Russia-based SCF Group (Sovcomflot) recently signed an agreement with Shell Western LNG B.V. for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fuel the first Aframax crude oil tankers in the world to be powered by LNG. The agreement calls for Shell to provide the LNG fuel for the new... Read more →

California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law SB1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. The bill will raise $52.4 billion over the next decade through an increase in fuel taxes and vehicle fees—including on zero emission vehicles (ZEVs)—to fix roads, freeways and bridges in communities across... Read more →

Global automotive supplier DENSO Corporation and electronics and ceramics company IBIDEN Co., Ltd. formed a capital and business alliance jointly to develop next-generation vehicle exhaust systems. This collaboration will combine IBIDEN’s advantages in high-performance ceramic materials with DENSO’s advantages in developing products as systems to develop high-performance, simple and low-cost... Read more →

Researchers at Oita University in Japan have developed an innovative process for the production of hydrogen from ammonia without the need for an external heat source to initiate or maintain the reaction. An open access paper on their work is published in the journal Science Advances. Liquid ammonia (NH3) has... Read more →

A team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), with colleagues from General Motors R&D, has developed a design principle for stable high-capacity Li-ion battery silicon (Si) anodes of controlled thickness swelling, and synthesized a porous Si/C-graphite electrode as an example. Experimental data from the porous Si/C-graphite electrode showed excellent agreement... Read more →

BorgWarner’ 48-volt eBooster electrically driven compressor is making its debut in Daimler’s latest 3.0-liter gasoline engine. The engine will feature the eBooster technology matched with a BorgWarner-supplied turbocharger to improve fuel efficiency, enhance low-end torque and deliver boost on demand without any perceptible turbo lag. BorgWarner’s eBooster electrically driven compressor... Read more →

The oldest operating ferry in Finland will on Saturday become the nation’s first all-electric passenger vessel after being fitted with Visedo power. The City of Turku will officially re-launch the historic Föri ferry tomorrow, complete with a new zero-emission electric drivetrain that will deliver greater efficiency, less noise and reduced... Read more →

Siemens is planning to acquire HaCon, a leading international provider of planning, scheduling and information systems for public transportation, mobility and logistics.The two parties have agreed not to disclose financial details. Pending the approval of antitrust authorities, the deal is expected to be concluded in the first half of calendar... Read more →

At the Vienna Motor Symposium, Schaeffler is highlighting the latest generation of its UniAir fully-variable electrohydraulic valve control system, first introduced in volume production in 2009. The latest generation of UniAir also now allows vehicles in the upper-class automobile market to operate more economically and with lower emissions. UniAir controls... Read more →

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the availability of $55 million of Fiscal Year 2017 funds (FTA-2017-003-TPM-LowNo) for the purchase or lease of low- or no-emission vehicles as well as related equipment or facilities (Low-No). Only $31.5 million is available under the Continuing Resolution that expires on 28 April 28... Read more →

Ford’s Intelligent Speed Limiter technology, being introduced in Europe, can automatically help prevent drivers from exceeding speed limits—both when driving in their own country, and while driving abroad. Intelligent Speed Limiter combines the functionality of two Ford technologies: Adjustable Speed Limiter – enables drivers to manually set a maximum vehicle... Read more →

Researchers at the US Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Chemistry Division have demonstrated that the use of zinc formed into three-dimensional sponges for use as an anode boosts the performance of nickel–zinc alkaline cells in three areas: (i) > 90% theoretical depth of discharge (DODZn) in primary (single-use) cells; (ii) >... Read more →

BP announced a major breakthrough in seismic imaging that has identified more than 200 million barrels of additional resources at BP’s Atlantis field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. As a result of this early success, BP now is deploying this technique to fields elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico... Read more →

Aerospace engineers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed and patented a process for on-demand hydrogen production from the reaction of activated aluminum powder and water for commercial aircraft applications. The hydrogen produced on-board during flight can be used in a fuel cell to generate electric energy for auxiliary... Read more →

At the 38th Vienna Motor Symposium Volkswagen is introducing a new, more fuel-efficient “Coasting - Engine off” micro hybrid system—which shuts off the engine completely—as well as a new, compact three-cylinder natural gas engine for the Polo. Volkswagen is also highlighting its spectrum of efficiency and electrification solutions all the... Read more →

At Auto Shanghai 2017, China-based Hybrid Kinetic Group (HK), with its partner Pininfarina, introduced two more microturbine range-extended electric vehicles: the five-seat K550 and 7-seat K750 SUVs. These join the luxury sedan H600, introduced earlier this year at the Geneva show (earlier post), making a family of three. Hybrid Kinetic... Read more →

Panasonic Corporation has opened a new automotive lithium-ion prismatic battery cell factory in Dalian, China—the company’s first automotive battery cell production site in China. Panasonic has provided automotive lithium-ion batteries to a number of auto manufacturers on a global basis—notably Tesla—and currently leads the automotive battery market. In response to... Read more →

Automotive supplier Hyundai Mobis has developed the core technologies of a compact, integrated 48V mild hybrid system. Hyundai Mobis developed the “converter integrated 48V battery system” on its own and it is making the final preparations for mass-production scheduled for next year. Hyundai Mobis integrated the converter and the battery... Read more →

Sendyn, a provider of technologies for battery system management including current, voltage and temperature measurement ICs and modules (earlier post), has introduced the SIM100, a new type of automotive-rated isolation monitoring safety device that is capable of detecting potential electrical hazards during the dynamic operation of high-voltage unearthed systems—such as... Read more →

Crude oil production in the US Permian Basin is expected to increase to an estimated 2.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in May, based on estimates from EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report. Between January 2016 and March 2017, oil production in the Permian Basin increased in all but three months, even... Read more →

Global oil discoveries fell to a record low in 2016 as companies continued to cut spending and conventional oil projects sanctioned were at the lowest level in more than 70 years, according to the International Energy Agency, which warned that both trends could continue this year. Oil discoveries declined to... Read more →

Lithium-air batteries are looked to by many as a very high-energy density next-generation energy storage solution for electric vehicles. However, the technology has several holdups, including losing energy as it stores and releases its charge.The reaction mechanisms are, in general, not well understood. One reaction that hasn’t been fully explained... Read more →

The California Assembly is considering a bill (AB-378) that would integrate air quality performance into the state’s greenhouse-gas (GHG) cap-and- trade program. Assembly Bill 378 was proposed by by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, who heads the Assembly’s Committee on Natural Resources. CNR passed the proposal on Monday. This bill creates a... Read more →

Production of Volvo Cars’ new XC60 mid-size SUV (earlier post) has begun at the company’s Torslanda plant in Sweden. The new car replaces Volvo’s highly-successful original XC60, which in the nine years since its launch became the bestselling premium mid-sized SUV in Europe with nearly a million units sold globally.... Read more →

EPA is announcing $11 million in competitive grant funding for the Diesel Emissions Reductions Act (DERA) Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. The Program is soliciting proposals nationwide for projects that achieve significant reductions in diesel emissions in terms of tons of pollution produced and exposure, particularly from fleets operating in... Read more →

NEVS and ICONIQ Motors will develop future vehicles under each brand. ICONIQ’s vehicles will be manufactured in the NEVS’ joint venture manufacturing facility in Tianjin, China, while NEVS will use both its production facilities, in Tianjin and Trollhättan. As both core members of the Tianjin THT EV Eco-system, NEVS and... Read more →

Landi Renzo USA, a division of Landi Renzo Group, a global leader in alternative fuel systems, will offer the Ford F-150 with compressed natural gas (CNG) for model year 2018 with Ford Ship-Thru strategically located adjacent to the Ford assembly plant in Kansas City, Mo. As a Ford-approved Qualified Vehicle... Read more →

A study by researchers from the University of Edinburgh and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands has found that nanoparticles, such as those found in air pollution, can travel into the blood and accumulate in diseased blood vessels. The study, published in the journal... Read more →

ABB has won a contract to supply electric bus charging infrastructure for a fleet of Volvo electric buses that will be operated by Transdev Blazefield in the UK from 2018. ABB will supply three HVC 300P charging stations and an electricity substation for installation at a bus station serving Harrogate,... Read more →

BASF and Argonne National Laboratory have reached a business resolution of their pending Li-ion battery patent disputes with Umicore. Umicore is now licensed to make, use, sell, offer to sell, distribute and import nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode material for lithium-ion batteries in the United States under BASF’s and Argonne’s U.S. Patent... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation has begun trial operations of the pressurized combined power generation system which has been installed at Motomachi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. The hybrid power generation system combines the use of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and micro gas turbines. The trial operations will utilize the... Read more →

BMW is expanding the new generation of its highly successful 5 Series, with the addition of another M Performance model. The new BMW M550d xDrive is fitted with the most powerful 6-cylinder diesel engine ever offered in a BMW 5 Series model. Multi-stage turbocharging with four turbochargers delivers high output—294... Read more →

ASTM International recently announced the release of a new high-octane fuel standard that is expected to impact the development of gasoline products compatible with vehicles that feature high-performance fuel-efficient engines. Formation and approval of the standard was led by Dr. Robert L. McCormick, an the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)... Read more →

Continental’s Powertrain division is strategically focused on two parallel efforts. The first is the full value creation from the growing demand for the most efficient combustion engine technologies that also deliver the lowest emissions. The second is to benefit from the prospective growth in environmentally friendly, electrified and fully electric... Read more →

Mobileye has entered into an agreement with Nissan Motor to generate anonymized, crowd-sourced data to create next-generation precision maps utilizing Mobileye’s Road Experience Management (REM) data generation technology. The maps will be used as a source of localization, foresight, and redundancy in order to enable safe, robust autonomous vehicles in... Read more →

Waymo (formerly the Google self-driving car project) will add an additional 500 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans (earlier post) to expand its self-driving program. FCA previously delivered 100 minivans, modified for self-driving, to Waymo during the second half of 2016. (Earlier post.) Production of the additional 500 minivans will ramp up... Read more →

At the 38th International Vienna Motor Symposium this week, Continental is showcasing a 48-volt hybrid diesel vehicle which meets very stringent RDE (real driving emissions) limits on CO2 and NOx. The Continental Super-Clean Electrified Diesel combines electrification-based engine optimization and an electrically heated catalyst integrated in the exhaust aftertreatment system... Read more →

Researchers from Sweden, Italy and Germany have proposed and demonstrated a novel full Li-ion cell that is able to cycle for thousands of cycles at 1000 mAg−1 with a capacity retention of 65% at cycle 2000. The cell uniquely combines a nanostructured TiO2-based anode with a tailored 1-D tubular morphology; a... Read more →

Industrial and technology group thyssenkrupp has opened a new €10-million (US$10.9 million) development center for engine components in Dalian, China. The Group will concentrate its engine component development and prototyping activities at the 2,000 square meter development center in the future. The center in Dalian will focus on the development... Read more →

In Japan, Toyota Motor Corporation and KDDI Corporation, together with the Tokyo Hire-Taxi Association (THTA), have begun verification testing on data collection for making connected taxis a reality. Such taxis, by communicating with data centers, are expected to make possible new services that will, among others, improve taxi-customer convenience and... Read more →

In the spirit of circular economics, Neste and Fazer Bakery in Finland are joining forces with the “Doughnut Trick” campaign. The oil used to fry Fazer Bakery’s May Day doughnuts will be recycled by refining it to produce Neste MY renewable diesel. The value of the fuel will be donated... Read more →

The DRIVEN consortium—led by artificial intelligence company Oxbotica, which is developing next-gen autonomous vehicles—will test a fleet of fully autonomous vehicles in urban areas and on motorways, culminating in an end-to-end journey from London to Oxford. These vehicles will operate at Level 4 autonomy—with capability of performing all safety-critical driving... Read more →

Continental, in partnership with the French national weather service Météo-France, is testing a swarm weather service based on its eHorizon technology. eHorizon makes advanced use of navigation data for controlling vehicle systems to enable intelligent and safe vehicle navigation. The aim is to inform drivers of traffic conditions in advance... Read more →

Four months after the launch of a successful pilot phase in Munich, Mercedes-Benz is gradually rolling out its Croove private car-sharing platform (earlier post) in other major German cities. The service began availability in Berlin in mid-April. The platform continues to be open to vehicles of all makes. Using the... Read more →

Ford Mustang, the top-selling sports car in the US over the last 50 years, became best-selling sports car in the world in 2016, according to Ford analysis of IHS Markit global automotive registration data in the sports car segment. More than 150,000 Mustangs were sold in 2016, according to IHS... Read more →

The first full year of sales for mass-market plug-in vehicles in the US was 2011; nearly 18,000 plug-in vehicles were sold. Sales of plug-in electric vehicles have grown nearly each year since, increasing nine-fold to a record high of about 160,000 units in 2016, according to figures gathered by the... Read more →

Ford announced five fleets that will participate in the Ford Transit Custom plug-in hybrid van pilot program in London, starting this fall. (Earlier post.) The pilot program is designed to explore how lower-emission plug-in hybrid electric vans could support cleaner air targets, while boosting productivity for operators in urban conditions.... Read more →

A3 by Airbus, the advanced projects and partnerships outpost of Airbus in Silicon Valley, in cooperation with AUVSI, the world’s largest nonprofit organization devoted exclusively to advancing the unmanned systems and robotics community, called on aviation and aerospace industry leaders, regulators, as well as technologists to cooperate in developing standards... Read more →

Air Canada is participating in the Civil Aviation Alternate Fuel Contrail and Emissions Research project (CAAFCER), a research project led by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to test the environmental benefits of biofuel use on contrails. This project will use advanced sensing equipment mounted on a research aircraft... Read more →

Global Bioenergies has succeeded in producing isobutene by fermentation at the scale of the Leuna Demo plant (a 5,000-liter fermenter), with run length and performances exceeding those performed on the pilot plant in Pomacle (a 500-liter fermenter). Success in this phase of the process’ scale up was obtained less than... Read more →