Ford’s hands-free Active Drive Assist feature will arrive first on 2021 F-150 and 2021 Mustang Mach-E, included as standard on certain models or as relatively affordable option on others, with both vehicles becoming available to customers in late 2020. Ford expects to sell more than 100,000 F-150 and Mustang Mach-E... Read more →

Lidar developer Luminar Technologies, Inc. and Daimler Truck AG announced a strategic partnership to enable highly automated trucking, starting on highways. Experts at Daimler Trucks, its US subsidiary, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) and Torc Robotics, part of Daimler Trucks’ Autonomous Technology Group, with the experts at Luminar are collaboratively... Read more →

ABC Companies, a leading provider to the motorcoach, transit and specialty passenger transportation market in the United States and Canada, will soon be the first to offer a motorcoach-diesel-to-electric-repower program for North American operators. Together with Lightning eMotors, formerly known as Lightning Systems, the partners have created a five-step process... Read more →

The cross-industry initiative “Cobalt for Development” has started trainings for twelve artisanal mining cooperatives in October in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). The trainings cover major environmental, social and governance aspects for responsible mining practices. This includes mine site management and legal compliance, human rights, health and safety... Read more →

At SEMA360, Chevrolet will showcase a 1977 K5 Blazer converted to all-electric propulsion. The K5 Blazer-E is a functional proof of concept of the upcoming Electric Connect and Cruise package Chevrolet Performance plans to sell in the second half of 2021. During the virtual event, Chevrolet Performance will survey SEMA... Read more →

TRATON SE (formerly Volkswagen Truck & Bus) and Hino Motors, Ltd. signed a joint venture agreement for e-mobility in order to plan and provide e-mobility products that will be based on the two companies’ strategic partnership. (Earlier post.) TRATON and Hino will combine their unique strengths to develop electric vehicles... Read more →

Wireless power transfer pioner WiTricity closed a $34-million investment round. Stage 1 Ventures led the round with participation from Air Waves Wireless Electricity and a strategic investment by Mitsubishi Corporation through its US subsidiary, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas). The infusion of capital will enable WiTricity to continue its leading-edge wireless power... Read more →

Working in collaboration with its Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) project partners—CALSTART, Trillium, and Greenlots—and other industry organizations, Volvo Trucks has helped facilitate the modification of California utility rules to give private entities the ability to sell electricity as a motor fuel at publicly accessible charging stations... Read more →

Audi of America is among the first in the automotive industry to implement an internal carbon price program as a key initiative in the brand’s pursuit of lower CO2 emissions. This is part of the global commitment Audi has made to lower its carbon footprint by 30% by 2025, and... Read more →

Li-ion battery provider Octillion Power Systems is working with the reborn FNM (now Fábrica Nacional de Mobilidades) in Brazil to produce battery-electric trucks; FNM has selected Octillion as the official battery supplier for the coming lineup. Octillion will open a local battery factory inside FNM’s facility to lower manufacturing and... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems has signed definitive agreements—in the form of Amendments to the existing Technology Development Agreement and a Patent License Agreement—with Audi related to the non-binding Memorandum of Understanding previously announced in a press release on 14 September 2020, thereby expanding Ballard’s right to use the FCgen-HPS product, a... Read more →

HORIBA has introduced the automatic driving system ADS EVO, which is a driving robot for vehicle testing. The ADS EVO improves the efficiency of vehicle testing by reducing the number of repeat tests, laboratory operating costs, overall test time and the amount of human errors. The ADS EVO addresses changing... Read more →

Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, developed a new battery-powered switcher locomotive to be available globally, working in collaboration with its South American customer, Vale—one of the largest mining companies in the world. The new EMD Joule switcher includes battery capacity being delivered to Vale of 1.9 megawatt hours; this could... Read more →

The National Science Foundation has awarded $39 million to a team of engineers and computer scientists at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) to build a first-of-its-kind testbed—DERConnect—to improve the understanding of how to integrate distributed energy sources such as solar panels, wind turbines, smart buildings and electric vehicle... Read more →

In September, Vale, one of the world’s largest mining companies, completed its first sale of iron ore using blockchain technology with Nanjing Iron & Steel Group International Trade Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Nanjing Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (NISCO) for a cargo of 176,000 tons of Brazilian Blend Fines... Read more →

A new report by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) shows that despite strong growth, the available charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the EU still falls far below what is needed, and remains unevenly distributed across member states. ACEA published the second edition of Making the Transition to Zero-Emission... Read more →

Commercial real estate developer Hillwood announced that TuSimple, a self-driving technology company with a focus on heavy-duty trucks (earlier post), has secured property in AllianceTexas’ Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ) in north Fort Worth. The MIZ was launched last year as a first-of-its-kind “do tank” in collaboration with Deloitte, leading the... Read more →

Continental has taken a minority stake in lidar pioneer AEye. The company, headquartered in Dublin, California, has developed a precision, high-performance, long-range lidar technology. Continental plans to industrialize this for passenger cars and trucks. The volume production launch is scheduled for late 2024. The two companies have agreed not to... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has selected four projects for cost-shared research and development under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA), DE-FOA-0002180, Design Development and System Integration Design Studies for Coal FIRST Concepts. When fully negotiated and awarded, it is estimated that approximately $80 million... Read more →

Cargill and BAR Technologies have embarked on a strategic project with naval architect Deltamarin to bring cutting edge wind propulsion technology to commercial shipping. The project will see BAR Technology’s WindWings—large, solid wing sails that measure up to 45 meters in height—fitted to the deck of bulk cargo ships to... Read more →

Workhorse Group Inc., a company focused on providing drone-integrated electric vehicles to the last mile delivery sector, has submitted its formal Type Certification application to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the HorseFly Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft according... Read more →

In 2018, Consumer Reports (CR) began ranking active driving assistance systems, with the initial effort focused on systems from Cadillac, Nissan/Infiniti, Tesla, and Volvo. Over the last two years these advanced technologies have become more mainstream, and CR’s testing this year now includes 17 systems, including the original four. For... Read more →

Autotalks, a V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) chipset market pioneer, has successfully collaborated with seven consortiums and five car makers including Great Wall, Dongfeng and Brilliance Auto, a top US car maker and a leading European car maker, in China’s largestC-V2X demonstration yet, which took place in Shanghai. Autotalks demonstrated the interoperability and... Read more →

Proterra unveiled its new, high-powered charging solution that is designed to enable the electrification of large-scale vehicle fleets. With more fleet operators transitioning to full battery-electric vehicles, charging solutions that can efficiently and cost-effectively power large fleets of vehicles will play a critical role in transportation electrification. Developed in partnership... Read more →

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com The world’s largest automotive market, China, is looking to become a dominant player in the rising global electric vehicle market. Chinese EV manufacturers are expected to start expanding overseas, while Beijing already controls a large part of the global EV supply chain, beginning with critical... Read more →

Millions of used cars, vans and minibuses exported from Europe, the United States and Japan to the developing world are of poor quality, contributing significantly to air pollution and hindering efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The... Read more →

A team from KU Leuven and the University of Antwerp in Belgium has developed a new process that is suitable for the distributed, small-scale production of “green” ammonia. The process, called PNOCRA (Plasma Nitrogen Oxidation and Catalytic Reduction to Ammonia), combines plasma‐assisted nitrogen oxidation and lean NOx trap technology, adopted... Read more →

The British premium automobile manufacturer MINI is realigning its model range, with a focus on drivetrain technologies, vehicle segments and services of the future. Core elements of the realignment include the expansion of electromobility; enhanced commitment in the crossover and premium compact segments; and strengthening of the market position in... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz AG and Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc announced a new strategic technology agreement and an enhanced partnership. The new agreement will see Mercedes-Benz AG grant access to a range of advanced Mercedes-Benz technologies, including next generation hybrid and electric powertrains, as well as other vehicle components and systems.... Read more →

Audi of America, Applied Information, and Temple, Inc., are collaborating to develop two future connected vehicle applications that can help improve safety in school zones and around school buses when children are present. The first application, using cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology, is designed to warn drivers when they are approaching... Read more →