BluE Nexus Corporation (earlier post) and Toyota Motor Corporation will collaborate to prepare for the accelerated adoption of electrified vehicles by working together to increase their competitiveness in products related to electrification as well as to fortify their sales structure, including their technical support and services, among others, rendered to... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $100 million in funding over five years for two new awards focused on advancing artificial photosynthesis for the production of fuels from sunlight. The Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA), led by the California Institute of Technology in close partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,... Read more →

The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) will receive $2.7 million from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and validate technology that will reduce the cost of manufacturing high-performance carbon fiber by 25% to make composite natural gas or hydrogen fuel tanks to power cars and trucks.... Read more →

Hyundai Motor is upgrading its Bluelink connected car services technology with a range of new features. The new i30 will be the company’s first model to be equipped with the upgraded Bluelink. Hyundai’s Bluelink combines intelligent automotive and IT technologies in order to provide greater comfort, safety and convenience for... Read more →

Renewable Energy Group (REG) has entered into an agreement with Hunt & Sons, Inc. to supply REG Ultra Clean at 12 locations in Northern California. REG Ultra Clean blends biodiesel and renewable diesel. The patent-pending combination delivers both biodiesel’s excellent lubricity and renewable diesel’s high Cetane and low Cloud Point... Read more →

Between 2020 and 2025, Groupe PSA will gradually move from two multi-energy platforms to two 100% electrified platforms to support its e-mobility development. The newly introduced eVMP (Electric Vehicle Modular Platform) platform will serve as the basis for a wide range of electric vehicles for the C- and D- segments.... Read more →

SK Innovation will develop next-generation battery technology with University of Texas at Austin Professor John Goodenough, who was awarded a 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his foundational work on the lithium-ion battery. Goodenough and Dr. Hadi Khani at The University of Texas at Austin aim to develop unique gel-polymer... Read more →

Lightning Systems, a developer and manufacturer of zero-emission commercial electric vehicles, has launched Lightning Energy, a new division that offers charging technologies and services to commercial and government fleets. Lightning Energy designs, installs, services, and manages charging solutions, providing fleets with turnkey options to support fleet electrification. As a part... Read more →

Fisker Inc. is planning a portfolio expansion to a four-vehicle range by mid-decade, supporting the company’s long-term goal for Electric Mobility as a service. The four-vehicle line-up will feature the Ocean SUV; a super-sports sedan based on the EMotion concept; a sports crossover; and a pickup truck. Each vehicle will... Read more →

Rio Tinto has approved an additional investment of almost $200 million to progress the next stage of the development of the lithium-borate Jadar project in Serbia. This will primarily fund the feasibility study, including the completion of detailed engineering designs, as well as permitting and land acquisition by the end... Read more →

A new study of the impact of high EV adoption on the Western US power grid by a team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has found that 2028 grid resource adequacy—from generation through transmission—is likely to be sufficient for high EV penetration. Under a high-penetration scenario with national electric... Read more →

The BMW Group has set itself the goal of creating a closed and sustainable material cycle for battery cells. With a new pilot plant that will produce lithium-ion battery cells, the company is taking the next step in addressing all aspects of the battery cell value chain: from selection of... Read more →

ZF’s Supervisory Board has decided to establish a new division out of the previous Car Powertrain Technology and E-Mobility Divisions in order to offer customers electrified driveline solutions under one roof. In the future, ZF will no longer develop components for internal combustion engine drives but will instead focus on... Read more →

Although intermetallic alloys potentially have high strength in a high-temperature environment, they generally suffer poor ductility at ambient and low temperatures, hence limiting their applications in aerospace and other engineering fields. Now, researchers led by scientists of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) have discovered that adding a small amount... Read more →

The City of Richmond is partnering with EV charging network company Volta. Volta will provide the first free electric vehicle charging stations on a public right-of-way in California that are not funded by taxpayer dollars. The stations are located next to the BART parking garage at 1501 MacDonald Avenue. Volta’s... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award up to $28 million to five projects to promote the advancement of the next generation of geothermal energy technologies. Selected by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office these projects align with the goals of the 2019 GeoVision... Read more →

Tuesday marked the beginning of steel construction at the all-new Ultium Cells LLC battery cell manufacturing facility in Lordstown. Ultium Cells LLC is a joint venture that will mass-produce Ultium battery cells for electric vehicles (earlier post) and create more than 1,100 new jobs in Northeast Ohio. Since May 2020,... Read more →

GMC will reveal its all-electric super truck, the HUMMER EV, later this fall, with production beginning in fall 2021. GMC says that the HUMMER EV will offer up to 1,000 hp, up to 11,500 lb-ft of torque (15,600 N·m), and a 0-60 mph time of 3 seconds. Read more →

Lucid Motors announced DreamDrive, its new advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS). The platform combines what Lucid calls the most comprehensive sensor suite on the market with an advanced driver monitoring system, all standard on the first versions of the Lucid Air EV, scheduled for delivery in early 2021. The DreamDrive technology... Read more →

BMW i Ventures has invested in GenXComm, a company with technology that improves the performance and capacity of communication networks, and which aims to increase significantly the speed of global 5G deployment. GenXComm is ushering in the next revolution of computing and connectivity. Autonomous systems, like self-driving cars, are essentially... Read more →

Canadian oil sands production is expected to decline by nearly 175,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2020 as a result of COVID-19—the largest annual decline on record. However, the longer-term trajectory of oil sands production is expected to change little compared to pre-pandemic projections, according to a new 10-year forecast... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz Vans provides vehicles in the small-, mid- and large-size van segments. Now, the company will use a small van platform to create a new vehicle tailored to the needs of families while also being a suitable companion for active leisure enthusiasts. Like the V-Class, which is successfully positioned in... Read more →

Particulate air pollution continues to cut global life expectancy by nearly two years as progress in some countries counterbalances worsening air quality in others, according to the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI). Produced by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), the AQLI is based on frontier... Read more →

Large improvements of air quality in China during the lockdown have been widely reported, but new research shows that two pollutants harmful to human health—fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone—were only slightly reduced. The study, by scientists from the University of Leeds, UK and the Southern University of Science and... Read more →

Effective January 2021, Toyota Research Institute - Advanced Development, Inc. will expand and improve its operations into a holding company and two operating companies. The holding company will be Woven Planet Holdings, Inc. and the two operating companies under it will be Woven CORE, Inc., which will develop, implement and... Read more →

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will invest approximately ¥8 billion (US$76 million) for production of new electric Kei-cars at Mizushima Plant in Kurashiki city, Okayama Prefecture starting from August 2020. MMC is developing the new electric Kei-car jointly with Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Nissan), an Alliance partner, and the vehicle is... Read more →

After years of consistent growth, the connected vehicle industry will face a 15% decline in shipments and flat revenues in 2020, according to projections by ABI Research, a global tech market advisory firm. However, both embedded and aftermarket segments will see accelerated growth in 2021, and sales should return to... Read more →

Octillion Power Systems, a provider of advanced lithium-ion storage systems for electric mobility, announced it has reached two milestones: 100,000 electric vehicles worldwide powered by its batteries and 2 billion kilometers driven. Octillion has seen rapid growth in production capacity, experience, and partnerships over the last decade. With operations in... Read more →

The BMW Group is making sustainability and resource efficiency central to the company’s strategic direction. Chairman of the Board of Management Oliver Zipse announced initial details of this strategic direction in Munich on Monday and presented the targets the company has set itself for the phase up to 2030. The... Read more →

A short poll by the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) has found that the disruption caused by COVID-19 will lead to permanent changes in global supply chains, as businesses look to adapt to new ways of working and managing the varying stages of lockdown around the world. This... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group Test Center California has finished an expansion project that furthers the state-of-the-art development center’s capabilities and encompasses additional entities within the company under a new name—the Oxnard Engineering Campus. Supporting Volkswagen Group brands including Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley and Porsche, work at the Oxnard campus is focused on... Read more →

Following a successful 12-month pilot project at five of its retail sites, Aral, bp’s market leading fuel retail brand in Germany, is set to roll out more than 100 ultra-fast charging points across its retail network in Germany over the next 12 months. The Aral chargers will be self-operated, powered... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group announced new technologies to improve the quality of air in vehicles and to create a more pleasant in-vehicle environment for customers. Recognizing the growing concern about air quality, the Group unveiled three new air-conditioning technologies: ‘After-Blow’, ‘Multi-Air Mode’, and ‘Fine Dust Indicator’. The technologies will be introduced... Read more →

In a recent report assessing multiple properties of plug-ion electric vehicles (PEVs) solid in the US, a team from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) estimates that the energy savings in the United States due to light-duty PEVs in 2019 was 44.8 trillion Btu, up 47% from 2018. The reduction of energy... Read more →

Ford is using two four-legged robots leased from Boston Dynamics at its Van Dyke Transmission Plant in early August to laser-scan the plant, helping engineers update the original computer-aided design. The robots can be deployed into tough-to-reach areas within the plant to scan the area with laser scanners and high-definition... Read more →

The Office of Inspector General of the US Environmental Protection Agency plans to begin an evaluation of the EPA’s actions on the final Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule Part 2. (Earlier post.) The SAFE rule reduces the increase in stringency of CAFE and CO2 emissions to about 1.5% each... Read more →

Extreme E, the new electric off-road motor racing championship, is in advanced talks with Fisker Inc. on a series partnership and potential works team entrance. Extreme E, starting early 2021, is a new electric racing series which will see electric SUVs go head to head in extreme locations around the... Read more →

Volkswagen, together with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and integration partner Siemens, is opening up the Industrial Cloud (earlier post) to other manufacturing and technology companies. New partner companies will be able to connect with Volkswagen plants and to contribute their own software applications for optimizing production processes to the Industrial... Read more →

The MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future has released a new research brief examining the future of autonomous vehicles. The brief is part of a series of subject-specific research projects by MIT faculty that will help frame national discussion and policies about work, technology, and how we... Read more →

In a review paper published in the journal ChemSusChem, researchers from Australia’s CSIRO conclude that the combination of synthetic biology and materials chemistry will provide many viable options to allow the use of nitrogenase for energy applications, such as the production of green ammonia for use as a preferred liquid... Read more →

Velodyne Lidar, Inc. announced a three-year sales agreement with PARIFEX, a leading provider of traffic management and speed measurement systems. PARIFEX uses Velodyne lidar sensors in its traffic monitoring solutions which can help reduce road accident rates and enhance roadway safety. PARIFEX equips its NANO-CAM and NOMAD solutions with Velodyne... Read more →

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a unit of Korea Shipbuilding, has been given the green light for its ammonia-propelled ships from Lloyd’s Register. Hyundai Mipo Dockyard intends to commercialize the ammonia-propelled ships by 2025 in cooperation with global engine maker MAN Energy Solutions and Lloyd’s Register. Ammonia has been attracting attention... Read more →

Inspired by naturally occurring processes, a team of Boston College chemists used a multi-catalyst system to convert carbon dioxide to methanol at the lowest temperatures reported with high activity and selectivity. A paper on the work is published in the journal Chem. Methanol is a promising renewable fuel that can... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will fund 49 new Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) research and development projects across 23 states, totaling nearly $53.4 million in funding. Of these projects, the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO)... Read more →

A global survey of more than survey found that more than 120 auto tech leaders by Informa Tech Automotive Group found that 57% expect that COVID-19 will quicken the pace and rate of consolidation within the automotive industry. In addition, with an increased reluctance to use public transportation, more than... Read more →

Toray Industries concluded an agreement with Lilium GmbH to supply carbon fiber composite materials for the Lilium Jet. (Earlier post.) The Lilium Jet is a five-seater, emissions-free aircraft that can take off and land vertically and is designed to provide high-speed regional connections of up to 300km in under 60... Read more →

The BMW Group will pilot the second generation of hydrogen fuel cell drives in a small series in the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT based on the current BMW X5 from 2022. The fuel cell stack and the overall system are original developments of the BMW Group; individual cells of the... Read more →

Buick has strengthened its commitment to electrification in China with the launch of the VELITE 7 electric vehicle and VELITE 6 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). The VELITE 7 is the first all-electric SUV in Buick’s new energy vehicle portfolio, offering 500 kilometers (311 miles) of range on a single... Read more →

Wuling launched the Hong Guang MINI EV today. The three variants of the brand’s first four-seat new energy vehicle are priced between RMB 28,800 (US$4,100) and RMB 38,800 (US$5,500). The Hong Guang MINI EV has a practical “small on the outside, big on the inside” design. It is 2,917 millimeters... Read more →

Scientists from ExxonMobil, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a new material that could capture more than 90% of CO2 emitted from industrial sources using low-temperature steam, requiring less energy for the overall carbon capture process. Laboratory tests indicate the patent-pending materials—tetraamine-functionalized metal organic frameworks—capture... Read more →