Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Toshiba Corporation announced the development of its next-generation SCiB (Super Charge ion Battery), which uses a new material to double the capacity of the battery anode. The new battery offers high-energy density and the ultra-rapid recharging required for automotive applications. A compact EV with a 32 kWh next generation SCiB pack could recharge to a 320 km (199 miles) drive range (JC08 test cycle) after six minutes—three times the distance possible with current lithium-ion batteries

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Li-ion 2019 Lithium Ion Battery 292

Green Car Reports

OCTOBER 1, 2017

Not every car buyer can afford a brand-new vehicle, which often makes gently used vehicles an appealing alternative. But while cars that plug in take only a small share of new-vehicle purchases today—about 1 percent—they're apparently very popular once they're used. In fact, electric and plug-in cars dominate the top 10 fastest-selling.

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Vehicles Plug-in Electric Cars Cars 159

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 18, 2017

The standards-based Autocharge feature enables automatic authorization for EV charging sessions, offering drivers an easy ‘plug in and walk away’ user experience. Autocharge enables a charge session to be automatically started after a driver connects his or her vehicle to the charger without requiring the use of an RFiD card, payment card or mobile app.

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Charging Standards Plug-in Netherlands 247

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 23, 2017

The mayors of London, Paris, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Quito, Vancouver, Mexico City, Milan, Seattle, Auckland and Cape Town have pledged to procure only zero-emission buses from 2025 and ensure that a major area of their city is zero emission by 2030. The signatories of the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration “ envision a future where walking, cycling, and shared transport are how the majority of citizens move around our cities. ” The cities therefore commit to: Increase rates of

Emissions 236

Emissions Aspen Los Angeles Climate Change 236

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Climate Change

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 30, 2017

Growth Energy announced that in five months, US drivers have surpassed another billion miles on E15 (gasoline with 15% ethanol), bringing the total miles driven across the US to 2 billion. More than 1,000 stations across the country are currently offering E15 to consumers—nearly triple the number of stations from the same time last year. E15 is approved for use in all vehicles 2001 and newer, as well as, all flex fuel vehicles, which combined represent more than 87% of the vehicles on the

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Miles Energy 2001 USA 231

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 30, 2017

Based on their findings in a new study, researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota suggest that modifying urban form—as a means of affecting motor vehicle usage—may be a strategy to mitigate urban air pollution. Their paper appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. They used satellite-based measurements of urban form and nitrogen dioxideO 2 (n) to explore relationships between urban form and air pollution for a global data set o

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Pollution New Zealand Minnesota Ozone 231

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 11, 2017

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have found that the air pollution and greenhouse gas costs of shipping crude by rail are nearly twice as large as those for oil pipelines. Further, their estimates of air pollution and greenhouse gas costs are much larger than estimates of spill and accidents costs—more than twice as big for rail and more than eight times as big for pipelines.

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Pollution North Dakota Cost Of Oil 230

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 5, 2017

The governors of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to create a unified regional electric vehicle plan to allow electric vehicles to recharge and travel easily along the 5,000 miles of freeways in the western region. The announcement comes in the wake of a new study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) quantifying the number of non-residential L2 and DC fast charging stations needed to support a growing po

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Electric Vehicles Montana Wyoming Idaho 218

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 18, 2017

Toyota has launched two new fuel cell vehicle concepts: the Sora fuel cell bus and the Fine Comfort Ride fuel cell car. The company will show both at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show later this month. Toyota plans to launch sales of a commercial model based on the Sora (an acronym for Sky, Ocean, River, Air, representing the earth‘s water cycle) concept vehicle in 2018 and expects to introduce more than 100 Sora, mainly within the Tokyo metropolitan area, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralym

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Concept Toyota Motoring Motors 210

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 19, 2017

Hyliion, a developer of electrification systems for Class 8 trucks, introduced the 6X4HE System for long haul trucks. Easily attached to the truck frame, the 6X4HE is a self-contained system. Fuel savings of up to 30% stem from a blend of three technologies: 15% from electric hybrid, 12% from APU, and 3% from aerodynamics. Mesilla Valley Transportation, PAM Transport and Ryder all participated in testing and refining the 6X4HE.

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Hybrid 2017 Transportation Diesel 207

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 10, 2017

Velodyne LiDAR has more than quadrupled production for its high-performance LiDAR sensors to meet strong global demand. As a result, Velodyne LiDAR’s sensors are immediately available via distribution partners in Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America, with industry standard lead-times for direct contracts. Velodyne leads the market in real-time 3D LiDAR systems for fully autonomous vehicles.

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San Jose Production North America Vehicles 207

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 10, 2017

Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), the world’s largest mail and logistics company, and ZF, one of the world's largest automotive suppliers, have partnered together to deploy a test fleet of autonomous delivery trucks, starting in 2018. DPDHL will outfit electric light trucks with the ZF ProAI self-driving system, based on NVIDIA DRIVE PX technology (currently the Drive PX 2 AI platform), for automating package transportation and delivery, including the “last mile” of deliveries.

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Fleet MPH Miles 2018 207

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 27, 2017

The Alliance to Save Energy has chartered a national commission of business, government and civil society leaders that will work together to develop a pathway and recommendations to reduce energy use in the US transportation sector by 50% by 2050 while meeting future mobility needs. The “50 by 50” Commission , chaired by Audi of America President Scott Keogh and National Grid US President Dean Seavers, includes Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto (D) and Fort Worth, Texas, Mayor Betsy Price (R), alo

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Transportation Fort Worth Energy Audi 199

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 18, 2017

To expand its global electrified powertrain offerings and strengthen its local footprint in China, Magna has entered into a joint-venture agreement with Huayu Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. (HASCO), a subsidiary of SAIC Motor. The JV will initially produce an electric-drive powertrain system for a German automaker. For the initial customer order, the JV will leverage Magna’s highly integrated e-drive system with a focus on the production of the system mainly for the Chinese market.

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Motoring Motors Motor China 199

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 10, 2017

Groupe Renault, Europe’s number one manufacturer of electric vehicles, has formed a new subsidiary: Renault Energy Services. The aim of this new subsidiary is to have an active presence in the energy and smart grid sectors, both of which are fundamental to the expansion of electric mobility. Renault Energy Services will function much like a start-up and its objective is to invest in smart grid-related projects by forging privileged ties with the energy industry’s various stakeholders.

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Grid Energy Energy Storage Store 191

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 6, 2017

Cummins will reveal electrified power technology for transit bus applications at the APTA public transportation show opening in Atlanta on 9 October. Cummins will display a new powertrain, configurable for either a full battery electric vehicle (BEV) or a range extended electric vehicle (REEV) incorporating a compact engine-generator. Enhanced energy storage for both the BEV and REEV systems is achieved using Cummins’ high-density battery enclosures, which are compact and modular allowing for bo

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Range Battery Batteries Electric 191

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 31, 2017

Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged at a record-breaking speed in 2016 to the highest level in 800,000 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. Globally averaged concentrations of CO 2 reached 403.3 parts per million in 2016, up from 400.00 ppm in 2015 because of a combination of human activities and a strong El Niño event.

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2016 Climate 2015 Climate Change 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 31, 2017

A trip between Seoul to Busan in less than 30 minutes could be a reality, thanks to ‘U-Loop’, the near-supersonic train—similar to Elon Musk’s Hyperloop—designed by a team of researchers at UNIST. Powered by magnetic attraction, the U-Loop capsule would move at nearly 1,000 km/h. A prototype of this new transport capsule was displayed and tested at the 7 th International Public Transportation Forum.

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International Transportation Fusion 2016 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 29, 2017

Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. C2X Middleware Platform, which uses wireless communication between two vehicles or between a road and a vehicle, supports Japan’s ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) standards. As a result, together with the support it already provides in Europe and America, it will support the major ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) standards of the world.

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Standards Japan Automobile America 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 28, 2017

Researchers in China have developed a novel free-piston linear generator (FPLG) to recover exhaust waste heat efficiently from a vehicle engine. The FPLG can be used in a small-scale organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system and can directly convert the thermodynamic energy of working fluid into electricity. In a paper published in the journal Applied Thermal Engineering , the team from.

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Exhaust Waste Conversion Engine 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 27, 2017

Mercedes-Benz started its “Intelligent World Drive” at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) in September to adapt more highly automated driving functions to national user and traffic practices. After the start in Germany, the test vehicle based on the new production S‑Class is now under test in the heavy traffic and exposed to the special national features in the Chinese megalopolis of Shanghai.

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Mercedes Las Vegas South Africa Africa 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 27, 2017

Lightning Systems is accepting pre-orders for its new all-electric LightningElectric system for Ford Transit. ( Earlier post.) The LightningElectric battery conversion package is available for Ford Transit as part of Ford Motor Company’s eQVM program. The product will be available first on heavy-duty Transits with a 10,360-pound gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR).

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Ford Price Battery Batteries 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 25, 2017

At the Tokyo Motor Show, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), part of Daimler Trucks, announced that it will electrify its complete range of trucks and buses in upcoming years. MFTBC also unveiled the E-FUSO brand, which will be exclusively dedicated to electric mobility of trucks and buses. As further proof of this strategic move, MFTBC also unveiled an all-electric heavy-duty truck concept with a range of up to 350 kilometers (217 miles).

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All-Electric Market Electric Electrical 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 25, 2017

At the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan unveiled the Nissan IMx, an all-electric crossover concept vehicle offering fully autonomous operation and a driving range of more than 600 kilometers (373 miles). The IMx is propelled by a pair of high-output electric motors at the front and rear, giving it all-wheel-drive capability. They combine to produce 320 kW of power and 700 N·m of torque, sourced from a high-capacity battery which has been redesigned and re-engineered for increased energy density.

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Nissan Concept Connect Connected 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 23, 2017

According to the US Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2015 total petroleum production exceeded all US transportation sector petroleum consumption. The EIA expects petroleum production to be greater than transportation consumption through 2040. Including non-petroleum sources such as ethanol, the production will exceed transportation demand by about three million barrels per day in 2050.

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Transportation Production 2009 Oil 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 22, 2017

Honeywell UOP’s Callidus Technologies business began operation of China’s only facility capable of testing flare emissions for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The test center in Luoyang, Henan Province, aids customers that are working to reduce emissions of VOCs in industrial flare systems and improve flare operation. The Callidus Luoyang Combustion Research and Development Center is the largest test facility of its kind in Asia.

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China Emissions Gas Industry 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 21, 2017

Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today, according to the newly released report detailing the adverse effects of pollution on global health by the The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health. Diseases caused by pollution were responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths in 2015—16% of all deaths worldwide—three times more deaths than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined and 15 times more than from all wars a

Pollution 186

Pollution Global 2015 Water 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 19, 2017

Bosch has introduced a new 48-volt battery for mild hybrids; similar to the Bosch e-axle, this 48-volt battery is standardized for easy integration into new vehicle models. Established manufacturers and start-ups alike can thus eliminate long and expensive development processes. Bosch intends for this pack—along with its earlier work on mild hybrid systems ( earlier post )—to position it as a leader in the burgeoning 48V mild-hybrid market.

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Li-ion 2018 Hybrid Volt 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 18, 2017

Researchers at Penn State, with a colleague from EC Power, have devised a new control strategy that can rapidly restore EV battery power and permit full regeneration while driving at temperatures as low as −40 °C. The strategy involves heating the battery internally during regenerative braking and rest periods of driving. In a paper in the Journal of Power Sources , they report that this technique fully restores room-temperature battery power and regeneration in 13, 33, 46, 56 and 112 seconds in

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Battery Batteries Li-ion Battery Powered 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 18, 2017

California Governor Brown has signed Assembly Bills 1328 and 1197, authored by Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara). AB 1328 gives California water agencies access to information on potentially hazardous chemicals used in oil and gas operations. AB 1197 will ensure their spill management teams are adequately trained and prepared in the event of an oil spill.

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Water Oil California Gas 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 17, 2017

According to a new report from Navigant Research, sales for plug-in electric buses increased 40% from 2016 to 2017, as the technology on offer from bus companies has improved in performance and in price. The report, Market Data: Electric Drive Buses , analyzes the global market for medium and heavy duty electric drive buses with the following powertrains: gasoline hybrid, gasoline plug-in hybrid, diesel hybrid, diesel plug-in hybrid, battery electric, and hydrogen fuel cells.

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 16, 2017

Daimler, Shell and Linde inaugurated the city of Bremen’s first hydrogen filling station, providing a refueling option on the important route between Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. The new site at Osterholzer Heerstraße 222 is located directly on the Sebaldsbrück motorway exit and the Bremen interchange, and is also near the Mercedes-Benz plant in Bremen, one of Daimler AG’s largest car plants in the world.

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Hydrogen Mercedes Germany Plug-in 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 16, 2017

Cummins Inc. is acquiring the assets of Brammo, Inc., which designs and develops battery packs for mobile and stationary applications. Adding Brammo’s battery pack expertise and resources is an important step for Cummins in its efforts to become a global electrified power leader. Brammo began developing and building electric motorcycles in 2007; the company originally developed custom battery modules for electric racing motorcycles that could compete and win against gas equivalents.

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Energy Storage Energy Electric Motorcycles Motorcycles 186

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 13, 2017

At Busworld Europe in Belgium later this month, AKASOL will present its AKASYSTEM OEM battery system as a complete roof installation including the chiller and other additional components. From 2018, two well-known European bus manufacturers will use the technology in Germany, with plans to equip around 10,000 e-buses over the next few years. AKASOL is now expanding its production facilities in order to meet growing demand and further customer orders.

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