Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS)—an international consortium formed by Chinese, Japanese and Swedish stakeholders—and the Receivers of the Saab Automobile bankruptcy estate ( earlier post) signed a purchase agreement covering the main assets of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB. NEVS will establish a new automobile venture in Trollhättan, solely dedicated to development and manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs).

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Automobile Sweden 2014 2013 290

Green Car Congress

JUNE 9, 2012

Integrity Exports. 19.7% of new cars sold in Japan in May 2012 were hybrid cars, up 11 percentage points from last year. The liftback Prius led the field with 20,789 units sold, closely followed by Aqua (Prius C overseas) with 20,091 units sold. Looking at the different manufacturers, hybrid sales make up 25% of Honda sales in Japan, and a whopping 46% of Toyota sales.

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Prius Japan 2012 Hybrid 282

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2012

China-based Shengquan Group and Novozymes finalized an enzyme supply deal for the production of cellulosic ethanol. Shengquan starts production of cellulosic ethanol from its commercial-scale facility month; the production will be cost-competitive with conventional ethanol, as the cellulosic ethanol feedstock is a waste product from Shengquan’s current production, the companies said.

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Supplies Denmark Production China 281

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2012

The new Audi R18 e-tron quattro diesel hybrid ( earlier post ) will start the 80 th running of Le Mans from grid position one. The combination of TDI power at the rear axle and an electrically driven front axle made it possible for André Lotterer in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro designated as car number “1” to achieve a fastest lap of 3m 23.787s in the final qualifying session on Thursday night shortly after 22:00—and thus an improvement of last year’s best time by nearly two seconds.

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Grid Diesel Hybrid Audi 268

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

World primary energy consumption grew by 2.5% in 2011, close to the historical average. Oil remains the world’s leading fuel, but its 33.1% share of consumption is the lowest on record. Coal’s market share of 30.3% was the highest since 1969. Source: BP. Click to enlarge. Global energy consumption grew by 2.5% in 2011, broadly in line with the historical average but well below the 5.1% seen in 2010, according to the newly released BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2012.

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Coal Oil Renewable Saudi Arabia 261

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2012

Projected non-attainment by county in 2020 under the range of the proposed new limits. Source: EPA. Click to enlarge. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed updates to its national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for harmful fine particle pollution (PM 2.5 ). These microscopic particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and have been linked to a wide range of serious health effects, including premature death, heart attacks, and strokes, as well as acute bronchitis and aggrav

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EPA Standards Pollution Philadelphia 257

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2012

H2 Logic A/S put another hydrogen station into operation in Lilleström, Norway as part of the Akershus Energypark that is to develop and test a wide range of hydrogen technologies. The hydrogen station is the first to be supplied by hydrogen produced from domestic waste. For H2 Logic it is the fourth SAE J2601-compliant A-70MPa hydrogen refueling station in 12 months; it also marks a significant step forward in the efforts on standardizing and streamlining the H2Station, the company said.

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Hydrogen Waste Norway Finland 257

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2012

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award $56 million over three years—subject to congressional appropriations—for 21 total projects to further advance advanced concentrating solar power technologies (CSP). The research projects, conducted in partnership with private industry, national laboratories and universities, support the Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative, a collaborative national effort to make solar power cost-competitive with traditional energy sources by the end of

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Solar Cost Of Power Powered 252

Green Car Congress

JUNE 12, 2012

The new generation of 3-cylinder gasoline engines for the future BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car ( earlier post ) will be produced exclusively at the BMW engine plant at Hams Hall, near Birmingham. The BMW i8 Concept offers the eDrive plug-in hybrid concept combining an electric drive system with a high-performance three cylinder TwinPower Turbo engine producing 349hp/300N·m.

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BMW Plug-in Engine Plug 252

Green Car Congress

JUNE 11, 2012

A study by a team of researchers in the UK has estimated the contributions of brake dust, tire dust, and resuspended dust to non-exhaust traffic particles as. 55.3 ± 7.0%, 10.7 ± 2.3%, and 38.1 ± 9.7%, respectively, at their sampling site at Marleybone Road, London. Increasingly stringent environmental regulations have resulted in substantial reductions in the exhaust emissions from road traffic, the team notes in a paper describing their work in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technolog

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Exhaust United Kingdom Emissions London 252

Green Car Congress

JUNE 10, 2012

The Nikkei reports that the Japanese government, major automakers and highway infrastructure companies are now working together to package technologies and services for sale in emerging markets such as India and Indonesia to address the growing problem of traffic congestion. “Traffic congestion has become a serious issue in big cities in emerging markets,” said Yasuhiro Okumura, a Transport Ministry official.

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Japan Market Companies Indonesia 250

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2012

car2go North America LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, will expand its carsharing operations in Canada and the United States this summer. car2go will officially start operations in Toronto on 30 June; in Calgary on 21 July; and in Miami, Florida on 28 July. Member registration for all three cities is open at car2go.com.

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Canada USA North America Miami 247

Green Car Congress

JUNE 10, 2012

The US Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will award (FTA-2012-010-TRI) up to $400,000 for one or more pilot projects to increase pedestrian/cyclist safety through demonstration of advanced pedestrian warning system on transit buses. As background for the award, FTA notes that pedestrians represent a considerable portion of traffic-related (cars, trucks and transit) injuries and deaths on our nation’s highways.

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2008 United States 2012 Design 247

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

Remy International, Inc. signed a long-term supply agreement with DMA (Derindere) in Istanbul, Turkey. DMA will use Remy’s HVH 250 motor to power their plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) sedan. DMA will install Remy’s HVH 250 machine as the traction motor in the 5-passenger plug-in hybrid sedan, which will be available during the third quarter of 2012.

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Turkey PHEV Supplies Motor 246

Green Car Congress

JUNE 12, 2012

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will award up to $5.7 million in grants to eligible individuals, businesses, governmental entities, and school districts, to replace older diesel vehicles with new alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles. For the purposes of this program, eligible alternative fuel vehicles are limited to those powered by the following: electricity, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, propane (LPG), or a mixture of fuels containing at lea

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Alternative Fuels Texas San Antonio Fort Worth 244

Green Car Congress

JUNE 11, 2012

Flows for the Zero Emission Fund. Click to enlarge. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. launched the Nissan Zero Emission Fund, a new fund for individual Nissan electric vehicle (EV) owners in Japan which converts the amount of CO 2 emissions that are offset by driving the 100% electric Nissan LEAF to generate credits. Through participation in this fund program, Nissan LEAF owners will be able to generate CO 2 emissions credits certified by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and sold to the G

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Japan Nissan CO2 Emissions 244

Green Car Congress

JUNE 9, 2012

Flow diagram of coal tar hydrogenation process. Credit: ACS, Kan et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers in China report the production of gasoline and diesel from coal tar via an optimized catalytic hydrogenation using two serial fixed beds, the first with a hydrofining catalyst of MoNi/?-Al 2 O 3 and the second with a hydrocracking catalyst of WNiP/?

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Coal Gasoline Diesel Hydrogen 244

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2012

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the first plans from individual companies for satisfying the misfueling mitigation conditions of the E15 partial waivers. Approved companies have now met all Clean Air Act requirements related to E15 and may legally—for CAA requirements—introduce E15 into the marketplace. However, noted EPA, other federal, state and local requirements and practical concerns must also be addressed.

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EPA Companies Market 2001 240

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2012

Coinciding with the opening of the first BMW i Store on London’s Park Lane, the BMW Group presented the new BMW i Pedelec (Pedal Electric Cycle) Concept—a custom-made complement to the BMW i3 Concept ( earlier post ). The compact bicycle can be folded up quickly; the trunk of the BMW i3 Concept has room for two. BMW i Pedelec. Click to enlarge.

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BMW Concept Carbon Fiber MPH 240

Green Car Congress

JUNE 10, 2012

Researchers in Spain have obtained high-quality transportation fuels (gasoline with RON >80 and diesel with cetane number >70) from oil obtained by the thermal cracking of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) using a bifunctional catalyst comprising Ni (7 wt %) deposited on a hierarchical Beta zeolite (Ni/h-Beta). A paper on their work is published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels.

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Transportation Fuel Production Gasoline 240

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2012

New Zealand is implementing revenue-neutral changes to its road user charges (RUC) system as of 1 August 2012. In New Zealand, diesel and electric-powered vehicles pay for their road use through road user charges. (Since some 36% of diesel is used off-road, such as on farms, by manufacturing, industrial and commercial ventures, and boats, a fuel tax for road use would impose an unfair burden onto these sectors, the government says.).

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New Zealand Light 2013 2020 236

Green Car Congress

JUNE 11, 2012

Reaction Design has introduced the industry’s first predictive soot modeling tool for gas turbine design. The tool is available as part of the company’s ENERGICO software, a physics-based modeling environment that can deliver accurate and predictive combustion simulations for gas turbines and boilers. Integrating more than a decade of combustion kinetics research, ENERGICO gives designers the first practical method to apply accurate soot formation chemistry and physics to predict Particulate Mat

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Design Gas Insight Alternative Fuels 236

Green Car Congress

JUNE 11, 2012

ALTe Powertrain Technologies, developer of a range-extended plug-in electric hybrid powertrain for light commercial fleet vehicle applications, has created a Commitment to Action to spur adoption of hybrid electric technology in the worldwide fleet industry as part of the Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) meeting. ALTe has pledged to develop an electric vehicle fleet purchasing system by which fleet customers can consolidate the entire electric vehicle decision-making process in on

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Fleet Global Purchase Financing 236

Green Car Congress

JUNE 9, 2012

A group of US automobile dealers filed a lawsuit (Case 1:12-cv-01935-TWT) on 4 June with the United States District Court, Northern District Of Georgia, Atlanta Division accusing the Indian truck manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, Ltd. and its US counterpart of fraud, misrepresentation, and conspiracy. The lawsuit alleges that Mahindra duped US auto dealers with promises of diesel light trucks and SUVS ( earlier post ) and then walked away with more than $60 million in cash and trade secrets.

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Dealers SUV Auto Diesel 236

Green Car Congress

JUNE 9, 2012

The Freightliner Trucks 2014 Cascadia Evolution—powered only by the newly designed Detroit DD15 engine and featuring enhanced aerodynamic specs—delivered fuel economy of 10.67 mpg US (22 L.100km) on a closed-track demo, according to Freightliner. Freightliner Cascadia Evolution. Click to enlarge. The 2014 production model Cascadia Evolution already has some of the most advanced achievements in the industry designed to improve airflow and aerodynamics.

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Fuel Economy 2014 2010 Economy 236

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2012

Volvo is expanding its North American market offerings with two additional natural gas truck models under the Mack brand during 2013—Mack Pinnacle and Mack Granite—targeting the distribution and construction segments. The Mack TerraPro model is already available to customers in the waste management segment. All models will be offered with engines powered by either liquid natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG).

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Volvo Gas Market New York 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2012

Royal Imtech N.V. will install a network of intelligent charging points at the home addresses of owners of the new Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid and at all Toyota dealers in the Netherlands. The company expects to install between 1,300 and 2,500 charging points at the homes of owners in 2012, and 117 double charging points at Toyota dealers. The network is part of Toyota’s charging service, which is included in the sale price of the hybrid car, and is the first large-scale network for electric veh

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Netherlands Dealers Installation Prius 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2012

Cobham Technical Services is collaborating with Jaguar Land-Rover (JLR) and engineering consultancy Ricardo UK to develop a switched reluctance traction motor. The £1.5-million (US$2.3-million) project is co-funded (half) by the UK Technology Strategy Board, with the rest being provided by the project partners. Aside from the need to further reduce CO 2 emissions from hybrid vehicles by moving to more efficient and lower weight electric motors, there is an urgent requirement to eliminate the use

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Land Rover Motor Motors Motoring 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

Propel Fuels, a retailer of renewable fuels and clean mobility solutions, entered an exclusive supply agreement with Eco-Energy, a distributor of renewable fuels, to fulfill Propel’s Flex Fuel E85 demand over the next three years. This agreement further enables high blend renewable fuels to compete with petroleum fuels, Propel suggested. Integrating the producer-to-pump supply chain reduces the cost and complexity of procuring, storing, and delivering renewable fuels, better positioning Propel d

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Supplies Energy Fuel Renewable 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is holding a Geosciences Technology Workshop (13-15 August in Golden, Colorado) focused on new developments in hydraulic fracturing with an emphasis on the importance of understanding the geology, rock properties, geomechanics, geochemistry, reservoir fluids, natural fracture systems and the nature of the reservoir itself.

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Colorado Oil Canada United States 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2012

For the 2013 model year, the Buick Verano (introduced in 2011), is offering buyers an Ecotec 2.0L turbocharged engine with direct injection and continuously variable valve timing that produces an SAE-certified 250 horsepower (187 kW) at 5300 rpm and 260 lb-ft (353 Nm) of torque at 2000 rpm. Acceleration from 0-60 mph is an estimated 6.2 seconds. More than 90% of the Verano Turbo’s peak torque—more than 234 lb-ft—is available between 1700 to 5500 rpm.

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Buick 2013 Fuel Economy Acura 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 12, 2012

A technology and energy production consortium has successfully completed initial proof-of-concept testing of a novel oil sands extraction method that has the potential to improve environmental performance and reduce development costs. The consortium of Laricina Energy, Nexen Inc., Suncor Energy and Harris Corporation completed its initial phase testing of the Enhanced Solvent Extraction Incorporating Electromagnetic Heating (ESEIEH—pronounced “easy”) project at Suncor’s Steepbank mine faci

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Oil-Sands Oil Water Climate Change 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 12, 2012

Remy, Inc.’s Electric Motor Division and VIA Motors have announced a joint agreement to supply powertrains for the VIA Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (eREV). VIA offers a full lineup of extended-range electric trucks, vans and SUVs called VTRUX, each equipped with the company’s eREV powertrain. The eREV powertrain enables the VTRUX to drive up to 40 miles in a full electric near zero emission mode achieving an equivalent 100 MPG.

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Motor Motors Motoring Supplies 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 12, 2012

Volkswagen of America, Inc. is pricing the Beetle TDI Clean Diesel coupé starting at $23,295. The Beetle TDI is the third model in the Beetle lineup and joins the 2.5-liter five-cylinder and 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline models, which launched in 2011. The Beetle TDI features VW’s 2.0-liter turbocharged, direct-injection Clean Diesel engine that produces 140 hp (104 kW) and 236 lb-ft (320 N·m) of torque.

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Diesel Price MPG Fuel Economy 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 11, 2012

The Netherlands-based biomass torrefaction technology company Topell Energy B.V. completed a €13-million ($16.25 million) financing round alongside a strengthening of its intellectual property position. Torrefaction produces high-grade solid biofuels from various streams of low-grade woody biomass via a mild pyrolysis process—heating the biomass to between 250–300 °C in an inert atmosphere (i.e. free of oxygen).

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Companies Energy Netherlands Financing 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2012

Discharge capacity of the HCNW electrode as a function of charge?discharge cycles at different charge?discharge current densities of 50 (0.2 C), 125 (0.5 C), 250 (1 C), and 500 (2 C) mAh g ?1 , respectively. Credit: ACS, Cao et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed hollow carbon nanowires (HCNWs) for use as anode material for Na-ion batteries.

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Sodium Li-ion Carbon Insight 230

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2012

Audi has introduced the SQ5 TDI—the brand’s first S model with a diesel engine. The biturbo SQ5 TDI accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.1 seconds, with an average fuel consumption of 7.2 liters per 100 km (33 mpg US). The SQ5 TDI. Click to enlarge. Boosted by two turbochargers, its 3.0 TDI produces 230 kW (313 hp) and 650 N·m (479 lb-ft) of torque between 1,450 and 2,800 rpm.

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Audi Diesel Fuel Economy MPG 225