Green Car Congress

AUGUST 22, 2012

California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project rebates by vehicle type through July 2012. Source: CCSE. Click to enlarge. Californians own more than 12,000 plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), roughly 35% of all plug-in vehicles in the United States. As of July 2012, approximately 1,000 new plug-in vehicles are being sold in the state every month. The more than 12,000 PEVs provide both consumer and environmental benefits, according to a new study by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE).

Plug-in 385

Plug-in California Plug Charging 385

Electric Cars are for Girls

AUGUST 30, 2012

Toronto's EV Fest 2012 is a place where the public, business owners, and fleet managers can come to learn about electric vehicles and green energy. Sept. 9 at Evergreen Brickworks, 10-5.

2012 190

2012 Fleet Green Electric Vehicles 190

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 9, 2012

The 2012 Toyota Prius gets the best EPA-rated gas mileage--50 miles per gallon combined--of any non-plug-in car sold in the U.S. But the Prius hybrid sometimes gets a bad rap. At least some of it is due to the notorious (and very funny) South Park episode in which a deadly attack of Smug afflicts the little mountain town whose residents all drive.

Prius 166

Prius Hybrid Buy EPA 166

National Green Transportation

AUGUST 29, 2012

Nissan today announced the 2013 Nissan Leaf will be available in Puerto Rico, making it the first Latin America market for Nissan's electric car. Nissan and Puerto Rico signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 14 months ago.

Puerto Rico 99

Puerto Rico 2013 Nissan America 99

Advertisement

emissions global warming Norway climate change carbon dioxide youtube lighting

Norway

Green Cars News

AUGUST 10, 2012

Mercedes will roll out an amazing hybrid car later this year, one so impressive on paper, you wonder why no executive car maker has done it before. The E 300 BlueTec Hybrid is an electric-IC hybrid that, unlike most cars we’ve seen to date, pairs a diesel engine with the electric drive, rather than a [.].

Mercedes 86

Mercedes Hybrid Cars Diesel 86

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 21, 2012

Automated, continuous IH 2 pilot plant, 50 kg/day biomass feed. Source: GTI. Click to enlarge. At the 244 th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Gas Technology Institute (GTI) scientist Dr. Martin Linck provided an update on the progress toward commercializing the GTI Integrated Hydropyrolysis and Hydroconversion (IH 2 ) process, with a presentation of new data on IH 2 developed from a continuous 50 kg/day pilot plant. ( Earlier post.).

Commercial 373

Commercial Fuel Convert Gasoline 373

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 10, 2012

The AP reports that GM CEO Dan Akerson told an employee meeting that Li-ion batteries developed by Envia Systems could take a car 100 miles on a single charge within a couple of years, and potentially double that with some luck. Envia Systems is developing large capacity pouch cells based on a novel high-voltage Manganese rich (HCMR) layered-layered Li 2 MnO 3 ·LiMO 2 composite cathode with a Si-carbon anode and proprietary electrolyte. ( Earlier post.).

Li-ion 369

Li-ion GM Lithium Ion Battery 369

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2012

Aerial photo of Green Crude Farm in November 2011. Click to enlarge. Sapphire Energy, Inc. announced that the first phase of its Green Crude Farm, a commercial demonstration algae-to-energy facility, is now operational. Construction of this first phase, which began on 1 June 2011, was completed on time and on budget. When completed, the facility will produce 1.5 million gallons per year of crude oil and consist of approximately 300 acres of algae cultivation ponds and processing facilities.

Commercial 357

Commercial Energy New Mexico 2011 357

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 9, 2012

EV Engineering fit the battery pack in the engine compartment of the Commodore to enable switching. Source: EV Engineering. Click to enlarge. The battery-switchable fully-electric Holden Commodore developed by. EV Engineering in Australia ( earlier post ) recently unofficially broke the distance record for a production electric car, achieving 1,886 (1,172 miles) kilometers of driving over a 24-hour period.

Batteries 356

Batteries Battery Electrical Electric 356

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 19, 2012

General Motors has released Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 08-06-04-006J, which provides updated information to dealership service departments on identifying non-GM engine control module (ECM) calibrations. The bulletin also extends the procedures to cover many Duramax-equipped vehicles built for model year 2013. The bulletin outlines software identification and power-up hardware detection procedures, and recommends that such procedures be carried out whenever a “hard part failure” is observed

GM 344

GM Diesel Kits Exhaust 344

Advertisement

Brief

Connect

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 14, 2012

Illustration of the logical flow in the system. By measuring the amount of time that sound takes to travel from each speaker, the cell phone app can determine whether the phone is on the driver’s side or the passenger’s side of the car. Source: Yang et al. Click to enlarge. A team from Rutgers University and Stevens Institute of Technology have designed and tested a smart phone application that can pinpoint where in the car a cell phone user is sitting—i.e., on the driver’s side or the pas

Connected 342

Connected Connect Concept Legal 342

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 30, 2012

India’s National Council for Electric Mobility (NCEM) has adopted the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP 2020), which is the mission document for National Mission for Electric Mobility (NMEM). The NEMMP 2020 lays the vision, sets the targets and provides the roadmap for achieving significant penetration of electric vehicles (including hybrids) in India by 2020.

2020 338

2020 India Vehicles Electric 338

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 2, 2012

Opel is extending its Zafira Tourer model portfolio with a new liquefied petroleum gas version equipped with a 103 kW/140 hp, 1.4 LPG ecoFLEX turbo engine. The seven-seater compact vans now offers gasoline, diesel, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) ex works. The engine provides the same output and torque of 200 N·m (148 lb-ft) (1,850 – 4,900 rpm) in both LPG and gasoline operation modes.

Gasoline 324

Gasoline Gas MPG Engine 324

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 2, 2012

HF35 architecture. Click to enlarge. Ford and suppliers are investing $220 million to transform Van Dyke Transmission into a modern operation capable of producing Ford’s new hybrid transmission—HF35—as well as other fuel-efficient transmissions. HF35 will be used in five electrified vehicles being introduced this year: C-MAX Hybrid; C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid; Fusion Hybrid; Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid; and the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid.

Ford 319

Ford Hybrid Fusion Fuel Economy 319

Advertisement

Oil

Guyana

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 22, 2012

Estimated consumption subsidies, industrial and developing countries, fossil fuels and renewables. Source: Worldwatch. Click to enlarge. Fossil fuel subsidies continue to far outweigh support for renewable energy, according to new research conducted for the Worldwatch Institute’s Vital Signs Online service. Although independent reporting on these subsidies has increased, global efforts to move forward with subsidy reform have been hindered by a variety of causes, leaving international pledges un

Renewable 312

Renewable International Fuel Energy 312

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 7, 2012

The Ford C-MAX Hybrid ( earlier post ) is now officially EPA-certified at 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway and 47 mpg combined (5.0L/100km), bettering the fuel economy of the Toyota Prius v by 3 mpg on the city cycle and 7 mpg on the highway (5 mpg combined). Ford also announced that the plug-in hybrid version of the C-MAX, the Ford C-MAX Energi, features the a top electric-only speed among all plug-in of 85 mph (137 km/h)—more than 20 mph more than the Prius plug-in, and sufficient easily to k

MPG 312

MPG Plug-in MPH Plug 312

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 7, 2012

Pure formic acid can be obtained continuously by hydrogenation of CO 2 in a single processing unit. An immobilized ruthenium organometallic catalyst and a nonvolatile base in an ionic liquid (IL) are combined with scCO 2 as both reactant and extractive phase. Wesselbaum et al. Click to enlarge. A team led by Prof. Walter Leitner at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany, has developed a new concept that can be used to produce pure formic acid from CO 2 in a continuous process using catalytic hydrog

Convert 310

Convert CO2 Fuel Hydrogen 310

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 2, 2012

Argonne National Laboratory has upgraded its Advanced Powertrain Research Facility with the new Environmental Test Cell (ETC). The ETC allows vehicle researchers to simulate a range of external temperatures—between 20 °F to 95 °F (-6.7 °C to 35 °C)—in order to study the impact of temperature on the performance of electrified vehicles (EVs).

Fuel Economy 306

Fuel Economy Solar Economy Fuel 306

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 8, 2012

GE’s Power Conversion business recently received a series of new orders from South Korean companies Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries. The GE equipment will be installed on 23 new LNG ships and represents total propulsion power of 1,105 megawatts. The scope of GE’s contracts includes MV7000 converters, induction motors, transformers, generators, main and cargo switchboards and propulsion control systems.

Mariner 304

Mariner France Supplies Conversion 304

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2012

FC Bus Power Supply System and the V2H System. Click to enlarge. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has developed an external power supply system that uses electricity generated within a fuel cell bus (FC bus) to supply electrical power to devices such as home electrical appliances. An FC bus—based on the FCHV-BUS (Fuel cell hybrid vehicle-bus)—equipped with the new power supply system has two electrical outlets (AC 100 V, 1.5 kW) inside the cabin that can supply a maximum output of 3 kW

Supplies 304

Supplies Toyota Powered Power 304

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2012

The MV Figaro. Click to enlarge. Opcon, in collaboration with Wallenius Marine, recently completed the first reference installation of its Waste Heat Recovery technology for ocean-going vessels in a project supported by the Swedish Energy Agency. ( Earlier post.) The company has now received official approval from Lloyd’s Register for use at sea. The Opcon systems generate electricity from low-value waste heat in the vessel’s steam and cooling system.

Waste 300

Waste Installation Mariner Fuel 300

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 22, 2012

The successful bench-scale test of a novel carbon dioxide capturing sorbent promises to further advance the process as a possible technological option for reducing CO 2 emissions from coal-fired power plants. The new sorbent, BrightBlack, was originally developed for a different application by Advanced Technology Materials Inc. (ATMI) , a subcontractor to SRI for the Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored test at the University of Toledo.

Carbon 300

Carbon Coal CO2 Low Cost 300

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 2, 2012

The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has selected 19 new projects to receive a total of $43 million to develop breakthrough energy storage technologies and support promising small businesses. These projects are supported through two new ARPA-E programs—Advanced Management and Protection of Energy Storage Devices (AMPED) and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)—and will focus on innovations in battery management and storage to advance el

Energy Storage 299

Energy Storage Grid Electric Vehicles Energy 299

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2012

Aiken County and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, (SRNS) have reached agreement on a corporately funded $3-million expansion plan that will add an additional 6,435 square feet of finished laboratory and support space to the county-owned Center for Hydrogen Research (CHR) facility, located in Aiken County’s Savannah River. Research Campus adjacent to the Savannah River Site.

Hydrogen 296

Hydrogen 2006 Energy Storage Mariner 296

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 30, 2012

NO x emissions results of biodiesel, renewable, and GTL diesel fuel blends, and CARB diesel fuel for 2006 Cummins ISM. Credit: ACS, Hajbabaei et al. Click to enlarge. A study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s College of Engineering – Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) and colleagues at the California Air Resources Board (ARB) found a relatively clear trend of increasing NO x emissions with increasing biodiesel blend level at levels of B20 and abo

Diesel 290

Diesel Renewable 2006 Emissions 290

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 16, 2012

The Obama Administration launched a new public-private institute for innovation in additive manufacturing technology. Additive manufacturing is defined in ASTM 2792-12 as a process of joining materials to make objects from three-dimensional (3D) model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies. Synonyms include additive. fabrication , additive processes , additive techniques , additive layer manufacturing , layer manufacturing and freeform fabrication.

Obama 290

Obama Manufacturer Ohio West Virginia 290

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 20, 2012

[Repost due to publishing problems.]< /p>. Honda Motor Europe is entering the fast-growing European robotic lawn mower market with the introduction of Honda Miimo, its first commercial robotic product for domestic use. The electric Honda Miimo cuts little and often, typically mowing 2-3mm of grass at a time, several times each week. Miimo. Click to enlarge.

Honda 287

Honda Li-ion Market Powered 287

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 1, 2012

The new Mirage. Click to enlarge. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will launch the all-new Mirage global compact car at dealerships throughout Japan on 31 August at an MSRP ranging from ¥998,000 to ¥1,288,000 (US$12,800 to $16,500). ( Earlier post.). In Japan, the new Mirage will be offered in three trim levels with all models coming with a powertrain mating a new 1.0-liter 3-cylinder MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovate Valve timing Electronic Control) engine to a new version of the INVECS-III (Intell

Japan 287

Japan Mitsubishi MPG Gasoline 287

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 30, 2012

The California Energy Commission and industry partners will unveil two heavy-duty electric-powered vehicles at the 3 rd Annual PortTechEXPO in San Pedro on 6 September. Designed to provide cleaner transportation at Southern California’s ports, these electric trucks—a Navistar International Pro-Star on-road tractor and a Kalmar Ottawa off-road tractor—have been converted from diesel fuel to run on electric battery power.

Convert 286

Convert California Energy Lithium Ion 286

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 24, 2012

Operating principle of oxygen rocking batteries using CLFO. Hibino et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the University of Tokyo are exploring the development of novel lithium-free “oxygen rocking” rechargeable aqueous batteries for large-scale energy storage. They describe the principle and their initial work in a paper published in Scientific Reports , an open access, primary research publication from the publishers of Nature.

Li-ion 285

Li-ion Batteries Battery Lithium Ion 285

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 9, 2012

A scatter plot of CO, as a tracer for pollution, versus CO 2 , as a tracer for the amount of combustion, for 2002 and 2010. Even though the CO 2 enhancements over background were comparable in the two years, about 25 ppm in 2002 and 35 ppm in 2010, the ?CO/?CO2 ratio for this flight track segment decreased from 24.5 ppbv/ppmv to 10.7 ppbv/ppmv. Source: Warneke et al.

Los Angeles 285

Los Angeles Gasoline Ozone 2002 285

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 20, 2012

At a press conference with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, BMW Group Member of the Board Dr. Ian Robertson announced the upcoming launch of ParkNow, a mobile parking solution that is a joint venture with Urban Mobility; and also provided new details about DriveNow, a new premium car-sharing service which features a fleet of BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicles.

San Francisco 283

San Francisco BMW Electric Cars Oakland 283

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 3, 2012

The RAV4 EV. Click to enlarge. Toyota held its first media briefing and drive for the RAV4 EV ( earlier post ), due to go on sale later this year in California. The converted RAV4 is the result of the partnership between Toyota and Tesla Motors announced in May 2010; Toyota has contracted for 2,600 units. In remarks during the briefing, Bill Fay, Group Vice President & General Manager, Toyota Division, noted that the RAV4 EV is an important element of Toyota’s plan to meet the Phase 3 requiremen

Toyota 281

Toyota California Tesla EPA 281

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 20, 2012

Pike Research forecasts that the global market for all electric-drive buses—including hybrid, battery electric, and fuel cell buses—grow steadily over the next. 6 years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.4% from 2012 to 2018. In a new report, “ Electric Drive Buses ”, Pike finds that China market will constitute the majority of global electric drive bus sales, while some of the more developed markets will see fluctuations in electric bus uptake.

2018 276

2018 Li-ion Hybrid Fuel 276