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Cenntro 5 Debuts
Cenntro premiered of five new vehicles at CES
The LM864H is a 6×4 semi-tractor representing Cenntro’s first entry into hydrogen fuel cells and its first heavy-duty truck. The semi-tractor’s electric motors are fully powered by high-efficiency sustainable hydrogen fuel cells with eight 210-liter banks that convert hydrogen into electric power by combining it with oxygen, producing only water as its only byproduct. The LM864H will be available in 3Q of 2023.
LS 300 to bring All Electric Van to Logistics and Vocational Industry
The LS 300 is a Class 3 vehicle and will be available in two variations: as a van and a truck. The range and capacity of the LS300 will make it a strong contender in the commercial EV market for last mile delivery and urban services. The LS300 is equipped with a 118kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, a maximum speed of 62 mph and the range of 273 miles (440 km). The van version features four doors for easy access and the truck variation can be upfitted with different configurations that can meet the needs for multiple applications.
Cenntro’s production version, state of the art All Electric iChassis series will revolutionize how the industry defines autonomy and open up new possibilities for commercial applications. The open-platform, fully programmable iChassis series has been designed for automated and autonomous driving. Unlike other industry offerings, Cenntro’s iChassis opens innovation to third-parties to develop their own software and design hardware to control and maneuver the vehicle and to develop new applications that are unique to their needs.
Factorial Solid with Stellantis
Factorial Inc. (Factorial), an electric vehicle (EV) battery leader developing next-generation solid-state battery cells, today announced the company’s first 100 Amp-Hour (Ah) battery cell was previewed at CES 2023 in the Stellantis exhibition space. Developed as part of Factorial and Stellantis’ joint development agreement announced in November 2021, this cell results from the two companies’ continued collaboration to bring advanced solid-state battery technology to electric vehicles.
After already successfully creating automotive relevant sized cells of 40 Ah capacity, Factorial is introducing even larger format cells to meet the key performance requirements from their global leading automotive OEM partners.
Factorial is committed to delivering high performance, sustainable and safe batteries to power electric vehicles. Factorial’s FEST™ (Factorial Electrolyte System Technology) leverages current lithium ion battery manufacturing facilities, which saves production costs and time, while improving energy density and safety.
ChargePoint MBZ & MN8 Fast Charging
ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CHPT), a leading electric vehicle (EV) charging provider, Mercedes-Benz and MN8 Energy, one of the largest U.S. solar, stationary power and renewable energy providers, announced plans to rapidly expand the availability of DC fast charging with the development of over 400 charging hubs across the U.S. and Canada. Powered by the ChargePoint network, the Mercedes-Benz charging hubs will be in key cities and urban population centers, along major highway corridors and close to convenient retail and service destinations.
Starting this year, ChargePoint, Mercedes-Benz, and MN8 will develop more than 400 charging hubs across North America with more than 2,500 ChargePoint DC fast charging ports that will enable a premium, sustainable and reliable charging experience for EV drivers. MN8 and Mercedes-Benz will jointly finance and operate the charging hubs, powered by ChargePoint’s industry leading charging hardware and software solutions.
Available to all EV drivers, the Mercedes-Benz charging hubs will offer Mercedes-Benz drivers additional benefits including preferential access via reservation, as well as the convenience of automatic authentication functionality like “Plug & Charge” [1], enabling seamless and secure communications between the vehicle and the charging infrastructure. While authentication via card, app or head unit will be possible, it’s not required for Mercedes-Benz customers using the Mercedes me Charge[2] service.G.
The Mercedes-Benz hubs will primarily be powered by ChargePoint Express Plus, one of the most advanced high power DC fast charge platforms built for businesses looking to scale their EV charging operations for the long term. Express Plus is the ideal platform for fueling and convenience, retail and highway corridor charging locations. The system can deliver up to 500kW per port, depending on the configuration, and is designed to easily scale to meet future demand as EV adoption and vehicle capability grows. With its modular design and liquid-cooled cables, Express Plus can efficiently charge today’s and tomorrow’s electric vehicles.
Infinitum New Motor
Infinitum, creator of the breakthrough air core motor, today announced Aircore Mobility, an award-winning, next generation, axial flux propulsion and traction motor designed to sustainably power passenger and commercial electric vehicles, as well as aviation, marine, construction, agricultural machines and auxiliary applications. The Aircore Mobility motor delivers high power and torque density and operates with class-leading efficiency over a wide range of speeds and load conditions to maximize vehicle range, whether on road, off road, on water or in the air.
The Aircore Mobility motor replaces the heavy, copper wound iron stator found in traditional motors with a lightweight, printed circuit board (PCB) stator that is 10x more reliable. When compared to conventional motors, it is 10 percent more efficient, 50 percent smaller and lighter, and uses 66 percent less copper. By replacing the iron core with a PCB stator, mechanical losses are reduced, efficiency is increased and noise and vibration are significantly reduced. The Aircore Mobility motor is covered by 32 issued patents and 44 pending patents and will be generally available in Q2 2023.
Leveraging its unique PCB stator design, the Aircore Mobility motor can achieve up to 4-5x the current density of a conventional, liquid cooled motor using a liquid cooling technique that allows the coolant to be in direct contact with the stator, mitigating heat across a larger surface area, enabling high overload capability and extended life.
Infinitum’s Aircore Mobility motor is designed and manufactured with a sustainable, circular lifecycle. The motor can be produced using fewer raw materials and its modular design allows the housing, rotors, and stators to be reused multiple times, giving parts a second and third life to serve future generations. The motor can also be manufactured almost anywhere locally without complex assembly equipment and its smaller size means more product is shipped in equal space, which drastically reduces transportation related emissions.
Qnovo Partners with Vanderhall
Qnovo, the market leader e-mobility battery management software that has raised more than $40M in funding, today announced a strategic partnership with Vanderhall Motor Works (Vanderhall), a US manufacturer of light mobility vehicles. Vanderhall will utilize Qnovo’s new innovation for electrified mobility, SpectralX, in its electric vehicles in 2023. SpectralX is intelligent battery management system (BMS) software that uses predictive analytics to improve battery performance, EV range by up to 10 percent, and safety in all types of electric vehicles with any type of lithium-ion battery.
SpectralX is a software-only solution that works as a layer on top of a manufacturer’s existing battery management system (BMS) with a minimal footprint. The addition of Qnovo’s Battery Genome© helps to automate the cell selection process, saving time in qualification to facilitate deployment of SpectralX in a matter of weeks on a vehicle.
“Implementing Qnovo’s SpectralX BMS software in the Brawley, our all-electric side by side, was a no-brainer,” said Stephen Hall, CEO of Vanderhall. “It helps us provide a superior all-electric vehicle by optimizing and reducing charging times, extending range, and mitigating potential safety risks. We’re excited to deploy this solution in multiple all-electric vehicles that will be launching globally in upcoming years.”
Qnovo will be showing off the Vanderhall Brawley vehicle at CES 2023 from January 5-8 at Booth CP-7 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
onsemi for KIA EV6
onsemi (Nasdaq: ON), a leader in intelligent power and sensing technologies, today announced that onsemi’s EliteSiC family of silicon carbide (SiC) power modules has been selected for Kia Corporation’s EV6 GT model. The electric vehicle (EV) accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and reaches top speed at 161 mph. Within the traction inverter of a high performance EV, the EliteSiC power module enables high-efficiency power conversion from the DC 800 V of the battery to the AC drive for the rear axle. onsemi continues to collaborate with Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation (HMC/KIA) to use the EliteSiC technology for the upcoming high performance EVs based on HMC/KIA’s Electric – Global Module Platform (E-GMP).
onsemi’s high-power density SiC power module delivers the most innovative package technology to minimize parasitics and thermal resistance and offers robust package reliability using innovative interconnects. This leads to reduced power losses associated with DC to AC conversion along with reduced size and weight of the traction inverter, increasing performance and EV range by 5%.
With decades of superior packaging expertise in high-density power solutions for automotive applications, onsemi differentiated power module technology delivers industry-leading power traction solutions. Exceptional packaging technology alongside an evolutionary path from planar to trench cell structures in SiC enable onsemi to provide highly robust and reliable solutions to industry leader HKMC/KIA.
Wolfspeed Supplies MBZ EVs
Wolfspeed, Inc. (NYSE: WOLF) today announced the company will be supplying Silicon Carbide devices to power future Mercedes-Benz® Electric Vehicle (EV) platforms, enabling greater efficiency in the powertrain. Wolfspeed’s semiconductors will be incorporated into next generation powertrain systems for several Mercedes-Benz vehicle lines.
As a leader in luxury vehicles, Mercedes-Benz understands the need for superior performance. By leveraging Wolfspeed’s expertise and Silicon Carbide devices to improve vehicle range and power, Mercedes-Benz plans to have some of the most efficient EVs on the road.
“We are pleased to be supporting Mercedes-Benz, an organization with a long, successful history of providing world-class performance and luxury vehicles, as they introduce next-generation EVs to the market with highly efficient power systems,” said Gregg Lowe, CEO of Wolfspeed. “We are continuing to invest in our manufacturing capacity to support a steepening demand curve for Silicon Carbide devices that will not only improve EV performance and drive greater consumer adoption, but also support the sustainability efforts of global automotive leaders like Mercedes-Benz.”
The Silicon Carbide power devices for Mercedes-Benz will be produced at Wolfspeed’s facilities in Durham, North Carolina and its new 200mm Mohawk Valley Fab in Marcy, New York. This Mohawk Valley Fab is the world’s largest Silicon Carbide fabrication facility and is dramatically expanding Wolfspeed’s production capacity. Earlier this year Wolfspeed also announced it was beginning construction on a new Silicon Carbide materials facility in North Carolina, which will expand its Silicon Carbide capacity by more than 10x.