Vehicle tailpipes are a more important source of ammonia’s contribution to urban air pollution than is agriculture, according to a study by researchers from the US and China. The paper is published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. Atmospheric ammonia (NH3) reacts with nitric and sulfuric acids to... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation has developed Japan’s first leisure craft with a parallel hybrid system. Toyota will conduct a feasibility study of hybrid boats from July 2018 to March 2021 in Tokyo. Specifically, Toyota will loan the hybrid “PONAM-28V” model to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government with no charge. In addition to... Read more →

Porsche unveiled the new 919 Hybrid at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza (IT). The Le Mans prototype, with a system output of around 900 PS (662 kW), was comprehensively reworked. The 2017 model of the Porsche 919 Hybrid deploys a range of new innovations, particularly in the vehicle’s aerodynamics, the... Read more →

Shell opened a new major technology hub in Bangalore, India, expanding the company’s R&D activities in Asia. The 52-acre, custom built technology centre can house up to 1,500 experts working collaboratively on innovative projects worldwide. Shell Technology Center Bangalore (STCB) brings together R&D staff who previously worked at separate locations... Read more →

Current state-of-the-art heavy duty diesel engines are both highly efficient and offer low emissions. However, in real-world driving, fuel efficiency and emissions aftertreatment technologies interact with each other and also vary according to the vehicle application, its prevailing operating conditions and its mission. The IMPERIUM project (IMplementation of Powertrain control... Read more →

The new Volkswagen Golf with its most modern engine generation, the Millerized 1.5 TSI Evo (110 kW / 150 PS) (earlier post, earlier post), is now available to order in Europe. The four-cylinder gasoline engine features common rail direct injection, turbocharger and Active Cylinder Management (ACT). The new Golf 1.5... Read more →

IBM scientists have been granted a patent around a machine learning system that can dynamically shift control of an autonomous vehicle between a human driver and a vehicle control processor in the event of a potential emergency, providing a safety measure that can contribute to accident prevention. IBM researchers developed... Read more →

The addition of hydrogen produced by renewable sources (e.g., electrolysis powered by renewable electricity) to natural gas supports the decarbonization of the natural gas system and integration of sustainable energy sources. However, the properties of hydrogen differ significantly from those of natural gas, and its introduction into the gas infrastructure... Read more →

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) announced that new research on power-to-gas technology shows the technique holds the ability to significantly increase the use of intermittent renewable energy. The finding came out of ongoing research conducted at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and funded by SoCalGas. Preliminary research findings, announced... Read more →

Ford is investing an additional C$500-million (US$375 million) in its Canadian research and development presence, adding connectivity software and hardware engineers and establishing a new Ottawa Research and Engineering Center. Ford is adding more than 400 connectivity engineers in Canada and the US—approximately 300 of whom will be based in... Read more →

Classification society ClassNK has released its Guidelines for Liquefied Hydrogen (LH2) Carriers for the safe constructions and operation of LH2 carriers based on provisions of the IMO Interim Recommendations. Realizing the practical use of hydrogen, will require economically viable and environmentally friendly production as a secure supply chain to transport... Read more →

Kicking off the annual April Fool’s press release season, Lexus announced a new semi-autonomous driving feature to be offered on all models: Lane Valet. This system would improve traffic flow by shunting slower moving vehicles from the left lane into the more appropriate right lane. Lexus cheerfully said that utilizing... Read more →

The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) will collaborate with research entities, universities and companies on materials science research, investing approximately $35 million over the next four years in research that uses artificial intelligence to help accelerate the design and discovery of advanced materials. Initially, the program will aim to identify new... Read more →

Audi intends to acquire fully Silvercar Inc., a shared mobility company, to expand its digital mobility solutions and services. The two companies have worked together since 2012, developing and delivering innovative consumer mobility offerings under the Audi mobility, Silvercar and Dealerware brands. In 2015, Audi led in a $28 million... Read more →

ŠKODA will stage the world premiere of the VISION E electric concept vehicle at the upcoming Shanghai Motor Show 2017 (19 – 28 April). The five-door SUV coupé can travel up to 500 km (311 miles) on purely electric power and meets the level 3 requirements for autonomous driving. ŠKODA,... Read more →

American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) has developed completely new, significantly improved axle technology. QUANTUM driveline technology is scalable across a wide range of vehicle segments and provides substantial advantages regardless of vehicle size: reduced mass, increased power density, improved noise vibration and harshness (NVH) and fuel efficiency gains in a... Read more →

Researchers in Sweden are experimenting with reducing drag on trucks with electric wind devices that mimic the way vortex generators increase lift on airplane wings. Vortex generators—little fins on the upper side of the airplane airfoil—create vortices to enhance lift at takeoff and landing. Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of... Read more →

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) announced that the world’s largest containership (400 meters in length and 58.8 meters in width), MOL Triumph was delivered from Samsung Heavy Industries on 27 March 2017. With a capacity of 20,170 TEU, the vessel is the first 20,000 TEU-class containership deployed in Asia to... Read more →

AM General and the US Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) are partnering to develop and to demonstrate an autonomous driving vehicle that may revolutionize how soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, along with equipment and supplies, are transported inside US military facilities. Under the Applied Robotics for Installations... Read more →

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and waste management company CR&R Environmental announced that renewable natural gas from CR&R’s anaerobic digestion facility in Perris, California is now being used to fuel CR&R’s waste-hauling trucks. The trucks are being fueled from special storage trailers while SoCalGas completes a 1.4-mile pipeline that will... Read more →

Westinghouse Electric Company and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The company is seeking to undertake a strategic restructuring as a result of certain financial and construction challenges in its US AP1000 power plant projects. Westinghouse has obtained $800... Read more →

GM China will open a battery assembly plant in Shanghai later this year to support the growth of its new energy vehicle line-up. From 2017 through 2020, two-thirds of new energy vehicles launched by GM in China will be dedicated new energy vehicles. An example is the recently announced Velite... Read more →

Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40 Cities Anne Hidalgo and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced they are working together to create schemes to score new cars based on their real-world emissions and their impact on air quality and to provide that data in an accurate and accessible form... Read more →

Ascend Energy, in collaboration with solid oxide fuel cell manufacturer Atrex Energy, released the results of a joint project to demonstrate a newly developed tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) in an electric all-terrain vehicle (ATV). The project was supported by a $146,283 Energy Innovations Small Grant (EISG) from the... Read more →

The number of vehicles that Scania sold that run on alternative fuels and hybrids increased by 40 percent in 2016. In total, close to 5,000 such vehicles were sold in 2016. The demand for vehicles that support the shift to sustainable transport is growing and so is the demand for... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has published a report titled Alternative Aviation Fuels: Overview of Challenges, Opportunities, and Next Steps. The report provides an overview of the current state of alternative aviation fuels, as reported in findings by recent working groups, and also presents findings from... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) carries out controlled human inhalation exposure (CHIE) studies in which volunteer participants agree to be intentionally exposed by inhalation to specific pollutants at restricted concentrations over short periods to obtain important information about the effects of outdoor air pollution on human health. A new... Read more →

Borgward Group AG has launched the Borgward BX5 SUV in China. On the Chinese market, the vehicle is powered by a supercharged, direct-injection gasoline engine with an output of 140 kW (190 hp). The BX5 is scheduled to be launched in Europe in 2019, when the vehicle will also be... Read more →

by Leonard Hyman and Bill Tilles for Oilprice.com International news services now report that Japan’s Toshiba Corporation (9502.T) is preparing to make a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the US for its Westinghouse Electric subsidiary. For most of our readers this news evokes little surprise. This is merely another chapter... Read more →

Ford Motor Company is investing $1.2 billion in three Michigan manufacturing facilities to strengthen its leadership in trucks and SUVs and support the company’s expansion to an auto and mobility company. Ford is investing $850 million in Michigan Assembly Plant to retool the plant to build the all-new Ford Ranger... Read more →

Hermes and Mercedes-Benz Vans have agreed on a wide-ranging strategic partnership to electrify the courier service’s vehicle fleet. The companies are to start using battery-electric vehicles in the logistics provider’s normal operations in a pilot phase in Stuttgart and Hamburg in early 2018. The focus will be on the economy,... Read more →

AeroVironment and eMotorWerks, a provider of intelligent and cloud-connected smart-grid charging solutions, are partnering to deliver smart advanced EV charging solutions. By integrating eMotorWerks’ JuiceNet smart-grid EV charging platform into AeroVironment’s line of consumer and OEM EV charging solutions, both companies aim to provide increased charging capabilities to customers and... Read more →

China-based Tencent Holdings Ltd. has acquired a 5% stake (8,167,544 shares) in Tesla for an aggregate price of $1,777,842,836 (including commission), according to a Schedule 13G form filed by Tesla with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Tencent acquired the shares through Tesla’s latest registered offering of common stock... Read more →

A team at RWTH Aachen University has developed a framework for the model-based formulation of biofuel blends with tailored properties by considering the fuel’s molecular composition as the fundamental design degree of freedom. A paper on their work is published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels. The researchers envision... Read more →

According to figures gathered by the US Department of Energy (DOE), 11% of the 2.3 million jobs supported by the motor vehicles and component parts industry for the first quarter of 2016 were related to alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. The majority of employment (82%) was related to gasoline... Read more →

Preem, the largest fuel company in Sweden, and Vattenfall have concluded an agreement to investigate the potential Vattenfall’s providing of hydrogen gas in the large scale production of biofuel for the Swedish market. Preem’s objective is to produce three million cubic meters (793 million gallons US) of renewable fuel yearly... Read more →

SAIC-GM, GM’s Chinese joint venture with SAIC, announced its Connectivity Strategy 2025, which lays out a roadmap for its connectivity development from 2017 through 2025. The strategy will take advantage of its extensive customer base and global resources with a focus on vehicle information, infotainment and intelligent driving. SAIC-GM will... Read more →

Hydrogenics Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of hydrogen generation and hydrogen-based power modules, has been awarded a contract by Doosan Babcock Limited to install two of its HySTAT100 electrolyzers, along with compression and storage equipment, at the new Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Hydrogenics... Read more →

Vattenfall and the BMW Group have signed a contract for the delivery of up to 1,000 lithium-ion batteries this year. The batteries—each with a capacity of 33 kWh—are equipped with a BMW-owned battery management system and are also used by the car manufacturer in the BMW i3. Vattenfall will purchase... Read more →

Researchers at George Washington University led by Dr. Stuart Licht (earlier post) have developed a new process that transforms CO2 into a controlled selection of nanotubes (CNTs) via molten electrolysis; they call the process C2CNT (CO2 into carbon nanotubes). This synthesis consumes only CO2 and electricity, and is constrained only... Read more →

Japan Post Co., Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. began discussions and signed a memorandum of understanding concerning the development and use of electric motorcycles for postal deliveries; these will serve as an alternative to the current gasoline-powered delivery motorcycles. During the past approximately half century, Japan Post and Honda have... Read more →

This year’s University of Wisconsin Engine Research Center Symposium will address the impact of future regulations on engine technology. The symposium will focus on technologies in four areas (sessions): Combustion Technology; Fuels Technology; Aftertreatment Technology; and Modeling Technology. These are technologies that the automotive and engine industries will need to... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation have agreed to collaborate on developing, verifying, and standardizing technology in the connected car field, combining the automotive vehicle-related technologies of Toyota with the information and communication technologies(ICT) of NTT Group companies. Toyota and the NTT Group (one of the world’s... Read more →

The Port of Rotterdam Authority and the National LNG Platform will be starting a joint study that focuses on opportunities to develop LNG from renewable sources as a transport fuel in the port of Rotterdam—Europe’s largest sea port. LNG is considerably cleaner than other fossil fuels, and engines that run... Read more →

Rennovia Inc., a privately held company that develops novel catalysts and processes for the cost-advantaged production of chemical products from renewable feedstocks, has entered the piloting stage of its bio-based 1,6-hexanediol (1,6-HDO) process. The company is accelerating the commercialization of bio-based 1,6-HDO (a key monomer for high value polyurethane products)... Read more →

Grafoid Inc., a Canadian graphene R&D, investment and technology licensing company (earlier post) introduced its GPURE Graphene Polymer nano-porous membrane intended for next generation Li-Ion battery applications. The GPURE graphene polymer membrane (GPM) technology is the seventh graphene-based companion to the company’s expanding GPURE Platform of new, high performing, ultra-thin... Read more →

According to a report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), US energy-related CO2 emissions decreased by 146 million metric tons (MMmt) in 2015 to 5,259 MMmt, down 2.7% from 5,405 MMmt in 2014. This decline occurred despite growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.6% as other factors... Read more →

The 2 millionth Duramax 6.6L V-8 turbo-diesel engine has rolled off the line at the DMAX plant in Moraine, Ohio. Groundbreaking for the DMAX, Ltd. plant began in 1998, with the first engine rolling off the line July 17, 2000. DMAX, Ltd. was established in 1998. GM owns 60 percent... Read more →

A group of Aalto University (Finland) researchers led by professors Tanja Kallio and Kari Laasonen has developed a manufacturing method for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts that use only one-hundredth of the amount of platinum generally used in commercial products. They achieved pseudo atomic-scale dispersion of Pt—i.e. individual atoms or... Read more →

Schlumberger and Weatherford will create OneStim, a joint venture to deliver completions products and services for the development of unconventional resource plays in the United States and Canada land markets. The joint venture will offer one of the broadest multistage completions portfolios in the market combined with one of the... Read more →