Elio Motors, the start-up vehicle manufacturer planning to launch a three-wheeled vehicle that will get up to 84 mpg (2.8 l/100km) with a targeted base price of $6,800, has completed its first E-Series testing vehicle, code-named the E1A. As Elio Motors continues to develop the E-Series vehicles, its supplier and... Read more →

Management consulting firm Zinnov released its latest study conducted on the Automotive R&D Globalization Landscape, presenting a global engineering R&D analysis on the top 60 automotive companies and how are they leveraging the global R&D ecosystems to improve engineering output and efficiency. The report, which analyzed more than 60 automotive... Read more →

In a new report, Navigant Research forecasts that plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales in the US and Canada in 2016 will near 200,000 unit sales, growing by around 62% year-over-year. Navigant further expects significant growth in the North American PEV market over the next few years. In 2016, Navigant Research... Read more →

Nissan Motor’s newly published annual Sustainability Report shows that the global automaker’s CO2 emissions have fallen by 22.4% over the past decade. CO2 reduction at Nissan facilities improved by 0.6% year-on-year in FY2015. Nissan’s measures to reduce emissions include the following: Nissan UK has installed 19,000 solar panels to join... Read more →

The combination of connectivity, automation plus shared vehicle ownership and use has the potential to make car travel greener and cheaper, cutting energy use and helping accelerate the introduction of low carbon vehicles. However, these energy and carbon benefits are by no means guaranteed and will require strategic policy interventions... Read more →

Electric vehicles (EVs) will need to increase their combined market share to 16% by 2020 for markets to achieve the aggressive fuel economy standards set by regulators, according to new research by the World Energy Council, the UN-accredited global energy body representing the entire energy spectrum. While EVs currently represent... Read more →

As one of the outcomes of the “Three Amigos” meeting in Ottawa, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Barack Obama, and Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto committed to an “ambitious and enduring” North American Climate, Clean Energy, and Environment Partnership. A key element of that partnership is a goal... Read more →

WABCO Holdings and ZF have developed and demonstrated a prototype of a new collision avoidance technology for commercial vehicles. The Evasive Maneuver Assist (EMA) combines WABCO’s world-class braking, stability and vehicle dynamics control systems on trucks and trailers with ZF’s active steering technology—an industry first. EMA marks another step toward... Read more →

Nemaska Lithium has received its second $2.12-million installment from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) for the development of the Phase 1 Lithium Hydroxide Plant. To date, the company has received a total of approximately $21 million, representing about 55% of the total $38-million Phase 1 Plant budget,said Steve Nadeau, Nemaska... Read more →

Powin Energy, a designer and developer of safe and scalable energy storage solutions for utilities, C&I, and EV fast-charging stations, is publicly introducing its advanced battery management software—the Battery Pack Operating System (bp-OS)—by announcing that it has been patented (US20140015469 A1). The patented bp-OS utilizes a unique algorithm to balance... Read more →

One trend in automotive manufacturing is toward fully automatic sealing of welds; robots are increasingly performing this task in automobile production. Dürr has now sold its 2,000th sealing robot. The EcoRS 30L16S milestone machine will perform rough seam sealing at Škoda in Kvasiny, Czech Republic, and it will also be... Read more →

Austrian manufacturer of high-performance batteries Kreisel Electric (earlier post) has introduced the MAVERO home energy storage system. The Li-ion battery packs are available in four different sizes, with usable capacity ranging from 8 kWh to 22 kWh. The casing is available in two colors and communicates all charge and discharge... Read more →

ITM announced the sale of an integrated hydrogen refueling station (HRS) with on-site generation to Hydrogène de France (HDF), for deployment in France. The contract is worth €1.5 million (US$1.7 million) to ITM Power before follow-on contracts such as maintenance agreements. The electrolyzer HRS selection was based on HDF’s usual... Read more →

Following almost three years of testing, development and validation of advanced mild hybrid technologies with 48V electrification applied to a Ford Focus project demonstrator, the ADEPT (advanced diesel-electric powertrain) (earlier post) consortium partners have announced that the project is on course to meet the stringent air quality and ultra-low emission... Read more →

A team from Ford’s Research and Innovation Center and LG Chem’s Corporate R&D group has reported the first cradle-to-gate (i.e., the factory gate—before delivery to the consumer) emissions assessment for a mass-produced battery in a commercial battery electric vehicle (BEV)—the lithium-ion battery pack used in the Ford Focus BEV. Their... Read more →

BIOX Corporation and World Energy announced a 50/50 joint venture to acquire and operate a 90 million US gallon (USG) (341 million liter) biodiesel production facility in Houston, Texas. Each company has committed US$10 million to the World Energy BIOX Biofuels joint venture. The facility, formerly known as Green Earth... Read more →

Kiessling Transit, a Massachusetts-based transportation company, is ordering 32 more hydraulic hybrid buses equipped with Lighting Hybrids’ Energy Recovery System (ERS) for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses. This order for 32 units follows an order last year from the Boston-area transit company for 35 units that were commissioned in... Read more →

Electric propulsion system company UQM Technologies, Inc. announced the signing of a definitive stock issuance and purchase agreement with American Compass, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hybrid Kinetic Group Limited (HKG). HKG is a Bermuda-incorporated corporation with headquarters in Hong Kong. The Agreement calls for HKG, through its wholly-owned subsidiary,... Read more →

In a move intended to accelerate wider adoption of EV technology and development of the supporting infrastructure, electric bus manufacturer Proterra will open its overhead on-route fast-charging technology to the transit industry on a royalty-free basis. With the recent issuance of foundational patents (Nºs 8324858, 8829853 and 9352658) covering this... Read more →

France’s RS2E (Réseau sur le stockage électrochimique de l’énergie or “research network on electrochemical energy storage”) has launched the second edition of the YESS Award (Young Energy Storage Scientist Award)—a €12,500 prize split between two young innovative researchers/scientists in the field of electrochemical energy storage. This second edition of the... Read more →

Zubie, a connected-car platform and telematics service provider, is partnering with major auto manufacturers to leverage its repository of data and analytics to enhance the manufacturers’ understanding of vehicle performance and reliability. Zubie’s data, collected as frequently as every second, includes various aspects of vehicle performance such as RPM, miles... Read more →

Led by Tesla, China’s BYD, and Volkswagen, the battery market for plug-in vehicles will rise to $10 billion in 2020, with electric vehicles (EV) emerging as the drivetrain of choice, according to a new forecast by Lux Research. Volkswagen will show the most growth as it focuses on plug-ins following... Read more →

Volvo Trucks North America is adding a turbo compounding option for the Volvo D13 engine. By converting wasted heat energy, the 13-liter D13 with turbo compounding improves fuel efficiency by up to 6.5 percent%, while also delivering up to 100 extra lb-ft of torque for improved performance. Turbo compounding increases... Read more →

UK-based Ceres Power Holdings, a spin-out from Imperial College, is leading a consortium that includes Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd and M-Solv to develop a compact, on-board solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack as a range extender for an electric light commercial vehicle (van). (Earlier post.) £772,000 (US$1 million) in... Read more →

Under a class action settlement agreement filed today (earlier post), Volkswagen and Audi in the US will pay more than $14.7 billion to settle complaints arising from its cheating on emissions from its 2.0-liter diesel engines. The class settlement creates a funding pool of up to $10.033 billion for affected... Read more →

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) have developed and are investigating the characteristics of a prototype of a dual-piston spark-ignition (SI) free-piston engine coupled with a linear alternator for electric power generation. Their paper is published in the... Read more →

Wrightspeed Inc., developer of heavy-duty range-extended electric vehicle powertrains, was named one of the current crop of World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers—and was the only purely automotive technology company so selected. Designed as a replacement for conventional piston engine and transmission systems, Wrightspeed’s the Route (earlier post) is a range-extended... Read more →

Even with wide-ranging unpredictable gas prices, US automakers will remain profitable and suppliers will benefit under existing national fuel economy standards slated to be in place until 2025, according to a new economic analysis brief prepared by independent automotive industry analysts, commissioned by the nonprofit group Ceres. The brief is... Read more →

Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have developed a new cost-effective electrocatalyst for water-splitting to produce hydrogen. The monolayer of nickel–vanadium-layered double hydroxide shows a current density of 27 mA cm−2 (57 mA cm−2 after ohmic-drop correction) at an overpotential of 350 mV for water oxidation. This performance is comparable to those... Read more →

JATO Dynamics reports that 20.44 million LCVs and passenger car units were sold across all segments globally in Q1 2016—a 2.8% increase (558,700 more units) on the same period in 2015—largely driven by growth in the Chinese and European markets. The SUV boom continued, with seven of the eight regions... Read more →

MDI, a Luxembourg-based company striving to commercialize a compressed air engine vehicle (earlier post), reported last week that its founder, Guy Nègre, had died. The core of MDI’s work is a piston engine powered by the expansion of electronically injected compressed air. MDI developed two versions: a single fuel engine... Read more →

At the 2016 Paris Motor Show in October, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will unveil a new “Ground Tourer Concept” high-end plug-in hybrid SUV coupé. The reveal will follow on the introduction of the “Concept XR PHEV II” at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show and the “eX Concept” at the 2015... Read more →

GKN Driveline has produced more than 300,000 units of its eAxle range at its eDrive centers of excellence in Italy and Japan. GKN introduced the eAxle technology in 2002, acquiring systems integration and production experience to transfer the technology from niche vehicles to high-volume mass-market applications. Plug-in hybrids with eAWD... Read more →

A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that energy policy choices backed by a 7% increase in total energy investment through 2040 could cut premature deaths from air pollution roughly in half by 2040. Under such a scenario, premature deaths from outdoor air pollution would decline by... Read more →

Juniper Research forecasts that smart traffic management and smart parking initiatives will save some 4.2 billion person-hours annually by 2021—equivalent to each city driver saving nearly an entire working day per year. Juniper found that while the smart city remains a relatively young concept, many cities are beginning to recognize... Read more →

Scotland-based route optimization specialist Route Monkey (earlier post) has signed a partnership agreement with global GPS navigation expert Sygic. The partners aim to develop jointly a fully integrated optimization and navigation platform for electric vehicles (EVs). The new platform will see Route Monkey schedule a fleet’s EVs—as well as its... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award up to $70 million for a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute focused on improving technologies and processes to achieve cost parity of recycled and waste materials with primary feedstocks, while improving material efficiency in manufacturing processes. The new funding opportunity—(DE-FOA-0001594) “Reducing... Read more →

The Alliance AutoGas has launched a single-plug connector, no cut or drill fuel system, for the RAM ProMaster van. The Ram ProMaster, in great demand in the government and service sectors and the second most popular European-style van in the market, features a 16-gallon underbody autogas tank with the conversion... Read more →

Researchers at Tsinghua University, along with Professor Rolf Reitz at the Engine Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, have investigated for the first time the the characteristics of homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) of polyoxymethylene dimethyl ether (PODE). PODE is a promising alternative fuel for diesel engines, and offers high volatility,... Read more →

The largest and most powerful engine from MAN Diesel & Turbo’s portfolio ever designed and built has entered service. Built by Doosan Engine in Korea and rated at 75,570 kW (103,000 horsepower), the engine is an MAN B&W 11G95ME-C9.5 two-stroke type that acts as prime mover aboard the MSC Jade.... Read more →

At the 2016 International VDI Congress “Drivetrain for Vehicles” in Friedrichshafen, Germany, John Fuller, Director of Concepts & IP for Torotrak Group, presented and discussed the company’s latest advances to optimize its full-toroidal variator technology for the light vehicle market as applied in continuously variable transmissions (CVTs). Torotrak’s main drive... Read more →

Among the changes in its Model Year 2017 line-up, Volkswagen of America is dropping the Jetta Hybrid. (Earlier post.) VW sold 227 units of the hybrid in the US from Jan-May of this year, down 0.9% year-on-year, according to figures from hybridcars.com. The decision to drop the model leaves Volkswagen... Read more →

Chemists from the Universities of Basel and Zurich have reproduced one of the crucial phases of natural photosynthesis using artificial molecules. Their results have been published by the journal Angewandte Chemie (international edition). Green plants are able to temporarily store electric charges after the absorption of sunlight by using a... Read more →

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced $68.4 million (DE-FOA-0001584, DE-FOA-0001450) for cost-shared research and development (R&D) projects that will help to secure the safe and permanent storage of CO2 during carbon capture and storage (CCS) operations. Funding is subject to the availability of appropriations. DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy, under... Read more →

Strem Chemicals, a manufacturer and distributor of specialty chemicals founded in 1964, has licensed 23 separate pieces of intellectual property for next-generation battery materials from Argonne. Strem will manufacture and distribute nine resulting battery solvents and additives via its extensive marketing and global distribution networks. The materials were all invented... Read more →

A team at the University of Maryland have synthesized a mixed conducting nanocomposite sulfur electrode that consists of different nanoparticles with distinct properties of lithium storage capability, mechanical reinforcement, and ionic and electronic conductivities. As described in a paper published in the ACS journal Nano Letters, the new nanocomposite serves... Read more →

German automaker Borgward received Plus X Awards for its BX7 plug-in hybrid series SUV in the categories of Design, High Quality, Ergonomics, and Functionality. The BX7 was also issued a seal of quality as SUV of the Year 2016/2017. The Plus X Award for innovation was presented for the 13th... Read more →

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced that Columbus, OH has been selected as the winner of the US Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge. (Earlier post.) As winner of the Challenge, Columbus will receive up to $40 million from US DOT and up to $10 million from Paul G. Allen’s... Read more →

With news reports speculating about the final terms of a settlement deal in the Volkswagen clean diesel litigation in the US, Elizabeth Cabraser, Court-appointed Lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, released a statement regarding the settlement negotiations. This settlement will provide substantial benefits to both consumers and the environment—providing... Read more →

General Motors, the Office of Naval Research and the US Naval Research Laboratory are cooperating to incorporate automotive hydrogen fuel cell systems into the next generation of Navy unmanned undersea vehicles, or UUVs. Under the ONR’s Innovative Naval Prototype program for Large Displacement UUVs (LDUUV), energy is a core technology... Read more →