Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

China’s State Council has published a plan to develop the domestic energy-saving and new energy vehicle industry, which includes battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. The central government’s plan, posted on its website, is targeting the production of 500,000 plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles by 2015, with output to grow to 2 million units of those types by 2020.

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Revenge of the Electric Car

JULY 9, 2012

As Portland, OR gears up for yet another screening of Revenge, local EV'er and filmmaker J Bills recounts the scene at the Portland premiere back in November: Here in Portland, we still talk about the last time Chris Paine rolled through town with a movie; an early screening of 2006’s seminal “Who Killed the Electric Car?” that rallied the local electric army and provided a slingshot of momentum as the film hit the circuit.

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Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

Autonomous Driving Support helps the driver to comfortably stay in the lane and follow the traffic flow in slow-moving queues. Radar sensors and a camera give input to the system, which automatically controls the speed, the brakes and the steering in order to follow the vehicle in front. Click to enlarge. Volvo Car Corp. is developing several new safety systems—factoring in driver behavior in the modern traffic environment—towards achieving its 2020 goal that nobody should be killed

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Volvo Corporation Cars Sweden 265

Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

When the 2011 Nissan Leaf launched at the end of 2010, many environmentally-conscious drivers took the plunge and decided to buy one, hoping to leave gasoline behind for good. For the majority of Leaf owners, Leaf ownership does just that. For some others, however, a lack of reliable public charging, unreliable range prediction and a few flat.

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Range Plug-in Volt Plug 118

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Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

Researchers from Institut Charles Gerhardt (France) report the development of an original two-step process for converting light olefins into long-chain hydrocarbons in the distillate range. Their paper is published in the journal ChemSusChem. In the first step, ethylene is selectively transformed into C 4 –C 10 olefins with an even number of carbon atoms, over nickel-exchanged AlMCM-41, at 150?

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Convert Light F-150 Range 236

Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

Many electric car owners consider the debate over charging points all a bit of a fuss. After all, when the majority of your driving is between home and the office, then charging at one of those two locations will usually suffice. The presence (or otherwise) of chargers at rest stops or spread through your town is a non-issue. Naturally, not.

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Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

Following its launch of the 2012 Tesla Model S, the Silicon Valley startup is now giving test drives to depositors who've put down $5,000--or more--for the all-electric luxury sport sedan. What Tesla hasn't done, as far as we're aware, is to provide Model S cars to automotive media outlets for multiple-day testing. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] will.

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2012 Tesla Tesla Motors All-Electric 98

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

At the Farnborough Air Show in the UK, GE Aviation said it continues its studies into advanced technologies for the next-generation engine to power Boeing next-generation 777 aircraft. The GE9X engine is focused on improvements in fuel burn, noise and emission over the current GE90-115B engine while maintaining comparable reliability and maintenance cost, said Bill Millhaem, general manager of the GE90 program at GE Aviation.

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Engine Fuel 2004 Italy 231

Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

Whenever a new car hits the market, there’s always a website somewhere on the Internet keeping track of how real-world gas mileage differs from the EPA’s official quotes. So it’s no surprise that owners of the 2012 Toyota Prius C have started to keep track of the gas mileage of their car on websites like PriusChat. One post, What.

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Prius 2012 Toyota Gas 88

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

AliphaJet, Inc., the developer of a cost-effective catalytic decarboxylation (CDC) process for making jet fuel, diesel and high-octane gasoline from renewable plant oils or animal fats ( earlier post ), has joined the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) and is beginning its commercial scale-up program. AliphaJet’s BoxCar catalytic de-oxygenation process (decarboxylation) converts renewable oils and fats into drop-in advanced biofuels by removing oxygen to create true hydrocarbon fuels.

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Oil Convert Commercial Fuel 225

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Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

Henrik Fisker is viewed by many in the automotive industry as one of the finest designers of his generation, responsible for stunning cars like the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9, and Fisker Karma. But at a recent TEDx talk where the founder of Fisker Automotive told the audience how he got into automotive design, he drew a tantalizing sketch on stage.

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Aston Martin Fisker Karma Future 87

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

The European Commission launched the final and biggest ever set of calls for proposals for research under its Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). In total, €8.1 billion (US$10 billion) for the 2013 work program will support projects and ideas that will boost Europe’s competitiveness and tackle issues such as human health, protecting the environment and finding new solutions to growing challenges linked to urbanization and managing waste.

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Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

Some hybrids, like the 2012 Toyota Prius, are designed out-and-out to achieve great gas mileage and reduce emissions. Some, like the 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3, are designed to entice existing luxury car buyers from their gas-guzzling models into slightly more parsimonious ones. while maintaining the levels of performance that BMW buyers expect.

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2013 BMW Prius Price 81

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

Teijin CNF Korea Co., Ltd., an Asan-based joint venture between Teijin and major Korean film processor CNF, has begun commercial production of LIELSORT, a Teijin-developed separator for lithium ion secondary batteries (LIBs). Of the two types of LIELSORT-branded separators, Teijin CNF Korea will initially produce one type coated with a fluorine-based compound that achieves superior adhesion to the polymer electrolyte and is highly resistant to oxidation, resulting in LIBs that offer higher outpu

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Li-ion Production Lithium Ion Battery 225

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Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

On Friday we revealed that Chrysler is introducing a new badging system for its upcoming range of diesel engines, known as EcoDiesel. Now, the company has filed another trademark with the patent office, known as "HFE High Fuel Efficiency". Just as the EcoDiesel tag will be used on the marque's clean diesel vehicles, the HFE badge is likely to be.

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Chrysler Gas Green Diesel 79

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

France-based Global Bioenergies, an industrial biology company developing sustainable routes to light olefins ( earlier post ), has opened a branch facility in Ames, Iowa. The new operation will focus on Global Bioenergies’ program for bioconversion of renewable resources into isobutene and other light olefins through fermentation. Dr. David Gogerty, a specialist in industrial biology, will head the new US branch.

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Light Global Renewable Iowa 210

Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

It's a well-known problem among electric car owners: accumulating the memberships and authorization cards from enough charging networks in your area so you're sure to have the right one when you pull up to a charging station. Now a new company, Liberty Plug-Ins, suggests that maybe all those cards and tags and fobs aren't necessary. Liberty wants.

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Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Green cars are expensive. A Nissan LEAF costs well over £30k: yes, the government will give you £5000 towards that, but it’s still the price of a decent BMW 3 Series. The Chevrolet Volt and Vauxhall Ampera are even more expensive; even the tiny Mitsubishi i-MiEV costs a small fortune. Of course, you don’t have [.].

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Green Cars i-MiEV Suzuki Green 56

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will begin developing UEC-LSGi: low-speed, dual-fuel, marine diesel engines capable of using not only conventional heavy oil but also natural gas for their fuel. The new engine will be added to the lineup of the Mitsubishi UEC Engine Series, the company’s 2-stroke, low-speed marine diesel engine brand. Scheduled to be launched onto the market in 2015, MHI aims to reduce the economic and environmental burden on ship operators.

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Mariner Mitsubishi Gas Diesel 218

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Amid all the hype for electric and hydrogen vehicles, natural gas vehicles have slowly been building momentum: and now they are set for a significant spike in sales. According to a report from Pike Research, the global market for light duty natural gas vehicles – which includes light duty trucks, commercial vehicles and passenger cars [.].

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Gas Vehicles Gas-Electric Light 55

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

CFM International, a 50:50 venture between GE Aviation and France’s Snecma, will produce some parts for the Leap-X family of engines ( earlier post ) for single-aisle short-haul aircraft using an additive layer manufacturing process (ALM, earlier post ) developed at GE’s Global Research Center. The LEAP engine, part of GE’s ecomagination portfolio, is a high-bypass turbofan that is lighter in weight and with up to 15% lower fuel costs compared to current CFM models in its class.

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International Parts Manufacturer Engine 218

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

BMW is ramping up its commitment to its new wave of electric vehicles – by pouring €125million into its plants in Landshut and Dingolfing. The plants will produce components for the BMW I model electric drive vehicles including the BMW i3, set to be introduced at the end of 2013; and the BMW i8 (pictured) [.].

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BMW Electric Vehicles Vehicles 2013 54

Green Car Congress

JULY 9, 2012

Researchers at RWTH Aachen University describe the homogenously catalyzed hydrogenation of CO 2. to methanol using a homogeneous transition metal catalyst system based on a single ruthenium phosphine complex under relatively mild conditions in a paper published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. This is the first example of CO 2 hydrogenation to methanol by using a single molecularly defined catalyst.

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Hydrogen CO2 Carbon Conversion 246

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Dublin is about to get ‘Fully Charged’ with the opening of a one day conference this week, welcoming electric vehicle experts from Europe, the US and China. Opening this Wednesday (July 11, 2012) at the Convention Centre in Dublin, delegates will discuss how these regions are embracing the transition to electric transport and will share [.].

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Ireland International 2012 Europe 53

Green Car Reports

JULY 9, 2012

When anything is referred to as "not dead yet," it's usually dead--or very close. But despite the headline reference to a legendary Monty Python skit (NSFW), a recent post from Pike Research makes the case that hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles likely have at least a limited role to play in future green-car lineups. Real hurdles Given the current.

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Hydrogen Fuel Cars Green Cars 107

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Stop-start technology has provided a huge boost to the economy of many cars and has proven a vital tool in reducing urban air pollution and fuel bills-however consumers can sometimes find its function a little irritating and even unpredictable. But a new smoother start-stop system developed by Ford promises to iron out the niggles of [.].

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Fusion Ford Pollution Economy 51

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Japanese drivers are using less and less petroleum… thanks to the popularity of green cars: and that’s driving fuel prices down. According to reports in business daily The Nikkei, the average price for regular petrol in Japan is now Y139.8 per litre: that’s a drop for the thirteenth straight week and a 16month low for [.].

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Petrol Green Cars Green Japan 50

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Where we stand: July, 2012 Think Porsche and your mind will instantly conjure up images of slick sports cars like the world famous Porsche 911. However, in recent years even the ultimate performance car maker has tipped its hat towards the environment as pressures mount to meet tough new emission regulations. This month we take [.].

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Porsche Manufacturer 2012 Environment 49

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Swedish carmaker Volvo has had a long standing reputation for the safety of its vehicles – and now it is leading the way with a host of new developments designed to boost safety in modern traffic environments. Amazingly, Volvo has set a goal that in 2020 nobody will be killed or seriously injured using a [.].

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Volvo Environment 2020 Design 48

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Toyota has begun deliveries for its new Prius+ today. The seven-seater incarnation of the standard-setting hybrid is longer, taller and wider than a typical T3 Prius but still manages to offer competitive fuel consumption while preserving the eco-credentials the Prius has become famed for. The base T4 model arrives in UK showrooms as the first [.].

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Prius Toyota Sale Standards 48

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Truck driving across the continent is about to get a little bit greener as Daimler launches the Fuso Canter Eco Hybrid (pictured) in Europe. Last week we told you the vehicle was coming (see article) – and now production of the green truck is just starting with it to be introduced in the third quarter [.].

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Europe Hybrid Vehicles Green 43

Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Developing on-the-go charging systems for electric cars faces many challenges but researchers in Japan have overcome one major hurdle; successfully demonstrating how to pass an electric current through 10 centimetres of concrete. Scientists at the Toyohashi University of Technology, working on a project called Electric Vehicle on Electrified Roadway (EVER) used inductive charging to transmit [.].

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Green Cars News

JULY 9, 2012

Battery-swap company, Better Place has reached a significant milestone; logging one million kilometres from the electric vehicles using its charging infrastructure in Israel and Denmark. Launching a battery-swap system in Israel first allowed the country to become the first to try out a different approach to charging an electric car; instead of waiting for a [.].

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