Green Car Congress

JUNE 8, 2012

Skeleton Technologies ( earlier post ), has introduced its new SkelCap series ultracapacitor family with devices ranging from 2.47 kW to 12.53 kW. SkelCap cells offer power densities of more than 40 kW/kg and energy densities of up to 10 Wh/kg: about 4x the gravimetric power density and 2x the gravimetric energy density of competitive products. Volumetrically, SkelCap cells offer power densities of around 5x and energy densities of around 2x other products.

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Electric Cars are for Girls

JUNE 8, 2012

Steve Schneider, long time CEO of US operations at Zap, is now GONE. What does this mean for the future of Zap, I wonder?

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Future 229

Green Car Reports

JUNE 8, 2012

Featuring some pretty nifty fuel-saving technology, like its redesigned continuously variable transmission and Easy Fill Tire Alert System, the 2013 Nissan Altima has always promised to be a green car. But now it’s official: according to the EPA, the 2013 Nissan Altima is the most fuel-efficient gasoline mid-size car you can buy. At least.

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National Green Transportation

JUNE 6, 2012

As if it's proof that it pays to be an insider with privileged access, Tesla Motors has begun delivering Founder Series Model S electric sedans. Model S #001 was delivered yesterday to venture capitalist and Tesla board.

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Tesla Tesla Motors Motor Motors 109

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Norway

Green Cars News

JUNE 28, 2012

Norway has decided to guarantee its package of support measures for electric cars until at least 2018. A leading country in Europe for electric car uptake, Norway’s decision provides an important boost to the fledgling EV industry, which suffers from doubt over the longevity of support measures in other countries. The benefits for electric car [.].

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Norway 2018 Electric Cars Cars 74

Green Car Congress

JUNE 28, 2012

The ExxonMobil MTG process flow diagram. Source: EMRE. Click to enlarge. Sundrop Fuels, Inc., a gasification-based drop-in advanced biofuels company, finalized a licensing agreement to use ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company’s methanol-to-gasoline ( MTG ) technology to be incorporated into a “green gasoline” production facility. Located near Alexandria, Louisiana, Sundrop Fuels plans to break ground late this year on its inaugural commercial plant, which will produce up to 50 million gal

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Gasoline Fuel Green Production 360

Green Car Congress

JUNE 4, 2012

Energy management with the V2H system. Click to enlarge. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has developed a vehicle-to_home (V2H) system for the mutual sharing of power between plug-in vehicles—plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) and electric vehicles (EVs)—and homes. The V2H system is to start testing, using Prius PHVs, at the end of 2012 in approximately ten households as part of the Toyota City Low-Carbon Verification Project (Toyota City Project) that began in April 2010.

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Toyota Powered Power Prius 350

Green Car Congress

JUNE 30, 2012

Mitsui OSK Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has completed the hybrid car carrier vessel Emerald Ace , designed to generate zero emissions while berthed, at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) Kobe shipyard. Emerald Ace. Click to enlarge. Conceptual diagram of system. Click to enlarge. The Emerald Ace is equipped with a hybrid electric power supply system that combines a 160 kW solar generation system—jointly developed by MHI, Energy Company of Panasonic Group, and MOL—with lithium-ion batte

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Hybrid Lithium Ion Panama Mitsubishi 339

Green Car Congress

JUNE 6, 2012

The 2013 Honda Fit EV ( earlier post ) received a combined adjusted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mile-per-gallon-equivalency (MPGe) rating of 118 MPGe—the highest yet awarded by the EPA. City and highway cycle fuel-economy ratings are 132 and 105 MPGe, respectively. The FIT EV’s fuel consumption rating is 29 kWh per 100 miles; EPA-rated annual fuel cost is $500.

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Fuel Economy EPA 2013 Honda 339

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2012

The R18 e-tron quattro hybrids at work. Click to enlarge. Marking the first victory of a hybrid vehicle at Le Mans, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro ( earlier post ), equipped with Williams Hybrid Power’s (WHP) electromechanical hybrid flywheel system, took the top two spots at the 80 th running of the endurance race over the weeken. The win was Audi’s 11 th Le Mans victory.

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Audi Hybrid Carbon Fiber Energy 337

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 3, 2012

The latest annual Report on Motoring by the Royal Automotive Club (RAC) says that motorists are continuing to give up important day-to-day activities by car as a result of the high cost of motoring. The report, based on a survey of motorists’ opinions also says that support for higher motorway speed limits has declined. A separate report for the RAC Foundation by the IFS says that the uptake of more low carbon cars is hitting Treasury revenues and suggests that the shortfall could be made up thr

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Tax 2012 MPH Cars 337

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

Eaton Corporation announced a collaborative agreement to supply federal departments and agencies with electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and related installation and services equipment, through a US General Services Administration (GSA) contract awarded to Autoflex, Inc. The contract is an element of the federal government’s Electric Vehicle Pilot Program , a GSA initiative launched in 2011 ( earlier post ) to incorporate EVs and charging infrastructure into federal vehicle and building por

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 25, 2012

The XL Hybrids system in place. Click to enlarge. Testing at Environmental Solutions Worldwide Americas (ESWA), an EPA-certified vehicle laboratory, showed a 21.2% reduction in fuel consumption achieved with XL Hybrids’ aftermarket hybrid electric powertrain ( earlier post ) on a light-duty cargo van on the UDDS cycle (urban conditions). The company had been targeting a 20% reduction.

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Hybrid Fuel Lithium Ion Boston 330

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2012

A team from Hanyang University (Korea) and University of Rome Sapienza (Italy) have demonstrated a lithium–air battery capable of operating over many cycles with capacity and rate values as high as 5,000 mAh g carbon ?1 and 3 A g carbon ?1 , respectively. The team, led by Yang-Kook Sun and Bruno Scrosati, reports on their work in a paper in the journal Nature Chemistry.

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Guyana

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

After a week-long meeting of an expert working group, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), classified diesel engine exhaust (DEE) as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence that exposure is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer. The summary of the evaluation will appear in The Lancet Oncology as an online publication ahead of print on 15 June 2012.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 25, 2012

The Nikkei reported that Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW will expand their partnership, one aspect of which will be Toyota providing hybrid systems and fuel cell technology to BMW. Kyodo News also reported the same, attributing it to “Toyota sources”. The Nikkei report followed a story in German newsmagazine Der Spiegel on the likelihood of an expanded partnership between the two companies.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 6, 2012

Design of opposed-cylinder free-piston linear generator from earlier works with single, centered linear generator. Click to enlarge. A researcher at the Nanjing University of Science & Technology is proposing a novel opposed-piston free-piston linear generator for use in series hybrid electric vehicles. According to his simulations, Ling Huang says, the linear generator could deliver 15 kW average output with a generating efficiency of 42.5%.

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Design West Virginia Hybrid 2012 321

Green Car Congress

JUNE 12, 2012

Start of production for the new smart fortwo electric drive. Click to enlarge. Daimler AG has begun production of the new smart fortwo electric drive at the smart Hambach plant. Like the models with combustion engines, the electric vehicle is now rolling off the production line in the standardized production process. Daimler has invested more than €200 million to upgrade the site.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

Siemens Ltd. Vietnam and Vietnam Motors Industry Corporation (Vinamotor) entered a cooperation agreement to apply Siemens Elfa hybrid drive technology for city buses in Vietnam. A prototype of the Elfa will be built in 2012. Siemens will supply all necessary components and provide technical support, while Vinamotor will prepare the platform and manufacture remaining parts of the bus for operational readiness.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 1, 2012

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will begin developing basic technologies for a triple combined cycle power generation system integrating solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation system. Conceptual drawing of the triple combined cycle power generation system configuration. Source: MHI. Click to enlarge.

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Powered Power Fuel Gas 301

Green Car Congress

JUNE 7, 2012

The all-electric vehicle range of the 2013 Chevrolet Volt will increase by three miles from the 2012 model to be 38 miles on a single charge. The miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) fuel economy will increase from 94 miles to 98 miles and the total range, including extended range operation, will be 380 miles. Power consumption in EV mode is EPA-rated at 35 kWh/100 miles for the 2013 model, down from 36 kWh in the 2012 model.

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Volt 2013 Miles Chevrolet 300

Green Car Congress

JUNE 1, 2012

Electrolysis company Hydrogenics Corporation has received an order from E.ON for a “Power-to-Gas” project in Germany. The 2 MW energy storage facility, to be located in Falkenhagen in northeast Germany, will use surplus renewable energy sources to produce hydrogen for storage in the country’s existing natural gas pipeline network. Power-to-Gas is a novel way to store energy at utility scale, whereby surplus electrical grid power is converted into hydrogen gas.

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Energy Storage Hydrogen Germany Gas 297

Green Car Congress

JUNE 12, 2012

NGVA Europe. Italy, the European leader in natural gas vehicle (NGV) adoption, has seen a 16% increase in its natural gas vehicle parc from 676,850 at the end of 2009 to 785,000 vehicles by early 2012. This number mainly comprises private cars and vans, which can be refueled at any of the 850 public refueling stations spread over the country. The number of NGVs has reached this level over the last 30 years as a result of a very active retrofit conversion industry and the ready availability of mo

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Italy Gas Fleet Vehicles 296

Green Car Congress

JUNE 6, 2012

Mazda Motor Corp. will use its hydrogen-fueled rotary engine technology ( earlier post ) as a range extender for an electric vehicle it plans to start leasing next year, according to Mazda President Takashi Yamanouchi as reported in The Nikkei. In 2009, Mazda began commercial leasing of the Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid ( earlier post ). The Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid featured a series-hybrid drivetrain, which combines Mazda’s hydrogen rotary engine with an electric motor.

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Mazda Hydrogen Engine Range 294

Green Car Congress

JUNE 5, 2012

The Green Dolphin. Click to enlarge. The Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI) and development partners DNV and Wärtsilä have unveiled a new Handysize—i.e., ships with a cargo-carrying capability of less than 60,000 metric tonnes—bulk carrier concept design: the Green Dolphin. The Green Dolphin leverages existing technologies to meet shipowners’ needs for fuel efficiency and operational flexibility while also being ready for future environmental regulations.

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2020 Design Concept Fuel 294

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS)—an international consortium formed by Chinese, Japanese and Swedish stakeholders—and the Receivers of the Saab Automobile bankruptcy estate ( earlier post) signed a purchase agreement covering the main assets of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB. NEVS will establish a new automobile venture in Trollhättan, solely dedicated to development and manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs).

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Automobile Sweden 2014 2013 290

Green Car Congress

JUNE 4, 2012

Amyris, Inc., Azul Airlines, Embraer and GE announced that Amyris’s renewable jet fuel sourced from Brazilian sugarcane has successfully passed all required testing and will be used during a demonstration flight on an Azul E195 aircraft powered by GE’s CF34-10E engines. The “Azul+Verde” (Blue + Green) flight will take place in Brazil on 19 June during the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

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Engine Brazil Fuel Chevron 285

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2012

Flow of the reuse of rare earth metals Honda is striving to achieve. Click to enlarge. Honda Motor Co., Ltd., which has been extracting rare earth metals from used nickel-metal hydride batteries at the plant of Japan Metals & Chemicals Co., Ltd. from April of this year, plans to begin reusing the extracted metals before the end of 2012. Honda will pursue the recycling of precious resources by reusing extracted rare earth metals not only for nickel-metal hydride batteries, but also for use in a w

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 9, 2012

Integrity Exports. 19.7% of new cars sold in Japan in May 2012 were hybrid cars, up 11 percentage points from last year. The liftback Prius led the field with 20,789 units sold, closely followed by Aqua (Prius C overseas) with 20,091 units sold. Looking at the different manufacturers, hybrid sales make up 25% of Honda sales in Japan, and a whopping 46% of Toyota sales.

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Prius Japan 2012 Hybrid 282

Green Car Congress

JUNE 28, 2012

Nanotube array architecture, triple-layered structure, and high conductivity in electrodes provide ion and electron “superhighways”. Credit: ACS, Li et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China designed and synthesized novel MnO 2 /Mn/MnO 2 sandwich-like nanotube arrays for supercapacitors. In testing reported in the ACS journal Nano Letters , the hybrid MnO 2 /Mn/MnO 2 sandwich-like nanotube arrays exhibited an excellent rate capability with a high specific

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 7, 2012

TMG’s high-performance electric powertrain, with dual axial flux motors and inverters visible. Click to enlarge. Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) will demonstrate its high-performance electric powertrain technology at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado on 8 July. Last year TMG set a new electric vehicle lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife (7 min. 47.794 sec) with the road-legal TMG EV P001 car ( earlier post ), a record which still stands.

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Toyota France MPH Colorado 281

Green Car Congress

JUNE 7, 2012

Mercedes-Benz and Glympse, the mobile technology company that pioneered temporary real-time location sharing, are teaming up to provide real-time location sharing to their drivers by integrating Glympse into the new Mercedes-Benz Digital DriveStyle application, set to launch in the new A-Class in September. Glympse allows GPS-enabled mobile phone users to share their location for a pre-set period of time with anyone they choose.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2012

China-based Shengquan Group and Novozymes finalized an enzyme supply deal for the production of cellulosic ethanol. Shengquan starts production of cellulosic ethanol from its commercial-scale facility month; the production will be cost-competitive with conventional ethanol, as the cellulosic ethanol feedstock is a waste product from Shengquan’s current production, the companies said.

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Supplies Denmark Production China 281

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2012

The California Air Resources Board approved $27 million for its Air Quality Improvement Program, a statewide effort to provide incentives for the purchase of advanced-technology passenger cars and heavy-duty trucks. ARB will use the majority of those funds for its California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project to provide incentives for the purchase of zero-emission and plug-in hybrid passenger cars.

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