Materials

Web exclusive

Finnish miner to supply Renault with sustainable battery chemicals

In early October, Terrafame announced a deal with Renault in which the Finnish mining company and battery chemicals producer is to supply the car manufacturer with low-carbon and fully traceable nickel sulphate for EV batteries

Deep Insight

E-motor materials

The need for low weight and high performance in e-mobility motors is driving a demand for specialist metal alloys and insulating materials that are also thermally conductive. There is a strong focus as well on how they are sourced, particularly with regard to heavy rare earth (HRE) elements. Dysprosium and neodymium for example

Dossier

Candela C-7 speedboat

Hydrofoiling gives this serial production boat high speed and long endurance. Rory Jackson examines the engineering decisions behind its design. When it comes to designing new kinds of boat hulls that will get as much power and endurance as possible out of battery-electric powertrains, one of the smartest things a maritime architect can do is simply lift the boat out of the water

Web exclusive

Sodium-ion battery development gathers pace

Sodium-ion batteries could displace lead acid in many applications, according to Professor John Irvine, who leads the joint academic/industrial Nexgenna effort under the auspices of the Faraday Institution to develop the next generation of sodium-ion battery technology (writes Peter Donaldson). Speaking exclusively to E-Mobility Engineering, he says they will also be able to compete with […]

Deep Insight

Wireless Charging

With agreement on an SAE standard for wireless charging systems set to herald their wider roll-out, Nick Flaherty reports on developments in the technology. The technology for wireless charging of e-mobility systems has reached a critical point. With the SAE J2954 standard now agreed for consumer EVs...

Digest

Riversimple Rasa

Rather than go all-out on the technology, this EV has been conceived with reusable components – and the circular economy – in mind. Rory Jackson reports. End-to-end sustainability is a troublesome target for EV engineers to track. Reducing vehicle emissions at the point of use is easy enough, but reducing the emissions...

Deep Insight

Skateboard platforms

Against the backdrop of a boom in skateboard platforms for EV designs, Nick Flaherty looks at the approaches taken by some of their suppliers. Changing the wheelbase of a traditional car or truck design by 6 or 7 in creates a ripple effect whereby half the transmission shaft has to be redesigned, changing the centre of gravity and the requirements for the suspension. That means a whole new vehicle design is needed...

New Products

Lanxess launches hollow-profile hybrid technology

Chemicals company Lanxess is launching a hollow-profile hybrid technology. With it, metallic hollow profiles can be made functional on conventional injection moulding machines using plastic compounds. The result is plastic-metal composite components that have far greater torsional stiffness and strength than could be achieved with previous hollow-profile technologies. Potential applications in the automotive industry include […]

Web exclusive

Freedom from rare earth magnets?

A good alternative to magnets made from rare earth elements such as neodymium, dysprosium and samarium – which are expensive, volatile in price and supply and polluting in their extraction – is something of a holy grail for the electrical industry in general and EVs in particular. Enter Niron Magnetics with its Clean Earth iron […]

Focus on...

Battery cooling

As liquid-based cooling for EV batteries becomes the technology of choice, Peter Donaldson explains the system options now available. Although there are other options for cooling EV batteries than using a liquid, it is rapidly taking over from forced-air cooling, as energy and power densities increase. It is emerging as the dominant technology...