Hydro-Québec and The University of Texas at Austin signed an agreement for the transfer to Hydro-Québec of patents co-invented by Dr. John B. Goodenough, a professor at The University of Texas at Austin and the 2019 Nobel Laureate in chemistry and Dr. Maria Helena Braga, an associate professor at the... Read more →

TDK Corporation subsidiary TDK Ventures Inc. has invested in AutoFlightX, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air mobility company. AutoFlightX is an eVTOL air-cargo and air-taxi company headquartered in Munich, with R&D centers in Shanghai and Shenzhen, China. AutoFlightX is the fourth investment by the TDK corporate venture capital... Read more →

Wright Electric announced the start of its electric propulsion development program for its flagship 186-seat electric aircraft, named Wright 1. In order to achieve the commercial flight capability of the Wright 1, Wright is engineering electrical systems at the megawatt scale by building a 1.5 MW electric motor and inverter... Read more →

Together with start-up Circulor, Mercedes-Benz is conducting a pilot project for transparency on CO2 emissions in the cobalt supply chain as part of STARTUP AUTOBAHN. The project partners use blockchain technology to track the emissions of climate-relevant gases as well as the amount of secondary material along the complex supply... Read more →

Neste and Outotec have jointly verified the viability of applying Neste MY Renewable Isoalkane as a fully bio-based diluent for extracting metals in hydrometallurgical processes. Neste MY Renewable Isoalkane is produced using Neste’s proprietary NEXBTL technology, a hydrotreatment process that can convert natural oils, such as vegetable oil and a... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board, US Department of Justice, and US Environmental Protection Agency announced settlements valued at $22 million with Kohler Co. to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act and California anti-pollution laws. Of the $6 million that California will receive, $4.2 million will fund air pollution research,... Read more →

King County Metro (Metro)—the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle—has agreed to purchase 40 sixty-foot battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE heavy-duty transit buses from New Flyer, with plans to order an additional 80 battery-electric buses in the coming year. Upon execution of the purchase agreement... Read more →

BYD has delivered its first two battery-electric buses to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the largest transit operator in Canada and the third-largest transit operator in North America. The bus is part of a total order by the TTC for 10 BYD 40-foot K9M buses, all of which are scheduled... Read more →

Mack Trucks launched the all-new Mack MD series of medium-duty trucks, adding to its already robust product lineup to reach new customers and applications. Serial production of the Mack MD Series will begin in July 2020. Mack also announced a $13-million investment to establish its Roanoke Valley Operations (RVO), a... Read more →

In order to advance its fleet electrification and emissions reduction goals, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) has deployed six new XL plug-in hybrid electric Ford F-150 pickup trucks to its fleet. The trucks were unveiled during a ceremony at the SWBNO Central Yard on 28 January... Read more →

General Motors is resurrecting the HUMMER as an electric truck in the GMC family. The GMC HUMMER EV truck will showcase the GMC brand’s design and engineering and will feature 1,000 horsepower; 11,500 lb-ft (15,592 N·m) of torque; and acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds. Initial availability... Read more →

Energy major Total, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Saft, and Groupe PSA with Opel, intend to establish a joint venture named Automotive Cell Company (ACC) to develop EV battery manufacturing in Europe. The project will leverage cutting-edge R&D, notably provided by Saft, in order to produce EV batteries starting in 2023.... Read more →

In a commentary in the journal Joule, Rob McGinnis, founder and and CEO of Prometheus, a company that is developing technology to remove carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into fuels, discusses the technology advances that could lead to the potential price-competitiveness of renewable gasoline and jet with... Read more →

In addition to harmful gases such as carbon monoxide, air pollution contains tiny particles that have been linked to health problems, including cardiovascular disease and asthma. Most studies have analyzed the potential health effects of larger-sized particulate matter (PM), such as particles less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5). Now,... Read more →

Location technology specialist, TomTom (TOM2), released the latest results of the TomTom Traffic Index, a report detailing the traffic situation in 416 cities in 57 countries. Overall, traffic congestion has increased globally during the last decade, and the 239 cities (57%) TomTom included in the new Traffic Index report had... Read more →

Nickel is a widely used metal in the manufacturing industry for both industrial and advanced material processes. Now, Purdue University innovators have created a hybrid technique to fabricate a nanotwinned form of nickel that may help the future production of lifesaving medical devices, high-tech devices and vehicles with strong corrosion-resistant... Read more →

California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) has supported an innovative revolution in alternative fuels. Those fuels have replaced more than 2.5 billion gallons of petroleum fuel in the past 12 months, providing Californians with cleaner alternatives. The California Air Resources Board has released a list of CARB-certified, third-party verifiers who... Read more →

UPS’ venture capital arm, UPS Ventures, has completed a minority investment in Arrival, which makes electric vehicle (EV) platforms and purpose-built vehicles. Along with the investment in Arrival, UPS also announced a commitment to purchase 10,000 electric vehicles to be built for UPS with priority access to purchase additional electric... Read more →

The UK’s Royal Mail Group Ltd. (RMG), the owner of one of Europe’s largest fleets, has signed a deal with EDF, the UK’s leading low-carbon energy producer, to deliver electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. This will support Royal Mail Group’s commitment under the Optimize Prime Project—the world’s largest commercial electric vehicle... Read more →

The Lincoln Motor Company is working with Rivian to develop an all-new electric vehicle previously announced as part of Ford Motor Company’s original investment in Rivian. (Earlier post.) Lincoln’s first fully electric vehicle will join the Aviator and Corsair Grand Touring plug-in hybrid vehicles, further solidifying Lincoln’s commitment to electrification.... Read more →

More than half (52%) of taxi and Uber customers in seven European countries are willing to pay an extra 15-20 cents (euro) per km for a zero-emission ride, according to a new online YouGov poll published by the NGO campaign #TrueCostOfUber. This is especially true with young people who use... Read more →

The US Department of Transportation has released a paper summarizing the results and implications of past research on the dynamics of consumer adoption of automated vehicles. The paper, “Understanding Surveys of Public Sentiment Regarding Automated Vehicles: Summary of Results to Date and Implications of Past Research on the Dynamics of... Read more →

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University have used a gallium, indium, tin and bismuth alloy to generate hydrogen, when placed in contact with an aluminum plate immersed in water. The hydrogen is then used in a PEM fuel cell. An open-access paper on their work appears... Read more →

Audi is moving ahead with networked traffic lights in Düsseldorf. After Ingolstadt, the city on the Rhine is the second in Europe in which Audi is introducing its Traffic Light Information service. At the end of January, Audi drivers will see information from around 150 traffic lights in their cockpit,... Read more →

Solaris has won a tender for the delivery of three articulated electric buses to the operator SWB in Bonn. The Urbino 18 electric buses feature the new generation of Solaris High Energy+ batteries. Pursuant to the agreement, the Solaris buses will be put into service this year. A key condition... Read more →

SEAT presented at its Martorell facilities the all-new SEAT Leon compact. The company, a member of the Volkswagen Group, has invested more than €1.1 billion in fourth generation of the Leon to bring it to market with more efficient engines, next levels of connectivity and driving assistance, dynamism and eye-catching... Read more →

The results of a new analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) show that, when combined with a trend toward higher methane leakage and combustion slip, there is no climate benefit from using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel—regardless of the engine technology. LNG is becoming... Read more →

Clean Energy Fuels Corp delivered 143 million gallons of Redeem Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) last year as robust sales of the carbon-neutral transportation fuel continued in 2019, closing out the year with significant deals throughout North America. Redeem was the first commercially available RNG vehicle fuel, derived from capturing biogenic... Read more →

Two FUSO eCanter electric trucks are now operating in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen. The Danish Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht personally handed over the two FUSO eCanter to the two well-known Danish customers Citylogistik and Aarstiderne. Both customers have the goal of reducing CO2 emissions and changing transport logistics within the urban... Read more →

The redesigned 2020 Hyundai IONIQ Electric delivers 170 miles of range (an increase of 37% from the previous 124-mile range), technology and advanced standard safety features at a starting price of $33,045 for the SE model. Customers may receive the available federal tax credit of up to $7,500 making the... Read more →

BorgWarner Inc. and Delphi Technologies PLC have entered into a definitive transaction agreement under which BorgWarner will acquire Delphi Technologies in an all-stock transaction that values Delphi Technologies’ enterprise value at approximately $3.3 billion. The acquisition would strengthen BorgWarner’s power electronics products, capabilities and scale. Combining with Delphi Technologies is... Read more →

Widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in California could confer significant economic benefits by both 2030 and 2050, resulting in increases to Gross State Product (GSP), employment, real household incomes, and state revenue, according to a new report commissioned by the think tank Next 10. The report, Clean Transportation:... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Texas San Antonio have published a review of the security and privacy risks posed by e-scooters and their related software services and applications. We were already investigating the risks posed by these micromobility vehicles to pedestrians’ safety. During that study, we also realized that besides... Read more →

Teijin Limited will establish Teijin Automotive Center Europe GmbH (TACE) in Wuppertal, Germany in February as a new base for technical functions within the company’s automotive composite business. The company will handle concept, designing, prototyping, evaluations, marketing and technical research for next-generation automotive components, utilizing the Teijin Group’s capabilities to... Read more →

Solaris will introduce a new 15-meter electric bus—the low-entry Solaris Urbino 15 LE electric—to its portfolio this year. The tri-axle bus is built mainly with customers of the Scandinavian market in mind. The vehicle will be available both as a typical city bus (class I) and also as an intercity... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems announced that its proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel-cell technology and products have now successfully powered Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles in commercial Heavy- and Medium-Duty Motive applications for an industry-leading cumulative total of more than 30 million kilometers (18.5 million miles) on roads around the globe. Ballard’s FCmove... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office, in collaboration with the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office, has established technical targets for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in long-haul tractor-trailer Class 8 truck applications. These targets will help guide early stage R&D and serve as benchmarks for tracking technology.... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board will launch its Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE) at the Port of San Diego on 31 January. The new $44-million voucher project is designed to accelerate deployment of zero-emission off-road freight equipment used at goods-movement hubs, including ports, distribution centers, airports, and rail... Read more →

Of the 11.1 billion tons of freight shipped by trucks in the United States in 2018, 7.3 billion tons (two-thirds) were shipped less than 100 miles. Another 1.8 billion tons were shipped between 100 and 249 miles and 1.2 billion tons between 250 and 499 miles. Source: US Department of... Read more →

ExxonMobil has increased its estimated recoverable resource base in Guyana to more than 8 billion oil equivalent barrels and made a further oil discovery northeast of the producing Liza field (earlier post) at the Uaru exploration well, the 16th discovery on the Stabroek Block. Starbroek Block offshore Guyana. The new... Read more →

General Motors will invest $2.2 billion at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant to produce a variety of all-electric trucks and SUVs. GM’s first all-electric truck will be a pickup with production scheduled to begin in late 2021. This will be followed soon after by the Cruise Origin, a shared, electric, self-driving... Read more →

by Michael Sivak, Sivak Applied Research. Vehicle distance traveled per person in Great Britain is currently about one-half of the distance in the United States. The issue of interest in this study is whether, despite this difference, the two countries show similar patterns of recent changes on this measure. The... Read more →

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), with colleagues at Yale University, have developed a photochemical process to convert acetone derived from plants (bio-acetone) into a mixture of polycyclic alkanes, the high energy density of which is appropriate for high-perfomance aviation applications. A paper on the work appears in the... Read more →

Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Nissan Research Center report on their investigation of the internal reforming of ethanol fuel on high-performance metal-supported solid-oxide fuel cells (MS-SOFCs) with infiltrated catalysts in a paper in the Journal of Power Sources. Dogdibegovic et al. Nissan’s public interest in ethanol-fueled solid-oxide... Read more →

Nissan and Uber have signed a deal to support the introduction of 2,000 all-electric Nissan LEAFs for drivers who use the Uber app. The fleet of 40kWh Nissan LEAFs, which can travel up to 168 miles on a single charge and are manufactured in Sunderland, will be offered to drivers... Read more →

US oil production from tight formations increased in 2019, accounting for 64% of total US crude oil production, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). This share grew because of the increasing productivity of new wells that were brought online during 2019. First month oil production per new well... Read more →

In a working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a team from UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) calculates that the social cost of the phase out of nuclear electricity production in Germany is approximately $12 billion per year. More than 70% of... Read more →

A new study suggests that significant early childhood exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is associated with structural changes in the brain at the age of 12. The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study found that children with higher levels of TRAP exposure at birth had reductions at age 12... Read more →

The 2020 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid began arriving at dealerships in the US last week. New for the 2020 model year is an updated Acoustic Vehicle Alert System (AVAS) that functions whenever the car is operating at low speeds on electric power only (unless in Park), enhancing awareness for pedestrians,... Read more →

Rolls-Royce now holds a 73.1% majority stake in Berlin-based electricity storage specialist Qinous GmbH. The Group acquired the shareholdings of all other current financial investors, including that of investment holdings company IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (Berlin). The founding shareholders will continue to hold shares in the company and will retain their... Read more →