Automotive Trends

An electric power steering apparatus including an electric motor for outputting assist torque to a steering wheel of a vehicle, and a control unit for controlling thedriving of said electric motor, said control unit comprising: a power main body including a bridge circuit composed of a plurality of semiconductor switching elements for switching a current supplied to said electric motor in accordance with torqueassisting said steering wheel; a control main body that generates a drive signal to control said bridge circuit based on the steering torque of said steering wheel; a metal substrate that is composed of a plurality of insulating layers and a pluralityof conductor layers having wiring patterns respectively formed thereon, said insulating layers and said conductor layers being laminated on a metal plate; connector

terminals that are made of an electrically conductive material and are arranged in aperipheral portion of said metal substrate; and metal elements that have one end portions welded to said conductor layers of said metal substrate on which said power main body is mounted, and the other end portions welded to said connector terminals.

Friday - December 4, 2009

Thanks to the growing concerns over the reduction of carbon emissions coupled with highly volatile oil prices, the world has witnessed remarkable growth in the development of low emission vehicles. The global automobile players have been investing massive amounts into the development of advanced and better alternative fuel vehicles for recent some years. "One of the most enticing developments has been the introduction of hybrid vehicles - vehicles that use multiple propulsion systems for the motive power", says our new research report "Hybrid Car Market Forecast to 2012".

Fuel cell technology has garnered great support and interest around the world in the past decade because of its large market potential, positive impact on air quality and radically different nature than currently available power sources. It also has the potential to strengthen national energy security by reducing dependence on imported petroleum. Moreover, government initiatives across the globe to popularize the usage of fuel cells are backed up by many social programs which help in mass propagation of the fuel cell technology.

After a year and a half of preliminary field testing with excellent results, Volvo Trucks is now launching an upgrade of the world’s first hybrid refuse truck. The upgraded vehicle is now being released with new components and software to be tested by Veolia Environmental Services in central London.

Scientists at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) claim they’ve developed the first solid-state, rechargeable lithium-air battery that, because it doesn’t contain liquid, can be safe from fire and explosion risks.

With the ML 450 Hybrid and the BMW ActiveHybrid X6, German carmakers have arrived to the hybrid party with keg-sized jugs of expensive stuff. Unfortunately, the most exciting green car party has already moved on to plug-in hybrids and electric cars with much greater potential to reduce fuel use and emissions.

Global carmakers are trying to define a future market for electric vehicles. To reach beyond affluent, environmentally conscious, or technically enamored buyers, these companies will need to develop products that satisfy the consumers’ main concern—good value for money. Given the current cost of energy storage, that is a considerable challenge.

A recent McKinsey study suggests that one way companies can achieve this goal would be to focus on tailoring battery-powered vehicles to the actual driving missions of specific consumers—that is, to the way they use their vehicles.

More than a dozen business leaders -- including Carlos Ghosn,
President & CEO of Nissan Motor Company; David W. Crane, President
& CEO of NRG Energy; and Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President
& CEO of FedEx Corporation -- came together recently to form the
Electrification Coalition. The Coalition is a nonpartisan,
not-for-profit organization committed to promoting policies and
actions that
will facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in
order to combat the economic, environmental, and national security
vulnerabilities caused by our nation's dependence on petroleum.

MUNICH, Germany — With the development of an inverter based on silicon carbide diodes, Japanese car manufacturer Nissan aims at better efficiency at smaller form factors. The inverters will be used in hybrid drive cars as well as in all-electric vehicles and in cars powered by fuel cells.

In the back, however, is a 12-kilowatt-hour, U.S.-made EnerDel lithium-ion battery pack that powers a 70-hp permanent-magnet AC motor with 162 lb-ft of torque driving the rear wheels. That, according to Volvo, is enough to propel this 4433-pound charabanc on electric-only power for a maximum of 31 miles, enough to cover over 75 percent of daily European commuting.

Magnetic components are the norm in electric motors and non-contact drive couplings, but new developments could see magnets taking the place of mechanical gears in power transmission systems. Paul Stevens reports on novel magnet-based power transmission components and the advantages they offer designers.