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... Read more →

A study by researchers at Tsinghua University in China has concluded that the overall impact of autonomous vehicle deployment on greenhouse gas emissions is not significant in the near-to mid-term. In the study, published in the journal Energy Policy, the researchers found that autonomous vehicles potentially affect the total greenhouse... Read more →

The Mercedes-Benz OM 654q four-cylinder diesel from the modern OM 654 engine family already complies with the Stage 2 RDE (Real Driving Emissions) standard which does not come into force until 2020, and is certified to Euro 6d. With its near-engine installation, the emission control system has low heat losses... Read more →

Researchers in Japan are presenting an organic catalyst for CO2 reduction that is inexpensive, readily available and recyclable. As the level of catalytic activity can be tuned by the solvent conditions, their findings could open up many new directions for converting CO2 to industrially useful organic compounds. Sustainability is a... Read more →

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... Read more →

Innovusion Inc., a designer and developer of hybrid Solid State LiDAR systems for vehicle safety applications, announced the availability of its Cheetah system. Based on a rotating polygon optical architecture, Innovusion has melded together proprietary detector electronics, advanced optics and sophisticated software algorithms to offer a long-distance, high-resolution LiDAR vehicle... Read more →

NIO has updated the NIO Pilot advanced driving assistant system (ADAS), adding seven features. At the same time, the company announced the NIO OS smart operating system was upgraded to NIO OS 2.0, and unveiled a new user experience (UX) vehicle interaction and user interface (UI) design. The NIO Pilot... Read more →

Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a novel technology that produces liquid hydrocarbon fuels exclusively from sunlight and air and have demonstrated the entire thermochemical process chain under real field conditions. Their new solar mini-refinery is located on the roof of ETH’s Machine Laboratory building in Zurich. CO2 and water... Read more →

OXIS Energy will establish the first manufacturing plant for the production of electrolyte and cathode active material specifically for the mass production of lithium sulfur cells. The plant will be built at the Kenfig Industrial Estate Port Talbot in Wales. OXIS has signed a 15-year lease with United UK Real... Read more →

A report released by C40 Cities finds that consumption-based emissions from nearly 100 of the world’s big cities already represent 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Without urgent action, those emissions are projected to nearly double by 2050. The new research, The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World,... Read more →

Using a protein produced by a fungus that lives in the Amazon, Brazilian researchers have developed a molecule capable of increasing glucose release from biomass for fermentation. The findings are published in an open-access paper the journal Scientific Reports. One of the main challenges of second-generation biofuel production is identifying... Read more →

In a major new report on hydrogen, the International Energy Agency says that the time is right to tap into hydrogen’s potential to play a key role in a clean, secure and affordable energy future. The in-depth study, which analyzes hydrogen’s current state of play and offers guidance on its... Read more →

ZF Friedrichshafen AG has expanded its E-Mobility division with new buildings and locations. On Friday, the technology company opened a new building for administration, R&D, and sales at the divisional headquarters in Schweinfurt. In Pančevo near the Serbian capital of Belgrade, a new plant for electric drives will go into... Read more →

LG Chem Ltd. will establish an electric vehicle (EV) battery joint venture (JV) in China with Geely Automobile. Under the terms of a new joint venture agreement, LG Chem and Geely Automobile will establish a 50:50 venture. LG Chem and Geely will each invest US$87 million. The factory site and... Read more →

Honda’s new compact electric vehicle, the Honda e, is the first Honda to be built on a dedicated EV platform, designed from the ground up to deliver excellent Honda driving dynamics. The Honda e platform has been developed with a focus on urban environments to offer a rewarding, responsive driving... Read more →

VDL Bus & Coach has expanded its Citea Electric product range with the Citea XLE-145 Electric. With this 14.5-meter e-bus, VDL Bus & Coach adds a new length variant to the available electric Low Entry buses. VDL introduced 12- and 12.9-meter electric Low Entry length variants in September 2018. In... Read more →

In May, cumulated BMW Group electrified sales topped the 400,000 mark with a total of 406,756 fully-electric and plug-in hybrid models delivered to customers since the BMW i3 first went on sale in November 2013. Five and a half years after it was launched, demand for the iconic BMW i3... Read more →

Natron Energy, a developer of new battery cell technology based on Prussian Blue analogue electrodes and a sodium-ion electrolyte, has (earlier post), has been awarded a $3-million grant by the California Energy Commission (CEC) for “Advanced Energy Storage for Electric Vehicle Charging Support.” Natron will utilize the funds to manufacture... Read more →

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) rating agency ISS ESG has awarded Valeo pole position in its ESG performance rating of global companies (auto components industry, 64 companies assessed). Valeo has also achieved Prime status for its excellent performance. Valeo scored particularly well in the three areas identified by ISS ESG as... Read more →

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a small, optical nano-sensor for pollution detection which can be mounted onto an ordinary streetlight. The technology is already in use in western Sweden, and researchers and other interested parties hope that the sensor could soon be used in many broad... Read more →

ZF has developed the Dual-cam two-lens camera specifically designed for the commercial truck market and to be used in concert with other ZF ADAS technologies. The camera features ZF’s longitudinal and lateral vehicle control expertise combined with Mobileye’s advanced EyeQ4 processor. Part of ZF’s S-Cam4 family of automotive-grade cameras, the... Read more →

Oberon Fuels, a producer of clean-burning dimethyl ether (DME) transportation fuel (earlier post), has been awarded a grant for $2,876,139 from the California Energy Commission (CEC) for a first-of-its-kind, multi-phase project to produce the first renewable dimethyl ether (rDME), a clean-burning, ultra-low-carbon transportation fuel, in the US. The CEC formally... Read more →

Fresh off breaking the lap record for electric vehicles on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (earlier post) the Volkswagen ID.R is set to defend its title at the “Goodwood Festival of Speed” (4 to 7 July). Last year, Romain Dumas, at the wheel of the fully-electric race car, set a new record for... Read more →

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Mellon College of Science and College of Engineering have developed a semiliquid lithium metal-based anode (SLMA) that represents a new paradigm in battery design for solid electrolyte batteries. The interdisciplinary research team published their findings in the current issue of Joule. Solid electrolytes are considered... Read more →

The UK government announced £23 million (US$29 million) in third-round funding from the Faraday Battery Challenge to projects to support the development of the latest electrified vehicle technology. The £23-million investment is part of the total £274 million (US$349 million) that will be awarded to consortia across the UK through... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation have invested in Aurora to accelerate development of autonomous vehicle technologies. The move will strengthen the strategic partnership formed between the companies in 2018, under which Hyundai, Kia, and Aurora have been collaborating on self-driving technologies on Hyundai’s flagship fuel cell vehicle NEXO.... Read more →

SW/TCH Maritime (SW/TCH), an impact investment platform building the first fleet of zero-emissions maritime vessels in the US, announced its investment to construct and own the ‘Water Go Round’ e-ferry in collaboration with Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine (GGZEM), a provider of turn-key hydrogen fuel cell power systems for ships.... Read more →

Volvo Cars and Uber presented a jointly developed production car capable of driving by itself, the next step in the strategic collaboration between both companies. Uber and Volvo Cars entered a joint engineering agreement in 2016 and have since developed several prototypes aimed at accelerating the companies’ self-driving car development.... Read more →

Facial and head injuries from riding electric scooters have tripled over the past decade, according to a Rutgers study. Electric scooter use has been increasing in popularity as a more environmentally friendly and efficient alternative to gasoline vehicles. However, state helmet laws vary, and the study found that many people... Read more →

Renesas Electronics Corporation has developed a new flash memory technology that achieves larger memory capacities, higher readout speeds, and over-the-air (OTA) support for automotive microcontrollers (MCUs) using the next-generation 28nm process. This new technology achieves the industry’s largest capacity of embedded flash memory on an MCU – 24 MB –... Read more →