Green Car Congress

MAY 28, 2013

'At a panel discussion on the topic of “research and development perspectives in electromobility” in Berlin, Dr. Volkmar Denner, the chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH said that he expected that by 2020, electric cars will have a range of at least 300 kilometers (186 miles). Electromobility is currently still a niche business, but after 2020 it could very well become a mass market.

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2020 Range Porsche Connect 360

Electric Cars are for Girls

MAY 28, 2013

'I''m happy to announce the release of our new book, called "Let''s Talk about Electric Cars: 8 Most Inspiring Interviews". This book is a collection of real conversations with real people about the electric cars that they drive every day: Volt and LEAF drivers, beer budget EV converters, high-end EV converters, electric drag racers, Prius plug-in converters.well, you get the idea: ) I hope this helps you decide which electric car might fit your life best - before you make the leap and invest yo

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Electric Cars Cars Prius Convert 229

Green Car Reports

MAY 31, 2013

'Does the supposedly clean, green Tesla Model S really pollute more than a gas-guzzling Jeep Grand Cherokee sport-utility vehicle? That''s what one analyst has claimed. In an exhaustive 6,500-word article on the financial website Seeking Alpha, analyst Nathan Weiss lays out a case that the Model S actually has higher effective emissions than most.

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Pollution Jeep Electric Cars Exhaust 167

National Green Transportation

MAY 4, 2013

'Better Place just received what may be a fatal body blow as Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn flatly says swappable battery packs are not the future for electric cars. The statement appeared on Saturday in the Danish online news.

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Battery Batteries Future Electric Cars 97

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Green Cars News

MAY 20, 2013

'London''s Plugged-in Places scheme, Source London, has now successfully installed 1,300 electric car charging points across the capital. Over 60 public and private partners, led by the Transport for London (TfL) have taken an active part in helping to build the infrastructure in the two years sin[.].

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London Installation Electric Cars Charging 68

Green Car Congress

MAY 31, 2013

'Close-up of the charging mechanism on the demo TOSA bus. Source: ABB. Click to enlarge. ABB has developed and is demonstrating a high-capacity “flash charging” system for electric buses. The system enables onboard batteries to be charged in 15 seconds with a 400 kW boost at selected stops using a roof-mounted system (“Flash station”). The flash stations are connected to the 50kVA electricity network and also have a 3kWh storage unit (supercap) for smoothing peaks in consumption.

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Charging Recharge Congress Electric 354

Green Car Congress

MAY 21, 2013

'Amprius’ plan, outlined at the DOE Merit Review in 2012, is to start with consumer electronics and move to vehicle and grid storage markets. Source: DOE. Click to enlarge. Amprius Inc., a developer of lithium-ion batteries using silicon nanowire anodes ( earlier post ), has launched the first generation of its high-capacity and high-energy-density Li-ion batteries.

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Li-ion Energy Lithium Ion Batteries 334

Green Car Congress

MAY 22, 2013

'Flush with its recent $1.02 billion fundraising , Tesla Motors has paid off the entire loan awarded to the company by the US Department of Energy in 2010. In addition to payments made in 2012 and Q1 2013, today’s wire of almost half a billion dollars ($451.8M) repays the full loan facility with interest. Following this payment, Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.

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Tesla Congress Obama 2003 334

Green Car Congress

MAY 14, 2013

'Masses of dry components of the indicated electrodes. The lower part of each bar is the active component and the upper part of each bar graph is the required additive to the electrode. The Li / Support is the electrode made possible with the convection battery technology. Lower mass often translates to lower costs. Source: Dr. Galen Suppes. Click to enlarge.

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Missouri Recharge Batteries Battery 330

Green Car Congress

MAY 23, 2013

'Buquebus and CTS Auto S.A., in partnership with Chinese automaker BYD Ltd, introduced the first battery-electric 12-meter rapid transit bus in Uruguay and the region. The BYD electric bus, powered by two in-wheel electric motors capable of a cruising speed of more than 88 km/h (55 mph) and a Li-ion battery pack has a range of more than 250 km (155 miles)—nearly 24 hours of service daily for most transit applications.

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Uruguay BYD 2015 Li-ion 326

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Green Car Congress

MAY 10, 2013

'In a US Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored project, engineers at Cummins are developing a Tier 2 Bin 2 emissions compliant diesel for application in a light duty pickup (ATLAS, Advanced Technology Light Automotive Systems, earlier post ). Tier 2 Bin 2 requirements are only slightly less stringent than the CARB LEVIII-SULEV20 requirements. ( Earlier post.

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Light Diesel Fuel Fuel Economy 319

Green Car Congress

MAY 23, 2013

'Spark EV. Click to enlarge. Chevrolet announced a low-mileage lease on the new 2014 Spark EV 1LT ( earlier post ) for as low as $199 per month for 36 months, with $999 due at lease signing including security deposit (tax, title, license dealer fees extra), making the vehicle one of the most affordable EVs on the market. Payments are for a 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV with an MSRP of $27,495, with 36 monthly payments totaling $7,159.68.

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Chevrolet Tax Credit Tax DC 317

Green Car Congress

MAY 9, 2013

'Tesla reached profitability in the first quarter of 2013 for the first time in its ten year history. According to the shareholder letter, the company exceeded its targets for deliveries; significantly expanded gross margin; and improved execution throughout the company. Excluding non-cash warrant and stock option items, the company generated a profit of $15 million.

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Tesla Motors Motor Motors Motoring 316

Green Car Congress

MAY 7, 2013

'The Nissan LEAF took the number two spot in the overall car sales chart for Norway in April, outpacing numerous combustion-engined cars. The LEAF posted 455 units, representing a 3.3% share for the month. The Volkswagen Golf was the top seller, with 903 units (6.5%). The LEAF is running in 5 th position overall in sales for 2013 to date in the country, and was number 13 overall in 2012.

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Norway Nissan Cars Installation 316

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Green Car Congress

MAY 22, 2013

'The National Academies has issued a pre-publication version of an interim report on Overcoming Barriers to Electric-Vehicle Deployment. A final, comprehensive report will be published in late summer 2014. Given recognized technical, social, and economic barriers to widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles), Congress had asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to commission a study by the National Academies to address market barriers that are sl

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Plug-in Tax Automobile Manufacturer Charging 312

Green Car Congress

MAY 7, 2013

'Tritium , an Australia-based designer and manufacturer of power electronic systems for electric vehicles, has introduced the Veefil fast charger for plug-in vehicles. The Veefil is the first release in Tritium’s new line of electric vehicle charging solutions and was fully developed in Australia as part of a $2.3-million project funded with matching support of a Commercialisation Australia grant.

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Australia 2000 Grant Standards 312

Green Car Congress

MAY 6, 2013

'2014 Sprinter. Click to enlarge. The new MY2014 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van for the US now features a 2.1L, 4-cylinder diesel with a t-speed automatic transmission as standard. The familiar V6 diesel is available as an option. Since 2010, all Sprinters in the US have been powered by BlueTEC diesel engines, marking the first use of BlueTEC technology, with its selective catalytic reduction (SCR) exhaust aftertreatment system, in the commercial van market here.

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Diesel 2014 Standards Exhaust 306

Green Car Congress

MAY 7, 2013

'Proposed strategy for connecting automated network generation and optimization. Credit: ACS, Marvin et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the University of Minnesota are proposing a novel strategy that simultaneously identifies (a) the most desirable biomass-derived chemical products for an application of interest, such as fuels, and (b) the corresponding synthesis routes.

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Fuel Gasoline Renewable Exhaust 301

Green Car Congress

MAY 29, 2013

'T-Probe traffic information (Traffic congestion status shown with color coding). Click to enlarge. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) had developed and will launch in Japan the “Big Data Traffic Information Service”, a new traffic-information service utilizing “big data” including vehicle locations and speeds, road conditions, and other parameters collected and stored via telematics services.

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Japan Toyota Store Connected 300

Green Car Congress

MAY 11, 2013

'Cadillac is making greater use of structural adhesives and aluminum to reduce overall weight of the ATS and CTS sedans, contributing to better ride and handling and reduced cabin noise in both models. Structural adhesives, which can bond dissimilar substrates including aluminum, magnesium, and composites, are seeing greater use in both passenger and commercial vehicle markets.

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Cadillac BMW Commercial Parts 300

Green Car Congress

MAY 8, 2013

'Exxon Mobil Corporation is commencing development of the ultra-deepwater Julia oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. ExxonMobil, the operator, and Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC each hold a 50% interest in the Julia unit. Capital cost for the project, which is expected to begin oil production in 2016, is estimated to be more than $4 billion. The field was discovered in 2007 under 7,087 feet (2,160 meters) of water and is now estimated to have nearly six billion barrels of resource in place, according to

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Mexico Oil Chevron USA 300

Green Car Congress

MAY 23, 2013

'Independent testing of two versions of Andrea Rossi’s E-CAT HT device resulted in computed volumetric and gravimetric energy densities far above those of any known chemical source. “ Even by the most conservative assumptions as to the errors in the measurements, the result is still one order of magnitude greater than conventional energy sources ,” the reviewers said in their open access paper, which is posted on arXiv.org.

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Triac Energy Hydrogen Universal 300

Green Car Congress

MAY 9, 2013

'The California Energy Commission unanimously adopted the 2013-2014 Investment Plan Update to support the development and use of green vehicles and alternative fuels. The update sets funding priorities for the approximately $100 million in annual state funds under the Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuels and Vehicle Technology (ARFVT) Program, created by Assembly Bill 118.

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Green Vehicles California 2014 2013 295

Green Car Congress

MAY 16, 2013

'New S 400 HYBRID. Click to enlarge. Mercedes-Benz’s new generation flagship S-Class, introduced at an elaborate event at Airbus in Finkenwerder, marks a number of technology firsts in numerous areas from comfort, to driver control, to efficiency. As one example of the last, the new S-Class is the first car in the world to completely dispense with conventional electric bulbs, making exclusive use of energy-saving LED technology both inside and outside.

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MPG Mercedes Gasoline Diesel 294

Green Car Congress

MAY 5, 2013

'Green Car Congress is launching a new forum section for the community of GCC readers to post and to discuss developments in energy, transportation, and sustainable mobility not covered on the main GCC site: research and ideas, questions, analysis, reactions to current events, and whatever else strikes your fancy. My hope is that these discussions will be heavy on content and light on invective.

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Congress Green Cars Green IDEA 294

Green Car Congress

MAY 24, 2013

'Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Ormat Industries Ltd. in Israel report the development of a comercially-viable, one-step catalytic hydrotreating process for the conversion of soybean oil to renewable diesel-type fuel in a paper in the journal Fuel. The conversion of soybean oil to green diesel was carried out on Pt/SAPO-11-Al 2 O 3 catalyst in a trickle-bed reactor.

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Oil Diesel Renewable Israel 290

Green Car Congress

MAY 9, 2013

'Startup Elio Motors unveiled its prototype 3-wheeler at a press event in Michigan. The car is powered by an inline, 3-cylinder, 1-liter, 70 hp (52 kW) gasoline fuel-injected, SOHC engine and has projected fuel economy of 84 mpg (2.8 l/100km) on the highway and 49 mpg (4.8 l/100 km) in the city. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual or automatic transmission.

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Motor Motors Motoring MPG 287

Green Car Congress

MAY 1, 2013

'Venchurs Vehicle Systems, a Qualified Vehicle Modifier of CNG conversions for Ford Motor Company, will offer 6.2L F-250 and F-350 CNG conversions (bi-fuel and dedicated) with a 23.5GGE system utilizing the new 3M tank, all priced at $8,350. The company says this is the industry leading price point for such as system. We believe that our new price point will help move the industry forward, increasing the speed of adoption by fleet customers and retail customers alike.

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Conversion Price Louisville Ford 287

Green Car Congress

MAY 26, 2013

'Better Place, a high-profile developer and proponent of a battery switch model for electric vehicles ( earlier post ), filed a motion with the Lod District Court in Israel to ask for the dissolution of the company and the appointment of a temporary liquidator. In its motion the company stated that in light of its failure to raise additional funds and in the absence of sufficient resources for the continued operation of the business, the company is asking for the court’s assistance in protecting

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Companies Batteries Battery Israel 286

Green Car Congress

MAY 15, 2013

'Opel is applying its new 1.6L SIDI Turbo gasoline engine ( earlier post ) in three Astra variants: Astra five-door hatchback, four-door sedan and Sports Tourer models. The 125 kW/170 hp direct injection engine leads the newly-launched Opel powertrain offensive. This new-generation engine tops the gasoline offer in the Astra family and replaces the previous 1.6 Turbo.

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Gasoline MPG Exhaust MPH 286

Green Car Congress

MAY 12, 2013

'Biocrude compounds, product gas and reaction pathways from APR of wastepaper at 250 °C in presence of 5 wt % Ni(NO 3 ) 2 catalyst. Credit: ACS, Tungal and Shende. Click to enlarge. A pair of researchers at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology have demonstrated homogeneously catalyzed subcritical aqueous phase reforming (APR) of wastepaper to produce biocrude and hydrogen.

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Convert Hydrogen South Dakota Water 286

Green Car Congress

MAY 3, 2013

'The EA888 for the US. Click to enlarge. The Volkswagen Beetle Turbo, Beetle Turbo Convertible, and the Jetta GLI receive a number of running changes to 2013 model year cars that go on sale this month. The most notable of these is fitment of a new version of the EA888 Gen 3 2.0-liter turbocharged and direct-injected TSI gasoline engine. The new engine delivers a manufacturer-estimated improvement in fuel efficiency for the Beetle models of between 4-8% percent on the combined cycle and by up to

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Fuel Economy Engine Fuel Economy 284

Green Car Congress

MAY 14, 2013

'7900 Volvo Plugin Hybrid Charging at Redbergsplatsen in Gothenburg. Click to enlarge. Volvo Buses’ new plug-in hybrid buses will begin field tests in Gothenburg, Sweden this month. Volvo Buses has already sold more than 1,000 of its conventional hybrid units; the plug-in version will facilitate the reduction of fuel consumption and carbon dioxide by 75 to 80%, compared with current diesel buses, the company said.

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Plug-in Volvo Plug Hybrid 281

Green Car Congress

MAY 8, 2013

'Robert Bosch LLC, AVL Powertrain Engineering and partners including the University of Michigan are working on a four-year, $24-million US Department of Energy (DOE)-supported project— Advanced Combustion Concepts—Enabling Systems and Solutions (ACCESS)—to achieve a 30% fuel economy improvement in a gasoline-fueled light-duty vehicle without compromising performance while also meeting SULEV emission standards. ( Earlier post.).

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Fuel Economy Economy Fuel Engine 278