The electric vehicle (EV) industry made steady progress in 2024, marked by advancements in core technologies like batteries, charging systems, and power management. From the announcement of 10-minute fast-charging batteries to the rollout of solid-state battery demonstration fleets and new standards for EV-grid integration, the year provided notable steps forward in making EVs more efficient, reliable, and accessible.
Alongside electric vehicle component and system advances, new training programs for engineers and EV techs are being offered.
Identifying a definitive list of the year’s top products and developments is a challenge because of how quickly the EV industry is evolving. Instead, this article provides a curated selection of key highlights from each month of 2024, offering a snapshot of the advancements driving the electric vehicle industry forward.
We encourage you to browse through EV Engineering & Infrastructure as a resource for the latest updates and insights in the electric vehicle industry.
We look forward to what’s in store for 2025. Happy New Year!
January 2024
Intel announced the formation of the Vehicle Platform Power Management Committee (J3311) in collaboration with SAE International. This committee, chaired by Intel, focuses on developing a standardized framework for vehicle platform power management in EVs. The initiative aims to adapt and enhance power management concepts from the personal computer industry, such as the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), to improve energy efficiency and sustainability in EVs.
SAE International’s involvement is bringing additional expertise and collaboration from industry stakeholders, including Stellantis, HERE, and Monolithic Power Systems (MPS). The committee’s objective is to define platform interfaces that enable manufacturers to implement context-aware power solutions across EVs, with the first draft of the standard expected within 18 months of its launch. This work is part of broader efforts to advance AI-driven solutions and ensure energy-efficient EV designs.
Magna’s 800-V eDrive
(Sidebar: In a move to support the growing EV workforce, SAE International also introduced an EVSE Technician Certification Program in 2024. This program aims to standardize training for professionals installing and maintaining electric vehicle supply equipment, ensuring safety and efficiency in EV charging infrastructure.)
February 2024
Magna introduced its next-generation 800-V eDrive solution, setting new standards in efficiency, power-to-weight ratio, and torque density for electric vehicles. This advanced system achieves up to 93% efficiency in real-world driving conditions, significantly enhancing vehicle performance and extending driving range.
Weighing 75 kg, the eDrive is 20% shorter in height compared to previous models, offering improved flexibility for integration in both front and rear vehicle spaces. Notably, it can also be rotated 90 degrees around the drive axis, facilitating versatile application across various vehicle segments.
Additionally, Magna’s design reduces reliance on aluminum and heavy rare earth materials, decreasing CO₂ emissions during production by approximately 20% compared to earlier generations.
March 2024
Meet the Brooklyn-718, the first-ever EV charger with a detachable cable to receive UL certification. This innovative charging solution from Itselectric is designed to address the unique challenges of curbside charging in urban areas.
Making EV charging more accessible with the itselectric’s detachable cable.
By incorporating a detachable cable, the Brooklyn-718 reduces wear and tear, enhances convenience, and offers greater flexibility for EV owners, particularly in densely populated regions where permanent charging infrastructure may not be practical. It also contributes to the broader adoption of EVs by improving accessibility and user experience, as the detachable design lets users easily store and replace cables, minimizing maintenance costs and downtime.
The UL certification guarantees compliance with stringent safety standards, ensuring the product is a reliable and secure option for residential and public use. What’s more: itselectric secured $6.5 million in seed funding to further accelerate the deployment of compact curbside EV chargers designed for urban areas across the US.
April 2024
SKF’s Conductive Brush Ring establishes a dependable electrical connection between an EV’s e-axle rotor shaft and its housing, effectively mitigating parasitic currents that can cause premature bearing failures.
The latest EV powertrain architectures combine powerful motors, reduction gears, and sophisticated control electronics in a single compact package, an e-axle. However, putting these high-speed, high-voltage components together in a small space can have undesirable side effects.
One key challenge is parasitic currents, which circulate between stator windings versus housing and/or induced on shaft and recirculating through bearings and other mechanical components, creating electric discharge and eroding working surfaces.
The resulting “micro-pitting” increases noise and vibration. SKF developed the Conductive Brush Ring to overcome these problems, increasing the reliability and expected lifetime in high-performance EV powertrain systems.
The brush ring features pure carbon-fiber bristles, offering consistent electrical performance with minimal friction. Its adaptable design allows for easy integration into new and existing powertrain architectures, accommodating wet (oil-lubricated) and forthcoming dry (sealed) motor designs.
May 2024
KACO GmbH + Co KG has developed an advanced battery venting system to improve the safety and performance of EV battery packs. This metallic quick-venting system features a valve circuit that offers sealed operation, ventilation, venting, and emergency venting to manage internal pressure effectively.
A comparison from KACO GmbH of quick venting with and without valve inserts.
KACO’s battery system supports flow rates of ≥400 ml/min at -50 mbar for ventilation and ≥600 ml/min at +50 mbar for venting while providing emergency venting with a flow rate of ≥100 l/s at +200 mbar to address critical pressure build-ups. It also offers water resistance exceeding 250 mbar for 30 minutes and operates in temperatures from -40° to +80° C.
By preventing continuous pressure equalization, the venting system reduces the risk of moisture ingress and protects battery housings from damage caused by under or overpressure. It can be installed from the interior or exterior of a battery pack and complies with IP68 and IPX9K protection standards.
June 2024
How can EV components handle extreme temperature fluctuations without losing durability? Polyplastics offers a solution with its new DURAFIDE PPS 1140HS6, a 40% glass-filled polyphenylene-sulfide (PPS) grade designed to improve thermal shock resistance in EV components, particularly busbars.
Polyplastics’ DURAFIDE PPS 1140HS6 enhances thermal shock resistance in EV components, offering durability and efficiency for busbars and other applications.
This material reduces residual strain during molding and ensures uniform linear expansion, effectively lowering internal stress while maintaining mechanical strength. Unlike traditional PPS grades that rely on impact modifiers, which can result in reduced strength and molding challenges, DURAFIDE PPS 1140HS6 ensures performance without additives. Its improved flowability during injection molding makes it ideal for thin-walled and large components, supporting the industry’s shift toward more recyclable and reliable materials.
July 2024
Last summer, EA Elektro-Automatik launched the EA BTS 10300 Battery Test System, a compact and automated solution for testing EV batteries. The system delivers high power density, providing 300 kW in a single 42U-high rack, with the ability to scale up to 3.84 MW through parallel configurations.
The EA BTS 10300 Battery Test System.
Engineered for rigorous testing, the EA BTS 10300 enables manufacturers to perform precise charge-discharge cycles, thermal evaluations, and performance analyses within a space-efficient design.
The high-current capability is essential for rigorous battery module and cell tests, including pulse testing that demands exponentially higher currents.
By providing real-world testing conditions, the system ensures batteries meet strict performance, reliability, and safety standards.
August 2024
EVE Energy unveiled the Omnicell 6C, a large cylindrical battery designed to enable ultra-fast charging for electric vehicles. The Omnicell 6C can charge from 10 to 80% in just nine minutes under normal temperature conditions, offering a rapid charging rate that addresses a critical challenge in EV adoption.
With the ability to deliver up to 300 km of range after only five minutes of charging, the Omnicell 6C significantly reduces downtime for EV users, enhancing the practicality and convenience of e-mobility. This innovation is significant as EV infrastructure develops and drivers demand faster charging solutions to complement their lifestyles.
The Omnicell 6C fast-charging battery.
The Omnicell 6C is expected to support high-power charging stations while maintaining performance and safety standards, encouraging wider adoption of EVs. EVE Energy has also successively launched electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) batteries and accelerated the R&D of solid-state batteries.
August was a busy month for the industry, so we’re sneaking in one more late-summer announcement, thanks to NEO Battery Materials’ silicon-anode technology, which promises to address key challenges in lithium-ion battery performance for EVs — including longer capacity retention and faster charging rates while maintaining cost-effective manufacturing processes.
NEO’s silicon-anode technology is demonstrating longer battery capacity retention compared to conventional materials.
NEO’s engineering team modified existing additives to develop two-way coating enhancements, employing widely used materials to decrease manufacturing costs. These improvements lead to longer capacity retention, higher and steadier Coulombic efficiency (a key measure of capacity retention), and faster charging rates.
The two-way coating enhancement also enables NEO’s silicon anode, NBMSiDE, to be compatible with carbon-based materials, making silicon-carbon composite and silicon-graphite anode development feasible for full-cell designs. This compatibility broadens the potential applications of NBMSiDE in various battery configurations.
These improvements represent a critical step forward, as silicon anodes offer higher energy densities than traditional graphite anodes but often face issues such as volume expansion and reduced lifespan.
September 2024
StoreDot announced a major advancement in EV battery technology with its XFC prismatic battery cells, capable of charging from 10 to 80% in just 10 minutes. This innovation addresses one of the most significant barriers to EV adoption: long charging times.
Prismatic cells, which are rectangular and stacked in layers, represent the form factor of choice for many EV manufacturers. These types of cells offer added mechanical protection and performance advantages, while the flat surface simplifies the integration into electric vehicles with better thermal management and safety considerations, reducing pack assembly cost and complexity.
A graph showing StoreDot 10-minute charging (10-80%) achieved with prismatic battery cells.
StoreDot’s XFC cells deliver 100 miles of charge in five minutes, with plans to reduce this to four minutes by 2026 — all without causing accelerated degradation, ensuring long-term reliability. Leveraging proprietary chemistry and optimized materials, these production-ready cells combine ultra-fast charging with consistent performance, offering a practical solution for the growing demands of EV drivers.
October 2024
Vicor Corporation released automotive-grade power modules specifically designed for 48-V EV systems. These high-density modules enable greater flexibility and scalability, supporting the industry’s transition from traditional 12-V architectures to 48-V systems.
Vicor’s automotive-grade power modules for 48-V EV systems deliver high power density and efficiency.
This shift addresses the increasing power demands of modern EVs, which rely on advanced subsystems such as infotainment, driver-assistance features, and electric turbochargers.
The adoption of 48-V architectures reduces electrical losses and improves overall system efficiency, which is critical as vehicles incorporate more energy-intensive technologies.
Vicor’s power modules are designed to integrate seamlessly into various subsystems, providing efficient power delivery while maintaining compact form factors. By facilitating this transition, the new modules help improve vehicle performance and enable manufacturers to meet the evolving requirements of next-generation EV designs.
November 2024
The US Department of Energy (DOE) invested $45 million into eight projects to advance EV battery recycling research. These projects focus on developing innovative methods to recover critical materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel from used vehicle batteries, reducing reliance on raw material mining and bolstering a sustainable domestic supply chain.
DOE invests in EV battery recycling to support sustainability and secure critical materials.
The funding supports a range of initiatives, including improving recycling technologies, creating efficient recovery processes, and establishing circular systems for EV battery lifecycle management. This investment aligns with the DOE’s broader goals of strengthening the country’s EV industry and ensuring environmental sustainability.
By enhancing battery recycling capabilities, these projects contribute to reducing costs, minimizing waste, and advancing the adoption of electric vehicles.
Earlier in the year, the DOE also demonstrated its commitment to the EV sector with a $1.7 billion investment to convert existing manufacturing facilities into EV production hubs, further driving the growth of clean energy transportation.
December 2024
The new Bedrock chassis integrates EV battery cells directly into its platform, removing the need for typical battery enclosures. Developed by CATL, the chassis absorbs 85% of collision energy (far surpassing traditional chassis, which typically absorb around 60%), significantly enhancing vehicle safety during high-speed collisions.
The Bedrock chassis leverages cell-to-chassis integration technology.
In testing, the Bedrock withstood a 120 km/h frontal, central pole impact without catching fire, exploding, or undergoing thermal runaway, setting a new benchmark for EV safety. This test involved 4.6 times the collision energy of standard frontal impact tests conducted under the widely used C-NCAP program, which simulates crashes at 56 km/h.
This chassis’s performance highlights its ability to handle extreme impacts, demonstrating its importance in advancing EV safety and meeting the industry’s need for reliable and scalable designs.
What to expect…
Solstice, an all-solid-state battery with potential for EVs.
Although promising, solid-state batteries are not ready for commercial production for EVs. However, in 2024, Factorial Energy introduced the Solstice solid-state battery, designed to significantly improve EV batteries’ safety, energy density, and sustainability.
With an energy density of up to 450 Wh/kg and a simplified dry cathode manufacturing process, Solstice aims to extend the EV range by up to 80% compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries.
Building on this momentum, Stellantis announced it would launch a demonstration fleet of EVs equipped with Factorial’s solid-state batteries by or before 2026.
As Stellantis tests Factorial’s innovative battery systems in real-world scenarios, anticipate improvements in range, charging speed, and overall vehicle efficiency, paving the way for the next generation of EVs.
What else?
The ChargeScape venture aims to enhance grid stability while unlocking financial benefits for EV drivers through managed charging and bidirectional energy transfer.
ChargeScape, a collaborative venture of BMW, Ford, and Honda, was formed in 2024, aiming to integrate EVs into the power grid through a software platform that enhances grid stability and reduces charging costs for drivers.
The platform facilitates smart charging (V1G) by wirelessly connecting to EVs and managing energy flow in real time, aligning with grid conditions to optimize demand.
ChargeScape also plans to implement vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities, enabling EVs to supply energy back to the grid when needed, thereby supporting grid resilience.
Nissan recently joined the venture, expanding its scope and bringing additional expertise to the initiative. With support from top automakers, ChargeScape aims to create a more resilient energy ecosystem while offering EV owners opportunities to save and contribute to grid stability. It will be interesting to see how it develops in 2025.
It’s clear that 2024 marked another year of significant progress for the EV industry. We look forward to the advancements 2025 will bring.
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