Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Martyn1981

Nice product from the UK. A containerised drop in battery and EV charger solution for businesses, utilising used EV battery packs. Providing 7kW charging for parked cars (or higher) and buffering supply where constrained.

Products range from 150kWh to 900kWh, with rumours that the 450kWh 10ft container option costs ~£60k.

Can be rented/leased, so ask your boss if one can be installed in the carpark?

Fellten drops the Charge Qube to bring off-grid charging and energy storage with repurposed EV batteries

• Charge Qube is a modular, mobile energy storage system that installs quickly without planning permission, becoming operational within two hours.

• It stores 150kWh to 900kWh, supports AC and DC fast charging, integrates renewables, and repurposes second-life EV batteries sustainably.

• Providing clean, cost-effective energy, it powers EV charging, construction sites, events, and remote locations with flexible deployment options.

UK-built mobile energy storage and EV charging solution launches

Three variants are on offer: energy storage only for flexible, off-grid power solutions; a Type-2 AC charging version that supports up to 12 EVs simultaneously at 7kW per port; or a CCS DC fast charging variant featuring dual 240kW CCS chargers, suitable for high-speed public and commercial EV charging.

zeupater

Magnitio said:

...

The second of the Bosch brake-by-wire solutions is based on a pure electrical link between the pedal and the brake calipers. If reliability and fail-safe concerns are properly addressed, this greatly simplifies the implementation of braking systems, reduces component count and weight, requires less servicing (no brake fluid changes) and can provide a greater pad-to-disc gap for improved efficiency.

Hi

As previously mentioned, I've thought about this for decades and can see plenty of pros from going this route ... however there are also plenty of issues to address, some engineering & some safety .... 

Regarding weight ...  moving away from the actual physical brakes, deleting the entire hydraulic system delivery system (pipes/nuts/fluid etc) probably averages ~2kg/vehicle and unless there's absolutely no need for hydraulic control at the wheels the number of servo units could increase, possibly replacing 1 with 2 or even 4, which obviously has it's own weight/cost & complexity implications .... now, in moving to a fully electric braking system the force exerted at each wheel would require that each electromagnetic unit would need to equate to a force provided by over 1000psi of hydraulic pressure whilst ensuring reliable operation to bring the vehicle to rest even in conditions of total electrical failure caused by loss of power directly related to the battery itself or something related to power distribution (wires/fuses/shorts etc). This brings up the matter of redundancy in a safety critical system in a product where electrical issues/failure are a major contributing factor in vehicle breakdowns .... okay, consider a case where the vehicle is travelling at speed and, for some reason, power is suddenly lost - the fully electric brakes don't work with the result potentially being catastrophic ... of course this scenario would be picked up in the FMEA and a solution recommended through the CCAS process, possibly resulting in increasing redundancy by adding capacitors with the sufficient ability to provide the equivalent of up to ~1000psi of hydraulic force at each EM brake for as long as it takes to bring a fully loaded vehicle to rest from maximum speed whilst travelling down hill .... of course, the redundancy could equally be designed to keep the naturally closed brakes open using electricity at all times (quite a design overhead in an EV, so any range vs battery capacity cost trade off issues?) as this would probably require smaller capacitors which would still be needed to avoid the wheels locking up under full braking force ....

As previously mentioned, it not as easy as it first seems ... weight/cost saved in reducing the hydraulic system can easily be overcome by the introduction of additional systems to provide failover and even the energy overhead to provide that redundancy .... I suppose the main difference between hydraulic failure and electrical failure is that hydraulic is normally gradual (tube pinholes etc) whilst electrical failure is practically immediate and that simple realisation is likely the reason for there still being discussion on this issue decades after the technology for electrical braking systems has existed. 

The current problem facing the automotive industry, particularly in Europe, is effective cost, demand and overcapacity and simply looking to shave a little here and there isn't going to make a significant difference .... we've got companies that are content to build what they've done for years with little other than cosmetic change because the market has effectively operated on a push system basis where the consumer base has little real choice other than size, performance and badge snobbery - their problem now is that their customer base is changing towards a pull system where there is a competition offering from a completely different product technology which should logically be both simpler and cheaper, even though technical & performance specifications are very much improved - the game is now simply one of catch-up quickly to survive or bow out as opposed to playing around with marginal changes that most players have known about and disregarded for years ... 

To survive, the various European industry players need to recognise that they must achieve price & cost savings of tens of percentage points as opposed to a percentage of a tenth of a percentage point and that needs serious management to take serious decisions ...

HTH - Z        

michaels

Do we know what happens to the Cybertruck steering should there be a total electrical failure?

My heat pump uses a supercapacitor to maintain settings such as the clock in the event of a power failure - at 12 years old the capacitor failed to the extent that this functionality no longer worked so on a car you would need a sensor to confirm the capacitor remained effective.

Against this, obviously there is the ease of engineering for LHD/RHD what entirely drive by wire would bring - and thinking outside the box, perhaps it would allow much more customisation of product - small runs as the whole skateboard and controls could be modular and then the cabin/skin could be changed as desired.

Martyn1981

Nice to see the national Grid pushing back on EV myths, especially the impact on grid demand:

Busting the myths and misconceptions about electric vehicles

New petrol and diesel only cars will no longer be sold in the UK from 2035, and the US is aiming for half of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030. So, before long, it’s likely that far more of us will be behind the wheel of an electric vehicle (EV).

There are a number of questions and concerns people have about EVs, and just as many misconceptions that are making motorists think twice. Here we address some of the most common EV myths.

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

Nice to see the national Grid pushing back on EV myths, especially the impact on grid demand:

Busting the myths and misconceptions about electric vehicles

New petrol and diesel only cars will no longer be sold in the UK from 2035, and the US is aiming for half of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030. So, before long, it’s likely that far more of us will be behind the wheel of an electric vehicle (EV).

There are a number of questions and concerns people have about EVs, and just as many misconceptions that are making motorists think twice. Here we address some of the most common EV myths.

I thought Labour were reinstating the 2030 target - has that been quietly dropped, it wouldn't surprise me, they seem to be much more green wash to those who want green and sceptical to other voters....

Grumpy_chap

michaels said:

I thought Labour were reinstating the 2030 target

I believe that is so, but not sure whether it has been confirmed since the election.
Either way, the page that was linked would not capture the change implemented by the current Government as the footnote states:

Last updated: 21 Sep 2023

Magnitio

michaels said:

Do we know what happens to the Cybertruck steering should there be a total electrical failure?

My heat pump uses a supercapacitor to maintain settings such as the clock in the event of a power failure - at 12 years old the capacitor failed to the extent that this functionality no longer worked so on a car you would need a sensor to confirm the capacitor remained effective.

Against this, obviously there is the ease of engineering for LHD/RHD what entirely drive by wire would bring - and thinking outside the box, perhaps it would allow much more customisation of product - small runs as the whole skateboard and controls could be modular and then the cabin/skin could be changed as desired.

As I understand it, the steering is powered by the 48v battery. If that fails, it is powered by the main drive battery after converting to 48v. In the event of any issues, the car goes into limp-home mode.
Planes have been using fly-by-wire systems for many years with very few issues and greater reliability than the previous hydraulic and mechanical linkage controls.

zeupater

Magnitio said:

michaels said:

Do we know what happens to the Cybertruck steering should there be a total electrical failure?

My heat pump uses a supercapacitor to maintain settings such as the clock in the event of a power failure - at 12 years old the capacitor failed to the extent that this functionality no longer worked so on a car you would need a sensor to confirm the capacitor remained effective.

Against this, obviously there is the ease of engineering for LHD/RHD what entirely drive by wire would bring - and thinking outside the box, perhaps it would allow much more customisation of product - small runs as the whole skateboard and controls could be modular and then the cabin/skin could be changed as desired.

As I understand it, the steering is powered by the 48v battery. If that fails, it is powered by the main drive battery after converting to 48v. In the event of any issues, the car goes into limp-home mode.
Planes have been using fly-by-wire systems for many years with very few issues and greater reliability than the previous hydraulic and mechanical linkage controls.

Hi

Additionally, unlike the minimal technical advantages & weight savings (if any) that may be available if concentrating on a fully brake-by-wire solution, there are significant potential savings and advantages related to steer-by-wire ... if nothing else, the mechanical steering system components linking the steering wheel to the rack-and-pinion setup likely weighs ~5-10Kg alone, so there's more to play with to allow for multi-layered safety system redundancy ... added to that there's the potential benefit for manufacturers to consider 4 wheel/progressive steering systems etc, but overall everything comes down to a pretty complex consideration of safety, cost and realistic performance benefits which probably means that everyday affordable vehicles that will not need anything other than basic steering will only move technologies when it's both cheaper and has a proven safety record ....

HTH - Z  

Grumpy_chap

zeupater said:

 everything comes down to a pretty complex consideration of safety, cost and realistic performance benefits which probably means that everyday affordable vehicles that will not need anything other than basic steering will only move technologies when it's both cheaper and has a proven safety record ....

That seems to be a quantum paradox.
Won't be adopted until there is a proven safety record.
Can't achieve a proven safety record until it is adopted.

zeupater

Grumpy_chap said:

zeupater said:

 everything comes down to a pretty complex consideration of safety, cost and realistic performance benefits which probably means that everyday affordable vehicles that will not need anything other than basic steering will only move technologies when it's both cheaper and has a proven safety record ....

That seems to be a quantum paradox.
Won't be adopted until there is a proven safety record.
Can't achieve a proven safety record until it is adopted.

Hi

... and that's the reason why new automotive technologies don't get directly introduced into the mass market & why many really promising registered patents simply sit on shelves for years doing nothing but gather dust (figuratively!) .... the risk based cost/benefit analysis worries too many companies who would rather act as they've always done & leave it to niche & high margin market players to test & prove the most promising technologies on their behalf, and even then they'll only consider change when it really becomes absolutely necessary ...

HTH - Z