The first fully electric commuter plane Alice from Eviation Aircraft (earlier post) successfully completed its maiden flight at Moses Lake, Washington. Alice lifted off on 27 Sep at 7:10 a.m. from Grant County International Airport (MWH), flying for a total of eight minutes and reaching an altitude of 3,500 feet.... Read more →

The German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) approved the funding application for the consortium research project HyCET (Hydrogen Combustion Engine Trucks) led by the BMW Group. The other HyCET project partners are DEUTZ AG, DHL Freight GmbH, KEYOU GmbH, TotalEnergies Marketing Deutschland GmbH and Volvo Group. The research... Read more →

Logistics company Hegelmann Group, which operates in Europe, and Mercedes-Benz Trucks signed a Letter of Intent for the order of 50 eActros LongHaul electric trucks (earlier post) at this year’s IAA Transportation in Hannover. The vehicles are to be delivered to the family-owned company from Bruchsal, Germany with the start... Read more →

VIA Motors, a provider of electric drive technology and sustainable mobility solutions for a wide variety of Class 2 – 5 electric commercial vehicles applications, has received a purchase order for 2,000 Class 3 VIA electric cutaway chassis cabs from Pegasus Specialty Vehicles. Pegasus will leverage the flexibility of VIA’s... Read more →

A tax on frequent flying could generate revenues needed to deeply decarbonize aviation through midcentury while concentrating the cost burden on those who fly the most, according to a new study from the International Council on Clean Transportation. (ICCT) The study comes as policymakers gather in Montreal this week to... Read more →

BASF has introduced the novel X3D technology, a new additive manufacturing technology for catalysts based on 3D printing. Catalysts produced with this technology feature an open structure, resulting in a reduction of the pressure drop across the reactor and a high surface area, significantly improving the catalysts’ performance. BASF has... Read more →

The next-generation BMW voice assistant will be built on Alexa technology, according to Stephan Durach, Senior Vice-President Connected Company and Development Technical Operations BMW Group, and Dave Limp, Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, Amazon, at Amazon’s annual Devices and Services launch event. Since the introduction of the first... Read more →

FPT Industrial, the global powertrain brand of Iveco Group, has entered into an agreement to make a minority investment in Blue Energy Commercial Vehicles Private Ltd, a zero-emission truck technology company headquartered in Pune, India, engaged in the manufacturing of clean energy trucks under the brand Blue Energy Motors. The... Read more →

Westinghouse Electric Company has signed a service agreement with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to bring its eVinci microreactor closer to commercialization. The agreement initiates a Vendor Design Review (VDR) which is a pre-licensing technical assessment of the eVinci small modular reactor design. Westinghouse will execute both Phases 1 and... Read more →

Hertz and bp signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the development of a national network of EV charging stations powered by bp pulse, bp’s global electrification and charging solution brand. Last week, Hertz announced it plans to order up to 175,000 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop EVs over... Read more →

The 2023 Nissan Ariya—Nissan’s first all-electric crossover (earlier post)—goes on sale late fall (FWD models only) and offers a choice between front-wheel drive and e-4ORCE all-wheel drive with a long range and standard range battery option. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP) for the 2023 Nissan Ariya start at $43,190. Customers... Read more →

BMW is adding two plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants to the new BMW 7 Series range, including the first BMW M model in the range. BMW is also optimizing the efficiency of the new BMW 740d xDrive available in European markets (fuel consumption combined: 6.8 – 6.1 liters/100 km [35 –... Read more →

BMW M GmbH is introducing its first high-performance car with an electrified drive system. The BMW XM is equipped with a plug-in hybrid system comprising a V8 gasoline engine and electric motor that delivers combined fuel consumption of 1.6 – 1.5 l/100 km [147 – 157 mpg US] in the... Read more →

Cemvita Factory announced multiple developments with its Gold Hydrogen business. Cemvita defines Gold Hydrogen as the biological production of hydrogen in the subsurface through the consumption of trapped or abandoned resources. Gold Hydrogen is a novel source of carbon neutral hydrogen produced from depleted oil reservoirs that are ready for... Read more →

UK-based connected vehicle data company Wejo Group unveiled DLIVEREE, an AV prototype that is being used to develop and demonstrate Wejo’s Autonomous Vehicle Operating System (AV-OS), software that will use live, real-time connected vehicle data to support development, testing, and operation of AVs for the future. The AV prototype allows... Read more →

Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous driving technology company, plans to begin testing its autonomous vehicles in Tucson, Arizona, with trained safety drivers behind the wheel of the vehicles. Pony.ai is partnering with Pima Community College and will base its operations at the new Automotive Technology & Innovation Center, located at... Read more →

The Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium (AVCC), a global group of automotive and technology industry leaders cooperating on expediting the delivery of automated and assisted driving compute solutions, and SEMI announced an alliance to drive autonomous vehicle innovation. Per the terms of the agreement, leadership and members of the two organizations... Read more →

DENSO Corporation has expanded the detection angle of its vision sensor, increasing the sensor’s ability to recognize pedestrians and bicycles around a vehicle to improve road safety. The vision sensor is used on some grades of the SUBARU Legacy Outback for the North American market, and the all-new SUBARU Crosstrek.... Read more →

Nano One, a company with patented processes for the low-cost, low-environmental footprint production of high-performance cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries, and Euro Manganese, a battery raw materials company, are jointly developing economically viable and environmentally sustainable applications of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal (HPEMM) as one of several inputs for... Read more →

Stadler Rail AG, a leading manufacturer of rolling stock, has ordered six 100 kW FCmove-HD+ fuel cell engines from Ballard Power Systems to power the first hydrogen train in the United States. The contract to provide the hydrogen-powered FLIRT H2 train was awarded to Stadler by San Bernardino County Transportation... Read more →

PowerCo, the new battery company of the Volkswagen Group, and Umicore have established a joint venture for precursor and cathode material production in Europe. From 2025 onwards, the joint venture will supply PowerCo’s European battery cell factories with key materials. By the end of the decade, the partners aim to... Read more →

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Stony Brook University have fabricated a thicker electrode for lithium-ion batteries by controlling nanosheet assembly via the combination of an external magnetic field and drying-based densification. This dense and thick electrode is capable of delivering a high volumetric capacity >1,600 mAh... Read more →

VinFast, Vietnam’s first global EV maker, and Renesas Electronics Corporation are expanding their collaboration agreement to include automotive technology development of electric vehicles (EVs) and delivery of system components. As part of the newly expanded agreement, Renesas will provide a broader range of products to VinFast, which will include SoCs,... Read more →

After an initial optimization at the end of 2021, which increased its range by 6.5% (+22 km), the PEUGEOT e-208 will benefit from a major technological shift in 2023 to incorporate the new PEUGEOT e-308’s drivetrain: maximum power will increase by 15%, while major work on efficiency will reduce average... Read more →

The 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, the next generation of the world’s best-selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), is rated to offer 38 miles of all-electric range from a 350-volt, 20kWh lithium-ion battery pack mounted below the floor and between the wheels for a low center of gravity, but minimal loss... Read more →

Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. has received electric axle (e-Axle) orders for mid-size and large-size battery-electric vehicles from Honda Motor Co., Ltd., slated for a global rollout in 2026. Hitachi Astemo will deliver a high-performance, integrated drive unit for Honda, with the e-Axle system combining a highly efficient, silicon carbide (SiC) inverter;... Read more →

ABB recently unveiled its new Plant Optimization Methodology for battery manufacturing, presenting how greenfield battery sites can jumpstart global operations. With major automakers committing more than $500 billion towards electric vehicle production, and many planning to exclusively offer e-vehicles by 2035, there has been a huge growth in demand for... Read more →

Canada-based Euro Manganese (EMN) signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Norwegian state-owned company Statkraft for the long-term supply of carbon-free renewable energy for Euro Manganese’s flagship Chvaletice Manganese Project (CMP) in the Czech Republic. Statkraft is Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy. EMN is a battery materials company... Read more →

MAN Energy Solutions and ABB have signed a Decarbonization Cooperation agreement regarding the development of a next-generation, Dual-Fuel, Electric+ (DFE+) propulsion concept for LNG carriers. The DFE+ concept features the just-launched MAN 49/60DF engine and ABB’s Dynamic AC (DAC) technology and aims to deliver the operational flexibility shipowners need to... Read more →

In the first half of 2022 (January–June), US exports of petroleum products averaged nearly 6 million barrels per day (b/d), the most first-half-of-year exports in Petroleum Supply Monthly data, going back to 1973, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). US petroleum product exports increased in the first half... Read more →