The US Department of Energy announced $98 million in funding for 40 new projects as part of OPEN 2018, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s (ARPA-E) latest open funding opportunity. OPEN solicitations are an open call to scientists and engineers for transformational technologies across the entire scope of ARPA-E’s energy mission.... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board adopted a new emissions tracking program that will help regulators identify vehicles with excess smog-related and greenhouse gas emissions. Real Emissions Assessment Logging (REAL) is part of the amendments to the OBD (On-board Diagnostic) Regulations approved by the Board at Thursday’s hearing. OBD systems mainly... Read more →

The introduction of the low emission zone (LEZ) in London, UK, has only contributed to modest reductions in exposure to NOx from diesel vehicles, and these improvements appear to have little effect on the lung health of children, according to an open-access observational study published in the journal The Lancet... Read more →

A team at the Clean Combustion Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has shown that burning fuel at high pressure can significantly increase the size of the soot particles that are produced. A paper on their work is published in the Proceedings of... Read more →

Eaton will supply a TVS (Twin Vortices Series) air pump to manage airflow in the demonstration of the Achates Power two-stroke opposed-piston engine (OP Engine) at the upcoming Internal Combustion Engine Fall Technical Conference in San Diego. The Eaton device for the opposed piston two-stroke device is a scavenging pump,... Read more →

Volkswagen unveiled the Tarok Concept to the world at the São Paulo International Motor Show (6 to 18 November). The all-wheel drive all-rounder combines the progressive features of the latest generation of digitally networked SUVs with the versatility of a five-meter pick-up. The Tarok Concept is powered by a 1.4-liter... Read more →

BorgWarner, a leader in clean and efficient solutions for combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles, is supplying its best-in-class EGR system to a major global automaker across different regions of the world. Featured in one of the automaker’s engines, BorgWarner’s solution will reduce NOx emissions for several diesel vehicles, helping them... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board approved a $483 million plan to fund clean car rebates, zero-emission transit and school buses, clean trucks, and other innovative, clean transportation and mobility pilot projects. The Fiscal Year 2018-19 Funding Plan for Clean Transportation Incentives, largely funded with cap-and-trade proceeds, is part of California’s... Read more →

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has launched the new SoCalGas Truck Loan Program. The program allows qualified fleet owners the opportunity to try out the latest in heavy-duty natural gas truck technology by test-driving a 12L near-zero truck. This “try before you buy” program provides fleet owners with the opportunity... Read more →

GE Aviation has completed the initial design of the first supersonic engine purpose-built for business jets. This new engine class, revealed as GE’s Affinity turbofan, is optimized with proven GE technology for supersonic flight and timed to meet the Aerion AS2 launch (earlier post). The Affinity is a new class... Read more →

Researchers at Tohoku University in Japan have identified a way to reduce harmful NO emissions produced by ammonia fuel during combustion. The process involves swirling the gas with air as part of the power generation process. The finding helps advance research into ammonia as an alternative to carbon-based fuels for... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz is delivering the first new third-generation plug-in hybrids—labelled EQ Power—to customers now and over the coming months. Mercedes-Benz is initially using this type of powertrain in the C-Class, E-Class and S-Class. The 13.5 kWh battery in the hybrid vehicles is paired with either a gasoline engine or, for the... Read more →

Boeing- and JetBlue-backed Zunum Aero has selected Safran Helicopter Engines as the turbine provider for its hybrid electric commercial aircraft, which will be available in the early 2020s. (Earlier post.) Safran Helicopter Engines will provide a new generation engine turbine, the Ardiden 3Z to drive the Zunum ZA10’s electrical generator.... Read more →

Mazda Motor Corporation announced electrification and connectivity strategies, based on Mazda’s long-term vision for technology development, “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030.” Mazda said that overall, it will deploy compact, lightweight electrification technologies while further refining the internal combustion engine. The company will introduce electric vehicles as the optimal solution in regions that... Read more →

SEAT, a member of the Volkswagen Group, will introduce the first SUV powered by compressed natural at the Paris Motor Show. The new Arona TGI marks the fourth vehicle in SEAT’s line-up to benefit from the cleaner, cheaper fuel, joining the Leon, Ibiza and Mii. The Arona TGI has been... Read more →

Cummins Westport Inc. announced that an independent study on the Cummins Westport ISX12N 400 hp natural gas engine demonstrated that the engine meets and exceeds California Air Resources Board’s (“CARB”) optional Low NOx standard of 0.02 g/bhp-hr. The study was prepared by the University of California, Riverside College of Engineering... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Hyundai America Technical Center $4.95 million over three years as part of an $80-million Co-Optima funding round (earlier post) to conduct research and development for an advanced mixed-mode gasoline (spark/compression ignition) engine to attain significant improvements in both fuel economy and CO2... Read more →

Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland, Alstom, Nahverkehrsservice Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH (NASA) and Rolls-Royce plan to implement jointly a new hybrid drive solution on Abellio’s fleet of Coradia Lint diesel trains. The four companies agreed to conduct technical feasibility studies regarding the integration of hybrid drives developed by MTU (earlier post), a Rolls-Royce brand,... Read more →

Rolls-Royce and Alpha Trains intend to jointly retrofit Alpha Train’s Talent, Desiro and Lint fleets with MTU hybrid drives. The two companies signed a letter of intent to this effect at Innotrans, the world’s leading trade fair for transport technology, in Berlin. The aim is to retrofit the entire Alpha... Read more →

On Sunday, Porsche AG announced that it will in the future no longer offer diesel-powered models. By 2022, Porsche will have invested more than €6 billion (US$7 billion) in e-mobility, creating the basis for sustainable growth into the future. Interest in hybrid Porsche models is already taking off; 63% of... Read more →

The US Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), California Energy Commission, and South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) have teamed up to launch new research focused on medium- and heavy-duty natural gas engines and vehicles. Through a new request for proposals (RHQ-8-82305), NREL will award up to... Read more →

At InnoTrans 2018, the International Trade Fair for Transport Technology, MAN Engines is exhibiting the D3876 LE63x for locomotives, which produces 471 kW (632 hp) at 1,800 rpm. One of its outstanding features is the in-line six, which meets the EU Stage V emission standard for locomotives without the need... Read more →

In Europe, Ford has enhanced the S-MAX sports activity vehicle and Galaxy people mover to deliver more fuel efficiency, performance and refinement. The Ford S-MAX and Galaxy models are now offered for the first time with Ford’s 2.0-liter EcoBlue diesel engine featuring power outputs from 120 PS to 240 PS... Read more →

Jacobs Vehicle Systems, a leading manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engine retarding systems and valve actuation systems, will introduce its new Cylinder Deactivation (CDA) technology to the European market at IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018 (Hannover, Germany, 20-27 September). CDA uses the proven componentry of Jacobs’ High Power Density (HPD) engine brake,... Read more →

As of 2020, Rolls-Royce will launch a range of completely integrated MTU hybrid ship propulsion systems onto the market. The propulsion systems will also be made available for yachts, work boats, ferries and patrol boats in a power range extending from around 1,000 kilowatts to 4,000 kilowatts per powertrain. Rolls-Royce... Read more →

Rolls-Royce launched its latest in a series of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled marine engines at the SMM maritime exhibition in Hamburg. The Bergen B36:45 model is designed in accordance with the Rolls-Royce philosophy of a common platform for all fuel options and applications, and can be configured to meet... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 42 projects for $80 million in funding to support the development of advanced vehicle technologies. Selected projects cover the following areas: Batteries and Electrification ($31.9 million): These research projects will develop technologies to recharge multiple electric vehicles quickly and at very high... Read more →

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is launching the Advanced Combustion Catalyst and Aftertreatment Technologies II (AC2AT-II) consortium focusing on engine emissions solutions and innovative catalyst technologies. The AC2AT-II kickoff meeting will be 15 Nov. at SwRI’s headquarters in San Antonio and is open to interested automotive industry manufacturers. SwRI launched the... Read more →

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Equipment Co., Ltd. (MHI-MME), a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has developed new models of its MET Turbochargers for diesel engines. The MET-MBII axial-flow turbocharger series mainly for two-stroke engines is smaller and lighter than the existing MET-MB series, with a... Read more →

A new study on ultra-low emission natural gas heavy-duty engines found that the new Cummins-Westport 11.9-liter engine achieved California’s lowest smog-forming emissions standard, and maintained those emissions during all types of driving. Cycle averaged NOx emissions for the ISX12N 400 equipped truck. Source: UCR. The study, prepared by researchers at... Read more →

Westport Fuel Systems Inc. has entered into definitive development and supply agreements with Weichai Westport Inc. (WWI) to develop, to market, and to commercialize a heavy-duty, natural gas engine featuring the Westport HPDI 2.0 technology, based on one of Weichai Power Co., Ltd.’s (Weichai Power) heavy-duty engine platforms. Weichai Power... Read more →

Alternative-fuel technology company ROUSH CleanTech has developed the first available propane autogas engine certified to California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) optional low oxides of nitrogen emissions standard for heavy-duty engines with 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr). (Earlier post.) The engine is 90% cleaner than the current Environmental Protection Agency’s... Read more →

Thirty-six percent of all commercial diesel trucks on US roads are now powered by the newest generation of diesel technologies (MY 2011 and newer), up from 30% in 2016 and 25.7% in 2015, according to analysis by the Diesel Technology Forum of operation data from 2017 of vehicles (GVW 3-8)... Read more →

Blue Bird is providing the cleanest propane engine available for school buses on the market, with this version being 90% cleaner than the current emissions standard and 10 times cleaner than any non-Blue Bird propane school bus option available today. Blue Bird’s Vision Propane buses now offer an optional ultra-low... Read more →

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and Food Express, Inc. (FXI) announced the addition of 11 new ultra-low emission natural gas trucks to the FXI fleet. The company, with the assistance of SoCalGas, applied for and received $1.1 million in grant funding for the new Kenworth T680 trucks (earlier post) which... Read more →

Highly fuel-efficient new engine designs could significantly reduce the environmental impact of combustion-engined vehicles, especially if the engines run on renewable non-petroleum-based fuels. Ensuring these unconventional fuels are compatible with next-generation engines was the aim of a new computational study on fuel ignition behavior at KAUST. A paper on their... Read more →

The all-new Cadillac XT4 compact luxury SUV that is coming to China later this month features the all-new General Motors TriPower propulsion system that incorporates multiple innovative technologies, and that is also deployed on the Silverado with a 2.7-liter engine. Based on an optimized single-cylinder architecture design, the XT4’s all-new... Read more →

UK-based ULEMCo (earlier post) has delivered the first hydrogen dual-fuel van to online supermarket Ocado. The vehicle is part of a wider program to evaluate the use of ULEMCo’s cleaner vehicles for the Ocado fleet. Converted from a standard Mercedes Sprinter, the new van will go into immediate service from... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced that 500,000 heavy-duty trucks manufactured by Cummins Inc. will be recalled due to excess emissions caused by defective catalysts. The cause of the excess emissions was purely mechanical—the faster-than-expected degradation of the catalyst—and not the product of a defeat device. The degrading catalysts... Read more →

Developed for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), BorgWarner’s innovative Exhaust Heat Recovery System (EHRS) can improve fuel economy by up to 8.5% and reduce emissions significantly. The EHRS enters production later this year for vehicles from a major North American automaker. By using the heat... Read more →

Kia Motors’ upgraded 2018 Kia Sportage (earlier post), the brand’s global best-selling vehicle, offers a 2.0-liter diesel engine now available with Kia’s new eight-speed automatic transmission, and—in certain markets—48-volt mild-hybrid power (earlier post). The Sportage is also available with an all-new 1.6-liter diesel engine, employing the company’s new SmartStream efficiency... Read more →

Findings presented in a new working paper by a team at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) suggest that the new generation of supersonic aircraft currently in development by three US-based companies (e.g, earlier post) are unlikely to comply with existing international environmental standards for subsonic aircraft. The ICCT... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have approved emissions modifications for the last remaining Volkswagen (VW) vehicles containing undisclosed software which deliberately shut down emission control equipment (defeat devices). The legal process began in 2015 and eventually involved more than a half million... Read more →

Canada’s Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau, announced an investment of $25,000 for a University of Windsor project called “Hydrogen Enabled Low-Emissions and Fuel Efficient Diesel Engine Combustion Technology for Clean Locomotives”. The project will help to develop an experimental diesel engine that is capable of running on blends of hydrogen... Read more →

Following the conclusion of internal technical analyses of all its V TDI engines, Audi has passed on its essential findings to the German Federal Motor Vehicle Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, KBA) as the responsible authority. The details will be discussed over the coming weeks. For current models with third-generation V6 TDI... Read more →

Researchers at KAUST, with colleagues at Trinity College Dublin, have developed a new conceptual model for describing a fuel’s composition that can accelerate and simplify combustion simulations, ultimately aiding engine design. A paper on the work is published in the journal Combustion and Flame. Rather than try to model fuel... Read more →

DARPA awards additional $2.5M to LiquidPiston for development of 30kW X4 rotary diesel engine prototype The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded LiquidPiston Inc., an advanced internal combustion engine technology company, an additional $2.5 million to continue development of its 30kW X4 rotary diesel engine prototype, bringing... Read more →

Corning Incorporated’s Environmental Technologies business reached a significant production milestone at its Kaiserslautern, Germany manufacturing facility with the production of its 1 millionth Corning DuraTrap GC gasoline particulate filter (GPF) for automotive emissions control. The facility launched an expansion effort in 2016 for production of these ceramic particulate filters, engineered... Read more →

Buick has introduced the new-generation Excelle to its China lineup. It features the brand’s latest styling, a new more efficient powertrain, and a broad range of advanced safety and connectivity technologies. The Buick Excelle has been among the most popular family sedans in China, with nearly 2.7 million sold since... Read more →

Tour Engine, the startup developing novel split-cycle engine technology (earlier post), is working on a 5 kW natural gas unit under Phase II funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E). The additional $2.59 million in funding, awarded earlier this year under ARPA-E’s GENSETS program, follows on Tour’s... Read more →