Green Car Congress

JULY 30, 2012

Schematic view of artificial photosynthesis system. Click to enlarge. Panasonic has developed an artificial photosynthesis system using a gallium nitride photoelectrode and a metal catalyst which uses sunlight to convert CO 2 mainly to formic acid (an important intermediate in chemical synthesis) at an efficiency (solar energy to chemical energy) of 0.2%—a comparable level to that of plants.

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Conversion CO2 Solar Light 374

Electric Cars are for Girls

JULY 20, 2012

Maybe there's something even better for EVs than lithium ion batteries. These have never been very robust, but maybe that's all changing now.

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Lithium Air Lithium Ion Battery Batteries 229

Green Car Reports

JULY 20, 2012

Man-made carbon dioxide might be something we're trying to reduce, but on its own, carbon is an abundant and rather useful element. It's also been central to two of the most important scientific materials discoveries of recent years--graphene, and carbon nanotubes. The latter involves rolling the former--a one atom thick sheet of carbon.

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Electric Cars Carbon Battery Batteries 167

National Green Transportation

JULY 20, 2012

Ford Motors today released partial specifications for the eagerly awaited C-MAX Energi Plug-in Hybrid. The C-MAX Energi is the plug-in twin to the C-MAX Hybrid, both of which together are Ford's first.

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Plug-in Plug Ford Hybrid 102

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Green Cars News

JULY 4, 2012

The hybrid car market is becoming increasingly competitive – as is emphasised by Ford openly boasting that it’s new C-MAX Hybrid (pictured) will topple the Toyota Prius V in terms of fuel economy and will come with a lower price. The Ford C-MAX Hybrid is set to return 47mpg highway, compared to the Toyota Prius [.].

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Fuel Economy Prius Economy Toyota 88

Green Car Congress

JULY 2, 2012

Plug-in vehicle (PEV) sales—comprising battery-electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV)—in the US by 2015 will fall far short of the 1-million unit target set by the Obama Administration, according to a new report from Pike Research. Pike now projects that some 410,000 PEVs will be sold between 2011 and 2015 in the United States, with cumulative US sales not reaching the 1 million mark until 2018.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 17, 2012

Knittel/Smith results for implied gasoline price effects from elimination of ethanol for 2010 using Du/Hayes model and pooled-sample estimates. Results from Du/Hayes are indicated by the large square. Source: Knittel and Smith (2012). Click to enlarge. Two professors from MIT and UC Davis have released a paper challenging the recent claims by the Renewable Fuel Association (RFA) and US Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack that ethanol production decreased gasoline prices by $0.89 and $1.09 in 2010 a

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Davis MIT Gasoline 2010 334

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

China’s State Council has published a plan to develop the domestic energy-saving and new energy vehicle industry, which includes battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. The central government’s plan, posted on its website, is targeting the production of 500,000 plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles by 2015, with output to grow to 2 million units of those types by 2020.

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Auto Industry Industry Industrial 2015 334

Green Car Congress

JULY 12, 2012

The interaction of battery and fuel costs will determine the size of the market for electric vehicles. Source: McKinsey, Hensley et al. Click to enlarge. A new analysis by the consultancy McKinsey & Company indicates that the price of a complete automotive lithium-ion battery pack could fall from the current $500–$600/kWh to about $200/kWh by 2020 and to about $160/kWh by 2025 (in real dollars, indexed to 2011).

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Li-ion Price Engine Vehicles 329

Green Car Congress

JULY 14, 2012

Researchers from the Technical University of Hamburg and the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel have jointly developed an ultra-lightweight carbon microtube material called Aerographite. The material—currently the lightest known, features a hierarchical design enabling ”remarkable” mechanical, electrical, and optical properties, the authors said in a paper published in the journal Advanced Materials.

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Universal Carbon 2012 Future 326

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Green Car Congress

JULY 23, 2012

CNOOC Limited—China’s largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas and one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world—is acquiring all of the Common Shares of Canada-based energy company Nexen Inc. for US$15.1 billion cash. The price represents a premium of. 61% relative to the closing price of the Common Shares on the NYSE on. 20 July 2012 and a premium of 66% relative to the volume-weighted average price of the Common Shares o

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Oil-Sands Oil Canada Gas 325

Green Car Congress

JULY 20, 2012

Eaton Corporation will develop an affordable home refueling station for natural gas vehicles, utilizing existing natural gas sources in the home and innovative compressor technology. The effort is funded in part by a $3.4-million grant from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) MOVE project. ( Earlier post.).

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Eaton Affordable Gas Milwaukee 322

Green Car Congress

JULY 25, 2012

Federal subsidies and policies to encourage plug-in vehicle adoption would produce more benefits at lower cost by targeting the purchase of vehicles with small battery packs, according to Jeremy J. Michalek, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University and his colleagues Mikhail Chester, an assistant professor at Arizona State University; and Constantine Samaras, an engineer at the RAND Corporation.

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Plug-in Plug Battery Batteries 319

Green Car Congress

JULY 28, 2012

Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. company, is introducing a single-engine airplane—the new Turbo 182 Skylane—equipped with the first engine of its kind in the single-engine industry designed to run on Jet A aviation fuel. SMA SR 305-230 engine on the stand at Le Bourget 2007 SAFRAN. Intended for general aviation piston engine that operates on a diesel cycle and uses a standard fuel Jet A/1A.

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Engine Fuel Market 2007 316

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Green Car Congress

JULY 1, 2012

Lotus 414E hybrid. Click to enlarge. Lotus has begun testing of its Evora 414E plug-in series hybrid technology demonstrator. ( Earlier post.) The Evora 414E is powered by two EVO Electric motor packs driving the rear wheels through an Xtrac transmission with a 17 kWh battery pack that can be charged by the Lotus range extender engine or directly from the grid.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 6, 2012

The global market for light-duty (LD) natural gas vehicles (NGVs)—including passenger cars, light-duty trucks and commercial vehicles—will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% between 2012 and 2019, reaching 3.2 million vehicles sold in 2019, according to a new forecast by Pike Research. This level of sales results in a cumulative total of 25.4 million LD NGVs on the road by 2019.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 30, 2012

Siemens has produced the world’s longest rotor blades for wind turbines. Measuring 75 meters in length, the blades are almost as big as the wingspan of an Airbus A380. Beginning this fall, the B75 rotor blades will be installed into a prototype six-megawatt offshore wind power system in Denmark’s Østerild test station. As it moves, each rotor covers 18,600 square meters, which is the size of two and a half soccer fields.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 25, 2012

American Sands Energy Corp., an oil sands exploration and development company operating in the state of Utah, announced the successful operation of its oil sand recovery pilot facility. As a result, CEO William Gibbs said that the company is now ready to submit a mine permit application and begin development of a 5,000 barrel per day facility at its Utah property.

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Oil-Sands Utah Oil Energy 306

Green Car Congress

JULY 18, 2012

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released the final report from its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for a technology validation project that collected data from more than 180 fuel cell electric vehicles over six years (early 2005 through September 2011). These vehicles made more than 500,000 trips and traveled 3.6 million miles, completing more than 33,000 fill-ups at hydrogen fueling stations across the country.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 29, 2012

Vehicle efficiency improvements via effective standards and policies could reduce annual CO 2 e emissions from the US, China, and the EU by 1.3 Gt at a savings of about $135 billion per year by 2030. Source: McKinsey & Co., ICCT-ClimateWorks. Click to enlarge. The US, China, and the EU could reduce their combined annual CO 2 emissions by 1.3 Gt in 2030 by implementing well-designed vehicle performance standards and fuel fees, according to a new analysis by a team from the International Council o

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Standards Economy Emissions Fuel 300

Green Car Congress

JULY 16, 2012

TCDB plot of projected total cost of battery-electric vehicles to manufacturers. Click to enlarge. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released a new public database featuring cost and performance estimates for electric generation, advanced vehicle, and renewable fuel technologies. The Transparent Cost Database (TCDB) provides technology cost estimates for companies, utilities, policy makers, consumers, and academics, and can be used to benchmark company costs, model energy scenarios, and info

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Renewable Fuel Vehicles Electrical 295

Green Car Congress

JULY 10, 2012

Protean Electric, developer of in-wheel electric drive systems ( earlier post ), received $84 million in new funding from GSR Ventures, New Times Group, Oak Investment Partners and the city of Liyang, Jiangsu Province, China. This capital will be used to bring Protean’s electric drive technology to production by establishing manufacturing facilities in Liyang.

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China Companies Building Production 294

Green Car Congress

JULY 18, 2012

Sketch of the targeted at-home unit. Click to enlarge. GE researchers, in partnership with Chart Industries—a global manufacturer of standard and custom-engineered products and systems for cryogenic and heat transfer applications—and scientists at the University of Missouri, have been awarded $1.8 million by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) ( earlier post ) to develop an affordable at-home refueling station that would meet ARPA-E’s target of $500 per station

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Gas Missouri Vehicles Universal 294

Green Car Congress

JULY 26, 2012

The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor Corp. will launch a car-sharing service through affiliated auto-rental shops across Japan. Toyota is already operating a pilot program at some locations. Plans call for a full launch under a new brand, starting with about 10 affiliated car-rental locations in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi Prefecture and elsewhere, including the facilities participating in the pilot program.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 18, 2012

Nestlé Switzerland and Renault Trucks (part of the Volvo Group) recently introduced an experimental all-electric refrigerated truck—nicknamed the e-Truck—that combines an all-electric 13t Renault Midlum developed by Renault Trucks with a refrigerated body that is also entirely powered by electricity. A second identical vehicle will be joining the Nestlé Switzerland fleet in September.

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Switzerland All-Electric Li-ion Volvo 284

Green Car Congress

JULY 27, 2012

Renault, LG Chem and CEA (France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) are preparing to sign a three-way agreement in September concerning next-generation battery production. In 2010, Renault and the CEA initiated a strategic partnership in the areas of clean vehicles and mobility. As part of this partnership, they signed several research agreements including a strategic cooperation contract for new battery technologies.

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France Battery Batteries Production 281

Green Car Congress

JULY 7, 2012

2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3. Click to enlarge. BMW’s 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3 will arrive in US showrooms this fall at an MSRP of $50,195 including destination and handling. ( Earlier post.) The ActiveHybrid 3 blends BMW’s TwinPower Turbo 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder engine and 8-speed Steptronic automatic transmission with an electric motor powered by a high-voltage Li-ion battery (cells from A123 systems, earlier post ) housed under the luggage compartment between the wheel arches.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 21, 2012

American Honda Motor Co., Inc., delivered the first all-electric 2013 Honda Fit EV to a couple in Southern California. The 2013 Honda Fit EV carries a combined adjusted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mile-per-gallon-equivalency rating of 118 MPGe, and a consumption rating of 29 kWh per 100 miles. Ventura County, Calif., residents, Matt and Becky Walton, took delivery of their Honda Fit EV at the Woodland Hills Honda dealership located north of Los Angeles.

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Honda California Los Angeles Commuter Cars 281

Green Car Congress

JULY 24, 2012

Versalis, Eni’s chemicals subsidiary leader in the production of elastomers, together with Genomatica, a leading developer of process technology for renewable chemicals, and Novamont, a leader in biodegradable plastics and pioneer in third-generation integrated biorefineries, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a strategic partnership to enable production of butadiene from renewable feedstocks.

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Polymer 2011 Renewable Africa 279

Green Car Congress

JULY 12, 2012

GE Energy’s Industrial Solutions business has entered a strategic agreement with PayPal enabling drivers to pay for electric vehicle charging fees through the WattStation Connect mobile app and PayPal. With the app, now available at the Apple iTunes Store, users can locate the nearest WattStation EV charger; check the status of the charger; get pricing details and pay with PayPal.

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Charging Energy Store Connect 276

Green Car Congress

JULY 11, 2012

The first E15 (15 percent ethanol/85 percent gasoline) blend is now selling at the Zarco 66 station at 1500 E. 23rd Street in Lawrence, KS. In June, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave final approval for the sale and use of E15 ethanol blends in light duty vehicles made since 2001. ( Earlier post.) This represents nearly two-thirds of all vehicles on the road and nearly three-fourths of all miles driven.

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Kansas 2001 Gas Gasoline 275

Green Car Congress

JULY 10, 2012

ROUSH CleanTech has received California Air Resources Board (CARB) approval of its propane autogas (LPG) fuel system for retrofitting 2010 model year 5.4-liter Ford E-150, E-250 and E-350 cargo vans and wagons. This is the first CARB certification awarded since 2000 for a liquefied petroleum gas retrofit system, and the first CARB certification for any alternative fuel system for retrofit installation on 2010 model year vehicles.

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2010 F-150 Alternative Fuels Vehicles 275

Green Car Congress

JULY 10, 2012

Stratasys, a maker of additive manufacturing machines for prototyping and producing plastic parts, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are partnering to develop fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing for production use. The project, which builds upon a collaboration that leverages ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) to foster energy-efficient production using additive manufacturing materials and processes, aims to develop FDM additive manufacturing technology t

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Manufacturer Production Carbon Fiber Parts 275

Green Car Congress

JULY 16, 2012

Kandi Technologies Corp., a China-based manufacturer and developer of battery electric vehicles (EVs) and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Zhejiang Kandi Vehicles Co., Ltd. signed a cooperative letter of intent (LOI) with China Aviation Lithium Battery Co., Ltd. (CALB), a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) to promote 20,000 pure electrical vehicles in Hangzhou.

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