Green Car Congress

JUNE 27, 2017

Volkswagen of America is in the process of rolling out its all-new long wheelbase 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan ( earlier post ). As with the all-new 2018 Volkswagen Atlas full-size SUV ( earlier post ), the new Tiguan is based on Volkswagen’s Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) architecture. The all-new 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan—the second-generation of the vehicle—is powered by the latest version of the EA888 four-cylinder engine, the 2.0L TSI EA888 Gen3 B-Cycle (Budack-cycle, earlier post ), co

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Green Car Reports

JUNE 18, 2017

One advantage of electric cars is that unlike gasoline or steam cars, they have no emissions. More than a century ago, that was why the U.S. Capitol acquired two custom-built electric cars, nicknamed "Tommy" and "Peggy." They were built by Studebaker, an early and hallowed U.S. car brand that finally folded up shop in 1965. DON'T MISS: Electric.

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Green Cars News

JUNE 27, 2017

There are many reasons why leasing makes a lot of sense, whether you’re after an executive saloon or a super-frugal supermini, but if your main aim is

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Green Fleet Magazine

JUNE 14, 2017

Most fleet managers know telematics is great for asset tracking, but there are many other underutilized components of a telematics solution that could be saving fleet managers time and money.

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Fleet 52

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2017

At Movin’On 2017, Michelin presented its new Vision concept tire. The concept tire—which combines the functions of wheel and tire—is airless, connected, rechargeable, customizable and organic, is both a wheel and a tire. Michelin Group Executive Vice President of Research and Development Terry Gettys said that the VISION concept is achievable as it represents the convergence of innovations already being explored by the Group’s R&D teams.

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Recharge Connected Connect Concept 292

Green Car Congress

JUNE 28, 2017

LiquidPiston, Inc. (LPI), a developer of advanced multi-fuel-capable rotary combustion engine technology, has been awarded a $3-million Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) award from the US Army to develop an innovative ultra-portable 2kW diesel Compact Artillery Power System (CAPS). The RIF process is extremely selective, with only five percent of whitepapers ultimately being selected for the award.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 23, 2017

The Volvo Group’s new truck engines are more fuel efficient as a result of their new piston design which adds waves to the piston crown to improve the use of oxygen. ( Earlier post.) The engineers (John Gibble, Frank Löfskog, Michael Balthasar, and Jan Eismark) behind the innovation have now received the Volvo Technology Award 2017. The new wave design has now been patented.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2017

During a teleconference yesterday, Cummins Inc. executives outlined plans to provide a range of power technologies spanning diesel and natural gas engines to fully electric and hybrid powertrains. Cummins will begin electrified powertrain delivery in 2019, including full battery-electric and plug-in hybrid systems. Cummins said those are just the first steps as it signals its intention to be the leading provider of electrified powertrains in its commercial and industrial markets.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 9, 2017

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) are beginning testing of the Soletair demo plant, which uses air-captured carbon dioxide to produce renewable fuels and chemicals. The pilot plant is coupled to LUT’s solar power plant in Lappeenranta. The aim of the project is to demonstrate the technical performance of the overall process and produce 200 liters of fuels and other hydrocarbons for research purposes.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 6, 2017

Fuel cell system manufacturer Ballard Power Systems has entered into an $18-million supply contract with Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co., Ltd. (Broad-Ocean) to support the deployment of 400 FCveloCity fuel cell systems integrated into clean energy buses and trucks in key Chinese cities. The transaction is part of an ongoing program with Broad-Ocean ( earlier post ) to implement Ballard’s fuel cell technology in support of China’s ambitious plan to address environmental concerns and advance the a

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2017

The UK’s Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has criticized the Government’s air quality plans for unfairly shifting the burden to solve the problem to local authorities, while abdicating themselves of responsibility. The membership body for environmental health professionals released details of its submission to the Government’s consultation on plans to improve air quality in the UK.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 12, 2017

A team from the California Air Resources Board (ARB), in partnership with the City of Sacramento, has characterized the in-use emissions from model year (MY) 2010 or newer diesel, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydraulic hybrid diesel engines during real-world refuse truck operation. A paper on their study is published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2017

Deutsche Post subsidiary StreetScooter GmbH ( earlier post ) and Ford-Werke GmbH are entering a partnership for the manufacturing of battery-electric delivery vehicles. StreetScooter, a start-up spun out of German technical university RWTH Aachen, has already developed a small electric van; the StreetScooter van is powered by a 20.4 kWh Li-ion battery pack and propelled by a 30 kW motor.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2017

A new report from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research has found that intersections with traffic lights in Houston are nine times more likely to see fatal car crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists than expected by chance. In comparison, intersections with stop signs were only 1.48 times as likely to have a fatal crash incident; noncontrolled intersections were 0.5 times as likely to have a fatal incident.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 27, 2017

According to a new study led by a team at Duke University, airborne particulate matter and dust are cutting solar photovoltaic energy output by more than 25% in certain parts of the world, with roughly equal contributions from ambient PM and PM deposited on photovoltaic surfaces. The regions hardest hit are also those investing the most in solar energy installations: China, India and the Arabian Peninsula.

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Solar Energy Global Production 218

Green Car Congress

JUNE 6, 2017

The Buick LaCrosse is adding eAssist light electrification for the 2018 model. This new eAssist system, when coupled with the four-cylinder engine, has a 19% increase in city fuel economy compared to the LaCrosse’s advanced V-6 and leverages a compact lithium-ion battery pack to provide select benefits found in fully electric vehicles, such as torque-assisted launch, energy-saving regenerative braking and exceptionally smooth stop/start.

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Buick 2018 Standards Lithium Ion 210

Green Car Congress

JUNE 7, 2017

The US added more than 280,000 new diesel passenger vehicles across the country in 2016, with Texas, California and Florida having the highest numbers of diesel vehicles, according to a Diesel Technology Forum analysis of the latest Vehicles in Operation (VIO) data compiled by IHS Automotive (December 2016). The number of diesel car, SUV, full-size pickup trucks and vans in operation reached 8 million in 2016.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 5, 2017

Hiroshima University and Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (MIFS) have developed a low-power millimeter-wave amplifier that feeds on 0.5 V power supply and covers the frequency range from 80 GHz to 106 GHz. It was fabricated using MIFS’s Deeply Depleted Channel (DDC) technology. This is the first W-band (75−110 GHz) amplifier that can operate even with such a low power-supply voltage.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2017

A study led by researchers at Tampere University of Technology in Finland found that the use of neat Neste MY Renewable Diesel in working machines—a Wille 355B compact utility machine and Wille 855C multi-purpose wheel-loader—efficiently reduces particulate matter emissions compared to EN590 diesel with 7% biodiesel. With renewable diesel, both the number of particles as well as particulate mass were reduced in nearly all of the operating cycles of the working machines.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 23, 2017

ZF is using its plug-in Vision Zero concept vehicle to showcase a number of new safety and zero local emissions technologies. The vehicle features a 150 kW electric axle drive system for dynamic acceleration. The entire propulsion system, including the integrated power electronics, is housed in an innovative, space-saving modular ZF rear axle system called mSTARS (modular Semi-Trailing Arm Rear Suspension).

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 23, 2017

Bus operator Nobina has ordered 13 electric Volvo buses, which will operate in Malmö, Sweden from the end of next year. This is the biggest single order so far for the Volvo 7900 Electric and marks one of the biggest drives for all-electric bus traffic in Sweden. The Volvo 7900 Electric bus uses about 80% less energy than corresponding diesel buses and will be powered by green electricity to minimize environmental and climate impact.

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Volvo Sweden Automobile Manufacturer Automobile 199

Green Car Congress

JUNE 22, 2017

The new Audi A8 will feature a fully active, electromechanical suspension system which drives each wheel individually and adapts to the prevailing road conditions. Each wheel has an electric motor which is powered by the A8’s 48-volt electrical system—used for the first time as the main electrical system. (The Audi SQ7 TDI introduced in 2016 offered a 48V subsystem as well as a 12V system for the alternator.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 9, 2017

Switzerland-based Climeworks, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), recently launched the world’s first commercial plant that captures atmospheric CO 2 for supply and sale to a customer. The Swiss direct air capture company—which has also partnered with Audi in that company’s e-fuels initiative ( earlier post )—launched the commercial-scale Direct Air Capture (DAC) plant, featuring its patented technology that filters carbon dioxide from ambient a

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 5, 2017

In the UK, Renault and Powervault are partnering to re-use electric vehicle (EV) batteries in home energy storage units. This partnership will reduce the cost of a Powervault smart battery unit by 30%, helping Powervault to bring home energy storage to the tipping point of mass-market roll-out in the UK. Powervault is placing 50 trial units, powered by second-life batteries provided by Renault, in the homes of customers who already have solar panels installed.

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Batteries Battery Energy Storage Solar 199

Green Car Congress

JUNE 22, 2017

The findings of a study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, with colleagues at UC Berkeley, suggest that changing atmospheric NO x levels over the next two decades will likely significantly reduce the effectiveness of stricter new gasoline vehicle emissions standards in reducing concentrations of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2017

Citing “industry sources,” Business Korea reports that Hyundai has decided to boost production of a new fuel cell vehicle ( earlier post )—to be released early next year—by 15 times to 3,600 units. Hyundai sold 242 fuel cell vehicles last year; Toyota, the market leader with its Mirai, is targeting 3,000 fuel cell vehciles sold this year.

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Hyundai Fuel Tucson Production 191

Green Car Congress

JUNE 10, 2017

Honda will launch the tenth-generation Accord ever later this year. A new-from-the-ground-up design that features a more aggressive stance and proportion than any previous Accord complements the lineup of three advanced new powertrains. The Accord is the US’ best-selling midsize sedan, the number one choice of individual American car buyers cumulatively since 2010 (according to Urban Science cumulative cumulative retail sales data for all car models in the industry for 2010-2017CYTD May).

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Honda Hybrid Motors Motoring 191

Green Car Congress

JUNE 1, 2017

Statoil has made the final investment decision to build the world’s first floating wind farm: The Hywind pilot park offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The decision triggers investments of around NOK 2 billion (US$238 million), realizing a 60-70% cost reduction per MW from the Hywind demo project in Norway. Statoil will install a 30 MW wind turbine farm on floating structures at Buchan Deep, 25 km offshore Peterhead, harnessing Scottish wind resources to provide renewable energy to th

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Wind Building Norway Water 191

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2017

BASF and Russia-based PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel ( Nornickel ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding and entered exclusive negotiations to cooperate on the supply of raw materials for future battery materials production for lithium-ion batteries in Europe. The Nornickel Group is the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium and one of the world’s leading producers of platinum and copper.

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Li-ion Europe Batteries Battery 186

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2017

Germany has launched a ~€60-million, three-year consortium of leading industrial companies to investigate high-volume production of automotive fuel cell stacks. The “AutoStack-Industrie” project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure ( BMVI ), with €21.3 million in the first year. The “AutoStack Industry” project is a joint initiative of the German automotive and supply industries and aims to provide the technical, economic and technological basis for the comme

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Germany BMW Fuel Ford 186

Green Car Congress

JUNE 28, 2017

In the ongoing quest to develop high-capacity cathode materials for high-energy batteries, the conventional approach has been to rely on lithium-excess materials to operate the cathode at high voltage. This approach, however, has been dogged by numerous unresolved issues, such as voltage fading and structural failure. Now, an international team from the US and S.

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Li-ion Ni-Li North Carolina Lithium Ion 186

Green Car Congress

JUNE 27, 2017

The Governing Body of Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) recently approved improvements to the Official Mexican Standard NOM-016-CRE-2016 Oil quality specifications, with the intention of introducing more options in products to the Mexican market, while simplifying regulation. Among the changes, the standard now allows the increase of the percentage of ethanol in gasolines from six to ten percent in the whole country, except for the Metropolitan Zones of the Valley of Mexico, Guadalajar

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2017

On 23 June 1992, the BMW Group announced its decision to build its US plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Continuous expansion of the plant with extensive additions and the decision to build the successful BMW X models in Spartanburg have made the plant the largest manufacturing facility in the BMW Group production network within the space of 25 years.

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BMW South Carolina Manufacturer Production 186

Green Car Congress

JUNE 24, 2017

Scientists in the US and China have developed a new low-temperature catalyst for producing high-purity hydrogen gas while simultaneously using up carbon monoxide (CO) via the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction. The discovery—described in a paper in the journal Science —could improve the performance of fuel cells that run on hydrogen fuel but can be poisoned by CO.

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