Although hydropower is broadly considered to be much more environmentally friendly than electricity generated from fossil fuels (e.g., earlier post), a new study by a team at Environmental Defense Fund finds that the climate impact of hydropower facilities varies widely throughout the world and over time, with some facilities emitting... Read more →

Winnebago Industries, Inc. delivered the first all-electric mobile surgical instrument lab (eMSIL) to University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Health Center. The zero-emission mobile medical unit will travel between UCLA’s Ronald Reagan and Santa Monica campuses to collect, clean, repair, disinfect and sterilize surgical suite instruments. The eMSIL is... Read more →

The new generation of the Spain-based Irizar ie bus, an electric bus launched in July 2014, has now arrived on the market. New features include weight reduction, improved passenger capacity to meet the regulations of several countries, and new batteries providing greater range. This new generation is available in 10-,... Read more →

This year’s international Science Award Electrochemistry was presented to Dr Kimberly See of the California Institute of Technology at the Science Award Electrochemistry & Science Dialogue held in Wolfsburg’s Autostadt. The award has been presented seven times as a joint initiative of Volkswagen and BASF and is aimed at young... Read more →

Volkswagen of America marked the start of construction for its electric vehicle production facility. The Chattanooga site, where EV production will begin in 2022, will be Volkswagen’s North American assembly base for electric vehicles based on the Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB). The company also announced it intends to build... Read more →

China-based Kolbenschmidt Huayu Piston Co. Ltd. (KSHP) (belonging to Rheinmetall Automotive AG) has received an order from one of the world’s biggest car producers with a lifetime volume totaling more than €200 million for modern lightweight pistons for gasoline engines with ring carrier and coolant gallery technology. Lightweight gasoline piston... Read more →

Workhorse Group Inc. announced that EnerDel would be an additional key battery supplier for its next-generation C-Series delivery vehicle. In conjunction with this announcement, Workhorse placed an initial order for 5,200 EnerDel Vigor+ battery packs, which will be used in the production of its growing backlog of C-Series customer orders.... Read more →

China-based Xpeng Motors has closed a US$400-million Series C capital funding from a group of strategic and institutional investors. Xiaomi Corporation, a global leader in the technology and consumer electronics sector, is joining as a strategic investor. Xiaomi Corporation and Xpeng Motors have achieved significant progress through in-depth collaboration in... Read more →

Wind River is collaborating with Xilinx on the development of a comprehensive automated driving platform that integrates Xilinx’s Versal adaptive compute acceleration platform (ACAP) and Wind River automotive software. The collaboration will provide carmakers with a flexible, high-performance compute platform for delivering safe and secure connected and automated driving vehicles.... Read more →

Jeep will offer a diesel-powered Wrangler for the first time in North America with the introduction of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel. Wrangler four-door models will offer the new 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 engine (earlier post), rated at 260 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque in this application, with engine stop-start... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $3.6 million to 12 projects under its High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) initiative. Selected projects will receive access to the National Laboratories’ high-performance computing (HPC) facilities and expertise to help address key challenges in US manufacturing, material, and mobility development.... Read more →

The application period has opened for the 2020 Keeling Curve Prize, which awards $25,000 to each of 10 projects designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase their uptake. Each year, this prestigious competition attracts entries from around the world. The prize is named after scientist Charles David Keeling’s iconic... Read more →

The electronics architecture of the modern generation of vehicles is undergoing a profound transformation, moving away from the many individual control units of current cars towards a small number of high-performance functional domain computers. Volkswagen is now putting a server unit developed by Continental into production as an in-car application... Read more →

Pierburg (Rheinmetall Automotive), Swoboda, BASF and General Motors (GM) have developed the first all-plastic fuel vapor pump assembly in series production. It is currently produced at Pierburg’s facility in Fountain Inn, South Carolina and placed on the 2019 Cadillac XT4. The assembly is mounted on the engine and directly transfers... Read more →

by Michael Sivak. In this analysis, I compare the age composition of buyers of new light-duty vehicles (cars and light trucks) in 2007 and 2017. The data for 2007 came from IHS Markit and they apply to the buyers during the calendar year, while the data for 2017 were calculated... Read more →

The lifecycle CO2 balance of the Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 4MATIC is as low as 17.1 tonnes of CO2 when the electricity is produced by hydropower; 16.4 tonnes of that is from the production of the vehicle itself. On the average EU electricity mix, the lifecycle CO2 balance almost doubles to... Read more →

Researchers from the University of Houston have reported a significant breakthrough with a new oxygen evolution reaction catalyst that, combined with a hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst, achieved current densities capable of supporting industrial demands while requiring relatively low voltage to start seawater electrolysis. Researchers say the device, composed of inexpensive... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company successfully conducted the company’s first platooning of trailer trucks on the Yeoju Smart Highway replicating real-world traffic conditions. Hyundai Motor conducted the trial using two trailer-connected Xcient trucks. Yeoju Smart Highway is a 7.7km testbed within the central region expressway established by the Korean government for the... Read more →

The number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) often mirrors changes in the price of gasoline, according to data presented bybthe US Department of Energy (DOE). The figure below shows the percentage change in gasoline prices and VMT from one year to the next (e.g., January 2009 data were compared with... Read more →

Sales of BMW Group electrified vehicles worldwide were up 8.6% to 14,182 units in October, due to availability of the new BMW 330e and the BMW X5 xDrive45e. For the first 10 months of 2019, sales of electrified vehicles are up 0.1% to 110,734 units. The BMW i brand, with... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group has developed the first Road Noise Active Noise Control (RANC) system. RANC builds on the Group’s current Active Noise Control (ANC) technology, which actively reduces noise by emitting soundwaves inverted to incoming noise. ANC is a software-driven technology that analyzes the in-cabin sound to decrease engine and... Read more →

Researchers at MIT have determined that growth in aviation causes twice as much damage to air quality as to the climate. In an open-access paper in the journal Environmental Research Letters, they examine how this damage can be mitigated, and provide consistent comparative assessments of aviation emissions trade-offs, considering both... Read more →

The Qantas Group announced it will reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in a major expansion of the airline’s commitment to a more sustainable aviation industry. With actions starting from today, the Australian national carrier will immediately double the number of flights being offset; cap net emissions from 2020... Read more →

Sweden-based e-scooter operator VOI Technology has raised $85 million from new investors and existing to continue its mission of building a profitable micro-mobility business that transforms the future of urban transport. VOI launched in September 2018. The e-scooter operator will use the funding to continue building a profitable business in... Read more →

The newly launched Bidirectional Charging Management (BCM) research project is bringing together companies and institutions from the automotive, energy and scientific sectors to develop technology to interlink vehicles, charging infrastructure and power grids in a way that facilitates the widest possible use of renewable energy and at the same time... Read more →

A new report from Adamas Intelligence, “Electric Growth: EVs, Motors and Motor Materials”, forecasts that global annual EV sales (excluding mild and micro hybrids) will increase from 4.3 million units last year to 12.5 million in 2025 and 32.0 million in 2030. With upwards of 80% of all EVs projected... Read more →

Following the installation of a first-of-its-kind Dynamic Positioning (DP) system onboard the harbor tug PSA Polaris, Wärtsilä, in collaboration with PSA Marine, is carrying out trials of the autonomous tug in the Port of Singapore under real-world conditions. This phase of the project implementation, which has been approved by Lloyd’s... Read more →

The Chevrolet Menlo EV made its global premiere in China at 2019 Chevrolet Gala Night. The Chevrolet Blazer seven-seat mid-large SUV also was shown for the first time in China at the event. Chevrolet Menlo The Chevrolet Menlo will be the brand’s first fully electric vehicle available in China. The... Read more →

ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy, Inc. signed a new, two-year expanded joint-development agreement to further enhance carbonate fuel cell technology for the purpose of capturing carbon dioxide from industrial facilities. The agreement, worth up to $60 million, will focus efforts on optimizing the core technology, overall process integration and large-scale deployment... Read more →

In September 2019, the average new passenger EV sold globally (including HEVs, PHEVs and BEVs) contained 12.2 kilograms of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in its battery, a modest increase of 4% over the same month the year prior, according to Adamas Intelligence’s latest “EV Battery Lithium Monthly” report. On a... Read more →