UQM Technologies is introducing a new 5 kW liquid-cooled DC-AC Inverter. The inverter provides 5 kW of 120 VAC, 60 Hz output under continuous duty and can handle loads of up to 16 kW for short periods. The new inverter is designed for use on hybrid or electric vehicles where... Read more →

Nikkei. Toshiba Corp. will jointly develop lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles with Fiat SpA and also with Scania AB, majority-owned by Volkswagen AG. Toshiba is currently co-developing batteries and other components with Volkswagen (earlier post). Earlier this week, Toshiba celebrated the opening of its new plant in Kashiwazaki that will... Read more →

Korea Times. Adding another major automaker to its customer list, LG Chem announced that it will supply Li-ion batteries to Renault for EVs. Song Choong-sup, an LG spokesperson, said the deal would be the largest that LG Chem has signed with automakers so far, considering Renault’s expected production volumes. The... Read more →

UPS announced the purchase of 130 next-generation hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) to add to its growing alternative-fuel vehicle (AFV) fleet. The HEV fleet features two different size vehicles from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation and a hybrid drive system from Eaton Corporation. The 130 hybrids all will be deployed next year,... Read more →

Researchers at Rice University have used first principles calculations to show that a class of material known as metallacarboranes, used in MOFs (metal organic frameworks), could store hydrogen at or better than benchmarks set by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program for 2015. The new study by... Read more →

The US Department of Energy has signed final cooperative agreements with the FutureGen Industrial Alliance and Ameren Energy Resources that formally commit $1 billion in Recovery Act funding to build FutureGen 2.0. (Earlier post.) As part of this new initiative, the Department of Energy will partner with the FutureGen Industrial... Read more →

The Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, has published a new short guide to the science of climate change. The guide summarizes the evidence and clarifies the levels of confidence associated with the current scientific understanding of climate change. It delineates what is well-known and established about the... Read more →

Honeywell has finalized a research agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to evaluate and demonstrate NextGen Air Traffic Management technology that will allow aircraft to fly more direct routes to save on fuel and emissions and arrive in a precise location at a precise time—improving on-time arrivals and reducing... Read more →

Solar Flow-R system distributes solar energy to light electric vehicle batteries and utility consumers. Click to enlarge. The Paris Motor Show saw the debut of a solar energy storage system to support light electric vehicle battery swaps and charging. Designed and developed by AllCell Technologies for Matra Manufacturing Services, the... Read more →

Lotus CIty Car drivetrain. Click to enlarge. At the Paris Motor Show, Lotus unveiled five new cars, two evolutions of existing models and a new concept city car. The Lotus City Car concept provides a showcase for Lotus Engineering’s Electrical and Electronic Integration and Efficient Performance competencies, featuring an advanced... Read more →

A new study by a team from UC Berkeley and Stanford University suggests that determining the optimal use of biomass to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—i.e, conversion to fuel molecules or to electrons—depends on market and regulatory contexts that are outside the scope of attributional life cycle assessments (LCA). A 2009... Read more →

Wireless charging with WiTricity. Click to enlarge. Delphi Automotive has reached an agreement with WiTricity Corp., a wireless energy transfer technology provider, to develop automatic wireless charging products for hybrid and electric vehicles. The collaboration between the two companies is intended to help establish a global infrastructure of safe and... Read more →

Volvo Cars confirmed that it will introduce a series-produced plug-in hybrid diesel as early as 2012. Volvo had first suggested the 2012 date for a diesel PHEV in September 2009. (Earlier post.) Based on the NEDC cycle, CO2 emissions from Volvo’s plug-in hybrid will average out at 49 grams per... Read more →

The upcoming new Ford C-MAX PHEV and HEV models (earlier post), like the company’s next-generation hybrids, will use the company’s powersplit architecture with a high-efficiency Atkinson-cycle engine in combination with a high-voltage electric traction motor generator and a lithium-ion battery system. Ford confirmed that it is on track to deliver... Read more →

The C-X75. Click to enlarge. Jaguar has unveiled the C-X75 concept, an extended range electric vehicle that uses twin gas micro-turbines from Bladon Jets to power two switched reluctance generators from SR Drives. (Earlier post.) Traction is provided by four 145 kW (195 bhp), 400 N·m (295 lb-ft) traction motors... Read more →

Peugeot will introduce the HR1 urban hybrid concept car at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. The HR1 features HYbrid4 technology (earlier post), with a new three-cylinder 1.2 liter THP gasoline engine at the front and a rear electric motor. The 1.2-liter THP 81 kW (110 bhp), 195 N·m (144 lb-ft)... Read more →

Cyclone Power Technologies has received a purchase order from its licensee Phoenix Power Group (PPG) for two waste oil power generators. (Earlier post.) The new Phoenix 10kW waste oil generator will be powered by Cyclone’s WHE-25 engine—a compact, scalable waste heat engine—using a specially designed, clean emissions combustion chamber. The... Read more →

Applying a production-intent second-generation GM Hybrid System (High Voltage Belt Alternator Starter—BAS) to a 4-cylinder common rail diesel can yield fuel economy improvements of up to 10%, as well as reductions in the emission of criteria pollutants, according to Maurizio Cisternino, GM Powertrain Europe Advanced Engineering Hybrid Innovation Manager. In... Read more →

Ford and PSA are further building on their 10-year co-operation on diesel engines with a new agreement on a sixth phase to their Gemini partnership: the development and production of next-generation Euro 6-compliant engines. This new agreement covers a range of Euro 6-compliant diesel engines for car and commercial vehicle... Read more →

General Motors will invest $23.5 million for additional production of vehicle electrification components on the site of the Baltimore Transmission Plant, site of its electric motor manufacturing facility the first in the US to be operated by a major automaker. This will allow us to strengthen our core electrification components... Read more →

Southern California Edison (SCE) has become the newest addition to the Ford Transit Connect Electric LEAD customer program with a 20 unit order. SCE will take delivery of one of the limited supply of Ford Transit Connect Electric vans to be produced in late 2010 and will receive its remaining... Read more →

CH4 generation over (a) bulk material, (b) nanoribbons, (c) 1 wt % Pt-loaded nanoribbons, (d) 1 wt % RuO2-loaded nanoribbons, and (e) 1 wt % RuO2 + 1 wt % Pt-coloaded nanoribbons as a function of light irradiation time. Credit: ACS, Liu et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers at Nanjing... Read more →

Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. recently reached a definitive agreement whereby China-based Canon Investment Holdings Limited would purchase newly issued common shares of Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. resulting in Canon holding 51% of Altair’s fully diluted common shares immediately following closing. Headquartered in Zhuhai, China, Canon is the holding company of Yintong Energy... Read more →

The battery-electric Opel Meriva research vehicle. Click to enlarge. Opel is developing three battery-electric versions of its Meriva small MPV as research vehicles to participate in the MeRegioMobil research project funded by the German Ministry of Economics and Technology. The research project has the goal of integrating electrical vehicles as... Read more →

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) and PSA Peugeot Citroën have signed an agreement to start the technical development of an electric version of Peugeot Partner and Citroën Berlingo LCVs built at the PSA Vigo plant in Spain. Under this new cooperative agreement, both partners will specify all technical and industrial aspects... Read more →

The US House of Representatives yesterday passed H.R.4168, the Algae-based Renewable Fuel Promotion Act of 2010. Sponsored by Rep. Harry Teague {NM-2] and 13 others, the bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: expand the definition of cellulosic biofuel to include algae-based biofuel for purposes of the cellulosic biofuel producer... Read more →

Saab Automobile and BMW announced an agreement for the supply of engines to be used in a new Saab model series. Under the purchase, supply and development agreement, BMW will supply Saab with 4-cylinder 1.6 liter turbocharged gasoline engines from 2012. The engines will be adapted to meet Saab’s specific... Read more →

Global plots for and LTO (0-1 km) and full flight (LTO + Cruise) operations: vertically summed average fuel burn (kg/s per 1° x 1°); ground-level BC perturbation (µg/m3); and ground-level total PM2.5 perturbation (µg/m3) attributable to aviation. Credit: ACS, Barrett et al. Click to enlarge. A study by a team... Read more →

Amyris, Inc. priced the initial public offering of 5,300,000 shares of its common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market at $16.00 per share. The offering hit a high of $17.44 and closed at $16.50. Morgan Stanley & Co., Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as joint... Read more →

IDC Energy Insights forecasts that by 2015 there will be more than 2.7 million PEVs plugged into the global grid, with 885,000 PEVs in North America and more than 780,000 PEVs in Europe. Unfortunately, IDC says, these vehicles will “cause havoc” on the distribution grid if they start appearing without... Read more →

ActaCell, a spin-off from the University of Texas at Austin (earlier post), has engaged AVL to test ActaCell’s lithium-ion battery technology in a number of independent, simulated settings to determine viability and efficiency for commercialization purposes. Based on positive test results, the two companies have identified the Power or Strong... Read more →

UQM Technologies, Inc. has completed an agreement with Proterra Inc. to supply UQM PowerPhase 150 electric propulsion systems for use in Proterra’s all-composite fast charge battery electric transit buses. The initial term of the supply agreement is one year. Deliveries totaling $627,500 are scheduled to begin in October. Additional deliveries... Read more →

A picture of the YASA topology. Source: Woolmer and McCulloch 2007. Click to enlarge. Recent results from certified dynamometer testing has demonstrated that the 23 kg Oxford YASA motor produces a peak torque of 700 N·m (516 lb-ft), pushing its specific torque to more than 30N·m/kg. The company has also... Read more →

Daimler’s car2go mobility program has reached 10,000 registered members in its first North American city, Austin, Texas, after just more than four months since its public launch on 21 May 2010. (Earlier post.) Since the start of the car2go operations, more than 80,000 rentals have been completed throughout the greater... Read more →

Madison Gas and Electric plans to install 18 additional ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations for electric vehicles in and around Dane County. The new stations will bring the total number of ChargePoint stations to 24 within the community. The new Level II (240V/30A) charging station allocation and installation is made possible... Read more →

Zero Motorcycles has been awarded its second grant in the state of California to further the development of advanced electric powertrain systems. The most recent award comes from the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District (MBUAPCD) where Zero was awarded a $177,906 grant in partnership with the city of... Read more →

Gross indicated efficiency (%) of Scania heavy-duty diesel running on gasoline using PPC. source: Bengt Johansson. Click to enlarge. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have shown a thermodynamic efficiency of 56% in a gasoline-fueled single-cylinder light-duty engine and 57% in a gasoline-fueled single-cylinder heavy-duty engine using the Partially Premixed... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board announced that a financial incentive program has helped put more than 650 hybrid trucks and buses on California roads. Most of the vehicles funded were beverage and package delivery trucks, with almost all funding going to private fleets. More than 300 of the vehicles are... Read more →

Liquid transportation fuels—and combustion engines that burn them—are “going to be with us for quite awhile, a number of decades,” said Dr. Steven E. Koonin, Under Secretary for Science, US Department of Energy in his plenary talk at the 16th Directions in Engine-Efficiency and Emissions Research (DEER) Conference in Detroit.... Read more →

Ultracapacitor company Ioxus, Inc. has acquired Advanced Energy Conversion (AEC), which specializes in energy conversion systems using embedded controls, power electronics, and electric machines. Ioxus will incorporate AEC products into its current offerings to deliver energy-efficient systems solutions for hybrid electric vehicles, wind pitch control and other energy storage applications.... Read more →

Cellulosic biofuels company BlueFire Renewables, Inc. has signed a contract with Cooper Marine & Timberlands (CMT) to provide feedstock for BlueFire’s planned cellulosic ethanol facility in Fulton, MS for a period of up to 15 years. Under the agreement, CMT will supply BlueFire’s Fulton, Mississippi project with all of the... Read more →

Škoda Auto, a member of the Volkswagen Group, is presenting a range of second-generation GreenLine cars at the 2010 Paris International Motor Show; the second-generation GreenLine models incorporate technologies such as a start-stop system and braking energy recuperation. The 1.6 TDI CR 105 bhp (Octavia, Yeti and Superb) and 1.2... Read more →

The DAF LF hybrid. Click to enlarge. At the IAA 2010 in Hanover, DAF Trucks, a PACCAR company, presented the 12-tonne LF45 parallel hybrid truck, which will enter production at the end of this year. As part of PACCAR’s international hybrid program, the DAF LF Hybrid truck was developed in... Read more →

At the IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hanover, ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Beiqi Foton Motor Co. Ltd. renewed their agreement on strategic cooperation in China. The strategic cooperation between the two started in September 2008. Further projects have already been planned. Within the next two years, Foton will introduce a new... Read more →

Opel/Vauxhall will build an all-new small car targeted at the segment below the Corsa at its Eisenach plant in the east German state of Thuringia. The future car “Made in Eisenach” is geared towards customers who need a small-sized fuel-efficient car in urban areas, for example, but who do not... Read more →

A study by a team at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) found that higher compression ratios in a spark-ignition engine improved performance of both an E22 blend (78% gasoline, 22% ethanol) as well as neat hydrous ethanol. The paper was published online 15 September in the journal... Read more →

Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences have demonstrated the conversion of levulinic acid (LA) to γ-valerolactone (GVL) by heterogeneous catalysts without using external hydrogen. A paper on their work appeared online 24 September in the journal ChemSusChem. Credit: ChemSusChem. Click to... Read more →

The Nikkei reports that Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and South Korea-based LG Chem will jointly develop an advanced automotive lithium-ion battery system. LG Chem will first supply lithium-ion batteries for electric prototype vehicles on which Mitsubishi Motors is working. The companies will develop a battery system that will add a power... Read more →

Pedego Electric Bikes and SiGNa Chemistry have developed an ultra-high-performance range extender for electric bicycles. The battery-fuel cell hybrid system is compatible with all existing Pedego bicycles and batteries. For every 1.5 lbs. of weight a rider carries, an additional 700 watt-hours of energy is available (compared to ~350 watt-hours... Read more →

Ford and its partners are building a new engine plant in China to support future products and growth plans. Ford’s joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Ltd (CFMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding today with the Chongqing Municipal Government to build a new engine plant in Chongqing. The US$ 500... Read more →