Here's how in-wheel motors could cut EV cost, boost range 20%

February 25, 2025

In-wheel motor maker Elaphe doesn’t see issues with durability or unsprung mass
“Vehicle-level” integration of tech could bring 20% cheaper vehicles, 20% efficiency boost
Elaphe is targeting 95% efficiency on a battery-to-wheel basis by 2030

If you took a quick look at the display stand for Slovenia’s Elaphe Propulsion Technologies at CES 2025 last month, you might have walked away with the message that the supplier of in-wheel motors has moved on from Aptera, Lightyear, and Lordstown and is pitching its tech to cars that are fast, exotic, and expensive.

That much is true—in the short term. Long-term, Elaphe has a grander global vision than just fitting into the performance picture.

In the meantime, it sees performance vehicles as the perfect venue for showing tech-savvy car buyers what in-wheel motors can do. At CES, Elaphe revealed a revised in-wheel motor design, called Sonic 1, that’s compatible with larger, track-ready brakes and high-performance vehicles.

In a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive model, for instance, it could deliver “something extra,” as brand and marketing architect Iztok Franko put it, at the front wheels without redoing the architecture of the vehicle—as part of a hybrid performance upgrade.

Elaphe Sonic 1 in-wheel motor for performance cars. – CES 2025

The Sonic 1 motors themselves, which it teases are likely to arrive in a production vehicle in 2026, can make up to 268 hp and 737 lb-ft each in their default form—designed to fit a 21-inch front wheel, as shown. And to take it to a scorching extreme, they’re being developed to fit up to 24-inch wheels, as Elaphe and its stand partner Italdesign teased in an updated Quintessenza supertruck concept, offering a hypothetical combined max of 1,600 kw (nearly 2,150 hp).

“So now we remove the obstacle of reengineering the whole vehicle, it’s easy to integrate, and you can upgrade the performance and upgrade the control of the car,” said Franko.

Italdesign Quintessenza concept

In-wheel tech promises simplicity, efficiency

If you compare it to an e-axle with an inboard motor, there are no additional mechanical losses, because it’s only one rotating part per motor. There are no additional bearings, gears, or added constant velocity joints, either.

It’s a good start to thinking about what in-wheel tech can do, and why it’s been popular for some vehicle types, like very large trucks and buses. But it’s only scratching the surface for what Elaphe and the few other companies see as a bright future applying the tech to passenger vehicles.

Green Car Reports caught up with Elaphe chief technology officer Gorazd Gotovac at CES about how its technology is evolving and found a company that sees in-wheel tech as a key part in the long-term future of the car.

Gotovac emphasized to Green Car Reports that over many years and iterations, the company has worked to fine-tune the design through inverter control and management of second-order effects in the physics of the magnetic field. Partly through that it’s achieved a 10% efficiency boost versus the previous generation of its motors, from fourth to its current fifth generation.

Elaphe in-wheel motor for Lightyear 0

By the time Elaphe gets to production in high volume, which it sees as around 2030, it’s targeting a 95% efficiency, on a battery-to-wheel basis, based on highway driving.

Its design uses permanent magnets, but Gotovac says that the company has already confirmed that by 2030 it will be able to bypass the use of heavy rare-earth materials, keeping to lighter rare-earths instead and reducing the environmental footprint.

“We believe that once in-wheel motors are adopted there will also be versions without permanent magnets on the low end of the market,” he added. “But it will bring some weight penalty.”

Unsprung mass isn’t such a big deal

In-wheel motors increase the amount of unsprung mass (all the mass not supported by the suspension), which auto engineers and insiders routinely claim makes ride and handling much harder to tune and complicates safety.

It’s simply not as significant of an issue as some vehicle engineers paint it to be, according to CTO Gotovac. That’s because wheels and tires, in combination, are quite heavy; add an in-wheel motor and you’re not at all doubling or tripling the weight, he explained to Green Car Reports. You’re boosting it by about 30% when figuring in the brakes and all the ancillary pieces. Factor in items that are redundant for in-wheel motors and the gain in unsprung mass can be as little as 35 pounds per wheel versus an inboard motor setup.

And adding in-wheel motors at the front wheels is an easier way to add hybrid propulsion while maintaining safety, argued Gotovac. “If you have a car which has been engineered and crash-tested and you want to hybridize it, you have to redo all the crash-testing,” he said. “But if you put in-wheel motors in, you don’t have to redo all the crash-testing, because actually the structure in front, it will be the same…and if you’ve done the engineering right the wheels are just going to hold onto the rest of the structure.”

Elaphe’s units are designed to survive minor collisions, and it means that the body doesn’t need a crash structure designed around incompressible powertrain pieces.

Lordstown Endurance

Durability work already done on in-wheel motors?

What makes in-wheel motors fundamentally different than existing inboard motors is that the motor’s rotor spins directly with the wheel and its stator acts as the hub. Because of this, they’re subject to higher levels of vibration and road shocks, but Elaphe’s Gotovac insists that durability is no longer a concern. In recent years it has pushed its full validation cycle for the vehicle lifetime of its motors out to 300,000 miles, from the previous 150,000 miles.

Lordstown Motors would have provided that real-world evidence of durability for Elaphe, in its Ohio-built Lordstown Endurance electric pickup, using U.S.-built motors from the Slovenian company—if it weren’t for Lordstown’s demise in June 2023.

As Gotovac emphasized, the design of the motor that Elaphe still follows was fully validated in the Endurance, but it was a different application as Elaphe itself didn’t have anything to do with the inverters, which allow a finer level of motor control. In a drive of the Lordstown Endurance, Green Car Reports didn’t have any issue with motor response, ride, or handling of the electric truck.

2023 Lordstown Endurance

One of Ford’s top EV executives, Darren Palmer, told Green Car Reports in 2021 that it nixed in-wheel motors as a possibility in the F-150 Lightning electric truck over concerns about durability. And Aptera dropped in-wheel motors for its production-bound three-wheeler in what appeared to be an issue not with any of those concerns but with cost.

At present, there are some, but relatively few, examples of mainstream models that offer these motor types. China’s Dongfeng, in 2023, claimed to be building the world’s first passenger car with in-wheel motors—powering the rear wheels in that case, supplied by Protean Electric.

In the meantime, in-wheel motors continue to look like the future, albeit a future without any significant present-day commitment—and plenty of false starts. Perhaps backing up Elaphe’s claims that they’re the best solution for the future, Hyundai and Toyota have continued to develop their own in-wheel motors, or at least remain involved in their development.

Lightyear with Elaphe motors

In-wheel motors remain mass-market-bound

As Elaphe’s Gotovac explained to Green Car Reports at CES, the company sees niche high-performance applications like Sonic 1 as an important step in getting the word out about in-wheel motor technology and how it can perform to extremes. But it has bigger-picture ambitions at the affordable end of the market.

This is the fifth generation of Elaphe’s motors and it’s been simultaneously working toward higher power density and better performance while also keeping an eye on how the tech can truly be applied to the mass market.

Gotovac said that while selling automakers on the idea of in-wheel motors for mass-market EVs has proven challenging, the technology can potentially pay much greater dividends.

“We are able to develop this power-dense design that we have into something that is cost-effective for a car that doesn’t have to be as powerful,” he explained. “If you’re using less material to get more power out of it, and if you’re not using exotic materials, then your potential for cost is better than the previous generation.”

Aptera with Elaphe motors

In-wheel motor potential: Ride, handling, identity

Elaphe’s Sonic 1 motor system is designed to use an inverter from its official partner McLaren Applied Technologies, with software developed with that firm—and the key to some of those special control strategies is the software.

But Elaphe emphasizes that the potential for in-wheel motor tech rests on much more than power delivery. Once you have it at each wheel, all sorts of opportunities arise for the motors to take an active role in: ride, handling, stability control, and even communication to the driver.

Aptera with Elaphe motors

Fundamentally, one of the key advantages of Elaphe’s in-wheel motor technology amounts to this, Gotovac explained: It’s capable of blipping torque delivery—up to its peak torque delivery—almost instantaneously, more precisely than an automaker could with brakes, and in a more extreme way than automakers would ever dare with an inboard motor because of driveshafts and CV joints.

Allowing roll control to be handled by the in-wheel motor system, Gotovac says, would allow automakers to eliminate physical roll bars and their constraints. If you have a motor at each corner, coordinated by a central computer, it’s like having “just one brake in the middle…you feel very safe when you get on ice,” Gotovac explained, or the motors can squeeze at varying levels with just the right timing so as to provide roll control.

Elaphe is currently working toward a very quick 10-kHz modulation cycle and a reaction time of just 4 milliseconds for full torque delivery of its motors. It takes the quickest inboard motor systems 20 times as long to respond, Gotovac claimed, and even then they won’t be able to provide close to full torque. “So that means we really can control with very high bandwidth, a lot of force,” he said, inserting with a smirk: “So we can get very interesting effects.”

Those effects can be quite subtle, he says—like engineering some vibration or tonality back into the driving experience. “We can generate vibration so that you can get a feeling in the car which is engineered but still authentic,” he said, or have the motors generate safety alerts, play songs, or emulate combustion engines—serving a purpose not unlike what Stellantis has engineered for the Dodge Charger Daytona EV.

All of those are things you can’t do with an inboard-motor EV because there are too many other factors with the driveshafts and suspension, and concerns over durability or the harmonics of the gear system.

2024 Dodge Charger Daytona

The future: EVs built on platforms for in-wheel motors

None of this tech will be fully realized, Gotovac admits, until we get a new kind of EV, conceived from the start for in-wheel motors. Enabling their potential is a “vehicle-level issue,” he says, and in-wheel motors will only make the vehicle much more efficient if it’s engineered from the ground up for the tech.

If automakers are up for playing this long game with Elaphe, it believes it can lower overall vehicle cost by 20% and boost range and efficiency by 20%—including whole-vehicle design, aerodynamics, chassis controls, and the weight of the car. “That’s where the big potential lies,” Gotovac said.

No major automaker has signed up yet. And what exactly keeps automakers from committing to in-wheel motors on big, mass-market, affordable EV projects sounds like a classic chicken-or-egg dilemma.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group electrical architecture and software stack

Getting to the 20% efficiency boost requires a big investment and commitment that goes beyond the supplier, lamented Gotovac, including an electrical architecture intended to accommodate it. “On the component level we can demonstrate a little bit of efficiency improvement, but not enough for them to make a $5 billion investment,” he added, summing up the predicament.

Gotovac asked rhetorically: “What is the step in between that gets them to believe in this system, so that they engineer that new platform? That’s the thing…”

It’s what drew my attention back to the Sonic 1 motor unit on the pedestal, ready in the meantime to create an Italian exotic that, perhaps, the tech-savvy will recognize for all its firsts.

Source link by Green Car Reports
Author news@greencarreports.com (Bengt Halvorson)

#Here039s #inwheel #motors #cut #cost #boost #range

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Scout's EVs And 'Harvester' EREV Will Use Two Different Battery Types

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 25, 2025

Scout's EVs And 'Harvester' EREV Will Use Two Different Battery Types

Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh appeared on the YouTube channel Jay Leno’s Garage with prototypes of the Terra truck and the Traveler SUV.
He revealed the two different battery types on the fully electric models and the extended range versions.
The fully electric models will get 350 miles of range, whereas the EREVs will get 500 miles of range—150 of which will be fully electric.

Automakers in the U.S. are on track to launch a flood of electric and electrified cars over the next few years. Some of them will be high-tech software-defined vehicles. Others will be retro-modern EVs designed to reflect both the past and the future. Scout Motors belongs to the latter category.

In an interview on the YouTube channel Jay Leno’s Garage, Scout Motors’ President and CEO Scott Keogh shared some new insights into the revival of the iconic American off-road brand. He said the fully-electric and extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) versions of Scout’s future models will use different battery chemistries.

The fully electric models of the Terra truck and Traveler SUV will feature nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery packs estimated to deliver 350 miles of range. The EREVs, which will feature a back-up gas-powered generator to charge the battery when running low on energy, will get a smaller lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery pack.

LFP batteries have become increasingly popular in the EV industry thanks to their lower cost and better durability than traditional NMC packs. They are typically less energy-dense and offer less overall range—although they are now slowly closing the gap with NMC on that front—so we usually see them on entry-level models like the rear-wheel-drive Tesla Model 3 or the standard range Rivian R1S and R1T.

On the Scout EREVs, the electric-only range will be 150 miles, far more than the 30-50 miles of range on plug-in hybrids. It’s also several times the average daily driving distance in the U.S., which is under 40 miles. The combined range on a full tank of gas and a fully charged battery is 500 miles. Owners can choose to drive the range-extenders as pure EVs, charging them regularly.

If charging isn’t easily accessible, they can fill up the 15-gallon gas tank and forget range anxiety. Even then, the Scout EREVs will function mainly as EVs. The gas engine will have no mechanical connection to the wheels, which will be solely powered by the e-motors. The engine’s sole mission is to charge the battery and help with towing and hauling when energy requirements run high.

Scout Motors

Keogh said that if you’re not a hardcore gearhead and don’t want to think about what’s powering the vehicles, the experience will be hassle-free. Owners can just “stab it and steer,” and the on-board system can seamlessly switch between EV or hybrid modes.

He also shared details on the status of Scout’s under-construction $2 billion greenfield plant in Columbia, South Carolina. It seems like things are moving fast, especially given that the brand hadn’t even been fully resurrected two years ago. “Steel is going up; we’re enclosing the major shops like paint, body and assembly. And for the vehicle itself, there are prototypes we’re testing,” he said.

Scout also went on a hiring spree over the past year. It now has more than 800 employees; 350 in South Carolina and the rest at its Innovation Center in Michigan tasked with engineering the vehicles and bringing them to life. “It’s going to be a herculean effort, but the team is on it,” Keogh said.

Photo by: Scout Motors

Scout Terra Concept: Cockpit

Interestingly, Keogh reiterated what Scout is doing differently than a typical Silicon Valley automotive start-up. Scout EVs will have the option of a bench seat upfront, get real key fobs and an abundance of physical buttons and knobs inside. Owners will have as many as three roof options: solid roof, a glass roof or a folding canvas roof which the automaker has labeled as the Cabana top.

The first Scout EVs will enter production by the end of 2027. He also indicated that the VW Group’s backing is helping the automaker fast-track its plans.

“We have everything you love about a start-up,” Keogh said. “A clean slate, efficient plants and all-new technology and software. And we have the backing of the [VW] group. We know how to make a car; we know how to get material costs down.” He likened all of that to a “perfect marriage.”

Have a tip? Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs

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Author

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Flash Drive: 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander SEL S-AWC

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 25, 2025

Clean cement startup Brimstone can make another key material: alumina

Best-Selling 3-Row Outlander Gets Updates In and Out

The 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander has gone through updates and revisions that reflect customer comments from when it was launched all-new in 2022.

Clean Fleet Report recently spent a half-day driving a 2025 Outlander SEL S-AWC, getting a feel for what the best-selling model in the Mitsubishi line-up now has to offer.

Departing the Pendry Hotel West Hollywood, on the famous Sunset Strip, we jumped on the challenging Big Tujunga Canyon Road to where it met-up with Placerita Canyon Road. These are only two of several great mountain drives in the greater Los Angeles area, where canyon carving brings a big smile to your face.

But why would we be taking a family-oriented three-row seven-passenger SUV on mountain twisties? We got a feel for the ride comfort, handling and performance that make this a value-proposition three-row SUV.

This Flash Drive is a first look review that will be followed by a longer and more in-depth Road test review at a later time.

Power and Drivability

2025 Mitsubishi Outlander — **Dial your ride**

The 2025 Outlander comes with a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine that produces 181 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. The “8-speed” continuously variable transmission (CVT), with paddle shifters and sport mode, drove all four wheels through Mitsubishi’s S-AWC (Super-All-Wheel Control system). S-AWC models have electronically-controlled 4WD and Active Yaw Control (AYC). There is a console-mounted wheel where the driver can select drive modes of Eco, Tarmac (Mitsubishi-speak for Sport), Normal, Gravel, Snow and Mud. Each mode affects shift points, throttle response and traction control, but not the suspension.

The engine and transmission combination was smooth and had sufficient power for most driving needs, but it is not fast. While a CVT by its nature is not a performance transmission, the paddle shifters helped a bit by holding the CVT in a power band for more pull. The EPA rates fuel economy at 24 mpg city/30 highway/26 combined.

Driving Experience: On the Road

The route we took and the sometimes the above-normal speeds we drove provided good insights on handling and vehicle control. We learned the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander S-AWC handling is far more capable than almost all of its owners will ever need, as they will not be (hopefully!) driving hard after packing up the family and all their gear for a mountain road trip. Our experience shows that you should be able to make an emergency maneuver and keep control.

Clean Fleet Report’s Outlander was shod with Toyo Open Country H/T 255/45 Highway all-season tires on 20-inch alloy wheels. Coming in at 3,803 pounds, the ride was smooth, with a good, confident drive quality. This tire comes with a 70,000-mile tread wear warranty.

The canyon route was a continuous set of right, left, up and down curves that tested this family SUV. We experienced moderate body roll on the absolute hardest of corners; lifting off the accelerator remedied that quickly.

The stability and traction control, and active yaw sensing helped keep the Outlander well behaved. The electric power steering, which has been recalibrated from the outgoing Outlander, gave good road feel feedback and was perfect in town for parking and maneuvering at slow speeds.

The steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters were used when headed downhill to slow the Outlander, asking the CVT to contribute a bit to the slowing. When we did use the brake pedal the stopping was straight and true with no fading from the four-wheel ventilated discs, ABS system with electronic brake force distribution and brake assist.

The 2025 Outlander is equipped with Mitsubishi’s Mi-Pilot driver assist that comes with adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist. This is not a self-driving system, but your hands can be removed from the steering wheel for up-to 15 seconds, and the system will keep the Outlander between the lines, and bring it to a complete stop if necessary. Please read a full description of this system before taking your hands off the wheel.

Towing is rated at 2,000 pounds. With the gross vehicle weight at 5,192 pounds, the Outlander can easily handle a family of four, their gear and pulling a tent trailer.

The Refreshed Exterior

Mitsubishi says the exterior utilizes the design concept of “Bold Stride.” The front end, with an updated grille and bumper, has three dominant features. The Dynamic Shield grille, the bold spelling-out of O-U-T-L-A-N-D-E-R and the large, square enclosures housing the LED head and fog lights. This design is unique to the Mitsubishi Outlander. The nose is rounded and sleek, leading to a lightly sculpted hood.

The flat roof, with silver roof rails and a power panoramic sunroof, extends to a spoiler that shades the power lift gate, which separates the LED tail lights that wrap the rear fenders. Mitsubishi says “The T-shaped LED lighting emphasizes width, and harmonizing with the horizon.” Check it out at your Mitsubishi dealer and let us know what you think.

The use of chrome can be a bit much some times, but Mitsubishi has done a good job of keeping the shiny stuff to a tasteful minimum. The polished aluminum wheels, with black inserts, complemented the strong lines of the side panels.

Modern Interior

The Outlander has benefited from being on the road for a few years as Mitsubishi took owner feedback into account and did a refresh on the interior. Some of the changes include a redesigned center console to more conveniently hold cups and the wireless phone charging pad. The frameless rearview mirror with Homelink is a nice feature.

The elongated dash amplifies the cabin spaciousness and features a full-color configurable 10.8-inch head-up display, a 12.3-inch digital gauge display and a full-color 12.3-inch infotainment touch screen.

New for 2025 is a Yamaha audio system that was specifically designed for the Outlander. This system, which replaced last-year’s 10-speaker Bose system in the Ultimate trim, has 12 speakers (4 woofers, 4 tweeters, 1 sub-woofer and 3 squawkers) and pumps-out 1,650 watts through 11 channels. The Outlander Premium trim sound system has eight speakers with the same system.

The Yamaha and Mitsubishi design teams developed the system so the doors act as a speak box to complement the 880 watts for the front speakers and the 770 watts for the rears. Tomukazu Hikida, Yamaha sound meister, told us: “This all-new audio system delivers tight, punchy, powerful bass and clear, crisp highs for low, mid and high range clarity.” We agree, it sounded great.

Sounds came from the AM/FM HD radio, SiriusXM and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Connectivity included two USB-C ports, Bluetooth and 12-volt power outlets.

The 2025 Outlander is classified as a seven-passenger compact crossover, so finding a third row seat in the far back is unique, but it comes with a caveat. That third row should be for an emergency, or for the very small of stature.

Up front is where the Outlander treats its occupants very nicely. The heated and ventilated, quilted leather seating surfaces were supportive. The driver gets 8-way power adjustments with lumbar and memory, and the front passenger has 4-way power seats. The heated leather steering wheel had paddle shifters and radio and telephone controls. The second row passengers get heated seats, air vents, side window pull-up shades, privacy glass, reading lamps and two USB C ports.

The second row is highly configurable, splitting 40:20:40, and includes a long item pass-through. There is 10.9 cubic feet of storage space with the third row upright, but that expands to 33.5 cubic feet when folded, and then with an easy pull of a lever in the rear cargo area, the second row folds flat to provide 79.7 inches of cargo space, which is impressive for a compact crossover.

Safety and Convenience

The 2025 Outlander is highly equipped with standard safety equipment. The details are here. Among them are active and passive advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), including front, side, curtain and knee airbags, lane change assist, forward collision mitigation, pedestrian detection, blind spot and lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert and park assist sensors.

The Outlander comes with a two-year introductory subscription to Mitsubishi Connect, giving owners a telematic system that connects them to a call center for emergencies, (certain emergencies are reported automatically). It also can pre-set the cabin temperature, remote-start the vehicle and safely open and close your garage door.

Additional convenience features include wireless phone charging, push button engine start, floor mats, headlight washers, rain sensing windshield wipers, multi-view camera system, tilt and telescopic steering column, power folding (with memory) heated side mirrors, tire pressure monitoring system, hill start assist and a 3-zone automatic climate control with micron air filtration.

Pricing and Warranties

The 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander comes in four trims, with packages and options and is available in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive. These base prices include the $1,095 destination and handling fee.

ES – 2WD $30,740
ES – AWD $32,510
SE – 2WD $33,490
SE – AWD $35,290
SEL – 2WD $38,090
SEL – AWD $39,860
Platinum – AWD $44,240

The 2025 Outlander SEL 2.5L S-AWC we drove included these options: White Diamond paint with the black roof $995; Premium Package $1,050; Door Guard with illumination $370; Tonneau Cover $210; Black Hood Emblem $170 and the Welcome Package at $185. The final price was $45,270.

The 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander comes with these warranties:

Powertrain – 10 years/100,000 miles
Basic – Five years/60,000 miles
Maintenance – Two years for oil and filter changes, tire rotations, cabin filter
Anti-Corrosion – Seven years/100,000 miles
Roadside Assistance – Five years/Unlimited miles

Observations: 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander

Jeremy Barnes, senior director communications and events at Mitsubishi, says: “The importance of Outlander is everything to Mitsubishi, I would call it the new face of Mitsubishi. It is our number one selling vehicle in the U.S., being nearly 50% of our volume. When you add the Outlander plug-in hybrid that number exceeds half of all sales.”

Barnes continues: “When this car came out in spring 2021 as a 2022 model, it brought people into Mitsubishi dealerships that hadn’t shopped a Mitsubishi in years, or in some cases never had done so.”

Smart shoppers have found a compact crossover with an impressive amount of cargo space when the seats are folded flat, standard driver safety technology, the ability to put a couple of the little ones in the far back third row, and one of the best warranties.

The styling is modern, the interior materials and fit-and-finish are as good as anything in this category, and the fuel economy is acceptable. But if fuel economy is your thing, Mitsubishi sells the highly efficient Outlander plug-in hybrid which Clean Fleet Report reviewed here in 2023.

Have you ever considered a Mitsubishi? Have you ever been in one of the company’s remodeled dealerships? Apparently many people have been lately, as sales results for 2024 saw an increase of 25.8% with an impressive increase of 38.4% in the last three months of 2024.

Make sure to opt-in to the Clean Fleet Report newsletter (top right of page) to be notified of all new stories and vehicle reviews.

Story by John Faulkner. Photos by John Faulkner and Mitsubishi.

[See image gallery at cleanfleetreport.com]

Disclosure

Clean Fleet Report is loaned free test vehicles from automakers to evaluate, typically for a week at a time. Our road tests are based on this one-week drive of a new vehicle. Because of this we don’t address issues such as long-term reliability or total cost of ownership. In addition, we are often invited to manufacturer events highlighting new vehicles or technology. As part of these events we may be offered free transportation, lodging or meals. We do our best to present our unvarnished evaluations of vehicles and news irrespective of these inducements.

Our focus is on vehicles that offer the best fuel economy in their class, which leads us to emphasize electric cars, plug-in hybrids, hybrids and other efficient powertrains. We also feature those efficient gas-powered vehicles that are among the top mpg vehicles in their class. In addition, we aim to offer reviews and news on advanced technology and the alternative fuel vehicle market. We welcome any feedback from vehicle owners and are dedicated to providing a forum for alternative viewpoints. Please let us know your views at publisher@cleanfleetreport.com.

The post Flash Drive: 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander SEL S-AWC first appeared on Clean Fleet Report.

Source link by Clean Fleet Report
Author John Faulkner

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Zevtron, ParkMobile to support discontinued Shell Recharge EV chargers

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 25, 2025

Zevtron, ParkMobile to support discontinued Shell Recharge EV chargers

Zevtron, ParkMobile, and Athena Partners Strategy Group are together supporting charging site owners and EV drivers affected by Shell Recharge’s shutdown of its EV charger software.

Shell Recharge is discontinuing its Shell Sky software in third-party commercial EV chargers in the US and Canada. It will service third-party commercial fleet EV chargers until April 30; after that, it’s lights out, leaving hundreds of EV charging stations across the US inoperable.

Zevtron, ParkMobile, and Athena Partners Strategy Group is deploying Zevtron’s white-label EV charging software across the former Shell Recharge network to restore full operational capacity to these chargers.

“Shell’s exit has left hundreds of chargers effectively stranded,” said Chris Mckenty, SVP of sales & marketing at Zevtron. “Our goal is to rapidly restore these stations to full functionality while enhancing their capabilities with flexible branding, seamless payment options, and improved management tools.”

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ParkMobile will extend its capabilities to process EV charging sessions so users can both park and charge. “Integrating EV charging parking sessions into ParkMobile simplifies access for millions of drivers who already rely on our platform,” said Andy Harman, vice president of sales at ParkMobile.

Athena Partners Strategy Group will work closely with cities, businesses, and property owners to deploy the new solution efficiently. “We see this as a major opportunity to not only restore EV charging infrastructure but also improve it for the long term,” said Nick Stanton, managing partner of Athena Partners Strategy Group.

The partnership says it’s a “turnkey solution to ensure uninterrupted service, enhanced user experience, and improved revenue potential.”

For more information on transitioning Shell Recharge EV chargers to the Zevtron-powered network,
contact Chris Mckenty at cmckenty@zevtron.com

Read more: Shell Recharge exits the US EV charger software market

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How to optimize battery development and production with CT technology

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 24, 2025

How to optimize battery development and production with CT technology

As the battery industry is projected to surpass $300 billion by 2030, driven by the rise of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage, manufacturers face the dual challenge of rapid innovation and stringent quality requirements. Traditional testing methods often fall short in detecting internal defects or optimizing complex designs. CT scanning addresses these challenges by providing non-destructive, detailed internal visualizations of battery cells, enabling engineers to find misalignments, folds, tears, and other internal defects without disassembling the cell. This capability accelerates development, enhances reliability, and supports faster innovation cycles.

In research and development, CT scanning is invaluable for accelerating material development by visualizing the distribution of materials within a battery cell, allowing for the early detection of flaws like internal cracking or voids. It also aids in identifying defects in new chemistries and form factors, such as delamination in solid-state batteries or dendrite formation in lithium-metal systems, which are critical for ensuring performance and safety before large-scale production. By integrating CT scanning into both R&D and production processes, battery manufacturers can enhance quality control, reduce waste, and bring innovative products to market more efficiently. Download this whitepaper to learn more.

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Author Charged EVs

#optimize #battery #development #production #technology

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Mercedes EQS aims for 621-mile range, tests solid-state battery

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 24, 2025

Mercedes EQS aims for 621-mile range, tests solid-state battery

Mercedes-Benz on Monday announced the start of real-world testing of prototype solid-state battery cells from the U.S. firm Factorial.

These cells were installed in a Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan in late 2024, and the car has been used in laboratory tests since then, according to a Mercedes press release. The automaker now claims the EQS is ready for road-testing—and that it could achieve up to 621 miles of range (1,000 km, on an unconfirmed drive cycle) with solid-state cells.

Mercedes-Benz EQS solid-state battery prototype

That range is possible mainly due to the solid-state cells’ increased energy density. Mercedes claims these cells allow for 25% more energy (and range) for the same weight and dimensions of the standard EQS battery pack. Passive battery cooling, such as what was used in the Mercedes EQXX engineering concept, will also help lower weight and increase efficiency.

Developed with input from Mercedes’ Formula 1 powertrain unit, the EQS test vehicle’s battery pack uses a new floating cell carrier, with pneumatic actuators that compensate for expansion and contraction of the cells as they charge and discharge, respectively.

Mercedes-Benz EQS solid-state battery prototype

The partnership between Mercedes and Factorial goes back to 2021. Factorial began providing test cells to Mercedes (as well as Stellantis) in 2022, and in 2024 appeared confident that its cells could boost Mercedes EV range by up to 80%. The Massachusetts-based battery firm has also opened what it claims is the largest U.S. EV solid-state battery plant yet in a Boston suburb. But that plant—with which aims Factorial aims to eventually produce up to 200 gigawatt-hours of batteries annually—is still small compared to conventional battery plants.

Mercedes will continue its testing in the laboratory and on the road over the next few months, but it may lead to a commitment to use solid-state cells in production vehicles. And if they are commercialized, a new micro-converter also being developed by the automaker plus some extra cooling-system innovation might allow them to be mixed with other cell types in the same EV battery pack.

Source link by Green Car Reports
Author news@greencarreports.com (Stephen Edelstein)

#Mercedes #EQS #aims #621mile #range #tests #solidstate #battery

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Mercedes' Solid-State Battery Prototype Comes Out Of The Lab, Onto The Road

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 24, 2025

Mercedes' Solid-State Battery Prototype Comes Out Of The Lab, Onto The Road

Mercedes-Benz and Factorial announced a prototype EQS equipped with a solid-state battery. Road testing has already started.
Solid-state batteries promise more range, faster charging times and better fire safety at similar or reduced weight compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries.
The EQS is expected to deliver 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of range on the WLTP cycle.

Solid-state batteries have been a long time coming. For years, it felt like they were stuck in the lab-experiment phase, but that’s finally starting to change with more real-world applications.

Mercedes-Benz and American battery start-up Factorial Energy have developed a prototype EQS equipped with a solid-state battery. The companies claim its the “world’s first solid-state battery vehicle from a global OEM.” It’s already out on the road doing test runs.

The EQS is expected to deliver 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of range, the automaker announced on Monday. That’s more than 25% improvement over the WLTP range of the current EQS 450+ in the U.K., which stands at around 481 miles. The current EQS gets a usable battery capacity of 118 kilowatt-hours.

Photo by: Mercedes-Benz

WLTP figures are typically about 22% higher than EPA estimates, so the EQS would still deliver about 527 miles of range by the American standards. That’s very close to what a Lucid Air can already achieve with a traditional NMC pack.

But the EQS’ solid-state pack brings weight and efficiency advantages. The automaker claims that the solid-state pack delivers 25% more range with the same size and weight of the current lithium-ion packs. And there’s potential to increase the range up to 40%.

A traditional lithium-ion battery uses a liquid electrolyte to move electrons between charge cycles. A solid-state battery uses a solid electrolyte, allowing more energy density and improved fire safety. It also promises significant weight reductions on both the pack level and for overall vehicle weight.

Semi-solid-state batteries use a gel-like electrolyte, splitting the difference between a traditional liquid electrolyte and a true solid-state solution. Several Chinese EVs like the Nio ET7 and IM L6 are already equipped with those and in production, available to the general public. They’re considered a “hybrid” solution and can leverage existing manufacturing processes and are faster to scale up.

Autocar reported that the battery being tested on the EQS marks the initial step towards incorporating Factorial’s more advanced “Solstice” all-solid-state battery (ASSB). InsideEVs has reached out to Factorial to confirm if that initial step involves a semi-solid state pack or an ASSB.

Photo by: Mercedes-Benz

The battery on the EQS also features a lithium-metal anode, which promises to store more energy than traditional graphite anodes in the same amount of space. However, studies suggest that dendrite formation can be a concern for lithium-metal chemistries. They are small metal projections that can short a battery, and have been a major obstacle in the development of solid-state batteries. Mercedes and Factorial must have made some progress there, though, if they’re moving forward with this design.

Factorial’s battery on the EQS uses a “floating cell carrier.” When the battery charges, the material expands, and when it discharges, it contracts. To support this expansion and contraction of materials, the battery is equipped with pneumatic actuators developed by Mercedes’ Formula 1 engineers at its motorsport headquarters in Brixworth, U.K.

Photo by: Mercedes-Benz

Factorial has also teamed up with Stellantis and the Hyundai Motor Group to develop solid-state cells. A demonstration fleet of the Dodge Charger Daytona EV equipped with Factorial’s semi-solid-state battery is expected to begin road-testing next year. InsideEVs also interviewed Factorial CEO Siyu Huang recently, who seemed confident about solid-state batteries entering mass manufacturing by the end of the decade.

What we don’t know yet about the EQS is how long the road-testing phase will last or how much an eventual road car will cost. But the first production car is expected to hit the roads before the end of the decade.

Even then, it’s a big milestone that solid-state tech is finally out of the lab and finally into road cars that we might someday drive.

Have a tip? Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com

Source link by Battery Tech – News and Trends | InsideEVs

Author

#Mercedes039 #SolidState #Battery #Prototype #Lab #Road

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Huawei Maextro set to challenge Maybach, Rolls-Royce in China with 852 hp

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 24, 2025

Huawei Maextro set to challenge Maybach, Rolls-Royce in China with 852 hp

Packing up to 852 hp and a cutting-edge technology stack developed by Huawei, Chinese luxury brand Maextro just revealed its latest entry into the Mercedes-Maybach EQS and Rolls-Royce Spectre segment of ultra-luxe EVs. Meet the all-new Maextro S800.

Despite a somewhat steady stream of new Chinese EVs that defy expectations and threaten to re-set the global order of performance cars, semi trucks, and just about everything in between, brands like Maybach, Rolls-Royce, and even Bentley have seemed relatively “safe,” in the sense that their value is based on something a bit less objective than lap times or kW/mile.

The new Huawei Maextro S800, first shown as a series of renderings late last year, seems to have found some of Henry Rolls’ secret sauce – and they’ve sprinkled it liberally all over the S800.

Huawei sparkles – literally

The shimmering, sparkly, fiber-optic headliner was pioneered by Rolls-Royce over a decade ago, pushing back against the more open and accessible glass-roofs that were becoming popular in the higher end market. Huawei goes a step further, adding similar, Swarovski-like shimmer to not just the headliner – but the door handles, the headlights, projections dancing around the car as you approach it in the street.

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It looks and feels special, in other words. And these cars are all about making their owners feel special. Different.

When Henry Rolls began work on his first US factory in Springfield, Massachusetts way back in 1919, there was supposedly a mantra that management repeated to the workers. It went, “every time you touch the car, you add cost. Make sure you add value.”

I’m not here to argue that Huawei is living up to the same maxim with the Maextro, but I am here to argue that this car’s bespoke, purpose-built platform doesn’t share any parts with a lesser offering from the Mercedes or BMW or Volkswagen lineup in the way that a Maybach, Rolls-Royce, or Bentley does. That may not mean much to you and me, but the people shopping six- and seven-figure cars, it might.

Those well-heeled buyers will get a choice of EREV or “pure” battery electric powertrains good for between 480 and 852 all-electric horsepower. 32 ADAS sensors including both radar and lidar compliment a suite of cameras analyze the road ahead and feed data to Huawei’s ADS road perception system, which is constantly adjusting torque distribution, suspension compression and rebound, and front and rear steering to deliver a tech-driven chauffeur experience that Huawei insists is second to none.

That digital chauffeur is also pretty handy when the weather goes sideways, too. Huawei says the Maextro’s sensor array can help it to increase the detection distance in rain, fog, and dust by 60% compared to the benchmark, while delay was reduced by 40%.

In the event a collision is unavoidable, the car can adjust its stance, seating position, raise the windows, and unlock the central control lock to enable outside help to open the doors. Following the collision, the Maextro S800 switches the redundant power supply and calls for help, as well.

Finally, reports indicate that the Maextro S800 supports the 800V high-voltage system in some trims, suitable for 6C charging, which means it can be energized with up to 390 kW of charging power, taking just 10.5 minutes to charge the 66 kWh battery in the EREV version (523 hp) from 10% to 80%.

The Maextro S800 will enter the Chinese in May this year with a price range of 1 – 1.5 million yuan (about $135–205,000 US).

Maextro S800 | gallery

SOURCE | IMAGES: Maextro, via CarNewsChina.

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Source link by Electrek
Author Jo Borrás

#Huawei #Maextro #set #challenge #Maybach #RollsRoyce #China

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Volvo Penta set to show off its new BESS subsystem at bauma 2025

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 23, 2025

Volvo Penta set to show off its new BESS subsystem at bauma 2025

Volvo Penta BESS subsystem to be Bauma highlight

Volvo Penta will debut its latest modular and scalable battery energy storage system (BESS) platform for the off-grid construction and mining industries at the bauma equipment show – here’s what you can expect.

Best-known for its marine engines and gensets, Volvo Penta is the power production arm of the Volvo Group, specializing in putting energy to work. Operating under the tagline, ‘Made to Move You’, Volvo Penta is headed to bauma 2025 with a plan to keep construction, port shipping, and mining operations moving productively and competitively throughout their transitions to battery and (in theory, at least) hydrogen power.

To that end, the company will show off a job site ready version of the scalable and modular BESS subsystem concept shown last year.

Volvo says its new, modular BESS subsystem will enable other OEMs and third party system integrators to seamlessly deploy electric power to meet the ever-exceeding energy needs in construction and mining.

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“Our modular and scalable battery-electric platform is designed to support the electrification ecosystem—combining high-performance drivelines with the crucial energy storage subsystems for efficient charging and operation in construction and mining,” says Hannes Norrgren, President of Volvo Penta Industrial. “We want to meaningfully collaborate with our customers on value-added customization that will enable them to stay productive, efficient, and future-ready.”

The Penta substation at bauma will be built around the company’s “Cube” battery pack, an energy-dense solution with a favorable C-rate designed to make it easy for BESS manufacturers to offer more compact job site solutions capable of charging and discharging energy with high levels of speed and efficiency, enabling both stationary and mobile BESS configurations that can change and grow to meet the evolving needs of a given asset fleet or project.

A Volvo Penta-developed DC/DC unit converts the voltage from the Cube battery packs (600 V) into lower voltage (24 V) for powering auxiliaries and portable offices.

Electrek’s Take

BESS concept packed with Penta Cube batteries; via Volvo.

Volvo Penta has always provided power. Historically that’s been from combustion, but the company is looking ahead, developing products that will bring energy to job sites, tractors, and more long after the last ICE engine shuts down.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Penta.

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Source link by Electrek
Author Jo Borrás

#Volvo #Penta #set #show #BESS #subsystem #bauma

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Feds purge EVs, chargers: Does Musk still believe EVs cost less to run?

Electric Vehicles Magazine

February 23, 2025

Feds purge EVs, chargers: Does Musk still believe EVs cost less to run?

Report suggests GSA may be forced to pull the plug on thousands of EVs and chargers
GSA’s biggest fleets are USPS, Dept. of Defense; 20% of its 2024 light-vehicle orders were EVs
Could affect chargers at national parks, VA hospitals, other venues

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which manages all federal government buildings and has been nicknamed by some as the largest landlord in the world, is reportedly planning to shut down its EV chargers and offload some or all of its EVs.

The move would take about 8,000 charging connectors and thousands of EVs out of service, according to a report from The Verge, citing a GSA email and a source familiar with the plans.

If so, it might amount to an exceptionally strange juxtaposition for Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO has spent years admirably facing down Tesla short-sellers on the viability of EVs and selling the public on how EVs cost less to own and use over the long run—even claiming, perhaps optimistically, at various points that Tesla’s EVs would be appreciating assets. Musk is now managing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which according to the Trump administration seeks “to modernize federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”

If running an EV and keeping electricity flowing to its Level 2 charger isn’t the technology that maximizes cost savings for the fleet over the long run, as Musk has argued for years, the Tesla CEO might need to update some of its core selling points for EVs—or have a conversation with shareholders.

The news of the charger shutdown and EV purge was first reported by Colorado Public Radio on Thursday, which reported that chargers at the Denver Federal Center were due to be shut down. The Verge then reported Friday that it had obtained the GSA email telling federal workers to begin the process of shutting down all EV chargers overseen by the agency, which is reportedly due to be formally announced internally next week.

Volkswagen, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and UT Knoxville test wireless charging

The GSA currently operates or hosts various Level 2 AC chargers across the country, totaling about 8,000 connectors. They’re mostly there to charge government-owned EVs, but they also charge personal vehicles of federal employees, according to The Verge. Examples of charger locations seen by Green Car Reports as under GSA control that might affect public accessibility might include publicly accessible locations at national parks and VA hospitals.

Highway fast-charging infrastructure already frozen

If true, it will be the second significant impact by the Trump administration on EV chargers that were essentially already paid for. It froze EV charger funding earlier this month, pending new rules not yet released, something automakers have already rallied against. California plans to move ahead with its own EV charger buildout despite the funding freeze; it’s also promised to offer purchase incentives for most EVs (likely not including Teslas), equivalent to the current federal tax credit, should the administration eliminate that.

“As GSA has worked to align with the current administration, we have received direction that all GSA owned charging stations are not mission critical,” the email reads.

There’s nothing to directly indicate that the decision to shut down chargers comes from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. But the term “not mission critical” echoes language often used by Musk, who has been arbitrarily cutting federal spending and jobs in his role as an advisor to the Trump Administration. And, if this is overseen by Musk, it directly conflicts with the CEO’s longtime efforts suggesting that Teslas would make good public-service vehicles with lower operating costs.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggesting Tesla EVs cost less for patrols

Some regional federal offices have already been instructed to take their chargers offline, according to The Verge, which adds that the GSA is looking to cancel current network contracts that keep chargers operational. Once those contracts are canceled, chargers will be “turned off at the breaker,” the email reads.

The federal fleet overseen by the GSA currently includes approximately 650,000 vehicles, more than half of which were due to be replaced with EVs under a Biden administration plan. Although a fleet summary hub page has been removed, a November 2024 release from the GSA notes that it’s ordered a cumulative 82,000 EVs and installed more than 10,500 individual charging ports, with an additional 52,535 charge ports in progress. It also reported that EVs made up 20% of its light-duty vehicle orders in 2024.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning

The report, citing the same source with knowledge of the plan, notes that GSA-controlled facilities will stop using EVs and start offloading them, although it’s not clear whether these will be sold or stored.

Of course, chargers at facilities are essential for keeping government EVs in service. “You can’t have an electric vehicle if you can’t plug it in,” said Mark Dowd, who was the Biden administration’s director of zero emission vehicles and on the White House Council on Environmental Quality, in a 2023 podcast from the administration.

Independent of any vehicle spending, the previous administration also allocated $975 million to the GSA to upgrade federal buildings with “emerging and sustainable technologies”—including EV charging—so it’s unclear how much of that outlay it would be abandoning in doing so.

USPS Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) – Oshkosh Defense

Fraught USPS EV order in question, again?

U.S. Postal Service vehicles comprise more than a third of the GSA fleet, and non-tactical Department of Defense vehicles make up another third. All the other federal agencies make up the other third.

Of course, this begs the question of whether the United States Postal Service (USPS) will take delivery of as many EVs as anticipated, after a debacle that led to a plan to purchase mainly gasoline vehicles. The federal government currently has tens of thousands of EVs in use, and it planned to replace more than half of its approximately 650,000 vehicles with EVs.

GSA either helps buy vehicles for agencies or leases them to agencies, depending on the situation. Under a Biden executive order, GSA was transitioning to all-electric vehicle purchases by 2027. GSA replaces a small percentage of its vehicles annually; vehicles haven’t been pre-emptively replaced with EVs, rather as gasoline models reach the end of their service life. Examples include a push to switch National Park Service vehicles from gasoline F-150 trucks to Ford F-150 Lightning models on an ongoing basis.

GSA keeps vehicles in use a long time, according to federal data, and in many cases well into high mileage, which seems like an ideal use case for EVs. According to its own current standards, the minimum life cycle for replacement of electric trucks, for instance, is seven years or 90,000 miles. Many vehicles in the GSA fleet are much older.

Tesla website promoting savings over gasoline vehicles – Feb. 2025

Musk has spent much bandwidth on EVs as smart money

As Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly emphasized over a span of more than a decade, and as Tesla’s very own site has aggressively pushed this as a built-in part of its pricing, EVs cost less to run—not just to fuel, but to own and maintain. According to Tesla the Model 3, for instance, has a five-year gas savings of $5,000 based on 10,000 miles a year or $7,500 based on 15,000 miles a year (with Los Angeles as the location). Longer maintenance intervals on EVs, including items like brake pads and fluids, mean preventative maintenance costs are far lower.

If Musk is at all behind this, it leads to a bigger question: If the chief cost-cutter and efficiency master doesn’t actually believe that EVs are cheaper and more efficient for the government to be running daily—or can’t convince President Trump that they are—will Tesla continue to sell its own vehicles on that premise?

–with reporting by Stephen Edelstein and Bengt Halvorson

Source link by Green Car Reports
Author news@greencarreports.com (Green Car Reports)

#Feds #purge #EVs #chargers #Musk #EVs #cost #run

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