Origin Materials launched its Net Zero Automotive Program with Ford Motor Company. The Net Zero Automotive Program is a sustainable automotive supply chain initiative focused on industrializing new materials to drive decarbonization in the automotive industry. Origin Materials has developed technology which turns sustainable wood residues into cost-advantaged, carbon-negative materials... Read more →

Volkswagen is pressing ahead with the use of 3D printers in car production. For the first time, binder jetting is being used to manufacture components at the company’s main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. (earlier post) Whereas conventional 3D printing uses a laser to build a component layer by layer from... Read more →

The BMW Group is beginning to test near-standard vehicles with a hydrogen fuel cell drive train in everyday conditions on European roads. Prototypes of the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT will examine how effectively the CO2-free drive train, model-specific chassis technology and vehicle electronics systems work together under real-life conditions. The... Read more →

Germany will invest some €227 million to support the electrification of rail, with a focus on batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, including charging and refueling infrastructure. Currently, 61% of the rail network in Germany is electrified with overhead lines. Conventional rail vehicles with diesel engines are currently used almost exclusively... Read more →

Volkswagen revealed the new ID.4 AWD electric SUV, bound for dealers in the US in the fourth quarter. With two electric motors, max 295 horsepower and an estimated 0-60 mph time of 5.7 seconds for the AWD Pro model, the ID.4 AWD offers performance and all-weather traction with a starting... Read more →

Mazda Motor Corporation announced its new technology and product development plans, which include the introduction of a dedicated EV platform—SKYACTIV EV Scalable Architecture—in 2025, which can be adapted for various vehicle sizes and body types. Mazda has been continuously enhancing its internal combustion engines (SKYACTIV-X and new straight-six engines) and... Read more →

General Motors and Liebherr-Aerospace will join forces to develop a hydrogen fuel cell power generation demonstrator system for aircraft. The two companies will explore possiblities to develop an integrated system, customized to the performance and economic requirements of commercial aircraft. The construction and testing of this demonstrator—based, in part, on... Read more →

Bosch has signed a long-term agreement with cellcentric to supply electric air compressors with integrated power electronics. These compressors govern the fuel-cell system’s oxygen supply. A 50:50 joint venture between Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group AB, cellcentric is responsible for all activities along the entire value chain. Like Bosch,... Read more →

The BMW Group has created a closed-loop material cycle for tungsten used in drill and milling bits for industrial machinery used in producing cars; the company is collecting old drill and milling bits at its plants in Germany and Austria for recycling. The secondary tungsten obtained in this way will... Read more →

Australia-based Magnis Energy Technologies Limited announced that Imperium3 New York (iM3NY) has produced its first full-sized prismatic cells ahead of schedule for limited testing and customer sampling in Q3 2021. The first cells were produced using manual settings to refine the product design for future automated production. While the volumes... Read more →

Fisker Inc. signed a binding agreement supporting manufacturing with Magna International. Along with the previously signed agreements on electric vehicle (EV) platform sharing and ADAS package, this finalizes the framework established between the two companies beginning in October 2020. Fisker and Magna also confirmed that production of the all-electric Fisker... Read more →

Electric cars do not emit carbon on the road, but the generation of electricity also produces carbon emissions—far more when the power is generated from fossil fuels than from renewable energy sources. Audi is thus partnering with energy providers to support the expansion of renewable energy sources in Europe. The... Read more →

ClearFlame Engine Technologies, a growing startup dedicated to the development of clean engine technology (earlier post), secured $2.5 million in additional financing from several investors, including the Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas and Illinois Corn Growers Associations. The new funding will help ClearFlame deploy pilot Class 8 trucks with its patented technology.... Read more →

As part of the THINKTANK Industrial Resource Strategies, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have been working with Audi on the pilot project “Chemical Recycling of plastics from automotive manufacturing.” The results of the project indicated that the chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste is both technically feasible... Read more →

Canada-based Covenant Energy Ltd. has chosen Haldor Topsoe’s HydroFlex renewable fuel technology to produce renewable diesel from vegetable oil. The 6,500 barrels-per-day renewable diesel unit will be built in Saskatchewan, Canada, and is scheduled to go into operation early in 2024. Topsoe will also provide its H2bridge hydrogen technology based... Read more →

Electrify America announced an agreement with Mercedes-Benz USA to provide drivers of the all-electric EQS complimentary charging for two years at Electrify America EV charging stations. As the EQS luxury sedan hits showrooms this fall, its drivers will have access to ultra-fast charging at Electrify America’s more than 600 public... Read more →

Korean researchers have used semiconductor technology to improve the safety of Li-ion batteries. A research team from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) led by Dr. Joong Kee Lee of the Center for Energy Storage Research has succeeded in inhibiting the growth of dendrites by forming protective semiconducting... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group announced that its dedicated hydrogen fuel cell system brand, HTWO, will make its motorsports debut, providing its fuel cell generator to the ETCR (Electric Touring Car Racing) category. ETCR is the world’s first all-electric touring car race category that provides leading vehicle manufacturers a global stage to... Read more →

Aemetis, Inc. has awarded an engineering services contract to Worley for the Aemetis “Carbon Zero” renewable jet and diesel plant in Riverbank, California. The Aemetis Carbon Zero renewable jet and diesel project is designed to hydrotreat renewable oils with hydrogen from orchard and forest wood waste. By utilizing hydroelectric electricity... Read more →

Polestar, the premium electric car brand from Sweden, announced that its first all-electric SUV will be manufactured in the United States. The forthcoming Polestar 3 will be manufactured alongside new Volvo vehicles at the Volvo Cars production center in Ridgeville, South Carolina. Polestar vehicles built in South Carolina will be... Read more →

General Motors will increase its EV and AV investments from 2020 through 2025 to $35 billion, representing a 75% increase from its initial commitment announced prior to the pandemic. We are investing aggressively in a comprehensive and highly-integrated plan to make sure that GM leads in all aspects of the... Read more →

Lincoln will debut its first global fully electric vehicle next year, the first step toward electrifying its entire portfolio of vehicles by the end of the decade. The new electric vehicle will debut as the brand celebrates its 100th anniversary next year and accelerates growth in North America and China.... Read more →

Ricardo, in collaboration with the Arup AECOM consortium, is supporting the UK Department for Transport (DfT) in developing a system for measuring non-exhaust emissions (NEE) of particles, under real-world driving conditions. Non-exhaust emissions of particles from road vehicles primarily arise from a combination of brake wear, tire wear, road surface... Read more →

Volvo Cars is teaming up with Swedish steel maker SSAB to jointly explore the development of fossil-free, high-quality steel for use in the automotive industry. The collaboration makes Volvo Cars the first carmaker to work with SSAB and its HYBRIT initiative (earlier post), the steel industry’s most ambitious and advanced... Read more →

TotalEnergies currently produces around 700,000 tons of methanol per year based on fossil raw materials at the TotalEnergies Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland in Leuna, making it the largest methanol producer in Europe. The company is moving ahead with the e-CO2Met project (earlier post), in which it, with partners Sunfire and Fraunhofer, aims... Read more →

A study by a team of researchers from Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) and Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft has found that direct seawater splitting for hydrogen production has substantial drawbacks compared to conventional water splitting and offers almost no advantage. In an open-access paper in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science,... Read more →

Rio Tinto has partnered with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to study whether hydrogen can replace natural gas in alumina refineries to reduce emissions. Rio Tinto will conduct a $1.2-million feasibility study, equally funded with ARENA through a $580,000 grant, into using clean hydrogen to replace natural gas in... Read more →

LDRA, a provider of automated software verification, source code analysis and test tools, and OpenSynergy, specialist in embedded automotive software, are partnering to support and promote a defense-in-depth strategy combining hypervisor technology with secure coding techniques. Automotive connectivity is an ongoing concern, with vulnerability to attacks from bad actors being... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and DOE’s Office of Electricity (OE), issued a request for information (RFI) (DE-FOA-0002528) seeking feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to integrating electric vehicles (EVs) with the grid.... Read more →

Wabtec Corporation and General Motors will collaborate to develop and commercialize GM’s Ultium battery technology and HYDROTEC hydrogen fuel cell systems for Wabtec locomotives. The rail industry is on the cusp of a sustainable transformation with the introduction of batteries and hydrogen to power locomotive fleets. Our FLXdrive locomotive, the... Read more →