Lifeboat Foundation

As electric vehicle (EV) sales skyrocket, more than doubling in 2021 compared to 2020, and automotive companies announce massive investments in batteries and EVs, the transition from gas to electricity-powered vehicles is looking all the more inevitable.

Still, misinformation abounds during this exciting technological change. Here are seven of the biggest myths about EVs.

1. Electric cars will always be more expensive. Up front electric vehicle prices have steadily fallen since the turn of the century, to the point where they are closing in on parity with gas vehicles.

As summer approaches, electricity demand surges in the U.S., as homes and businesses crank up the air conditioning. To meet the rising need, many East Coast cities are banking on offshore wind projects the country is building in the Atlantic Ocean.

For electric grid operators, knowing how much wind power these offshore turbines can harvest is critical, but making accurate predictions can be difficult. A team of CU Boulder scientists and their collaborators are working to tackle the challenge.

In a paper published March 14 in Wind Energy Science, a team led by Dave Rosencrans, a doctoral student, and Julie K. Lundquist, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, estimates that offshore wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean region, where the U.S. plans to build large wind farms, could take away wind from other turbines nearby, potentially reducing the farms’ power output by more than 30%.

NIMS has succeeded in simulating the magnetization reversal of Nd-Fe-B magnets using large-scale finite element models constructed based on tomographic data obtained by electron microscopy.

Such simulations have shed light on microstructural features that hinder the coercivity, which quantifies a magnet’s resistance to demagnetization in opposing magnetic fields. New tomography-based models are expected to guide toward the development of sustainable permanent magnets with ultimate performance.

Green power generation, electric transportation, and other high-tech industries rely heavily on high-performance permanent magnets, among which the Nd-Fe-B magnets are the strongest and most in demand. The coercivity of industrial Nd-Fe-B magnets is far below its physical limit up to now. To resolve this issue, micromagnetic simulations on realistic models of the magnets can be employed.

Researchers at EPFL have created the first detailed model explaining the quantum-mechanical effects that cause photoluminescence in thin gold films, a breakthrough that could advance the development of solar fuels and batteries.

Luminescence, the process where substances emit photons when exposed to light, has long been observed in semiconductor materials like silicon. This phenomenon involves electrons at the nanoscale absorbing light and subsequently re-emitting it. Such behavior provides researchers with valuable insights into the properties of semiconductors, making them useful tools for probing electronic processes, such as those in solar cells.

In 1969, scientists discovered that all metals luminesce to some degree, but the intervening years failed to yield a clear understanding of how this occurs. Renewed interest in this light emission, driven by nanoscale temperature mapping and photochemistry applications, has reignited the debate surrounding its origins. But the answer was still unclear – until now.

Dielectric capacitors are ubiquitous components that play a vital role in electronic devices and energy storage systems. Their ability to rapidly discharge significant amounts of energy makes them indispensable for high-power applications.

“High-energy and high-power capacitors are the backbone of reliable power supplies, especially as we transition towards renewable energy sources,” explains Alamgir Karim, Dow Chair and Welch Foundation Professor of Chemical Engineering at UH and a faculty mentor on the project. “However, current dielectric capacitors fall short in terms of energy storage capacity compared to other options like batteries. The advantage of capacitors lies in their superior power density, making them a more suitable choice for various applications.”

The key factor influencing a capacitor’s energy storage is a combination of its permittivity (ε) and dielectric breakdown strength (EBD). Professor Karim emphasizes, “To enhance a capacitor’s energy storage, advancements in both these aspects are crucial.”

Engineers at Georgia Tech have designed a process that converts carbon dioxide removed from the air into useful raw material that could be used for new plastics, chemicals, or fuels.

Their approach dramatically reduces the cost and energy required for these direct air capture (DAC) systems, helping improve the economics of a process the researchers said will be critical to addressing climate change.

The key is a new kind of catalyst and electrochemical reactor design that can be easily integrated into existing DAC systems to produce useful carbon monoxide (CO) gas. It’s one of the most efficient such design ever described in scientific literature, according to lead researcher Marta Hatzell and her team. They have published the details in Energy & Environmental Science.

It’s hoped giant device will be able to print homes, bridges, boats and wind turbines.

According to MG Motor, the EXE181 can reach a top speed of 257 mph. It accelerates 0-62mph in 1.91 seconds and features a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.181.

Honda and its joint venture partners plan to invest $11 billion in Ontario, Canada, to create a “comprehensive EV value chain,” the automaker announced.