The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), with partners from the automotive, automotive supply and petroleum industries and with the support of the German state government of Baden-Württemberg, are launching a broad-based program to explore the opportunities synthetic fuels derived from non-fossil carbon sources offer society, the economy and the environment.... Read more →

The Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) issued a funding opportunity announcement (DE-FOA-0001952) of up to $5 million for research and development of algorithms to modernize the electric grid. If successful, awardees will participate in Challenge 1 of ARPA-E’s Grid Optimization (GO) Competition, set to launch in fall 2018.... Read more →

EV Connect, a provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions and a cloud-based EV network management platform, closed an $8-million financing round. The round was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund, with participation by Montage Capital and existing investors. Funds will be used to accelerate deployment of EV Connect’s EV Cloud... Read more →

Continental is offering end-to-end cyber security and over-the-air software update solutions from Argus Cyber Security (Argus) and Elektrobit (EB) pre-integrated into its connected vehicle electronics products including telematics units, infotainment systems, gateways and more. More than 60 million connected vehicles will be sold worldwide per year by 2021. Automobile connectivity... Read more →

Series production of electric motors officially started in Audi’s Győr, Hungary plant. The electric motors are produced on floor space of 8,500 square meters using an innovative modular assembly production concept. The company has invested a double-digit million amount to set up the motor production facility. Tubing the various coil... Read more →

Kia Motors’ upgraded 2018 Kia Sportage (earlier post), the brand’s global best-selling vehicle, offers a 2.0-liter diesel engine now available with Kia’s new eight-speed automatic transmission, and—in certain markets—48-volt mild-hybrid power (earlier post). The Sportage is also available with an all-new 1.6-liter diesel engine, employing the company’s new SmartStream efficiency... Read more →

The Dearman Hubbard zero emission transport refrigeration unit (TRU) (earlier post) has gone one step further with a nosemount option now also available, the dominant model in the US market. Until now, the Dearman liquid-nitrogen-powered engine has been fitted underneath a trailer on one side with the liquid nitrogen tank... Read more →

A team at UC Davis has optimized the levulinic ester self-condensation reaction and the efficient conversion of its products—which are highly branched cyclopentadienes—into a mixture of substituted cyclopentanes with high octane ratings and excellent density and flow properties. In a paper in the RSC journal Green Chemistry, they reported that... Read more →

Princess Cruises, a leading global cruise brand of Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest leisure travel company, announced a memorandum of agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri S.p.A. to build two new cruise ships on a next-generation platform. The new builds are slated to be delivered in late 2023 and... Read more →

Using an in situ liquid transmission electron microscopy technique that can visualize chemical reactions occurring in liquid environments, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a new reason lithium-oxygen batteries—which promise up to five times more energy than the lithium-ion batteries that currently... Read more →

MAHLE is developing high-voltage traction motors for fully electrified vehicles (EVs) as well as 48-volt drive motors for new-generation hybrids. J.D. Kehoe, director of Product Development, Filtration and Engine Peripherals for MAHLE Filter Systems in North America, said greater internal combustion engine (ICE) downsizing, 48-volt hybridization, and electric traction motors... Read more →

IHS Markit forecasts that global revenue for the automotive magnetic sensors market will expand to $2.3 billion in 2030, more than double the $1.1 billion collected by the industry last year. The magnetic sensors space will benefit from a discernible acceleration in market demand as the effects of car electrification... Read more →

ExxonMobil has increased its estimate of the discovered recoverable resources for the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana to more than 4 billion oil-equivalent barrels and has advanced its evaluation to support a third phase of development and consideration of two additional phases. The increase follows completion of testing at the Liza-5... Read more →

Nemaska Lithium (earlier post) reported that project construction and planning are on schedule at both its mine location and the electrochemical plant. I am pleased that we are progressing according to plan and that we are on track to start producing spodumene concentrate in the second half of 2019 with... Read more →

The new Volvo VNL 300 daycab is now available with the latest version of the Cummins ISX12N “Near Zero” natural gas engine (earlier post), providing an alternative fuel solution for pick-up and delivery and regional-haul operations. With available engine ratings of 350 horsepower with 1,450 lb-ft (1,966 N·m) torque up... Read more →

Dana Incorporated has been collaborating with Mecalac to develop a customized e-Drivetrain system for the new Mecalac e12 electric compact wheeled excavator, introduced earlier this year at Intermat in Paris. With the proven Mecalac 12MTX as a base frame, this version is the first compact wheeled excavator powered entirely by... Read more →

Volkswagen Group Canada has formed Electrify Canada, a new company that will build an ultra-fast electric vehicle (EV) direct current (DC) charging network across Canada. Volkswagen expects the network to be operational starting in the second quarter of 2019. The mission of Electrify Canada is similar to that of Electrify... Read more →

In the quest to realize artificial photosynthesis to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into fuel—just as plants do—researchers need to not only identify materials to efficiently perform photoelectrochemical water splitting, but also to understand why a certain material may or may not work. Now scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National... Read more →

TechnipFMC has been awarded a “substantial” contract—i.e., ranging from $250-$500 million—by the state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) for a grassroot Hydrogen Generation Unit (HGU). The project is part of the brownfield expansion for HPCL’s Visakh Refinery Modernization Project located in Visakhapatnam, in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.... Read more →

Policies to entice consumers away from fossil-fuel powered vehicles and normalize low carbon, alternative-fuel alternatives, such as electric vehicles, are vital if the world is to significantly reduce transport sector carbon pure-emissions, according to a new study. Led by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) researcher David McCollum and... Read more →

Enbridge Gas Distribution and the City of Toronto will build and install equipment that will turn the City’s organic waste (apple cores, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc.) into renewable natural gas. Almost 50% of household waste (by weight) is organic material. When organic waste breaks down, methane is created. Many... Read more →

Spending on electricity distribution systems by major US electric utilities—representing about 70% of total US electric load—has risen 54% over the past two decades, from $31 billion to $51 billion annually, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). This increase has been largely driven by increases in capital investment.... Read more →

Nextant Aerospace, builders of the 400XTi, G90XT, remanufactured aircraft, and Challenger 604XT upgrade, has received a new Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for installation of a True Blue Power Lithium-ion emergency power supply as a direct replacement for the existing 24 VDC sealed lead-acid battery on Textron Aviation model 400A and... Read more →

GTI (Gas Technology Institue) is leading a high-profile program on Hydraulic Fracturing Test Sites (HFTS) in the Permian Basin, bringing together government and industry to improve recovery, continue enhancing environmentally responsible methods of optimizing production, and lowering costs in the Midland and Delaware Basins. In January 2018, GTI was awarded... Read more →

Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tohoku University have entered into an agreement to cooperate in information science research centering on quantum computing. The collaboration will allow the two institutions to build upon their respective strengths and form a global base to advance the field of study. With its potential to... Read more →

The new Kia Niro battery-electric CUV (crossover utility vehicle) has gone on sale in Korea, featuring an expected driving range of up to 385 kilometers (239 miles), as calculated by SAE J1364 in the United States. European sales of Niro EV will follow at end of 2018 and North America... Read more →

NIRA Dynamics, a Swedish automotive software technology company, has joined the AWare ecosystem of Renovo, a mobility software technology company. Automated Mobility fleet deployments that use Renovo’s AWare OS can seamlessly deploy NIRA Dynamics’ Road Surface Information (RSI) software on their vehicles. NIRA Dynamics’ RSI is a software solution that... Read more →

West Virginia University (WVU) researchers are opening a new facility to capture rare earth elements (REEs) from acid mine drainage (AMD) from coal mining. Through a collaborative research and development program with the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), WVU is opening the Rare Earth Extraction... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Western Ontario are proposing selenium (Se) as a promising cathode material for all-solid-state Li batteries, paired with a lithium-tin (L-Sn) alloy as an anode and Li3PS4 as the electrolyte. In a paper in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science, the team reports that in... Read more →

Among its exhibits at AirVenture Oshkosh 2018, held next week at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, NASA will showcase the all-electric X-57 Maxwell aircraft (earlier post). The X-57 takes to the skies in 2019 to demonstrate how electric propulsion can be 500% more efficient than conventional aircraft. On 23... Read more →

The UK Department for Transport launched a consultation on whether and how it should introduce E10 fuel—which contains more bioethanol than traditional gasoline—to the UK market. We have launched this consultation in order to understand the impact of E10 on the UK market better, and to ensure that drivers are... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) will absorb the research and development functions of its wholly owned subsidiary, Toyota InfoTechnology Center (ITC Japan) into its in-house Connected Company by March 2019. It also plans to absorb the research and development functions of Toyota InfoTechnology Center, USA (ITC USA), a wholly owned subsidiary... Read more →

Alstom has selected French battery manufacturer Forsee Power to provide Li-ion batteries for Alstom Aptis electric bus (earlier post), scheduled for series delivery from 2019 onwards. The vehicles will be equipped with NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide) Li-ion battery technology as a standard feature. Alstom said it chose Forsee Power... Read more →

The University of Adelaide’s (Australia) newest Ramsay Fellow, Dr. James Quach, will harness the unique properties of quantum mechanics with the aim of building the world’s first quantum battery. Dr. Quach says that unlike ordinary batteries, which take the same amount of time to charge no matter how many you... Read more →

The formation of new atmospheric particulates—i.e., de novo rather than as direct emissions—via nucleation and growth is a major source of aerosol pollution in terms of number concentration. In spite of a great deal of research, it is still a puzzle why and how such new particule formation (NPF) occurs... Read more →

The crossover utility vehicle (CUV) share of light-duty vehicles has increased, largely at the expense of cars, despite increases in gasoline prices over the previous two years, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). In each month since September 2017, sales of CUVs have exceeded those of cars, a... Read more →

By Haden Kirkpatrick. Over the last two decades, fully electric cars have had, let’s say, a slow start. In 1997, the Toyota Prius was released as the world’s first mass-produced hybrid. And while hybrid technology has taken off, drivers have been hesitant to accept fully battery-powered tech for a variety... Read more →

Researchers at Linköping University and Umeå University in Sweden have developed a new and efficient way to use electrocatalysis to produce hydrogen gas from water using electrodes with nanotruss structures of iron oxide. A paper on their work is published in the ACS journal Nano Letters. The Plasma and Coatings... Read more →

Didi Chuxing announced the official launch DiDi Mobility Japan Corp., a joint venture with SoftBank, to offer on-demand taxi-hailing services and smart transportation solutions for citizens and tourists in the world’s third-largest economy. DiDi believes AI-based innovation may contribute to new growth of taxi industry and the public transportation sectors.... Read more →

The American Petroleum Institute’s (API’s) monthly statistical report for June of 2018 shows that US production of crude oil and natural gas liquids hit its highest level ever. In June, production of crude oil reached 10.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) and production of natural gas liquids reached 4.2 mb/d.... Read more →

BMW Group has introduced computer tomography (CT) into prototype development, production and analysis—a first in the automotive industry. With this technology, the full range of vehicles, from MINI to Rolls-Royce, can now be quality-controlled even in the early stages of development. Scans are performed by four robots which move around... Read more →

PAO NOVATEK has shipped its first cargos of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Yamal LNG project to China via the Northern Sea Route on the tankers Vladimir Rusanov and Eduard Toll. (Earlier post.) Eduard Toll transiting the Northern Route earlier this year. The net voyage time from the port... Read more →

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have shed new light on the atomic-level mechanism of the sulfur embrittlement of nickel, a classic problem that has puzzled the scientific community for nearly a century. The discovery also enriches fundamental understanding of general grain boundaries that often control the mechanical... Read more →

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), Canada’s largest transit operator and the third-largest transit operator in North America, has placed an order to purchase a guarantee of ten 40-foot, fully electric BYD buses, with an option for an additional 30 buses. TTC’s purchase is BYD Canada’s seventh heavy-duty electric-bus order in... Read more →

Hyundai has lowered the price and slightly increased the all-electric range of the refreshed 2018 Hyundai Sonata Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV). The new PHEV model adopts the same distinctive design of the recently released Sonata gasoline and Hybrid models while delivering 28 miles (45 km) of all-electric range (vs. 27 miles... Read more →

Building on its years of experience and expertise in engine and powertrain applications, leading adhesives provider Henkel is actively investing in new technologies and products for efficient large-scale manufacturing of safe and reliable electric drive systems. Key solutions include innovative liquid gasketing, magnet bonding, thermal management and potting products as... Read more →

Japan’s Fuji Keizai Group forecasts that China will account for 57% of the world’s electric vehicle sales by 2035. The market researcher forecasts global EV sales of 11.25 million units in 2035—nearly 15 times the 760,000 sold in 2017. China is expected to account for 6.42 million of that total.... Read more →

Audi is updating its third-generation TT, unveiled in 2014 (earlier post). For the new TT, Audi has a range of gasoline engines in various performance levels, paired either with the six-speed manual transmission or a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. In both transmission variants, the close-ratio lower gears enable powerful acceleration, while... Read more →

Automotive safety systems leader Autoliv, Inc. has joined the new European H2020 research project OSCCAR (Future Occupant Safety for Crashers in Cars) to improve the protection and safety for occupants of the future vehicle. The future highly automated vehicle, with comfort and convenience enhancing features such as relaxed seating positions... Read more →

Researchers from the United States Steel Corporation (USS) recently used neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source (earlier post) to better understand the properties of hydroformed AHSS and how it responds to residual stress introduced during manufacturing. In an SAE International technical paper, the research team reported on... Read more →