Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark and Haldor Topsoe, with colleagues from the Danish Technological Institute and Sintex have developed a “disruptive approach to a fundamental process” by integrating an electrically heated catalytic structure directly into a steam-methane–reforming (SMR) reactor for hydrogen production. A paper describing their approach is... Read more →

DENSO, with semi-conductor supplier Hitachi Power Semiconductor Device, Ltd., has developed a high-efficiency diode for alternators for gasoline and diesel engine vehicles. Production of alternators equipped with the newly developed diodes will start for vehicles to be sold in Europe in FY2019, and will be rolled out to manufacturing group... Read more →

The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Toyota Motor Corporation, and TRENDE Inc., will jointly conduct tests from 17 June at Toyota’s Higashifuji Technical Center and the surrounding area, on a next-generation peer-to-peer electricity system (P2P electricity transactions) that enables homes, businesses, and electrified vehicles connected to the electricity grid to trade... Read more →

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) hosted an interoperability demo of cellular-data-enabled connected vehicle (C-V2X) applications in Berlin. 5GAA members including BMW Group, Daimler, Deutsche Telekom, Fraunhofer Institutes FOKUS and ESK, Ford, Huawei, Jaguar Land Rover, Nokia, Qualcomm and Vodafone, demonstrated C-V2X Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle-to- Network (V2N) applications.... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has delivered an eActros battery-electric 18-tonne truck to international logistics provider Dachser. Dachser will test the truck in regular operations in and around Stuttgart. The eActros is part of the “innovation fleet” from Mercedes-Benz Trucks for practical testing of the heavy-duty electric truck. Dachser will use the eActros... Read more →

Paris-based Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) has signed a contract with Solaris Bus & Coach for the supply of the Solaris Urbino 8.9 LE 8.9-meter electric bus to Paris. Under the contract option, the public transport operator reserved the option to extend the contract to a value of €10... Read more →

BMW Lifestyle will introduce the new E-Scooter in September. The launch sees the BMW Group building on its successful cooperation with Micro (inventor of the Micro Scooter). The new BMW E-Scooter has a range of twelve kilometers (7.5 miles) and top speed of 20 km/h (12 mph). Two separate braking... Read more →

The Ohio State University has been named The EcoCAR Mobility Challenge Year One champion, taking the lead in the premier four-year collegiate engineering competition. Rounding out the top three are Virginia Tech in second place and the University of Alabama in third place. EcoCAR—the latest US Department of Energy Advanced... Read more →

BASF plans to build an engineering plastics compounding plant and a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) plant at the company’s proposed integrated chemical production (“Verbund”) site in Zhanjiang, China. These will be the first production plants to come onstream at the site. The Verbund site in Guangdong would be BASF’s largest investment,... Read more →

Lynas Corporation Limited, an Australian Corporation and Blue Line Corporation, a Texas Corporation, signed an MOU for a joint venture to develop rare earths separation capacity in the United States. Lynas is the largest producer of rare earth materials outside of China and has captured a significant percentage of rare... Read more →

Lubricants—a more than $146-billion market serving numerous applications, automotive among them—are produced from base oils derived from petroleum mineral oils (mineral base oil) or synthetic oils such as poly-α-olefins (PAOs) (synthetic base oil). As such, lubricants have a significant environmental footprint. A team at the University of Delaware has now... Read more →

BYD delivered Seattle’s first all-electric refuse truck, which is also the first electric Class-8 rear loader in the United States. The major milestone for heavy duty battery electric trucks features BYD’s 8R Class-8 fitted with New Way Viper Rear Loader refuse body. The first-of-its-kind vehicle is now in operation with... Read more →

UPS announced an agreement with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to purchase 170 million gallon equivalents of renewable natural gas (RNG) through 2026. This is the largest commitment for use of RNG to date by any company in the United States, with a range of 22.5 - 25 million gallon equivalents... Read more →

Agility Robotics has unveiled a new bipedal robot named Digit, which adds an upper torso, arms, sensors, and additional computing power to the company’s Cassie robot design. Digit’s four degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) arms greatly extend both the mobility and utility of Digit, as compared to Cassie. Digit Agility is teaming up... Read more →

ams, a leading worldwide supplier of high performance sensor solutions, will team with Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH, a German specialist for automotive LiDAR sensor technology, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG to advance solid-state LiDAR technology for use in autonomous driving and other applications. ZF took a 40% stake in Ibeo in... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz will further expand the GLE model range with the introduction of the V8-powered Mercedes-Benz GLE 580 4MATIC. The GLE is the first SUV in the Mercedes-Benz line up to introduce the new E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL 48-volt active suspension system. The GLE 580 4MATIC features an electrified V8 biturbo gasoline... Read more →

The Sacramento, California hydrogen station is open. It is the 40th retail hydrogen station in California and the third to open in the greater Sacramento area. The station, developed by Shell, will be open 24 hours a day and is located at 3510 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95864. Reflecting... Read more →

Essex Magnet Wire is introducing a new, high-temperature rated insulation system for the windings of traction motors utilized in hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, as well as electric vehicles: EnduroTemp 260+. EnduroTemp 260+ is a thin film insulation that will extend the life of traction motors in critical... Read more →

Bosch is working on sensor technology for air taxis. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that people around the world will take 1 billion flights in air taxis in 2030, once sharing services have also established a presence on fixed routes above the ground; most of those air taxis will be... Read more →

The Audi Q5 55 TFSI e quattro with 270 kW (367 hp) system output (combined fuel consumption: 2.4 – 2.1 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 53 – 46 g/km) is the first of the new plug-in models from Audi. The new drive concept comprises a 2.0 TFSI, a four-cylinder, turbocharged... Read more →

GILLIG LLC and Cummins Inc. announced that the GILLIG battery-electric bus, powered by Cummins (earlier post), is now available. The battery-electric bus incorporates the Cummins electrified powertrain, which features remote diagnostics and over-the-air connectivity and is backed by Cummins’ unparalleled support network and service training programs. The bus initially incorporates... Read more →

Lightning Systems introduced a longer-range, higher-speed, Generation 2 model of its Lightning Electric system for the Ford Transit. (Earlier post.) The Lightning Electric Ford Transit is a battery-electric drivetrain package for the Ford Transit 350HD, a product used extensively by commercial and government fleets. With new thermally-managed NMC battery chemistry,... Read more →

Solaris has signed another contract for the supply of electric buses on the Polish market. The Municipal Road and Transport Authority in Radom ordered ten Urbino 12 electric buses from Solaris together with infrastructure for charging them. The contract worth PLN 26 million (US$6.7 million) will be completed by mid-June... Read more →

Southern California Edison (SCE) has launched Charge Ready Transport, a program that aims to add charging stations for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles at a minimum of 870 commercial sites within the utility’s 50,000 square-mile service area. This program is specifically tailored to Southern California, where the goods movement industry... Read more →

Aerojet Rocketdyne and ZAF Energy Systems have established a new teaming agreement working together on an energy storage system utilizing ZAF’s nickel-zinc batteries and Aerojet Rocketdyne’s battery management system (BMS). While nickel-zinc batteries do not require a BMS for cell balancing and safety while charging, the BMS can enhance reliability... Read more →

Under the EU FLAGSHIPS initiative, ABB will provide a fuel-cell-based power and propulsion solution for a newbuild push boat for the France-based Sogestran Group subsidiary Compagnie Fluviale de Transport (CFT), due for delivery in 2021. FLAGSHIPS is the EU-funded initiative to deploy commercially operated zero-emission vessels for inland and short... Read more →

Proterra and Michelin are collaborating to develop the MICHELIN X InCity Energy Z tire, a new low rolling resistance tire designed and optimized for battery-electric buses in urban environments. The X InCity Energy Z tires help to reduce rolling resistance, increase load-carry capacity and leverage superior traction, resulting in increased... Read more →

Low-speed electric vehicles (LSEVs) could reduce China’s demand for gasoline and, in turn, impact global oil prices, according to a new issue brief by an expert in the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “Low-Speed Electric Vehicles: An Underappreciated Threat to Gasoline Demand in... Read more →

Constellium N.V. is the supplier of aluminum auto body sheet for the hood of Groupe PSA’s new PEUGEOT Partner and new Citroën Berlingo Van—International Vans of the Year 2019—as well as for the new Berlingo and the new PEUGEOT Rifter. While Groupe PSA frequently uses aluminum in passenger cars, this... Read more →

General Motors President Mark Reuss unveiled the company’s all-new electronic platform necessary for its next-generation of vehicles, EVs, active safety, infotainment and connectivity features, and the evolution of the Super Cruise driver assistance feature. The technology powers an electronic system, capable of managing up to 4.5 terabytes (TB) of data... Read more →

Einride’s T-pod—a cab-less, autonomous electric truck (earlier post)—has driven on a public road. The world premiere and inaugural run took place at DB Schenker’s facility in Jönköping, Sweden. The T-pod will transport goods between a warehouse and terminal at the facility, as part of a commercial flow. Einride’s T-pod has... Read more →

Business Korea reports that sales of Hyundai Motor’s Nexo hydrogen fuel cell vehicle this year reached 1,075 units on May 17, exceeding the 949 units sold for the whole of last year. This marks the first time Hyundai has sold more than 1,000 hydrogen cars annually since 2013. Of the... Read more →

Renault has equipped its Mégane range with a new 1.7 Blue dCi 150 diesel engine paired with a dual-clutch automatic gearbox. In addition to the Blue dCi 95 and Blue dCi 115 engines, this new engine offers driving pleasure right from low engine speeds and quick starts. It provides maximum... Read more →

In 2018, 27% of new light-duty vehicles sold in the US had fuel economies of more than 30 miles per gallon (783 l/100 km), according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). By contrast, none of the light-duty vehicles produced in 1975 had fuel economy greater than 30 miles per... Read more →

International automotive technology supplier ERM Advanced Telematics, whose products are installed in more than 5 million vehicles worldwide, is expanding into the electric vehicle market. The company will launch StarLink EV later this month. StarLink EV is a telematics product for the EV market that can be used in cars,... Read more →

American Battery Solutions, Inc. (ABS) emerged from stealth-mode with engineering, testing and manufacturing services enabled by an agreement to acquire of high-voltage manufacturing and testing assets from Robert Bosch Battery Systems. The terms of the sale will not be disclosed. Under the proposed agreement with Robert Bosch Battery Systems, ABS... Read more →

Portugal-based Efacec has introduced a new fast charger for electric vehicles—QC45 Generation 2. This charging station is the second generation of the company’s fast charger bestseller, with significant improvements in software and hardware domains. QC45 Generation 2 charger is characterized by usability, with better HMI design and improvement in the... Read more →

Panasonic will partner with Tropos Motors to advance hyper-efficient electric compact utility vehicles—the second largest class of fleet vehicles. ABLE XR Low-speed electric compact utility vehicles (eCUV) offers benefits to the fleet owner including lower cost of purchase with a reduced cost of operation and maintenance, which equates to a... Read more →

An experimental robot drone that flies like a typical quadcopter, drives on tough terrain and squeezes into tight spaces using the same motors, has been developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers. The hybrid FSTAR (flying sprawl-tuned autonomous robot) will be introduced at the International Conference on Robotics... Read more →

A life-cycle assessment of emissions from domestic and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), and heavy-fuel oil (HFO) for marine shipping by a team from the University of British Columbia has found that only high-pressure dual-fuel (HPDF) engines robustly reduce well-to-wake GHG emissions by 10% compared with their HFO-fueled counterparts. Low... Read more →

Researchers at Beihang University in Beijing have developed a linear molecule sulfur-rich organic material as sulfur cathode for a lithium-sulfur battery. The tetramethylthiuram disulfide-sulfur (TMTD-S) cathode material delivers an initial capacity of 685 mAh g−1 at 0.2C (1 C = 1061 mAh g−1) and maintains the capacity at 540 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles. Furthermore, when... Read more →

A fleet of driverless cars working together to keep traffic moving smoothly can improve overall traffic flow by at least 35%, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge. The researchers programmed a small fleet of miniature robotic cars to drive on a multi-lane track and... Read more →

An international team of researchers, led by Professor David Antonelli of Lancaster University, has discovered a new material made from manganese hydride that could be used to make molecular sieves within hydrogen fuel tanks. The material—KMH-1 (Kubas Manganese Hydride-1)—demonstrates a reversible excess adsorption performance of 10.5 wt% and 197 kgH2... Read more →

Researchers from the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile have found that unless ride-hailing applications substantially increase average occupancy rate of trips and become shared or pooled ride-hailing, their overall impact is an increase in vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT). Their paper appears in the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. The... Read more →

Iwatani Corporation of America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Iwatani Corporation recently acquired four hydrogen-refueling stations in California from Messer (formerly Linde, LLC). The stations are Open Retail Stations providing hydrogen fuel to consumers in support of rapidly growing demand for zero-emission fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). On 1 March... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory recently released an updated version of an online computer model meant to help bioenergy developers preserve critical resources. The model, called Water Analysis Tool for Energy Resources or WATER, has users from more than 35 US states. This map depicts water availability... Read more →

NASA will provide $6 million over the course of three years to support a University Leadership Initiative (ULI) project focused on the development of a fully electric aircraft platform that uses cryogenic liquid hydrogen as an energy storage method. The Center for Cryogenic High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft (CHEETA) project... Read more →

Neste and Air BP are supporting the business aviation sector’s Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuel (SAJF) initiative and helping drive its adoption with operators and aircraft manufacturers. The European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) will take place in Geneva on 21-23 May 2019, and European business aviation community has an... Read more →

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin Madison and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering have devised a two-stage process by which an alcohol such as ethanol or 1-butanol can be converted with high yields into distillate-range ethers and olefins by combining Guerbet coupling (the coupling of two alcohol molecules) and intermolecular dehydration.... Read more →

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has given its in-principle agreement to support the financing of Europe’s first home-grown gigafactory for lithium-ion battery cells, Northvolt Ett, in Sweden. Upon conclusion of a loan agreement, the €350-million financing would be supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar... Read more →