Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

Saft America Inc. has received a competitively bid, $6.13-million award from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC ( USABC ) in collaboration with the US Department of Energy (DOE) for 12-volt stop-start battery technology development. The contract includes a 50% cost-share by Saft. The 30-month contract will focus on the development and delivery of lithium-ion 12-volt modules for vehicle stop-start battery applications consistent with USABC goals based on Saft’s advanced lithium-ion

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Creative Greenius

AUGUST 21, 2015

Filed under: environment.

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Environment 163

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 31, 2015

One of the most contentious points in coverage of electric-car maker Tesla Motors is its financial performance. On the one side, analysts and naysayers note that the company continues to lose money. CEO Elon Musk himself has admitted that the company won't turn a profit using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) until 2020 or later.

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Electric Cars Building Tesla Motors Tesla 129

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

Lionano Inc. announced an agreement with Cornell University’s Center for Technology Licensing ( CTL ) for the development and production of an innovative drop-in anode material for use in lithium-ion batteries. The drop-in consists of a hollow structured metal oxide material that can substantially reduce the volumetric expansion of a conventional anode, according to the company.

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC)’s revamped 2016 Outlander PHEV, due to go on sale in Europe in September, will make its European debut at the 66 th International Motor Show (IAA) in several weeks. MMC will also show the rally version of the Outlander PHEV that will compete in the Baja Portalegre 500 cross-country rally as well as a display outlining a Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) electricity supply system that will be available for the new Outlander PHEV.

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PHEV Mitsubishi 2016 Motor 220

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

The latest addition to Scania’s engine range for marine applications incorporates proven common-rail XPI fuel-injection technology (earlier post) for improved fuel efficiency. The new V8 engine, based on the company’s 16.4-liter V8 for trucks ( earlier post ), is also the most powerful engine in the range, offering up to 1,150 hp (858 kW). While the new marine engine delivers an increase in power on the previous generation, the physical size of the complete installation has decreased, making it

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Mariner Engine Fuel Installation 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

Schlumberger and IBM today have teamed up to provide integrated services to upstream oil and gas customers that will improve the business impact of production operations projects. The offering combines Schlumberger’s production optimization services, upstream expertise, and Avocet production operations software platform with IBM’s enterprise asset management and enterprise services to deliver an end-to-end service for optimizing integrated production operations.

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Oil Gas Production Maintenance 203

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, recently delivered three hybrid shuttle carriers ordered by The Port of Virginia in late 2014 to Virginia International Gateway terminal (VIG) in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. Shuttle carriers are horizontal transportation system for shipping containers for terminals designed around automated stacking cranes (ASCs) or rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs).

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Virginia International Hybrid Mariner 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

The global biofuels industry averaged 68% in utilization rate from 2005 to 2014, reached a high of 80.9% in 2007, dropped to a low of 56.9% in 2012, and climbed slightly back to 60.4% in 2014. Despite the still apparent softness in capacity utilization, and the on-going softness in fossil fuel prices, global biofuels capacity will continue to grow from 55.1 billion gallons per year (BGY) to 61.4 BGY in 2018, according to a forecast by Lux Research.

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2018 Global Fuel 2014 218

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 30, 2015

Eni has made a world class supergiant gas discovery at its Zohr Prospect, in the deep waters of Egypt. The discovery could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place covering an area of about 100 square kilometers. Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea. At 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place, the field represents one of the world’s largest natural-gas finds, located in a permit where Eni holds a 100% of the Contractor’s wor

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Egypt Gas Water 2014 188

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 29, 2015

The University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) is working with FuelCell Energy, Inc., an integrated stationary fuel cell manufacturer, to develop a durable, low-cost, and high-performance electrochemical cell to convert natural gas and other methane-rich gas into methanol, a major chemical commodity with worldwide applications in the production of liquid fuels, solvents, resins, and polymers.

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Convert North Dakota Gas Fuel 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 29, 2015

The California Air Resources Board has awarded 2,000 Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Vouchers. Since its launch in 2010, the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) has provided more than $63 million to help California fleets statewide purchase more than 430 zero-emission trucks and buses and 1,800 hybrid trucks and buses.

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 28, 2015

At Young Brothers Ltd.’s Port of Honolulu facility, Sandia National Laboratories is leading the Maritime Hydrogen Fuel Cell project to test a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered generator as an alternative to conventional diesel generators. The project kickoff is being marked today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by US Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Young Brothers President Glenn Hong and Sandia California Vice President Marianne Walck.

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Honolulu Hydrogen Fuel Hawaii 197

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 28, 2015

Johnson Controls plans to build a new automotive battery manufacturing facility in the city of Shenyang in northeastern China as it continues to invest in the world’s largest new vehicle market. Johnson Controls has signed an investment agreement for a $200-million plant in Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning Province. The plant will have capacity to produce 6 million automotive batteries a year.

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China Building Batteries Battery 197

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 28, 2015

IBM and GENCI, the high performance computing agency in France, are collaborating to speed up the path to exascale computing ( earlier post )—the ability of a computing system to perform at least one exaflop, or a billion billion calculations, in one second. Currently the fastest systems in the world perform between ten and 33 petaflops, or ten to 33 million billion calculations per second—roughly one to three percent the speed of exascale.

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France 2007 Miles Automobile 197

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 28, 2015

In a 23-year experiment, a team from Lund University, Sweden, and the University of New Hampshire has determined that the common understanding of how organic material is decomposed by fungi and bacteria is fundamentally wrong. This means that climate models that include microorganisms to estimate future climate change must be reconsidered, they said.

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Climate New Hampshire Climate Change Universal 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 28, 2015

Commenting on Bosch’s newly revealed acquisition of Seeo, the Berkeley Lab spin-out developing solid-state Li-ion batteries ( earlier post ), Lux Research noted that the acquisition marks the first instance of a major automotive player outright acquiring a next-generation battery developer (although some OEMs, e.g., GM and Volkswagen Group, have already invested in advanced battery companies).

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Li-ion Buy Batteries Battery 209

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 28, 2015

European sales of the Yaris have grown continuously over the last four years, rising from some 144,000 units in 2011 to an anticipated 200,000+ in 2015. Over the same period, the Yaris has also increased its B-segment market share from 4.1% to an anticipated 6.6%. Toyota attributes much of this ongoing sales success to the introduction of the Yaris Hybrid in 2012 and its subsequent refresh in 2014. ( Earlier post.). 170,000 hybrid units have been sold since its European launch at the end of June

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Sale Toyota Hybrid 2015 197

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

Quartz today reported that Bosch has agreed to acquire Berkeley Lab solid-state Li-ion battery spinoff Seeo. Seeo’s cell design couples a solid lithium metal anode with a conventional porous lithium iron phosphate cathode and Seeo’s nanostructured solid polymer electrolyte (“DryLite”). The electrolyte is entirely solid-state with no flammable or volatile components.

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Li-ion Polymer Companies Buy 232

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

The new Opel Astra, which makes its debut in several weeks at the IAA in Frankfurt, will be up to 200 kg (441 lbs) lighter than its predecessor (120 kg / 265 lbs at a minimum). The next generation of the compact bestseller is based on an all-new lightweight architecture, with a slimmer body and all-aluminum engines. The Monza Concept presented at the 2013 IAA ( earlier post ) was the role model for Opel’s eleventh compact class generation.

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MPG Exhaust Engine Design 199

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

ZF TRW has won two major contracts with North American and European vehicle manufacturers for its second generation Safety Domain ECU (SDE 2)—a key building block and enabler of automated driving. The central controller will launch in Europe and the US starting in 2018. TRW introduced the SDE 2 at the Frankfurt IAA in 2013. The SDE acts as a central integration hub, processing millions of bytes of data from environmental sensors of the vehicle’s state and surroundings.

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Building 2013 2020 Manufacturer 207

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

After Optifuel Lab 2 ( earlier post ), the laboratory vehicle which brought together technological innovations designed to reduce long-distance trucks’ fuel consumption, Renault Trucks is extending its research to distribution vehicles. Renault Trucks and six partners—Valeo, Lamberet, Michelin, BeNomad, INSA de Lyon (LamCoS) and IFSTTAR (LICIT)—have launched the EDIT (Efficient Distribution Truck) project, which aims to reduce distribution vehicles’ fuel consumption by 13% compared w

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Fuel Vehicles 2018 2020 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

GM Flint Engine Operations recently built its 1 millionth 1.4-liter engine, currently used in the Chevrolet Volt, Cruze and Sonic. Flint Engine is now in the midst of a $200-million upgrade that will end the 1.4-liter engine production this week and begin production of the new Ecotec small gasoline engine—announced for the next gen Cruze and Volt—by year’s end.

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Volt Engine GM Chevrolet 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

^Volkswagen Group’s Czech brand ŠKODA will introduce its most efficient Superb model yet at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. The ŠKODA Superb GreenLine features a 1.6 TDI 120PS engine delivering 63.6 mpg US (3.7:/100 km) and emitting 96 g/km of CO 2 (Hatch) and 97g/km for the Estate. As with all other Superb models, the GreenLine is equipped with start-stop ignition and brake energy recovery as standard.

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MPG Exhaust Standards Convert 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

A new report produced by INRIX and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) shows that traffic congestion in the US has returned to pre-recession levels. Washington, D.C. tops the list of gridlock-plagued cities, with 82 hours of delay per commuter, followed by Los Angeles (80 hours), San Francisco (78 hours), New York (74 hours), and San Jose (67 hours).

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

In the most comprehensive analysis of electricity reliability trends in the United States, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Stanford University have found that, while, on average, the frequency of power outages has not changed in recent years, the total number of minutes customers are without power each year has been increasing over time.

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Power Powered Wind 2000 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

FEV is developing a water injection system for internal combustion engines using condensate from exhaust gases, the “Extended Direct Condensate Injection” system. The concept, as reported in a new paper in the International Journal of Engine Research , demonstrates a potential for efficiency increase of 3.3% – 3.8% in the region of the minimum specific fuel consumption on a stoichiometric combustion concept with Miller cycle and cooled external exhaust gas recirculation.

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Exhaust Water Fuel BMW 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award $10 million to eight incubator projects to develop innovative solutions for efficient and environmentally-friendly vehicle technologies that will help reduce petroleum use in the United States. Among the projects is a novel implementation of RCCI—Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition, usually investigated with two fuels ( earlier post )—using a single fuel with onboard fuel reformation.

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Lithium Sulfur Fuel Transportation Polymer 228

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

The UK Government announced that the current Plug-in Car Grant scheme will continue to offer motorists up to £5,000 (US$7,800) off the price of an electric car until at least February 2016 for all categories of vehicle, boosting further the plug-in car market. Previously the Government had announced that grant levels would be reviewed once 50,000 vehicles had been sold, a milestone expected to be reached in November this year.

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

European drivers are showing an increasing appetite for semi-autonomous driving technologies, according to a new Ford Motor Company study on buying trends in Europe. Ford Car Buying Trends 2015 , a study of new car buying habits in 22 countries across Europe, highlights regional trends and national differences. The study shows significant increases in the number of cars with technologies that help drivers to park, avoid collisions, and maintain set speeds and distances from vehicles ahead.

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Europe Buy Ford 2015 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

Uber has signed a partnership with the University of Arizona focused on research and development in the optics space for mapping and safety. The partners will work to improve the imagery captured and used to build out mapping and safety features. As part of this partnership, Uber is donating to U of A’s College of Optical Sciences. In addition, Tucson and the University of Arizona will be become the next site for Uber mapping test vehicles.

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

Verizon Telematics announced the commercial availability of hum, an aftermarket vehicle connectivity technology and subscription service. First announced in January at the North American International Auto Show as Verizon Vehicle, hum provides subscribers with a self-installed solution that helps predict potential issues, prevents breakdowns and offers protection when problems do arise.

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Connect Connected Market Vehicles 188

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

Automakers are investing billions of dollars to put connectivity technologies in their cars and light trucks that are not being used by many of the owners of those vehicles, according to the J.D. Power 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience (DrIVE) Report. The 2015 DrIVE Report measures driver experiences with in-vehicle technology features during the first 90 days of ownership.

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Power Powered 2015 Connect 203

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. will construct new compressed natural gas (CNG) stations for Arlington Transit (ART) in Arlington County, Virginia; Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) in Long Island, NY; and North Kansas City (MO) School District, which is set to become the largest school district in the US to transition its school bus fleet to CNG. The company also announced additional agreements across transportation market segments of transit, refuse, trucking and the bulk fuel market.

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