Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a composite that increases the electrical current capacity of copper wires, providing a new material that can be scaled for use in ultra-efficient, power-dense electric vehicle traction motors. ORNL scientists used new techniques to create long lengths of a composite copper-carbon nanotube... Read more →

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that Dr. Kyung-Joong Yoon and Researcher Ji-Su Shin from the Center for Energy Materials Research, together with Professor Yun -Jung Lee from Hanyang University (Hanyang University, President Woo-Seung Kim), have developed a single-atom Pt catalyst that can be used for SOFCs.... Read more →

Evonik and Siemens Energy commissioned a pilot plant—sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)—that uses carbon dioxide and water to produce chemicals. The necessary energy is supplied by electricity from renewable sources. The pilot plant is located in Marl, in the northern Ruhr area. It is... Read more →

US Xpress, Inc., one of the US’ largest asset-based truckload carriers by revenue, released its September industry forecast spotlighting key economic trends and updates specific to the trucking industry. Three key insights include: Rising Driver Turnover. As the economy slowly recovers, freight volumes will rise and drivers will become an... Read more →

The US Energy Information Administration released its annual fuel ethanol production capacity report, with data for all operating US fuel ethanol production plants as of 1 January 2020. According to the EIA, total nameplate capacity for 2020 has creeped up to 17.378 billion gallons per year, up 2.8% from 16.908... Read more →

At the 16th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (Auto China 2020), Beijing Hyundai Motor Company showcased its RM20e electric racing midship sports car prototype and Prophecy concept EV model, demonstrating the reach of its EV ambitions. The new Tucson as well as new Elantra also made their debuts to Chinese customers.... Read more →

The California Center for Jobs & The Economy has released an updated report (earlier post) on the progress of ZEV sales in the state during the first half of 2020, drawing on sales data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA). For a baseline, the report uses the goal... Read more →

Volkswagen and Uber have launched a pilot project for the utilization of electric vehicles within the sustainable ride hailing service “Uber Green”. The objective of the pilot project is to use a number of year-old e-Golf vehicles which may run into three digits. Volkswagen has already been using the e-Golf... Read more →

Fisker Inc. announced details surrounding its first dedicated engineering and technology center, to be located in the Mission District of San Francisco. This facility will be the focal point and development center for the company’s software and vehicle electronics, including both in-car and Fisker data center elements. With the development... Read more →

Volvo Penta has developed an electric driveline for leading fire service vehicle manufacturer Rosenbauer’s pioneering fire truck, named “Revolutionary Technology” (RT). The truck was officially launched at an event in Austria. The RTs will now be sent to fire departments in Berlin, Amsterdam and Dubai to begin real-world customer testing.... Read more →

Communities throughout California can now purchase all-electric shuttle buses and ADA-equipped vans from Lightning Systems on a new California Association for Coordinated Transportation (CALACT) cooperative purchasing contract. City and county governments, transportation agencies, as well as nonprofits, can order all-electric Class 3 to 5 passenger buses under the program. Vehicles... Read more →

Keolis, in partnership with Urban ICT Arena, Telia, Ericsson Intel and T-engineering, has launched a new autonomous self-driving, electric minibus trial in Stockholm, Sweden, using 5G technology to control and supervise the vehicle remotely. This trial aims to explore the safe introduction of self-driving autonomous electric vehicles in complex urban... Read more →

A new analysis by Consumer Reports finds that owners of plug-in electric vehicles are spending half as much on maintenance and repair as the owners of similar gas-powered vehicles. Consumer Reports (CR) analyzed its 2019 and 2020 reliability survey data for many thousands of electric and gas-powered vehicles, and found... Read more →

The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR will tackle this year’s Nürburgring 24-hour race featuring a complete body kit made of natural-fiber composite materials for the first time. Since early 2019, Porsche manufactured the two doors and the rear wing of the small series racing vehicle out of a natural-fiber... Read more →

US Representative Cheri Bustos (IL-17) introduced the Next Generation Fuels Act, legislation that leverages greater fuel octane to reduce carbon emissions from transportation, improve air quality by reducing the use of harmful aromatics and increase demand for biofuels. This legislation establishes a minimum octane standard for gasoline and requires sources... Read more →

Nearly half—48%—of rail tank cars carrying Class 3 flammable liquids in 2019 in the US met the new safety requirements, up from 33% in 2018, according to Fleet Composition of Rail Tank Cars Carrying Flammable Liquids: 2020 Report released today by the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.... Read more →

Inmotive, a Canadian-based automotive supplier, has launched its patented Ingear two-speed transmission. Invented and designed for the next generation of electric vehicles, the Ingear features a simple and durable design that enables a more efficient powertrain, with extended range, at lower cost. Inmotive recently completed its extensive pre-production testing of... Read more →

Series production of the Mercedes-Benz eActros heavy-duty truck is due to start in 2021 at the Wörth plant, alongside the existing manufacture of trucks with combustion engines. The electric truck models are set to be assembled alongside trucks with conventional drives in a flexible process. The construction of the different... Read more →

The BMW Group is further expanding its Germany-based production capacities for electric drives. From 2021, the Leipzig plant will also produce battery modules for the high-voltage batteries of the BMW Group’s electrified vehicles. By 2022, the company will invest more than €100 million in the site to prepare for the... Read more →

Lion Electric will deliver 10 battery electric trucks to Amazon; the first two will be delivered this year. Amazon plans to use Lion’s trucks in its middle-mile trucking operations, which transports items within the company’s network. This vehicle delivery for Amazon represents a very significant milestone for Lion. Amazon is... Read more →

The average cost of a Li-ion battery cell—used to power electric vehicles and to provide flexibility in the power grid as more renewables, such as solar and wind, are added will fall below $100 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the next three years, according to a new analysis by IHS... Read more →

Anticipating increasing desire from airlines to reduce emissions, Neste and Shell Aviation have entered into a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply agreement. This agreement significantly increases the supply and availability of SAF for the aviation industry with effect from October 2020. It brings together Neste’s expertise in the production and... Read more →

California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035 and additional measures to eliminate harmful emissions from the transportation sector. Following the order, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) will develop regulations to mandate that 100% of in-state... Read more →

Volkswagen of America revealed the all-new ID.4 electric SUV—the brand’s first long-range EV to be sold in the US. This compact SUV, which will be available in rear-wheel drive 201-hp 82 kWh (launching first) and all-wheel-drive 302-hp 82 kWh configurations, offers three years of fast charging with Electrify America for... Read more →

Tula Technology is presenting its diesel Dynamic Skip Fire (dDSF) technology (earlier post) at the 4th Future Diesel Powertrain Summit China 2020 on 24-25 September 2020 in Shanghai, China. In addition to providing an overview of dDSF technology, the presentation will address the Cummins-Tula 15L Heavy-Duty dDSF Project as well... Read more →

Elon Musk used Tesla’s much-anticipated Battery Day presentation not to disclose some super cell, but to outline an aggressive, comprehensive and radically innovative approach to battery design, manufacturing and vehicle integration that he projected will result in a 56% reduction in cost/kWh and a $25,000 electric vehicle in about three... Read more →

Power management company Eaton announced that its Twin Vortices Series (TVS) technology has proven to be an integral component in hydrogen fuel cell modules, which benefit from the precise air flow control offered by the TVS unit to operate at peak efficiency. The TVS fuel cell blower is electrically driven,... Read more →

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has added two test stands to its Exhaust Composition Transient Operation Laboratory — ECTO-Lab. This computer-controlled, multi-fueled burner system simulates engine exhaust conditions to conduct steady-state and transient evaluations, including the ability to age a wide range of emission control systems rapidly. The ECTO-Lab expansion includes... Read more →

Automotive data services platform provider Otonomo announced the release of its self-serve platform and API, which provide online access to real-time and historical aggregated connected car data—an industry first. Each day, Otonomo makes available more than four billion connected car data points from millions of cars in more than 70... Read more →

Airbus has revealed three concepts for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft which could enter service by 2035. All of these concepts rely on hydrogen as a primary power source—an option which Airbus believes holds exceptional promise as a clean aviation fuel and is likely to be a solution for... Read more →