Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 14, 2013

'Volvo Bus’ plug-in hybrid. The pantograph for rapid charging can be seen on the roof. Click to enlarge. Field tests being conducted in Gothenburg show that Volvo Buses’ plug-in hybrid reduces fuel consumption by 81% and total energy consumption (diesel plus electricity) by 61% compared to a comparable Euro 5 diesel bus. ( Earlier post.). The field test in Gothenburg began in June 2013 and includes three plug-in hybrid buses, the batteries of which are rapidly recharged at the terminals.

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Plug-in Volvo Plug MPG 362

Creative Greenius

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

'We have to get the money from somewhere,” say parents. “And there were no strings attached. Since we’re using the money for drug prevention we don’t think this is hypocritical at all. We still tell our kids that drugs are bad and to stay off them. You tell us – if we don’t take the money from them where else are we going to get it?

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Chevron Climate Change Climate Solar 319

Green Car Reports

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

'For 2014, our fourth annual Green Car Reports'' Best Car To Buy award goes to the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid. This new model of the redesigned Honda Accord sedan introduced last year is comfortable, quiet, stylish--and delivers real-world fuel economy from 40 mpg to as much as 52 mpg. And that''s Toyota Prius liftback territory, in a mid-size sedan.

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Green Cars 2014 Honda Buy 167

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

'Long-term cycling test results of the Li/S cell with CTAB-modified S?GO composite cathodes. This result represents the longest cycle life (exceeding 1,500 cycles) with an extremely low decay rate (0.039% per cycle) demonstrated so far for a Li/S cell. Credit: ACS, Song et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have demonstrated in the laboratory a lithium-sulfur (Li/S) battery that has more than twice the specific energy of lithi

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Li-ion Lithium Sulfur Energy Industry 359

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Climate Change

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

'The average fuel-economy (window-sticker) value of new vehicles sold in the US in October was 24.8 mpg (9.49 l/100km), up 0.2 mpg from September, according to the monthly analysis from Michael Sivak and Brendan Schoettle from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). Vehicle fuel economy is up 4.7 mpg since October 2007 (the first month of their monitoring).

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Fuel Economy MPG Economy Fuel 355

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

'In 2012, 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). ( Earlier post.). Now, a study by researchers from the Netherlands, the US, and France estimates that approximately 6% of annual lung cancer deaths in the US and UK—combining both environmental and occupational exposures—may be due to DEE exposure.

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Exhaust Diesel Emissions Brazil 353

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 24, 2013

'The California Energy Commission (CEC) will award up to $29.9 million to projects to develop hydrogen refueling infrastructure in California ( PON-13-607 ). The solicitation has two goals: 1) to develop infrastructure necessary to dispense hydrogen transportation fuel; and 2) to provide needed Operation and Maintenance (O&M) funding to support hydrogen refueling operations prior to the large—scale roll—out of Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs).

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Hydrogen California Energy Grant 330

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 21, 2013

'Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell. Click to enlarge. At the Los Angeles Auto Show, Hyundai announced plans to offer its next-generation Tucson Fuel Cell vehicle for the US market for $499 per month, including unlimited free hydrogen refueling and At Your Service Valet Maintenance at no extra cost. Availability begins in Spring 2014 at several Southern California Hyundai dealers.

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Tucson Honda Hyundai Concept 324

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

'The study shows that home charging is dominant. Data: PlugInsights. Click to enlarge. Electric vehicle software and information services company Recargo Inc., has launched a plug-in vehicle (PEV) research firm—PlugInsights—which released an inaugural report addressing the experiences, behaviors and opinions around charging a plug-in vehicle in America.

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Charging Plug-in Plug PHEV 319

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 30, 2013

'In September, Czechoslovakia-based Škoda Electric introduced its first battery-electric bus. The company wants to build on the success of its trolleybuses, of which several hundred will be produced next year mainly for foreign customers. Škoda has also developed a hydrogen-powered and a hybrid bus. There is a growing emphasis in the world on reducing the negative impacts of transportation on the environment.

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Battery Batteries Charging Electric 316

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

'According to a new paper and policy brief by Brookings, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) or “cash for clunkers” program, launched during the height of the recession with the intention of stimulating the economy and reducing emissions, actually resulted in only a small and short-lived impact on GDP; a higher implied cost per job created than alternative fiscal stimulus programs; and a higher cost per ton of CO 2 reduced than what would be achieved through a policy such as a carbon tax or c

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Cash For Clunkers Future Stimulus 2009 306

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 9, 2013

'Primus Green Energy, Inc., an alternative fuel company that converts natural gas and other feedstocks directly into drop-in transportation fuels, announced that its natural gas-to-gasoline demonstration plant ( earlier post ) has achieved 720 hours of continuous operation, indicating the reliability and stability of its STG+ technology. STG+ (Syngas To Gasoline +, the plus standing for the multiple end products yielded by the process) essentially improves upon commercial methanol synthesis proc

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Gasoline Green Energy Alternative Fuels 304

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'While Hyundai, Toyota and Honda seized much attention over their presentations of fuel cell rollout plans (in the case of Hyundai) and concepts (in the case of Honda and Toyota) at the Los Angeles and Tokyo auto shows, Daimler used EVS27 in Barcelona as a forum to report on its 3.3 million kilometers (2 million miles) of experience with the Mercedes-Benz B-Class Fuel Cell fleet as well as the main technical targets envisioned for the next generation fuel cell electric car. ( Earlier post.).

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Mercedes Fuel Los Angeles Hydrogen 300

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

'Zero Waste Energy, LLC (ZWE) broke ground on an anaerobic digestion facility in South San Francisco, CA that will convert organic waste into compressed natural gas (CNG) and compost. The Blue Line Biogenic CNG facility will convert 11,200 TPY of food and green waste into 100,000+ diesel equivalent gallons of CNG fuel. The company estimates that each collection vehicle will gather enough organic waste during just one route to fuel it for an entire day, creating a closed-loop system.

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Waste San Francisco Energy Fuel 299

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

'Introducing the twin up! Click to enlarge. Volkswagen presented the twin up! concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show. Equipped with a plug-in hybrid system from the super-efficient XL1 ( earlier post ), the four-seater based on the up! city car achieves combined fuel consumption of 1.1 liters per 100 km (214 mpg US ) (NEDC), with corresponding CO 2 emissions of 27 g/km.

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 26, 2013

'Ford Motor Company is recalling 139,917 model year 2013 Escape vehicles manufactured 5 October 2011 through 2 June 2013 and equipped with 1.6L EcoBoost engines. These vehicles may experience localized overheating of the engine cylinder head which may cause cracks that could allow oil to leak; leaking engine oil may come into contact with a hot engine surface, potentially resulting in an engine compartment fire.

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Escape 2013 Ford Engine 296

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

'ABI Research projects that global V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) penetration in new cars will increase from 10.9% in 2018 to 69% in 2027. Huge interest in autonomous driving across the automotive ecosystem firmly positions V2X technology and applications as a key component of driverless car systems. However, some OEMs are claiming some forms of (semi)-autonomous driving can be achieved by just using in-vehicle ADAS-sensors.

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Global Congress Cars 2018 290

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

'A new European Joint Research Centre (JRC) study looking into the supply of raw materials for the manufacture of low-carbon energy technologies found that eight metals were at high risk of shortages. The applications, i.e. technologies, of particular concern as a result are electric vehicles, wind and solar energy, and lighting. The risk arises from EU dependency on imports, growing demand worldwide and geopolitical reasons.

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Light Wind Carbon Solar 290

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

'Lincoln MKC is the first to get the new 2.3L EcoBoost. Click to enlarge. The all-new 2015 Lincoln MKC small premium utility, unveiled last week, offers an all-new engine—a 2.3-liter EcoBoost gasoline turbocharged direct injection (GTDI) four-cylinder unit. Ford says the engine can deliver up to 15% better fuel economy than comparable six-cylinder engines.

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Louisville Fuel Economy Exhaust Future 286

Creative Greenius

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

'Robert Earl Bushweit (right) runs into his Detroit buddy, Percy, in a captured German town during WWII. And The River Opens For The Righteous. On this Veteran’s Day 2013 I honor my father-in-law, Bob Bushweit for his service starting at the age of 18 in World War II where he fought as a member of Patton’s Third Army across Africa and Europe and actually did preserve our freedom and our democracy as part of the greatest generation. .

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Al Gore Maldives Gore Climate Change 286

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 21, 2013

'The Nikkei reports that Toyota plans to develop hybrid vehicles with two Chinese automakers; Toyota made the announcement at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition. Toyota will collaborate with the R&D divisions of its passenger-car joint ventures with China FAW Group and Guangzhou Automobile Group to seek to make hybrids that can handle various road conditions and suit the preferred riding comfort of local consumers.

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Chinese Toyota Hybrid Vehicles 285

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

'Québec’s Ministry of Natural Resources has awarded Lion Bus Inc. C$675,000 (US$643 million) for a project to develop an all-electric school bus. This project follows the recent release of the $516-million (US$492-million) Transportation Electrification Strategy, recently made public by the government. Our government wants to make Québec a world leader in the electrification of transportation.

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Transportation Taxi Parts Recharge 281

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 29, 2013

'Nissan reports a successful early field test of a system that will allow companies to regulate their electricity bills using the batteries of Nissan LEAFs used by their staff to commute to work. “Vehicle-To-Building” allows up to six Nissan LEAF EVs to be connected to a building’s power distribution board. Charging is phased during the day so at peak hours, when electricity is most expensive, the building draws power from the cars.

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Building Nissan Power Storage Supplies 277

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

'General Motors and Detroit Renewable Energy are partnering on a renewable energy project to turn solid municipal waste from Metro Detroit into process steam that will be used to heat and cool portions of GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. Click to enlarge. The steam will travel 8,300 feet through a pipe originating at Detroit Renewable Power and ending at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

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Detroit Waste Renewable GM 277

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

'Energy demand growth moves to Asia. Source: IEA. Click to enlarge. The newly released 2013 edition of the IEA World Energy Outlook (WEO) depicts a world in which some long-held tenets of the energy sector are being rewritten; importers are becoming exporters, while exporters are among the major sources of growing demand. However, the report advises, long-term solutions to global challenges remain scarce; as one example, the report sees global CO 2 emissions rising by 20% to 37.2 Gt by 2035.

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Oil 2013 Energy Emissions 275

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

'China has a number of critical economic and environmental imperatives driving its pursuit of vehicle electrification, said the roster of plenary speakers at the SAE 2013 New Energy Vehicle Forum held in Shanghai this week. These include the increasingly problematic pollution and haze in cities; China’s projected increased reliance on imported oil; the need for rationalized multimodal transportation systems in ever more congested and space-limited cities; the growing dominance of the China auto

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Transportation Future Energy China 273

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'The judges of the 10 th annual LA Auto Show Design Challenge named SAIC Motor the winner of the 2013 competition. SAIC Motor beat out eight world-renowned auto design studios for the honor with an innovative public transit solution aimed at alleviating urban problems such as air pollution and traffic congestion. Inspired by an ant’s distinctive body structure and the mutually beneficial relationship between ants and trumpet trees, SAIC Motors designed Roewe “ Mobiliant.

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Design Auto Motoring Motors 270

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

'The latest monthly update of estimated crude oil production in the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana shows total wellhead output topping 1 million barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) next month. The update appears in the most recent issue of the US Energy Information Administration’s Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The Bakken region now accounts for a little over 10% of total U.S. oil production and is the fourth region (along with the Gulf of Mexico, Eagle Ford, and Permian basins) curr

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Oil North Dakota Production Montana 270

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'At the Tokyo Motor Show, Mazda is showcasing the recently-released Mazda Axela (known as Mazda3 overseas) with a variety of engine types at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, including a CNG concept and hybrid variants. ( Earlier post.). The Axela accounts for more than 30% of global sales; the latest Axela is the third generation. The new Axela range also introduces a hybrid vehicle, and marks the first time for a single model launched on the Japanese market to include gasoline, diesel, and hybrid pow

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Mazda Hybrid Nickel Metal Hydride Exhaust 268

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

'New MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S. Click to enlarge. The BMW Group’s new MINI made its worldwide debut at MINI’s UK production plant in Oxford. The new MINI features an all-new vehicle architecture, an evolutionary design and a range of new fuel-efficient engines. The new MINI will make its auto show premiere in Los Angeles this week. The biggest efficiency advance comes in the MINI Cooper with automatic transmission: the new model accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h 2.6 seconds faster, while averag

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Diesel Engine Fuel MPG 268

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'Nissan Motor Corporation has carried out the first public road test of Autonomous Drive (AD) ( earlier post ) on a Japanese highway. A Nissan LEAF electric vehicle equipped with the technology took to the Sagami Expressway in Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, with the prefecture’s Governor, Yuji Kuroiwa, and Nissan Vice Chairman Toshiyuki Shiga, on board.

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Nissan Japan Grant Corporation 265

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'Low-cost 14V micro hybrid systems and full (strong) hybrid (i.e., systems with limited electric drive) architectures at 140-300V are entering strong growth phases, while the future of intermediate systems—those falling between the high-voltage full hybrids and the low-voltage stop-start systems—is less clear, according to “Assessing the Future of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles: The 2014 xEV Industry Insider Report” by Dr.

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Li-ion Hybrid NiMH Battery 265

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

'The California Energy Commission (CEC) has issued a $6-million competitive grant solicitation ( PON-13-606 ) to fund the buildout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the four following categories: Destination Charging: This category is for destinations that may attract people to travel “medium-to-long” distances from their home and where the vehicle would tend to be parked for more than one hour.

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San Francisco Los Angeles California San Diego 265

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

'Selected forecasts of US PEV sales with barriers to fleet penetration from limited residential charging infrastructure. Traut et al. Click to enlarge. An analysis by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University of parking and charging availability for electric vehicles in the US has concluded that limited availability of dedicated residential parking—and hence charging opportunities—is a significant barrier to mainstream electric vehicle adoption.

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Charging Plug-in PHEV Fleet 262