BMW will join the FIA Formula E Championship as an official manufacturer in Season 5 (2018/19). The cars, equipped with a completely newly-developed BMW drivetrain, will be run by the Andretti Formula E team as BMW’s works entry in the series. The main driving force behind the new BMW i... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected three projects to receive up to $8 million, aimed at reducing the costs of producing algal biofuels and bioproducts. These projects are to deliver high-impact tools and techniques for increasing the productivity of algae organisms and cultures. They will also deliver biology-focused... Read more →

Siemens AG and The AES Corporation are forming a new global energy storage technology and services company under the name Fluence. The joint venture will bring together AES’ experience deploying energy storage in seven countries with Siemens’ energy technology leadership and its global sales presence in more than 160 countries.... Read more →

The UK Government will award £20 million (US$26 million) to support the development of electric vehicles capable of returning electricity to the grid. The projects will investigate technology that allows plug-in electric vehicles to not only draw power from the grid when charging but return it to people’s homes or... Read more →

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), one of the organizations at the root of uncovering the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal (earlier post), has published a new analysis of developments and trends in advanced diesel engine technology. The ICCT team—John German and Aaron Isenstadt—concluded that diesels have and will retain... Read more →

A recently completed study by researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) of the anisotropic—i.e., directionally dependent—thermal conductivity of packed copper wire for electric-drive vehicle (EDV) motor applications is providing a baseline for the assessment of new materials and winding structures. The findings... Read more →

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil), India’s flagship national oil company and LanzaTech signed a Statement of Intent to construct the world’s first refinery offgas-to-bioethanol production facility in India. The basic engineering for the 40-million liter per year (10.6 million gallons US/year) demonstration facility will begin later this year for installation... Read more →

The EU-funded INN-BALANCE (INNovative Cost Improvements for BALANCE of Plant Components of Automotive PEMFC Systems) project launched earlier this year with the aim of developing a novel and integrated development platform for developing advanced Balance of Plant (BOP) components in current fuel cell based vehicles. The goal is to improve... Read more →

Norsk Hydro will acquire Orkla’s 50% interest in Sapa—a 50/50 joint venture between Orkla and Hydro formed in 2013, and the world’s largest aluminum extrusion company. The transaction gives Sapa a total enterprise value of NOK 27 billion (US$3.24 billion). Sapa will become a new business area in Hydro named... Read more →

China Yuchai International Limited, through its main operating subsidiary, Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Company Limited (GYMCL), won an order for 100 diesel-electric hybrid engine from Liuzhou Bus, which operates Liuzhou’s public transportation system. The order comprises 85 new buses from Xiamen Kinglong and 15 buses from Zhongtong Bus—all powered by GYMCL’s... Read more →

The Mercedes-Benz plant in Düsseldorf, which will produce the next-generation of the Sprinter van, will also produce the electric-drive version. Over the next few years Mercedes-Benz Vans will be investing a total of around €150 million (US$171 million) in electrifying its commercial range, based on the Vito and the Sprinter.... Read more →

Intersil, a subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation, has introduced the TW8844 LCD video processor that interfaces with the latest generation of automotive SoCs. The highly integrated TW8844 is the first high-definition (HD) 1080p LCD video processor with analog video decoder, two scalers and MIPI-CSI2 SoC interface. The TW8844 enables the... Read more →

Groupe Renault and Sanef, a world-leading motorway operator, belonging to Abertis group, will cooperate to further develop communications between autonomous vehicles and road infrastructure, and testing on toll barrier crossings and work zone approaches. The partnership contributes to the main objectives for autonomous vehicles to increase road safety and to... Read more →

Borgward will systematically continue to globalize its activities by entering the markets of Middle Eastern countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Iran. In accordance with this roadmap, the company will expand westwards from China before entering the European market. As announced, we will boost... Read more →

Volkswagen Group Research and its partners in the EU-funded GasOn research project are developing an innovative monovalent natural gas engine. Based on a 2.0-liter diesel engine, the unit permits very high compression. Extremely lean combustion (λ~2) leads to low consumption and initially to very low engine-out emissions. Initial test results... Read more →

Taiwan-based Tatung Fine Chemicals (TFC) has terminated its lithium iron phosphate patent agreement with LiFePO4+C Licensing AG—the organization established in 2011 by the patent holders to handle licensing of the widely used cathode material for Li-ion batteries. The cost for Tatung Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd (“TFC”) to acquire the patent... Read more →

The North Dakota Industrial Commission has awarded Tesoro $500,000 to support a $3.5-million project to study enabling the company’s Dickinson, ND refinery to co-process renewable feedstocks such as vegetable oils such as soy or distillers corn oil into renewable diesel (RD). North Dakota made the award under its Renewable Energy... Read more →

The US has charged a former Audi manager via criminal complaint for his role in a conspiracy to defraud US regulators and customers by implementing defeat device software in thousands of Audi diesel vehicles to cheat US emissions tests. Giovanni Pamio, 60, an Italian citizen, is charged with conspiracy to... Read more →

As part of the continuing effort to accelerate aerospace innovation, Boeing and FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the world’s largest express transportation company, will work together to fly the next ecoDemonstrator (earlier post). Starting in 2018, a new Boeing 777 Freighter made for FedEx Express... Read more →

In a new study, a team from the University of Central Florida and MIT has found that the US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards is an effective policy solution that does increase the adoption of EVs, whether it is implemented alone or in conjunction with another policy such as... Read more →

Continental has acquired Singapore based mobility-intelligence provider Quantum Inventions. Quantum Inventions will add to Continental’s growing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) portfolio with its city data including next generation navigation systems that are highly responsive to real-time information such as traffic data; road incident information; and dynamic road pricing. Continental plans... Read more →

The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is reexamining a rule that adjusts civil penalties related to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for inflation. NHTSA is publishing two notices in the Federal Register (docket numbers NHTSA-2016-0136 and NHTSA-2017-0059). The first notice indicates that NHTSA... Read more →

Dutch grid technology and services company Alfen has delivered a 3MW stationary storage system using BMW batteries to Nuon’s Prinses Alexia Windpark in Zeewolde, the Netherlands. The system will be expanded to 12 MW over the coming period, making it the largest storage project in the Netherlands. The Alfen storage... Read more →

A team from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released the second report summarizing the results of the battery-electric bus (BEB) demonstration underway at Foothill Transit in California. This latest report provides data and analysis on 12 Proterra BEBs and eight CNG baseline buses from August 2015 through December... Read more →

Volkswagen Group Research and leading robotics company KUKA will intensify their strategic partnership with the joint development of area ofrobot-based innovation concepts for vehicles of the future. One of the aims of the research collaboration is to develop robot-based innovations for all-electric and autonomous automobiles. The new cooperation links up... Read more →

Diesel has played a major role in the European Union’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from the automotive fleet; the market share of fuel-efficient new diesel cars in the European Union has remained above 50% since 2010. However, in the wake of emission control scandals, increasing concern over NOx-baed air-quality... Read more →

The average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the US in June was 25.1 mpg (9.36 l/100 km)—down 0.2 mpg from May, according to the latest monthly report from Dr. Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). This drop likely reflects... Read more →

As announced in September of last year (earlier post), Audi is taking over ABT Sportsline’s place in the Formula E race with a full-fledged factory commitment which will run under the team name of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, starting with the fourth Formula E season in Hong Kong at the... Read more →

Through a competitive bidding process, Tesla was selected to provide a 100 MW/129 MWh Powerpack system to be paired with global renewable energy provider Neoen’s Hornsdale Wind Farm near Jamestown, South Australia. Tesla was awarded the entire energy storage system component of the project. Tesla Powerpack will charge using renewable... Read more →

The largest systematic study ever conducted of human volunteers exposed to ozone air pollution has found no evidence of effects on the heart in its healthy, older participants, but did find effects on the volunteers’ ability to breathe, even at low ambient levels. HEI Research Report 192, Multicenter Ozone Study... Read more →

Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI), a producer of technically advanced specialty materials and components, announced a joint venture (JV) with GE Aviation for the development of a new meltless titanium alloy powder manufacturing technology. The JV will construct a new R&D pilot production facility. The titanium alloy powders are being developed... Read more →

In March 2016, Jakarta, Indonesia, with a population of more than 30 million, abruptly ended a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) policy that required three passengers in a car during peak hours. The sudden halt provided a team from Harvard and MIT with valuable insights into how carpooling affects traffic flow within... Read more →

Nicolas Hulot, France’s new minister responsible for environment and energy, presented the country’s new climate plan at a press conference at the Ministry. Prepared at the request of the President and the Prime Minister, the climate action plan is divided into six main themes: render the Paris Agreement irreversible; improve... Read more →

TomTom, in partnership with Cisco, is developing ultra-fast lane level traffic technology supporting autonomous driving and smarter mobility. Research will be done in cooperation with Cisco to leverage roadside data captured by Cisco’s array of sensors, routers and controllers to create the next generation of traffic information technology. The research... Read more →

Germany-based innogy, a subsidiary of energy giant RWE, has established its own new subsidiary to enter the e-mobility market in the US. The new company, trading under the name of innogy e-mobility US LLC, will be based in Los Angeles and serve the US market as a provider of technology... Read more →

Electric vehicles will make up the majority of new car sales worldwide by 2040, and account for 33% of all the light-duty vehicles on the road, according to a new forecast published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). This represents an aggressive jump compared to BNEF’s previous forecast of 35%... Read more →

INRIX, Inc. announced the availability of its On-Street Parking service in the new BMW 5 Series Sedan. The real-time on-street parking service uses historical and up-to-the-minute parking data to predict the availability of parking spaces. The INRIX On-Street Parking service is live with BMW Group in 16 cities in Germany... Read more →

Researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Michigan State University have devised a way to reduce the amount of enzymes needed to convert biomass into biofuels by designing and genetically engineering enzyme surfaces so they bind less to the lignin in biomass. This potentially could reduce enzyme costs in biofuels production.... Read more →

HORIBA MIRA has enhanced its test and engineering capabilities following the official launch of its dedicated Advanced Emissions Test center (AETC). Developed in response to increased scrutiny around tailpipe emissions, as well as new legislation requiring extensive and increasingly complex testing methodologies, the AETC represents a total of almost £8-million... Read more →

Researchers from China and the US have synthesized gold layered clusters on an α-MoC substrate to create an interfacial catalyst system for the ultra-low-temperature water-gas shift (WGS) reaction for the production of high-purity hydrogen and concomitant utilization of carbon monoxide (CO). The discovery, described in a paper in the journal... Read more →

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule setting the minimum amount of renewable fuels that must be supplied to the market in calendar year 2018 under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) program. EPA will issue the final rule in the fall. Relative to the levels finalized in... Read more →

Theta, a new Intel-Cray production supercomputer located at the US Department of Energy’s Argonnne National Laboratory is officially open to the research community. The new machine’s massively parallel, many-core architecture continues Argonne’s leadership computing program towards its future Aurora system. Theta was built onsite at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility... Read more →

TomTom has completed the expansion of its High Definition (HD) Map product to cover all highways in Western Europe—175,000 km (108,740 miles) of highways across 19 countries—bringing the total coverage of TomTom’s HD Map and RoadDNA for autonomous driving to 360,000 km (223,694 miles) worldwide. Customers and partners will now... Read more →

NVIDIA and Baidu announced a broad partnership to bring artificial intelligence technology to cloud computing, self-driving vehicles (earlier post) and AI home assistants. NVIDIA and Baidu have a long history of working together on AI. Speaking in the keynote at Baidu’s AI developer conference in Beijing, Baidu president and COO... Read more →

The BMW Group is supplying lithium-ion batteries from its Dingolfing plant to German company Torqeedo. The marine drive system manufacturer is using them for energy storage in its high-performance Deep Blue electric drive systems. Torqeedo was founded in 2005 in Starnberg, Germany and is leading on a global basis as... Read more →

Daimler and BAIC are deepening their cooperation on battery-electric vehicles at their Sino-German production joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. (BBAC). The two companies pledged jointly to invest a total of five billion RMB (about US$735 million) in the production of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) under the Mercedes-Benz brand... Read more →

Groupe Renault and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Limited (CBA) signed a binding framework cooperation agreement covering the main principles of the formation and operation of a joint venture (JV) in China focusing on the manufacturing and sale of light commercial vehicles (LCV). To facilitate the formation of the JV, CBA... Read more →

Volvo Cars announced that every Volvo it launches from 2019 on will have an electric motor, marking the historic end of cars that only have an internal combustion engine (ICE) and placing electrification at the core of its future business. Volvo Cars will introduce a portfolio of electrified cars across... Read more →

Volkswagen will begin the sale of vehicles in Iran in August. Initially, Volkswagen’s Tiguan and Passat models are to be imported under a contract concluded with the Iranian automotive company Mammut Khodro. The Volkswagen brand will thus again have a presence in the Iranian market after more than 17 years.... Read more →

Researchers at Feng Chia University in Taiwan have engineered the bacterium Escherichia coli to produce n-butanol from crude glycerol—a byproduct of the production of biodiesel. In an open-access paper in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, they report that under microaerobic conditions, the engineered strain produced 6.9 g/L n-butanol from 20... Read more →