Twenty-one California nonprofits, local governments, transit agencies, and Native American tribal governments in under-resourced communities have been awarded up to $1 million each by the new Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program (CMO) to develop and launch zero-emission mobility projects, such as bikesharing and ride-on-demand services, aimed at overcoming transportation... Read more →

The Urban Air Mobility Division of Hyundai Motor Group is partnering with ANRA Technologies—a leading international provider of end-to-end drone operations and traffic management solutions for unmanned system operators and airspace managers—to begin developing the operating environment for the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry. This is the first in a... Read more →

Leaders of Mcity at the University of Michigan conducted the first demonstration of a protocol designed to prove that highly automated vehicles are safe before testing moves on to public roads. The Mcity ABC Test is a concept methodology for an independent and standardized way for automakers and state and... Read more →

Toyota’s global brand for new mobility services, KINTO, is now introducing the Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle into its KINTO Share fleet in Sweden. Since KINTO started its Swedish operations one year ago, the mobility service provider has grown rapidly to almost 1.000 cars in operation today, covering almost all... Read more →

General Motors and Shell, through its wholly owned subsidiary MP2 Energy, LLC, are collaborating to provide comprehensive energy solutions programs to GM’s customers and supply chain partners, including fixed-rate home energy plans backed by 100% renewable energy resources. This program is currently available for eligible owners of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC... Read more →

New analysis of the latest IHS Markit new vehicle registration data in the US indicates vehicles with a hybrid powertrain (both gasoline and electricity) are out-performing EVs, based on several metrics. In April, hybrids accounted for 6.1% of all new vehicles registered, more than double EVs’ share of 2.4%. The... Read more →

Rio Tinto, a leading global mining and metals company, and Schneider Electric signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a collaboration to develop a circular and sustainable market ecosystem for both companies and their customers. This multi-product partnership will see Schneider Electric use responsibly sourced materials produced by Rio Tinto.... Read more →

Canadian oil sands production has fully recovered from last year’s “COVID-19 Shock”—the largest contraction of upstream production in Canadian history—and has exceeded pre-pandemic levels. However, lingering COVID impacts, pipeline constraints and uncertainties related to an accelerating energy transition have reduced the longer-term growth projection for oil sands. The latest forecast... Read more →

bp announced the safe start-up of the Manuel project in the US Gulf of Mexico, the fourth of five major projects expected to be delivered globally in 2021. Manuel includes a new subsea production system for two new wells tied into the Na Kika platform. The wells are expected to... Read more →

Smart power electronics company Exro Technologies and Linamar, a tier one supplier, have agreed to develop develop an advanced eAxle for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles utilizing Exro’s Coil Driver technology to improve cost and performance of Linamar’s eAxle product line. (Earlier post.) Coil Driver is a next-generation controller that expands... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group and Grab Holdings Inc. are enhancing their ongoing strategic partnership in mobility services to focus on accelerating EV adoption in Southeast Asia. The Group—including Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation—and Grab will further develop new pilots and initiatives that lower the barriers of entry for Grab driver... Read more →

VivoPower International has entered into a binding Letter of Intent with Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited to create a program for the electrification of Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles using conversion kits designed and manufactured by VivoPower’s wholly-owned electric vehicle subsidiary, Tembo e-LV B.V. The binding LOI sets out the terms... Read more →

Oshkosh Defense has selected Spartanburg, South Carolina to be the home of its efforts to build the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) for the US Postal Service. (Earlier post.) The NGDV is the USPS’ first large-scale fleet procurement in three decades. Oshkosh Defense, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation, will... Read more →

A new report from IDTechEX forecasts the solid-state battery market will grow to $8 billion by 2031. Under most of the mass-production plans, the solid-state battery will likely take off after 2025, although small-scale production may happen even earlier, IDTechEX said. The car plug-in market will take the largest share... Read more →

Following the announcement by solid-state battery company Solid Power that it will become a publicly listed company through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), materials technology company Umicore announced that it holds a stake in Solid Power’s pre-SPAC transaction. This stake was built through two successive investment rounds (series A... Read more →

Solid-state battery technology developer Sakuu Corporation (previously KeraCel Inc.) recently announced the approval of three patents: a hybrid solid-state cell with a sealed anode structure; an additive manufacturing system with the ability to create an active device such as a micro-reactor or solid-state battery; and an electrophotographic multi-material 3D printer.... Read more →

As part of its strategic realignment, Audi is accelerating the transition to e-mobility. The manufacturer will be gradually phasing out the production of internal combustion engines until 2033. Production of Audi’s final completely newly developed combustion engine model will start in just four years. Beginning in 2026, the brand will... Read more →

Ford is working with its international nonprofit and grantmaking partners to support and promote a pilot program that will empower women working in the copper and cobalt supply chains in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The region has emerged as a key resource for critical metals that have become... Read more →

Proterra Inc and Miami-Dade County announced a major fleet electrification project with the County acquiring 42 Proterra ZX5+ electric transit buses, featuring a total of 19 MWh of battery storage capacity, along with plans to install 75 Proterra chargers across three bus depots. The first electric buses are slated to... Read more →

Lead levels in London’s atmosphere have dropped significantly since lead additives in gasoline were phased out, and currently meet UK air quality targets. However, despite this drop, airborne particles in London are still highly lead-enriched compared to natural background levels, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the... Read more →

The energy density of traditional lithium-ion batteries is approaching a saturation point that cannot meet the demands of the future—in electric vehicles, for example. Lithium metal batteries can provide double the energy per unit weight when compared to lithium-ion batteries. The biggest challenge hindering their use is the formation of... Read more →

Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in collaboration with two electric utilities, recently examined the causes, costs and lead times of distribution system upgrades anticipated for depot charging of short-haul heavy-duty trucks in the United States. The team also developed synthetic depot charging load profiles for heavy-duty trucks... Read more →

SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall have now produced hydrogen-reduced sponge iron on a pilot scale. The technological breakthrough within the HYBRIT (earlier post) initiative cuts about 90% of the emissions in connection with steel production and is a decisive step on the road to fossil-free steel. The test production was carried... Read more →

Rio Tinto will deploy the world’s first fully autonomous water trucks at its $2.6-billion Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The new vehicles, primarily used for dust suppression on site, will enhance productivity by enabling mine operations to track water consumption digitally and reduce waste. Rio Tinto... Read more →

Volvo Car Group intends to establish a joint venture with Swedish battery company Northvolt to develop and produce more sustainable batteries, tailored to power the next generation of pure electric Volvo and Polestar cars. As a first step for the 50/50 joint venture, Volvo Car Group and Northvolt aim to... Read more →

The Zaragoza, Spain City Council is ordering 68 Irizar e-mobility electric buses—51 12-meter units and 17 articulated. These buses will be progressively incorporated into the service from the last half of next year and will be operated by Avanza. This is the largest electric bus project to date for Irizar... Read more →

Canada has launched the $1.5-billion Clean Fuels Fund with a call for proposals for projects that increase Canada’s capacity to produce clean fuels. Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, made the announcement during the World Hydrogen Technologies Convention hosted by the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association and supported... Read more →

Toyota Research Institute (TRI) unveiled new robotics capabilities aimed at solving complex tasks in home environments. Specifically, TRI roboticists were able to train robots to understand and operate in complicated situations that confuse most other robots, including recognizing and responding to transparent and reflective surfaces in a variety of circumstances.... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group, Boston Dynamics, Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp. announced the completion of Hyundai’s acquisition of a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics from SoftBank, following the receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The deal valued the mobile robot firm at $1.1 billion. Additional financial details were... Read more →

Porsche is investing a high double-digit-million amount in its new joint venture company Cellforce Group GmbH. Porsche and joint venture partner Customcells, a spin-off from Fraunhofer, also announced the launch of production of high-performance battery cells at Porsche’s Weissach Development Center. The new high-performance cells use silicon as the anode... Read more →