Fri.Jun 29, 2012

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California ARB approves more rebate funding for hybrid and zero-emission cars, trucks, buses9

Green Car Congress

The California Air Resources Board approved $27 million for its Air Quality Improvement Program, a statewide effort to provide incentives for the purchase of advanced-technology passenger cars and heavy-duty trucks. ARB will use the majority of those funds for its California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project to provide incentives for the purchase of zero-emission and plug-in hybrid passenger cars.

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Why Is Tesla Scared To Release Its Electric-Car Sales Data?

Green Car Reports

Frankly, we understand why Fisker Automotive and Coda Automotive might not want to release their sales data. Both companies have struggled mightily with delayed rollouts of their first plug-in electric cars. But Tesla Motors just nailed its promised late-June first delivery date for the Model S electric luxury sedan, so we expected more. You would.

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Rockwood Lithium opens new lithium production facility in Nevada; announces global price increases for lithium salts

Green Car Congress

Rockwood Lithium has opened its expanded manufacturing facility in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. Rockwood is leveraging a $28.4-million investment from the Recovery Act to expand its North Carolina lithium production facility as well as its production operations in Silver Peak, Nevada. This project will increase the United States’ capacity to produce lithium; the federal investment leveraged more than $46 million in additional private sector funding.

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2013 Honda Fit EV: First Drive Of Honda's All-Electric Car

Green Car Reports

The 2013 Honda Fit EV is a fun and well-executed little all-electric hatchback. It's quick, handles decently, gets the highest EPA efficiency rating of any vehicle on the market (118 MPGe), and its rated range of 82 miles is longer than that of the somewhat larger Nissan Leaf. Too bad you have very little chance of buying one. That's because the.

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How serious is Norway about climate change? So much that its streetlights self-dim

emissions global warming Norway climate change carbon dioxide youtube lighting

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California ARB holding public workshop for review of OPGEE crude oil production lifecycle assessment model

Green Car Congress

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) is holding a public workshop on 12 July 2012 to discuss the lifecycle assessment of crude oil production within the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulation. ARB staff will present for public review v1.0 Draft Version A of the Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimator (OPGEE), supporting documentation for the model (by Hassan M.

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Tony Posawatz, Chevy Volt Product Line Director, Retires From GM

Green Car Reports

The Chevrolet Volt electric car, now in its third model year, has survived the bankruptcy and government-led restructuring of General Motors, politically motivated attacks on electric cars, a battery-safety investigation by the NHTSA, and some breathtakingly inept marketing efforts. But many leaders of the team that created the Volt have moved on.

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Jaguar Displays XJ_e Plug-in Hybrid At GoodWood Festival Of Speed

Green Car Reports

In the automotive world, development and commercialization of plug-in vehicles has varied from company to company. While some, like Nissan and General Motors, sell plug-in cars, others, like Jaguar Land Rover, are in developmental stages. Which is why we’re pleased to hear that Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled the latest of its plug-in hybrid.

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BMW and Toyota expanding cooperation: fuel cells, sports car, powertrain electrification and lightweight technologies

Green Car Congress

Expanding their existing cooperation agreement signed in December 2011 ( earlier post ), Toyota Motor Corporation and the BMW Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at long-term strategic collaboration in four fields: joint development of a fuel cell system; joint development of architecture and components for a future sports vehicle; collaboration on powertrain electrification; and joint research and development on lightweight technologies. ( Earlier post.).

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2012 Toyota Prius: Most Researched Car By Green-Car Buyers?

Green Car Reports

Thanks to data published by most automakers every month, it’s pretty easy to find out which cars sell the most. But before any cars are sold, which cars are the most researched by buyers? According to our own data, and some observations we’ve noted from the U.S. Department of Energy’s fueleconomy.gov website, we think the 2012.

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Daimler strengthens its truck business in Japan: Fuso and Nissan cooperate on light-duty trucks

Green Car Congress

Daimler subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and the Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. have reached a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the mutual supply of light-duty trucks. The basis for this agreement is the strategic partnership between Daimler AG and the Renault-Nissan Alliance. ( Earlier post.). The agreement seeks to use both manufacturers’ expertise to further strengthen business with light-duty trucks in Japan.

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Faurecia and Accenture partner on products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles

Brief

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Funky Friday: Flux Capacitor Charges Up Historic Electric Drag Racing

Green Car Reports

Every Friday, those of us who work at GreenCarReports like to kick back a little with a story that, if you’ll forgive us, is more about indulging our fun side than it is educating you about green cars. In keeping with that tradition, we felt it time to combine two of our collective loves -- vintage and electric cars -- and give you an update.

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New hierarchical nanosheet zeolite catalysts could improve efficiences in fuel, chemical and pharmaceutical production

Green Car Congress

The research team used a unique process to encourage growth of ultra-thin zeolite nanosheets at 90-degree angles, similar to building a house of cards. Credit: U of Minn. Click to enlarge. An international team led by University of Minnesota chemical engineering and materials science professor Michael Tsapatsis reports in the journal Science on a prototype of a new catalyst made of orthogonally connected microporous zeolite nanosheets ( earlier post ).

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U.S. House To EPA: We Won't Let You Set Emissions Laws

Green Car Reports

With 2025's 54.5 mpg corporate average fuel economy standards set to be finalized towards the end of this year, carmakers will also have to meet a 34.1 mpg average by 2016. Alongside these economy targets, carmakers--and perhaps other businesses--will also be bound by the EPA's greenhouse gas emissions limits. Well, that's if the House.

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ITM Power and GHR collaborate on dual 700 and 350 bar H2 refueling in Germany

Green Car Congress

ITM Power has signed an agreement with GHR Hochdruck-Reduziertechnik GmbH (GHR), part of IMI plc, to collaborate on the deployment of dual 700 bar and 350 bar hydrogen refueling products in Germany. GHR has developed a mobile hydrogen dispenser for both 700 bar and 350 bar refueling which has been in use for several years in Germany. A strong pedigree in fluid control and pressurized systems also makes GHR an important partner in the supply chain for high-pressure components.

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ExxonMobil announces 6th oil discovery offshore Guyana with Ranger-1; Guyana may move from non-producer to regional powerhouse

Oil

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Fisker Admits In Ads, 'It Isn't Easy'

Green Car Reports

We have to admit, Kermit the Frog has wisdom well beyond his species. "It isn't easy being green" describes the world of electric and hybrid vehicles quite vividly, and few have found it less easy being green than Fisker Automotive, makers of the Karma range-extended luxury car. So difficult have they found it, the company has seen fit to buy four.

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GM harvests energy from Torino engine test benches to power facility’s computers

Green Car Congress

At its Powertrain Engineering Center in Torino, Italy, GM is harvesting the 300 kWh of energy from its test benches—equipment that tests various measures of a running engine—to power all of the facility’s computers. The plant runs 15 test benches, with five more on the way, as engineers design fuel-efficient engines for Chevrolet and Opel. The idea to put the excess energy to better use fell in line with the company’s sustainability goals.

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2013 Ford Escape: New High-MPG Crossover Selling Strong Even Before Ads

Green Car Reports

You might not have seen any adverts for it yet, but the 2013 Ford Escape is already flying out of dealer lots. That's not bad when the auto market is currently undergoing a summer slump, but the first all-new Escape in over a decade really seems to be grabbing the attention of buyers. The Escape's early success probably isn't that much of a.

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Jaguar adds two new smaller forced induction gasoline engines to 2013 XF and XJ lineup; 8-speed automatic and start-stop

Green Car Congress

For the 2013 XF and XJ lineup, Jaguar is adding two new downsized forced induction gasoline powerplants: 3.0-liter V6 Supercharged and 2.0-liter i4 Turbocharged units. These join the existing line-up of 2.2-liter i4 Turbodiesel, 3.0-liter V6 Turbodiesel and both naturally-aspirated and Supercharged 5.0-liter V8 gasoline units. Eight-speed ZF automatic transmissions are now fitted to all gasoline and diesel XJ and XF variants as standard for greater efficiency and performance.

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BMW and Toyota agree fuel cell and EV partnership

Green Cars News

The rumoured expansion of BMW and Toyota’s collaboration for green car technology has been confirmed this morning at a joint press conference held by the two car industry heavyweights. Early this week we reported on a rumour that the two were set to expand their collaboration (see story) and now it has been confirmed that [.].

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car2go expands to Toronto

Green Car Congress

car2go Canada Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, launches its program in Toronto on 30 June. There will be 250 car2go edition smart fortwo vehicles available for people to use and share collaboratively. Those who register to become car2go members will receive a membership card that will allow them to gain access to and drive in any of the available car2go vehicles in Toronto, whenever they need it, for as long as they need it, without having to commit to a retu

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Volkswagen is Germany’s Greenest Brand

Green Cars News

Volkswagen has been named Germany’s Greenest Brand in a list which places it as one of the world’s most innovative and sustainable car manufacturers. Compiled by Interbrand, the ‘Best Global Green Brands 2012’ rankings has put VW fourth on the list, two places higher than last year, but still behind frontrunners Toyota, Johnson & Johnson, [.].

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Solazyme announces successful commissioning of integrated renewable oil production biorefinery in Peoria, Illinois

Green Car Congress

Solazyme, Inc. announced the successful commissioning of its first fully integrated biorefinery (IBR) in Peoria, Illinois, to produce algal oil. Solazyme has been running routine fermentations at commercial scale since 2007 and began running fermentation operations at the Peoria facility in Q4 2011. Solazyme uses heterotrophic microalgae—i.e., they grow in the dark (in fermenters) by consuming sugars.

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Audi electric cars make UK debut

Green Cars News

It’s the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend and among the highlights will be be Audi’s stand where the German brand will be making the UK debuts of electric-hybrid A3 e-tron model and its futuristic Urban concept. That’s not all the carmaker will be displaying; the R18 e-tron quattro sports prototype will be in the [.].

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Michelin introducing intelligent tires to provide easy tire pressure monitoring for large commercial vehicles

Green Car Congress

Michelin will introduce a new generation of tires which can automatically communicate pressure levels and also provide traceability of tires throughout their lives in service to a fleet of 100 double-decker buses operated by Stagecoach in London. The system offers the potential for better tire management which can improve fuel consumption and cut CO 2 emissions.

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EU gets tough on UK air pollution failings

Green Cars News

The European Commission has rejected an application by the UK to give the country more time to comply with laws governing dangerous transport emissions. The move could lead to legal action against the UK for failing to comply. According to The Guardian, that means twelve UK cities and urban regions may have to introduce their [.].

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BorgWarner supplying turbochargers for first GDI engine designed by BYD Auto in China

Green Car Congress

BorgWarner is providing its leading turbocharging technology for BYD Auto’s 1.5-liter gasoline direct-injection (GDI) engine, the first developed in-house by a domestic Chinese company. Boosted by BorgWarner’s KP39 turbocharger, the inline four-cylinder engine achieves a power output of 154 HP (113 kW) and a maximum torque of 240 N·m (177 lb-ft), providing improved fuel economy compared with its predecessor and helping the engine comply with Euro 5 emissions standards.

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Renault goes from green cars to green gardens

Green Cars News

French carmaker Renault has certainly made an impact on the green car world with electric vehicles such as the Renault Twizy (pictured) and Renault Kangoo Van ZE – but now it’s ready to take its green fingers into the garden. That’s because the automaker will have its own eco-friendly garden at the RHS Hampton Court [.].

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2013 Honda Fit EV begins leasing 20 July in California and Oregon for $389/month

Green Car Congress

Fit EV. Click to enlarge. The battery-electric 2013 Honda Fit EV ( earlier post ) will be available for lease beginning 20 July 2012, with a three-year lease price of $389 per month. The Fit EV received the highest fuel-efficiency rating given yet by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with an adjusted combined mile-per-gallon-equivalency rating of 118 MPGe, with a fuel consumption rating of 29 kWh per 100 miles. ( Earlier post.).

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Jaguar XJ plug-in hybrid revealed at Goodwood

Green Cars News

Yet another exciting debut at Goodwood now, with the news that a new Jaguar XJ plug-in hybrid concept will be appearing at this weekend’s Festival of Speed. Developed in association with lithium ion battery firm, Axeon, this new demonstrator vehicle is is a result of a collaborative R&D project funded by the Technology Strategy Board. [.].

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World record for the Audi R8 e-tron at the Nürburgring

Green Car Congress

The Audi R8 e-tron ( earlier post ) has set a world record for a production vehicle with an electric drive system on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Racing driver Markus Winkelhock piloted the sports car around the demanding 20.8-kilometer (12.9-mile) track in 8:09.099 minutes. The current record lap driven by a combustion engined production car is 7:11.57—achieved with a Gumpert Apollo Sport, which is powered by a 515 kW (700 hp) Audi V8 gasoline engine.

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I-See a fuel saving future for Volvo Trucks

Green Cars News

The name may conjure images of games you’d play with a baby – “I-See” – but it is environmentalists who will have smiles on their faces when they hear about the effects of Volvo Trucks’ new technology. The I-See System (pictured) operates like an auto-pilot and takes over gear changing for the truck driver while [.].

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