Wed.Apr 27, 2016

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SAE technical experts: fuel cell technology has advanced significantly, FC vehicle production has begun, further cost reductions & infrastructure development required

Green Car Congress

Wrapping up the track on the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure held at the 2016 SAE World Congress ( earlier post ), a panel of technical experts agreed that while significant progress has been made with the technology, and while the first generation of consumer-available fuel cell vehicles is now being sold in parts of the US, there are still challenges to overcome with respect to the cost of the technology and the build-out of a supporting hydrogen re

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Now, finally, the Germans are getting scared of Tesla?

Green Car Reports

When the Tesla Model S launched four years ago, the all-electric luxury sedan certainly had its critics. Many of them were executives at German luxury carmakers, quick to dismiss the upstart American carmaker as a quixotic but doomed effort. But as the Model S won plaudits, achieved respectable sales, and captured the public's imagination, that.

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Study: strong interactions with voice-guided vehicles result in more crashes

Green Car Congress

A recent study by researchers at Michigan State University, Eindhoven University of Technology, and Stanford University found that giving a car a more personal voice led to more car accidents. Rabindra Ratan, Young June Sah, Will Renius (Michigan State University), Dave Miller, Rob Semmens (Stanford University) and Frank Verberne (Eindhoven University of Technology) will present their findings in June at the 66 th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association in Fukuoka, Japan

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Germany announces $1.4 billion electric-car incentive plan

Green Car Reports

After much discussion, Germany appears poised to implement significant incentives to encourage the purchase of electric cars. This week, the German government announced an incentive program that will include rebates for both electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Lawmakers have committed 1.2 billion euros (about $1.4 billion) to the program. DON'T.

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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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JATO Dynamics: growth slowdown in Euro auto sales in March; SUVs still lead

Green Car Congress

March 2016 was another positive month for European new car registrations, ending a strong Q1 which saw sales of 3.93 million units, up by 8.1% over the first three months of 2015, according to JATO Dynamics. Although volumes grew at a slower rate (+5.6%) than recorded in February 2016 (+13.8%), positive results in 23 of the 29 markets analyzed meant growth continued.

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2016 Ram 1500 HFE EcoDiesel fuel-economy review: 24-mpg full-size pickup truck

Green Car Reports

It may not look like it, but the Ram full-size pickup you see here may be one of the more interesting new trucks on the road today. You might view it as this decade's version of the Camaros, Mustangs, and Mopars that emerged in earlier days from back-corner "skunkworks" engineering groups at each Detroit automaker. How so, you ask? This Ram isn't.

More Trending

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Even Saudi Arabia vows to end its 'addiction to oil'

Green Car Reports

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is now starting to contemplate a future in which gasoline and diesel now longer power the majority of the world's cars. Over the next decade and a half, it hopes to transition its economy away from oil, largely by investing today's oil revenues in other industries. It's part of a plan known as "Vision 2030" that Saudi Arabia.

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LLNL 3D-printed foam outperforms standard materials

Green Car Congress

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) material scientists have found that 3D-printed foam works better than standard cellular materials in terms of durability and long-term mechanical performance. Foams, also known as cellular solids, are an important class of materials with applications ranging from thermal insulation and shock-absorbing support cushions to lightweight structural and floatation components.

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VW e-Golf: Do its 3 modes do what electric-car drivers want?

Green Car Reports

Take any number of electric cars from different automakers for a brief test drive, and one thing will be abundantly clear: There’s not yet a norm for how EV powertrains are expected to behave. Some electric cars glide along when you lift off the accelerator, with little or no regenerative braking (as energy in deceleration is recovered.

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DLR presents HY4 4-passenger fuel cell hybrid electric aircraft at 2016 Hannover Messe

Green Car Congress

DLR is presenting the HY4—a four-seater passenger fuel cell hybrid electric aircraft prototype ( earlier post )— at the 2016 Hannover Messe, along with research and development partners Hydrogenics, Pipistrel, H2FLY, the University of Ulm and Stuttgart Airport. The HY4 is due to take off for its maiden flight in the summer of 2016. The HY4’s drive train consists of a hydrogen storage unit, a low-temperature hydrogen fuel cell and a high performance battery.

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

Brief

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2016 Ram EcoDiesel HFE, German electric-car incentives, VW e-Golf modes: Today's Car News

Green Car Reports

Today, we drive the 2016 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel HFE full-size pickup truck, and continue to delve into the features of our 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf long-term test car. Also, Germany finally unveils an electric-car incentive program after much discussion. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Is Model 3 mania finally making established German luxury.

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Volkswagen, a partner in SLAM fast charging project, shows “Golden Test Device” at Hannover Messe

Green Car Congress

Volkswagen is working with partners from industry and science on the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy’s SLAM research project (Schnellladenetz für Achsen und Metropolen, Fast charging network for road axes and metropolitan areas). The SLAM project has a total budget of €12.9 million (US$14.6 million) and will receive support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy to the extent of €8.7 million (US$9.8 million) by August 2017.

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Onboard Dynamics receives $3M from ARPA-E, others for innovative CNG refueling technology

Green Car Congress

Onboard Dynamics, Inc. ( ObDI ), an innovator in compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling, has received $3 million from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E), Portland Seed Fund, NW Natural and other utilities, and private investors. Onboard Dynamics is currently pursuing two compressed natural gas refueling solutions, based on novel technology for both on- and off-vehicle applications: A fully integrated onboard engine-compressor system.

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Volvo Cars to launch UK’s largest autonomous driving trial

Green Car Congress

Volvo Cars will begin the UK’s most ambitious autonomous driving (AD) trial next year. Volvo’s UK-based test will be called ‘Drive Me London’ and will differentiate itself from other AD programs by using real families driving AD cars on public roads. Volvo said it will source its data from these everyday users and use this data to develop AD cars that are more suitable for real world driving conditions.

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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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SwRI to showcase Ranger precision localization technology for automated driving; non-GPS system with 2cm precision

Green Car Congress

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) will showcase its award-winning Ranger precision localization solution at the AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2016 conference and trade show in New Orleans 2-5 May. Ranger is a patented approach to vehicle localization that enables precise navigation for automated vehicles using commercially available hardware in combination with SwRI algorithms.

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