Nearly half of the world’s electric vehicles are in 25 cities, according to a new briefing by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). As of the end of 2017, these 25 cities were home to nearly 1.4 million of the world’s 3.1 million passenger electric vehicles. These 25 cities,... Read more →

Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, has become the lead strategic investor of WeRide.ai (formerly JingChi.ai), China’s leading autonomous driving company focused on Level 4 (L4) self-driving technology, following completion of the company’s Series A funding. The investment in WeRide.ai is Alliance Ventures’ first in China and... Read more →

A University at Buffalo-led research team has developed an efficient platinum group metal (PGM)-free catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in PEM fuel cells that consists of atomically dispersed nitrogen-coordinated single Mn sites on partially graphitic carbon (Mn-N-C). In a paper in Nature Catalysis, the researchers report that the... Read more →

BorgWarner, a leader in clean and efficient solutions for combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles, is supplying its best-in-class EGR system to a major global automaker across different regions of the world. Featured in one of the automaker’s engines, BorgWarner’s solution will reduce NOx emissions for several diesel vehicles, helping them... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development, Inc. (TRI-AD), and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. will establish a business alliance to develop advanced automated driving technology. Specifically, Toyota and TRI-AD will recreate actual traffic accident conditions or dangerous conditions that contribute to accidents in their automated driving... Read more →

The City of Westminster and operator Veolia have ordered a retrofit of 92 Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCVs) for the upcoming Ultra-low Emission Zone in London. As the first Euro VI RCV fleet retrofit, the combination of Amminex, a Faurecia company (earlier post), and Eminox technology (earlier post) has removed the... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced that Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center has signed a contract with Cray for NERSC’s next-generation supercomputer, a pre-exascale machine slated to be delivered in 2020. Named “Perlmutter,” in honor of Berkeley Lab’s Nobel Prize winning astrophysicist Saul... Read more →

Kia Motors and Hyundai Motor plan to introduce solar roof charging technology on selected Hyundai Motor Group vehicles. Electricity-generating solar panels will be incorporated into the roof or the hood of vehicles, and will support internal combustion, hybrid and battery electric vehicles with additional electrical power, increasing fuel efficiency and... Read more →

Trojan Battery Co., LLC, the world’s leading manufacturer of deep-cycle energy storage solutions for motive and stationary applications, has introduced the Trillium line of Trojan Intelligent Lithium batteries. With life expectancy over 5,000 cycles, Trillium maximizes total energy throughput and lowers lifetime operating costs. This is another significant milestone towards... Read more →

The first of hundreds of electric car-sharing vehicles coming to Sacramento, California as part of Electrify America’s $44-million investment in the City will be unveiled tomorrow at the Whispering Pines Apartments in Meadowview. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Electrify America and Envoy, an electric car-sharing company awarded funds by Electrify America,... Read more →

Trillium, one of the nation’s leading providers of alternative fuel systems and renewable fuels, along with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today celebrated the opening of the commonwealth’s newest compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The facility is the fourth of six new public CNG fueling... Read more →

Infineon Technologies AG and XAIN (earlier post) have agreed to work together on bringing blockchain technology into the car. The goal of the collaboration is to test possible applications and develop suitable ones to market maturity. A first demonstrator shows how access rights, e.g. for car sharing, can be granted... Read more →

UQM Technologies, Inc. is introducing the Integrated Fuel Cell Compressor System (PowerPhase FCS). This product is designed to meet growing demand in the fuel cell market for a high performance, cost-effective compressor solution. The fully integrated fuel cell motor/inverter/compressor has been customized for a wide range of fuel cell applications.... Read more →

A team from Georgia Tech, with colleagues at the university of Kansas, has designed a high-performance solid-oxide fuel cell that operates directly on nearly dry (only ~3.5 vol% H2O) methane at 500 °C, demonstrating a peak power density of 0.37 W cm−2 while maintaining excellent durability (no evidence of coking... Read more →

US Army pilots exercised supervised autonomy to direct an optionally-piloted helicopter (OPV) through a series of missions to demonstrate technology developed by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The series of flights marked the first time that non-Sikorsky pilots operated the Sikorsky Autonomy... Read more →

Hyundai Motor has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Beijing-Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute (BTIRDI) to establish a Hydrogen Energy Fund. Under this agreement, the South Korean automaker and its Chinese counterpart expect to strengthen their influence in the hydrogen ecosystem while accelerating the advent of a Hydrogen Society.... Read more →

Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE) and Cummins Inc. have jointly developed an electric mini excavator. Powered by Cummins BM4.4E flexible battery modules (4.4 kWh each), the 3.5-ton excavator is designed to operate for a full eight-hour shift and charge in under three hours. The excavator contains eight BM4.4E modules connected together... Read more →

Blink Charging Co., a leading owner, operator and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging station products and networked EV charging services, and Hubject, a joint venture formed by leading companies in the automotive, energy and technology sectors that includes BMW Group, Daimler, Siemens, and the Volkswagen Group, have formed a... Read more →

From 2007 to 2017 new light-duty vehicle sales increased from 16.1 million to 17.1 million vehicles—an increase of 6.5%. In this time frame, crossover vehicle sales have increased by 116.9% while sales of most other vehicle types declined, according to data from the US Department of Energy (DOE). Sales of... Read more →

Volkswagen Group, Mobileye and Champion Motors plan to commercialize Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) with self-driving electric vehicles in Israel. Development will begin in early 2019 and roll out in phases reaching full commercialization in 2022. The partners will establish a joint venture, subject to approval by the responsible authorities and bodies. Operating... Read more →

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has awarded New Flyer a new contract for six 40' battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE heavy-duty transit buses. The purchase is supported by competitive state grants, California’s Cap-and-Trade Program, and the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. The buses are expected to arrive in... Read more →

Effective October 26, 2018, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is adding Nickel (soluble compounds) to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity for purposes of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. The listing of nickel (soluble compounds)... Read more →

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed a technology for efficiently managing photovoltaic (PV) and other power-generation systems and also the charging/discharging of electric vehicles (EVs) parked on company campuses. Mitsubishi Electric estimates the technology will reduce users’ electric power costs by 5% by optimizing EV charging/discharging schedules. By optimizing the schedules... Read more →

The EU OPTEMUS (Optimized Energy Management and Use) project seeks to address the electric range limitation due to limited storage capacity of electric batteries by leveraging low energy consumption and energy harvesting through a holistic vehicle-occupant-centered approach, considering space, cost and complexity requirements. Specifically, OPTEMUS intends to develop a number... Read more →

To achieve goals for climate and economic growth, “negative emissions technologies” (NETs) that remove and sequester carbon dioxide from the air will need to play a significant role in mitigating climate change, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report—“Negative Emissions Technologies... Read more →

Innovusion, a developer of LiDAR technology for the autonomous vehicle markets, raised about US $30 million in Series A funding, co-led by NIO Capital and Eight Roads Ventures in China, and F-Prime Capital in the US, in addition to seed round from Gaorong Capital and other strategic investors. On the... Read more →

Fujitsu Limited and Ericsson have entered an agreement to deliver end-to-end 5G network solutions and related services under a strategic partnership. The two companies are joining forces to develop this based on their combined portfolios—spanning radio access and core network—for the dynamic 5G market in Japan, connecting communications service providers... Read more →

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have launched two research projects to apply artificial intelligence to self-driving cars to smooth traffic, reduce fuel consumption, and improve air quality predictions. In collaboration with UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab scientists are using deep reinforcement learning, a computational... Read more →

MAHLE has acquired ebikemotion Technologies S.L., a Spanish specialist in pedelec drives, HMI, and connectivity based in Palencia/Spain. This acquisition strengthens MAHLE’s activities in the area of electrically powered bicycles. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The global market for pedelecs will continue to grow rapidly.... Read more →

Scientists at Stanford University have developed electrochemical cells that convert carbon monoxide (CO) derived from CO2 into commercially viable compounds more effectively and efficiently than existing technologies. Their open-access research, published in the journal Joule, provides a new strategy for capturing CO2 and converting it into chemical feedstocks. CO2 capture... Read more →

Earlier this month, members of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee proposed a higher target (35%) than the European Commission (30%) for new heavy-duty trucks to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, with an intermediate target of 20% by 2025. Manufacturers will also have to ensure that zero- and low-emission... Read more →

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the European Union rose slightly in 2017, mostly because of the transport sector. Preliminary estimates published in the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) annual trends and projections assessments show a 0.6% emissions increase in 2017 from 2016. This limited increase means that the EU is still... Read more →

Natural rubber stakeholders convened in Singapore for the ceremonial launch of an independent platform to lead improvements in the socio-economic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain. Stakeholders including tire manufacturers, other rubber users, suppliers and processors, vehicle makers and NGOs, contributed to the development of the Global... Read more →

Air pollution—specifically PM2.5, ozone and NO2—could be to blame for up to 33 million emergency asthma attack visits to hospital a year, according to a new open-access study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The researchers aimed to estimate the number of asthma emergency room visits and new onset... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems will provide fuel cell modules to power four UPS delivery trucks as part of a project being managed by the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) and partially funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB has announced a preliminary funding award of $5.8 million... Read more →

The BMW Group’s Dingolfing plant in Germany will supply the batteries for the all-electric MINI to be built in late 2019 in Oxford, South England. The batteries for the vehicle will come from the new battery production facility in Dingolfing; the electric motors from the neighboring BMW Group plant in... Read more →

The Board of Directors of Terraframe—a Finnish multi-metal company producing nickel, zinc, cobalt and copper—has greenlighted the investment of €240 million in a battery materials plant. The plant, which will produce chemicals used in electric vehicle batteries (EVB), will be located at the company’s current industrial site in Sotkamo, Finland.... Read more →

According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), 34 hydrogen fuel cell buses are already running in various states including California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Ohio. An additional 37 fuel cell buses are planned to be on the roads soon. Graphic shows US states with current and planned fuel cell buses.... Read more →

In comments being filed today on the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks, the Trump Administration’s proposal to freeze fuel economy regulations, General Motors proposes the establishment of a National Zero Emissions Vehicle (NZEV) program to support a 50-state solution, promote... Read more →

Audi and Umicore have successfully completed phase one of their strategic research cooperation for battery recycling. The two partners are developing a closed loop for components of high-voltage batteries that can be used again and again. Particularly valuable materials are set to become available in a raw materials bank. Even... Read more →

Air pollution and transportation noise are both associated with an increased risk of heart attacks. However, studies on air pollution which do not take into account traffic noise tend to overestimate the long-term effect of air pollution on heart attacks, according to a study conducted by the Swiss Tropical and... Read more →

The Rice University lab of chemist James Tour has shown that thin nanotube films effectively stop dendrites that grow naturally from unprotected lithium metal anodes in batteries. A paper on their work is published in the journal Advanced Materials. Here, it is shown that lithiated multiwall carbon nanotubes (Li‐MWCNTs) act... Read more →

Groupe PSA is starting its Free2Move carsharing services in Washington, DC today. This “free-floating” service provides 24/7 access to a fleet of 600 cars parked on public streets across all 8 wards in the District of Columbia. The Free2Move Carsharing app allows new members to join in a few clicks.... Read more →

In an effort to address growing traffic congestion and air quality concerns, UPS and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced the deployment of an innovative downtown delivery pilot project using pedal-assist cargo eBikes and customized, modular trailers. The cargo eBikes will operate in the historic Pike Place Market and downtown Seattle... Read more →

Tata Chemicals (TCL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with CSIR-CECRI (Central Electrochemical Research Institute), Karaikudi, to explore collaborative technology for scaling up the manufacture of cathode materials for lithium-ion cells. Under this MOU, TCL and CSIR-CECRI envisage building a partnership which would leverage CSIR-CECRI’s intellectual property, capabilities and infrastructure... Read more →

The European car market recorded the highest monthly decline of the last decade in September 2018, as 1.12 million vehicles were registered—343,000 less than in September 2017, according to figures from JATO Dynamics. The drop follows August’s inflated results, which were boosted by an increase in business registrations and stock... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) has launched an interactive Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Career Map. This tool will allow users of all ages to discover traditional and non-traditional career opportunities in the hydrogen and fuel cells industry. The tool also promotes workforce development in the... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board approved a $483 million plan to fund clean car rebates, zero-emission transit and school buses, clean trucks, and other innovative, clean transportation and mobility pilot projects. The Fiscal Year 2018-19 Funding Plan for Clean Transportation Incentives, largely funded with cap-and-trade proceeds, is part of California’s... Read more →

Infineon Technologies AG is the first semiconductor manufacturer to put a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) specifically for automotive applications on the market. The new OPTIGA TPM 2.0 protects communication between the car manufacturer and the car—which is increasingly turning into a computer on wheels. A number of car manufacturers have... Read more →

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has launched the new SoCalGas Truck Loan Program. The program allows qualified fleet owners the opportunity to try out the latest in heavy-duty natural gas truck technology by test-driving a 12L near-zero truck. This “try before you buy” program provides fleet owners with the opportunity... Read more →