Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

'In 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), classified diesel engine exhaust (DEE) as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). ( Earlier post.). Now, a study by researchers from the Netherlands, the US, and France estimates that approximately 6% of annual lung cancer deaths in the US and UK—combining both environmental and occupational exposures—may be due to DEE exposure.

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Exhaust Diesel Brazil 2000 353

Plugs and Cars

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'Friday November 22, 2013 Today I met a San Francisco cop. He wasn’t in uniform, so I figured he was another of those early adopter techie types buying EVs. We chatted while he finished charging his LEAF at the recently installed Quick Charger at the new Market Street Whole Foods in San Francisco. I''ll call him Officer Bill. Officer Bill has had his LEAF since February 2013, about 9 months.

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San Francisco Cheap Plug-in Plug 147

Green Car Reports

NOVEMBER 29, 2013

'The month wouldn''t be complete without another battery technology breakthrough, and this time it''s the turn of lithium-sulfur technology. Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are experimenting with a lithium-sulfur battery design with twice the specific energy of lithium-ion batteries, and a.

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Lithium Sulfur Lithium Ion Energy Batteries 155

Green Cars News

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'While most major carmakers are focusing on electrification, Mercedes-Benz - along with the likes of Honda, Hyundai and Toyota - has refused to throw in the towel on fuel cell technology: and now it has revealed the results of testing on its B-Class Fuel Cell fleet (pictured). As part of the EVS27 e[.].

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Mercedes Fuel Green Cars Honda 71

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'Ford Motor is recalling certain model year 2012-2014 Focus Electric vehicles manufactured from 15 September 15, 2011 through August 23, 2013. In the affected vehicles, a powertrain control module software fault may result in a sudden loss of motive power, increasing the risk of a crash. According to the defect information report Ford filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), approximately 2,456 vehicles in the US and federalized territories are potentially affected.

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Ford Electric Electrical 2013 352

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'While Hyundai, Toyota and Honda seized much attention over their presentations of fuel cell rollout plans (in the case of Hyundai) and concepts (in the case of Honda and Toyota) at the Los Angeles and Tokyo auto shows, Daimler used EVS27 in Barcelona as a forum to report on its 3.3 million kilometers (2 million miles) of experience with the Mercedes-Benz B-Class Fuel Cell fleet as well as the main technical targets envisioned for the next generation fuel cell electric car. ( Earlier post.).

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Mercedes Fuel Los Angeles Hydrogen 300

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 29, 2013

'Nissan reports a successful early field test of a system that will allow companies to regulate their electricity bills using the batteries of Nissan LEAFs used by their staff to commute to work. “Vehicle-To-Building” allows up to six Nissan LEAF EVs to be connected to a building’s power distribution board. Charging is phased during the day so at peak hours, when electricity is most expensive, the building draws power from the cars.

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Building Nissan Power Storage Supplies 277

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'Nissan Motor Corporation has carried out the first public road test of Autonomous Drive (AD) ( earlier post ) on a Japanese highway. A Nissan LEAF electric vehicle equipped with the technology took to the Sagami Expressway in Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, with the prefecture’s Governor, Yuji Kuroiwa, and Nissan Vice Chairman Toshiyuki Shiga, on board.

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Nissan Japan Grant Corporation 265

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

'The Lexus flagship 2014 LS sedan offers an Advanced Pre-Collision System (A-PCS) with collision avoidance assist designed to detect obstacles and bring the car to a full stop if needed. This system is designed to assist the driver in avoiding or mitigating collisions with vehicles and pedestrians under a wide range of city and highway speeds, by day or night.

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Lexus 2014 Light Design 261

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 29, 2013

'At the recent 43rd-Annual SPE (Society of Plastics Engineers) Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, Audi took the Powertrain category award for its turbocharged air duct applied on the A4 and A5 TDI and TFSI. Click to enlarge. The component, supplied by Röchling Automotive , combines the air-intake duct with charge air cooler and integrates both into the intake manifold, reducing air-intake loop volume by up to 50% (for better engine response) while also lowering package space 40% and part

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Audi Engine Parts International 259

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 23, 2013

'Fisker Automotive, Inc. and Fisker Automotive Holdings, Inc. (collectively, Fisker Automotive) have entered into an asset purchase agreement with Hybrid Tech Holdings, LLC (Hybrid) for the sale of substantially all Fisker assets. Hybrid is the lender under an approximately $170-million loan secured by first liens on substantially all of Fisker Automotive’s assets.

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Fisker Hybrid Karma Purchase 250

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'The Nikkei reports that Nippon Steel and ArcelorMittal will jointly acquire a ThyssenKrupp automotive steel sheet plant in Alabama for approximately ¥200 billion (US$1.95 billion). The acquisition, which would more than double the buyers’ combined production capacity in the US, would be Nippon Steel’s largest every outside of Japan. According to the report, the two partners will split the cost; specifics will be coming in early December.

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Alabama Auto Buy Brazil 246

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 23, 2013

'Volvo Group’s North American subsidiary, Nova Bus, and the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) have entered into an agreement on an electrification project for the public transit system of Montréal, Canada. The MoU formalizes the intention of testing three Nova LFSe electric buses and two charging stations in Montréal. The goal is to have the electric buses operational for demonstration in the third quarter of 2015 and in regular traffic for three years, beginning in 2016.

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Luxembourg Volvo Charging North America 246

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'Based on on-road measurements in their study, a team from the University of California Berkeley has estimated that, as of 2010, light-duty (LD) gasoline vehicles were responsible for 85% of CO; 18% of NO x ; 18% of organic aerosol (OA); and 6% of black carbon (BC) emissions from on-road motor vehicles in the United States. Correspondingly, the study, reported in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology , also concluded that, as of 2010, diesel engines were the dominant on-road source

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Gasoline Emissions Diesel San Francisco 239

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Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 23, 2013

'The new smart fortwo electric drive is now available to buy from dealerships in China. The smart brand celebrated this market launch at the Guangzhou Motor Show, where the all-electric city runabout was presented to the Chinese public. The new generation smart electric drive has been available in Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan since production began in 2012.

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China Sale Lithium Ion Russia 239

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 26, 2013

'Summary of significant emissions results from the fuel testing. Credit: ACS, Ratcliff et al. Click to enlarge. Results of a study led by a team from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on the impact of butanol-gasoline blends on light-duty vehicle emissions suggest that widespread deployment of n-butanol or i-butanol in the gasoline pool could result in changes to the estimated emissions of alcohols and carbonyls in the emissions inventory.

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Gasoline Alcohol Blend Light Emissions 236

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'The European Union’s climate innovation initiative, Climate-KIC , and the fourth largest city of China, Tianjin, have agreed to collaborate on the JiefangNan Rd New Meijiang pilot, a low-carbon city project. The agreement was signed in Beijing last week in the presence of China’s Premier Li Keqiang and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.

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China Carbon Climate Hungary 236

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'Honda Automóveis do Brasil Ltda. (HAB), the Honda automobile production and sales subsidiary in Brazil, has begun construction of its new automobile production plant in the city of Itirapina in the state of São Paulo (approximately 200 km (124 miles) northwest of the city of São Paulo). With an annual production capacity of 120,000 units, the new plant is scheduled to become operational in two years, in 2015.

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Brazil Automobile Honda Building 231

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment Melanie Schultz rode in the first highway test drive of an autonomous car in the Netherlands. TU Delft, TNO, RDW and Connekt are collaborating in the Dutch Automated Vehicle Initiative (DAVI). The demonstration involves automatic, cooperatively driven cars where a car drives at a short distance from the car in front, determining the speed itself by communicating with other cars on the road and with the driver not having his or her hands on th

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Netherlands Davis Vehicles 2014 231

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'The US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) will award up to $30 million to fund a new program focused on the development of transformational electrochemical technologies to enable low-cost distributed power generation. ARPA-E anticipates making approximately 12-18 awards under this FOA, with individual awards varying between $250,000 and $10 million. ( DE-FOA-0001026 ).

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Fuel Power Powered Gas-Electric 231

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 24, 2013

'GE Transportation announced the first sale of its new 12V250 Marine Diesel Engine that is designed to meet EPA Tier 4i and IMO Tier III Emissions standards. GE’s technology eliminates the need for a urea-based after-treatment emissions reduction system, providing more valuable cargo space, and reduces emissions by 50%. In addition, the 12V250 engine offers increased power of 3,150 kW (4,224 hp) at 900 rpm and 3,500 kW (4,694 hp) at 1000 rpm while maintaining low life-cycle cost, reliability and

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Mariner Transportation Diesel Engine 231

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 29, 2013

'Nissan and British Gas have launched the UK’s largest electric commercial vehicle pilot. British Gas is testing 28 Nissan e-NV200 vans ( earlier post ) throughout the winter to determine the future viability of battery-electric vehicle technology as part of its 13,000 home service vans fleet. The test is being run in collaboration with Hitachi Capital Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Gateshead College.

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Gas-Electric Nissan Commercial Gas 225

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

'Neste Oil is the first company to be awarded an RSPO-RED Supply Chain certificate under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) new, more demanding certification system. The certificate covers the production of NExBTL renewable diesel at Neste Oil’s refineries in Porvoo, Rotterdam, and Singapore. The RSPO’s new RSPO-RED overall certification system calculates greenhouse gas emissions released over the entire life cycle of a product, in line with the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED)

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Oil Renewable Diesel Production 225

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'Introducing plasma (ionized gas) to a combustion reaction can sustain combustion even in conditions that would otherwise snuff out the reaction: for example, at low air pressure, in high winds or when there’s low fuel. As such, low-temperature plasma-assisted combustion can potentially give an efficiency boost to high-performance aircraft. The technology could help military jets fly at high altitudes, passenger planes and unmanned drones cruise for long distances while conserving fuel, and supe

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Fuel 2013 Ohio Wind 225

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 26, 2013

'Using a new methodology, a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has concluded that anthropogenic emissions of methane from agriculture and fossil fuel extraction and processing (i.e., oil and/or natural gas) are likely significantly greater than cited in existing studies. The researchers quantitatively estimated the spatial distribution of anthropogenic methane sources in the United States by combining comprehensive atmospheric methane observations, extensiv

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EPA Emissions United States Colorado 225

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'Schematic of fuel use in driving. F w = fuel consumption due to mass-induced loads; F x = fuel cons. due to aerodynamic resistance and accessory power loads; F f = fuel cons. due to mechanical losses in the engine; F l = fuel cons. due to mechanical losses outside of the engine; F load = fuel cons. used to overcome vehicle loads; F loss = fuel cons. due to mechanical losses.

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Insight Fuel Ford Fuel Economy 225

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'The European Parliament (EP) and member state negotiators reached an informal agreement on new rules to achieve the 2020 CO 2 emission target of 95 g/km for new cars. Under the new agreement, which must be approved by both the European Parliament and Council to enter into force, 95% of new cars must meet the 95 g/km mandatory target by 2020, and 100% by 2021.

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CO2 2020 2012 Europe 220

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 26, 2013

'Minimum number of publicly-accessible recharging points for electric vehicles in each member state. Click to enlarge. EU member states would have to ensure that specified numbers of publicly-available electric vehicle recharging points and hydrogen and natural gas stations are built by 2020, under a draft directive endorsed by the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament on Tuesday.

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Alternative Fuels Transportation Fuel Recharge 220

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 29, 2013

'Iogen Corporation announced that Brazilian ethanol giant Raízen Energia Participações S/A has started construction of a commercial biomass-to-ethanol facility using Iogen Energy’s advanced cellulosic biofuel technology. (Iogen Energy is a joint venture between Raízen and Iogen Corporation. Earlier post.). The $100-million plant, to be located adjacent to Raízen’s Costa Pinto sugar cane mill in Piracicaba, São Paulo, will produce 40 million liters (10.6 million gallons US) of cellulosic ethanol

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Brazil Juice North America Commercial 218

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'American Honda Motor Co., Inc. announced that select Honda and Acura models including the 2013 -2014 Honda Accord and 2013 Acura RDX and ILX now offer Apple''s Siri Eyes Free mode as a dealer installed accessory. Customers can visit a Honda or Acura dealership to purchase and install Siri Eyes Free integration so compatible iPhone customers can direct Siri to perform tasks while they keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.

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Acura Honda Vehicles 2013 218

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 26, 2013

'Dutch research organization TNO is developing a Cooperative Automatic Emergency Braking system (CAEB) for cars and trucks to help prevent accidents with cyclists, especially at and near junctions. The system relies on vehicle-to-vehicle communication between bikes, cars and trucks. The system is based on TNO’s intelligent Vehicle Safety Platform (iVSP)—the same platform that enables automatic driving.

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Netherlands Connect Connected Installation 218

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

'The UK Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) have awarded £598,000 (US$980,000) to micro-bead hydrogen storage company Cella Energy ( earlier post ) and its partners MIRA, Coventry University and Productiv to develop a hydrogen generation system to extend the range of battery electric vehicles. The award is part of the Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform Integrated Delivery Programme 8 (IDP8) competition.

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Hydrogen Range Fuel Exhaust 210

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'The Venezuela Minister of Petroleum and President of the state-owned company PDVSA, Rafael Ramirez, and a delegation of Eni, composed of the members of the board of directors and led by the Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni and the President Giuseppe Recchi, inaugurated the first pipeline to evacuate oil from the Junin-5 field, located on the Orinoco oil belt.

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Venezuela Oil Gas Transportation 210

Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 26, 2013

'SEAT, a member of the Volkswagen Group, and Gas Natural Fenosa have signed a strategic agreement to develop and to promote the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the automotive field in Spain, in the coming years. The two-year agreement will include the incorporation of SEAT vehicles using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the GAS NATURAL FENOSA fleets, as well as the installing of CNG filling points at SEAT dealerships.

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Spain Gas Fleet Gas-Electric 210