Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 23, 2019

Uber is adding more polluting car trips to already-clogged European cities such as London and Paris, new analysis by European NGOs suggests —contributing to air pollution and climate change and exploding the company’s sustainability claims. Data compiled by Euromonitor for European research and campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) shows a surge in the number of Uber drivers (officially registered as private hire vehicles - PHV) in the past few years.

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Starting 1 January 2020, the Volkswagen Group’s Car.Software organization will operate as an independent business unit. As a Group company, the Car.Software organization will centralize the associates and subsidiaries within the Group that develop car software and software for the digital ecosystems. Initially, around 3,000 digital experts from the software-related associates and subsidiaries will be grouped together in this unit.

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Connected Connect Seattle Audi 420

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 12, 2019

by Michael Sivak. In this analysis, I compare the age composition of buyers of new light-duty vehicles (cars and light trucks) in 2007 and 2017. The data for 2007 came from IHS Markit and they apply to the buyers during the calendar year, while the data for 2017 were calculated from the information published by Wards Intelligence and they apply to the buyers of the model-year vehicles.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Volkswagen AG has successfully demonstrated the world’s first live use of quantum computing to help optimize traffic routing. During the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal, nine public transit buses used a traffic management system developed by Volkswagen scientists in the United States and Germany, powered by a D-Wave quantum computer, to calculate the fastest travel routes individually and in near-real time. ( Earlier post.).

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San Francisco Portugal Dodge Fleet 418

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 22, 2019

Showcasing the possibilities of the e-Golf powertrain to motivate classic VW models, Volkswagen of America recently commissioned west coast electric vehicle conversion specialist EV West to construct an electrified Volkswagen Type 2 Bus. The professionally harvested stock powertrain and 35.8 kWh battery system from the donor 2017 e-Golf gives the e-Bus an approximate range of 125 miles.

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America Conversion 2017 Batteries 418

Green Car Congress

JULY 1, 2019

by Michael Sivak. This analysis examined the effect of flight distance on greenhouse gas emissions per passenger, and compared emissions from flying different distances with annual emissions from driving. Greenhouse gas emissions were examined for 17 nonstop flights with round-trip distances ranging from 131 miles to 19,040 miles. Among these flights were the three most frequently flown routes in the United Sates (New York to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to San Francisco, and Chicago to New York); t

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Emissions Los Angeles Gas San Francisco 419

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2019

For every year except 2011, the United States has produced the majority of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) sold in the United States, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). In 2018, the United States produced 75%, Japan 9%, and Germany 5%, while the remaining eight countries listed produced a combined 11%. In 2011, 55% of the PEVs sold in the United States were produced in Japan, 43% in the United States, and 2% in France.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 14, 2019

New battery company SVOLT Energy Technology Co. Ltd, whose precursor was the Battery Business Unit of Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd, introduced its cobalt-free lithium-ion battery cell (NMx) and four-element lithium-ion battery cell (NCMA). SVOLT product roadmap. In the product launch event, Yang Hongxin, General Manager of SVOLT, said that the NMx battery cell rivals the NCM811 cell in performance, while reducing the cost of materials by 5%-15% and the cell balance of materials (BOM) cost by around

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Li-ion Batteries Battery Lithium Ion 409

Green Car Congress

JUNE 24, 2019

UK Natural History Museum Head of Earth Sciences Prof Richard Herrington and fellow expert members of SoS MinErals (an interdisciplinary program of NERC-EPSRC-Newton-FAPESP funded research) recently wrote a letter to the UK Committee on Climate Change pointing out that meeting UK electric car targets for 2050 would require production of just under two times the current total annual world cobalt production, nearly the entire world production of neodymium, three quarters the world’s lithium produc

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Climate Change Universal Supplies All-Electric 409

Green Car Congress

APRIL 20, 2019

According to a new study published by the ifo Institue Center for Economic Studies (CESifo) in Germany, EVs will barely help cut CO 2 emissions in the country over the coming years, as the introduction of electric vehicles does not necessarily lead to a reduction in CO 2 emissions from road traffic given the current power generation mix. The researchers carried out their calculations based on a Mercedes-Benz C 220 d diesel and the new Tesla Model 3.

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Germany CO2 Powered Power 406

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Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. ( CATL ) signed a cooperation agreement with Honda Motor in Tokyo to cooperate formally to develop electric vehicles for the future market. Under the agreement, CATL will become Honda’s partner in the field of lithium-ion EV batteries. CATL will guarantee the supply to Honda of about 56 GWh of lithium-ion EV batteries before 2027.

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Honda Li-ion Lithium Ion Batteries 406

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Researchers from Japan’s NIMS (National Institute for Materials Science), the University of Tokyo and Hiroshima University have jointly conducted a techno-economic analysis for hydrogen production from photovoltaic power generation (PV) utilizing a battery-assisted electrolyzer. The results from this study suggested a cost of hydrogen as low as ¥17 to ¥27/Nm 3 (US$0.16 - $0.25) using a combination of technologies and the achievement of ambitious individual cost targets for batteries, PV, and ele

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Low Cost Hydrogen Solar Japan 403

Green Car Congress

MAY 20, 2019

An international team of researchers, led by Professor David Antonelli of Lancaster University, has discovered a new material made from manganese hydride that could be used to make molecular sieves within hydrogen fuel tanks. The material—KMH-1 (Kubas Manganese Hydride-1)—demonstrates a reversible excess adsorption performance of 10.5 wt% and 197 kgH 2 m ?

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Hydrogen Energy Lithium Ion Vehicles 400

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

by Michael Sivak. This is the latest of my occasional updates on retrospective, long-term trends in U.S. vehicle fuel economy. Specifically, this study examines actual fuel economy of cars and light trucks (pickup trucks, SUVs, and vans) from 1966 through 2017. Calculated vehicle fuel economy is available going back to 1923. However, the starting year of this analysis is 1966 because (1) for 1923 through 1935, fuel-economy information is available only for the entire fleet of all vehicles, and (

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Fuel Economy 2017 Economy Light 397

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Green Car Congress

MAY 11, 2019

Volkswagen plans to build one million electric vehicles a year by 2025; given this target, handling battery recycling internally is a priority for cost and environmental reasons. In the long term, Volkswagen wants to recycle about 97% of all raw materials in end-of-life EV battery packs. Today, the level is roughly 53%; Volkswagen’s plant in Salzgitter—expected to be the home of Volkswagen’s first center for electric vehicle battery recycling—expects to raise it further to about 72%.

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Batteries Battery Cleaning Clean 393

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 1, 2019

Northvolt and Mälarenergi are partnering to establish a battery energy storage system at an electric vehicle charging station in Västerås, Sweden. The battery system will provide power output up to 220 kW and a usable energy capacity of 320 kWh. The Northvolt battery system is intended to reduce peaks in electricity demand of the charging station by more than 80%, and thereby lessen the impact of EV charging on the local electricity network.

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Energy Storage Energy Charging Batteries 390

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 16, 2019

BloombergNEF (BNEF) expects 2.6 million electric vehicles to be sold globally in 2019. This will represent around a 40% growth rate, down from the 70% growth rate in 2018. BNEF said that it expects China will continue to lead, with some 1.5 million units—around 57% of the global market. China’s market is in transition, and the recent annual doubling of sales every year looks unlikely to hold in 2019.

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 22, 2019

TeraWatt Technology announced that its 4.5Ah prototype solid-state battery design achieved a record-breaking energy density of 432Wh/kg (1122Wh/L) in validation tests conducted by third parties, including TOYO System based in Japan. Branded as TERA3.0, this 4.5Ah next-generation design will be available for select early adopters in 2021 and full release in 2022.

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Lithium Ion Batteries Battery Japan 388

Green Car Congress

MARCH 5, 2019

The US Department of Energy announced up to $31 million in funding ( DE-FOA-0002022 ) to advance the H2@Scale concept. ( Earlier post.) The focus of H2@Scale is to enable affordable and reliable large-scale hydrogen generation, transport, storage, and utilization in the United States across multiple sectors. By producing hydrogen when power generation exceeds load, electrolyzers can reduce curtailment of renewables and contribute to grid stability.

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Hydrogen Affordable Concept Store 389

Green Car Congress

JULY 12, 2019

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (Trinity Metro) has awarded New Flyer a contract for four heavy-duty, thirty-five-foot Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric buses. The zero-emission buses (ZEBs) support a new route called The Dash, a zero-emission service connecting Downtown Fort Worth with its Cultural District and utilizing Trinity Metro’s first all- electric buses.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 17, 2019

The Chilean Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Gloria Hutt, recently announced a new order for 183 BYD electric buses for the Chilean capital of Santiago, due to arrive in August of this year. The 183 BYD electric buses will join the 100 electric buses that BYD and local partner Enel brought into Santiago last December, giving BYD a dominant share of more than 60% in the capital’s electric bus market.

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

The estimated annual fuel costs for model year (MY) 2019 all-electric light-duty vehicles are the lowest of all the different vehicle technologies, ranging from a low of $500 to a high of $900 per year, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). The annual fuel costs for plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, which can fuel with gasoline and electricity, are next lowest, and are heavily influenced by the electric range of the vehicle.

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

Anheuser-Busch, in partnership with Nikola Motor Company and BYD Motors LLC, completed its first Zero-Emission Beer Delivery in its hometown of St. Louis. The company delivered beer from the local Anheuser-Busch brewery to the Enterprise Center using only zero-emission trucks. A Nikola hydrogen-electric truck picked up the load of beer, including flagship beer brand Bud Light, and delivered it to Anheuser-Busch local wholesaler partner, Lohr Distributors – marking the first commercial delivery o

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St. Louis BYD Emissions Hydrogen 381

Green Car Congress

MARCH 7, 2019

Audi is testing factory vehicles powered by used lithium-ion batteries at its main plant in Ingolstadt. Like all automobile manufacturers, Audi is obliged by law to take back energy carriers after they have been used in cars. Because they still have a large proportion of their original charging capacity, an interdisciplinary project team is now investigating how batteries from Audi e-tron test vehicles, for example, or from hybrid models such as the Audi A3 e-tron and Audi Q7 e-tron, can continu

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 3, 2019

Multiple NASA centers have partnered with Virgin Orbit to develop and to test a 3D printed combustion chamber. Virgin Orbit air launches rockets carrying small satellites to space. The company partnered with NASA experts in combustion and additive manufacturing (3D printing) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; and Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

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Alabama Cleveland Long Beach Engine 381

Green Car Congress

JULY 3, 2019

Honda has released more technical details about the upcoming Honda e urban EV. The Honda e is equipped with a high-power electric motor delivering up to approximately 150PS (110 kW) and torque in excess of 300 N·m. The 35.5 kWh battery in the Honda e is one of the most compact in its class, contributing to an exceptional balance of low weight, fast-charging capability of 80% in 30 minutes, and a range of more than 200 km (124 miles), suited for every day urban commuting.

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Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a method—Computed Axial Lithography (CAL)—that can synthesize arbitrary geometries volumetrically through photopolymerization. In brief, it uses light to transform gooey liquids into complex solid objects in only a matter of minutes. The CAL approach, which is described in an open-access paper in Science , has several advantages over conventional layer-based printing methods, the authors said.

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Light Polymer Building Parts 379

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China and George Washington University in the US report in a new paper in the ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research that a range of important carbon nanomaterials can be produced at high yield by molten carbonate electrolysis. In the Solar Thermal Electrochemical Process (STEP), developed by Professor Stuart Licht and his group at GWU, solar UV–visible energy is focused on a photovoltaic device that generates the electricity t

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Carbon CO2 Range Solar 376

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 7, 2019

Researchers in Korea have developed three-dimensional monolithic corrugated graphene on nickel foam electrode as a Li metal storage framework in carbonate electrolytes. Electrochemical tests reported in their paper in the Journal of Power Sources illustrate the effectiveness of this material design concept, which provides a new route to the development of a Li metal electrode for use in highly reactive electrolytes.

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

Hyundai Motor’s Hydrogen Mobility Solution has won the second International Truck of the Year (IToY) Truck Innovation Award. Hyundai Motor Company and H 2 Energy set up its joint venture (JV), Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, in April 2019. ( Earlier post.) The goal of the cooperation is to expand Europe’s hydrogen mobility ecosystem by implementing the use of fuel cell trucks.

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Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 11, 2019

A team from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, and Georgia Tech has developed a a wave-energy-driven electrochemical CO 2 reduction system that converts ocean wave energy to chemical energy in the form of formic acid, a liquid fuel. The system, described in an open-access paper in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science , mainly consists of a spherical spring-assisted triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to convert th

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Carbon Energy Fuel Energy Storage 370

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 20, 2019

Syzygy Plasmonics , a technology company developing the world’s highest performance photocatalyst, raised $5.8 million in Series A funding. The financing was co-led by The Engine and by The GOOSE Society of Texas. Previous investor Evok Innovations was also a major participant in the round. Other participants include angel investors from the Creative Destruction Lab program and the Houston area.

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Manufacturer Fuel Clean Cleaning 371

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 25, 2019

Researchers at the University of Delaware have demonstrated a direct ammonia fuel cell (DAFC) prototype with a peak power density of 135 mW cm ?2. The DAFC employs an ammonia-tolerant precious-metal-free cathode catalyst and a high-temperature-stable hydroxide exchange membrane. Their paper is publishedin the journal Joule. The researchers started by analyzing the economics of hydrogen-, nitrogen-, and carbon-based fuels made by carbon-neutral pathways in a post-fossil world in which only water,

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Delaware Fuel Hydrogen Vehicles 370

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019

A team from the University of Cordoba in Spain and the University of Tehran in Iran has been searching for ways to increase hydrogen production by using microorganisms, specifically microalgae and bacteria. Researchers Neda Fakhimi, Alexandra Dubini and David González Ballester report being able to increase hydrogen production by combining unicellular green alga called Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with Escherichia coli bacteria.

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