Two new tests for measuring emissions from cars and vans will come into force in the EU tomorrow. The new laboratory test, the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), will introduce more realistic testing conditions for measuring pollutant and CO2 emissions than the previous, outdated lab test (NEDC). It... Read more →

Ferrovial Services and Renault have signed an agreement to implement Zity, a car sharing service in Madrid. The project will start up with an initial fleet of 500 ZOE electric vehicles located within the M-30 beltway and in some adjoining areas. Ferrovial is a leading global infrastructure operator and municipal... Read more →

Swiss R&D company nanoFlowcell Holdings (earlier post) is in discussions with Formula E Holdings on nanoFlowcell’s participation in the FIA Formula E Championship and intent to enter with a Formula E race car with nanoFlowcell 48VOLT flow-cell drive. The nanoFlowcell is a compact flow battery operated with two ionic liquid... Read more →

EY launched Tesseract, an integrated mobility platform underpinned by blockchain technology. The platform facilitates fractional vehicle ownership, shared use and seamless multimodal transport and it will help lay the groundwork for how autonomous vehicle fleets could be owned in the future and provide access to a variety of on-demand mobility... Read more →

Volkswagen has developed a special automatic climate control system—“Air Care Climatronic”—which keeps pollen, fungal spores and particulates out from entering the car. The air purification system is available for all current Golf, Touran, Tiguan, Passat models as well as the new Polo and Arteon. It uses an air quality sensor... Read more →

smart has unveiled the smart vision EQ fortwo, embodying a new vision of urban mobility and individualized highly flexible, efficient local public transport: the autonomous concept vehicle picks up its passengers directly from their chosen location. The smart vision EQ fortwo is also a car in which all of the... Read more →

>UK-based electric vehicle start-up Detroit Electric will outline its future product plans during its first appearance at Cenex’s Low Carbon Vehicles (LCV) 2017 event on 6 and 7 September at Millbrook. The brand will share its plans to launch a range of pure electric passenger vehicles in the coming years,... Read more →

A team at Washington State University (WSU), with colleagues from the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, has developed a multicomponent, multilayered In2Se3composite material van der Waals Schottky diode. Besides ideal diode behaviors and the gate-tunable current rectification, thermoelectric power is significantly enhanced in these junctions by more... Read more →

A new study commissioned by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) investigates the real-world emissions of four Euro 6 passenger cars—one gasoline and three diesel vehicles with different aftertreatment technologies—tested under variable conditions. The investigation was conducted by the Laboratory of Applied Thermodynamics, of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,... Read more →

Last February, D3MAX, LLC announced the completion and shipment of its pilot plant employing the patented D3MAX cellulosic ethanol technology to Ace Ethanol, LLC, in Stanley, Wisconsin. Pilot testing of the patented D3MAX corn fiber-to-ethanol process has been successful, allowing D3MAX to move to the next stage of commercial deployment—the... Read more →

Pirelli is working with Fisker Inc. to create advanced low rolling resistance tires for the new Fisker EMotion luxury electric vehicle, set to launch in late 2019. Pirelli will develop summer P Zero tires in the following sizes for the Fisker EMotion: 285/35R24 (F) and 305/35R24 (R). The focus of... Read more →

The EU-funded three-year NELLHI project has concluded after successfully developing a new stack design of solid oxide fuel cells, from an all-European supply chain. NELLHI combined European know-how in single cells, coatings, sealing, and stack design to produce a novel high-performance 1 kW SOFC stack along with with the proof... Read more →

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is using a new soybean oil-based rubber compound to enhance tire performance in dry, wet and winter conditions. By employing soybean oil in tires, Goodyear found a new way to help keep the rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures, a key performance achievement in... Read more →

PACCAR Inc. is joining four other SuperTruck II teams to develop innovative technologies that more than double the freight efficiency of Class 8 trucks. Funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE), the SuperTruck II program is a follow-on to the successful $240-million SuperTruck I initiative (earlier post), the goal... Read more →

Amminex is introducing BlueFit: a hardware retrofit solution aimed at lowering NOx emissions on older diesel cars to meet and surpass the latest Euro 6 standard. BlueFit comprises two key elements: a scaled-down version of the ASDS (Ammonia Storage and Delivery System) that is already used on commercial vehicles (earlier... Read more →

During an event at the Cummins Technical Center, Cummins unveiled its latest power solutions and energy-diverse products, displaying its near-zero natural gas engine technology (earlier post); super-efficient diesel engines (the X12 and X15, earlier post); and shared plans to introduce a “revolutionary” new heavy-duty diesel engine in 2022 for Class... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems announced that a fuel cell electric bus powered by Ballard’s FCveloCity-HD6 fuel cells has achieved a new durability record with more than 25,000 hours of revenue service. This is equivalent to operating a bus on a 14-hour daily schedule, 5-days per week for 6.9 years with no... Read more →

MINI will present the new MINI Electric Concept design study at the IAA Cars 2017 show in Frankfurt am Main. Designed for use in urban areas, this concept car offers a window into how pure-electric day-to-day mobility might look in the years ahead. MINI will present an all-electric series-production model... Read more →

New Holland Agriculture, a global agricultural equipment brand of CNH Industrial, unveiled a methane-powered concept tractor at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois. Developed by the New Holland design and engineering teams, this concept combines alternative fuels and advanced agricultural technology with readily available powertrain innovation from CNH Industrial... Read more →

A team from Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory have used multi-faceted high-throughput density functional theory (HT-DFT) screening to identify a number of new Li2MIO3-Li2MIIO3 active/inactive electrode pairs—MI and MII being transition- or post-transition metal ions—that can be tested experimentally for high-energy-density LIBs. In a paper published in the RSC... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Toyota Financial Services Corporation (TFS), Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (Aioi) and Grab, Inc. (Grab), the largest ride-hailing service company in Southeast Asia, are collaborating to provide ride-hailing services throughout Southeast Asia. The Connected Company, a TMC in-house company, developed the data-transmission TransLog driving recorder, a device... Read more →

Domino’s Pizza and Ford Motor are collaborating to understand the role that self-driving vehicles can play in pizza delivery. As part of the testing, researchers from both companies will investigate customer reactions to interacting with a self-driving vehicle as a part of their delivery experience. Over the next several weeks,... Read more →

Honda Motor CEO Takahiro Hachigo will unveil the Honda Urban EV Concept at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show next month. The concept will set the direction for a future production model. Alongside this debut, the CR-V Hybrid Prototype will preview the European version of the all-new CR-V SUV. Also featuring... Read more →

Schaeffler has selected NCTE as a technology partner for torque sensor technology and and will exclusively offer a joint portfolio from the two companies covering sensor bearing products for the bike and e-bike market. This cooperation between Schaeffler and the sensor technology supplier NCTE results in a portfolio of mechatronic... Read more →

Leveraging its knowledge and advancements in 48V automotive technology, Continental is now introducing two 48V drive units to the electric bike market. The 48V Revolution is the first 48V-powered e-bike motor with a fully integrated stepless automatic transmission contained in an all-in-one drive unit. With its 2-in-1 drive and continuously... Read more →

UK-based Connected Energy and Groupe Renault have installed two quick-charge stations based on Connected Energy’s E-STOR energy storage technology on highways in Belgium and Germany. Motorists there will be the first in the world to benefit from this service. The E-STOR technology developed by Connected Energy uses second-life batteries from... Read more →

Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have developed a novel sandwiched liquid metal membrane (SLiMM) for hydrogen separation. Separation membranes hold the key to making hydrogen fuel cheaper; the researchers have shown that membranes made with liquid metals appear to be more efficient at separating hydrogen than conventional palladium membranes... Read more →

Israel-based Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd., a developer of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, has signed an agreement for a pilot project to test its Eyes-On advanced driver assistance system with one of China’s top three largest car manufacturers. This is the third pilot agreement the company has entered into with leading... Read more →

BMW will introduce the latest BMW i3—including the first BMW i3s sport model—at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt in September 2017; pricing will be announced closer to market launch. The BMW i3 is the bestselling compact battery-electric vehicle in the premium compact segment worldwide since it was launched... Read more →

The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. (Dongfeng) have formed a new joint venture to co-develop and sell electric vehicles (EV) in China. The new joint venture, eGT New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd. (eGT), will focus on the core competencies of each partner and will harness the full... Read more →

GasBuddy, the company behind a smartphone app providing crowdsourced information to help drivers find the best gasoline prices, has introduced Pay with GasBuddy, a new payment service that provides US drivers with a discount off of gasoline purchases. The free-to-join card program gives drivers 15 cents per gallon off a... Read more →

Researchers led by a team from KAUST have found a more sustainable route to hydrogen fuel production using chaotic, light-trapping materials that mimic natural photosynthetic water splitting. In a paper in the journal Advanced Materials, the researchers report a new photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution based on metal epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) metamaterials.... Read more →

A123 Systems LLC, a developer and manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batteries and systems, announced that its Board of Directors appointed Peter W. Cirino as Chief Executive Officer. Jason M. Forcier is leaving the company effective 28 August 2017 after eight years with the Company and serving as CEO for the... Read more →

Toyota Motor North America is forming a new group focused on delivering industry-leading user experiences and new technologies for its Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Leveraging the company’s new “One Toyota” structure, the newly formed “Connected Technologies” group will have approximately 100 positions and will include members from Toyota’s existing teams... Read more →

On 27 October 2016, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced that beginning on 1 January 2020, the maximum sulfur content allowed in marine bunker fuel will be reduced from 3.50% mass by mass (m/m) to 0.50% m/m (35,000 ppm to 5,000 ppm)—five years earlier than many expected. (Earlier post.) The... Read more →

UQM Technologies has entered into a definitive stock purchase agreement with China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd. through its wholly owned subsidiary, Sinotruk (BVI) Limited (collectively, CNHTC), the parent company of Sinotruk, a leading Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer. UQM and CNHTC plan to create a joint venture to... Read more →

In Japan, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced plans to expand adoption of safety support technologies to reduce further the rate of collisions. The company also announced an expansion of safety awareness activities for customers. Toyota performed independent calculations based on accident data from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and... Read more →

by Dave Crichton Driverless cars are poised to decongest personal car traffic, shrink our eco footprint, free up parking spaces and reduce the frequency of collisions by about 90%. This could result in a conservative estimate of $642 billion in cost savings. But as promising as autonomous private vehicles are,... Read more →

A Hong Kong-Beijing-Taiwan mechanical engineering team led by Dr Huang Mingxin from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has developed a strategy to develop both high strength and high ductility in inexpensive, medium Mn (Manganese) steel. Its material cost is just one-fifth of that of the steel used in current... Read more →

Magnis Resources Limited, part of a consortium aspiring to build a Li-ion gigafactory in Australia (earlier post), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with German Lithium-ion battery consortium TerraE-Holding GmbH (TerraE) for the supply of raw materials. TerraE-Holding GmbH has organized 17 major companies and research institutions into a consortium... Read more →

HelioBioSys has patented a group of three marine cyanobacteria that, when grown together, can produce high quantities of sugar just right for making biofuels. Sandia National Laboratories is helping HelioBioSys Inc. learn whether farming them on a large scale would be successful. Until the early 1900s, cyanobacteria were mistaken for... Read more →

ExxonMobil Chemical Company announced that its Singapore affiliate has completed its acquisition of one of the world’s largest aromatics facilities on Jurong Island in Singapore. The acquisition was first announced in May 2017. The facility, previously owned by Jurong Aromatics Corporation, is located near ExxonMobil’s largest integrated refining and petrochemical... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced the availability of a $50-million funding opportunity through the Office of Fossil Energy (DE-FOA-0001788) to design, construct, and operate two large-scale pilots for transformational coal technologies that improve coal-powered systems’ performance, efficiency, emission reduction, and cost of electricity. DOE has supported a range... Read more →

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have created tandem solar cells with record efficiencies of converting sunlight into electricity under 1-sun illumination. Their paper appears in the new... Read more →

The Port of Long Beach has achieved clean air records in its latest study of air pollution emissions, including an 88% reduction in diesel particulate matter. The first phase of the zero-emissions Long Beach Container Terminal opened on Pier E in 2016, helping to drive down the air pollution tallied... Read more →

In the UK, Hyundai Motor has launched a gasoline and diesel scrappage and trade-in scheme that offers up to £5,000 (US$6,416) off the price of a new model and seeks to improve air quality across the UK by making it easier and more affordable to drive a new, lower emission... Read more →

A team from the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, with colleagues from the University of Birmingham and Aarhus University, have developed a nanosized bio-Pd/C catalyst for upgrading algal bio-oil. Published in an open-access paper in the journal Fuel, their findings point to a cheaper, more environmentally friendly... Read more →

The law firm of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP is forming an autonomous vehicle industry group, which includes a cross-disciplinary team of attorneys practicing in the firm’s Corporate, Intellectual Property and Litigation departments. Honigman hired top Federal Trade Commission attorney Steve Wernikoff, who will co-lead the group along with... Read more →

The UK Department for Transport (DfT) and Highways England has commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to lead the first real-world operational trial of platooning vehicles on UK roads. The £8.1-million (US$10.4 million) trial will see TRL lead a consortium of partners including DAF Trucks; Ricardo, which worked with TRL... Read more →

Researchers have achieved a significant boost in the storage capacity of magnesium-ion batteries through a new design for the cathode and a new understanding of the electrolyte. In an open-access paper in the journal Nature Communications, they report a battery chemistry that utilizes magnesium mono-chloride cations in expanded titanium disulfide.... Read more →