The IKEA store in Covina provides the addition of four plug-in electric vehicle charging stations. The Blink Level stations were provided through ECOtality Inc., a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies.

Shoppers who arrive can pull into a designated parking spot, swipe their Blink InCard, plug the charger into their electric vehicle and shop and eat at their leisure while their car is charging.

This is the fifth charging station project for IKEA in the United States. Installation also is planned at four other IKEA stores in the Western U.S. – East Palo Alto, Emeryville, Renton, Wash., and Tempe, Ariz.

[Read More From Source: Pasadenastarnews]

Evatran, a developer of wireless charging systems for electric vehicles (EVs), has signed contracts with six commercial participants to launch their pre-production trial of Plugless Power wireless charging systems. The hands-free charging system is to be used in residential, commercial, and industrial applications.

The product trial, named the Apollo Launch Program, intends to drive EV adoption across the US. The participants range from car rental agencies to corporate campuses to utility providers and installations will occur in locations across the US.
The program will serve as feedback survey for Evatran to incorporate into the production design of its aftermarket product line, launching towards the end of next year.

Plugless Power co-founder and CEO Tom Hough said the Apollo Launch Program builds off Evatran’s early prototype trials and provides evidence of the strong demand for a convenient recharging option for EVs.”The commitment shown by these industry leaders truly establishes them as electric vehicle advocates who are dedicated to encouraging electric vehicle adoption across the country,” Hough said.

Evatran and Yazaki North America have a joint development agreement to develop and market Plugless Power technology to automotive industry.

[Read More From Source: Automotive Business Review]

Ilika PLC an advanced materials R&D company based on UK recently presented its work on developing innovative new materials for nexgt generation lithium-ion solid state batteries at the 52nd Battery Symposium in Tokyo.

The presentation was delivered by Professor Brian Hayden, Chief Scientific Officer of Ilika and his collaborators at Toyota Motor Corp, and was entitled “High throughput methods to accelerate the discovery and optimization of materials for lithium-ion batteries”.

Solid State Li-ion battery uses solid inorganic materials as electrolytes instead of liquid polymer and solvents used in conventional Li-ion batteries. The use of solid state electrolytes in batteries have many advantages like reduced battery size, rapid charge/discharge rates (allowing recharge in minutes rather than hours) and increased battery life.

The most important consideration in solid state battery development is to find a stable electrolyte with high enough conductivity. The electrolyte material developed by Ilika demonstrated to have improved in both the properties according to their claim.
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The Chief Executive of Ilika, Graeme Purdy said in his comment: “We believe that the clear benefits of solid state batteries including higher energy densities, faster charge rates and increased safety make them strong candidates for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. We are working with a number of leading Japanese battery manufacturers in this field who share this vision”

Ilika is an industry leader in developing innovative new materials for lithium-ion batteries and is engaged on a number of research projects with Japanese companies.

[Read More From Source: Ilika]

Researchers at Princeton University in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Transformational Materials Science Initiative have developed a novel air cathode out of functionalized porous graphene material that boosts the energy capacity of Li-air battery significantly. The new nano-porous structure can store over 15,000 milliamp hours per gram of graphene — highest reported so far according to their claim.
A major focus of current L-ion battery research is development of high capacity cathode materials since lithium metal as an anode has a capacity 10 times higher than that of conventional graphite anodes. Li-air battery is very promising because of the facts that the cathode is lighter and oxygen in the cathode can be absorbed from the ambient leading to a significant reduction in the weight and the cost of the battery.
The new material developed by Princeton scientists is not only less costly and more efficient, it is also functionalized to overcome the frequent clogging problem of the conventional air electrode. It is also catalyst free and therefore the chemistry is not dependent on any precious metals.
Many other energy applications may also benefit from this ordered graphene structure, study author and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory materials scientist Jie Xiao said in a statement. The group published their findings in a recent issue of Nanoletters [File: Nanoletters]

[Read More From Source: Princetonian]