The EV Transition Explained: Converting Gasoline Superusers

“We’re never going back,” declare Jonathon and Cory Drayer of Fredericksburg, Va. Both recently traded their respective SUVs for electric vehicles (EVs), and happily swore off every buying another internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicle. Jonathon and Cory are among the vanguard of a much hoped-for change: the EV-only family. Their switch to EVs was… Continue reading The EV Transition Explained: Converting Gasoline Superusers

The EV Transition Explained: Charger Infrastructure

The ability to conveniently charge an EV away from home is a top concern for many EV owners. A 2022 survey of EV owners by Forbes indicates that 62 percent of respondents are so anxious about their EV range that travel plans have been affected. While “range anxiety” may be overblown, the need for an… Continue reading The EV Transition Explained: Charger Infrastructure

Chinese Joint Venture Will Begin Mass-Producing an Autonomous Electric Car

In October, a startup called Jidu Automotive, backed by Chinese AI giant Baidu and Chinese carmaker Geely, officially released an autonomous electric car, the Robo-01 Lunar Edition. In 2023, the car will go on sale. At roughly US $55,000, the Robo-01 Lunar Edition is a limited edition, cobranded with China’s Lunar Exploration Project. It has… Continue reading Chinese Joint Venture Will Begin Mass-Producing an Autonomous Electric Car

The EV Transition Explained: Can the Grid Cope?

Why not? EVs lack tailpipe emissions, sure, but producing, operating, and disposing of these vehicles creates greenhouse-gas emissions and other environmental burdens. Driving an EV pushes these problems upstream, to the factory where the vehicle is made and beyond, as well as to the power plant where the electricity is generated. The entire life cycle… Continue reading The EV Transition Explained: Can the Grid Cope?

The EV Transition Explained: Battery Challenges

The fundamental technology that these companies rely on is not new: Electroencephalography (EEG) has been around for about a century, and it’s commonly used today in both medicine and neuroscience research. For those applications, the subject may have up to 256 electrodes attached to their scalp with conductive gel to record electrical signals from neurons… Continue reading The EV Transition Explained: Battery Challenges

Industrial Functional Safety Training from UL Solutions

As Verne understood, the U.S. Civil War (during which 60,000 amputations were performed) inaugurated the modern prosthetics era in the United States, thanks to federal funding and a wave of design patents filed by entrepreneurial prosthetists. The two World Wars solidified the for-profit prosthetics industry in both the United States and Western Europe, and the… Continue reading Industrial Functional Safety Training from UL Solutions

The EV Transition Explained

Why not? EVs lack tailpipe emissions, sure, but producing, operating, and disposing of these vehicles creates greenhouse-gas emissions and other environmental burdens. Driving an EV pushes these problems upstream, to the factory where the vehicle is made and beyond, as well as to the power plant where the electricity is generated. The entire life cycle… Continue reading The EV Transition Explained

Crowdsourcing Bridge Inspection

Apps that tap into smartphone sensors to monitor human health and diagnose diseases abound. Now, engineers have come up with a way to use smartphone data to reveal if bridges are ailing, allowing repairs before they fail. Using such crowdsourced data as part of maintenance could increase a new bridge’s lifespan by over fourteen years… Continue reading Crowdsourcing Bridge Inspection

Solving Automotive Design Challenges With Simulation

The development of new hybrid and battery electric vehicles introduces numerous design challenges. Many of these challenges are static or low-frequency electromagnetic by nature, as the devices involved in such designs are much smaller than the operating wavelength. Examples include sensors (such as MEMS sensors), transformers, and motors. Many of these challenges include multiple physics.… Continue reading Solving Automotive Design Challenges With Simulation

Chopper Rocket Chasers Played “Catch Me if You Can”

Update 4 Nov. 2:45 p.m. EDT:Rocket Lab says its launch was successful, but booster recovery was not. It says it lost telemetry signals from the descending first stage during reentry. “As standard procedure, we pull the helicopter from the recovery zone if this happens,” a company spokesperson said. “If at first you don’t succeed….” Rocket… Continue reading Chopper Rocket Chasers Played “Catch Me if You Can”