Nearly a month after unveiling its revamped
quick charger, Nissan has now announced that it’s working on new technology that would make EV charging… well, quicker.
A lot quicker. Developed alongside researchers from Japan’s Kansai University, the manufacturer’s approach would allow drivers to fully charge their plug-ins in just ten minutes, without taking any toll on a lithium-ion battery’s storage or voltage. Nissan says it could achieve this by tinkering with a charger’s capacitor — more specifically, by replacing its carbon electrode with one based on a composite of tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide. Industry insiders, however, say this technology may not reach the commercial level for another ten years — substantially longer than ten minutes.
Nissan’s new charging technology will juice your EV in ten minutes, ten years from now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Despite being first showcased in May, Pininfarina’s Antares has just slipped across our desks — and frankly, it’s a concept too gorgeous for us not to share. The beautiful tree-like structure — comprised of steel and aluminum — supports 20 photovoltaic cells, which the Italians reckon can produce up to 4.6 kilowatts, or just about enough juice to top up two fifty-mile range EVs. That’s the plan anyway; we’ll supposedly know more later this year, but given Pininfarina’s past EV efforts, maybe not. Either way, consider this our formal pre-order request for two — they’d look perfect right outside Engadget HQ.
Pininfarina’s stunning tree-shaped Antares EV charging station should be more than a prototype originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 05:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wander through MIT’s Killian Court and you’ll spot something distinctly modern nestled amongst its classical buildings — a set of solar-powered lounge chairs called SOFT Rockers. These curved, solar-panel-covered seats rotate on an axis to keep them facing the sun, generating additional energy from the rocking motion created when people climb inside. All that harvested electricity can be used to recharge gadgets plugged into the three USB ports and to illuminate a light strip on the inside of the loop. The teardrop-shaped charging stations were created by professor Sheila Kennedy and a team of students for the Festival of Art+Science+Technology (FAST) as an antidote to “conventional ‘hard’ urban infrastructure.” Plus, they seem like a great place to charge your phone while evading Dean Wormer and riding out double secret probation. Check out the gallery below for more images.
SOFT Rockers combine solar panels and moving furniture to charge your gadgets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 May 2011 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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You can already get a pretty hefty federal rebate on an electric vehicle, and it looks like at least some folks in Los Angeles can now also save a good chunk of change on an
EV charging station. LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa just announced a new pilot program this week that will provide rebates of “up to $2,000″ on home EV charging stations — to the first 1,000 applicants, that is. That will apparently be expanded soon enough, however, with the city promising to begin accepting additional applications on May 1st, and eventually cover up to 5,000 EV chargers. Those receiving the rebate will also be required to participate in the LADWP’s Residential Time-of-Use Rate that offers discounts for charging during off-peak hours, and the city will monitoring charging patterns in an effort to determine how to best allocate resources. Head on past the break for the full press release.
Continue reading Los Angeles pilot program offers up to $2,000 off EV charging stations
Los Angeles pilot program offers up to $2,000 off EV charging stations originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Amsterdam is known for its affinity for two-wheeled transportation, but the cycling-crazed city is also making a serious commitment to EVs for those Dutch who prefer driving. As a part of a plan introduced two years ago to eliminate internal combustion from its streets by 2040, the Netherlands’ capital is looking to add to its existing 100 EV charging stations. The City Council has charged Dutch power company Essent with the installation of an additional 125 public plug-in points this year, with the possibility of adding 625 more. These new chargers may make it easier to juice up your electric car, but given the current price of EVs, we aren’t sure how many Amsterdam residents will trade in their Kalkoffs for Fiat 500s and Smart ForTwos. PR’s after the break.
Continue reading Amsterdam orders 125 public EV charging stations, hastens the death of internal combustion
Amsterdam orders 125 public EV charging stations, hastens the death of internal combustion originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s fast becoming apparent that no electric vehicle is complete without an accompanying smartphone app to help you find places to charge it, and it looks like ECOtality isn’t about to let that trend pass it by. It’s just announced its new Blink Mobile app for iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices, which will let folks locate Blink charging stations, check up on the charger’s status, and receive various alerts (like when your car is finished charging at home). Unfortunately, you can’t download it just yet, but ECOtality says it will be available sometime this summer, with the iOS and Android apps likely to come out a bit ahead of the BlackBerry app — a web-based app is also in development. Head on past the break for the complete press release.
Continue reading ECOtality announces Blink Mobile EV charging app
ECOtality announces Blink Mobile EV charging app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Lack of public EV charging stations got you down? Range anxiety a frustrating part of life? Wouldn’t life be grand if you could just carry around an outlet in your trunk? Smile, friend, because Leviton‘s got just the bit your boot’s been looking for. It’s the Evr-Green 120 Level 1 Portable Charger, able to be plugged into any 15- or 20-amp household outlet before the other end goes into your car’s receptacle. Level 1 chargers are not the fastest, often taking 20 or more hours to put a full charge into big batteries, but if you just need to top-up and do it on the go this could be a great solution. It’s also one of the first truly portable chargers we’ve seen. The Best Buy charger for the Focus Electric (which is also from Leviton) is technically portable, but it’s obviously meant for bolting to the wall. This one looks to fit neatly in the trunk right next to all your hockey gear, though the ice might well be thawed before this releases — Leviton is only pledging a rather vague “2011″ for availability.
Continue reading Leviton announces Evr-Green 120 portable EV charger, pledges no unsightly shedding of leaves
Leviton announces Evr-Green 120 portable EV charger, pledges no unsightly shedding of leaves originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The solar-powered, green and white Beautiful Earth Group EV charging station, which once found its shipping container internals filled with a Mini E, is no longer. Well, it’s no longer where it was, anyway. It’s now somewhere completely different, a place that happens to be just down the road, a land known by many as Brooklyn. It’s Brooklyn Bridge Park, specifically, and Better Earth has donated the thing to the facilities department there. It’ll be used to charge up the service vehicles that patrol the place, apparently including a pair of GEM and Toro Workman EVs that look like they might have been Photoshopped into the promotional picture above. The presumably non-digitally-manipulated ones will all be recharged using the charging station’s 24 solar cells, generating 5.6kW and, ultimately, saving the world. Or, at least, the Park.
Beautiful Earth’s NYC solar powered EV charger follows the sun to Brooklyn Bridge Park originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 07:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Last week, GE kicked off its EV Experience Tour in San Francisco, to “bring GE experts together with local businesses, industry leaders, and public sector stakeholders for educational workshops, test drives, and dialogue on the business case for EV ecosystems.” The
Yves Behar-designed GE WattStation EV charger was on display at the event in both mock-up and ice sculpture form. We spent some time chatting with Luis Ramirez, CEO of GE Energy Industrial Solutions, and Clarence Nunn, President and CEO of GE Capital Fleet Services about the future of EV charging. We discussed efforts like
PlugShare and the
recent addition to EV charging stations to Google Maps, concepts like smart parking spots with embedded inductive charging, as well as ways to accommodate folks without garages who park their vehicles on city streets. They both assured us that GE is committed to providing an EV charging infrastructure for all, starting with the installation of a bunch of WattStations in San Francisco soon — though they wouldn’t say exactly when “soon” is. In the meantime, remember that EV charging is always just an outlet away. Take a look at our gallery below and jump past the break for the press release.
Continue reading GE kicks off EV Experience Tour, promises WattStations for all
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GE kicks off EV Experience Tour, promises WattStations for all originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Robots that are able to find a charger and plug themselves in may not be that unique anymore, but most of those chargers tend to leave the robot with little to do while it replenishes its batteries. Not so with this new charger developed by Aldebaran Robotics for its
Nao robot, which basically consists of a retractable extension cord that leaves the robot free to continue interacting with its owner, or simply sit down and chill out as the case may be. What’s more, while that comes from Aldebaran itself, we’re also now starting to see some results out of the company’s new
developer program, and it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that one of the first standout projects involves Wiimote and Kinect controls. Head on past the break to see both it and the new charging station on video.
Continue reading Nao robot gets a new charging station, Kinect / Wiimote controls
Nao robot gets a new charging station, Kinect / Wiimote controls originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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