Latest Stories

Technical Innovation

Power

Off-Highway Vehicle Electrification Surges Ahead

Thanks to the continued growth of electrified machines in the off-highway segment, DC/DC converters are rapidly becoming a crucial component in the supply chain for numerous OEMs for a wide...

News

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

No Fear of Loading: Driving the 2025 Ram Heavy Duty

The desert landscapes of the western United States have changed since Mr. Duke and Dr. Gonzo blazed a trail across them in a drug-infused haze. But their advice to buy the ticket and take...

Technology Report

Power

GM EVs Will Soon Provide V2H Backup Power During Blackouts

General Motors is following Ford into the home power business, using EVs to provide backup power during electric outages.

Articles

Energy

Addressing Thermal Management for EVs

When General Motors unveiled the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ, the electric sport utility vehicle with a 24-module Ultium battery pack providing more than 200 kWh of energy that contributes to an...

News

Energy

Sensing to Solve EV Thermal Challenges

A common criticism of electric vehicles (EVs) is that extremes of heat and cold adversely affect their performance, particularly range. OEMs have been aware of the issue and have innovated and...

Editorial

Manned Systems

Engineering ‘Electron Guzzlers’

Apparently, ‘gas guzzler’ now encompasses any vehicle that burns hydrocarbon fuels, no matter how efficient. Anything with an exhaust pipe.

Technical Innovation

Manned Systems

Lightning EMotors Adapts to Changing Electrification Market

A growing number of commercial truck fleets are moving to electric vehicles, driven partially by government mandates and support funding. For suppliers like Lightning eMotors,...

News

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

EV, Give Me Heat!

Cabin heating and cooling, and their negative impact on vehicle efficiency and range, are among the challenges still to be solved in battery-electric vehicles. For drivers and passengers, interior comfort — being warm...

Articles

Electronics & Computers

Electric Radiant Heat for EV Cabin Comfort

Vehicle OEMs have been steadily increasing the range of their electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV), but the ranges they claim publicly are in ideal thermal conditions. Now comes the...

News

Electronics & Computers

GM: Ultium Heat-Pump System Boosts EV Range, Reduces Charge Times

On the same day that General Motors president Mark Reuss confirmed there will be a fully electric version of the company’s Corvette along with a hybrid model, the company...

News

Power

SAE WCX 2022: Driveline Flexibility Is Key for Electrification

The electrification of light-vehicle powertrains is now not just probable, it is inevitable. OEMs and suppliers around the world are looking at all possible means to reduce the...

News

Motion Control

Solving the EV Range Vs. HVAC Dilemma

The loss in range from climate control operation on battery electric vehicles (BEV) has become a source of concern among automakers as many of them begin the transition from internal combustion...

News

Energy

Pumping EV Heat

The Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC) that I founded over 20 years ago provides training and tech support to the world’s independent electric-vehicle (EV and hybrid) technicians, who will be asked to fix and...

News

Energy

EVs Expand the Testing Envelope

In a word-association game, automotive test engineers would likely pair “emissions measurement” with “Horiba.” The Japan-based supplier is an acknowledged household-name in the testing-solutions...

News

Test & Measurement

Vehicle Cabin-Air Filters Can Combat Coronavirus, but Effort Is Problematic

On February 4, millions of people across China – some sheltering in place – watched the online-only launch of the Geely Icon SUV. As the China-based automaker...

News

Energy

Quadricycle AV Pod Pops Open in London

Mobility “pods” regularly pop up in the automated-driving universe and the latest is a quadricycle prototype called MOTIV, claimed by its creators to “break the mold for future mobility...

News

Manned Systems

‘They’ Said It Couldn’t Happen: A Possible Retrofit for Automotive R-134a Refrigerant

When R-1234yf refrigerant was chosen as the low-global-warming replacement for the longtime industry staple R-134a, the consensus being the newcomer...

News

Power

Updating an SAE Standard—one Committee’s Contribution to the Clean Air Act

SAE standards automatically come up for review every five years, which forces the sponsors to review the documents to see if they require updating. In the...

Road Ready

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

2019 Honda Pilot Gets Refined 9-Speed, Tougher Styling and Standard Safety Suite

The 2019 Honda Pilot arrives with few but important changes for the 3-row, 8-seat SUV, most notably revisions to its 9-speed automatic. More rugged new exterior...

News

Manned Systems

Navistar's Latest SuperTruck Features Emerson's Electric HVAC

An innovative Emerson electric HVAC system provides more cooling capacity than the prior 48-volt system on Navistar’s CatalIST high-efficiency demonstration commercial truck.

Articles

Photonics/Optics

Electronically Dimmable Aircraft Windows

That was the challenge posed to Gentex by Boeing. Window shades typically do the job on an airplane, but they’re cumbersome to operate, expensive to maintain, and do little to reflect the hightech...

Articles

Aerospace

Cooling Your Embedded System: What Can Your Open Standard Architecture Handle?

Embedded computing systems for Mil/Aero applications are often conduction-cooled in an ATR or nonstandard chassis. However, there are many designs that require 19"...

Articles

Defense

Thermoelectric Cooling

There are many places one can go to get an outline on the pros and cons of different methods for enclosure cooling. Although we will briefly touch on them here, this is really an in-depth article on how to choose a...

Articles

Electronics & Computers

Thin Cavity Cooling of Electronic Circuitry

Anovel tested technology for cooling electronic circuitry is also useful in many other industries. The method is called “Thin Cavity Fluidic Heat Exchanger”(TCFHE). Technology details can be...