The trial, the first of its kind in the world, will follow Hertz, and leaders from five other industry segments, as they trial Plugless Power systems on their own electric vehicles.

Plugless Power, supplied by Evatran based in Virginia, utilizes inductive power transfer, which has been used in electrical transformers for more than 100 years.

Plugless Power streamlines the charging of EVs by eliminating the cord and the plug. In addition to aftermarket distribution, Evatran is currently working with automotive manufacturers to integrate the Plugless Power technology into mass-market EVs as a factory or dealership option.

Plugless Power is a Level 2 (240V at 30A, 3.3 kW rated power output) inductive charging system, with a transfer efficiency of 90%.

Worldwide installations of energy storage capacity are expected to increase from 121 megawatts (MW) in 2011 to 12,353 MW in 2021, with an estimated $122 billion in potential deployments over the next 10 years.

CODA’s energy storage system (ESS) is positioned to seamlessly address the rapid growth and increased demand for safe, tested and reliable energy storage solutions. CODA Energy offers battery systems for generation, distribution and behind-the-meter applications for a myriad of commercial and industrial needs, as well as for microgrids, the security sector, the transportation sector and EV-fleet management.

CODA’s modular battery Energy Storage System (ESS) technology features vertical energy towers operating in concert, but managed independently. CODA says its modular configuration promotes cost efficiency and enables continuous operation, even when performing maintenance.

CODA’s existing joint venture with China-based battery manufacturer Lishen supports cost-effective large-scale supply, the company notes.

NHTSA opened its Preliminary Evaluation on Nov. 25 following a severe-impact lab test on a Chevrolet Volt battery packs that resulted in an electrical fire six days later. The test was conducted to reproduce a coolant leak that occurred in a full-scale vehicle crash test last May that resulted in an electrical fire three weeks later.

Over the weekend, NHTSA issued statement saying that based on the available data, the agency does not believe that Chevrolet Volt or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles.

”Generally all vehicles have some risk of fire in the event of a serious crash. However, electric vehicles have specific attributes that should be made clear to consumers, the emergency response community, and tow truck operators and storage facilities.”

NHTSA also stated that there haven’t been any real-world Volt crashes that have resulted in battery-related fires.

GM said that NHTSA’s decision to close the investigation and the resulting stance that plug-ins are safe, is consistent with the results of GM’s internal testing and assessment.

GM also said that the engineering enhancements that GM announced January 5, 2012 will provide additional protection for the battery minimizing the risk of a post-crash fire in the days and weeks after a severe crash and rollover.

The delivery was marked by a ceremony at the Torrance City Hall, at which a key to the Fit EV was presented to Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto by Steve Center, vice president of the Environmental Business Development Office at American Honda.

Over the past year, Honda and the city of Torrance have worked together to gather input from Torrance residents about potential recharging station locations and jointly participated in numerous public awareness events with a Fit EV test vehicle.

Honda and the city will continue to further these initiatives while also studying local government fleet usage of an electrified vehicle. The city of Torrance will also receive a Honda plug-in hybrid for additional testing at a later date.

Honda unveiled the 2013 Fit EV at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show and announced plans to begin leasing the 123 city-mile per charge (76 mile range combined adjusted city/highway) battery-electric commuter vehicle to its U.S. customers in the summer of 2012. Equipped with a 20 kWh lithium-ion battery and 92 kW coaxial electric motor, the Fit EV battery can be fully recharged in as little as 3 hours when connected to a 240-volt circuit.

As part of the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program, Honda will test the Fit EV with Google Inc. and Stanford University, in addition to the City of Torrance, California. Each program participant will provide Honda with real-world feedback on the Fit EV. Individually, each participant will use the Fit EV to further initiatives such as research into human behavior and various usages like personal, fleet and car-sharing.

The purpose is to evaluate and test the residential and commercial applications of energy storage systems or back-up power sources using lithium-ion battery packs reclaimed from electric vehicles after use.

Energy storage systems can store power from the grid during times of low usage and feed that electricity back into the grid during periods of peak demand, increasing grid performance and providing back-up power during outages.

The team plans to develop a LEAF battery storage prototype with a capacity of at least 50 kilowatt hours (kWh), enough to supply 30 average homes with electricity for one hour.

Electric vehicle batteries, such as those that power the Nissan LEAF, have longer lives than those of personal computers or cell phones, with up to 70 percent capacity remaining after 10 years of use in an automotive application. This longevity allows them to be used beyond the lifetime of the vehicle for applications such as a smart-grid community energy management system or battery energy storage.

Innovative energy storage solutions are expected to become a key component of the smart grid, contributing to greater efficiency, reliability and performance. They will facilitate further integration of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, into the grid. The evaluation of Nissan batteries, through the partnership, will help determine their suitability for the power industry as a cost-effective energy storage solution.

“This agreement will allow us to evaluate the commercial viability of a grid storage solution and develop a prototype to effectively reuse Nissan LEAF batteries,” said Bruno Melles, head of ABB’s Medium Voltage power products business, a part of the company’s Power Products division. “We look forward to working with our partners to take electric vehicle battery energy storage technology a step further.”

David Vieau, chief executive of the Massachusetts-based battery maker A123 Systems, issued a memo, saying many of the lithium-ion battery packs have faulty cooling systems that create safety concerns. Misaligned hose clamps could cause coolant leaks and, potentially, and electronic short circuit, Vieau wote.

The nature of the flaw is similar to the one GM says was behind the battery pack fire in a crash tested Chevy Volt.

A123 said it had developed a fix and expected the glitch to have “minimal financial impact” on the company.

Fisker is ramping up U.S. deliveries of $102,000 Karma plug-in hybrid sedans. Shipments have begun with 225 sent to dealers and 1,200 units “in the pipeline,” Chief Executive Officer Henrik Fisker said in a Dec. 21 interview.

Karma production is now 25 units a day and may rise to 60 a day next year, said Fisker.

Giving the driver the ability to check on the battery and the rate of charge, telematics serve as a lifeline of sorts to help alleviate concerns over the limited range of electric vehicles (range anxiety).

In addition, many manufacturers are developing applications that can provide details on where the closest charging stations are within range of the current battery level of charge.

Nearly nine out of ten plug-in electric vehicles sold this year will include at least a basic telematics package, and that percentage will likely grow to 94% by 2017, according to a new report from cleantech market intelligence firm Pike Research.

Annual revenue from worldwide sales of electric vehicle telematics will total $1.4 billion by 2017, forecasts Pike Research.

A key group of players in the electric vehicle telematics supply chain will be wireless equipment manufacturers coming from outside the automotive industry, who are accustomed to more compressed product development timeframes than the carmakers use.

“The hardware manufacturers are experiencing a bit of a culture shock,” says senior research analyst Dave Hurst, “as automotive development generally targets an 8 to 10-year lifespan, compared to a 2 to 3-year lifespan for other wireless devices. For this reason, despite the fact that much of the data being transferred in plug-in electric vehicle telematics can be done easily with a slow GSM connection, most hardware manufacturers are targeting 3G services with their modems to ensure compatibility with the wireless network long term.”

In addition, while basic telematics packages that offer simple data connections for emergency services, breakdown calls, charging station locations, and diagnostics/vehicle monitoring will be standard features on most plug-in electric vehicles by 2017, many consumers will want more elaborate, connected vehicle telematics, which can provide live traffic, weather, streaming content, and cloud computing-based applications.

Pike Research’s analysis indicates that, by the end of the forecast period, 80% of plug-in electric vehicles will come with connected vehicle systems installed. Those costlier packages will push average revenue per user (ARPU) for electric vehicle telematics to $13.27 by 2017, up from $10.65 today.

The demonstration project, undertaken jointly with General Motors and with assistance to Magna E-Car Systems from an Ontario government grant, will enable Magna E-Car Systems and GM to gain critical insight into the performance of electric vehicles in a larger crossover segment.

The project involves the integration of Magna E-Car Systems’ innovative electric drive system into the fleet of Equinoxes.

The Equinox EV fleet is propelled by Magna E-Car Systems’ electric drive system, which features an electric motor that generates maximum power of 105 kW with energy supplied from a 33kWh battery pack. The demonstration fleet will be monitored closely to determine the amount of real-world range achievable by a vehicle of this size. Magna E-Car Systems led the design and vehicle integration of the propulsion and energy storage systems, with GM Canada providing engineering assistance in designing and validating the solution.

A joint GM-Magna E-Car Systems team has designed and built the Chevrolet Equinox electric vehicle demonstration units, working collaboratively from GM’s Canadian Engineering Centre in Oshawa, Ontario, and Magna E-Car System’s facility in Aurora, Ontario.

Magna E-Car Systems, a partnership between Magna International and the Stronach Group who helped Ford develop its Focus Electric, is a global supplier of components and systems for hybrid and electric vehicles.

For this year’s Tokyo Motor Show Daihatsu, Japan’s oldest manufacturer of automobiles, has adopted the slogan “Big Answer from Small,” and through each of its exhibits will express its roadmap for technological innovation that everyone in the world can enjoy in a compact car style.

PICO electric commuter
The PICO two-seater electric vehicle represents a new category of vehicle positioned between light automobiles and motorized bicycles. The PICO has been developed as a model offering the appeal that only a compact car can provide to accommodate social and environmental changes such as the aging population, regional locations and delivery businesses.

FC ShoCase
The FC ShoCase, developed as a zero-emission next-generation mobility solution, employs a next-generation unit equipped with liquid fuel cells that contain no precious metals.

With this offering, Daihatsu suggests new possibilities for a compact car as a zero-emission vehicle that leads the way to a secure and free energy future.

Beginning this December and continuing into early 2012, the roll-out forms part of an ambitious plan to make EVs a major part of the Republic of Ireland’s green transport strategy.

The UK-based EV recharging point manufacturer will supply 200 highly advanced ‘twin-head’ Elektrobay charging stations as part of the €1.2 million deal, with the installations carried out by the company’s partner, Carra Ireland.

Each Elektrobay is capable of charging two EVs simultaneously and will add to the burgeoning network of chargers that Elektromotive has supplied to the Republic of Ireland over the past two years.

Delivery and installation of the first batch of 21kwh three-phase Elektrobay chargers is scheduled to begin at the start of December, with each charger featuring 62196-2 standard sockets and Mode 3 connectivity. The Elektrobays will operate on the ESB ‘ecars’ charging station network, with plans to expand the network to around 1,500 public charging sockets.

Since launching its first Elektrobay charging station, Elektromotive has developed a full range of recharging products for all types of plug-in EVs, including its Home Charger, Fast Charger (rated at 400 Volts AC) and a DC-DC 50KV Rapid Charger, which is capable of charging compatible EVs to 80 per cent of their charge in just 20 minutes.