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Revel opens first EV fast-charging hub in San Francisco
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Latest Tech News from Ars Technica
- New EV battery boasts 5-min charge time, adding 250 miles of range
New EV battery boasts 5-min charge time, adding 250 miles of range
Time and again, studies and surveys identify the time it takes to charge an electric vehicle as one of the most significant hurdles affecting EV adoption. For generations, drivers have gotten used to being able to refuel their cars in five minutes using energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons, and plenty of them balk at the idea of having to drive a car where recharging a battery takes half an hour or more. Now it seems that may not be an excuse for much longerβin China, at least.
New tech has been developed by BYD, the Chinese automaker that recently eclipsed Tesla as the leading EV maker by volume. Called the "super e-platform," the new batteries are able to charge at 10C, and the new DC chargers peak at 1,000 kW. BYD says this will add 249 miles (400 km) of range in just five minutes. By contrast, most current Tesla Superchargers peak at 250 kW, with Electrify America's chargers maxing out at 350 kW, and even the powerful new chargers used by Formula E can only reach 600 kW.
"Our goal is to make EV charging as fast as refueling a gasoline car," said BYD chairperson Wang Chuanfu.
Β© Bob Henry/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Revel nabs $60M in New York state funding to build more EV chargers
As President Donald Trump attempts to freeze funding for a $5 billion federal EV charging infrastructure program, some states are stepping up. EV charging infrastructure startup Revel secured on Monday a $60 million loan from New Yorkβs clean energy investment fund NY Green Bank to more than triple its current public fast-charging network in New [β¦]
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Feds putting the kibosh on national EV charging program
The US Department of Transportation has ordered states to kill their implementation plans related to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, according to a memo obtained by WIRED that was later made public. The decision appears to halt in its tracks a $5 billion program designed to fund state projects to install electric vehicle charging stations across the United States.
Officials at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which manages the program, ordered state transportation directors to βdecertifyβ the plans that all 50 states have used to outline where and how they will build their charging stations, and with what companies theyβll contract to do so. States have followed those plans to build more than 30 charging stations across the US, with hundreds more on the way.
Surveys show prospective car buyers cite the countryβs lagging electric vehicle charging infrastructure as a major reason they wonβt buy electric. The NEVI program, established by 2021βs Infrastructure Law, was the governmentβs answer to those concerns. It attempts to build chargers along thousands of miles of federal highway, with a focus on places that might not otherwise be able to financially support a charger.
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Trump admin freezes EV charging program that gave Tesla millions
The Department of Transportation (DOT) has paused funding for a $5 billion EV charging infrastructure program that Tesla has received at least $31 million from. The move is widely viewed to be illegal. Itβs the latest attempt from the Trump administration to hack away at federally funded renewable energy projects around the country, a clear [β¦]
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Presto is building Stripe for EV charging
Presto is helping connect fleets and charging networks so drivers can find working chargers quickly.
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TechCrunch News
- Amperesand targets data centers as the next big customer for its solid-state transformers
Amperesand targets data centers as the next big customer for its solid-state transformers
Amperesandβs technology replaces the iron cores that define old transformers with silicon carbide.
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Latest Tech News from Ars Technica
- GM patents a dual-port charging system for EVs with vehicle-to-load
GM patents a dual-port charging system for EVs with vehicle-to-load
The battery system on an electric car can either chargeβfrom regenerative braking or an external power supplyβor dischargeβpowering the EV's motor(s) or supplying that power via so-called vehicle-to-load. As a rule, it can't do both at once, but General Motors has some thoughts about that. The patent analysis site CarMoses spotted a recent GM patent application for a system that is capable of charging and discharging simultaneously.
The patent describes a "charging system" with a pair of charging ports. One is for drawing power from an external source, just like every other EV. The second charge port is connected to a bi-directional charger, and the battery management system is able to charge the battery pack from the first port while also supplying power from the second port.
That second port could be used to charge another battery, including the battery of another EV, and the patent includes an illustration of three EVs daisy-chained to each other.
Β© Chevrolet
Tesla to split $100M award for electric truck charging corridor in Illinois
Tesla, along with three other industry partners, quietly backed an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency application that won $100 million in funding to build electric truck charging stations across the state, TechCrunch has learned. The award was the biggest given out by the Biden administrationβs Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) last week in the second round of [β¦]
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EVgo secures $1.25B loan amid Bidenβs rush to approve clean energy loans
Electric vehicle charging startup EVgo is the latest company to secure funds from the U.S. Department of Energy as the Biden administration races to approve clean energy loans before Donald Trump takes over.Β Trump has promised to cancel any unspent funds from Bidenβs bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, including the $7,500 tax credit for new EV [β¦]
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Rivian opens its first charging station other EVs can use
Rivian has opened a new charging station in Joshua Tree, California, that is open for other EV owners to use β a first for the company. Itβs part of a plan to build out a much larger interoperable charging network across the U.S., though the company is still very early in that process. The new [β¦]
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Latest Tech News from Ars Technica
- No more EV app folders: Universal plug-and-charge is due to launch in 2025
No more EV app folders: Universal plug-and-charge is due to launch in 2025
To fill a car with gas, you generally just need a credit card or cash. To charge an EV at a DC fast charging station, you need any number of things to workβa credit card reader, an app for that charger's network, a touchscreen that's workingβand they're all a little different.
That situation could change next year if a new "universal Plug and Charge" initiative from SAE International, backed by a number of EV carmakers and chargers, moves ahead and gains ground. Launching in early 2025, the network could make charging an EV actually easier than gassing up: plug in, let the car and charger figure out the payment details over a cloud connection, and go.
Some car and charging network combinations already offer such a system through a patchwork of individual deals, as listed at Inside EVs. Teslas have always offered a plug-and-charge experience, given the tight integration between their Superchargers and vehicles. Now Tesla will join the plug-and-charge movement proper, allowing Teslas to have a roughly similar experience at other stations.
Β© Getty Images
Revel to install 24 EV fast chargers at JFK airport
Revel is adding to its electric vehicle charging empire in New York City. The startup said on Wednesday that it has broken ground on the installation of 24 EV fast chargers at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The installation doubles the airportβs existing EV charging capacity. This is the second time Revel has partnered with [β¦]
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