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Sandia team develops GaN diode that is significant step toward protecting grid from EMPs

Green Car Congress

Scientists from Sandia National Laboratories have developed a new gallium-nitride (GaN) diode that can shunt excess electricity within a few billionths of a second while operating at a record-breaking 6,400 volts—a significant step towards protecting the nation’s electric grid from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

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Battelle introduces Grid Command Distribution services and software for rapid modeling of smart grid distribution circuits

Green Car Congress

Screen shot of a Grid Command Distribution “heatmap” analysis for a neighborhood. Battelle recently unveiled its new Grid Command Distribution services and software for utilities. VVO seeks to optimize voltage at all points along the distribution feeder under all loading conditions, thereby increasing grid efficiency.). (VVO

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New OnStar app shows cost of Volt charging

Green Car Congress

OnStar is testing a smartphone app that tells Chevrolet Volt owners how much it costs to charge their battery and compares their Volt’s energy use with the total energy consumed in their home by day, month or year. —Paul Pebbles, global manager, Electric Vehicle and Smart Grid Services.

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Mobilize launching first commercial V2G service starting in 2024 with Renault 5; France, Germany and UK initially

Green Car Congress

In addition to reinjecting electricity into the power grid, the bidirectional charger supports a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function for powering electrical appliances directly from the car. The platform has taken 70% of the parts featured on the CMF-B platform used for Clio and Captur.

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OnStar opens up APIs for Smart Grid applications for EVs

Green Car Congress

OnStar, a wholly owned subsidiary of GM, is inviting utilities, energy companies and tech firms to develop Smart Grid solutions using a set of proprietary OnStar application programming (APIs). OnStar is opening up its APIs to give developers the ability to broaden the potential for integrating EVs such as the Volt with Smart Grid technology.

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BHP, Caterpillar, and Finning to replace haul truck fleet at world’s largest copper mine with 798 AC electric-drive trucks

Green Car Congress

This agreement is part of a strategic equipment renewal process developed by Escondida. The Cat AC drive is a high voltage system (2,600 volts) that operates at lower current than most competitors’ systems. Retarding Grid: The radial style grid features an AC electric motor that requires no regular motor maintenance.

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GM and OnStar sign on as official Pecan Street partners; studying EV services and smart grid interaction

Green Car Congress

s smart grid research project in Austin’s Mueller community, the Pecan Street Demonstration. Chevrolet made 100 Chevrolet Volts available for purchase on a priority basis last September to residents participating the Pecan Street Inc.’s OnStar and General Motors are partnering in the Pecan Street Inc.’s The Mueller Community.

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