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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 >>>

EV Battery, EV Charging

Breakthrough Chinese LFP battery can add 600km of range in just 10 minutes

Chinese battery presentationChinese battery-making giant CATL has launched its new Shenxing Plus battery at the Beijing motor show claiming it’s capable of adding as much as 600km of range after a short 10-minute charge and delivering a driving range of more than 1000km.

Impressively, CATL says both those figures are achieved using the cheaper, more stable lithium iron phosphate chemistry (LFP), with the CATL Shenxing Plus battery outperforming many more expensive nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) cells.

The battery is claimed to be both lighter and more stable in extreme charge/discharge scenarios, which means it’s safer too.

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) >>>

Australia, EV Charging, Policy

SA to fine drivers for blocking EV charging spots

Marked EV charging spotParking a petrol or diesel car in a space marked for electric-car charging is now illegal in South Australia, with wrongdoers set to get slapped with fines from this week.

The SA Government has become the latest authority to hit petrol and diesel-powered cars parking in spaces dedicated to electric vehicles, following bans being introduced across other states and territories in recent years.

From this week, drivers of petrol or diesel cars face on-the-spot fines of $75 for committing the offence.

It will also apply a penalty to electric cars which park in designated spaces for charging, without plugging in. Interestingly, committing this offence would earn owners a higher fine of $111.

Read more (Drive) >>>

EV Charging, EV range

Why 450km of electric vehicle range is enough in Australia

Tesla charging at motelWe have all seen the social media commentators claiming how much range an electric vehicle needs. It normally goes like this: “I’m all for electric vehicles and keen to buy one but unless it has X amount of range I’ll stick with my trusty diesel”.

As each year passes and the range of showroom EVs increase, the commentators’ X number also increases.

This is Uncertainty 101 from those with the most to lose when the country transitions to electric drivetrains, and it’s a very effective manipulation of all the fence sitters that are close to making a new car purchase.

Read more at TheDriven >>>

EV Charging, Infrastructure

Road Trip – MG ZS EV (LR)

Itinerary map with charge pointsIs an extended road trip an achievable reality in Australia, in the new age of electric vehicles?

We are about to find out!

We will be travelling from Hervey Bay in Queensland to Kiama in NSW – clocking up about 1400 km over 6 days.

Under ‘normal’ (ICE) circumstances this trip would be a regular, mostly unremarkable road trip. However, undertaking the journey in an EV adds a degree of re-charging adventure – especially for someone who hasn’t previously travelled a long distance in an EV.

We are planning on visiting friends and family along the way, so rather than driving long stints to explore the limits of the vehicle’s range, we hope to be re-charging in the towns where we are staying each night.

Can we do it?

Follow the whole trip >>>

Australia, EV Charging, EV range, Tourism

Tesla towing caravan completes Big Lap of Australia

Tesla towing caravanA couple from Western Australia has put to rest the idea that an EV “won’t tow ya trailer” after completing a big lap of the country in a Tesla Model 3 while towing a caravan.

Sarah White and Shane Parker have returned home to Perth after completing 17,251 kilometres over 40 days.

“It was a fantastic experience. I highly recommend anyone do it in any vehicle that they’ve got available to them,” White told TheDriven.

“To see the Great Barrier Reef, the gorges across the Northwest, the incredible scenery around Victoria River … it’s great to be out in those remote, regional areas of Australia.”

The car went through 3,845 kWh of power throughout the trip, and had an average consumption of 223 Wh/km. White and Parker also joined the ‘zero per cent club’ on a number of occasions, as the app they use (S3XY) gave them enough information to be able to know the exact number of usable kWh in the car batteries.

The Model 3 with caravan was able to do a maximum of 247 kilometres in one stretch, but they mostly aimed for around 200 kilometres in any one go.

Read the full story at TheDriven >>>

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 >>>

Australia, EV Charging, Infrastructure

Video of diesel generator powering remote electric-car chargers goes viral

NRMA ChargerFootage of a diesel generator running electric-car chargers in the Australian Outback has sparked outrage, but there’s more to the story.

A video of the diesel generator running at an NRMA electric charging site in Erldunda in the Northern Territory was shared to Instagram on 27 October 2023, where it has since received 3.3 million views.

However, the motoring association behind the chargers insists it’s merely a “backup” solution for the remote solar-powered site.

Read the full story at Drive >>>

Australia, EV Charging, Tourism

Developing EV charging hubs in outback Australia

Outback australiaFar away from big cities, people living in remote Australia can sometimes struggle with basic energy security, let alone installing a fast charger for an electric car.

But even simply getting this technology to them is a major challenge, according to the National Roads and Motorists Association (NRMA).

The NRMA’s energy subsidiary and the federal government are jointly funding a $90 million rollout of 137 fast chargers in rural and regional Australia.

NRMA Energy’s chief executive Carly Irving-Dolan said it had been confronted with many barriers. “Fundamentally, the main barrier is the constraint on the grid,” she said. “You’ll have places with low power, or very little power, that could only power a few houses and a roadhouse. “In other parts, for example, where we’re going to be building [these chargers] there is actually no power there at all.”

Read more at the ABC >>>