Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 1, 2015

The production version of Audi’s battery electric e-tron quattro SUV ( earlier post ), due out in 2018, is an important vehicle for the brand, and especially for Audi of America, which is driving many of the requirements for the C-segment electric SUV. At the LA Auto Show, Audi of America President Scott Keogh said that the brand is targeting at least 25% of its US sales to be e-tron—i.e., plug-in hybrid or full electric—models by 2025. ( Earlier post. ).

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Green Car Reports

DECEMBER 9, 2015

With almost 100,000 on the world's roads, the Tesla Model S electric car is a remarkable achievement. It remains the longest-range electric car in volume production more than three years after it launched. But reliability issues with electric traction motors in early cars--those from the 2012 and 2013 model years--have dogged the earliest owners.

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Electric Cars are for Girls

DECEMBER 9, 2015

Global warming, its causes and effects, and a little global warming controversy.

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Green Fleet Magazine

DECEMBER 10, 2015

LeasePlan Corporation N.V. has launched car-sharing service SwopCar to allow companies to share vehicles among employees on-demand, better meeting the mobility needs of their employees while helping optimize the company's spend on corporate and private vehicle mobility and improve its sustainability performance.

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National Green Transportation

DECEMBER 22, 2015

On Monday, Nissan and BMW announced a joint project to expand electric car fast charging in 19 states across the US. This move is very welcome because, instead of sticking with the dispute over which fast charging system is.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 21, 2015

UPS will supply its fleet in Memphis, Tenn., and Jackson, Miss., with an estimated 15 million diesel gallon gas equivalents of renewable natural gas (RNG)—biomethane—as part of a multi-year agreement with Memphis Light, Gas and Water and Atmos Energy Marketing, LLC. Atmos will secure landfill gas and provide it to MLGW for conversion to LNG, which will be delivered to the UPS facility by tractor-trailer.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 7, 2015

China State Grid has built and opened the largest ultra-fast EV charging station in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. The 26,500 m 2 EV charging complex at Xiaoying Terminal has 25 chargers at 360 kW and 5 chargers at 90 kW, offering fast capacity for 30 urban transit buses at the same time. Future facility and charging point expansions are already planned out for 2016-2020 to accommodate more routes converting to fast charging electric vehicles.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 10, 2015

The powertrain of the 2016 Sonata Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) ( earlier post ) was named to Ward’s 10 Best Engines list. This is the first time that a plug-in hybrid powertrain has made the list. For Hyundai’s first entry into the plug-in hybrid segment, Hyundai engineers did an impeccable job blending fuel efficiency with refinement and daily usability.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 7, 2015

Hitachi, Ltd. and Tohoku University’s Advanced Institute for Material Research (AIMR) have demonstrated technology reducing the internal resistance of all-solid-state lithium ion batteries (Li-ion battery) through the use of LiBH 4 -based complex hydrides as novel solid electrolytes. The reduction of internal resistance improves the charge-discharge performance of the all-solid-state Li-ion battery, resulting in the batteries (capacity: 2 mAh, density: 30 Wh/L) successfully operating at temperat

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 10, 2015

Renesas Electronics Corporation has developed a new dual-port on-chip static random access memory (SRAM) for in-vehicle infotainment system-on-chips (SoCs) in the 16 nanometer (nm) and later generations. The new SRAM is optimized for use as video buffer memory in automotive infotainment SoCs to realize the real-time image processing capabilities necessary for future autonomous-driving vehicle technologies.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 21, 2015

BMW and Nissan are partnering to offer public DC Fast charging at 120 locations across 19 states in an effort to support Nissan LEAF and BMW i3 customers and to promote increased adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) nationwide. Each of these new locations will offer a dual 50 kW DC Fast-charging station with both CHAdeMO and CCS (Combo) connectors, serving owners of both Nissan LEAF and BMW i3 electric cars, as well as all EV drivers in the US whose vehicles are equipped with quick-charge ports.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 17, 2015

The Hydrogen Station Equipment Performance device ( HyStEP ) ( earlier post ), developed by US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), could reduce the time to commission new hydrogen refueling stations from months to just one week. The primary purpose of the HyStEP Device is to be used by a certification agency to measure the performance of hydrogen dispensers with respect to the required fueling protocol standard.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 16, 2015

Hydrogen fueling stations using Linde technology have surpassed more than 1,000,000 fills for the fuel-cell driven material handling equipment at the BMW Manufacturing Co. LLC plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This is the most hydrogen fills at a single location anywhere in the world. While Linde hydrogen fueling systems involve very sophisticated technology, the filling operation is designed to be relatively simple and is much like putting gasoline into your car.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 2, 2015

In remarks to the Economic Club in Ottawa, GM Canada president and managing director Steve Carlisle confirmed that its Canadian Engineering Center in Oshawa, Ontario, has been awarded a mandate to play a leading role in the build of autonomous driving vehicles. These vehicles will be part of a test fleet based at the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 28, 2015

A consortium led by the Bosch Group has developed a standardized integrated diagnostic system that in the future will be able to clearly identify and locate defects in the electrical powertrain. The consortium’s project on diagnosis and repairs for electric vehicles—“ DINA ”—was funded with €2.8 million (US$3.1 million) by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the leading-edge “Electric Mobility South-West” cluster.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 22, 2015

Mercedes-Benz has released the lifecycle analysis for its first plug-in hybrid SUV, the GLE 500 e 4MATIC (GLE 550e in the US). ( Earlier post.). The GLE 500 e 4MATIC burns 3.7–3.3 liters of fuel for every 100 km (63.5 to 71.2 mpge), equating to CO 2 emissions of 84–78 g/km; electric power consumption is 16.7 kWh per 100 km. All-electric range is up to 30 km (18.6 miles), and all-electric top speed is 130 km/h (81 mph)—corresponding to the recommended speed on German autobahns.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 13, 2015

Paice has reached an agreement to license all of its hybrid vehicle technology to Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. Paice has now licensed all or part of its hybrid vehicle technology portfolio to Toyota, Hyundai/Kia, and Ford. These three companies currently account for 90% of all hybrid vehicle sales in the United States. The confidential licensing agreement with Hyundai and Kia brings an end to all litigation between the companies.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 30, 2015

by Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. OPEC says that $10 trillion worth of investment will need to flow into oil and gas through 2040 in order to meet the world’s energy needs. The OPEC published its World Oil Outlook 2015 (WOO) in late December, which struck a much more pessimistic note on the state of oil markets than in the past. On the one hand, OPEC does not see oil prices returning to triple-digit territory within the next 25 years, a strikingly bearish conclusion.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 29, 2015

Earlier this month, Audi began testing driverless transport systems (DTS) at its Ingolstadt plant. With DTS, logistics employees no longer have to fetch the required goods from the material shelves; the goods will come to them fully automatically. Audi says it is the first automobile manufacturer to implement such a DTS-based goods-to-person concept.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 24, 2015

A team led by researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has created a super-strong yet light structural metal nanocomposite with extremely high specific strength and modulus, or stiffness-to-weight ratio. The new metal is composed of magnesium infused with a dense and even dispersal of ceramic silicon carbide nanoparticles.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 21, 2015

Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a novel electrolyte for use in solid-state lithium batteries that overcomes many of the problems that plague other solid electrolytes while also showing signs of being compatible with next-generation cathodes.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 19, 2015

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and ExxonMobil announced a two-year agreement to research the fundamental chemistry of converting biomass into transportation fuels. UW-Madison long has been known for its expertise in biomass conversion, and the project leverages the university’s expertise alongside the resources and technology development of ExxonMobil.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 14, 2015

Torotrak Group presented new technologies for low-cost, high efficiency drive systems at the Berlin CTI symposium and exposition. These developments will allow Torotrak’s V-Charge variable supercharging technology ( earlier post ) to compete with the latest boosting solutions coming to market, but without their integration challenges. In a technical paper titled, “Low-cost developments in full-toroidal variator technology”, Chris Gaskell, one of the design engineers responsible for new concepts

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 10, 2015

by Michael McDonald of Oilprice.com. With OPEC breaking down and any kind of coordination among its members on price cuts looking increasingly unlikely, it now appears that oil prices could remain below $50 a barrel for a year or more. As producers confront this unpleasant reality, some will finally start to significantly curtail or even shut down operations.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 4, 2015

The supervisory board of Porsche AG today has greenlighted the Mission E—the first 100% electric Porsche. The Mission E battery-electric concept car made its premiere at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) in September. ( Earlier post.) The production vehicle is now due to be launched at the end of the decade. Along with the Mission E project, Porsche will invest around €700 million in its main site in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 24, 2015

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released three new reports today showcasing strong growth across the US fuel cell and hydrogen technologies market. According to these reports, the United States continues to be one of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets for fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. With support from the Energy Department, its national laboratories and private industry have already achieved significant advances in fuel cell and hydrogen technologies, resulting in reduced

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 23, 2015

The German Federal Government plan to have one million electric cars on its roads by 2020 has failed, according to the analysis of international management consulting firm Bain & Company. By the end of 2015, there will be a total of about 50,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids on the roads in Germany (about 75% below plan); nevertheless, structural transformation towards electromobility is continuing, according to the firm.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 21, 2015

An analysis of new car registration in Germany for 2014 reveals that driver assistance systems are playing an increasingly greater role when it comes to purchasing a car. The importance of lane assist and automatic emergency braking systems in particular has grown significantly, according to the analysis by Bosch—the company’s second annual assessment of adoption of the technology.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 18, 2015

Neste’s NEXBTL renewable diesel is now being used by the City and County of San Francisco, California. San Francisco announced December 11, 2015 that the City and County of San Francisco has completely ended its use of petroleum diesel in the City’s fleet and replaced it with renewable diesel. This switch from petroleum diesel to renewable diesel will achieve a 50% greenhouse gas emissions reduction in the city’s diesel fleet.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 17, 2015

The Advanced Combustion Catalyst and Aftertreatment Technologies ( AC 2 AT ) consortium, led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), will focus on four research projects in its second year. ( Earlier post.). During the first year of work, the consortium made progress in its understanding of the complex nature of emissions from today’s high-performance, high-efficiency gasoline and diesel engines, said Dr.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Ford and Corning have developed Gorilla Glass hybrid windshield technology—a light-weighting innovation set to debut on the all-new Ford GT. The Gorilla Glass hybrid is thinner and about 30% lighter than traditional laminate glass, and will improve Ford GT handling by lowering the vehicle’s center of gravity and positively impact acceleration, fuel economy and braking performance.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 7, 2015

Renault and energy supplier Eneco will collaborate on a smart charging solution for electric vehicles. Under the terms of an agreement signed today at the COP21 Paris conference, Eneco subsidiary Jedlix will develop a version of its existing smart charging app, adapting it to Renault’s ZOE EV. This app makes it possible to charge electric cars using renewable energy at times when the market prices are most favorable, such as at night, when the production of sustainable wind energy exceeds demand

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 4, 2015

Ford is recycling old engines so they can be used again with the help of a special Ford-patented plasma coating technology. The process delivers a 50% reduction in CO 2 emissions compared with producing a new engine. We have taken a process that was originally developed to enhance performance models such as the all-new Ford Mustang Shelby GT 350R and used it to remanufacture engines that might otherwise be scrapped.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 1, 2015

While incremental improvements will extend the market dominance of Li-ion batteries into the next decade, a new generation of post-Li-ion battery technologies are rising and will be worth $10 billion by 2030, according to Lux Research. In a new report titled “ The Next-Generation Battery Roadmap: Quantifying How Solid-State, Lithium-Sulfur, and Other Batteries Will Emerge After 2020 ”, Lux Research analysts created an adoption roadmap for next-generation batteries, quantifying the market for eac

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