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Category: sustainability – Page 124

Kia to begin EV9 production in the US by May, expects $7,500 EV tax credit eligibility by 2025

Kia’s first three-row electric SUV is off to a good start. However, Kia will accelerate EV9 momentum with plans to begin US production by May. Kia expects the EV9 will qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit by early next year.

After launching the EV9 in the US late last year, Kia has handed over 3,839 models in the US. Starting under $55,000, Kia calls its electric family move an “industry wake-up call.”

Despite the strong start, Kia expects the momentum to pick up. Kia currently builds the EV9 in Korea but expects to move production to the US by the end of May.

Tesla Supercharger NACS access clarified by TSLA Exec

Tesla executive Rohan Patel clarified some facts about Supercharger NACS access for non-Tesla vehicles like Rivian and Ford.

Patel—Tesla’s Vice President of Public Policy and Business Development—recently replied to a question from Teslavangelist, who questioned the number of Supercharger stalls non-Tesla owners actually had access to with NACS connectors.

Tesla recently opened the Supercharger Network to Ford and Rivian electric vehicles (EVs) through its NACS connecter. Both automakers claim that NACS connectors provide Ford and Rivian owners access to over 15,000 Tesla Supercharger locations. Teslavangelist pointed out that non-Tesla EV owners only have access to V3 and V4 Superchargers, doubting they have access to 15,000 Supercharger stalls.

Tesla wants to bring ‘private 5G’ to its EVs and Optimus robot

Tesla is working on “private 5G” infrastructure to be connected to its electric vehicles and Optimus robot.

The automaker was early in including internet connectivity in all its vehicles. There were many reasons for this. It enabled over-the-air software updates and connectivity features, and it also allowed Tesla to collect a lot of data.

Tesla started with 3G connectivity and later updated to 4G LTE, but now, we learn that the automaker is looking to upgrade to 5G.

Batteries for Airborne Electric Vehicles that Take Off and Land Vertically

EVTOL battery analysis reveals unique operating demands. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are taking cleaner transportation to the skies by creating and evaluating new batteries for airborne electric vehicles that take off and land vertically.

These aircraft, commonly called eVTOLs, range from delivery drones to urban air taxis. They are designed to rise into the air like a helicopter and fly using wing-borne lift like an airplane. Compared with helicopters, eVTOLs generally use more rotors spinning at a lower speed, making them both safer and quieter.

The airborne EV’s aren’t just flying cars, and ORNL researchers conclude that eVTOL batteries can’t just be adapted from electric car batteries. So far that has been the dominant approach to the technology, which is mostly in the modeling stage. ORNL researchers took a different tack by evaluating how lithium-ion batteries fare under extremely high power draw.

Micro-Lisa: Making a mark with novel nano-scale laser writing

Now Flinders University researchers have discovered a light-responsive, inexpensive sulfur-derived receptive to low power, visible light lasers—which promises a more affordable and safer production method in nanotech, chemical science and patterning surfaces in biological applications.

Details of the novel system have just been published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, featuring a laser-etched version of the famous “Mona Lisa” painting and micro-Braille printing even smaller than a pin head.

“This could be a way to reduce the need for expensive, specialized equipment, including high-power lasers with hazardous radiation risk, while also using more sustainable materials. For instance, the key polymer is made from low-cost elemental sulfur, an industrial byproduct, and either cyclopentadiene or dicyclopentadiene,” says Matthew Flinders Professor of Chemistry Justin Chalker, from the Flinders University.

Time Travel for Tomorrow: Using Future Perspectives To Shape Today’s Tech

Researchers at Osaka University have discovered that considering sustainability issues through the lens of “imaginary future generations” provides valuable perspectives on technological advancements and trends in society.

The world stands on the brink of a crucial environmental threshold; the choices we make today about energy, resources, and the environment will have profound consequences for the future. Despite this, most sustainable thought tends to be limited to the viewpoint of current generations.

In a study published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change, researchers from Osaka University have revealed that adopting the perspective of “imaginary future generations” (IFGs) can yield fascinating insights into long-term social and technological trends.

The Dawn of Green Chemistry: Researchers Unveil Tenfold Increase in Reaction Efficiency

Anyone who wants to produce medication, plastics or fertilizer using conventional methods needs heat for chemical reactions – but not so with photochemistry, where light provides the energy. The process to achieve the desired product also often takes fewer intermediate steps.

Researchers from the University of Basel are now going one step further and are demonstrating how the energy efficiency of photochemical reactions can be increased tenfold. More sustainable and cost-effective applications are now tantalizingly close.

Industrial chemical reactions usually occur in several stages across various interim products. Photochemistry enables shortcuts, meaning fewer intermediate steps are required. Photochemistry also allows you to work with less hazardous substances than in conventional chemistry, as light produces a reaction in substances which do not react well under heat. However, to this point there have not been many industrial applications for photochemistry, partly because supplying energy with light is often inefficient or creates unwanted by-products.

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