Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

EPA has issued a notice of violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (collectively referred to here as Volkswagen). The NOV alleges that Volkswagen and Audi cars from model years 2009-2015 equipped with 2.0-liter, four-cylinder diesels include software (a “defeat device”) that circumvents EPA emissions standards for NO x.

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Green Car Reports

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

The announcement came out of the blue: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host a media call at 12 noon EST today, Friday, September 18, to make an announcement regarding a major automaker." When it was all over, German carmakers Volkswagen and Audi had been ordered to recall half a million of its popular TDI four-cylinder diesel.

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Electric Cars are for Girls

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Jeff U'Ren talks more about his Chevy Volt: ".luxury everything, heated leather seats, great air conditioning." Oh, and it's got its own phone, too.

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Volt 104

National Green Transportation

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

On Friday the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California's Air Resources Board (CARB) opened investigations into emissions testing cheating by the VW Group. Regulators discovered that certain four-cylinder diesel cars sold under.

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EPA Emissions Audi California 50

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding nearly $55 million for 24 projects to develop and deploy advanced vehicle technologies, supporting the Energy Department’s EV Everywhere Grand Challenge to make plug-in electric vehicles as affordable to own and operate as today’s gasoline-powered vehicles by 2022. Through the Advanced Vehicle Power Technology Alliance with the Energy Department, the Department of the Army is contributing an additional $2.26 million in co-funding to support projects

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Green Car Reports

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Arguably the most stunning car at this week's Frankfurt Motor Show was the Porsche Mission E, a low, sleek all-electric sport sedan that is likely to go into production within three or four years. It stole much of the limelight from the other all-electric debut, the Audi e-tron Quattro Concept, a lightly disguised version of what will become the.

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Porsche Audi Electric Cars Cars 131

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

In anticipation of increasing demand for start-stop systems, Johnson Controls is adding Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery production capacity. AGM battery technology is at this point the dominant start-stop energy storage technology. The market for new vehicle and aftermarket Start-Stop batteries could rise to 56 million worldwide by 2020, compared to 22 million today.

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2011 2020 Li-ion Batteries 250

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

Volkswagen Group took the top spot again as the world’s most sustainable automaker in RobecoSAM AG’s 2015 annual review of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). As in 2013, Volkswagen is thus one of only two automakers to be listed in both DJSI World and DJSI Europe. Launched in 1999, the DJSI World is the first global index to track the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide based on RobecoSAM’s analysis of financially material Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) facto

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Corporation 2015 Europe Global 248

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Electronic vehicle systems developer Hyperdrive Innovation Ltd and Li-sulfur battery developer OXIS Energy Ltd are working together on an Ultra-Low Temperature Battery (ULTB) project, supported by Innovate UK’s energy catalyst, to explore the feasibility of a high energy density battery chemistry with innovative packaging and control electronics that will be capable of operating in the Antarctic.

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Li-ion Lithium Sulfur Batteries Battery 232

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

If air pollution emissions continue to rise at the current rate, some 6.6 million people could prematurely die annually by 2050, double the current rate of 3.3 million people per year, according to a study carried out by a team led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz. The largest sources of air pollution are not industry and transport but small domestic fires and agriculture.

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Pollution Ozone Saudi Arabia Asia 220

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

The latest E-Mobility Index from Roland Berger and Forschungsgesellschaft Kraftfahrwesen mbH Aachen (fka) for the third quarter of 2015 finds that the market share of electric vehicles in the seven leading automotive nations—Germany, France, Italy, the USA, Japan, China and South Korea—remains stubbornly low. “ The major growth impetus that would anchor e-mobility in the seven leading automotive nations long term is still nowhere to be seen, ” the report states.

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Ford Motor Company is leading a €3.5-million (US$3.9-million) research project to investigate the use of alternative fuels that could offer customers the power and performance of modern internal combustion engines with environmental benefits comparable to an electric vehicle. The German government is co-funding the three-year project that will test the first cars to run on dimethyl ether (DME) ( earlier post ), commonly used as a non-toxic propellant in aerosol spray gas, and monooxymethylene et

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Ford Fuel Power Powered 216

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

Volkswagen reports that it is on track with its “Think Blue. Factory.” environmental program: since 2011, the consumption of resources in vehicle production has been reduced by an average of 24.3% ( Earlier post.) To achieve that, Volkswagen has successfully implemented more than 3,400 environmental measures and projects in production at its plants throughout the world.

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

EV Connect, a provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, announced the first “EV Charging-as-a-Service” or “EV CaaS”, to cut up-front costs and simplify the process for purchasing and installing EV charging station infrastructure by turning the purchase decision from a capital expenditure to an operating expense. In collaboration with GE and SparkFund, the EV CaaS program starts at $99 per month per charge station port (not including installation), which includes GE’s full line of Wat

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Connect Connected Charging Financing 214

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

Electrovaya, under New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) strategy, will design, build and deliver a 500 kW lithium-ion battery system to add energy resilience and efficiency to electric grid. The advanced Transportable Energy Storage System (TESS) is an adoption of Electrovaya’s standard stationary energy storage system.

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Grid New York Energy Storage Lithium Ion 214

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have discovered how nanoscale polymer films limit future cost reductions in fuel cell electric vehicles. Moving forward, this result will direct research and development efforts to address the problem of the electrolyte acid’s interaction with the platinum instead of focusing on the oxygen transport properties.

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

At Volkswagen AG’s Group Night preview Monday of what will come on Tuesday at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi unveiled its MLB-based e-tron quattro battery-electric vehicle ( earlier post ); Porsche rolled out the Mission E, its first battery-electric four-seat sports car which offers a 500 km (311 mile) range (and an 800V system); and Volkswagen introduced the new production MQB-based Tiguan, including a Tiguan GTE plug-in hybrid electric model concept.

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Concept Audi Porsche Plug-in 207

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

UK-based ITM Power signed an agreement with The Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) to deploy a Hydrogen Refueling Station (HRS) at the CEME site in Rainham, UK. ITM Power also just opened the first public access hydrogen refueling station, funded by InnovateUK, at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in South Yorkshire. The CEME campus is located on the A13—one of the main East London arterial roads between London City Airport and the M25—providing publicly accessi

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Toyota introduced a new C-HR Concept (its proportions place it between the B-SUV and C-SUV segments) at the 2015 Frankfurt motor show. The 2015 version follows on the first C-HR Concept, a 3-door concept introduced in 2014 at the Paris motor show. Featuring a 5-door cabin, this new design study is more closely representative of the compact crossover which is now confirmed for production; the final production model will be revealed at the Geneva show next year.

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Concept Toyota Hybrid 2015 203

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

IBM is introducing a new IBM Cloud-based service to help automakers turn driver and vehicle data into actionable insights for predictive vehicle maintenance, real-time diagnostics on engine trouble,and to guide drivers to the most efficient traffic routes. By 2020, 90% of new cars will be equipped with extensive connectivity services, according to some projections.

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Connect Connected Vehicles Insight 203

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Tenneco unveiled its latest generation of electronically controlled valves at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. The valves, which are designed to support low pressure exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) for diesel engines and acoustic tuning for gasoline engines, feature a new modular design which offers vehicle manufacturers custom flexibility and adaptability for any engine architecture.

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Exhaust Engine 2015 Design 203

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Nissan unveiled a new compact crossover concept, the Nissan Gripz Concept, at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Gripz Concept is a series-hybrid system in which a small efficient gasoline engine is used to power the electric motor found in the Nissan LEAF. Nissan calls the series-hybrid system “Pure Drive e-Power”. The powertrain combines Nissan’s various control technologies from its years of experience developing EVs.

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Offering ethanol made from algae for the first time commercially, Algenol Biotech LLC and Protec Fuel Management, LLC have entered into an agreement to market and distribute ethanol from Algenol’s Fort Myers, Fla., commercial demonstration module. The two will also offer Algenol’s future 18 million gallons per year from its commercial plant, which is planned for development in Central Florida in 2016 and 2017.

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Commercial Florida EPA Gasoline 199

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

Ford will be introducing the Euro-spec version of its Edge SUV at the IAA in Frankfurt this week. The large SUV will be offered in Europe with a choice of 180PS 2.0-liter TDCi diesel engine with six-speed manual transmission, or 210 PS bi-turbo 2.0‑liter TDCi diesel with six-speed PowerShift automatic transmission. Ford said both powertrains will deliver up to 40.6 mpg US (5.8 l/100 km) fuel efficiency and 149g/km CO 2 supported by Auto-Start-Stop technology.

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) recently signed a memorandum of understanding to partner to help US industry and businesses expand use of high performance computing (HPC). Scientific and engineering software applications capable of running on HPC platforms are a prime area of interest. The lack of highly scalable codes, especially commercial ones, presents a real barrier for companies, as is the integration of such codes into existing

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Industrial Industry Obama New York 197

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Drivers of Ford electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles ( Focus Electric, C-MAX Energi and Fusion Energi) can now access their battery charge status, unlock their doors and get a driving score from their last trip with the MyFord Mobile application for smartwatches. The app gives drivers the ability to quickly check important data like available range before leaving on a journey without having to access the mobile application on their smartphone The app can also notify users when their car is fully

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $22 million in funding for five projects aimed at merging wide-bandgap (WBG) technology with advancements for large-scale motors to increase energy efficiency in high-energy consuming industries, products and processes, such as the transportation of fossil fuels and industrial-scale compression systems. These projects, funded through the Next Generation Electric Machines funding opportunity, could cut energy waste by as much as 30%.

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Manufacturer Eaton Gas-Electric Electric 197

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

A team led by researchers from the National Research Council Canada has investigated the effect of the use of a gasoline particulate filter on the size and morphology of PM emitted from a light-duty gasoline-direct-injection (GDI) vehicle over the FTP-75 and US06 transient drive cycles. Using transmission-electron-microscope (TEM) image analysis, they compared PM from a 2012 Ford Focus powered by a 2.0-liter wall-guided GDI engine, operating under globally stoichiometric condition, to the result

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Gasoline Canada Light Engine 197

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

At the Frankfurt Motor Show, Samsung SDI is showcasing its EV battery business as well as its automobile material business and SDIBS (SDI Battery systems), and battery pack development business undertaken from Magna this past May. Samsung SDI is the only major global battery manufacturer participating in the show; Audi recently announced ( earlier post ) it would use Samsung SDI cells (as well as LG Chem cells) for the production version of its e-tron quattro electric SUV. ( Earlier post.).

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Li-ion Batteries Battery PHEV 197

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Mercedes-Benz unveiled the “Concept IAA” (Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile) at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The study switches automatically from a four-door coupé with a fascinating design to an aerodynamic world record breaker with a Cd figure of 0.19 when the vehicle reaches a speed of 80 km/h (50 mph), at which point numerous aerodynamics measures alter the shape of the vehicle.

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Automobile Industry Automobile Mercedes Concept 197

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

China-based automaker BAIC has opened its first overseas research and development center, the BAIC EV R&D Center in Silicon Valley, California. Beijing Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. (BAIC BJEV), a subsidiary of BAIC, is a developer of new energy vehicles in China. This new center, established in affiliation with the Beijing New Engineering Research Institute, has more than twenty employees in its current launch phase, and will be dedicated to the research and development of four to six models per y

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Professor Alireza Khaligh and and Professor Patrick McCluskey at the University of Maryland Energy Research Center have received a three-year Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) valued at $460K from the National Science Foundation. Their project, "Integrated On-Board Universal SiC-based Fast Charging for Plug-In Electric Vehicles centers on the design of an integrated, universal on-board fast charger compatible with all charging levels.

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Enevate Corporation, the developer of high energy density Li-ion batteries featuring a new Silicon-dominant composite anode material ( earlier post ) a technology leader in Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, has secured $30 million in extended Series-B funding. The funding was led by Infinite Potential Technologies, Tsing Capital and Mission Ventures with participation by Presidio Ventures—a Sumitomo Corporation company.

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Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

A 1 megawatt (MW)/2 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy system powered by LG Chem batteries has been commissioned for Southern Company and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) at a solar photovoltaic (PV) facility in the Southeastern region of the US. The battery energy storage system (BESS) is installed in the service territory of Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of Southern Company.

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