Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 17, 2012

The 400 kg (curbweight) Aixam quadricycle, with a 400cc two-cylinder diesel, is an example of the size and weight needed in future city vehicles, Meilhan suggests. Click to enlarge. Significant vehicle weight reduction and an accompanying change of enabling regulations and norms is the way forward in the quest to reduce energy consumption and CO 2 emissions, according to Paris-based Frost & Sullivan Senior Consultant, Nicolas Meilhan.

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MPG Tax Gasoline-Electric 2012 385

Green Car Reports

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Two years ago, our first-ever Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy award went to the first modern battery-electric car sold in the U.S. How far we've come. This year, our third annual winner is the 2013 Tesla Model S, a car that takes the all-electric vehicle to a new and far more elevated level. But that's far from the only reason it won. The Tesla.

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Electric Cars are for Girls

DECEMBER 7, 2012

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Nissan 229

National Green Transportation

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Public transportation systems have historically shaped the structure of cities. The largest metropolitan areas typically have extensive mass transit systems providing mobility for commuters, residents and visitors while providing a backbone for.

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Transportation 105

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Green Cars News

DECEMBER 7, 2012

Delivery of the world’s first fully-electric driverless shuttle has been made in Switzerland this week. Developed by mobility solutions specialist Induct, the new Navia electric automated shuttle may be a step away from much talked about driverless cars, but the model will help prove that the technology works. The shuttle will be used and tested [.].

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 18, 2012

Sales of plug-in vehicles (PEVs) in 2013 will continue to outpace the first years of hybrid vehicle sales as more than 210,000 PEVs will be sold globally and more than three dozen PEV models will debut, according to a year-end free whitepaper published by Pike Research, that makes 10 specific predictions about electric vehicles in 2013. More broadly, Pike envisions PEV sales in California—the leading market for such in the US—expanding into smaller urban and suburban regions with mor

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Phase 2 body-in-white material usage front three-quarter view. Source: Lotus Engineering. Click to enlarge. The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has published the results of Lotus Engineering’s Phase 2 vehicle mass reduction study on a Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV). Building on a Phase 1 Lotus study published in 2010 ( earlier post ), the Phase 2 study demonstrated the crashworthiness of a low mass body-in-white (BIW) using computer aided analysis and simulation.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Enbridge Inc. will proceed with a $6.2-billion program of pipeline expansions to carry an additional 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of light oil from North Dakota and western Canada to refinery markets in Ontario, Quebec and the US Midwest. Program projects. Click to enlarge. The Light Oil Market Access Program will provide increased pipeline capacity on Enbridge’s North Dakota regional system; further expand capacity on the US mainline system; enhance Canadian mainline terminal capability; upsiz

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North Dakota Canada Light Oil 344

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Ford’s 5-cylinder, 3.2-liter Power Stroke diesel will be Ford’s second in North America. Click to enlarge. Ford’s all-new 2014 Transit full-size van, which goes on sale late next year, will be offered with a new 3.2-liter Power Stroke five-cylinder diesel. The new diesel engine, Ford’s second in North America, has already been applied in the global Ford Ranger truck sold in world markets (3.2 Duratorq TDCi 200).

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North America Diesel America Ford 343

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 9, 2012

A123 Systems, Inc. reached agreement on the terms of an asset purchase agreement with Wanxiang America Corporation through which Wanxiang would acquire substantially all of A123’s assets for $256.6 million. ( Earlier post.) Wanxiang outbid a joint Johnson Controls and NEC offer and a bid from Siemens in an auction held on 6 December for the assets of the bankrupt Li-ion battery maker.

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Ni-Li Energy Storage Li-ion Purchase 342

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 28, 2012

Functional elements of the GEM*STAR reactor. Source : Muons, Inc. Click to enlarge. Muons, Inc. , a private-sector high-energy accelerator physics firm, and ADNA (Accelerator-Driven Neutron Applications) Corp., are proposing using spent nuclear fuel (SNF), natural uranium, or excess weapons-grade plutonium (W-Pu) in a proposed GEM*STAR accelerator-driven subcritical reactor (ADSR) to provide the process heat and steam for the Fischer-Tropsch production of synthetic diesel from natural gas and ot

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Molten Salt Fuel Production Coal 320

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, and the United States Air Force USAF) have completed flight testing for the latest enhancement for the T56 engine for the C-130, with preliminary results exceeding expectations for reducing fuel consumption and reliability improvements. The Rolls-Royce T56 engine powers all legacy C-130 aircraft, with the Series 3.5 program the latest improvement aimed at enhancing performance.

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Engine Indianapolis Fuel United States 316

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 20, 2012

Vehicle automation is set to be rolled out in stages, starting with partially automated driving from 2016; high levels of automation from 2020; and fully automated systems available from 2025. Click to enlarge. The development of products and systems for automated driving is one of the central themes of international automotive supplier Continental’s long-term technology strategy.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Researchers at Toyohashi University of Technology (Japan) have demonstrated the transfer of electric power from wheels to power an electric car using dielectric coupling between a steel belt in a tire and a metal plate in a roadway. A paper on their work is published in IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on Innovative Wireless Power Transmission.

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Powered Power Suzuki Japan 310

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 29, 2012

2013 Fusion Energi. Click to enlarge. The US Environmental Protection Agency has rated the new Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid ( earlier post ) at up to 108 MPGe city, 92 MPGe highway and 100 MPGe combined (2.2, 2.6 and 2.4 l/100km-equivalent, respectively). Fusion Energi is the Ford brand’s fifth electrified vehicle to launch in the past year—and its second plug-in hybrid after the C-MAX Energi.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 26, 2012

Plug-in hybrid drive system. Click to enlarge. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will begin the sales of the new Outlander plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) at dealerships throughout Japan from 24 January 2013. The Outlander PHEV made its global debut at the Paris Motor Show earlier this year. ( Earlier post.). Powered by a Plug-in Hybrid EV System powertrain combining two 60 kW independent electric motors (one on each axle); a 12 kWh Li-ion battery pack; and a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder MIVEC

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PHEV Mitsubishi i-MiEV Japan 304

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 13, 2012

Components of the e-gas plant. Click to enlarge. Audi is celebrating progress on its e-gas plant under construction in Werlte, Germany with a topping-out ceremony. End products from the plant will be hydrogen and synthetic methane (Audi e-gas), to be used as fuel for vehicles such as the new Audi A3 Sportback TCNG. ( Earlier post.). The Audi e-gas plant, which can convert six megawatts of input power, will utilize renewable electricity for electrolysis, producing oxygen and hydrogen, the latter

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Audi 2013 Gas Production 301

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 12, 2012

Nissan has launched production in its new battery plant in Smyrna, Tenn. The plant, which is making battery components for the ramp-up of production of the 2013 Nissan LEAF early next year, is located adjacent to Nissan’s existing vehicle assembly plant in Tennessee, which itself has been retooled to accommodate production of the Nissan LEAF. Combined, the construction of the battery plant and modification of the Smyrna manufacturing facility represent an investment of up to $1.7 billion when bu

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Nissan Manufacturer Battery Batteries 301

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 5, 2012

The layout of the proposed multi-agent system (MAS) for driverless vehicles at intersections. Zohdy and Rakha. Click to enlarge. Researchers at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) have developed a heuristic optimization algorithm for driverless vehicles at unsignalized intersections using a multi-agent system (MAS). Their research, presented at the Intelligent Transportation Society World Congress in Vienna in October, won the Best Scientific Paper Award for North America.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Discharge–charge cycles of Na–O 2 cells at various current densities (i.e., the rate capability). Cutoff potentials were set to 1.8 V for discharge and 3.6 V for charge. Dotted line: E0(NaO 2 ) = 2.27 V. Hartmann et al. Click to enlarge. In a paper in Nature Materials , a team of researchers from BASF SE and Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen report on the performance of a sodium-air (sodium superoxide) cell.

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Sodium Battery Batteries Recharge 291

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 5, 2012

The eco up! natural gas vehicle. Click to enlarge. Volkswagen has launched the eco up! natural gas vehicle, previewed in a concept form in 2011 ( earlier post ) and revealed in its production version at the Geneva auto show in March this year, in Europe. The four-seat Volkswagen with its 1.0L engine consumes 2.9 kg (4.4 m 3 ) of natural gas per 100 km—equivalent to CO 2 emissions of 79 g/km.

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Gas CO2 Vehicles Gas-Electric 291

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 18, 2012

In a new research brief , Pike Research forecasts that wireless charging equipment for light duty plug-in vehicle sales will grow by a CAGR of 91% from 2013 to 2020, as wireless systems move from a retrofit technology to an integrated part of new EVs, reaching annual sales of 283,000 units in 2020. Although wireless charging for plug-in initially appeared to be mainly a promising technology with no viable market, nearly all of the major EV manufacturers have now announced partnerships to develop

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 26, 2012

Average external costs from cars per 1,000 vkm by country. Click to enlarge. A recent study from Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) commissioned by the Greens/European Free Allianace (EFA) in the European Parliament concluded that the cars used within the EU-27 externalize up to about €373 billion (US$493 billion) per year (high estimate) of costs on to other people, other regions and other generations.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 30, 2012

The Ford Focus is tracking to become this year’s best-selling global nameplate, while the Ford Fiesta is on pace to be this year's best-selling global B-Car—giving Ford the best-selling B and C-Car in the world— based on the latest Polk global industry data through September. Global Focus new registrations totaled 737,856 through September.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 11, 2012

PureTech 3-cylinder engine. Click to enlarge. Citroën is introducing the first members of its new PureTech family of three-cylinder gasoline engines on the C3, DS3 and C-Elysée (for international markets) ranges. The PureTech engines offer equivalent or better power compared with the previous generation powerplants, combined with significantly lower fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, down by roughly 25%.

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Engine Gasoline Fuel MPG 281

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 18, 2012

The 2014 Cadillac ELR extended-range electric luxury coupe, based on the Converj concept ( earlier post ), will make its world debut 15 January at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The Converj concept made its debut at the NAIAS in January 2009; in August 2011, GM announced that the concept would move forward as a production car called the Cadillac ELR. ( Earlier post.).

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Extended Range Cadillac 2014 GM 281

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 14, 2012

Highlights of the full-size Transit. Click to enlarge. Ford unveiled the full new 2014 Transit family of commercial vehicles for North America, comprising the full-size Transit, the Transit Connect Van, and the Transit Connect Wagon (shown earlier, earlier post ). The new Transit family reflects Ford’s ongoing strategy of platform consolidation, said Raj Nair, Group Vice President, Global Product Development.

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North America Fuel Economy Transit Connect Economy 278

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 20, 2012

AMP Electric Vehicles, a manufacturer of electric drive systems for medium-duty class 3-6 commercial truck platforms, and wireless high-power electronics company Momentum Dynamics Corporation (Momentum) formed a joint venture to supply fully electric vehicles and wireless charging pads for the existing Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority (BARTA) pilot project to begin in the first quarter of 2013.

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Pennsylvania Electric Vehicles Vehicles Tax Credit 277

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 11, 2012

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing $300 million towards a project that will replace 100,000 gasoline-burning tricycles in the Philippines with electric tricycles, or E-Trikes. About 3.5 million gas-fueled motorcycles and tricycles are currently operating in the Philippines, typically serving as short-distance taxis, with the average tricycle driver earning less than $10 a day.

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Philippines India Gasoline Gasoline-Electric 277

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 7, 2012

BP Biofuels plans to invest $350 million to expand the ethanol processing capacity of Tropical, one of its sugarcane processing ventures in Brazil. Tropical’s processing capacity will double to five million tons of sugarcane producing 450 million liters (119 gallons US) of ethanol equivalent per year. The expansion, which is scheduled to start next year, includes the building of a new mill.

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Brazil Production 2014 Grid 276

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 13, 2012

With the relevant authorities having given their approval, Bosch is moving ahead with the reorganization of its lithium-ion traction battery operations following the dissolution of its joint venture with Samsung, SB LiMotive. ( Earlier post.) Effective immediately, the former operating units SB LiMotive Germany GmbH in Stuttgart and Cobasys LLC based in Orion, Michigan, will be incorporated into the Bosch Group as a wholly owned subsidiary under the new name Robert Bosch Battery Systems.

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Lithium Ion Los Angeles Battery Batteries 275

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 7, 2012

Iveco Daily Natural Power vehicles awaiting delivery. Click to enlarge. Iveco contracted to deliver 115 Daily Natural Power light commercial vehicles to TNT Express Italy by 2013. The methane gas-powered vehicles will be used by TNT for its express courier activities in the Rome area as well as other parts of Central Italy. The New Daily Natural Power is equipped with a 100 kW, 3.0L, in-line 4-cylinder Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT) Industrial CNG engine with three-way catalytic converter, u

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Italy Gas Supplies Vehicles 275

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 18, 2012

Global automotive Li-Ion battery production capacity is outstripping demand five-to-one as automakers refocus on hybrids and away from full electric vehicles, according to Dr. Menahem Anderman’s recently released xEV Industry Insider Report. Anderman is founder and chairman of the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC); the 13 th annual conference is scheduled for February 2013 in Pasadena, California.

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Li-ion Hybrid 2012 PHEV 273

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 13, 2012

Evonik Group subsidiary Evonik Litarion GmbH has selected materials technology group Umicore as the supplier of cathode materials for large format Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles and stationary energy storage systems applications. ( Earlier post.). Umicore’s Cellcore MX, a Li-ion NMC (Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt) cathode material, offers an engineered material solution to optimize electric vehicle requirements of power, energy, safety and battery cycle life.

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