Electrify America (EA), the largest open DC fast charging network in the US, is increasing access to sustainable electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure for rural Californians with the deployment of eight new solar-powered, off-grid charging stations across Fresno County. The eight are the first tranche of 30 Beam Global (formerly Envision... Read more →

A hydrogen exchange, similar to electricity and gas exchanges, could act as a catalyst for a market for climate-neutral hydrogen, according to an exploratory study, “A Hydrogen Exchange for the Climate”, presented to Eric Wiebes, the Netherlands Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. Commissioned by the Ministry and prepared... Read more →

European battery maker Northvolt signed a $600-million private placement, led by Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and Volkswagen AG, enabling the company to make further investments in expanding its production and recycling capacity as well as R&D activities to support the target of establishing 150 GWh of manufacturing... Read more →

Volvo Cars successfully placed its first green bond, raising €500 million from a diverse group of institutional investors and further increasing the company’s financial flexibility. A green bond is a type of fixed-income instrument that is specifically earmarked to raise money for climate and environmental projects. The proceeds of the... Read more →

A new study by researchers at the University of Toronto has found that current US policies are insufficient to remain within a sectoral CO2 emission budget for light-duty vehicles that is consistent with preventing more than 2 °C global warming. Current policies will create a mitigation gap of up to 19 GtCO2... Read more →

Operator Miejski Zakład Komunikacji (MZK) in Toruń, Poland, has bought six Solaris electric buses. The vehicles, which will enter into service in about 18 months, will be recharged by day using fast pantograph chargers deployed in three locations in the city; at night they will be charged at the bus... Read more →

Miltec UV International has been awarded a contract from the Defense Logistics Agency, to demonstrate the cell technology to produce solid-state lithium-ion batteries using Miltec’s UV cured Gel Polymer Electrolyte. This technology will accelerate the advancement of solid-state lithium batteries. Miltec is working in partnership with Saft America, Inc.’s Cockeysville,... Read more →

The Buick Electra concept vehicle made its global premiere in Shanghai. The all-electric crossover offers a glimpse of Buick’s vision for a new intelligent electric future. Adopting the new “potential energy” design language, the Electra comes with a new-generation electric propulsion system and the advanced Ultium battery, along with a... Read more →

A current research project is working to establish the technical basis for standardization of methanol fuels in Europe. The project involves a consortium of universities, research institutes, industrial companies and small and medium-sized enterprises as partners. The partners in the “Methanol Standard” project aim to pave way for the certification... Read more →

Transform Materials has developed a novel and sustainable microwave plasma reactor process to convert natural gas into high-value hydrogen and acetylene, thereby opening up a new pathway for green chemical manufacturing. Transform Materials offers compact, modular and multiplexed plasma reactors producing high-purity hydrogen and acetylene that customers can integrate into... Read more →

Audi of America, American Tower Corporation, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) are collaborating in an initial deployment of cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communication technology in Virginia. The Virginia C-V2X deployment is a result of the combined efforts of Audi of America, VDOT and Qualcomm Technologies, which... Read more →

Location accuracy is a key requirement for the Connected Vehicle (CV) Pilots as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technologies are deployed in the field in larger quantities. The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) CV Pilot team is working hard to ensure that the in-vehicle devices can establish their... Read more →

Volkswagen announced that the Taos compact SUV, which slots into the lineup below the Tiguan, will feature a new version of the EA211 turbocharged four-cylinder engine that currently powers the Jetta sedan. Making 158 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, the new engine increases in size from 1.4 to 1.5... Read more →

Jaguar Land Rover is working with ECONYL nylon to develop high-quality interiors made from ocean and landfill waste. Next-generation Jaguar and Land Rover models will feature floor mats and trims made with ECONYL fiber from recycled industrial plastic, fabric offcuts from clothing manufacturers, fishing nets from the farming industry, and... Read more →

Hybrid systems of floating solar panels and hydropower plants may hold the technical potential to produce a significant portion of the electricity generated annually across the globe, according to an analysis by researchers at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). A paper on the work is... Read more →

At the start of the new fiscal year on 1 October 2020, thyssenkrupp will commence the operational realignment of its automotive system engineering activities. In the coming months the current System Engineering business unit will be split commercially, operationally and legally into two independent business units. The aim is to... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group has formed New Horizons Studio, a new unit focused on the development of Ultimate Mobility Vehicles (UMVs), including the concept Hyundai Elevate walking car introduced at CES 2019 (earlier post). Hyundai Elevate does not rely solely on wheels and is expected to address challenging driving situations—for example,... Read more →

DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group, says it will be neutralizing the carbon emissions of all less-than-container load (LCL) ocean freight shipments from 1 January 2021. As one of the leading ocean freight forwarders worldwide, and in line with Deutsche Post DHL... Read more →

The California state legislature passed and the Governor signed into law a bill (AB-2663) that lowers the Use Fuel Tax rate of dimethyl ether (DME) from $0.18 to $0.06 per gallon of DME used and $0.06 per gallon of DME-propane fuel blend used on or after 1 July 2021 (the... Read more →

PT Pertamina (Persero)—the national oil company of Indonesia—will use Honeywell UOP technologies to produce advanced biofuels at its Plaju and Cilacap refineries in Indonesia. The company will use UOP Renewable Jet Fuel Process technology at its Plaju refinery in Palembang, South Sumatra, and UOP Ecofining technology at its Cilacap refinery... Read more →

by Michael Sivak, Sivak Applied Research. In two recent analyses, I have shown that, during the pandemic, the decrease in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the states with preference for Democrats was greater than in the states with preference for Republicans. This was the case in both March 2020 (the... Read more →

Demand growth of the 2020s will soon be dwarfed by the astronomical demand growth of the 2030s, according to a new forecast by Adamas Intelligence. Therein lies the real defining challenge and opportunity facing the global rare earth industry today, the company said. After growing at a CAGR of 6.4%... Read more →

ZeroAvia recently completed the first hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft. The flight took place at the company’s R&D facility in Cranfield, England, with the Piper M-class six-seat plane completing taxi, takeoff, a full pattern circuit, and landing. This milestone on the road to commercial zero-emission flight is part of... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems is expanding manufacturing capacity for production of its proprietary membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs)—a critical component of every fuel cell—6x by early 2021 at its headquarter facility in Vancouver. The upgraded capacity for production of 6 million MEAs annually, equivalent to approximately 1.66 Gigawatts of product, will make... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems and MAHLE have agreed to collaborate on the development and commercialization of zero-emission fuel cell systems to provide primary propulsion power in various classes of commercial trucks. MAHLE’s commercial vehicle division supplies a broad range of products to truck and other OEMs, including power cells, valves and... Read more →

In August 2020, cumulative US plug-in vehicle sales reached 1.6 million units, according to data gathered by Argonne National Laboratory. Plug-in vehicles consist of both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Source: Argonne National Laboratory, Light Duty Electric Drive Vehicles Monthly Sales Updates, August 2020. A... Read more →

Stanford University scientists have identified a new solid-state Li-ion electrolyte predicted to exhibit simultaneously fast ionic conductivity, wide electrochemical stability, low cost, and low mass density. The low-cost materials—made of lithium, boron and sulfur—could improve the safety and performance of electric cars, laptops and other battery-powered devices, according to the... Read more →

Solaris Bus & Coach has signed a contract with public transport operator Freiburger Verkehrs AG for the supply of 15 electric buses: five 12-meter Solaris Urbino 12 electric and ten 18-meter articulated Urbino 18 electric. The commissioned Urbino will be equipped with Solaris High Power batteries. Batteries with a total... Read more →

Chinese EV contender XPeng announced that its wholly owned subsidiary in China, Guangdong Xiaopeng Motors Technology Co., Ltd. entered into a cooperation agreement with Guangzhou GET Investment Holdings Co., Ltd., a wholly owned investment company of Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone. According to the terms of the Cooperation Agreement,... Read more →

A recent report from CE Delft, an independent research and consultancy organization, regarding the climate impact of Exhaust Gas Cleaning (EGC) systems for the marine industry. The study compares the results to the use of low-sulfur marine fuels and is made from a well-to-wake perspective in order to achieve an... Read more →