These devices transform the direct current generated by a solar panel or electric car battery into the alternating current you expect from a wall socket.
First, A123 filed for bankruptcy and agreed to sell its electric car battery business to Johnson Controls, apparently cutting out Wanxiang Group Corp.
Take the electric car battery manufacturer A123.
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Several electric car companies and battery companies that built their businesses serving the electric car business have gone bankrupt or disappeared all together.
There is a lot more to an electric car than its battery, of course.
Shares of electric and hybrid car battery maker A123 (AONE) have spiked this morning after Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Wienkes upped his rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral.
Not bad for a startup that has yet to launch its networks of electric car charging posts and battery swapping stations.
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Bearing the Mercedes star as an unmistakable trademark, the B-Class Electric Drive will be launched first in the USA at the beginning of 2014, where it will be the first luxury battery electric car from Mercedes-Benz in the market.
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And just think of the possibilities if you are trying to raise money for an unfinanceable solar cell, windmill, electric car, biofuel, or battery company!
But, of course, a fuel-cell car is an electric car, albeit with a complicated hydrogen battery.
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Renault is trying to hold down prices by separating the cost of the battery from its new electric car, the Fluence.
As I zip silently around the San Francisco Bay Area in a new Ford Focus Electric, the stylish battery-powered car emits not a molecule of carbon pollution.
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An electric car, for example, has a sophisticated battery system.
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The selling point of the E-rev is that is cuts out "range anxiety" because if the electric charge in the battery runs low the car can use petrol to generate more.
To have a useful range of 480km (300 miles) or so, an electric car using a fuel cell instead of a battery pack would require around 9kg (20 pounds) of hydrogen.
Nissan places the battery pack of its LEAF all-electric car in a steel case.
Back in June I wrote about electric car road rage after I found someone had unplugged the battery-powered Ford Focus I was charging at a public parking garage so they could juice their own electric car.
The company sells the Fluence but owns the battery, the most expensive component of an electric car and charges drivers for the miles they drive.
Thomas Edison himself wasted part of his fortune trying to develop the battery to enable Henry Ford to offer an electric car to compete against the internal combustion engine.
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An electric car's longevity depends a great deal on how long its battery lasts, not least since it is very expensive to replace them.
The gasoline engine only turns a generator, which charges the battery and sends electricity to two electric traction motors that drive the car.
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Another, proposed by former software executive Shai Agassi, entails electric filling stations at which car owners would make a quick swap of a depleted battery for a charged battery.
But it is a particularly good idea for an electric car because mains electricity can be used if the car is still plugged in, thus conserving battery power.
Sure there are interesting in-car adaptations of entertainment services, data will be big, and electric vehicle drivers need a range of battery-related services that can be served by apps.
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Although heaters are minimized to conserve battery range, Consumer Reports rated a Volt test car at a paltry average 25 miles of electric-only running before the gasoline engine kicked in under cold Connecticut winter conditions.
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