Electric Last Mile Solutions (ELMS), a commercial electric vehicle company focused on redefining productivity and sustainability for the last mile, reached an agreement with leading battery-maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) to supply batteries and secure production capacity needed for ELMS’ all-electric Class 1 Urban Delivery commercial vehicle. The... Read more →

Plug Power has executed a definitive agreement to acquire Applied Cryo Technologies, Inc. (ACT), a leading provider of technology, equipment and services for the transportation, storage and distribution of liquefied hydrogen, oxygen, argon, nitrogen and other cryogenic gases. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2021... Read more →

Universal Hydrogen closed a $62-million new funding round; the oversubscribed round was completed less than six months after the company’s Series A (earlier post), bringing total raised to $85 million. New investors in the round include Mitsubishi HC Capital; Tencent; Stratos; GE Aviation; Waltzing Matilda Aviation; Fourth Realm; Hawktail; Marc... Read more →

Nidec Corporation announced that the Ni200Ex, the company’s 200kW e-axle traction motor system, has made its way into ZEEKR 001, an electric vehicle newly released by Geely Automobile Group under its premium Zeekr brand. Developed based on the SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture), which is the EV platform created by Geely... Read more →

Maersk Growth, the corporate venture arm of A.P. Moller - Maersk, has invested in Vertoro, a Dutch start-up focused on developing liquid lignin technology which can be used as a marine fuel. Vertoro is a spin-off from a public-private partnership between Brightlands Chemelot Campus, DSM, Chemelot InSciTe, University of Maastricht... Read more →

HYVIA, the joint venture between Renault Group and Plug Power (earlier post), has unveiled the Renault Master Van H2-TECH prototype. A large van for transporting goods, with 12 m3 of cargo volume and a range of up to 500 km, the van will be available in 2022. Master Van H2-TECH... Read more →

Topsoe has begun production at a demonstration plant designed to validate its electrified technology for cost-competitive production of sustainable methanol from biogas as well as other sustainable products. The global annual production of methanol is around 110 million tons. With close to 1.4 ton CO2 being emitted per produced ton... Read more →

Nikola Corporation announced a collaboration with PGT Trucking, Inc. (PGT), an international multi-service flatbed transportation company, to advance electric drive heavy-duty transport. This collaboration includes a Letter of Intent (LOI) to lease 100 Nikola Tre heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) following the satisfactory completion of a Nikola Tre FCEV... Read more →

Cummins and GILLIG announced the production of the 100th GILLIG battery-electric bus built since the two companies began partnering on the heavy-duty transit vehicle. (Earlier post.) The milestone bus will be delivered to Metro Transit in St. Louis, Missouri this month. The companies have collaborated since 2019 to bring reliable... Read more →

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and Air Products Chairman, President, and CEO Seifi Ghasemi announced a $4.5-billion clean energy complex to be built in Louisiana that will make the state a leader in the US clean energy transition. Air Products is a world-leading industrial gas company that produces and transports... Read more →

Cummins Inc. will bring to market a 15-liter natural gas engine for heavy-duty trucks. The 15-liter natural gas engine is an important part of Cummins strategy for its path to zero emissions. The strategy focuses on new powertrains including advanced diesel, natural gas, hydrogen engines, hybrids, battery electric, and fuel... Read more →

An electric school bus in Beverly, Massachusetts, successfully delivered power back to the electricity grid for more than 50 hours over the course of the summer using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. This is the first time an electric school bus has been leveraged as an energy resource by the regional utility... Read more →

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has awarded New Flyer of America a contract for 12 battery-electric, 60-foot articulated Xcelsior CHARGE NG transit buses. The electric bus order follows the 2020 order of 26 Xcelsior CNG sixty-foot transit, and is supported by Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds. MTS operates... Read more →

Honda plans to apply the next generation of its advanced suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies—Honda Sensing 360—to all new Honda and Acura models in the US by 2030. With an expanded sensory range around the entire vehicle, Honda Sensing 360 removes blind spots to enhance collision avoidance, while also... Read more →

Solid-state sodium battery company LiNa Energy (earlier post) has closed out a £3.5-million (US$4.8-million) late seed funding round, attracting a combination of existing and new investors. This funding will enable the company to advance their technology through expanding their laboratory facilities, stepping-up recruitment and buying new equipment which will accelerate... Read more →

UK-based AMTE Power has secured a project from the Government’s Faraday Battery Challenge, worth £1 million, to develop a higher energy density variant of its Ultra High-Power (UHP) lithium-ion cell, with support from Imperial College London for battery modeling. (Earlier post.) The Power Up project will establish the necessary volume... Read more →

Plug Power announced a strategic partnership with Airbus to study the feasibility of bringing green hydrogen to future aircraft and airports worldwide. As part of its goal of bringing zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035, Airbus has identified green hydrogen as one of the most promising options to decarbonize air... Read more →

Phillips 66 and Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), a leading provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions, signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development of low-carbon hydrogen business opportunities. Phillips 66, which has 13 wholly owned and joint venture refineries in the US and Europe, owns extensive hydrogen-related infrastructure... Read more →

A consortium of public, private and academic experts led by Shell International Exploration and Production, Inc. (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, is working to enable large-scale liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage for international trade applications. Shell and the consortium partners—including McDermott’s CB&I Storage Solutions, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center,... Read more →

Volvo Group revealed what it said was the world’s first vehicle made of fossil-free steel from SSAB (earlier post)—made in Volvo Construction Equipment’s facility in Braås, Sweden. More vehicles will follow in 2022 in what will be a series of concept vehicles and components using fossil-free steel from SSAB. The... Read more →

Rio Tinto is progressing new technology to deliver low-carbon steel, using sustainable biomass in place of coking coal in the steelmaking process, in a potentially cost-effective option to cut industry carbon emissions. Over the past decade, Rio Tinto has developed a laboratory-proven process that combines the use of raw, sustainable... Read more →

Lightsource bp, together with Xcel Energy and EVRAZ North America, launched its new 300-megawatt Bighorn Solar project. Lightsource bp, a 50:50 joint venture with bp, unveiled the solar project that will help reduce emissions and support more than 1,000 jobs at EVRAZ’s Pueblo steel mill—the world’s first steel mill to... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems will supply eight of its 70 kW FCmove-HD fuel cell modules to Talgo S.A.—a leader in the design, manufacture, and maintenance of high-speed light-rail trains, headquartered in Madrid, Spain—for trials of its Talgo Vittal-One commuter and regional passenger train. Talgo plans to conduct its demonstration in early... Read more →

Air Liquide and Faurecia signed a joint development agreement to design and produce on-board liquid hydrogen storage systems for the automotive industry. Liquid hydrogen storage for fuel cell vehicles is well-suited for long-haul applications; with this technology, the amount of hydrogen stored is double that of gaseous hydrogen. As a... Read more →

A new study by the UK-based Zemo Partnership recommends that UK Government policy should increase its focus on the well-to-wheel (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and overall energy efficiency performance of new fuels for transport. While hydrogen, electric and renewable fuels (produced from waste-based feedstocks) can all radically cut emissions... Read more →

Gevo and Axens North America have entered into an agreement that establishes a strategic alliance aimed at accelerating the commercialization of sustainable ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) projects in the United States. As part of the alliance, Axens brings technologies with more than 60 related patents; engineering packages; proprietary catalysts; and certain proprietary... Read more →

The 2022 Audi A3 has started arriving in Audi dealerships across the US. The A3 features a standard 2.0-liter TFSI engine, generating a maximum 201 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque. Augmented by a standard 48-volt mild-hybrid (MHEV) system, a first for the model, it has the ability to coast... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) and the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), Army Research Laboratory, have designed a novel electrolyte incorporating a new class of solvents that could lead to rechargeable metal batteries based on magnesium (Mg) or calcium (Ca) while having equal or higher energy... Read more →

Amprius Technologies, a producer of 100% silicon anodes for Li-ion batteries (earlier post), announced a contract award with the US Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO). The contract, an 18-month rapid prototyping effort, includes the design, development, and validation of high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries to be used in unmanned... Read more →

Italvolt Spa has selected ABB for Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for its planned 45 GWh gigafactory in Italy. The two companies will also jointly explore how automation, electrification and digitalization solutions can fast-track production processes for battery manufacturing. More specifically, the technology partnership with ABB will bring Italvolt:... Read more →