Stanford University researchers this week announced they have designed a road-based, high-efficiency wireless charging system for electric vehicles. In theory, the system could help create a network of all-electric highways that charge electric cars and trucks while they drive, reduce the need for point-specific charging infrastructure, and eliminate range anxiety. The power transfer system is based on a technology called magnetic resonance coupling. This technology creates a magnetic field between the road and vehicle to transfer electric currents to the vehicle’s battery. Copper coils, placed under the road surface at regular intervals, are tuned to resonate at the same frequency. When an electric current is introduced, it creates a magnetic field between the coils that can then transfer energy to a receiving coil in passing electric vehicles. Can it work? While the theory may sound far-fetched, it was demonstrated ...

Looks like the Chinese like their clean cars pure, they bought about twice as many pure electric vehicles than hybrid vehicles in 2011. But 2012 could see that ration grow even larger (in favor of electric vehicles). Here’s more from sister site Gas2:   In China, EV’s Outsold Hybrids 2-to-1 In 2011 (via Gas 2.0) Related posts: Disaster Zone Dutro — Hino Motors Sends Hybrids North for Rebuilding Toyota to Unveil Concept Hybrids at Tokyo Motor Show China Forgets "China-Only Wind Turbines" Policy, but Why? ...

Here’s yet another fun little car that could be on the roads within a few years. As one commenter here on CleanTechnica aptly noted recently, we could make huge strides in fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions simply by reducing the size and weight of our vehicles. Hope to see cars like this one below becoming more and more common soon.   All Hail Hiriko: MIT EV Concept Slated for Production in 2013 (via Gas 2.0) Related posts: EADS Announces VoltAir Electric Airline Concept Toray’s Green Sports Car Is Invitation For Collaboration Nanomaterial Being Produced By the Ton...

EV battery prices are projected to drop tremendously by 2015. More info from sister site Gas2′s Andrew Meggison:   The Dropping Price Of The EV Battery (via Gas 2.0) Related posts: Ethanol Industry & Food Prices after Coming End to Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit Gas Prices Up, Transit Use Up Gas Prices to Rise Higher in 2012 ...

Catching up on a number of clean transportation stories we haven’t been able to cover, here are quick summaries of 10 recent stories. The first 6 concern EVs and hybrid-electric vehicles. The following 4 concern trains and transit. Electric Vehicles & Hybrids 1. Tesla Model X Electric SUV to be Unveiled on February 9. Gigaom, interviewing Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, found out that Tesla would be unveiling its all-electric SUV, the Model X, in less than one month. 2. Mitsubishi Selling and Servicing Electric Cars at All of Its UK Franchises. Mitsubishi recently announced that it was creating “the UK’s largest dealer network for electric cars,” according to Business Green. “[A]ll of its franchised dealers will become fully functioning Mitsubishi Electric Vehicle Centres from this month and by the end of March each will have two trained EV sales personnel as well as aftersales technicians.” ...

Researcher Examining Li-ion Battery - Argonne National Laboratory

IBM has invented a lithium-air battery technology that makes it possible to drive electric vehicles (EVs) for 500 miles (804 km) per charge. Lithium-air battery technology is not new, but it does have the potential to achieve unusually high energy densities that rival that of all rechargeable batteries in use today. The reason why batteries with higher energy densities enable EVs to drive further is simply because they are lighter (they have a better gravimetric energy density). Lighter batteries weigh down the vehicle less, so it requires less energy to drive a given distance. This translates into more energy being available for driving. Each kWh (kilowatt-hour) of energy takes you further. A greater gravimetric energy density can also mean that fewer batteries can be used to achieve the usual < ...

  Charis touched on the unequal expectations for and criticisms of electric vehicles (EVs) compared to gasoline-powered vehicles in her post on why EVs are awesome the other day. Over on sister site Gas2, Andrew Meggison gets into that topic a lot more in this repost below. Check it out (& share with your friends… we’ve got a lot of unbalanced press to combat):   Different Standards For Gasoline-Powered Cars Vs. EV’s? (via Gas 2.0) Related posts: Electric First, Gasoline Later – Honda’s New Green Sports Car Why Electric Cars Are Awesome Solar-Powered Air Conditioning for Cars ...

  Most of you reading this are already inclined toward green-type technology, whether that’s clean power generation, electric transportation, or more efficient ways to do things. Today, I’m going to give you one more reason to stop supporting – or at least vocally dislike – big gas and big oil. Yes, We’ve All Heard About This There are a number of people who will happily speak at length about dependence on foreign oil and how it leads to American troops being sent over to oil-rich hotspots to make sure we can still get affordable gas at the pump. There was a pun a while back about how Operation: Iraqi Freedom should have been called Operation: Iraqi Liberation (or O.I.L.), for example. I’m not really one of those people, but I listen when they talk. Oil is not cheap; from the ...

 

BrightSource Energy CSP solar tower. Brightsource raised $201 million in 2011.

This article was originally published on Climate Progress and has been reposted with permission. As emerging clean technology companies reach stages of growth that require enormous amounts of deployment capital, investment figures for 2011 reflect that market dynamic. Last year, global corporate and venture capital investments in cleantech grew 13% over 2010, reaching almost $9 billion, according to preliminary figures released from the Cleantech Group. Most of those investments are going to companies that have already picked up one or more rounds of funding, with 85% of dollars flowing into Series B rounds or later. The most stunning increase in activity last year was in mergers and acquisitions, which grew by 154% in 2011. Because it’s often more attractive for cleantech companies to merge with a ...

 

OK, I’m doing my top 10 list now. Following up on AWEA’s top 10 wind energy stories and SEIA’s top 10 solar energy stories, I decided I may as well give my own opinion on the top 10 clean energy stories and energy efficiency stories of 2011 (plus one bonus story). There will be some overlap, of course.

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1. 40% drop in cost of solar. This tremendous drop in the cost of solar was, to say the least, massively influential. It helped tons of people and businesses to go solar for less, increased work for numerous solar installers, and helped to put some companies out of business who were working on alternatives to traditional solar PV. The full ramifications are still unclear, but recent reports have shown that ...