STLA investing in lithium-sulfur battery which avoids nickel, cobalt, manganese

methane to graphene

Lyten’s batteries do not use nickel, cobalt, or manganese, slashing their carbon footprint to 60% of today’s best-in-class vehicle batteries. Raw materials for Lithium-Sulfur batteries can be sourced and produced in North America or Europe, avoiding supply chain disruptions. They also have the potential of doubling the energy density of current lithium-ion systems; and their new sensing modes do not require chips, batteries, or wires. [Read more…]

Stellantis building up hydrogen capacity with Symbio

hydrogen Ram truck (heavy duty)

Stellantis is keeping its bet on hydrogen even as it builds battery plants with a one-third stake in Symbio, a hydrogen fuel cell company. The other share holders are Faurecia and Michelin, each holding an equal portion.

Peugeot can build the same car with either battery-electric or hydrogen fuel-cell power sources. Symbio plans to start making 50,000 fuel cells per year by 2025 at its Saint Fons plant, which starts production in the second half of this year. Overall, Symbio plans to make 100,000 fuel cell systems per year by 2028, all in France, creating 1,000 jobs in the country. [Read more…]

Mopar BEVs to be the first to re-use waste heat?

BEV waste heat reuse patent

In gasoline-burning cars and trucks, waste heat from burning gasoline is tapped to heat up the cabin. But what about electric cars? They typically have to use electric heaters—or maybe not.

A new FCA US patent, filed three years back (November 2020) by Michigan’s Craig Lindquist and Changchun Li and Italy’s Attilio Crivellari, would re-use waste heat in electric cars, too—a technology which could be handy in PHEVs as well as BEVs. [Read more…]

STLA investing another $155 million in Indiana plants for EVs

Ram and Jeep Electric Drive Module

Stellantis, which includes FCA US, the former Chrysler, has decided to build its electric drive modules (EDM) at Kokomo, Indiana-area plants. The EDM is an all-in-one solution for electric vehicles; making them in Indiana will keep 265 jobs intact at three plants (Indiana Transmission, Kokomo Transmission, and Kokomo Casting). The gearbox cover will be cast … Read more

Ram Revolution 1500 BEV concept: high-tech, clever design testing the waters for the real thing

Ram Revolution BEV side view

Which brings us to the 2023 Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept. What exactly are they testing? We have a number of options, including the styling, the design, the technologies, and the powertrain. If you get impatient, just scroll down—we know truck people want to know about towing, hauling, and range, and some people just want to know about tech, and others want to learn about STLA Large. [Read more…]

Examining the Possible Dodge Charger Daytona BEV Quarter Mile Capabilities

Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Banshee Concept in Stryker Red

When Dodge first introduced their plans to offer the next generation Charger Daytona as an all-electric vehicle, the brand didn’t provide any performance numbers, but they did say that it would beat the current Hellcat cars in every performance metric. That essentially means that the Dodge EV would be able to cover the quarter mile … Read more

Hate the Dodge Charger EV Concept? It Could Be Much Worse

Dodge Charger Daytona

The odds are good that if you are reading this, you are familiar with the new Dodge Charger Daytona EV Concept. The muscular looking EV debuted a few weeks ago, on the final day of the brand’s “muscle announcements” at the M1 Concourse road racing facility in Michigan. Of course, because the Charger Daytona Concept … Read more

Solid-state battery pilot plant purchased for STLA BEVs

Factorial CEO Siyu Huang and solid state battery

Lithium-ion batteries, despite their almost miraculous ability to store and deliver energy, have some issues when used in cars, most notably the difficulty of dealing with (rare) fires. Many believe the next generation of batteries will use solid electrolyte material, which increases safety and range. Stellantis had already set up an agreement with “solid state” … Read more