Zeekr has unveiled its new all-electric 7X SUV in Europe, with initial availability in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway starting April 2025. First deliveries are expected in May, with launches […]
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McMurtry Automotive has achieved a world first by driving its electric Spéirling hypercar upside down at the company’s Gloucestershire headquarters. The demonstration showcased the vehicle’s proprietary Downforce-on-Demand fan system, which […]
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Kia designers have shared new insights into the Concept EV2’s interior design at Milan Design Week 2025. The B-segment electric SUV, first unveiled at Kia’s EV Day in Barcelona earlier […]
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Electric vehicle battery voltage ratings are trending upward from 400 V to 800 V, while those of large energy storage systems are increasing from 600 V-900 V toward 1,500 V. As test engineers evaluate hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) requirements for the battery management systems that manage these batteries, they face a trade-off between simulated cell channel count and simulation accuracy.
When not enough cell channels are available, the system often needs to be downscaled via the DUT’s special test firmware. However, this approach omits the complexity of real systems comprising hundreds of cells, making it difficult to accurately simulate multi-point faults or scenarios where different failures interact. On the other hand, using battery cell simulators with all the required channels is both costly and space intensive.
High-voltage lithium-ion battery packs for EVs and large ESS typically use a distributed BMS architecture comprising Battery Control Units (BCU) and Battery Management Units (BMU). Download this whitepaper to learn more about using ISO-SPI simulation technology to replicate interactions between BCU and BMU.
The Eberspaecher Group, a company that builds exhaust and thermal management systems, has announced several new configurations to better heat, ventilate and cool vehicle interiors in recent months.
The company introduced and displayed several models during the 34th bauma trade show in Munich.
The Esslingen-am-Neckar-based company showed its Falkon Dualtronic heat pump at its booth, which it says is “a particularly energy-saving cabin air conditioning system” for electric vehicles. The system uses a patented heat pump that the manufacturer says will quickly clear windows with minimal energy consumption. The pump has a heating capacity of up to 6 kW and cools with 7 kW.
Eberspaecher develops a range of heating and cooling technologies for electromobility, offering a wide range of systems for every requirement, including solutions that can regulate the temperature of the traction battery and the electric motor separately or in combination with the cabin.
Source: Eberspächer
NEO Battery Materials, a Canadian battery materials technology company focused on developing silicon anode materials for lithium-ion batteries in EVs, electronics, and energy storage systems, has introduced its NBMSiDE P-300N silicon anode product.
The P-300N is a mass-producible prototype that has NEO’s highest capacity retention achieved to date and is optimized to enhance battery stability while maintaining low-cost production. NEO’s R&D refined the synthesis process and material characteristics while maintaining low costs and minimizing initial capacity loss.
The upgraded P-300N incorporates refinements in particle size distribution, shape control and composite layer coating on the silicon particle. The composite layer coating offers enhanced protection against the direct contact of the silicon anode and electrolyte, mitigating capacity loss and improving cycling life. A reinforced polymer coating network helps dissipate mechanical stress without compromising conductivity between silicon particle structures.
NEO said its priority is optimizing the 50-cycle average coulombic efficiency (CE) on the half cell using a 100% pure silicon anode. The P-300N has recorded the highest 50-cycle average CE of over 99.8%. The company is offering two P-300N variations. The high-capacity variant demonstrates initial capacity over 2,000 mAh/g with an average CE of over 99.5% and maintaining performance over 50 cycles. The high-stability variant provides a balance of cycle performance and capacity with an average CE of over 99.8% with approximately 2,000 mAh/g in initial capacity.
The P-300N can be adapted to mass production without modifying existing processing equipment. After completing small-scale optimization, NEO plans to manufacture near-commercial battery cells that have 3-5 Ah capacities in partnership with global battery value chain players.
Source: NEO Battery Materials
It’s an ill wind indeed that doesn’t blow something good someone’s way. Back in 2010, an opportunity to buy a factory in Fremont, California at a bargain-basement price gave a certain EV startup a huge leg up. Now EV pioneer Lucid Motors appears to have pulled off a similar coup, buying an Arizona factory and other assets from bankrupt company Nikola.
Lucid laid down some $30 million in cash and non-cash considerations in exchange for the factory, Nikola’s lease on its Phoenix headquarters, and “certain machinery, equipment and inventory,” according to a court filing. Experts have estimated that Lucid would have spent several times that sum to build a new factory. The facilities Lucid bought are near its existing factory in Casa Grande, Arizona.
As part of the deal, Lucid will offer to hire around 300 former Nikola employees, the company told TechCrunch. Positions will be offered to both salaried and hourly employees in manufacturing, engineering, software, assembly, vehicle testing and warehouse support.
“As we continue our production ramp of Lucid Gravity and prepare for our upcoming midsize platform vehicles, acquiring these assets is an opportunity to strategically expand our manufacturing, warehousing, testing, and development facilities while supporting our local Arizona community,” said Marc Winterhoff, Lucid’s interim CEO.
Nikola had a colorful history—it was an early proponent of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles before partially pivoting to BEVs. (Lucid wisely chose not to acquire any of Nikola’s hydrogen-related assets.) Some of the company’s claims turned out to be a bit fanciful, and founder Trevor Milton was convicted of fraud in 2022. (He received an executive pardon in March.)
Source: TechCrunch
Tesla just made a big move overseas that’s getting a lot of attention — they’ve stopped taking new orders for the Model S and Model X in China as of Friday, April 11, 2025.
While this might not affect most drivers in North America, it’s still a big deal. Why? Because it shows just how much global politics and trade decisions can shake up even the biggest names in the EV world.
It all comes down to a growing trade war between the U.S. and China.
Last week, China announced a new 84% tariff on U.S.-made cars, responding to the U.S. raising tariffs on Chinese goods up to 145%. That makes it super expensive to ship American-built cars—like the Model S and X—into China.
Instead of trying to sell them at inflated prices, Tesla removed the “Order Now” button from its Chinese site for those models. They’re still viewable, but you can’t place a new order right now.
Good news though—Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y are still available in China. That’s because they’re built at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Shanghai, so they aren’t impacted by these new import tariffs. These two models already make up the bulk of Tesla’s sales in the region.
Tesla doesn’t sell a ton of Model S and Model X vehicles globally—they only delivered about 12,881 in Q1 2025. But these models come with higher price tags and better profit margins. Some estimates say Tesla could lose around $170 million in revenue just from halting sales of these models in China.
This news comes at a time when Tesla’s stock has already been under pressure. Analysts have pointed to a growing “brand crisis,” fueled by both rising costs and concerns about CEO Elon Musk’s political involvement, especially as the trade tension heats up.
So even though this decision is happening across the globe, it’s a good reminder that EV companies operate in a fast-moving, interconnected world. One policy shift can impact everything from car availability to energy storage pricing.
For now, if you’re in the market for a Tesla in China, the Model S and X are off the table. And for the rest of us, it’s another sign of how international politics and business decisions can shape what’s coming down the road.
Source: New York Times
Electra Aero, a maker of hybrid electric short takeoff and landing aircraft, says it has received some 2,200 preorders, worth about $9 billion for its new EL9 Ultra Short hybrid electric aircraft.
The aircraft manufacturer’s mission statement reads that the company was founded to “provide affordable air travel without airports, emissions or noise.”
The Ultra Short integrates blown lift and hybrid electric propulsion to take off and land in just 150 feet (46 m) of runway or the equivalent. It has eight electric props along the leading edge of the wings, as well as large flaps hanging from the trailing edges. The combination allows the aircraft to exploit the blown lift aerodynamic effect sufficiently to enable a rotation speed of just 35 mph (56 km/h).
The aircraft’s ability to land on unpaved surfaces also makes it potentially useful for companies that have traditionally used off-highway vehicles that travel on land, such as construction and mining firms, enabling them to bring construction supplies to distant sites by air.
Once in service, the Ultra Short will be able to accommodate a pilot and nine passengers with luggage or 3,000 lbs (1,361 kg) of cargo. The company says it will have a cruising speed of 200 mph (322 km/h) and a range of 1,100 nautical miles (1,266 miles or 2,037 km). The company also claims that the aircraft will be capable of in-flight battery recharging.
Source: Electra Aero
Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) system in China is being tested differently and creatively compared to North America in some scenarios.
One such test video has emerged on Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The 4-minute-long video of the Autopilot FSD drive on city streets shows a cup filled with water resting on the driver’s side door (window down). Interestingly, the water cup doesn’t stumble during the entire FSD session (FSD v13).
More interestingly, in this video, the Tesla FSD is not being tested in a straight line. The vehicle navigates city streets with medium and sharp left and right turns. Although the footage of this FSD China drive is time-lapsed, the vehicle’s speed is apparently still not slow. It’s cruising at normal speeds like other vehicles around it.
This is a fantastic display of smooth autonomous driving. Tesla FSD in China is sold under a more cautious name that can be translated to ‘City Autopilot’.
In this video, Tesla FSD is seen driving all by itself while navigating the streets of a Chinese city. The recording camera is mounted on the driver’s side B-pillar and shows the steering wheel rotating on its own as directed by the Autopilot system.
The video got so much traction on X that Tesla’s main official account reposted it, adding the caption ‘Maximum Smoothness’. No potholes during the entire drive also assisted in achieving this level of smoothness, the water cup never fell off the window.
This is a time-lapse video, which means the original driving duration is not only 4 minutes, but it’s much longer. The exact length of this drive is not available.
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Above: Tesla owner tests FSD with a cup filled with water while the car runs on Autopilot.
In China, Tesla is restricted from recording Autopilot camera footage and sending it back to its US data center for neural net AI learning. The tech automaker relies on publicly available videos to train FSD in China.
Recent reports suggest that Chinese Tesla officials met with a team from Baidu to improve Autopilot FSD navigation using the company’s navigation and map data. Improvements will be observed as this data is integrated into the existing AI algorithm but a timeline isn’t yet available on this integration.
Just recently, a Tesla owner from China gave Autopilot FSD a challenge to drive on a narrow, unmarked road. Tesla FSD came clean in the test despite unusual oncoming traffic and the level of difficulty.
As I’ve mentioned above, Chinese Tesla owners are giving Tesla Autopilot some creative challenges to improve its learning.
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Featured image: Aaron Li / X (Twitter) / Douyin 王船船.
Note: This article was published earlier on Tesla Oracle. Author: Iqtidar Ali.