ZF has joined forces with Mercedes-Benz Trucks to equip its electric trucks with eWorX, ZF’s electrified Power Take-Off (PTO) system. The eWorX all-in-one solution offers vehicle body manufacturers a known mechanical interface to drive work equipment. ZF’s eWorX system features a control unit, power electronics and electric motor with optional... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’s eMobility business has introduced a battery disconnect unit (BDU) that can be combined with upgraded Breaktor circuit protection technology to provide circuit protection in electrified vehicles (EVs) while reducing overall complexity and cost. When paired with the Breaktor circuit protection technology, which combines current switching and... Read more →

Nidec Corporation will build a flagship factory to produce its E-Axle traction motor system in the city of Pinghu, Zhejiang Province in China. The new factory to be built will be Nidec’s fifth traction motor-related production site, and the fourth E-Axle assembly plant, in China. Construction is planned to start... Read more →

Power management company Eaton introduced a family of 48-volt DC-DC converters for diesel-powered commercial vehicles that can be used to power accessories such as antilock brakes and lighting. Unlike competitive offerings, Eaton’s DC-DC converters are operational in ambient temperatures up to 85 ˚C and boast 97% design efficiency. DC-DC converters... Read more →

EAVX, a subsidiary of JB Poindexter & Co (JBPCO), and REE Automotive, an automotive technology leader and provider of electric vehicle platforms, announced that the companies’ new fully electric walk-in van (WIV) prototype will begin customer evaluation this summer. The Class 5 vehicle marks the debut of the EAVX body... Read more →

Modine Manufacturing Company, a diversified global leader in thermal management technology and solutions, announced the general availability of its suite of EVantage Thermal Management Systems for commercial EV chassis. Leveraging more than 100 years of thermal expertise, Modine, which put radiator systems in the Model T, produces complete EV thermal... Read more →

With the introduction of Ultramid A3U44G6 DC OR (PA66 - GF30 FR), BASF is expanding its portfolio of flame-retardant engineering plastics for the eMobility market. In the case of already proven Ultradur (PBT) products, color stability can be largely guaranteed, especially in orange (RAL 2003) which is in high demand... Read more →

Qorvo, a provider of innovative RF solutions, announced a next-generation series of 1200V Silicon Carbide (SiC) Field Effect Transistors (FETs) with industry-leading figures of merit in on-resistance. The new UF4C/SC series of 1200V Gen 4 SiC FETs are suited for mainstream 800V bus architectures in onboard chargers for electric vehicles,... Read more →

Celeroton has launched its new high-speed turbo compressor system CT-2000 with converter CC-2000 for fuel cell systems. The new system has been specially developed to meet automotive requirements. Developed for fuel cell air supply with a net output of 30 to 60 kW, the new turbo compressor system offers an... Read more →

Fontaine Modification is expanding its electrification integration services to include refrigerated trailers through a strategic alliance with electric transport refrigeration unit (eTRU) innovator eNow, Inc. Fontaine will offer application engineering, integration, and installation of eNow’s proprietary renewable Rayfrigeration eTRU technology on refrigerated trailers from all manufacturers. The system can be... Read more →

Hankuk Carbon Co Ltd, a manufacturer of advanced composite materials, has formed a strategic joint-partnership with Dymag, a manufacturer of carbon composite wheels, to enable the mass production of high-performance carbon composite wheels for the world’s leading automotive OEMs. The collaboration, announced at JEC World in Paris, will apply Hankuk... Read more →

Vitesco Technologies has landed a €2-billion contract to supply its new generation axle drive EMR4 (Electronics Motor Reducer) to Hyundai Motor Group. The order was already mentioned in March at Vitesco Technologies’ annual press conference without naming the customer. The highly integrated 400 V/160 kW 3-in-1 unit will be used... Read more →

Rheinmetall has developed a new glass fiber suspension spring. In cooperation with a premium OEM, the Düsseldorf-based technology group has now presented this product in a prototype testbed vehicle. Featuring a patented design, the new spring won over the automaker due primarily to its significant weight advantage in the unsprung... Read more →

BluE Nexus Corporation, AISIN CORPORATION, and DENSO Corporation jointly developed an eAxle for Toyota’s new battery-electric bZ4X. (Earlier post.) BluE’s first eAxle has achieved excellent dynamic performance and downsizing and helps vehicles increase their electric mileage. BluE was established in April 2019 to develop and sell electric systems and driving... Read more →

>Metis Engineering revealed the beta version of its Production Battery Safety Sensor, designed to monitor the health of a lithium-ion battery pack and detect cell venting, an early sign of catastrophic battery failure. Metis Engineering Managing Director Joe Holdsworth said that the team plans to make one or two minor... Read more →

Romeo Power and Wrightspeed are working together to leverage Romeo Power’s high-capacity battery packing and module technology along with Wrightspeed’s high-torque, high-efficiency powertrain system to accelerate electrification in the bus, and medium- and heavy-duty truck market. There are more than one million existing buses and trucks that are candidates for... Read more →

Hino Trucks has completed the vehicle integration, and commenced testing and validation of Allison Transmission’s next-generation eGen Power 100D fully electric axle in its XL series heavy duty battery electric vehicles (BEVs), as Hino progresses towards start of production. The fully integrated eGen Power 100D features two electric motors, each... Read more →

DHL Express is installing solar panel units on trucks within its US pickup and delivery fleet, reducing fuel consumption in markets throughout the country. Equipping 67 of DHL Express’ medium- and heavy-duty trucks with the TRAILAR solar technology is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 1,000 kg per year for... Read more →

SWISS will equip its entire Boeing long-haul fleet with fuel-saving AeroSHARK surface technology (earlier post). Starting in the middle of the year, a total of twelve Boeing 777-300ERs will gradually be fitted with the riblet films developed jointly by Lufthansa Technik and BASF. The significantly reduced frictional resistance resulting from... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved amendments to its current rule for Transport Refrigeration Units (TRUs) operating in the state. The 2022 amendments will require a variety of actions designed to reduce the pollution these units produce, and accelerate their transition to zero-emission technologies. The new requirements include the... Read more →

BMW introduced all-wheel drive more than 35 years ago; for almost two decades the intelligent power distribution between the front and rear axles has been known as BMW xDrive. Now the first all-electric BMW xDrive system can also be experienced on the road. It premieres in the BMW iX and... Read more →

Cummins has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Meritor, a global leader of drivetrain, mobility, braking, aftermarket and electric powertrain solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. Under the terms of the agreement, Cummins will pay $36.50 in cash per Meritor share, for a total transaction value of approximately... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’s Vehicle Group has formed a new ePowertrain business unit, which will focus on products from Eaton’s electrified vehicle (EV) transmission, reduction gearing and differential portfolios. Combining the product lines into a new ePowertrain business unit creates synergy among Eaton’s powertrain and EV experts and allows the... Read more →

STMicroelectronics has introduced new automotive microcontrollers (MCUs) optimized for electric vehicles and centralized (domain and zonal) electronic architectures. They enable EVs to become more affordable, drive further, and charge faster. In current EVs, high-efficiency SiC-based (silicon carbide) power modules enable the greatest driving range and faster charging. However, trypical automotive... Read more →

Rheinmetall AG has received major orders in the two-digit-million-euro range to supply fuel cell components. Leading fuel cell manufacturers have turned to the company for hydrogen recirculation blowers and cathode flaps. The order package marks a further success for the Group’s hydrogen strategy as it systematically expands into alternative drive... Read more →

Koenigsegg is continuing its in-house technology development and advanced electromobility component offerings. It started with David, the recently introduced 6-phase inverter, followed by the company’s newest innovation, the Quark electric motor that utilizes a novel torque/power-rich balance between radial (power-dense) and axial (torque-dense) flux topology dubbed Raxial Flux. Koenigsegg has... Read more →

DSM Engineering Materials has expanded its Comparative Tracking Index (CTI) test laboratory with equipment to validate tracking resistance to voltages up to 1,500V AC and 1,000V DC. High-voltage component manufacturers have shown significant interest in collaborating with DSM on this testing for voltages between 600 and 1,500V. High-voltage charging systems... Read more →

Magna continues its growth in electrification with secondary eDrive systems hitting the market in Asia, Europe and North America on Volkswagen’s MEB platform. The HASCO Magna Electric Drive Systems Co., Ltd. (HME) team in China has started high-volume serial production of secondary eDrive systems for the Volkswagen ID.4 electric crossover,... Read more →

Carrier is further expanding its electrification capabilities through a new alliance with ConMet, adding trailer wheel-based power generation that captures energy that otherwise would be wasted during braking events. The alliance also advances Carrier’s broader zero-emission transport refrigeration solutions, with the availability of electric options for trailer, truck, and light... Read more →

Comau, a member of Stellantis, has developed and deployed an automated e-drive assembly line for Geely Automobile Holdings at its Geely Veremt plant in Ningbo (China), for the end-to-end assembly of the electric motor, gearbox and inverter. Designed in close collaboration with the Geely team, the complete line uses a... Read more →

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH has launched a new normally open (NO) 1-Form-A photorelay that is intended for use in a multitude of battery- and hybrid-electric vehicle applications including within the battery management system (BMS), ground fault detection and identifying faults with mechanical relays. The new TLX9160T consists of an infrared... Read more →

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH has launched a new Ethernet bridge IC—the TC9563XBG—intended for use in automotive zonal-architecture, infotainment, telematics or gateways as well as industrial equipment. The new bridge IC incorporates two 10 Gbps Ethernet Media Access Controller (MAC) supporting a number of interfaces including USXGMII, XFI, SGMII, and RGMII.... Read more →

As part of its electrification strategy, Rheinmetall is setting up a joint venture with the US start-up PolyCharge America, Inc. to produce, develop and market DC-link capacitors. Underlying this move is Rheinmetall’s goal of gaining a stronger foothold in the rapidly growing markets for electromobility and industrial applications as well... Read more →

Thermo King, the transport refrigeration brand of Trane Technologies, will transition to a lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant as standard in its truck and trailer units. This will reduce the carbon footprint of refrigerants used by its customers’ long-haul, middle-mile and last-mile delivery fleets by nearly 50%—approximately 650,000 metric... Read more →

Kandi Technologies Group signed a framework agreement with Hunan Hengrun Automobile Co., Ltd. jointly to produce battery-swap enabled pure electric vehicles. According to the agreement, Kandi and Hengrun will use their respective capabilities to produce battery-swappable pure electric vehicles. The specific division of labor and cooperation content will be clarified... Read more →

Magna has kicked off the new year reinforcing its capabilities to produce electrification solutions that deliver the vehicle of the future and greater sustainable mobility, for all. The mobility technology company is highlighting EtelligentForce, a battery electric 4WD powertrain system for pickup trucks and light commercial vehicles paired with Magna... Read more →

Transient Plasma Systems Inc. (TPS), which develops and markets nanosecond pulsed-power systems that unlock the potential of low-temperature plasma to be used in a variety of applications, says that it has made significant advances in its ignition technology, including development milestones in control software, plug configuration, and cost reduction, narrowing... Read more →

Samsung Electronics unveiled an extensive lineup of automotive memory solutions designed for next-generation autonomous electric vehicles. The new lineup includes a 256-gigabyte (GB) PCIe Gen3 NVMe ball grid array (BGA) SSD, 2GB GDDR6 DRAM and 2GB DDR4 DRAM for high-performance infotainment systems, as well as 2GB GDDR6 DRAM and 128GB... Read more →

Motiv Power Systems announced the successful testing of its Electronic Stability Control System (ESC) on its EPIC4 platform. The Double Lane Change Handling test, conducted by the Transportation Research Center (TRC), examined the use of automatic computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to help operators maintain control in critical or hazardous... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’s Vehicle Group has demonstrated cylinder deactivation (CDA) as an effective technology for meeting future global emissions requirements for diesel-engine powered commercial vehicles. To date, the technology has been evaluated with a close-coupled selective catalytic reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system with and without a 48-volt electric heater. New... Read more →

TI Fluid Systems (TIFS), a leading global supplier of automotive fluid systems technology, has launched high volume production supply of various fluid products for the global Mercedes-Benz AG programs C-Class, GLC and E-Class hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). TIFS will also supply products for Mercedes-Benz AG’s internal combustion engine (ICE) variants... Read more →

Nissan Motor unveiled a lunar rover prototype jointly developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at the Nissan Futures event in Yokohama. The JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center is conducting research on lunar rovers—a key technology for space exploration. Nissan has been working with JAXA on driving controllability... Read more →

Volvo Cars has invested in the optical and imaging technology start-up Spectralics through the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, the company’s venture capital investment arm. The investment gives Volvo Cars access to promising technology at an early stage of development. Coming from a background in aerospace technology development, Israel-based Spectralics creates... Read more →

Bosch has expanded its product portfolio for mobile hydrogen applications with components for hydrogen tank systems such as tank valves or pressure regulators. For this purpose, Bosch entered into an engineering partnership with the Italian specialist OMB Saleri in which the products are jointly further developed. Pressure regulator and tank... Read more →

Toyota West Virginia (TMMWV) will invest $240 million to add a dedicated production line of hybrid transaxles. The new hybrid transaxle line investment will provide new equipment and operational upgrades to modernize the facility. One important result of the new line is that it will allow TMMWV team members to... Read more →

Ricardo has received UK Government funding to optimize in-car thermal and energy management systems to improve electric vehicle range and battery performance. This technology innovation should help accelerate consumer adoption of battery electric vehicles, the company said. Partnering with Jaguar Land Rover and using a Jaguar I-PACE as a demonstrator... Read more →

Magna is providing battery enclosures for the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning battery-electric pickup. Battery enclosures, which all electric vehicles require, house high-voltage batteries, electrical components, sensors and connectors, contributing to the structural and safety aspects of a vehicle’s frame and protecting critical components from potential impact, heat and water. Magna’s... Read more →

REE Automotive has selected American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM), a global Tier 1 automotive supplier, to supply REE with its high-performance electric drive units (EDU). AAM’s award-winning 3-in-1 electric drive technology—which places the electric motor, gearbox and inverter into a single package—will be integrated into REEcorner technology (earlier post). This... Read more →

Allegro MicroSystems, a global provider of power and sensing solutions for motion control and energy efficient systems, is expanding its QuietMotion product line with the introduction of the new A89307 automotive-qualified gate driver integrated circuit (IC). Designed for battery cooling fans and HVAC systems in electric (EV) and hybrid vehicles,... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’s eMobility business has introduced the EVK Series, a new line of Bussmann series fuses. The new line of high-voltage fuses meets the requirements for use in the latest high-powered electrified vehicles (EVs) with ratings up to 1,000 volts of direct current (VDC) and 600 amps. Eaton’s... Read more →