued]
Originally published on Kompulsa. At the Detroit Auto Show in January, GM revealed the Chevy Bolt — its first electric car to achieve 200 miles of range per charge. This news came as a pleasant surprise to electric vehicle fans, but it was just a concept at the time. At the rate … [continued]
