electrive

German public broadcaster MDR reports that while fast-charging infrastructure for electric cars keeps expanding, charging on the road remains expensive compared with home charging. The article explains why rapid charging prices are high and what that means for drivers relying on public chargers during longer trips across Germany.

A new study published in Advanced Energy Materials describes a wallpaper-like material that harvests electricity from ambient moisture indoors while also helping regulate humidity. The research suggests walls could double as passive energy generators for low-power devices. Readers on Hacker News are debating the material's practicality, scalability and how much energy such indoor harvesting could realistically provide.

Electric car sales in Europe have surged 52% as gasoline climbs to roughly $10 a gallon. Bloomberg reports the spike in EV purchases is being driven by record-high fuel costs, with drivers across the continent switching to electric vehicles to cut running expenses.

New figures on the global electricity mix show coal remained the largest single source in 2024, producing about 34% of the world's power, while wind and solar combined grew to 15%, up from just 4% a decade earlier. The data, presented as charts drawn directly onto a world map, is drawing attention for how clearly it shows both coal's persistence and renewables' rapid rise.

A data center company has signed a power purchase agreement for space-based solar power, an unusual step toward procuring electricity generated in orbit and beamed to Earth. Space solar power promises continuous generation untethered from weather or night, but remains unproven at commercial scale. The deal is drawing attention as tech firms hunt for firm, carbon-free power to feed energy-hungry data centers.

An analysis by researcher Hannah Ritchie argues that the global shift to electrified energy systems will make the world dramatically more efficient, so total energy demand could fall even as living standards rise. The piece explains that burning fossil fuels wastes most of their energy as heat, while electric technologies like heat pumps and EVs deliver the same services with far less primary energy. Readers are debating the scale of these efficiency gains and what they mean for grid planning and climate targets.

A Colorado electrical substation that had protected nearly all of its equipment against wildlife suffered two outages in two days after squirrels contacted the few uncovered parts. The first incident cut power to 4,400 customers for more than two hours; the second left 1,300 without electricity for 40 minutes. Squirrels remain a leading cause of substation outages in the United States, and the story is drawing attention for the irony of a well-protected facility being defeated twice by small animals.

Meta has announced a large solar purchase agreement in Texas, while continuing to power some of its data centers with natural gas. The dual approach highlights the tension between the company's renewable energy commitments and the growing electricity demands of its AI infrastructure, drawing attention from climate and energy observers.

Hitachi Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with engineering firms Linxon and FTC Solar. The agreement, reported by Electrical Distributor magazine, is expected to support cooperation in the energy sector, though details of its scope and goals have not yet been made public.

Kern County, California has approved a large solar-plus-storage project from developer Terra-Gen, combining 600MW of solar generation with 4GWh of battery storage. The development adds to the county's role as a major hub for renewable energy in California, where large-scale storage is increasingly paired with solar to help meet the state's clean electricity targets.

A Three W solar power project has been completed and is now online in Texas. Details on the project's size, location and developers have not been released, but its commissioning adds to the rapid build-out of utility-scale solar across Texas, one of the fastest-growing solar markets in the United States. The project is expected to contribute renewable electricity to the state's grid.

A solar racking company has introduced a design change that makes electrical bonding in solar installations easier, according to Solar Power World. The report highlights how improved bonding can streamline installation and safety for solar arrays. Details of the specific product or company involved are not provided beyond the headline.