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Technology Report
Energy

‘Laxatives’ May Ease Challenge of Lithium-Ion Alternative

The R&D dimension of the automotive industry often reveals novel solutions and cross-linking between materials, but a team of international scientists has come up with...

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News
Test & Measurement

Proving Grounds Are the Hush-Hush Heroes of the Latest Automotive Test Technology

The world’s independent vehicle test-track operators often are the unsung heroes of new-vehicle development. They work in an atmosphere of secrecy that...

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News
Motion Control

New IAAPS Powertrain R&D Center to Accelerate Development of Propulsion Systems

The auto industry needs new areas of expertise, new development tools, and new ways of facilitating collaboration and innovation to keep pace with technologies...

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News
Power

Autonomy Already Influencing Vehicle Interior Design

Just about everyone’s seen a recent rendering of future vehicle interiors, but high-function driver assistance, automated driving and mobility as a service (MaaS) are new dimensions...

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News
Electronics & Computers

Getting a Grip on EV Fasteners

It may not get much R&D fanfare, but fastenings and their coatings will play an essential engineering role in electrified vehicles (EVs). There is an increasing demand from the auto industry for...

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News
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

New GM, LG Chem Joint Venture to Build EV Battery Plant in U.S.

General Motors and longtime battery partner LG Chem announced the companies are forming an equally-owned joint-venture (JV) company to mass-produce lithium-ion batteries for...

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News
Manned Systems

Commercial-Vehicle Battery Producer Sets up in U.S. as Electrification Takes Hold

Projecting the market for full-electric and hybrid-electric commercial vehicles will continue to expand, Germany-based lithium-ion battery specialist Akasol...

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News
Power

Narrower Focus, Bigger Payoff for Commercial EVs

Government regulations are prompting a changeover to electric powertrains, with early growth coming in commercial vehicle applications where range and recharging are more easily managed....

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Articles
Electronics & Computers

Air Exchange System Shows Potential to Reduce Winter BEV Range Loss

Battery-electric vehicle (BEV) range loss from winter use of PTC (positive temperature coefficient) heating has become a source of major concern as the industry works to...

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Articles
Test & Measurement

Chevy Tweaks 2020 Bolt’s Battery Chemistry to Add Range

In late 2016, the Chevrolet Bolt became a breakthrough vehicle for long-range EV affordability. At the time, no other electric car came close to offering the Bolt’s 238 mi (383...

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Technical Innovation
Electronics & Computers

How Battery Technology Will Drive Truck Electrification

The past three years have seen a major shift in the perception around electrified commercial vehicles, including trucks, driven by a variety of factors that have come together at this...

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News
Manned Systems

EV Startup Rivian Gets More Funding from Ford, Amazon

Rivian, the startup electric vehicle (EV) developer focusing on pickup trucks, SUVs and commercial delivery vehicles, announced on Dec. 23 that it completed a new $1.3-billion round of...

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News
Energy

ACeDrive Consortium Plans More Efficient EV Powertrain

It’s called ACeDrive, which may sound innocuous for an auto-industry project, but the consortium that formed it has announced that it seeks to develop the world’s lightest and most...

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News
Connectivity

Is DC Fast-Charging Ready for Prime Time?

It’s a trip we’ve done scores of times with barely a thought. From our home near SAE International headquarters in western Pennsylvania to the metro Detroit area is approximately 300 miles (483...

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Technology Report
Power

Mahle Reveals ‘Fits All’ Modular and Scalable Integrated Hybrid Powertrain

Mahle is developing a complete “fits all, off-the-shelf” modular hybrid-drive propulsion system for a wide range of automakers’ models, designed to cut...

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Technology Report
Regulations/Standards

Is the Camshaft Being Timed Out?

The development of electric vehicle motors, power controls and batteries tend dominate today’s industry’s headlines, but R&D of internal combustion engine technologies in its many forms continues....

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Technology Report
Energy

Battery Experts: Solid-State EV Tech Could Be Five Years Out

Solid-state batteries are the “reach” energy-storage technology slated to take electric vehicles (EVs) –and to a lesser extent, other consumer-electronic products – to...

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Road Ready
Power

Chevy Reveals 2020 Corvette Stingray Convertible, C8.R Racer

Reinforcing the Corvette’s long association with astronauts, Chevrolet unveiled the convertible version of its all-new, mid-engine-layout 2020 Corvette Stingray in Cape...

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News
Power

Volvo's Tricks of the EV Trade

Volvo first demonstrated its Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show. Replacing the starter-motor and alternator with the ISG allows a gas engine to shut off at will — mainly to...

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News
Power

Bollinger Motors Reveals Second-Gen Class-3 EV Prototypes

Bollinger Motors recently unveiled its second-generation Class-3 EV prototypes. The start-up, based in Ferndale, Michigan, revealed the latest beta of its B1 SUV and B2 truck...

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News
Energy

Toyota Reveals RWD FCEV Mirai, Plug-In RAV4

As part of an electrified stable primed for the 2019 Tokyo and Los Angeles auto shows, Toyota has unveiled its all-new Mirai fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) and the upcoming plug-in hybrid...

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Q&A
Power

Plotting Valeo’s Route de la Technologie

One of the architects of Valeo Group’s steady evolution as a mobility-tech supplier is Guillaume Devauchelle, who recently spoke by phone with editor-in-chief Lindsay Brooke.

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Articles
Unmanned Systems

Toposens 3D Sonar Seeks Objects Overlooked by Lidar

Alexander Rudoy was spending almost every hour of his free time developing a robotic toy fish that could sense its underwater surroundings. At the time he was studying electromechanical...

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News
Connectivity

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Optimize EV Batteries

Everywhere you turn these days, there’s news about the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform our lives—from diagnosing cancers to devising better pick-up lines at...

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News
Power

Ford Unveils 2021 Mustang Mach-E Electric Vehicle

With the unveiling of the 2021 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle (EV), Ford seems to be betting the way to expand mainstream America’s demand for EVs through its collective right foot. The...

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News
Power

Tesla Cybertruck Takes Styling, Materials Risks

Tesla has unveiled its latest concept electric vehicle (EV), the Cybertruck. Revealed at a post-L.A. Auto Show event at Tesla’s design center just south of L.A. in Hawthorne, California on...

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What We’re Driving
Energy

2020 Volkswagen Passat GTE

A mid-life update and up-spec for Volkswagen’s Europe-built Passat range brings a plug-in hybrid-electric (PHEV) version – a first for the model – for MY2020. Not for the first time (the Phaeton was one...

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News
Energy

All Options on the Table

The push to trim engine emissions is prompting industry-wide efforts to use substitutes for diesel fuel. Alternative fuels and electrified powertrains are making significant inroads, though design teams for diesel...

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What We’re Driving
Power

2020 Corolla Hybrid

Will Americans purchase a small, affordable, normal-looking hybrid? That appears to be Toyota’s mission with this new Corolla, which borrows liberally from its world-beating cousin.

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