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Wide bandgap semiconductors: comparing SiC and GaN for electric vehicles

As system voltages in EV powertrains increase to enable the use of higher power levels without creating excessive currents and the associated energy losses and heat dissipation problems, so does the importance of wide bandgap semiconductors,

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Extinguishing lithium battery fires

Our battery show report in this issue contains stories on various materials engineered to prevent a thermal runaway in a cell in a lithium-ion pack from spreading and cause a major fire (writes Peter Donaldson). Prevention is better than cure because, rare

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Squaring the circular economy redesigning electric vehicles for reuse and recycling

Anyone who has been to a vehicle scrapyard will know that recovery of components and reuse of materials has long been part of the automotive industry. However, today the focus on the circular economy is sharpening and the cradle-to-grave concept of a product’s

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Better eVTOL landings

Battery-powered manned eVTOL aircraft intended to operate to and from urban vertiports have a sharply limited energy budget, so designing energy-efficient flight profiles for them is obviously important – and if those profiles can also improve passenger comfort and safety at the same time, so much the better

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Individual wheel control

It’s worth taking 9 minutes and 36 seconds out of your day to watch professional rally driver Ken Block’s Electrikhana on YouTube (writes Peter Donaldson). I don’t know whether he is a mathematician, but Block is

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The power of decay

Launched on September 5, 1977, NASA’s space probe Voyager 1 is now the most distant human-made object in existence (writes Peter Donaldson). At the time of writing, the spacecraft had made it more than

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Battery swapping, and the alternatives

Whether you drive a single battery EV or operate a fleet of them, ensuring there is enough energy in the battery to complete the job in hand is bound to be a major

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Electric trams and trolley buses

In the West we are still addicted to the car as the ultimate embodiment of personal mobility (writes Peter Donaldson). However, there is growing awareness of the total carbon footprint of transport, and even the most

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Towards a 1000-mile range

One thousand miles is a nice, round number, and as a range for a battery EV it is a marketing department’s dream. However, there is real value in such a long range if it can be achieved by a production roadcar in representative trim rather than niche vehicles and technology demonstrators.

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Lofstom Loop

Several electric revolutions have shaped society down the years, from the construction of national grid systems and electric train, trams and trolley buses to the ongoing hybrid and BEV revolution (writes Peter Donaldson). Even beyond Earth, electric propulsion is a reality for many satellites and planetary probes, although their extremely efficient ion thrusters and so on are all low-power devices incapable of developing the thrust needed...