Sat.Oct 24, 2015 - Fri.Oct 30, 2015

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Guest post: Honda Introduces the EV-Cub; two-wheel-drive electric motorcycle

Green Car Congress

by Alex Vanover. Honda isn’t a car company… it never really has been. When asked to define what kind of company Honda is, company representatives bill the multinational firm as an engineering company. It is a company that strives to engineer products in a variety of different sectors of the highest quality. And it is also an innovative company that looks for problems in the world and then engineers solutions to those problems.

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Tesla Model S Saves Woman, Child In Landslide

Green Car Reports

Carmakers like to talk enthusiastically about good crash-test results, but they can seem somewhat abstract compared to real-world crash damage. A car protecting its occupants in a crash can make a much bigger impression on them--or anyone who witnesses the destruction--than a thousand lines of ad copy. This Tesla Model S crash will likely be one.

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DuPont opening 30M gpy cellulosic ethanol facility in Iowa; largest in world

Green Car Congress

DuPont will officially open its cellulosic ethanol facility in Nevada, Iowa, on 30 October; the plant will be the largest cellulosic ethanol plant in the world. The US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) Director, Jonathan Male, alongside senior government officials, DuPont leaders and staff, and local farmers will attend the grand opening ceremony and plant tour.

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Renault-Nissan Alliance to provide 200 EVs for UN climate conference; expecting 400,000 km of travel

Green Car Congress

As the official passenger-car provider for the United Nation’s COP21 climate conference in Paris, the Renault-Nissan Alliance will provide 200 pure electric vehicles to the annual summit which runs this year from 30 Nov. to 11 Dec. The vehicles are expected to cover more than 400,000 km (249,000 miles) in total while shuttling delegates. More than 20,000 UN participants from 195 countries are expected to attend COP21.

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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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Toyota developing LPG hybrid taxi for Japan market

Green Car Congress

Toyota plans to launch a new taxi for the Japanese market before April 2018, and is currently working on developing an updated version of its JPN Taxi Concept, which made its global debut at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. The updated model will be shown at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show through a promotional video. The taxi will feature a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) hybrid system―currently under development―which is highly economical and offers excellent environmental performance optimized for taxi dri

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EV charging companies form new trade association

Green Car Congress

Leaders from the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, technology and services industry have formed the Electric Vehicle Charging Association ( EVCA ), a not-for-profit trade association created to advance the EV charging industry. EVCA concurrently released The State of the Charge , a report documenting the charging industry’s rapid growth in California and the significant economic opportunity it presents for the state.

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More Trending

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Mitsubishi eX concept crossover highlights design and electric vehicle technology directions

Green Car Congress

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) unveiled the Mitsubishi eX electric crossover concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. MMC intends the eX to showcase next-generation electric vehicle technologies, as well as a new take on the Dynamic Shield front design concept. The next-generation EV system employs a 45 kWh battery pack together with compact 70 kW electric motors, one on each axle, for a combined output of 140 kW.

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Nissan IDS Concept previews future of autonomous driving and EVs

Green Car Congress

At the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan Motor unveiled a concept vehicle that embodies Nissan’s vision of the future of autonomous driving and EVs: the Nissan IDS Concept. Nissan Intelligent Driving, Nissan’s concept of autonomous drive technology, integrates advanced vehicle control and safety technologies with artificial intelligence (AI) and represents what Nissan believes next-generation vehicles should be. “ Nissan Intelligent Driving improves a driver’s ability to see, think and react.

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Honda leverages older name for new FCV: Clarity Fuel Cell makes its debut at Tokyo; 435-mile range on JC08

Green Car Congress

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. unveiled the planned production model of its all-new fuel cell vehicle (FCV), called Clarity Fuel Cell, at the 44 th Tokyo Motor Show 2015. This model will be on display at the Honda booth during the show. The name honors its predecessor, the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, introduced at the LA Auto Show in 2007. ( Earlier post.).

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Vaporized Foil Actuator Welding technique from OSU uses 80% less energy and delivers bonds 50% stronger; joining dissimilar materials

Green Car Congress

Engineers at The Ohio State University have developed a new welding technique—Vaporized Foil Actuator Welding (VFAW)—that consumes 80% less energy than a common welding technique, yet creates bonds that are 50% stronger. The new technique could have a significant impact on the auto industry, which is poised to offer new cars which combine traditional heavy steel parts with lighter, alternative metals to reduce vehicle weight.

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

Brief

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Day Of Reckoning For US Shale Will Have To Wait

Green Car Congress

by Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. October has been billed as a pivotal month in which indebted shale companies would see their credit lines cut, precipitating a faster consolidation in the industry that would sow the seeds of a rebound. But banks appear to be taking a more lenient approach than expected. A new Jeffries report says that only $450 million in borrowing bases have been cut, across more than 20 companies.

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Volvo Cars tackles kangaroo safety research; highway-speed detection and avoidance

Green Car Congress

Volvo Cars is developing kangaroo detection technology to solve one of the most costly causes of traffic collisions in Australia. A team of Volvo Cars safety experts travelled to the Australian Capital Territory this week to film and study the roadside behavior of kangaroos in their natural habitat. The data Volvo Cars collects will be used to develop the first kangaroo detection and collision avoidance system.

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UMTRI preliminary analysis of autonomous vehicle safety

Green Car Congress

Researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) have performed a preliminary analysis of the cumulative on-road safety record of self-driving vehicles for three of the ten companies that are currently approved for such vehicle testing in California (Google, Delphi, and Audi). The analysis compared the safety record of these vehicles with the safety record of all conventional vehicles in the US for 2013 (adjusted for underreporting of crashes that do not involv

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Rotary redux: Mazda unveils rotary-powered RX-VISION concept

Green Car Congress

Mazda Motor Corporation unveiled the rotary-powered Mazda RX-VISION sports car concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. Although Mazda earlier put production of rotaries on hold, it continued R&D efforts in that area. The next rotary engine has been named SKYACTIV-R, expressing the company's determination to take on challenges with convention-defying aspirations and the latest technology, just as it did when developing SKAYCTIV TECHNOLOGY. ( Earlier post.).

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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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Qualcomm & Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team partner on racecar data sharing over 5 GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi; planned migration to 802.11ad (WiGig)

Green Car Congress

Qualcomm Incorporated through its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, have collaborated to enable the wireless download of racecar telemetry data via Wi-Fi using 5 GHz spectrum during Formula One practice sessions. This technology implementation marks a significant improvement over previous wired data offloading processes.

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VW reaffirms commitment to expand Chattanooga plant despite spending crackdown

Green Car Congress

The Volkswagen Group has reaffirmed its commitment to expanding its Chattanooga facility, where it plans on producing a newly developed midsize SUV for the US market, despite a Group crackdown on spending as the company prepares to deal with the impacts of resolving the diesel emissions scandal. As previously announced, the Group plans on a total investment of approximately $900 million in the production of a newly developed, seven-passenger SUV.

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Report: VW AG internal analysis puts cost of diesel emissions scandal at more than €30B

Green Car Congress

Germany’s Manager Magazin reports that Volkswagen AG’s internal analysis puts the cost of the diesel emissions scandal at more than €30 billion (US$33 billion). The unconfirmed report says that CEO Matthias Müller plans as far as possible to allocate the charges against the Volkswagen brand in an effort to keep other brands such as Audi and Porsche stable.

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Opinion: Stop Blaming OPEC For Low Prices

Green Car Congress

by Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. We are a little more than a month away from OPEC’s next meeting, which will be held in Vienna on December 4, 2015. OPEC altered the course of the oil markets last year when it decided to cast aside its traditional role of maintaining balance through production cuts. Instead it pursued a strategy of fighting for market share, contributing to an immediate rout in oil prices.

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Chairman of Volkswagen Group outlines next steps to realign the group

Green Car Congress

Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, has announced the five key steps to realign the Group following the eruption of the diesel emissions cheating scandal. Müller announced that the cornerstones of the Group’s new Strategy 2025—replacing the current Strategy 2018—will be presented next year.

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Mercedes-Benz Vision Tokyo concept fuel cell hybrid leverages F 015 Luxury in Motion concept

Green Car Congress

Mercedes-Benz introduced a new advanced design concept at the Tokyo Motor Show: the Vision Tokyo. The concept is powered by a fuel cell electric drive system based on the F-CELL PLUG-IN HYBRID of the self-driving F 015 Luxury in Motion concept introduced at CES in January. ( Earlier post.) The next combines the on-board generation of electricity with a particularly powerful and compact high-voltage battery that can be charged wirelessly via induction.

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Primus Green Energy and Jereh launch global collaboration on gas-to-liquids

Green Car Congress

Primus Green Energy Inc., a gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology and solutions company that transforms methane and other hydrocarbon gases into gasoline, methanol and diluent ( earlier post ), and Jereh, an international, integrated oil and gas company specializing in Oil and Gas EPC services, oilfield technology services and equipment manufacturing, have launched a global market collaboration.

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U Waterloo, GM R&D team develops new very high-performance silicon-sulfur-graphene electrode for Li-ion batteries

Green Car Congress

Researchers from the University of Waterloo and General Motors Global Research and Development Center have developed a new electrode material for Li-ion batteries that leverages the strong covalent interactions that occur between silicon, sulfur, defects and nitrogen. In an open-access paper in the journal Nature Communications , they report that. the new electrode material shows superior reversible capacity of ~1,033 mAh g −1 for 2,275 cycles at 2 A g −1.

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Volkswagen Group brings in new Head of Group Strategy from GM

Green Car Congress

The Volkswagen Group has appointed a former management consultant and GM executive as the new Head of Group Strategy. Dr. Thomas Sedran will assume the post with effect from 1 November and will report to the CEO, Matthias Müller. Sedran holds a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of Hohenheim and a Ph.D. from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.

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Technical review outlines challenges for both batteries and fuel cells as basis for electric vehicles

Green Car Congress

In an open-access invited review for the Journal of the Electrochemical Society , Dr. Oliver Gröger ( earlier post ), Volkswagen AG; Dr. Hubert A. Gasteiger, Chair of Technical Electrochemistry, Technische Universität München; and Dr. Jens-Peter Suchsland, SolviCore GmbH, delve into the technological barriers for all-electric vehicles—battery-electric or PEM fuel cell vehicles.

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US Departments of Agriculture, Energy partner to award $4.9M for bioenergy research

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) are partnering to award nearly $5 million in grants to scientists to study the use of plants to further bioenergy development. The $4.9 million in research grants is awarded under a joint DOE-USDA program that began in 2006; DOE is providing $2.9 million in funding over 3 years, while USDA will award $2 million over 3 years.

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USDA: $210M to be invested in renewable fuel pump infrastructure through the Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is partnering with 21 states through the Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) nearly to double the number of fueling pumps nationwide that supply renewable fuels to American motorists. In May 2015, USDA announced the availability of $100 million in grants through the BIP, and that to apply states and private partners match the federal funding by a 1:1 ratio.

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Honda opens CNG fueling station on Troy, Ohio campus; 2nd public CNG station in N America

Green Car Congress

Honda opened a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station on its property in Troy, Ohio. The CNG station, which was designed, constructed and will be operated by Trillium CNG, is the second public CNG station located on a Honda property in North America, following one opened at Honda of America Mfg. in Marysville, Ohio in August. ( Earlier post.).

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US/Indonesia agreement on sustainable air transportation and aviation alternative fuels

Green Car Congress

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recently signed an agreement to promote developing and using sustainable, alternative aviation fuels and additional environmental collaboration between the two nations. FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker said that the MOU’s primary focus areas are research and development of alternative aviation fuels; energy conservation; environmental protection and sustainable aviation growth; critical

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Panda Power finances conversion of retired coal plant to natural gas; one of largest power conversion projects in US

Green Car Congress

Panda Power Funds has financed the 1,124 megawatt Panda “Hummel Station” power plant—one of the largest coal-to-natural gas power conversion projects in the United States. The plant will be located at the site of the retired Sunbury coal-fired power plant near Shamokin Dam in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. The 400 MW, 65-year old plant was shuttered in 2014 in response to low natural gas prices and the onset of strict environmental regulations promulgated by the Obama Administration.

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BASF and Volkswagen present 4th Science Award Electrochemistry to Dr. Bryan McCloskey at UC Berkeley for Li-O2 battery work

Green Car Congress

The fourth international “ Science Award Electrochemistry ” from BASF and Volkswagen ( earlier post ) was awarded to Dr. Bryan McCloskey, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. The jury of representatives from BASF, Volkswagen and from academia selected Dr. McCloskey for his outstanding research results in the area of lithium-oxygen batteries.

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Lexus reveals all-wheel drive hydrogen fuel cell LF-FC flagship concept

Green Car Congress

Lexus revealed the LF-FC flagship concept, an all-wheel-drive hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, at the Tokyo Motor Show. This marks the Lexus brand’s first foray into fuel cell technologies. The high-output fuel cell power system energizes the rear wheels, and also sends power to two in-wheel motors in the front. This innovative drive system allows precise torque distribution control between the front and rear wheels, giving the full-size sedan exceptional dynamic handling and superior road stability.

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Enevate announces ultrafast charging feature for its silicon Li-ion batteries

Green Car Congress

Enevate Corporation, developer of a silicon-dominant composite anode material and high energy density batteries ( earlier post ), announced ultrafast charging for their batteries with HD-Energy Technology. Enevate’s ultrafast charging feature has been demonstrated to provide a 90% charge in 15 minutes (4C charge rate) while increasing energy, capacity and performance when compared to today’s conventional Li-ion batteries.

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Mercedes-Benz fuel cell vehicles drive from LA to Northern California using only public hydrogen stations

Green Car Congress

Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL customers ventured beyond Southern California last week for the first time, while only filling up at existing public hydrogen stations along the route from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The opening of a new hydrogen station in Coalinga along the I-5 corridor made this opportunity possible. A team driving five B-Class F-CELL refilled at four permanent hydrogen fueling stations located in Burbank, Coalinga, West Sacramento and Emeryville, accumulating nearly 1,000 mile

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Ballard announces $5M strategic investment from Nisshinbo

Green Car Congress

Ballard Power Systems announced that Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. will make a $5-million strategic equity investment in Ballard. The investment will be made through a subscription and purchase of 3,322,479 common shares issued from treasury at a price per share of US$1.5049 (based on a 10-day volume weighted average price calculation). Ballard intends to use the proceeds from the financing for general corporate purposes, including potentially funding of future acquisitions or investments in complemen

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