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Innovative Contribution: The Israeli Electronic Vehicle Industry

By Lior Yafe - Embassy of Israel
Economic Counselor

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By Lior Yafe | Economic Counselor - Tue, 03/28/2023 - 17:00

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The issue of carbon pollution is a global concern, and the transition to electric vehicles can be one of the most effective ways to reduce it. The Israeli auto-tech industry is playing an increasingly important role in developing green solutions in the field of automobiles. One of the primary contributors to the climate crisis is road transportation. This makes transitioning from the polluting auto industry to clean and intelligent transportation solutions even more critical.

The transition to electric vehicles will take work; it relies heavily on government involvement and incentives to accelerate production and adoption. However, Israel has excellent potential for adopting EVs. As a relatively small and densely-populated country, it requires a simple charging infrastructure, as it has sources of natural gas, relatively low electricity prices, and high fuel prices that can push the market to adopt EVs based on electricity produced from natural gas; moreover, Israel is known as a country that tends to embrace technology and innovation, with a population that is highly open to change, which fosters the transition to electric transportation.

Israel is not only a market for electric vehicles; it is also an innovator in the field. There is a fierce innovation race in the EV sector, with trillions of dollars invested, as several Israeli companies are developing significant inventions and contributing to the race to reduce carbon emissions, among which we can find unique technologies, such as those developed through nano and organic compound-based batteries. The aim is to electrify the ground and air transportation by combining nanostructural material with organic binders and electrolytes to offer optimized batteries for multiple sectors. 

It also uses artificial intelligence and machine-learning techniques to combine organic compounds with nanomaterials. Among its features is a synthesis of organic and inorganic compounds, including high voltage capability, enhanced safety with dendrite prevention, and real-time thermal and voltage management. 

Another exciting development is a crewless aerial vehicle and its Cormorant export variant. Its design includes a ducted fan for multiple uses that allows the aircraft to take off and land vertically. The fuselage itself is shaped like an airfoil to provide aerodynamic lift. It is intended to use the same technology to develop passenger aircraft for intra-city travel. 

By creating metal-air battery systems and technology for electric vehicles, the main focus is developing aluminum-air and zinc-air batteries. The company’s creators successfully integrated an aluminum-air battery system into an electric vehicle resulting in more than three times the driving range of current EVs. Furthermore, the creation of a provider of thermal management solutions for batteries, powertrain, and electric-vehicle charging infrastructure offers optimal boiling that manages heat fluxes for charging, which preserves battery life. It also provides a two-phase immersion cooling system for onboard computers and power electronics, among others.

As for the engines, a new motor for multicategory electric vehicles with 3D trapezoidal teeth and windings that generate optimized magnetic flux, and an integrated cooling system, offers features like light weight and compact size, among others These are used in electric and hybrid vehicles, electric motorbikes, motorcycles, and other vehicles. Also, these can be used for industrial applications.

A technology licensor and a provider of high-voltage (650V and above), high-volume GaN devices to the rapidly growing power conversion market causes tremendous interest. A true GaN Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor High Electron Mobility Transistor (MISHEMT) that is typically OFF in its native mode has already been created. 

Another innovative solution is a powertrain system for micro-mobility consisting of an intelligent control algorithm coupled with an electric motor design that helps achieve high-power efficiency metrics. The motion system is sufficiently versatile and can be implemented in any system with an electric motion requirement. It is intended for drones, electric vehicles, uncrewed ground vehicles, or robot actuators.

Due to digitalization, the demand for multicategory self-drive vehicle rental services has emerged, especially app-based platforms that enable users to rent cars, electric mopeds, scooters, bicycles, and others. Users can book, find, and unlock the vehicles near their location using the mobile application. It offers features like in-app payments, and short and long-term rentals. At the end of the ride, users park the vehicles at designated parking spaces. The mobile application is available for both Android and iOS platforms.

The development of electric cars with foldable chassis, which makes vehicle parking convenient, is a technology that, in addition to being innovative for the automotive sector, is important for creating smart cities. It offers features like a 90 km/h speed range, disk brakes, 2 X 7.5 kW electric motors, and a 15kW power range. Similarly, a location-based app has been created to determine the optimal route for multiple errands based on the business' distance from the user, queue length, working hours, parking, and traffic. It also helps estimate the task duration and the total time required for all the errands. It claims to help both businesses as well as individuals to accomplish daily chores effectively.

These technologies are undoubtedly of great interest to the automotive industry simply because, as mentioned above, not only are they innovative, which attracts  buyers’ interest, but their implementation would also contribute to reducing global carbon pollution. Several innovative Israeli solutions are still on their way to becoming a reality, and research and development work is being done to develop them further.

Photo by:   Lior Yafe

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