Agility Fuel Systems launched its new 2016 160 DGE (diesel gallon equivalent) Behind-the-Cab compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel system. The new system is mounted up to six inches closer to the cab for improved aerodynamics and leaving more available rail space. Weighing just 2,150 lbs. (975 kg), the new model... Read more →

Audi is expanding capacities for the production of sustainably produced e-gas. (Earlier post.) The Viessmann Group is Audi’s first partner company to produce additional quantities of the synthetic fuel using a new biological methanation process. The pilot plant in Allendorf, Germany officially opened today. Audi e-gas is currently produced using... Read more →

Two French environmental NGOs—France Nature Environment (FNE) and Réseau Action Climat (RAC)—along with European umbrella NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), have released initial test results from the Royal Commission’s inquiry into diesel engine NOx emissions in France. The initial results from 22 vehicles from different automakers highlight the discrepancy between... Read more →

Researchers in China have developed a new route to the production of renewable diesel and jet fuel-range branched alkanes by combining the hydroxyalkylation/alkylation (HAA) of 2-methylfuran (MF)—a biomass-derived platform compound—with angelica lactone—another biomass-derived compound—and subsequent hydrodeoxygenation. Under solvent-free conditions, the researchers obtained 81.3% yield of HAA products; after the HDO... Read more →

International Truck announced that over-the-air (OTA) reprogramming of engine control modules (ECM) for all International Truck models powered by its N9, N10 and N13 proprietary engines is now available as a no-charge offering. Additionally, OTA will be available for purchase for all International truck models, powered by proprietary engines, 2010... Read more →

Tanaka Precious Metals will be showcasing a number of its hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies at FC EXPO 2016—12th International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Expo,” at Tokyo Big Sight in March. Among the technologies on display will be its first-ever exhibit of electrode catalysts for polymer electrolyte electrolysis cells... Read more →

Lux Research has launched an “EV Inflection Tracker” which analyzes how compelling automakers’ plug-in offerings (PHEV and BEV) are as a leading indicator of when EVs will be positioned to take over the automotive market. Lux Research defines the “EV Inflection Point” concept as the year range when PEVs make... Read more →

Michelin Americas Truck Tires, a division of Michelin North America, Inc., is launching the Michelin X Line Energy Z for heavy-duty line-haul steer applications. (Steer tires are the tires on the front steering axle of a tractor-trailer. Drive tires are designed for the tractor’s drive axles, and trailer tires are... Read more →

TriboForm Engineering, a spin-out from the University of Twente in The Netherlands, introduced its TriboForm software at Triboforum 2016, a triennial industry conference. Tribology is a branch of mechanical engineering that describes the contact between materials under different conditions. In metal-forming processes, tribology plays a key role through the relative... Read more →

Ericsson and Scania are partnering in joint research efforts to accelerate the connectivity of commercial vehicles and infrastructure. Ericsson and Scania are convinced that advances in communications technologies and future deployments of 5G networks will enable improvements in the transport of people and cargo. New developments in LTE and future... Read more →

Chevrolet has launched the Malibu XL, the brand’s new flagship sedan for China. Chevrolet’s latest hybrid technology will also be available in the Malibu XL lineup later this year. (Earlier post.) The Malibu XL currently comes with a choice of two engines with fuel-saving start/stop technology. GM’s popular Ecotec 1.5L... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will award up to $30 million in funding for a new program focused on creating innovative components for the next generation of batteries, fuel cells, and other electrochemical devices. ARPA-E’s Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion Conducting Solids (IONICS) program... Read more →

Problems with technology continue to affect vehicle reliability for consumers, according to the J.D. Power 2016 US Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS). The number of problems with infotainment, navigation and in-vehicle communication systems—collectively known as audio, communication, entertainment and navigation or ACEN—has increased and now accounts for 20% of all customer-reported... Read more →

Among a wide range of updates for model year 2017, Volvo Cars will introduce its latest semi-autonomous drive technology, Pilot Assist II, as standard on the XC90 in selected markets. Introduced first in the new S90 premium sedan, Pilot Assist II adds steering assistance to Adaptive Cruise Control functionality. When... Read more →

DS Automobiles, Citroën’s luxury brand spin-off, will introduce the high-performance electric GT concept DS E-TENSE at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show next week. A Formula E World Championship competitor in partnership with Virgin (DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team), DS Automobiles has equipped the DS E-TENSE with a 300 kW... Read more →

Greenlots, a global provider of open standards-based technology solutions for electric vehicle (EV) networks (earlier post), has implemented its SKY platform—a scalable, vehicle-grid integration (VGI) technology—in an EV fast charger owned and operated by Hawaiian Electric Company as part of a joint research, development and demonstration project with the Electric... Read more →

New analysis by Dearman suggests that zero-emission transport refrigeration systems could cut overall engine pollution from refrigerated vehicles by up to 93% and have a major impact on air quality. One application of Dearman’s engine technology is to provide high efficiency, zero-emission transport refrigeration units (TRUs). (Earlier post.) The findings... Read more →

A study by a team from the University of Leeds (UK), University of Washington (USA) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory has found that vehicle automation might plausibly reduce road transport GHG emissions and energy use by nearly half—or nearly double them—depending on the scenario. The researchers also found that many... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $26 million in grant funding to establish clean diesel projects aimed at reducing emissions from the US’ existing fleet of diesel engines. Diesel-powered engines move approximately 90% of the nation’s freight tonnage, and today nearly all highway freight trucks, locomotives,... Read more →

Visa Inc. is making the Visa Token Service available to auto manufacturers, helping to pave the way for easy and secure car-based commerce. To further advance car-based commerce, Visa is also offering a range of related digital payment solutions, including new standards for Bluetooth (BLE) and QR codes that could... Read more →

King County Metro Transit recently put its first Proterra battery-electric bus into service in Bellevue, Washington. The battery bus is the first of three that Metro will test this year. Metro will test the performance and efficiency of the new technology for up to a year on local streets and... Read more →

Chevrolet will offer a small number—initially approximately 500 through California dealers—MY 2016 Silverado pickup trucks equipped with eAssist mild-hybrid technology. Based on feedback from these initial customers, Chevrolet may adjust production for 2017 model year. The new mild-hybrid electrical system leverages many of the technologies and components from Chevrolet’s lineup... Read more →

A new study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) forecasts that sales of electric vehicles will hit 41 million by 2040, representing 35% of new light duty vehicle sales worldwide. This would be almost 90 times the equivalent figure for 2015, when EV sales are estimated to have been 462,000,... Read more →

Volvo has received an order for 11 electric hybrid buses and 2 ABB automated electric bus fast-chargers to the city of Namur in Belgium with public transport authority and operator TEC. This is the largest order to date for the company’s electric bus system. TEC is buying the bus system... Read more →

The US Department of Energy launched the Energy Materials Network (EMN), a new National Laboratory-led initiative. Leveraging $40 million in federal funding in its first year, EMN will focus on tackling one of the major barriers to widespread commercialization of clean energy technologies: the design, testing, and production of advanced... Read more →

Faurecia has won a JEC World 2016 Innovation Award for its “one-shot” manufacturing process for visible composite parts; the approach combines structure and aspect in a single part. The technology makes it possible to insert a pre-heated thermoplastic composite reinforcement into the injection mold and secure it in a stable... Read more →

Boeing, Aeromexico and Mexico’s Airports and Auxiliary Services (ASA) will collaborate with a biojet program supported by Mexico’s Sector Fund for Energy Sustainability (SENER-CONACYT) to advance research and development of sustainable aviation biofuel in Mexico. The new initiative, coordinated through the Mexican Bioenergy Innovation Center, will support Mexico’s aviation sector... Read more →

As part of its new 3-year business plan, Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMM) will boost production of NCA ((lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide) materials for Li-ion cathodes, expanding from 1,850 tons/month to 2,550 tons/month (+38%). SMM is targeting supplying Tesla with the battery materials for the Model 3 being released next... Read more →

Scientists from the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Joint BioEnergy Institute have devised a new strategy for reducing lignin in plants by modifying a key metabolic entrypoint for the synthesis of the most important lignin monomers. The new technique, reported in an open-access paper... Read more →

by Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com This is a financial cold war—nothing more, nothing less. While there are billions of reasons to cut output, and every major producing country is reeling from the loss of revenues, some are weathering the current bust better than others, but the devil is in the... Read more →

Ford is the first automaker to join the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition—a nonprofit organization of leading electronics companies dedicated to improving social, environmental and ethical conditions in their global supply chains. Ford says that joining the coalition strengthens its commitment to respect human rights and improve basic working conditions at... Read more →

A paper by a team from the University of Chicago and MIT suggests that technology-driven cost reductions in fossil fuels will lead to the continued use of fossil fuels—oil, gas, and coal—unless governments pass new taxes on carbon emissions. Their analysis is published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives. While... Read more →

SAE International announced that Larry T. Nitz, GM Executive Director, Global Propulsion Systems, is the winner of the Edward N. Cole Award for Automotive Engineering Innovation. He will receive the award during the SAE 2016 World Congress in April. Nitz leads GM’s Global Transmission and Electrification team, with engineering operations... Read more →

Integrated Device Technology announced a planned multi-year collaboration with 5G Lab Germany on research related to 5G tactile networks, including the application of IDT technology to enable network-connected autonomous vehicles. The project’s core technology is IDT’s low-latency RapidIO interconnect, used in 4G telephone calls globally, as well as for real-time... Read more →

Hyundai will unveil all the members—hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric—of its IONIQ range at the Geneva Motor Show next week. In January, Hyundai released initial details on the new IONIQ dedicated hybrid—the first version of the platform to come to market. (Earlier post.) The IONIQ Hybrid and IONIQ Plug-in both... Read more →

Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) announced the newest addition to its TMPV760 family of image recognition processors for automotive applications. The TMPV7602XBG is suitable for monocular cameras used in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and will help designers implement ADAS applications utilizing a cost-optimized camera system with a small form... Read more →

At a press event in Tokyo to lay out his future vision and direction for the company, Honda Motor President & CEO Takahiro Hachigo said that the company will strive to make two-thirds of its overall unit sales from plug-in hybrid/hybrid vehicles and zero-emissions vehicles such as fuel cell vehicles... Read more →

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will present the Caddy TGI—the first vehicle in its segment to be equipped with a CNG drive system and a DSG dual-clutch gearbox—at the Geneva Motor Show. The Caddy TGI BlueMotion is a family/city delivery van that runs on either CNG or bio-natural gas. Both the panel... Read more →

Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), an open source project developing a common, Linux-based software stack for the connected car, announced that Collabora, HI Corporation, MediaTek and Witz Corporation are joining the project. Collabora Ltd. is a global software consultancy specializing in delivering the benefits of open source to the commercial world.... Read more →

Pierburg GmbH, part of the KSPG Group, has developed an electric compressor for spontaneously boosting the charge pressure of engines fitted with an exhaust-gas turbocharger. This component allows pressure to be increased regardless of the exhaust-gas energy availability. The compressor is compatible with both gasoline and diesel engines. Initial prototypes... Read more →

The EU and Brazil signed an agreement to develop 5G, the next generation of communication networks. The Commission also started work on an action plan to deploy the technology in the EU by 2020. 5G will be the backbone of the EU Digital Single Market, industries of the future, modern... Read more →

SPLT will launch a pilot rideshare platform with global automotive supplier Magna International. As part of the pilot program, Magna will offer the SPLT rideshare platform to approximately 1,700 of its employees, who commute to and from four of its Southeast Michigan locations. SPLT is a 2015 Techstars Mobility company... Read more →

A team from the US, China and India, led by researchers from Michigan State University, has developed a new liquid ammonia biomass pretreatment methodology called Extractive Ammonia (EA). EA-pretreated corn stover delivers a higher fermentable sugar yield compared to the older Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX) process while using 60% lower... Read more →

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects that motor gasoline consumption in the US will remain below the 2007 peak despite an increase in travel. EIA attributes the outcome largely to improvements in light-duty vehicle fuel economy. Based on estimates in the most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), vehicle travel... Read more →

Mobileye N.V has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nissan aimed to integrate Mobileye’s new Road Experience Management (REM) technology into Nissan’s fleets. REM technology provides real-time data for precise localization and high-definition lane data that forms an important layer of information to support fully autonomous driving. Nissan is the... Read more →

Volkswagen is introducing a new version of the up! at the Geneva Motor Show. In addition to numerous cosmetic changes, equipment and infotainment system, the new up! will feature a new 3-cylinder 1.0 TSI turbocharged gasoline direct injection engine delivering 66 kW/88.5 hp. The maximum torque of 160 N·m is... Read more →

Li-ion battery maker LG Chem will supply the 16-kWh Li-ion battery pack system and controls for the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan. (Earlier post.) The agreement with FCA US marks the first time LG Chem will engineer and manufacture a complete battery pack in Michigan for a volume production North... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington have demonstrated a new solar process for the one-step, gas-phase conversion of CO2 and H2O to C5+ liquid hydrocarbons and O2 by operating the photocatalytic reaction at elevated temperatures and pressures. The photothermocatalytic process for the synthesis of hydrocarbons—including liquid alkanes, aromatics,... Read more →

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, LG Electronics (LG) and Intel announced that they are collaborating to develop and to pilot 5G-based telematics technology, the next generation of wireless technology for cars. LG and Intel will utilize research and development expertise and leadership from both companies with the intent to... Read more →

AT&T is expanding its multi-year connected car agreement with Audi in North America; the integration of next-generation technology will help deliver many new features to the Audi connect system in select 2017 and 2018 models. AT&T also announced it will enter a multi-year connected car agreement with Porsche in North... Read more →