battery pack
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With widespread expectations that we'll see a redesigned second-generation model unveiled early next year, the 2015 Chevy Volt was expected to be a carryover model with few changes. And so it is, with one important exception: Without any fanfare, its battery capacity rose to 17.1 kilowatt-hours for the 2015 Volt from 16.5 kWh in 2013 and 2014 models. Rated electric range remains the same, however, at 38 miles. DON'T MISS: 2016 Chevrolet Volt To Launch Next Year: What We Know So Far And the 2015 Volt's efficiency remains the same as well, at 98 MPGe. (A Mile Per Gallon Equivalent, or MPGe, is...
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Nissan Leaf New Battery Cost: $5,500 For Replacement With Heat-Resistant Chemistry
Three and a half years after the first Nissan Leaf went on sale, Nissan has announced the cost of a replacement lithium-ion battery pack for its electric car. It's a surprisingly low $5,499 (after a $1,000 credit for turning in the old pack, which is required), plus installation fees and tax. The...
John Voelcker -
GM Offers Free Fix For 2012-13 Chevrolet Volt Battery Coolant Issue
General Motors will perform free servicing to fix potentially low battery coolant in certain Chevy Volts.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan e-NV200 Electric-Van Battery Adds Thermal Conditioning
The Nissan Leaf is by far the world's best-selling electric car, but one of the ways Nissan has kept its cost down is by eliminating an active-cooling system for its lithium-ion battery pack. Now, however, its second mass-produced electric vehicle--the Nissan e-NV200 small commercial van--turns out...
John Voelcker -
2015 Chevrolet Spark EV Switches Battery Cells; 82-Mile Range Remains
The Chevrolet Spark EV has been on the market for only a year, but already it's being updated. And in this case, the update is major: The 2015 Chevy Spark EV will have an entirely new battery pack. General Motors announced yesterday that it will bring assembly of the electric Spark's battery...
John Voelcker -
Dual-Carbon Battery: Same Energy Density, Safer, Longer Life Than Lithium-Ion, Says Power Japan Plus
In the search for better electric-car batteries, lots of lab research has to happen before anything can be announced. Today, a company called Power Japan Plus came out of stealth mode to unveil a new battery chemistry, with both electrodes--anode and cathode--made of carbon. The new cell, known as...
John Voelcker -
The Juno Power Jumpr uses lithium-ion batteries for a more-compact power source.
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Nissan Leaf Likely To Offer Larger Battery For Longer Range
Every electric-car owner wants more range; it's practically an immutable law. Now Nissan executive Andy Palmer has come close to confirming that a longer-range Nissan Leaf is in the cards, though likely not until 2016 or even 2017. In an interview at last week's New York Auto Show with Palmer, who...
John Voelcker -
Life With Tesla Model S: Battery Safety Shield In Detail (Photos)
When I first heard last week that Tesla was offering Model S owners a free retrofit that would install its new underbody shield and deflector plates, I called my local Tesla Motors service center almost immediately. It seemed like a no-brainer. The titanium shield and two aluminum deflector plates...
David Noland -
Is Tesla Motors A Carmaker...Or Really A Grid-Storage Company?
Many among the Detroit auto media were skeptical of Tesla Motors for years, correctly noting just how hard it is to start a car company and build a genuinely appealing product--electric car or not. But as Tesla continues to sell Model S electric luxury sedans, expanding into Europe and China as...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Gigafactory Faces Skepticism From Panasonic, Analysts
Elon Musk, CEO of startup electric-car maker Tesla Motors, is no doubt used to skepticism. Now he faces new doubts over the company's plans for a massive "gigafactory" costing as much as $5 billion to manufacture more lithium-ion cells than any other plant in the world. DON'T MISS: Tesla's...
John Voelcker -
How Lithium-Ion Batteries Age: Scientists Offer Insight
Scientists found that charging disrupts the structure of lithium-ion cathode material, degrading performance.
Stephen Edelstein -
When the possibility of new jobs clashes with the desires of powerful campaign contributors, sometimes jobs can take priority. That may be what's happening in Arizona, where a new bill in the state legislature would legalize the direct-sales model of electric-car maker Tesla Motors--to the intense dismay of state car dealers who want it made permanently illegal. A similar bill died in January. But now Arizona has been named one of four finalists for Tesla's planned "gigafactory" for the lithium-ion cells and battery packs it will need to expand its electric-car production within three years...
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Standardized Electric-Car Battery Swapping Won't Happen: Here's Why
Standardized batteries are one of the great consumer goods: Who hasn't bought a pack of AA or AAA cells for some consumer-electronics device by now? The idea that standardized high-capacity lithium-ion battery packs are an inevitable next step in the evolution of electric cars crops up repeatedly...
John Voelcker -
Where Should Tesla Put Its Battery Gigafactory? Reader Poll
When electric-car maker Tesla Motors released more information about its planned "gigafactory" to produce lithium-ion battery cells in the U.S., it revealed the four states it's considering as plant locations. They are Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, all of which are shown as candidate...
John Voelcker -
Tesla's Lithium-Ion Battery Gigafactory: What You Need To Know
This afternoon, Tesla Motors released details on its proposed "Gigafactory" to build lithium-ion cells for its future electric cars. To provide enough cell capacity to build a projected 500,000 electric vehicles in the year 2020, Tesla would require more cells than last year's entire global...
John Voelcker -
Why A Gigafactory? Tesla Used 1/3 Of All Electric-Car Batteries Last Year
The 210,000 plug-in electric vehicles sold around the world last year used a lot of lithium-ion batteries. But if startup automaker Tesla Motors has its way, it will soon need as many lithium-ion cells (of the 18650 format it uses) as are now built worldwide. That's why the company plans to release...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Three Lithium-Ion Giants Join To Build Better Electric-Car Battery
Three large global companies--Bosch, GS Yuasa, and Mitsubishi--have announced a joint venture to improve development of the next generation of batteries for electric vehicles. The group's aim is to double energy capacity, helping electric cars become truly mass-market in the next decade. Today...
Antony Ingram -
A recent 1,200-mile East Coast road trip in my 2013 Tesla Model S electric car proved to be something of a turning point in my view of the car. Fitted with the smaller 60-kilowatt-hour battery pack, my car's EPA range of 208 miles was not quite enough to make it between Superchargers--Tesla's proprietary ultra-fast DC charging stations--at normal Interstate speeds in cold weather. So I faced a Hobson's choice. I could extend the car's range by driving 60 mph in the slow lane, with the heat off, or loiter in the customer lounges of Nissan dealers along the way, while my car picked up the extra...
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Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt Range Loss In Winter: New Data From Canada
Just in time for the holiday-feast season, we now have published charts that detail the effect of cold weather on the battery range of Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt electric cars. Think "range shrinkage". The data comes courtesy of FleetCarma, the Canadian company whose app MyCarma tracks vehicle...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Envia's High-Energy Battery Cell Mired In Dispute, GM Cancels Deal
Researchers and development firms regularly reveal battery-technology breakthroughs. Now, Envia Systems--one company that gained much public attention by promising such a breakthrough--faces two lawsuits. One claims that Envia stole its technology from other companies. And General Motors, which...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Leaf Likely To Get 'Hot Weather' Battery In Next Year
Nissan is readying a new lithium-ion chemistry for its Leaf electric car, aimed at better range performance in hot-weather climates. And it's likely bound for all Leaf models in the first half of next year. Last week at the Tokyo Motor Show, Andy Palmer, Nissan's executive vice president and global...
Bengt Halvorson -
Tesla's Elon Musk Expects NHTSA To Clear Model S In Fires
It's been a bumpy few months for electric car maker, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. While enjoying the highs of high customer satisfaction and continued praise for the Model S electric sedan, the company has also endured high scrutiny for a trio of accident-related fires in its vehicles. CEO Elon Musk...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Fires: NHTSA Will Probe, Warranty To Cover Fire Damage, Ride-Height Tweak
It's been quite a month for Tesla Motors and its CEO, Elon Musk. In the wake of three fires in Model S electric luxury sedans, a tsunami of media coverage about those fires, and a falling stock price--which may or may not be directly related--the company went on the offensive yesterday. MORE: Tesla...
John Voelcker