Catalytic converters for cleaning exhaust emissions are more efficient when they use nanoparticles with many edges, according to a study carried out at the the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), a research center of the Helmholtz Association, X-ray source PETRA III. A team of scientists from the DESY NanoLab watched live as... Read more →

Subaru of America Inc. introduced the 2019 Forester at the New York International Auto Show. The fifth generation of the SUV features new safety technology in addition to an updated 2.5-liter BOXER engine with start/stop. All Foresters are powered by a new version of the 2.5-liter BOXER four-cylinder engine, now... Read more →

The Thousand Oaks True Zero hydrogen station is now open; it is the 33rd retail hydrogen station in California and was developed by FirstElement Fuel. The station will be open 24 hours a day and is located at 3102 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91362. 33% of the hydrogen... Read more →

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley have analyzed the cost, energy, and environmental implications of a fleet of self-driving electric vehicles operating in Manhattan. Using models they built and data from more than 10 million taxi trips in New York City,... Read more →

The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) has selected ten researchers to receive grants from the research program to support innovative hydrogen energy solutions launched last year. (Earlier post.) The Hydrogen Research Initiative started in July 2017 to support innovative research to reduce the output of carbon dioxide and/or the cost of... Read more →

SF Motors, a Silicon Valley electric vehicle (EV) startup and subsidiary of Shanghai-based Sokon Industry Group (earlier post), announced its latest technological advances and a new line of intelligent electric vehicles at an event at its Santa Clara headquarters. The new EVs are the SF5 and the SF7; the SF5... Read more →

Calor, an SHV Energy company and the UK’s leading supplier of LPG, has become the first energy company to supply BioLPG to homes and businesses across Britain. On 16 March, SHV Energy received the first delivery of BioLPG (biopropane) from the Neste Biofuels production facility in Rotterdam. (Earlier post.) This... Read more →

A team of researchers from Colorado State University’s Energy Institute has received a $1.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to look at making natural gas engines as efficient as diesel engines in the same class. (Earlier post.) Specifically, the researchers will... Read more →

Researchers at Rensselaer have developed a new technique using heat to enable self-healing lithium-metal anodes to eliminate dangerous dendrite buildup, paving the way for higher energy density battery technologies. Despite their extremely high energy density, lithium (Li) metal electrodes are not currently deployable in commercial rechargeable batteries because electrochemical plating... Read more →

Ryder System, Inc., a leader in commercial fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions, has launched of COOP by Ryder, a new asset sharing platform and the first of its kind for commercial vehicles. The digital platform offers businesses the opportunity to list and rent underutilized commercial vehicles within... Read more →

NASA iTech and the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) are collaborating on a unique iTech competition to identify transformational energy technologies that can improve energy generation, storage and distribution to the benefit of both space exploration and life on Earth. For the 2018 iTech Energy Cycle,... Read more →

Engineers at NTT DoCoMo have created an app that helps taxi drivers in Japan go where the passengers are. Rather than relying on apps to connect amateur drivers with passengers, NTT DoCoMo data scientists use anonymized data from cell phone signals to detect where people are congregating. It then uses... Read more →

The British Columbia Government Ministries of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and Jobs, Trade and Technology has awarded ITM Power a grant to undertake a Power-to-Gas (P2G) feasibility study. In the initial phase of the project, ITM Power will undertake a techno-economic feasibility study for the large-scale centralized production of... Read more →

UK Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani announced a new Ultra-Low Emission Bus (ULEB) Scheme. The program will see local authorities and operators in England and Wales bid for a share of a £48 million (US$667.5 million) fund, which they can use to buy hundreds of new ultra-low emission buses as well... Read more →

ExxonMobil has increased its holdings in Brazil’s pre-salt basins after winning eight additional exploration blocks during Brazil’s 15th bid round. The blocks awarded add about 640,000 net acres to the ExxonMobil portfolio. Six of the eight newly awarded blocks will be operated by ExxonMobil. The additional blocks expand the company’s... Read more →

A consortium of automakers and Northeast states have launched an ad campaign to increase electric car use throughout the Northeast. The “Drive Change. Drive Electric.” campaign will focus on the benefits of electric cars and advancing consumer awareness, understanding, consideration and adoption of these vehicles in the region. The campaign... Read more →

Hitachi Europe Ltd., Mitsubishi Motors and ENGIE are partnered in a project to explore the potential for electric vehicles to act as a means of energy storage for an office building. For this demonstration, the consortium linked Hitachi’s vehicle-to-everything (V2X) charger to ENGIE’s office building in Zaandam, The Netherlands. Hitachi’s... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and Suzuki Motor Corporation (Suzuki) have concluded a basic agreement toward the mutual supply of hybrid and other vehicles between the two companies for the Indian market. Specifically, Suzuki will supply the Baleno and Vitara Brezza vehicle models to Toyota, while Toyota will supply the Corolla... Read more →

Guest post by Clay Siegert, Chief Operating Officer at XL. Incentive programs for new vehicle technologies are often put in place to support faster adoption by commercial fleets. These incentive programs can both help justify deployments of earlier stage technologies, and enhance return-on-investment calculations. While a broad range of incentive... Read more →

Anellotech, a sustainable technology company pioneering the Bio-TCat process for production of cost-competitive renewable chemicals and fuels from non-food biomass, achieved two weeks of continuous operation of its seven-story tall TCat-8 pilot plant, producing aromatics (primarily benzene, toluene, and xylenes, BTX) from loblolly pine feedstock. Anellotech also secured an additional... Read more →

JSW USA plans to invest up to $500 million to install the most technologically advanced and eco-friendly hot-end facility in the world, setting a new industry standard. The announcement marks the second and larger phase of a plate mill modernization and expansion project that began in June 2017. This is... Read more →

Hyundai introduced the US-market version of its Kona Electric crossover at the New York Auto Show. Kona Electric rides on an all-new CUV platform and is Hyundai’s first compact electric crossover for the US market. It joins Hyundai’s successful new Kona, Tucson and Santa Fe in a full line-up of... Read more →

The Québec government is awarding AluQuébec, Quebec’s Industrial Aluminum Cluster, $3 million over the next three years for work on the aluminum smelter of the future. The award is part of a larger $33-million funding to further the development of the aluminum industry in the province. The aluminum sector is... Read more →

Genesis unveiled its Essentia Concept at the New York International Auto Show. The all-electric, high-performance concept elevates and reimagines the “Athletic Elegance” design paradigm, while providing a vision of future Genesis product performance and technology. Essentia is the brand’s first battery electric vehicle and features a lightweight carbon-fiber monocoque, a... Read more →

SimpleFuel, winner of the US Department of Energy (DOE) $1-million H2 Refuel H-Prize, is exporting one of its first hydrogen refueling appliances to Japan. The initial SimpleFuel product line is designed to target several small-scale hydrogen dispensing markets, including home and local/distributed refueling of consumer FCEVs, refueling for fuel cell... Read more →

At the New York International Auto Show, Lincoln unveiled Aviator, a three-row plug-in hybrid production preview. The “teaser” model serves to preview the direction Lincoln plans to take with its newest SUV when the production model goes on sale next year. With its roomy interior and twin-turbocharged powertrain available with... Read more →

DENSO Corporation’s newest innovative satellite R&D team in Israel will concentrate on advanced technologies such as automated driving, cybersecurity, and AI. Starting in April, DENSO’s R&D satellite will begin collaborating with local startups to pioneer new technologies. The Israel team is the newest satellite in DENSO’s global R&D network located... Read more →

At the New York International Auto Show, Nissan revealed the 2019 Altima. The sixth-generation of the best-selling mid-size sedan features two new powerplants, including the advanced variable compression unit first introduced in the Infinit QX50 (earlier post); the first available Intelligent All-Wheel Drive in a Nissan sedan in the US;... Read more →

The Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak pickup truck concept made its world debut at the New York International Auto Show. Named after a species of tree that is native to the Pacific Coast in the US (and that grows up to 135 feet high), the Atlas Tanoak is the first pickup based... Read more →

The BMW Group and Daimler AG have signed an agreement to merge their mobility services business units. Subject to examination and approval by the responsible competition authorities, the BMW Group and Daimler AG plan to combine and strategically expand their existing on-demand mobility offering in the areas of CarSharing, Ride-Hailing,... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation has begun sales of the Sora (an acronym for Sky, Ocean, River, Air)—the first fuel cell bus (FC bus) to receive vehicle type certification in Japan. Toyota expects to introduce more than 100 fuel cell buses, mainly within the Tokyo metropolitan area, ahead of the Olympic and... Read more →

Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas have used two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 (molybdenum disulfide) as a protective layer for Li-metal anodes, greatly improving the performances of Li–S batteries. In a paper in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers report that such a use of MoS2 results in stable Li... Read more →

ROUSH CleanTech is the first propane autogas fuel system manufacturer to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s and California Air Resources Board’s heavy duty-onboard diagnostics certification for all its engines. Until 2018 model year, alternative fuel vehicles had been exempt from this certification, but are now held to the same requirements... Read more →

Toyota introduced the fifth-generation RAV4 at the New York International Auto Show. Over the last five years, RAV4 sales volume has doubled; RAV4 currently ranks as the number-one-selling vehicle in the Toyota lineup, as well as the best-selling non-pickup-truck in the country. The new RAV4 offers two powertrains: the Dynamic... Read more →

NVIDIA has introduced a cloud-based system for testing autonomous vehicles using photorealistic simulation, creating a safer, more scalable method for bringing self-driving cars to the roads. NVIDIA DRIVE Constellation is based on two different servers. The first server runs NVIDIA DRIVE Sim software to simulate a self-driving vehicle’s sensors, such... Read more →

UK sales of the BMW i3 have now topped 10,000 units. Launched in 2013, the BMW i3 has evolved to be the best-selling compact electric vehicle in the premium segment. In 2017, BMW Group sold more than 100,000 electrified vehicles and both BMW i and BMW iPerformance became the best-selling... Read more →

Jaguar Land Rover and Waymo announced a long-term strategic partnership under which the two companies will develop premium self-driving electric vehicles for Waymo’s driverless transportation service. Jaguar Land Rover and Waymo (formerly Google self-driving car project) will work together to design and engineer self-driving Jaguar I-PACE vehicles. Up to 20,000... Read more →

MINI is presenting an all-electric version of the classic Mini at the New York International Auto Show this week. The classic Mini Electric combines the historic look of the iconic small car with advanced electric drive technology; with this unique vehicle, MINI says it is sending a clear signal demonstrating... Read more →

Quandl, a provider of alternative data, launched an exclusive dataset that allows investors to track weekly Tesla sales in real-time, along with demographic data about Tesla buyers. The new dataset can be used to predict the outcome of Tesla’s promise to fulfill more than 400,000 Model 3 pre-orders by 2018.... Read more →

Renesas Electronics Corporation announced the sample shipment of the industry’s first on-chip flash memory microcontroller (MCU) using a 28 nanometer (nm) process technology. To contribute to the realization of next-generation green cars and autonomous vehicles with higher efficiency and higher reliability, the RH850/E2x Series MCU incorporates up to six 400... Read more →

BYD announced a new order that will see two American-made BYD K9S electric buses delivered to the Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA). The purchase was made possible through funding from the Fresno County Transportation Authority Measure C New Technology funds. FCRTA will unveil a new Express Route that will... Read more →

Cepton Technologies, Inc., a provider of 3D LiDAR solutions for automotive, industrial and mapping applications, unveiled its Vista LiDAR sensor at the annual NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference, with immediate availability for the autonomous vehicle market. Cepton says that the Vista LiDAR sensor delivers best-in-class performance to the automotive market when... Read more →

After recently showing the new Touareg in Europe and China, Volkswagen is now debuting a new version of its Atlas midsize SUV at the New York International Auto Show: the Atlas Cross Sport concept. A five-seat version of the 7-seat Atlas that went on sale in the US in 2017,... Read more →

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed a novel localized high‐concentration electrolyte (HCE) that enables dendrite‐free cycling of lithium‐metal anodes with high Coulombic efficiency (99.5%) and excellent capacity retention (>80% after 700 cycles) of Li||LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 batteries. Unlike other HCEs developed earlier, the new PNNL electrolyte exhibits low concentration,... Read more →

Chevrolet launched the Cavalier 325T in China. The newest member of the Cavalier compact midsize family sedan lineup is equipped with a new-generation Ecotec 1.0L dual injection turbocharged engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. Chevrolet introduced the Cavalier nameplate in the China market in September 2016. Over the past 18... Read more →

In 2002, the United States exported only 3.3 million barrels of crude oil; by 2017, exports were 408 million barrels, according to figures from the US Department of Energy (DOE). In December 1975 the Energy Policy and Conservation Act banned most US crude oil exports in an effort to gain... Read more →

Researchers at the US Department of Energy Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a new enzyme that will enable microbial production of a renewable alternative to petroleum-based toluene, a widely used octane booster in gasoline that has a global market of 29 million... Read more →

Police cars and taxis in the UK will be among nearly 200 new hydrogen powered vehicles supported by a new £8.8-million (US$12.2-million) award from the Department for Transport to improve access to hydrogen refueling stations nationwide and to increase the number of hydrogen cars on the roads from this summer.... Read more →

KULR Technology has reached agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to be the exclusive manufacturing and distribution partner for the patented Internal Short Circuit (ISC) device which causes predictable battery cell failures in lithium-ion batteries, making them easier to study and, therefore, safer. Lithium-ion batteries provide power for... Read more →

The Board of Energean Oil & Gas PLC has approved the Final Investment Decision (FID) to proceed with the $1.6-billion Karish & Tanin Development Project, offshore Israel. The Karish and Tanin fields are world-class assets with 2.4 TCF of natural gas (contingent resources) and 33 million barrels of light hydrocarbons... Read more →