Chevrolet’s Tahoe and Suburban—the industry’s best-selling large SUVs—launch late next year with new designs, a more powerful diesel engine option available later in production and new technology enhancements designed to provide greater confidence and security behind the wheel. 2025 Tahoe Z71 (left) and 2025 Suburan High Country (right) The refined,... Read more →

Cleantech start-up, CAPHENIA, has commissioned MAN Energy Solutions to build a Plasma Boudouard Reactor (PBR). This will form the core of CAPHENIA’s first production plant, ‘GERMANY I’, located at Industriepark Höchst in Frankfurt am Main, Germany where the company will produce its first renewable fuels in 2024. The CAPHENIA PBR... Read more →

Consumers are buying electric vehicles in growing numbers, but poor reliability remains an issue, according to the latest Annual Auto Reliability Survey data from Consumer Reports (CR), the nonprofit research, testing, and consumer advocacy organization. Electric pickups in particular are the least reliable category of vehicles. On average, new EVs... Read more →

Following unprecedented price increases in 2022, battery prices are falling again this year. The price of lithium-ion battery packs has dropped 14% to a record low of $139/kWh, according to analysis by research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF). This was driven by raw material and component prices falling as production capacity increased... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation have unveiled the Universal Wheel Drive System (Uni Wheel). Uni Wheel is a functionally integrated wheel drive system that improves available space inside an electric vehicle (EV) by moving the main drive system components to the vacant space within the wheel hub. In doing... Read more →

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced $100 million is now available for zero-emission school buses under the $4.2-billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022. The New York School Bus Incentive Program (NYSBIP) provides funding to make clean buses and the associated charging infrastructure more... Read more →

Connecticut’s Governor Ned Lamont and Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) withdrew from consideration by the state’s Legislative Regulation Review Committee (LRRC) the proposed Advanced Clean Cars II regulations that would have aligned the state with California ZEV regulations. (Earlier post.) The Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) regulation... Read more →

EVgo Inc., one of the US’ largest public fast charging networks for electric vehicles (EVs), today announced it will install new fast charging stations in the Midwest in an expanded partnership with Meijer, a regional grocery retailer. The new EVgo stations will be built in Ohio and feature up to... Read more →

Neste and ENOC Group, a leading integrated global energy player, have agreed to collaborate to explore the possibilities of supplying and purchasing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Dubai and the wider Middle East North Africa (MENA) region in the coming years. By leveraging the expertise of Neste as the world’s... Read more →

US coal-related CO2 emissions decreased by 7%, or 68 million metric tons (MMmt), in 2022 relative to 2021, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). This decrease was largely due to an 8% decline in coal-fired power generation because of retiring coal-fired generating capacity. Changes in electricity generation sources... Read more →

Toshiba Corporation has developed a new lithium-ion battery using a cobalt-free 5V-class high-potential cathode material that significantly suppresses performance-degrading gases produced as side reactions. This battery can operate at a wide range of applications, from power tools to electric vehicles. Cobalt and nickel are widely used to stabilize the cathodes... Read more →

IBM and FuelCell Energy, Inc. will work together to boost the performance of FuelCell Energy’s technology using Foundation Models, a form of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). The aim of this collaboration is to support both companies’ efforts to lead a global transition to renewable energy sources that emit little to... Read more →

NXP Semiconductors introduced the Trimension NCJ29D6, a fully integrated automotive single-chip Ultra-Wideband (UWB) family combining next-generation secure and precise real-time localization with short-range radar to address multiple use cases with a single system, including secure car access, child presence detection, intrusion alert, gesture recognition and more. Integrated by major automotive... Read more →

Israel-based Arbe Robotics Ltd. has released the production version of its radar processor, which is used for OEM development projects and B-Sample radars with the production functionality of Arbe Tier-1s. Arbe’s radar processor complements the company’s production chipset portfolio which already includes production RF chips. Arbe’s patented processor chip integrates... Read more →

Wärtsilä has signed a strategic partnership agreement to provide its Fleet Electrification and Systems Integrator Services for a project to build the first electric high-speed ferries in the US. The fully electric vessels will be built for the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), the operator of the San Francisco Bay... Read more →

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has awarded Type Approval to BeHydro, a joint venture between CMB.TECH and Anglo Belgian Corporation (ABC), for its hydrogen-powered dual-fuel engine. It is the first Type Approval for a dual-fuel hydrogen engine. The new engine, which has a capacity of up to 2.7 megawatts (MW), offers shipowners... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced results of the most comprehensive analysis to date quantifying the domestic lithium resources in California’s Salton Sea region. Conducted by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (earlier post), the analysis found that with expected technology advances, the Salton Sea region’s total resources could produce... Read more →

Euro Manganese signed definitive agreements with OMRF (BK) LLC, which is managed by the Orion Resource Partners Group, for US$100 million in non-dilutive financing to advance the development of the Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic. (Earlier post.) The US$100 million funding is split into two US$50-million components: A... Read more →

Caldera Holding, the owner and developer of Missouri’s Pea Ridge iron mine, has entered a non-exclusive research and development licensing agreement with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to apply a membrane solvent extraction technique (MSX) developed by ORNL researchers to mined ores. MSX provides a scalable, efficient way to separate... Read more →

Altilium, a UK-based clean technology group, has secured more than £700,000 (US$889,000) in UK government innovation funding for two collaborative research projects focused on the recovery of copper and Rare Earth Elements (REE) from mine waste. Building on its work to recover lithium and other critical battery materials from end-of-life... Read more →

As part of its EVs2Scale2030 initiative, EPRI—with support from truck and car manufacturers, fleet operators, the US Department of Energy (DOE), the DOE National Labs, RMI, and others—released eRoadMAP, an interactive online resource intended to help electric power companies and industry stakeholders effectively plan for the power and infrastructure needed... Read more →

Santa Maria Renewable Resources (SMRR), a vertically integrated renewable energy and bio-based production developer, has executed license and engineering agreements for Topsoe’s Hydroflex and H2bridge technologies to produce renewable fuels at a new plant to be built in Texas. HydroFlex converts various fat, oils and greases into drop-in renewable jet... Read more →

MIT researchers and colleagues have demonstrated a way to control precisely the size, composition, and other properties of nanoparticles key to the reactions involved in a variety of clean energy and environmental technologies. They did so by leveraging ion irradiation, a technique in which beams of charged particles bombard a... Read more →

MAN Energy Solutions announced that a dual-fuel version of its MAN 175D high-speed engine, capable of operating on methanol, will be available by the end of 2026. The new variant, designated MAN 175DF-M, will be available both as newbuild and retrofit variants. MAN Energy Solutions states that the 175DF-M will... Read more →

Sales of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric vehicles (BEV) in the United States rose to 17.7% of new light-duty vehicle sales in third-quarter 2023, according to data from Wards Intelligence as reported by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Sales of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and BEVs have accounted for 15.8%... Read more →

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will loan Iveco Group N.V. up to €500 million to contribute to the electrification, efficiency and safety of the transport sector through investments in research, development and innovation. A loan of €450 million represents the first tranche of the €500 million total approved by the... Read more →

Ivanhoe Mines has been granted 22,195 square kilometers of greenfield prospecting rights for exploration in the Moxico and Cuando Cubango Provinces of Angola. The extensive package of prospecting rights covers highly prospective, greenfield copper exploration ground approximately equivalent to half the size of Switzerland (41,285 km2). Ivanhoe’s exploration activities are... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) issued a $10-million funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for a Critical Materials Accelerator. Projects funded under the FOA, led by EERE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO), will validate and prototype technologies and processes that address... Read more →

During the Williamtown Air Show in Australia, the Roulettes, the Royal Australian Air Force’s aerobatic display team, performed a first public display using Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel. The Neste-produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) used for this flight was supplied to the ADF by Viva Energy, an Australian energy company... Read more →

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has issued Virgin Atlantic a permit to fly a world-first transatlantic 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) flight. Virgin Atlantic plans to fly across the Atlantic from London Heathrow to New York JFK today to test and showcase the feasibility of flying on 100% SAF. The... Read more →

Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung reported that Scout Motors has awarded Magna a contract worth €450 million to develop an electric SUV and pickup truck. The report said development work at Magna in Graz and the US was underway to prepare for series production by late 2026. In March 2023, Scout... Read more →

Researchers from Cranfield University have designed a method of achieving greater thrust from the power of the waves by harnessing a vessel’s submerged flapping foils (wave-induced flapping foils) in an innovative way. An open-access paper on their work is published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. The ocean waves have... Read more →

The E-fuel project of VTT and partners has developed a concept for producing electrofuel from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide using a combination of different methods. This paraffinic e-fuel is being tested for the first time in Finland on a diesel-powered tractor at AGCO Power’s Linnavuori factory in Nokia. The... Read more →

dynaCERT has entered into an agreement with the French team HoleShot Competition to support their MAN Dakar Rally race truck at the 2024 Dakar Classic event. The French team’s #915 MAN Dakar Classic Rally race truck has been fitted with a HydraGEN HG1 Unit that uses simple electrolysis to convert... Read more →

Li-Metal Corp., a developer of lithium metal anode and lithium metal production technologies for next-generation batteries (earlier post), has successfully demonstrated its electrolyte reconditioning process. This process is a pivotal component supporting Li-Metal’s patented and modular carbonate-to-metal (C2M) technology, an environmentally conscious approach to lithium metal production. The electrolyte reconditioning... Read more →

Occidental recently announced that BlackRock will invest $550 million on behalf of clients in the development of STRATOS, the world’s largest Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility, in Ector County, Texas. Through a fund managed by its Diversified Infrastructure business, BlackRock has signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture... Read more →

Volkswagen (Anhui) Components Co., Ltd. (VWAC), Volkswagen Group’s first 100%-owned battery system plant in China, began production of its first high-voltage battery system. VWAC is the first battery system plant wholly invested by Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. With an initial annual capacity of 150,000 to 180,000 high-voltage battery... Read more →

Standard Lithium Ltd., a near-commercial lithium development company, recently shared performance results from its Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) process at its Demonstration Plant (Plant) near El Dorado, Arkansas. Initially commissioned in May 2020, the plant has operated on a 24/7 basis since then (aside from turnaround due to equipment upgrades... Read more →

In September 2023, a total of 64.2 GWh of battery capacity was deployed onto roads globally in all newly sold passenger xEVs (BEVs, PHEVs and HEVs) combined—a mere 2% increase over the previous month but a modest 24% increase over September 2022, according to Adamas Intelligence. CATL led the pack... Read more →

Series production of the Renault Trucks has begun series production of the heavy-duty electric E-Tech T and C trucks at the Bourg-en-Bresse plant. The site has been assembling the brand’s trucks for 60 years. Dedicated to regional distribution and urban construction, these vehicles are the latest addition to the manufacturer’s... Read more →

Nissan has confirmed that all three models made at its UK plant will go 100% electric. The announcement means the EV36Zero hub in Sunderland, Nissan's blueprint for future manufacturing, will consist of three electric vehicles (EVs), three gigafactories and up to £3 billion investment. The transformational project includes future all-electric... Read more →

Mitsubishi Motors’ new Minicab EV, a kei-car-class electric commercial vehicle with a monobox design, will go on sale nationwide in Japan on 21 December. The Minicab EV two-seater is priced at ¥2,431,000 (US$16,300), and the four-seater is priced at ¥2,486,000 (US$16,640) (10% consumption tax included). The new Minicab EV is... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Poh Tiong Choon Logistics Limited (PTC) to establish an ecosystem for hydrogen-based mobility in Singapore. The signing of the MOU aligns with Singapore’s national strategy to develop hydrogen as a decarbonization pathway. With this MOU, Hyundai Motor Company will... Read more →

Gulfstream Aerospace recently completed the world’s first trans-Atlantic flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Accomplished on 19 November 19, the flight took place on a Gulfstream G600 aircraft, which departed the company’s headquarters in Savannah and landed 6 hours, 56 minutes later at Farnborough Airport in England. The SAF... Read more →

The rate of global battery capacity deployment growth (up 45% YoY) continues to run well ahead of global EV unit sales growth (up 33% YoY), which to-date amounts to just under 13.5 million BEVs, PHEVs and HEVs sold worldwide, according to Adamas Intelligence. In Q3 2023, 182.6 GWh of battery... Read more →

China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), the Shanghai-listed shipping giant and daughter company of China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI), has ordered a MAN B&W 7G80ME-LGIM (-Liquid Gas Injection Methanol) main engine in connection with the construction of a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier), marking the first such dual-fuel methanol order for... Read more →

Bramble Energy has signed an MoU with the EDAG Group to collaborate on the development of a digital integration of Bramble’s patented printed circuit board fuel cell (PCBFC) (earlier post) into EDAG’s electric vehicle storage platform. The digital investigation will involve the design of a customized fuel cell stack as... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz has delivered the first 3 of 48 fully electric eCitaro articulated buses with a 60 kW fuel cell as range extender to Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (rnv). The buses offer a range of up to 400 kilometers and will be in use in urban traffic throughout the cities of Mannheim and... Read more →

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation has been awarded a $37-million multi-year contract by AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), as part of its Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) program. The award will enable Piasecki to flight demonstrate its Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) tilt-duct... Read more →

With the approval of funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, BASF has come a major step closer in building a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. In cooperation with Siemens Energy, work on the water electrolysis at the Ludwigshafen site—the Hy4Chem-EI... Read more →