Canada-based Lithion Recycling closed a first tranche of Series A equity with a strategic group of investors led by IMM Investment Global Limited and supported by Fondaction and its managed fund, the LCC Fund. The size of the first round is expected to reach up to C$125 million (US$99 million).... Read more →

Researchers from Lehigh University, in collaboration with colleagues from the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), have developed an induced activation strategy to enhance the performance of the ternary Cu/Zu/AL2O3 catalyst towards the methanol steam reforming (MSR) reaction (used as a model reaction). Cu/Zu/AL2O3 is an important industrial... Read more →

Ørsted and Liquid Wind AB have reached an agreement under which Ørsted will acquire a 45% ownership share of Liquid Wind AB’s FlagshipONE e-methanol project. (Earlier post.) FlagshipONE is a late-stage development project and could become the world’s first large-scale sustainable e-methanol project. Liquid Wind AB plans to establish a... Read more →

25 The technology group Wärtsilä has received its first order for newbuild methanol-fueled engines. A new Offshore Wind Installation Vessel (WIV) being built for Dutch contracting company Van Oord at Yantai CIMC Raffles shipyard in China will be powered by five Wärtsilä 32 engines capable of operating with methanol. A... Read more →

Wisk, a leading Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) company and developer of the first all-electric, self-flying air taxi in the US, has secured $450 million in funding from The Boeing Company, making it one of the most well-funded AAM companies in the world. Combined with previous funding, this investment reinforces Wisk’s... Read more →

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH has launched a new normally open (NO) 1-Form-A photorelay that is intended for use in a multitude of battery- and hybrid-electric vehicle applications including within the battery management system (BMS), ground fault detection and identifying faults with mechanical relays. The new TLX9160T consists of an infrared... Read more →

Benevelli, an Italy-based producer of transaxles, wheel drives and electric motors, has launched the new SMAC Serie 270, a line of IPM (interior permanent magnet) electric motors systems ideal for off-highway and eMobility vehicles. IPM motors feature a rotor embedded with permanent magnets. Compared with the SPM (surface permanent magnet),... Read more →

Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) and the Government of Mongolia have reached an agreement that will move the Oyu Tolgoi (OT) copper mine project (earlier post) forward, resetting the relationship between the partners and increasing the value the project delivers for Mongolia. As a result, the OT Board, comprised... Read more →

InCharge Energy, a provider of turnkey electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for commercial fleets, introduced its latest charging hardware offering: the ICE-180. This all-in-one DC Fast Charger is compatible with all CCS and CHAdeMO EVs and is suited for auto dealers, commercial fleet charging and parking applications where higher-power DC... Read more →

Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), a global leader in smart manufacturing, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian Ministry of Investment/BKPM, IBC, Indika, and Gogoro to develop jointly a battery manufacturing and electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia. Under the MoU, Foxconn together with Gogoro (a Taiwanese company that... Read more →

ROUSH CleanTech is the first original equipment manufacturer to receive California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour certification for 2022 model year vehicles. The optional ultra-low CARB certification is 90% cleaner than current emissions standards for nitrogen oxides. The new engine certification covers ROUSH CleanTech Gen 5... Read more →

Autonomous driving technology company Pony.ai has introduced its 6th generation autonomous driving (AD) system, with leading-edge sensors, NVIDIA DRIVE computing platform solutions, and styling and design features for L4 automotive-grade mass production fleets. The first model equipped with this system, Toyota S-AM, a seven-seat hybrid electric platform for autonomous mobility... Read more →

Lightning eMotors has been named as the powertrain provider for an all-electric motorhome concept—the e-RV—under development by Winnebago Industries’ Advanced Technology Group (ATG). The electric powertrain system for the e-RV was developed, integrated, and installed by Lightning eMotors. We agree with Winnebago Industries’ view that there is a significant opportunity... Read more →

Vulcan Energy Resources Limited, the company aiming to become the world’s first integrated lithium and renewable energy producer with a net zero carbon footprint (earlier post), has been granted research permit in Italy for the Cesano area located 20 km NNW of Rome. Vulcan’s current Zero Carbon Lithium Project aims... Read more →

by Michael Sivak, Sivak Applied Research. In this analysis, I examined the relation between crude-oil production and crude-oil reserves in the world overall and in the United States alone. The variable of interest was the amount of crude oil produced as a percentage of proved reserves of crude oil. (This... Read more →

Researchers at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and the NIMS-SoftBank Advanced Technologies Development Center have developed a lithium-air battery with an energy density of more than 500 Wh/kg—significantly higher than currently lithium ion batteries. The research team then confirmed that this battery can be charged and discharged at... Read more →

Classification Society ClassNK has issued an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the design of an ammonia-fueled Panamax bulk carrier developed by Planning and Design Center for Greener Ships (GSC). GSC was formed in 2020 by nine shipbuilders and ClassNK Ammonia is expected to be used as decarbonized fuel for ships... Read more →

Parallel Systems, a company founded by former SpaceX engineers to reimagine the railroad system, has raised $49.55 million in Series A funds to build autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles that move freight. The round is led by Anthos Capital, and includes investments from Congruent Ventures, Riot Ventures, Embark Ventures, and others.... Read more →

Tel Aviv-based TriEye, a fabless semiconductor company that developed the first CMOS-based Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensing solution, is collaborating with Tier 1 automotive supplier Hitachi Astemo to enhance the capabilities of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for adverse weather and low-light conditions by accelerating the commercialization of TriEye technology. TriEye’s... Read more →

After declining in 2020, the combined production of US fossil fuels (including natural gas, crude oil, and coal) increased by 2% in 2021 to 77.14 quadrillion British thermal units. Based on forecasts in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects US fossil fuel production... Read more →

Fermata Energy, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology services provider, recently raised $40 million to accelerate the company’s growth with investment from new partners, including funds managed by global investment firm Carlyle and Verizon Ventures. The company’s V2X software technology aims to transform electric vehicles into energy-storage assets, making EV ownership more... Read more →

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Renault Group have signed a cooperation agreement to launch all-new vehicle lineup for the South-Korean market. Renault-Samsung Motors (RSM) will manufacture Hybrid Electric and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles in Busan for the local market and for export. Geely Group will become a strategic partner of... Read more →

Canadian Pacific is expanding its Hydrogen Locomotive Program from one to three locomotives, with expected delivery in 2022, and has ordered eight additional 200 kW fuel cell modules from Ballard to support the expansion. Inclusive of Ballard’s announcement in March 2021, the company will provide a total of 14 fuel... Read more →

Unibuss AS, one of the biggest Norwegian carriers, has contracted for the delivery of 183 Solaris Urbino 18 electric buses for the Norwegian capital Oslo. The total value of the contract, concluded as a result of a tender, stands approximately €100 million. This marks the largest single-order yet for Solaris... Read more →

General Motors plans to invest nearly $154 million in its Western New York Lockport Components plant. The investment will be used to renovate the facility and purchase and install new machinery and equipment used in the production of the stator module, a key component in an electric motor. Ultium Drive... Read more →

Intel announced plans for an initial investment of more than $20 billion in the construction of two new leading-edge chip factories in Ohio. The investment will help boost production to meet the surging demand for advanced semiconductors, powering a new generation of innovative products from Intel and serving the needs... Read more →

Members of the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance presented top vehicle manufacturers, including Volvo, GM, Daimler and Toyota, with a roadmap for developing the types of electric vehicles that companies plan to acquire in the US over the next five years. The recommendations are based upon a new Ceres analysis of... Read more →

LAND, a startup electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Cleveland, began US production on 120 units of the District E Moto this month. The District is a two-wheeled E Moto, a transitional vehicle that performs as an e-bicycle, e-moped, and e-motorcycle through a ride mode selection interface, with a top speed... Read more →

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is developing a new ratings program that evaluates the safeguards that vehicles with partial automation employ to help drivers stay focused on the road. The safeguards will be rated “good”, “acceptable”, “marginal” or “poor”. To earn a good rating, systems will need to... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz and Luminar Technologies announced a partnership to accelerate development of future automated driving technologies for passenger cars. A central component of this is the optimal access to new technologies and global competencies. The intent of this partnership is to leverage the foundational lidar technology from Luminar with the aim... Read more →