Chevron Corporation and Renewable Energy Group announced a definitive agreement under which Chevron will acquire the outstanding shares of REG in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.15 billion, or $61.50 per share. The acquisition combines REG’s growing renewable fuels production and leading feedstock capabilities with Chevron’s large manufacturing, distribution and... Read more →

Isuzu Motors, Hino Motors and Toyota Motor plan to strengthen their efforts to electrify buses. In collaboration with Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies, which works to solve social issues through the spread of CASE technologies, the three companies will expand their lineup to increase customer options and reduce vehicle cost, in... Read more →

Bosch is expanding its expertise in automated driving and strengthening its market position with the acquisition of Atlatec GmbH, based in Karlsruhe, Germany. Atlatec is a provider of high-resolution digital maps for driver assistance and automated driving. The company, which was spun off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in... Read more →

A team from the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Zhengzhou University in China has demonstrated a metal-free carbocatalyst—nitrogen-assembly carbons (NCs)—for the release of hydrogen from liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) even at ambient temperature, showing greater activity than transition metal–based catalysts. An open-access paper on their work is... Read more →

A research team in Korea has synthesized metal nanoparticles that can significantly improve the performance of hydrogen fuel cell catalysts by using the semiconductor manufacturing technology. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that the research team led by Dr. Sung Jong Yoo of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell... Read more →

A team of researchers from the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), a US Department of Energy Innovation Hub led by the Ames Laboratory, developed a novel way to extract rare earth elements from the high-powered magnets in electronic waste (earlier post). Recently, TdVib LLC, a company based out of Boone, Iowa,... Read more →

by Brent Wilson, CEO of Galvanic Energy. It’s easy to get caught up in the recent marketing hype around electric vehicles. EVs are becoming more common across the United States as prices are starting to come down and choices are increasing. The wave of popularity is building, but there are... Read more →

DHL Express is installing solar panel units on trucks within its US pickup and delivery fleet, reducing fuel consumption in markets throughout the country. Equipping 67 of DHL Express’ medium- and heavy-duty trucks with the TRAILAR solar technology is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 1,000 kg per year for... Read more →

Hyundai Motor is integrating green energy into Charge myHyundai. Using the e-mobility service provider Digital Charging Solutions’ (DCS) green charging option, the company will ensure that, for every charge undertaken by customers via its pan-European integrated public charging service, the equivalent amount of energy is fed back into the grid... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and Shell are embarking on a new strategic collaboration to explore ways to offer lower carbon emissions products and services and to reduce emissions across their operations. Jaehoon Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, and Huibert Vigeveno, Shell’s Downstream Director, signed a Memorandum of Understanding... Read more →

The bp board announced that bp will exit its shareholding in Rosneft, a Russian state-controlled oil and gas company. bp has held a 19.75% shareholding in Rosneft since 2013. Additionally, bp chief executive officer Bernard Looney is resigning from the board of Rosneft with immediate effect. The other Rosneft director... Read more →

Transphorm—a pioneer in and global supplier of high-reliability, high-performance gallium nitride (GaN) power conversion products— will demonstrate leading-edge R&D results from its 1200-volt GaN device at the International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs (ISPSD 2022), an IEEE conference in the power semiconductor industry in May. The 1200V GaN... Read more →

OCSiAl, the world’s largest manufacturer of graphene nanotubes, has been granted approval by Luxembourg authorities for a production plant, together with an associated R&D center, in Differdange, Luxembourg. OCSiAl’s graphene nanotube synthesis facility, expected to be the largest of its kind, is scheduled to begin production in 2025. The new... Read more →

SWISS will equip its entire Boeing long-haul fleet with fuel-saving AeroSHARK surface technology (earlier post). Starting in the middle of the year, a total of twelve Boeing 777-300ERs will gradually be fitted with the riblet films developed jointly by Lufthansa Technik and BASF. The significantly reduced frictional resistance resulting from... Read more →

bp has begun producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from used cooking oil in co-processing process with crude oil at its plant in Lingen, Germany. This is the first industrial production facility in Germany to use this process for SAF production based on biomass waste and residues. Fats, Oils and Greases... Read more →

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) has started transporting new cars by cross-channel rail services between its Valenciennes Vehicle Logistics hub in France and Toton (UK). This launch signals the first phase of its Pan-European plan to move a larger share of vehicles by rail freight in line with its ambition to... Read more →

California surpassed 1 million electric vehicles (1,054,095 units)—battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel-cell electric—sold cumulatively through the 4th quarter of 2021, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC), making it the first US state to achieve this milestone. California also set a new yearly record with 250,279 electric vehicles sold, representing... Read more →

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to increase costs for Europe’s vehicle industry, which is already struggling with record high lithium prices and a shortage of semiconductor chips, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Prices for nickel, a key battery material, rose to their highest levels since 2011 this week following Russian... Read more →

DSM Engineering Materials is expanding its high-performance materials production capacity at its Jiangyin plant in Jiangsu Province, China. Work on an additional compounding line began in February 2022, with completion expected in 2023. The new line will help DSM to meet growing demand for high-performance polymers used in a wide... Read more →

Chevron USA, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and Iwatani Corporation of America (ICA), a wholly owned subsidiary company of Iwatani Corporation will co-develop and construct 30 hydrogen fueling sites in California by 2026. As part of the agreement, Chevron plans to fund construction of the sites, which are expected to... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved amendments to its current rule for Transport Refrigeration Units (TRUs) operating in the state. The 2022 amendments will require a variety of actions designed to reduce the pollution these units produce, and accelerate their transition to zero-emission technologies. The new requirements include the... Read more →

Electrofuels innovator Infinium (earlier post) has entered into a strategic alliance with US independent energy company Denbury to collaborate on developing ultra-low carbon electrofuels projects in the state of Texas. Infinium electrofuels facilities being developed in Brazoria County will convert renewable power into green hydrogen and combine it with industrial-sourced... Read more →

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) company Commsignia is collaborating with Vulnerable Road User (VRU) safety experts Spoke to provide automotive-grade Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) software solutions for cyclists, motorcyclists and e-scooter riders. Spoke is building on Commsignia’s more than a decade worth of experience in V2X to connect its users to the digital road safety... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $44 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002707) to support projects developing commercial-ready technologies that give the United States a net-zero or net negative emissions pathway toward increased domestic supplies of critical elements required for the transition to clean energy. The program—Mining Innovations for... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems and MAHLE Group, a Tier 1 automotive supplier, are progressing the development of a new fuel cell system concept for long-haul trucks, with MAHLE taking delivery of a 120kW module at the company’s hydrogen test center in Stuttgart, Germany. The new concept system is a part of... Read more →

The 2023 Toyota bZ4X battery electric SUV, due to arrive at dealers later this year, will mark the start of a collaboration between Toyota Motor North America and EVgo to provide new bZ4X customers with access to DC fast-charging stations. Customers who purchase or lease a new 2023 Toyota bZ4X... Read more →

Siemens unveiled a new sustainable, EV charging concept structure designed for electrifying fleets and high demand charging applications at scale. The new VersiCharge XL concept was created to electrify new or existing parking lots and building structures quickly and efficiently by using a modular, scalable design made in partnership with... Read more →

The BMW Group has joined the cross-sector “Responsible Lithium Partnership” project. The aim of the project is to reach a shared understanding of responsible management of natural resources with local interest groups and develop a vision for the future of the Salar de Atacama salt flat in Chile. The “Responsible... Read more →

In a prospectus filed on 10 February 2022, lithium producer Lithium Australia reported that it has made a non-binding offer (NBO) to Johnson Matthey PLC for the acquisition of the lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) production operations located in Candiac, Canada and a research and development facility on Moosburg, Germany. The... Read more →

GZM Metropolis (an association of municipalities in the Silesia region in Poland) has signed a contract for the delivery of 32 new Solaris electric buses along with charging infrastructure—11 pantograph chargers and 16 plug-in chargers. GZM Metropolis will welcome 27 Urbino 12 electric and 5 articulated Urbino 18 electric vehicles... Read more →

WiTricity, a leader and pioneer in wireless charging for electric vehicles (EVs), plans to offer an aftermarket wireless charging upgrade package for owners of select EV models, starting with a limited beta in 2022. The solution, WiTricity Halo Charging, offers a complete, end-to-end, and hassle-free charging experience: just park and... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems and ABB have received an approval in principle (AiP) from leading classification society DNV for a jointly developed fuel cell concept capable of generating 3 megawatts, or 4,000 HP, of electrical power. DNV is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. The AiP... Read more →

Nexeon Limited, a supplier of advanced silicon anode materials for next generation lithium-ion batteries, has licensed its NSP-1 technology to advanced materials giant SKC Co. Ltd. The move ensures that customers have fast and reliable access to these strategic materials on a global basis. SKC is one of Korea’s leading... Read more →

Some of the world’s leading automotive industry suppliers, including SSAB steel, Hydro renewable energy, ZF electric powertrains, ZKW control systems and Autoliv safety equipment, are joining forces with intent to collaborate on the Polestar 0 Project, which aims to develop a truly climate-neutral car by 2030 (earlier post). Polestar has... Read more →

Pratt & Whitney was selected by the US Department of Energy (DoE) to develop novel, high-efficiency hydrogen-fueled propulsion technology for commercial aviation, as part of DoE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) OPEN 2021 program (earlier post). The Hydrogen Steam-Injected, Inter‐Cooled Turbine Engine (HySIITE) project will use liquid hydrogen (LH2) combustion... Read more →

The Gold Hydrogen Program, a coalition of organizations seeking to support the scale of this clean energy resource, announced its launch and the debut of a pilot microbial Gold Hydrogen Process. A joint industry partnership to commercialize clean, gold hydrogen, the program’s founding members include synthetic biology company Cemvita Factory... Read more →

Teijin Limited has agreed to form a business alliance with Fuji Design Co., Ltd., a Japanese manufacturer of recycled carbon fibers to establish a business structure for the production, supply and commercialization of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) products made from recycled carbon fibers using a low environmental impact process.... Read more →

QuantumScape Corporation, a leading developer of next-generation solid-state lithium-metal batteries for use in electric vehicles (earlier post), is expanding into the Asia-Pacific region with an office in Kyoto, Japan. The new property will feature a laboratory for battery research and development. QuantumScape is developing solid-state lithium-metal battery technology that is... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Tesla Motors Inc. EPA found Clean Air Act violations at Tesla’s automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif. This settlement aligns with EPA’s National Compliance Initiative (NCI), Creating Cleaner Air for Communities by Reducing Excess Emissions of Harmful Pollutants. Under the... Read more →

Airbus has signed a partnership agreement with CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, to collaborate on a hydrogen demonstration program that will take flight around the middle of this decade. The program’s objective is to ground- and flight-test a direct combustion engine fueled by... Read more →

BMW introduced all-wheel drive more than 35 years ago; for almost two decades the intelligent power distribution between the front and rear axles has been known as BMW xDrive. Now the first all-electric BMW xDrive system can also be experienced on the road. It premieres in the BMW iX and... Read more →

Verizon and Audi of America will bring 5G connectivity to the automaker’s US lineup, estimated to begin with select models for the 2024 model year. The collaboration brings embedded 5G Ultra Wideband connectivity into Audi vehicles and provides the speed and telecommunication architecture necessary for highly personalized and augmented mobile... Read more →

Cummins has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Meritor, a global leader of drivetrain, mobility, braking, aftermarket and electric powertrain solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. Under the terms of the agreement, Cummins will pay $36.50 in cash per Meritor share, for a total transaction value of approximately... Read more →

Kia America and Electrify America are partnering to provide Kia EV6 buyers with 1,000 kWh of complimentary EV charging/energy at any Electrify America station across the US. The agreement between the two companies will provide Kia owners with approximately 3,500 to 4,000 miles of all-electric driving at no charging cost,... Read more →

Volkswagen of America announced that the 2022 ID.4 electric SUV offers an EPA-estimated range of 280 miles—an increase of 20 miles from the 2021 model. The ID.4 Pro S rear-wheel-drive received an EPA-estimated range of 268 miles, while AWD Pro was rated at an EPA-estimated 251 miles of range and... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’s Vehicle Group has formed a new ePowertrain business unit, which will focus on products from Eaton’s electrified vehicle (EV) transmission, reduction gearing and differential portfolios. Combining the product lines into a new ePowertrain business unit creates synergy among Eaton’s powertrain and EV experts and allows the... Read more →

MP Materials Corp. has been awarded a $35-million contract through the US Department of Defense (DoD) Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program to support the construction of a commercial scale processing facility for heavy rare earth elements (HREE) at Mountain Pass. MP Materials owns and operates Mountain Pass, the only... Read more →

In 2021, a large share of Europe’s supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) originated in the United States, Qatar, and Russia. Combined, these three countries accounted for almost 70% of Europe’s total LNG imports, according to data by CEDIGAZ, reported by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The United States... Read more →

A team of scientists from LanzaTech, Northwestern University and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have engineered a microbe to convert molecules of industrial waste gases, such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, into acetone and isopropanol (IPA). These widely used chemicals serve as the basis of thousands... Read more →

STMicroelectronics has introduced new automotive microcontrollers (MCUs) optimized for electric vehicles and centralized (domain and zonal) electronic architectures. They enable EVs to become more affordable, drive further, and charge faster. In current EVs, high-efficiency SiC-based (silicon carbide) power modules enable the greatest driving range and faster charging. However, trypical automotive... Read more →