IBM has teamed with Západoslovenská energetika, a.s. (ZSE), the largest distributor and supplier of electricity in Slovakia, on a smart energy feasibility study that will help prepare the capital city Bratislava for electric vehicles.

CAP-XX Limited a leading developer of thin, prismatic supercapacitors (also known as ultracapacitors or EDLC), announced that it has developed a supercapacitor module which supplies the cranking current to start the engine in Stop-Start vehicles (also known as start-stop, idle-stop, or micro-hybrid vehicles), reducing wear on the battery and eliminating the need for larger, more expensive ones.

Australian company, EV Engineering is using UQM Technologies' electric propulsion system to power its proof-of-concept fleet of Australian-built EV Commodore electric vehicles.

Meidensha Corporation and Sumitomo Electric Industries are developing a new electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) which they plan to commercialise for pure electric and hybrid vehicles in 2015.

Most green technologies are not so green on closer examination but at least the situation can be improved. Electric vehicles are no exception.

Saft has entered into an agreement with BAE Systems to design and build ultra high-power batteries for the vehicle's hybrid electric drive system as part of the U.S. Army's Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program.

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world's largest shipbuilder and a leading green energy company, and Magna E-Car Systems (Magna E-Car), a global supplier of components and systems for hybrid and electric vehicles, announced that the two companies agreed to form a joint venture named MAHY E-CELL as a platform to co-develop and grow a successful battery cell and battery pack business.

To enable radio reception in electric vehicles, manufacturers must install filters and insulate cables, since electrical signals will otherwise interfere with music and speech transmissions. Now, using new calculation methods, researchers are paving the way for pure listening pleasure while also helping to lower the associated costs.

By 2022 the USA Energy Department hopes that companies in the United States will be the first in the world to produce a 5-passenger affordable American electric vehicle with a payback time of less than 5 years and sufficient range and fast-charging ability to enable average Americans everywhere to meet their daily transportation needs more conveniently and at lower cost.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems have inaugurated a solar hydrogen filling station. Sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment Baden-Wuerttemberg, the publically accessible filling station serves not only as a demonstration platform but also represents a milestone in the progressive network of hydrogen filling stations being set up in the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Less than two weeks remain until the IDTechEx Energy Harvesting & Storage conference and exhibition and already exhibitors are prepared to demonstrate their capabilities and technology advances, and not just on paper. This year more than ever, the exhibition floor will be full of demonstrators, prototypes and products that incorporate energy harvesting, showcasing in the most vivid way the maturity level of the technology and the variety of possi...

Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) announced recently that it will participate in the 2012 Apollo Launch Program hosted by Evatran, the developer of Plugless Power wireless electric vehicle recharging systems. The Apollo Program aims to encourage electric vehicle adoption across the United States through the launch of a convenient recharging alternative to the repetitive plug-in, unplug process.

A ground breaking project to ensure the UK is well positioned for the commercial roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles has been launched in the UK.

According to the recent Reuters article below, the US government is undeterred by lower than expected sales of plug-in hybrids and are focusing on lowering the cost of batteries.

Intelligent Energy and the Suzuki Motor Corporation, have announced the creation of a joint venture company called SMILE FC System Corporation, to develop and manufacture air-cooled fuel cell systems for a range of industry sectors. The joint venture also includes a non-exclusive license agreement that gives Suzuki access to Intelligent Energy's class-leading fuel cell technology for its next generation of environmentally friendly fuel cell vehic...

Only Dr Peter Harrop and his team at IDTechEx have tracked the whole electric vehicle market for twelve years, from cars to bikes, boats and aircraft. All are of interest to component manufacturers and those many organisations expanding their vehicle businesses. After all, beyond cars is a bigger market and it is more profitable.

People like to see a lifebelt by the local river even though they may never use it. They certainly do not want to pay for one though. It is like that with the fast charging of cars. We all want to charge our electric car in the blink of an eye. Indeed, we may be happy to pay through the nose for that electricity when we are far away if the only alternative is to walk home or at least be late for an appointment. Many companies now offer fast charg...

Opening speaker at Electric Vehicles Land Sea Air USA 2012 in San Jose California March 27-28, Raghu Das of leading analysts IDTechEx says, Unlike other events, we delight in slaying the myth that most of the market value is in cars. Only our events and publications reflect the market split over the next ten years where cars will be important but well under 50% of the market value and the part where most participants go to the wall and there is m...

By Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx In this article, we share some of the research carried out for the new IDTechEx report, Electric Vehicle Industry Profitability 2012 - Where, Why, What Next - vehicles & components, hybrid & pure electric, land, water, air, winning strategies, forecasts. (www.IDTechEx.com/EVprofit)

BAE Systems and Caterpillar Inc. have signed a long-term supply agreement to collaborate on an energy efficient parallel hybrid propulsion system for heavy-duty trucks. Under the 20-year agreement, BAE Systems will integrate the Cat CX family of transmissions into its HybriDrive parallel propulsion system, and will establish an aftermarket field services model leveraging Caterpillar's vast global service network to support the growing installed b...