Ford’s hands-free Active Drive Assist feature will arrive first on 2021 F-150 and 2021 Mustang Mach-E, included as standard on certain models or as relatively affordable option on others, with both vehicles becoming available to customers in late 2020. Ford expects to sell more than 100,000 F-150 and Mustang Mach-E... Read more →

Lidar developer Luminar Technologies, Inc. and Daimler Truck AG announced a strategic partnership to enable highly automated trucking, starting on highways. Experts at Daimler Trucks, its US subsidiary, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) and Torc Robotics, part of Daimler Trucks’ Autonomous Technology Group, with the experts at Luminar are collaboratively... Read more →

ABC Companies, a leading provider to the motorcoach, transit and specialty passenger transportation market in the United States and Canada, will soon be the first to offer a motorcoach-diesel-to-electric-repower program for North American operators. Together with Lightning eMotors, formerly known as Lightning Systems, the partners have created a five-step process... Read more →

The cross-industry initiative “Cobalt for Development” has started trainings for twelve artisanal mining cooperatives in October in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). The trainings cover major environmental, social and governance aspects for responsible mining practices. This includes mine site management and legal compliance, human rights, health and safety... Read more →

A European shipbuilding company has awarded a new order to Germany-based Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH, a maker of graphite bipolar plated fuel cells generating power output up to 73 kW. This is significant news given that Proton Motor was the first international manufacturer to a power passenger ferry in... Read more →

At SEMA360, Chevrolet will showcase a 1977 K5 Blazer converted to all-electric propulsion. The K5 Blazer-E is a functional proof of concept of the upcoming Electric Connect and Cruise package Chevrolet Performance plans to sell in the second half of 2021. During the virtual event, Chevrolet Performance will survey SEMA... Read more →

TRATON SE (formerly Volkswagen Truck & Bus) and Hino Motors, Ltd. signed a joint venture agreement for e-mobility in order to plan and provide e-mobility products that will be based on the two companies’ strategic partnership. (Earlier post.) TRATON and Hino will combine their unique strengths to develop electric vehicles... Read more →

Wireless power transfer pioner WiTricity closed a $34-million investment round. Stage 1 Ventures led the round with participation from Air Waves Wireless Electricity and a strategic investment by Mitsubishi Corporation through its US subsidiary, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas). The infusion of capital will enable WiTricity to continue its leading-edge wireless power... Read more →

Working in collaboration with its Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) project partners—CALSTART, Trillium, and Greenlots—and other industry organizations, Volvo Trucks has helped facilitate the modification of California utility rules to give private entities the ability to sell electricity as a motor fuel at publicly accessible charging stations... Read more →

Audi of America is among the first in the automotive industry to implement an internal carbon price program as a key initiative in the brand’s pursuit of lower CO2 emissions. This is part of the global commitment Audi has made to lower its carbon footprint by 30% by 2025, and... Read more →

Li-ion battery provider Octillion Power Systems is working with the reborn FNM (now Fábrica Nacional de Mobilidades) in Brazil to produce battery-electric trucks; FNM has selected Octillion as the official battery supplier for the coming lineup. Octillion will open a local battery factory inside FNM’s facility to lower manufacturing and... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems has signed definitive agreements—in the form of Amendments to the existing Technology Development Agreement and a Patent License Agreement—with Audi related to the non-binding Memorandum of Understanding previously announced in a press release on 14 September 2020, thereby expanding Ballard’s right to use the FCgen-HPS product, a... Read more →

HORIBA has introduced the automatic driving system ADS EVO, which is a driving robot for vehicle testing. The ADS EVO improves the efficiency of vehicle testing by reducing the number of repeat tests, laboratory operating costs, overall test time and the amount of human errors. The ADS EVO addresses changing... Read more →

Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, developed a new battery-powered switcher locomotive to be available globally, working in collaboration with its South American customer, Vale—one of the largest mining companies in the world. The new EMD Joule switcher includes battery capacity being delivered to Vale of 1.9 megawatt hours; this could... Read more →

The National Science Foundation has awarded $39 million to a team of engineers and computer scientists at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) to build a first-of-its-kind testbed—DERConnect—to improve the understanding of how to integrate distributed energy sources such as solar panels, wind turbines, smart buildings and electric vehicle... Read more →

In September, Vale, one of the world’s largest mining companies, completed its first sale of iron ore using blockchain technology with Nanjing Iron & Steel Group International Trade Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Nanjing Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (NISCO) for a cargo of 176,000 tons of Brazilian Blend Fines... Read more →

A new report by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) shows that despite strong growth, the available charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the EU still falls far below what is needed, and remains unevenly distributed across member states. ACEA published the second edition of Making the Transition to Zero-Emission... Read more →

Commercial real estate developer Hillwood announced that TuSimple, a self-driving technology company with a focus on heavy-duty trucks (earlier post), has secured property in AllianceTexas’ Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ) in north Fort Worth. The MIZ was launched last year as a first-of-its-kind “do tank” in collaboration with Deloitte, leading the... Read more →

Continental has taken a minority stake in lidar pioneer AEye. The company, headquartered in Dublin, California, has developed a precision, high-performance, long-range lidar technology. Continental plans to industrialize this for passenger cars and trucks. The volume production launch is scheduled for late 2024. The two companies have agreed not to... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has selected four projects for cost-shared research and development under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA), DE-FOA-0002180, Design Development and System Integration Design Studies for Coal FIRST Concepts. When fully negotiated and awarded, it is estimated that approximately $80 million... Read more →

Cargill and BAR Technologies have embarked on a strategic project with naval architect Deltamarin to bring cutting edge wind propulsion technology to commercial shipping. The project will see BAR Technology’s WindWings—large, solid wing sails that measure up to 45 meters in height—fitted to the deck of bulk cargo ships to... Read more →

Workhorse Group Inc., a company focused on providing drone-integrated electric vehicles to the last mile delivery sector, has submitted its formal Type Certification application to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the HorseFly Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft according... Read more →

In 2018, Consumer Reports (CR) began ranking active driving assistance systems, with the initial effort focused on systems from Cadillac, Nissan/Infiniti, Tesla, and Volvo. Over the last two years these advanced technologies have become more mainstream, and CR’s testing this year now includes 17 systems, including the original four. For... Read more →

Autotalks, a V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) chipset market pioneer, has successfully collaborated with seven consortiums and five car makers including Great Wall, Dongfeng and Brilliance Auto, a top US car maker and a leading European car maker, in China’s largestC-V2X demonstration yet, which took place in Shanghai. Autotalks demonstrated the interoperability and... Read more →

Proterra unveiled its new, high-powered charging solution that is designed to enable the electrification of large-scale vehicle fleets. With more fleet operators transitioning to full battery-electric vehicles, charging solutions that can efficiently and cost-effectively power large fleets of vehicles will play a critical role in transportation electrification. Developed in partnership... Read more →

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com The world’s largest automotive market, China, is looking to become a dominant player in the rising global electric vehicle market. Chinese EV manufacturers are expected to start expanding overseas, while Beijing already controls a large part of the global EV supply chain, beginning with critical... Read more →

Millions of used cars, vans and minibuses exported from Europe, the United States and Japan to the developing world are of poor quality, contributing significantly to air pollution and hindering efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The... Read more →

A team from KU Leuven and the University of Antwerp in Belgium has developed a new process that is suitable for the distributed, small-scale production of “green” ammonia. The process, called PNOCRA (Plasma Nitrogen Oxidation and Catalytic Reduction to Ammonia), combines plasma‐assisted nitrogen oxidation and lean NOx trap technology, adopted... Read more →

The British premium automobile manufacturer MINI is realigning its model range, with a focus on drivetrain technologies, vehicle segments and services of the future. Core elements of the realignment include the expansion of electromobility; enhanced commitment in the crossover and premium compact segments; and strengthening of the market position in... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz AG and Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc announced a new strategic technology agreement and an enhanced partnership. The new agreement will see Mercedes-Benz AG grant access to a range of advanced Mercedes-Benz technologies, including next generation hybrid and electric powertrains, as well as other vehicle components and systems.... Read more →

Audi of America, Applied Information, and Temple, Inc., are collaborating to develop two future connected vehicle applications that can help improve safety in school zones and around school buses when children are present. The first application, using cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology, is designed to warn drivers when they are approaching... Read more →

Porsche has increased the electric range of all its Cayenne plug-in hybrid models. The gross capacity of the high-voltage battery is now 17.9 kWh rather than 14.1 kWh, which boosts the electric range by up to 30%. Measured in line with the WLTP EAER City cycle, the Cayenne E-Hybrid can... Read more →

Many vehicle owners in North America are driving fewer miles in the era of COVID-19, but their opinions of future mobility technology haven’t changed much since the first quarter of 2020, according to the J.D. Power 2020 Q3 Mobility Confidence Index Study fueled by SurveyMonkey. However, many automakers are investing... Read more →

The third installment of a CALSTART-commissioned survey of Tier-1 US automotive suppliers found that a majority (62%) of the suppliers responding to the survey disagreed with the Trump administration’s rollback of national fuel economy standards. Only 15% of respondents agreed with the rollback, and the rest were undecided. The same... Read more →

Electrify America launched Electrify Commercial, a new business unit designed to deliver turn-key electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions to utilities, fleet owners and operators, government entities and businesses seeking to manage their own network of chargers. Backed by experience gained from building the nation’s largest open DC fast charging network,... Read more →

Daimler Trucks and Waymo have signed a broad, global, strategic partnership to deploy autonomous SAE L4 technology. Their initial effort will combine Waymo’s automated driver technology with a unique version of Daimler’s Freightliner Cascadia to enable autonomous driving. The partnership is Daimler’s second in this area. In March 2019, Daimler... Read more →

Beep, a Florida-based autonomous Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) provider, will deploy the first autonomous shuttles at Yellowstone National Park with the National Parks Service (NPS) in May 2021. The pilot program will test multi-passenger, electric automated vehicle platforms to provide visitors a safe, innovative and eco-friendly transportation alternative while exploring Yellowstone. Beep... Read more →

Representatives from the State of Hesse, RMV (Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund), Alstom and Infraserv broke ground for a hydrogen filling station on the site of the Höchst industrial park in Frankfurt that will supply a fleet of 27 passenger fuel cell trains—currently, the world’s largest such. (from left): Dr. Joachim Kreysing, Managing Director... Read more →

Neste and All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest and a 5-Star airline, are entering a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply agreement. ANA will become the first airline to use SAF on flights departing from Japan; the agreement also represents Neste’s first SAF supply to an Asian airline. Initial operations will... Read more →

SEAT has created its first multimodal mobility platform as a service through its SEAT:CODE software development center. This platform is the first software product developed and marketed by the company in order to operate and manage vehicle fleets 100% digitally. SEAT MÓ has been the first operator to use this... Read more →

In its fight against COVID-19 and for the protection of bus occupants, Daimler Buses is relying on a high fresh air content, a fast exchange of air and anti-viral high-performance particle filters in its vehicles. The effectiveness of these protective measures has been confirmed by a research report issued by... Read more →

Fisker Inc. has selected Munich as the location for its European headquarters. Munich offers convenient access to key European EV markets and close proximity to Magna’s Graz facility in Austria. Earlier this month, Fisker revealed details surrounding its new global HQ, which is to be located within Continental Park at... Read more →

ROUSH CleanTech, known for its advanced clean transportation solutions, is entering the electric truck market. ROUSH is providing Penske Truck Leasing with all-new Ford F-650 battery electric vehicles later this year for deployment across Southern California. Penske has been expanding its battery electric fleet for the past several years. We... Read more →

On a per capita basis, the transportation sector energy consumption in 2019 was 86 million Btu—a 54% increase from 1950 and about the same level as in 1974. The industrial sector, which had the highest energy consumption, decreased 7% from 1950 to 2019 and decreased 36% from its highest point... Read more →

Four California Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) from the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast of California are funding—in total, with state financial contributions—$65 million in infrastructure to support the rising number of electric vehicles (EV) in the state. This funding will support thousands of new EV chargers. The four... Read more →

PM2.5 pollution was significantly associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias, in a long-term study of more than 63 million older US adults, led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study, conducted... Read more →

The Munich Traffic Association (MVG) has deployed 8 new Ebusco buses. From now on, line 144 will be driven entirely electrically with these buses—his is the first fully electric line in Munich. The second line is already on its way; line 100 will also run entirely electrically by the end... Read more →

The first large-scale study of the risks that countries face from dependence on water, energy and land resources has found that globalization may be decreasing, rather than increasing, the security of global supply chains. Countries meet their needs for goods and services through domestic production and international trade. As a... Read more →

The US Energy Information Administration released its annual US Biodiesel Plant Production Capacity report, containing data for all operating US biodiesel plants as of 1 January 2020. The data show a slight decrease in production capacity from 2,563 million gallons per year in 2019 to 2,514 million gallons per year... Read more →

Fairfax County and Dominion Energy have launched passenger service on Relay—the first publicly funded autonomous electric shuttle and test of driverless technology in public transportation in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This pilot project is a public-private partnership between Fairfax County, Dominion Energy, EDENS (Mosaic District developer), Virginia Department of Rail... Read more →