BMW will launch a new X5 model offering five different drivetrain technologies, making it the first vehicle to combine battery electric, plug-in hybrid, petrol, diesel, and hydrogen fuel cell options […]
The post BMW introduces multi-technology X5 range with hydrogen option by 2028 appeared first on Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology International.
Three Bosch engineers have been nominated for Germany’s prestigious Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2025 for developing a fuel cell power module that could transform long-haul trucking. Christoffer Uhr, Kai Weeber, and Pierre […]
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The base Tesla Cybertruck Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) variant is not available for sale anymore. The automaker removed it from its online car configurator yesterday.
At the price point of $69,990, it was the cheapest Cybertruck variant launched in April this year. Tesla stripped down several features and options from this cheaper RWD Cybertruck.
As the September 30th deadline for the $7,500 federal tax credit approaches, the electric automaker has removed the Cybertruck Long Range RWD variant from its online car configurator.
Now, only two Cybertruck trims, i.e., Long Range AWD and the top-tier Tri-Motor Cyberbeast, are available for sale. It’s hard to tell if and when the Cybertruck RWD will be put back on sale.
Above: Screenshot of Tesla Cybertruck online car configurator showing the removal of the base RWD trim. Credit: Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
Although Tesla offered a more affordable version of the Cybertruck, it did not add a significant number of sales units to the second quarter. The trimmed-down single-motor RWD Cybertruck most probably didn’t create the appeal that the automaker was expecting with the launch.
The mid-tier Cybertruck AWD is the best value-for-money option, and most Tesla customers are buying this variant. Cybertruck AWD’s MSRP is $79,990. After the Federal EV Tax Credit deduction of $7,500, the price of the electric pickup truck goes down to $72,490.
Existing Tesla owners can also benefit from transferring their Full Self-Driving (Supervised) package to their new Cybertruck AWD. The Cyberbeast performance variant’s price of $114,990 includes the FSD package.
Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) package costs $8,000 additionally on the AWD Cybertruck. By transferring it from the previous vehicle, you can save another $8K on it if you’re eligible for it (see FSD transfer eligibility criteria below).
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Above: Tesla Cybertruck AWD financing cost calculation screenshot.
Buying the Cybertruck AWD Long Range version also gives you the benefit of a 0% APR (annual percentage rate). With a down payment of $5,000, the Cybertruck on financing costs $1,291 per month (60-month term with Federal Tax Credit and the FSD bundle).
Although Tesla said that the 0% APR offer would end in June, the automaker is still offering it on the Cybertruck AWD.
Tesla also discontinued the RWD variant of the Cybertruck because, after the tax credit and 0% APR offer, the Cybertruck AWD costs just a bit more with an all-wheel drivetrain, additional features, and better specs (comparison here).
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Featured image: Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
Note: This article was published earlier on Tesla Oracle. Author: Iqtidar Ali.
This week, Charged hosted a virtual conference on EV engineering that included live webinar sessions with interactive Q&As. All live sessions were recorded and are now available to watch on demand. You can access the recorded videos on each session’s registration page.
Just like the content Charged brings you every day, conference topics spanned the entire EV engineering supply chain and ecosystem, including motor and power electronics design and manufacturing, cell development, battery systems, testing, powertrains, thermal management, circuit protection, wire and cable, EMI/EMC and more.
New York-based Alpha-En has successfully converted Century Lithium‘s lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) into battery-grade lithium-metal anodes.
The lithium metal was produced using lithium carbonate derived from Century Lithium’s Angel Island project in Esmeralda County, Nevada and the associated demonstration plant in Nye County, Nevada.
Century Lithium provided Alpha-En with a sample of 99.8% pure lithium carbonate from Angel Island. Alpha-En converted the sample into lithium metal using Alpha-En’s room-temperature conversion process. In pilot testing, Century Lithium’s material exceeded the quality of battery-grade lithium carbonate from a commercial non-domestic source.
Century Lithium is progressing Angel Island through ongoing permitting, engineering, and technical development at its demonstration plant. It will further support Alpha-En’s efforts to develop a domestic lithium supply chain, the company said.
“This collaboration reflects the quality of our material and the strength of our technical capabilities as we continue to support innovation across the US battery materials supply chain,” Bill Willoughby, Century Lithium President and CEO.
Source: Century Lithium
Green Watt Power, a division of Powerland Technology, has introduced four new base models to its Diamond Series of ruggedized, waterproof, fully-potted chargers for material handling equipment.
The chargers range from 650 W to 1,000 W and 15 V to 86 V output. They have universal AC input and support charging of lithium-ion as well as lead-acid batteries. The Diamond Series models are designed for EV applications in material handling, such as robots, warehouse electric forklifts, and port and airport ground support equipment.
All charger models have a universal input range of 90-264 VAC and can handle standard wall outlet voltages with a frequency range of 45-65 Hz for use internationally. This includes high Power Factor Correction (PFC) of 0.98 typical.
A colored LED light indicates status, and the chargers are controlled via CAN communication.
The units have a full set of self-protection features. The turn-on delay at full load is a maximum of five seconds. The case temperature range is -40° C to 80° C (60° C with handle) and the storage range is -40° C to 85° C.
The Diamond Series comes in on-board and off-board versions, with or without a handle, and in connector versions or flying lead versions. The 650 W model includes a no-fan convection cooling system. The 750 W and 1,000 W versions have a fan in the design that turns on when needed at high temperatures.
Green Watt Power can modify the models to meet the requirements of specific applications and provide special connector versions as needed.
Source: Green Watt Power
A Tesla owner admitting on camera that he drives drunk while relying on Full Self-Driving (FSD) is about as reckless as it gets. The clip, which aired on comedian Bert Kreischer’s show, shows social media personality Landon Bridges hinting that his Tesla can “take him home” even when he’s intoxicated. He called Autopilot a “game changer,” but the way he described the system suggests he meant FSD.
This isn’t just a bad look for Tesla owners. It’s a reminder that many people still don’t understand how advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) actually work.
FSD is not autonomous driving. Tesla itself admits in court that the driver is always responsible and must stay alert. At best, FSD is a Level 2 system, meaning it can handle steering, braking, and acceleration, but the human behind the wheel has to supervise every second. Sober. Hands on the wheel. Eyes on the road.
As one safety analyst recently put it:
“The most dangerous thing FSD can do is work most of the time. It lulls drivers into thinking it’s self-driving when it’s not.”
The confusion isn’t helped by Tesla’s own messaging. The company has tweeted on July 3rd that “FSD Supervised gives you back time & energy,” which makes it sound like drivers can sit back and relax. The reality, spelled out in the owner’s manual, is the opposite. The driver must remain fully engaged, ready to intervene instantly.
Stories like Bridges’ expose the gap between perception and reality. In 2022, a Tesla employee reportedly tried using FSD after drinking and didn’t survive the trip. These incidents aren’t about software bugs. They’re about people misunderstanding, or willfully ignoring the rules.
What’s really needed here is better education. Tesla can tighten its communication, yes, but owners themselves need to be proactive. Knowing the limits of your vehicle isn’t optional. It’s part of being a responsible driver. Misusing FSD doesn’t just risk your life, it puts everyone on the road in danger.
EVs and driver-assist systems are incredible tools when used properly. But they don’t replace good judgment, and they never excuse drunk driving.
If you’re a Tesla owner, take the time to fully understand how your system works and where it stops working. Education is the difference between enjoying the benefits of cutting-edge tech and becoming the next headline.
Source: Electrek
German engineering firm Dürr Systems has expanded its portfolio of two-sided simultaneous electrode coating machines with a new coater that uses Siemens technologies to support tension-controlled coating capabilities.
The company’s product is tailored to customers’ requirements for a complete electrode coating process that supports integrated solvent recovery and onsite refining along with state-of-the-art roll presses, said CTS Sales Director Jim Hartnett.
Dürr also offers Tandem Coater equipment with integrated solvent recovery. Dürr’s team assesses customers to recommend either Tandem or simultaneous two-sided coating machines to support their objectives.
“While the Tandem Coater remains the industry’s preferred means of battery electrode production and still a viable OEM option for our customers with many years left in its lifecycle, we wanted to leverage our engineering know-how from it to give our customers another way to elevate and expand their production,” Hartnett said. “Our R&D team went to work on completely rethinking our system’s architecture, with greater coating precision, quality, efficiency and sustainability as their design points.”
The Dürr GigaCoater has a straight-path product flow on a single coating station. Slot-die coating on a backing roll is immediately followed by a tensioned-web slot-die coating to coat both sides of the current collector in one pass. An air flotation dryer enables simultaneous two-sided coating as the foil runs through a non-contact drying process.
For help with automation and controls, especially motion control, Dürr chose Siemens partner and systems integrator DMC.
The GigaCoater’s automation and control system contains numerous Siemens components from its Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) portfolio. These include the SIMATIC S7-1500 Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), which oversee the two-sided simultaneous coating processes to precisely manage the movement, alignment, and timing of numerous servo motors as the copper foil substrate moves through the machine and its float-drying modules.
The SIMATIC HMI TP900 Comfort Panels provide a nine-inch diagonal touchscreen for operators to manage all steps in the coating and drying processes with complete visibility. And the SINAMICS S120 Drives offer integrated safety, energy savings and network connectivity for a wide range of power ratings.
The Siemens SIMATIC WinCC Unified System for HMI and SCADA programming acts as an integration platform to link data from production with a customer’s IT enterprise systems.
Dürr’s Business Development Director David Ventola considers the two-sided simultaneous electrode coating capabilities to be a game-changer for EV battery production. “It eliminates the vexing problem of edge curl with its float-drying process that dries both sides of the electrode at same time balancing the forces of both sides. There’s no edge curl even at high coating weights. That alone can enhance yields substantially to increase production outputs.”
The GigaCoater machine’s precise coating capabilities can help Dürr’s battery cell OEM customer achieve high-quality yields, while also reducing waste, labor and energy costs and saving plant space.
“We want to be able to use sophisticated 3D simulations in collaboration with our customer engineering teams to help them optimize all of these systems and save CAPEX, then simulate full production processes to reduce their OPEX even more,” Ventola said. “Eventually, we envision enabling our customers to use AI for monitoring production end-to-end and alerting operators when process anomalies occur, so they can investigate and prevent costly disruptions.”
Source: Dürr
We’ve been covering Orange EV for a decade, during which time we’ve seen a couple dozen other commercial EV startups go out of business. Part of Orange’s winning formula: the company targeted a segment that was (and remains) a perfect use case for EVs: terminal tractors (aka yard dogs or yard goats).
Orange’s sister company, OptiGrid, addresses a couple of the most significant barriers to fleet electrification: high infrastructure costs and long waits for utility upgrades. OptiGrid’s charging platform, which originated from technology created at FreeWire, is now in its fourth generation and has undergone nearly a decade of engineering development.
Now Orange and OptiGrid have introduced a new battery-integrated DC fast charger. Using an onboard 180 kWh battery, the Orange Juicer steadily draws energy from on-site utility connections, and delivers it on demand. “The result is full charging performance with up to 85% less grid input power, resulting in a dramatic reduction of both installation timelines and upfront costs,” Optigrid explains.
“As more customers accelerate adoption of Orange EV trucks and electrify other site equipment, we’ve seen infrastructure upgrades cause serious holdups,” said Kurt Neutgens, co-founder and President of Orange EV. “The Orange Juicer solves that challenge, giving fleets a fast, scalable and cost-effective charging platform that utilizes existing on-site power.”
Optigrid says deploying the Orange Juicer allows fleets to avoid expensive utility upgrades, trenching, and construction by using existing power, so they can start running electric trucks in weeks, not years. The citrus-themed charger works with Orange EV trucks today, and is adaptable for other fleet equipment. The system features a modular design that enables it to be expanded and/or relocated as site needs change.
“Fleet operators are tired of waiting on infrastructure that doesn’t match their electrification schedule,” said Tyler Phillipi, CEO of OptiGrid. “The Orange Juicer gives them the power to deploy today, with charging performance that rivals high-capacity systems but requires just a fraction of the grid input.”
The Orange Juicer will be commercially available in Q4 2025.
Source: OptiGrid
This week, Charged is hosting a virtual conference on EV engineering that’s free to attend. The conference includes live webinar sessions with interactive Q&As and on-demand webinars.
All of the live sessions will be recorded and available to view after the broadcasts. The recorded videos can be accessed on each session’s registration page.
8:45 am EDT
Enhanced Interoperability Testing By Usage Of Real Charging Data
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9:00 am EDT
Battery Modeling With COMSOL Multiphysics®
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9:30 am EDT
Shaping The Future Of Busbar Production – Powered by WAFIOS
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10:15 am EDT
Reliable Tooling For Differential Cable Termination: Data Connectivity At The Core
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10:15 am EDT
A Comparison Of Module Sintering Vs Soldering: Best Performance Vs Best Cost
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11:00 am EDT
Inverter Testing With UNICO’s TST800 Active AC Load
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11:45 am EDT
Analysis Of A Two-Stage AC-DC Converter For Battery Charging Applications
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11:45 am EDT
Advanced Thermal Adhesives: Boosting Battery Strength And Energy Density
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12:30 pm EDT
Reduce EV Battery Transport Costs By 15%* While Exceeding DG Compliance Standards
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1:15 pm EDT
Digital Solutions Drive Ultrasonic Welding Efficiency And Process Improvements
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