Category: Industry

Environment, EV Battery, Industry

Where EV batteries go to die – and be reborn

Battery laboratoryBatteries for electric vehicles have been notoriously difficult to recycle, but growing demand for the rare metals they contain is leading to innovative new ways of retrieving them from used power cells.

As the climate crisis intensifies, the world is electrifying. Countries are increasingly shifting towards renewable sources of energy including solar panels and wind turbines. Homeowners are installing heat pumps in the place of old gas or oil boilers. And drivers are increasingly buying electric vehicles (EVs) powered by batteries.

New battery re-cycling technology is bringing us closer to a circular economy, in which almost nothing is thrown away.

Read more at the BBC >>>

EV Battery, EV Charging, EV range, Industry

Nissan to start rolling out solid-state battery EVs from 2028

Nissan solid state batteryNissan says it is on track to launch its first production electric car powered by its pioneering solid-state batteries in 2028 following real-world trials in 2026.

Nissan said it first began experimenting with the ground-breaking battery technology back in 2018 and says it has already shown off its new state-of-the-art production facility where the batteries will begin being made as soon as this year.

Regarded as both the holy grail of battery tech and the final piece of the puzzle that will allow the full transition from combustion to all-electric cars, Nissan’s solid-state batteries are at least 50 per cent more energy-dense, compared to traditional cells, while being capable of being charged more than three times as fast.

Read more at EVcentral >>>

Australia, EV Charging, Industry, Infrastructure

Australian electric-car charging station maker on edge of collapse

Tritium chargerBrisbane-based electric car charging firm Tritium – which produces the hardware for many charging stations in Australia – is on the brink of financial collapse, after declaring itself insolvent and calling in the administrators.

Lenders for the troubled company – which has been criticised for poor reliability of its charging stations – have brought in receivers to take control of its assets and try to find a buyer.

In a statement issued to the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York last week, on which it has been struggling to keep a listing because of its falling share price, Tritium said three of its local subsidiaries were “insolvent or likely to become insolvent”.

Which might help explain why so many Tritium charging stations are out of order, or have faulty screens, etc.

Read the full story (Drive) >>>

Industry

What is BYD? How a battery maker beat Tesla to become the world’s largest EV company

BYD is bigger than TeslaThis is the story of a young company that took a risky bet on electric vehicles (EVs) and grew into a giant.

No, it’s not Tesla.

It’s a brand you may not have heard of, because they sell so few cars in Australia.

But analysts say it may one day dominate the global auto industry.

The company is the Chinese car maker BYD, which recently overtook Tesla as the world’s largest EV company.

Having conquered China, it’s now racing to expand worldwide.

Experts say BYD and other Chinese EV-makers mark a new era in transportation, as significant as the Ford Model T in the 1900s, or the emergence of Japanese manufacturing in the 1970s.

Read the full story at the ABC >>>

EV Charging, Industry, Policy

Germany’s big plans: EV charging at petrol servos

Service station in GermanyGermany wants to be the first country in Europe to mandate electric vehicle (EV) chargers at almost all of its service stations.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the plan to expand EV charging in the country at this month’s Munich motor show.

Reuters reports Germany plans to introduce a law requiring service stations to have EV chargers, with the aim of furthering EV take-up.

Chancellor Scholz said that Germany will become “the first country in Europe to introduce a law requiring operators of 80 per cent of all service stations to provide fast-charging options with at least 150 kilowatts for e-cars”.

Read more at CarExpert >>>

Australia, Industry, Infrastructure

Monster movers: BHP tests electric trucks

BHP trucksAustralia’s largest miner, BHP, is about to test run heavy-haul trucks with electric motors charged by renewable power in a bid to slash fossil fuel use that accounts for 40 per cent of its carbon emissions.

These huge ore trucks run 24 hours a day, burn vast reservoirs of diesel and are ubiquitous across Australia’s open-pit mines.

James Agar, BHP’s group procurement officer, is charged with cutting the company’s 40 per cent diesel emissions footprint. To do that, he needs to electrify its fleet of 650 heavy-haul trucks, weighing in at about 20 to 25 tonnes each, that currently run on polluting fossil fuels.

Read more at SMH >>>