Chinese, German researchers summarize state of knowledge of effects of tire wear particles on aquatic ecosystems

In a new review article in the Journal of Environmental Management, an international team of researchers from China and Germany summarizes the current state of knowledge on the occurrence of tire wear particles and the release of pollutants in aquatic ecosystems. The researchers warn of the toxic effects on aquatic... Read more →


thyssenkrupp Steel launches new high-tech facilities at Duisburg after €800M investment

After around two years of construction and assembly work, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe has implemented major strategic investments at the Duisburg location. With the core facilities now completed, Germany’s largest steelmaker has modernized and optimized its production network at key interfaces. The new linked plant components are a rejuvenation treatment for... Read more →


Cleveland-Cliffs commissions $150M stainless bright anneal line at Coshocton Works; 100% hydrogen atmosphere

Cleveland-Cliffs recently comissioned its new Vertical Stainless Bright Anneal Line at its Coshocton Works facility in Coshocton, Ohio. This $150-million capital investment has been completed and will supply premium stainless steel for high-end automotive and critical appliance applications. The new annealing line uses a 100% hydrogen atmosphere, replacing the conventional... Read more →


Ship traffic in shallow areas, such as ports, can trigger large methane emissions by just moving through the water, according to a new study led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. In the study, the researchers observed twenty times higher methane emissions in the shipping lane compared to nearby... Read more →


UCLA team finds high levels of PM2.5 in air near EV fast charging stations

A team led by UCLA Fielding School of Public Health researchers has found the levels of fine particulate matter in the air near electric vehicle fast charging stations across Los Angeles County are significantly higher than those measured at urban sites without the stations. The open-access study is published in... Read more →


Shell and Nissan Formula E Team continue technical partnership in the FIA Formula E World Championship

Shell and Nissan Formula E Team announced the continuation of their long-running technical partnership in the FIA Formula E World Championship. Building on the partners’ commitment to innovation and technology leadership, Nissan Formula E Team and Shell plan to further collaborate in R&D to explore new opportunities to provide more... Read more →


With its AI-based TempAI solution, ZF is integrating a new method that takes temperature management in electric drives to a new level. By using a self-learning temperature model, TempAI improves forecast accuracy by over 15%, enabling significantly more precise thermal utilization of the electric machine. This accurate data allows significantly... Read more →


Germany-based Wevo has introduced WEVOSIL 22106 FL, 22102 FL and 22105 FL—three new potting compounds from Wevo which offer excellent protection against mechanical stresses due to their supersoft consistency. These three materials also enable efficient thermal management and are optimized for reliable potting. They provide solutions for use in numerous... Read more →


Washington accepts $714.5M bid from Eastern Shipbuilding Group to construct 3 new hybrid-electric ferries

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson announced he has selected the $714.5-million bid from Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group to build three new 160-vehicle hybrid-electric ferries. Washington State Ferries (WSF) will move forward with the contracting process, following the first competitive bid for ferry construction in more than 25 years. The contract award... Read more →


ZF is equipping the all-electric CELESTIQ luxury sedan from Cadillac with the Smart Chassis Sensor. The ZF solution is permanently integrated into the ball joints of all four-wheel suspensions and determines the vehicle’s ride height. Information generated from smart algorithms in the sensors is important, for example, for the electronic... Read more →


PPG and ArcelorMittal showcase low-carbon auto manufacturing collaboration at SURCAR

Paint supplier PPG and steel producer ArcelorMittal announced a major step forward in reducing the carbon footprint of automotive manufacturing. The collaboration combines advanced steelmaking technologies with next-generation electrocoat solutions. The results were presented last week at the SURCAR automotive painting conference in Cannes, France. The study revealed that greenhouse... Read more →


SwRI and UTSA to flight test novel electrolyzer technology

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will receive a $500,000 award from NASA’s TechLeap Prize program to flight test novel electrolyzer technology designed to improve the production of propellants and life-support compounds on the Moon, Mars or near-Earth asteroids. The project, known as... Read more →


Allotrope Energy’s supercapacitors double the performance, halve the cost for hybrids

Allotrope Energy, a developer of next-generation carbon systems, has developed an entirely new class of supercapacitors with twice the energy density of existing solutions. Their use could replace traditional lithium-ion batteries in hybrid applications to create powertrains that recover more energy and provide greater motive assistance, yet at a substantially... Read more →


PowerCell receives first order for next-generation marine fuel cell system from OEM customer, valued at US$4.65M

PowerCell has signed a SEK-44 million (US$4.65-million) agreement with a leading Italian marine OEM for the development and delivery of a new high-power marine fuel cell system. The order represents the first commercial commitment to PowerCell’s next-generation stack platform, developed to meet the demands of large-scale marine and industrial applications.... Read more →


Daimler Buses reports more than 2,500 Mercedes-Benz e-Citaro electric buses in service in Europe

More than 2,500 units of Mercedes-Benz e-Citaro low-floor electric bus have rolled off the production line in Mannheim since the start of series production at the end of 2018 and have been delivered to customers. Numerous large orders came from German cities such as Stuttgart, Hamburg, Bonn, Dresden, Bremen, Wiesbaden,... Read more →


BVG orders another 270 Solaris e-buses

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) has placed another order for articulated electric Solaris buses under an existing framework agreement. Following the delivery of the first batch of 50 Solaris Urbino 18 electric buses, the Berlin public transport operator has now ordered an additional 270 vehicles of the same length. The framework agreement... Read more →


Honda backs off plans for new fuel-cell production plant in Japan

Honda Motor is changing the previously announced plan to begin operation of a plant in Moka City, Tochigi, Japan, dedicated to production of the next-generation fuel cell module. The original plan was to utilize part of the land and buildings of a former Honda Powertrain Unit Factory in Moka City,... Read more →


SwRI advancing fuel cell testing for more efficient hydrogen-powered vehicles

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has developed new methods for evaluating the performance and efficiency of fuel cell technology in hydrogen-powered vehicles without the need for test tracks or dynamometers. SwRI has created a novel controller system for hydrogen-powered vehicles that grants full authority over their fuel cell engines. Now, engineers... Read more →


ICCT: Private jets emitted more climate pollution than all flights departing Heathrow in 2023; up 25% over past decade

A new study from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) estimates that private jets produced up to 19.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2023, a 25% increase over the past decade and accounting for nearly 4% of all civil aviation emissions at their post-COVID peak. This... Read more →


Sionic Energy unveils 370 Wh/kg rapid integration silicon platform

Sionic Energy announced commercial availability of its Rapid Integration Silicon Platform. Built on standard Li-ion manufacturing lines, and verified by independent labs and global automotive companies, the drop-in technology delivers 370 Wh/kg, <10-minute charge capability, and more than 1,000 cycles with operating temperatures from -30 °C to 45 °C. Packaged... Read more →


Nissan is launching the most advanced form of its unique e-POWER technology in Europe. First launched in Europe four years ago, e-POWER was developed to deliver an electric-drive experience without the need to plug in—combining the smooth, effortless acceleration and refinement of an EV with the everyday convenience of traditional... Read more →


Mercedes‑AMG has unveiled the CONCEPT AMG GT XX as a preview of a forthcoming four-door series-production sports car from Mercedes‑AMG. The concept, with three axial flux motors and a high performance battery developed from scratch, includes an abundance of technical innovations earmarked for use in the subsequent series-production models based... Read more →


Group14 announces performance benchmark for silicon battery materials

Group14 Technologies, a manufacturer of advanced silicon battery materials, announced a major performance benchmark: SCC55 is enabling silicon battery manufacturers to consistently achieve over 1,500 charge cycles—and in some cases more than 3,000—cross a range of applications. For years, the goal of the silicon battery industry has been to meet... Read more →


Belgian Flemish public transport company De Lijn has just confirmed the acquisition of 100 new articulated e-buses from IVECO BUS. This order is part of the existing framework agreement signed in 2023 and adds to the 141 E-WAY 18-meter buses currently being delivered. The delivery of these new vehicles is... Read more →


Zeon establishes new research facility to develop plant‐based production processes for synthetic rubber raw materials

Japan-based Zeon Corporation has constructed a new research facility on the premises of Zeon Chemicals Yonezawa to develop production processes for plant‐derived raw materials. This facility will accelerate the development of biotechnology to produce butadiene and isoprene directly, which are key components of synthetic rubber, from plant‐derived materials, with the... Read more →


Horse Technologies, a division of Horse Powertrain and a developer of low-emission powertrain systems, announced its new integrated hybrid drive unit, the HR18 HEV. The first complete powertrain unit designed, developed, and produced under the Horse Powertrain brand, the HR18 HEV was developed at the R&D centers in Romania and... Read more →


QuantumScape announces Cobra separator process enters baseline production

QuantumScape Corporation, a developer of solid-state lithium-metal battery technology, announced the successful integration of its advanced Cobra separator process into baseline cell production. Cobra forms the foundation of QS’ high-throughput, continuous-flow separator production platform. Designed to enable faster, more energy-efficient production with a smaller equipment footprint compared to earlier processes,... Read more →


NSF invests $25.5M in research to drive new US manufacturing technologies and talent pipelines

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a $25.5-million investment to support fundamental research and workforce development aimed at enabling future generations of US manufacturing. This year’s awards will support seven research grants and nine seed projects across 36 institutions and companies through the NSF Future Manufacturing (NSF FM) program.... Read more →


Ideal Power collaborates with fourth global Tier 1 automotive supplier on use of B-TRAN-enabled contactors

Ideal Power, a developer and provider of the B-TRAN bidirectional semiconductor power switch, is collaborating with a fourth global Tier 1 automotive supplier that serves several top 10 global automotive OEMs. Ideal Power is engaged with multiple engineering teams of this global Tier 1 automotive supplier on the use of... Read more →


Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting to invest $1.6B to develop the Hope Downs 2 project in Western Australia’s Pilbara

Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting will invest $1.61 billion (Rio Tinto share $0.8 billion) to develop the Hope Downs 2 iron ore project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The Hope Downs 2 project, to mine Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting’s Hope Downs 2 and Bedded Hilltop deposits, has now received... Read more →