Electrovaya
Latest
External batteries benchmarked, the portable juice is loose
A lot of portable PC power cells last for only four or five hours, after which you'll find yourself chained to a wall socket. Good thing there are external batteries to keep us in current when a plug's nowhere to be found, and Tom's Hardware has done some benchmarking on a slew of such devices so you'll know which one's suited for you. A Dell Vostro 3300 and an Inspiron Mini 10 running Windows 7 were used to put packs from Amstron, Brunton, Digipower, Electrovaya, Energizer, Lenmar, PowerTraveller and Tekkeon through some real-world paces -- we're talking word processing and web surfing, not fragging and film editing. So if you're in the market for a mobile power unit, hit the source link and get the down and dirty on which external battery's best.
Chrysler shows off Ram plug-in hybrid electric truck, won't sell it to you
There's already a few hybrid trucks on the market (most notably from GM), but true plug-in hybrid electric trucks are another matter altogether. Chrysler now looks set to change that, however -- at least in a small way -- with its new Ram plug-in hybrid that's set to roll out to fleet operators this summer. It was just unveiled at the Washington D.C. Auto Show, and it pairs a 12 kWh battery pack from Canadian battery-maker Electrovaya with Chrysler's own 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine, which Electrovaya says will allow for up to 20 miles of driving on electricity only. Unfortunately, there's no word on any plans to actually make the truck available to individual consumers, but Chrysler does seem to at least be optimistic about hybrid trucks in general, with a company spokesman noting that half-ton pickups are naturally much better at carrying a battery pack than a car, and that trucks work better as hybrid vehicle platforms.
Changan, Electrovaya teaming up to release electric cars onto Canadian streets?
According to a report leaked by someone at Canadian electronics manufacturer Electrovaya, the company is teaming up with China's Changan Auto Group to bring a new electric car to our northern neighbor -- and it might be on the street as early as this year. Electrovaya is set to distribute the car (based on Changan's popular Ben Ben five-door) possibly making this the first automobile from the People's Republic to tap into the lucrative North American market. Of course, wheels like this won't make you any more popular with the ladies (you'd probably want a Linc Volt for that), but we're just happy that there are more green options out there.[Via Autoblog]
Electrovaya churns out Scribbler SC4000 series tablet PC
It's been a hot minute since we've seen a new entrant in the long-standing Scribbler lineup from Electrovaya, so we're fairly stoked to see the SC4000 sneak up on us from behind the monster that is CES. This particular tablet is home to an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor, a fingerprint scanner, 1.3-megapixel camera, Windows Vista, integrated Bluetooth and 802.11a/b/g WiFi, 60GB - 160GB hard drive and between 1GB and 4GB of RAM. You'll also enjoy the optional sunlight readable 12.1-inch XGA display, lightweight (3.3-pounds) design and ultrathin (0.85-inch) chassis. No word on a price just yet, but you can certainly phone up the firm's sales team for a quote if you're already sold.[Via MobileWhack]
