electric vehicles Archives - Page 41 of 43 - Tyrepress

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EU funded ‘OpEneR’ project to increase electric vehicle efficiency

Two shortcomings of today’s crop of fully electric vehicles (FEV) are their limited driving range and long charging time – for the majority of motorists this pair of factors outweighs the host of environmental and cost benefits such vehicles offer. Key culprits behind these limitations are vehicle batteries, however improving battery technology alone is no panacea. To unlock the FEV market and reduce “range anxiety”, several leading automotive industry firms have partnered in a European Union co-funded project aimed at optimising how the power provided by existing battery technology is utilised.

7th July 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Mayor's electric dream

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has declared that he "wants London to be the electric car capital of Europe." He was speaking as Jon Goodman, MD of Peugeot UK, presented him with an all-electric Peugeot iOn.

The iOn, which is one of the first zero-emission tailpipe emissions cars to go on general sale, had just finished a whirlwind tour of major Peugeot dealerships in the UK.

31st March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

EC approves switchable battery research project

Automotive supplier Continental and ten other European and Israeli companies active in the electric vehicle sector, have joined together to form ‘Easybat’, a consortium dedicated to furthering EV development. On March 2 the consortium announced formal approval from the European Commission for a research and development programme into means of facilitating the European production of electric cars with switchable batteries. The March 2 announcement is the first switchable battery electric car project approved by the Commission.

4th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti sensor helps EV users avoid a shocking experience

Many batteries in electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles generate some 400 volts, almost twice the voltage employed in standard domestic plug sockets and enough to give a potentially fatal jolt. Vehicle occupants risk exposure to this electric charge in the event of an accident, and US legislators have already stipulated that vehicle power supply voltage must drop to below 60 volts within five seconds of an accident occurring. No comparable laws yet exist in European markets, yet Germany’s Continental is switched onto the challenge of reducing electric vehicle battery voltage to safer levels following a collision. The automotive supplier has now come up with the evSAT, a sensor that will immediately shut off high-voltage batteries in the event of a collision while the vehicle is in charge mode, enabling emergency service personnel to recover the vehicle without the risk of receiving an electric shock.

10th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

ECA Voices Concerns Over Current Viability of Electric Vehicles

From 1st January 2011, the Department for Transport introduced individual grants of £5,000 to purchase electric vehicles (EVs). This is part of the Office for Low Emission Vehicles' £400 million fund to reduce emissions from road transport.

4th January 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Celebrates 5 Years as Tuning Safety Partner

Hankook Tire has celebrated five years as main sponsor of the TUNE IT! SAFE! initiative at the Essen Motor Show. On November 26, Hyun-Jun Cho, managing director of Hankook Tire Germany, and Dietmar Olbrich, the company’s sales and marketing director, joined Dr. Andreas Scherer, Germany’s state secretary at the Ministry of Transportation, and German Federal Ministry of Transport and Automobile Tuners Association (VDAT) president Bodo Buschmann in a contract signing ceremony covering this year’s campaign. Following the ceremony the 2011 campaign vehicle, a customised German police car to be used for raising public awareness about safe and legal vehicle tuning, was handed over to the German police.

29th November 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama-Sponsored Baja Racers Happy with Geolander Tyre

One of off-road racing's toughest tests, Yokohama Tire-sponsored racers took on the SCORE Baja 1000 between 17 and 20 November using the manufacturer’s Geolander M/T+ tyres. Heidi Steele achieved a third-place finish in Class 6 for unlimited, production mini trucks. Driving her customary Ford Ranger, Steele, the two-time defending Class 6 champ, and her co-drivers and Desert Assassins teammates Rene Brugger and Pat Dailey, finished the gruelling 1061.69-mile course in 27:43:10.

24th November 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Work Begins on Nexen PCR Plant

Construction work on Nexen’s newest passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyre factory in South Korea’s Gyeongnam Province has begun following its groundbreaking ceremony on June 24. The 500,000 square metre Changnyeong facility is being built with a 1.2 trillion won (£646 million) investment and Nexen anticipates its output will boost the company’s South Korea and China total to 60 million pieces per annum.

6th July 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Challenge Bibendum Gets Underway Sunday

On Sunday May 30 the 10th Michelin Challenge Bibendum gets underway. This year the five-day event is being held in Rio de Janeiro, and Michelin states that during the course of the week it will present future generations of its low fuel consumption tyres, the first prototype tyres for electric vehicles (which can reportedly increase vehicle operating range by almost ten per cent) and motorised wheels plus the Michelin Active Wheel, both products intended to optimise the design of electric and hybrid vehicles.

28th May 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Partners in CV Hybrid Battery Project

Continental is working together with two other companies on a project related to lithium-ion batteries for commercial vehicles. Specifically, Continental, along with automotive suppliers ZF Friedrichshafen and ads-tec, are embarking on a joint project to develop production techniques for optimising the pre-assembly and final assembly stages of lithium-ion energy storage unit modules for use in hybrid commercial vehicles. This joint project, titled “FUEL” or “Future goes Electric”, is being sponsored by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of a government economic stimulus package.

11th May 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

"New Products, Innovation Key to Top Line Growth": Goodyear Dunlop at Geneva

Goodyear Dunlop has spent the last week showcasing four concept and prototype tyres featuring innovations for future use on earth and in outer space in addition to its five latest tyres for European motorists. The company said that over the course of the Geneva Motor Show (which closes on Sunday) it has welcomed “thousands of visitors” to its stand, unveiling new technology from the both Goodyear and Dunlop brands. European president, Arthur de Bok suggested that the innovations on show “demonstrated our capability to deliver relevant technology to our customers.”

11th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Are Automotive Battery Manufacturers Facing Overcapacity?

The share of electrified powertrains is expected to increase significantly in all major automotive markets as a result of marked decreases in the cost of batteries over the next decade. Yet the desire to capitalise on this growing market may lead to problems in the years ahead: According to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, planned investments in battery production will result in significant overcapacity occurring between 2014 and 2017, especially in the US and in Japan. As a consequence, experts at the strategy consultancy believe only six to eight global battery manufacturers will survive the next five to seven years. This is the conclusion the company drew from its “Powertrain 2020 – Li-ion batteries – The next bubble ahead?" market survey.

10th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear EfficentGrip Receives Low Rolling Resistance Treatment

“As a company, we lead the industry with forward-looking tyre technologies that contribute to greater road safety and reduce the impact on the environment.” These words of confidence came from Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe president Arthur de Bok, who was commenting on the company’s presence at the Geneva Motor Show and the innovations the company is highlighting there.

4th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Technology Strategy Board Awards £1m to Battery Development Consortium

Nearly £1 million of funding has been awarded by the Technology Strategy Board, a government established public body, to a consortium led by advanced battery manufacturer Axeon. The partners, who will match the funding, state they are developing new battery chemistries that will deliver high energy densities, thus making them ideal for use in plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs). The £2 million project aims to accelerate the introduction of next-generation batteries that offer higher energy density combined with lower cost. It will, says Axeon, take advanced battery chemistry out of the research laboratory and into a real-world prototype PHEV application and help to consolidate the UK’s position as a strategic centre for battery development.

22nd January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

The Future of Tyres, According to Michelin

The important subject of the role tyres will play in meeting the demands of ever more environmentally oriented hi-tech vehicles was addressed by Michelin at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. During a press conference on January 12, Dr. Patrick Oliva, the Michelin Group’s global vice president for Sustainable Development, shared the tyre major’s view of the tyre’s place within the future of automotive transportation.

13th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors