Latest news with #EVs
Time of India
36 minutes ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Why Silicon Carbide (SiC) is transforming future of electric vehicles
The global shift towards electric vehicles (EVs) is not just a matter of replacing petrol with batteries. At the core of this transformation lies a revolution in power electronics with SiC emerging as the enabler. SiC is fast replacing traditional silicon in key EV components, which otherwise suffer sharper drawbacks when it comes to efficiency, performance, and reliability. Silicon carbide is a compound semiconductor material with a very wide bandgap, high thermal conductivity, and able to operate at higher voltages and temperatures than conventional silicon. Special, intrinsic properties of SiC find critical suitability in the harsh environment of EVs, where efficiency, weight reduction, and reliability constitute the high priorities. Today, SiC enters major EV areas, such as: Inverters: Conversion of DC from the battery to AC for the motor (propulsion).DC-DC Converters: Step-down high-voltage battery power for auxiliary Chargers: Controlling the charging process from external Charging System (MCS): Connecting to high-power lines for faster charging. Key Benefits Operating with Higher Efficiency: Reduced switching and conduction losses in SiC devices mean less energy wasted as heat. This also means a greater driving range and better energy utilisation. Compact and Lightweight: The enhanced qualities of SiC allow for smaller, lightweight components, freeing space and adding to the reduction in vehicle Performance: Being good in heat dissipation, SiC requires less bulky cooling systems and can pave the way for reliable operation at elevated Charging: Since SiC-based chargers can be run more efficiently at high voltages, they can support faster charging of EV Cost Charging Stations: Integrated solid-state transformers utilizing high-voltage SiC devices (≥ 3.3 kV) reduce MCS cost, weight, and size. SiC's Impact on EV Performance MetricSiC vs Silicon PerformanceInverter EfficiencySiC: up to 99.1% vs Silicon: 97.1%Range Increase5% to 10% more range with SiCPower Loss ReductionUp to 70% lower switching lossesWeight and SizeInverters up to 40% lighter, 30% smallerCharging TimeSiC enables 800V (and higher) systems, halving charge timeBattery Cost SavingsSiC inverter can reduce battery size for same range, saving up to 5 per vehicle Major car makers are making use of SiC in their newest EVs. In the case of Audi, the use of SiC inverters has enhanced efficiency by nearly 60per cent under certain operating conditions. The 800V battery probably would not have come onstage if SiC had not been there, and it is now gaining traction in high-performance models from Kia, Hyundai, and Lucid, offering really fast charging and extended range. Additionally, the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles, such as buses, construction equipment and tractors, is also a significant and growing trend. These heavy-duty EVs are bigger and heavier than passenger EVs and require higher-power levels for propulsion and charging. To address these higher-power requirements, the adoption of higher battery voltages, particularly around 1500V, combined with higher-voltage SiC technology, plays a crucial role in enabling the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles. The increased efficiency of SiC-based systems results in less energy elimination and extends the range of EVs; and, therefore, reduces its overall impact on the environment. Small batteries equate to lighter vehicles that will consume fewer resources and emit fewer emissions during its lifespan. The other side of the coin is better reliability and durability that ultimately result in reduced maintenance and lower cost of ownership. Silicon carbide is no ordinary material technology; rather, it is becoming a truly defining factor for the new generation of EVs, fast charging infrastructure, and electrified transportation overall, such as eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft. By giving rise to greater efficiencies, longer ranges, shorter charge times, and smaller sizes, SiC directly addresses some of the greatest impediments to mass EV acceptance. With ongoing R&D, the role of SiC in shaping and enabling the future of sustainable mobility will get stronger; empower energy to do more.
USA Today
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- USA Today
Things you need to know before renting an electric vehicle ― that the agent won't tell you
My oldest friend, Cindy, was in town recently for her father's birthday. Over dinner, she mentioned she'd rented a Mercedes EQS electric vehicle at the airport. Cindy liked the car's looks and comfort, but she had questions. Questions somebody should have answered before she left the parking lot. 'Where do I charge it?' she said. 'How does it work? This car is frustrating.' That's the sound of a rental company dropping the ball, and an automaker paying the price. A little help, please "U.S. rental-car companies had a unique opportunity to start transitioning their fleets to EVs, while also educating hundreds of thousands of Americans about the new cars. "They almost uniformly blew it," said John Voelcker, a reporter and analyst who has covered electric vehicles for 15 years. EVs are great in a lot of ways. They can also be maddening, frequently because car companies got too cute and reinvented features that already worked fine while they were also creating the technology that will probably eventually dominate the roads. Some EVs have a start/stop button. Others power up and down automatically when the key fob enters and leaves the vehicle. Locking and unlocking them can be equally idiosyncratic. The king of electric vehicles: GM reported triple-digit growth in its EVs while Tesla faced a double-digit loss Rental companies should be prepared to demonstrate these features, and others. I've spent enough time in Mercedes vehicles and other EVs to answer Cindy's questions. She made it through the rest of her trip to Michigan without getting stranded, but how many times has that happened to drivers whose only mistake was trusting the rental car company to tell them how to operate the vehicle? It's not that hard to get it right. Here's what you should demand from a rental agency, and a few key tips for anybody curious about EVs: List of things to ask upfront Before you rent: What else you need to know to be safe on the road Charger types: There are basically two: Level 2 charging, best for topping up the battery overnight; and DC fast charging for long drives where you'll stop and charge en route. Both will probably cost less than using gasoline. Level 2 charging, which uses the same 240-volt current as many appliances, should cost a lot less. When DC fast charging, it's most efficient to stop at 80% or 90% of a full charge. Adding the last 10%-20% ― it varies depending on brand and battery technology ― takes longer. One-pedal driving/regenerative braking: Many EVs have this feature, which maximizes the amount of energy recaptured for the battery when the vehicle slows down. You may never touch the brake pedal at all. The features increase battery range and are clever engineering, but not everybody likes them. Drivers who don't can turn it off or select different levels of deceleration Battery preconditioning: When the vehicle is plugged in, an app can tell it to warm the battery to its most efficient temperature before you start driving. That saves valuable battery power and increases range. Some vehicles will also precondition the battery for quicker charging before you stop at a DC fast charger on long drives. That reduces charging time and gets you get back on the road faster. Heated seats and steering wheels are your friend: It's a more efficient use of electricity to keep occupants comfortable by touching the seats and steering wheel than heating all the air in the cabin. Preconditioning can increase driving range significantly when temperatures fall below freezing. Air conditioning doesn't use as much power as heating. Traditional forced-air AC is fine in hot weather. Two good apps you'll need to find chargers: Plugshare and ABRP (A Better Route Planner) are my favorites. They'll tell you where to find chargers, which ones are open and if any are out of service. Charging networks like EVgo have their own apps but they only direct you to their chargers. Plugshare and ABRP are universal search engines, the Chrome and Safari of EV charging. Choose to charge overnight: Your life will be simpler if you stay somewhere with a Level 2 charger. One of the best things about EVs is starting every day with a full battery. Another is never stopping to gas up in the rain, wind or snow. And remember this courtesy move Never leave your vehicle parked at the charger when the battery is full. You don't lock the bathroom door behind you as you leave, do you? Somebody needs to use it. Are you changing your mind about renting an EV? This may seem like a lot to think about and do, but it quickly becomes second nature. DC fast chargers are also becoming more common, but "charging deserts" still exist. If you plan long drives in your rental, download ABRP or Plugshare before you decide an EV's the right choice for this trip. The rental clerk turned Cindy out into the night with a key fob and a wave, probably because nobody at HQ realized what a disservice that was to a customer. Cindy's a patient and forgiving soul, necessary character traits for someone who has put up with me for decades, you might say. Rental companies shouldn't take advantage of her, or any other customer's good nature. They need to improve their service or stop offering EVs. Until that happens, customers should ask a few extra questions before renting one. Contact Mark Phelan: mmphelan@ Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
The Drive
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
The Real Reason Guardrails Can't Stop EVs in a Crash
The latest car news, reviews, and features. You hear it all the time: the obesity epidemic isn't limited to human beings. Cars—especially EVs—are too big and too heavy, to the point where they're endangering our infrastructure. So when a video of a 7,173-pound Rivian R1T absolutely obliterating a highway safety barrier went viral, it was no surprise at all that the resulting commentary focused on its gargantuan weight. But is that really the whole story? Of course not. That's the whole point of a tease, right? The reality is, weight alone can't explain it. Generally speaking, yes, vehicles have been getting heavier. But trucks and SUVs really aren't that much more massive than even their decades-old equivalents, and even big EVs like the Rivian R1T, the GMC Hummer EV, and the Tesla Cybertruck aren't that much heavier than some well-optioned heavy-duty pickups (the F-350 Platinum I drove a few months ago was probably a 7,600-pound truck, for example). So if that's not the issue, what makes it so difficult to build a standardized guardrail? According to the folks who do it for a living, the issue is really twofold. For starters, while passenger cars aren't getting much heavier on spec, those driving heavier trucks are throwing off the curve, which makes it more difficult to design a single barrier with universal applicability. According to Cody Stolle, the assistant director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, testing is conducted with vehicles ranging from about 2,400 pounds (subcompacts) to around 5,000 pounds (full-size pickups). Vehicles weighing 7,000 pounds or more are outliers, and as The Drive Editor-in-Chief Kyle Cheromcha points out in the video, heavy-duty pickups drivers would find themselves in a similar predicament. A Tesla Model 3 undermines a highway safety barrier during a test. The second facet of the issue compounds the first, and it's an issue almost universally associated with EVs. Because barriers only work if they're able to absorb the energy from an impact, they're engineered to take those hits where most of a car's energy is concentrated: its center of mass. Unlike gasoline cars, which have relatively tall engines under their hoods, most EVs utilize floor-mounted battery packs that lower that point considerably, as demonstrated by the test where a Tesla Model 3 almost completely undermined the main impact rail and continued on, rather than being captured by it as intended. And keep in mind, engineers aren't designing barriers just for the cars and trucks on sale today. America's fleet is getting older every year, and with that greater disparity between the newest and oldest cars on the road comes new challenges for the people whose job it is to keep each of them in one piece. Get the full download with the video on our YouTube channel above. Got another infrastructure-related mystery you'd like to have solved? Drop us a line at tips@
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why QuantumScape Popped 29% During the First Half of 2025
QuantumScape has installed the Cobra process as its new manufacturing baseline. Cobra will demonstrate the company's ability to produce cells at a near-commercial pace. QuantumScape's partnership with Volkswagen subsidiary PowerCo will be instrumental in its plan to progress toward commercial production scales -- and revenue. 10 stocks we like better than QuantumScape › When looking at the risk vs. reward balance, QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) might offer the wildest range of any company out there. QuantumScape is hard at work developing its technology for solid-state batteries -- a type of battery that no company has produced at commercial scale for the electric vehicle (EV) market yet. If it succeeds, it will be a game-changing breakthrough for EVs, but for now, the company lacks not only profits, but any commercial revenue at all. That should change in time, but what should matter to investors is that QuantumScape is installing all of its new equipment for new processes to reach commercial production volume. And on that front, QuantumScape is making sound progress. In late June, the company announced a major milestone in its scale-up effort: the successful integration of its Cobra separator process into baseline cell production. Cobra is its next step toward commercialization, and the process enables faster and more energy-efficient production. QuantumScape noted that the process treats key battery cell components 25 times faster than earlier processes, and with a fraction of the equipment and operational footprint. The Cobra process will replace the company's previous process, dubbed Raptor, which was used for sample cells and B0 cell production. Essentially, part of this development is demonstrating that QuantumScape's improved manufacturing process will work on a fast-paced assembly line. "Cobra is a step-change innovation in ceramic processing, enabling a major improvement in productivity compared to Raptor -- which was already a considerable advancement compared to the previous generation," said QuantumScape co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Tim Holme in a press release. "This advancement is central to bringing our high-performance solid-state battery platform to market at gigawatt scale." The announcement of that milestone was almost solely responsible for the company's 29% surge during the first half of 2025, but where is QuantumScape likely to go during the second half? While QuantumScape works on newer iterations of Cobra to inch closer to commercialization of its solid-state batteries, the next step for the company is already in the works. But to put that in context, we have to rewind to almost exactly one year ago, when it announced a partnership with Volkswagen Group's battery company, PowerCo. Essentially, that partnership deal says that after the battery start-up makes satisfactory technical progress, then -- in exchange for royalty payments -- QuantumScape will grant PowerCo a license to mass-produce battery cells for EVs based on its technology. The deal will combine QuantumScape's technical innovations with PowerCo's extensive and high-quality production operations. QuantumScape's next goal is to begin shipping QSE-5 B1 samples, and it remains on track to do so. Those are the cells it will use to show how its tech works in real-world applications, and the B1 version is expected to be distributed for the testing phase of its launch program next year. QuantumScape stock is not an investment for the faint of heart. Anyone who buys it has to accept the considerable level of risk that comes with a company that is years away from generating revenue through the commercial manufacture of its core products. That said, QuantumScape has slowly but surely progressed, implementing each new process and hitting each new milestone on schedule. As the company continues on its quest to manufacture the "holy grail" of EV batteries, we can expect the hype train to chug forward every time it improves its Cobra process significantly. The Motley Fool's expert analyst team, drawing on years of investing experience and deep analysis of thousands of stocks, leverages our proprietary Moneyball AI investing database to uncover top opportunities. They've just revealed their to buy now — did QuantumScape make the list? When our Stock Advisor analyst team has a stock recommendation, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor's total average return is up 1,053% vs. just 180% for the S&P — that is beating the market by 873.17%!* Imagine if you were a Stock Advisor member when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $680,559!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,005,670!* The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Daniel Miller has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why QuantumScape Popped 29% During the First Half of 2025 was originally published by The Motley Fool
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Liberty General Insurance, ACKO become Tesla's insurance partners in India
As Tesla announced its foray into the Indian market on Tuesday, Liberty General Insurance and ACKO said they have become insurance partners for the American electric carmaker in India. Liberty General Insurance said it has developed a suite of finely tuned protection plans that complement Tesla's engineering and performance excellence while anticipating the distinct needs of EV users. "At Liberty, we're deeply honoured to be among Tesla's preferred insurance providers for the Indian market. We see this as a moment of transformation, not just in how we drive, but in how we protect, serve, and anticipate the needs of the next generation of motorists," Liberty General Insurance CEO & Whole-Time Director, Parag Ved said in a statement. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Pattamangalam: 1 Trick to Reduce Belly Fat? Home Fitness Hack Shop Now Undo ACKO also said it has been selected as Tesla's "preferred insurance partner for the country". "Tesla has revolutionised the automotive industry; our ambition is to redefine how that innovation is protected," ACKO General Insurance Ltd Managing Director & CEO Animesh Das said. Live Events ACKO said through its collaboration, Tesla owners can expect a fully integrated, entirely digital and minimal journey from quote to cover to claim. In a separate statement, Zurich Kotak General Insurance said it has launched ' EV Protect ', a comprehensive add-on cover within its car insurance product, Car Secure, for Indian electric vehicles (EVs), which covers Tesla among other EVs. As Tesla marks its much-anticipated entry into the Indian market, 'EV Protect' has been designed to provide a premium protection plan that ensures the EV stays as cutting-edge on the road as it is under the hood, it said. 'EV Protect' is a comprehensive ecosystem of protection that empowers EV owners to embrace electric mobility with confidence, safety, and complete peace of mind, Zurich Kotak General Insurance's MD and CEO Alok Agarwal said. "The product embodies our commitment to innovation and sustainability. It marks a significant turning point in the EV insurance space," he added.
