Sat.May 30, 2015 - Fri.Jun 05, 2015

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Volkswagen Group and SAIC to produce EVs and PHEVs in China

Green Car Congress

The Volkswagen Group and SAIC Motor Corporation Ltd, Volkswagen’s original joint venture partner in China, have agreed to expand the main plant of their joint venture Shanghai Volkswagen (SVW) in Anting to support the local production of electric vehicles. Full localization of the Volkswagen Group’s electric vehicles in China will be gradually implemented.

China 258
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Tesla Model S, Three Years Later: What Electric Car Taught Us

Green Car Reports

Three years ago today, the very first production Tesla Model S electric luxury sedan was delivered to its buyer. That would be Silicon Valley venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, who's also a Tesla board member. The delivery took place, on a weekend, as soon as the Model S had been fully certified for sale by all relevant U.S. government agencies.

Tesla 131
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Harvard SPH large-scale study links PM2.5 levels below EPA standards with higher death rates

Green Car Congress

A new study by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that death rates among people over 65 are higher in zip codes with more fine particulate air pollution (PM 2.5 ) than in those with lower levels of PM 2.5. It is the first study to examine the effect of soot particles in the air in the entire population of a region, including rural areas.

EPA 254
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Advanced Microgrid Solutions picks Tesla for stationary energy storage projects; up to 500 MWh total

Green Car Congress

Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) has selected Tesla as the primary technology provider for its utility-scale energy storage projects. Under the agreement, AMS will install up to 500 MWh of Tesla batteries in its energy storage projects. AMS has also signed a master agreement with global firm Black & Veatch for engineering and construction services.

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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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DARPA program integrates non-mechanical optical scanning tech on microchip; new class of low-cost, miniature LIDAR could support autonomous vehicle apps

Green Car Congress

DARPA’s Short-range Wide-field-of-view Extremely agile Electronically steered Photonic EmitteR ( SWEEPER ) program has successfully integrated breakthrough non-mechanical optical scanning technology onto a microchip. Freed from the traditional scanning architecture of gimbaled mounts, lenses and servos, SWEEPER technology has demonstrated that it can sweep a laser back and forth more than 100,000 times per second, 10,000 times faster than current state-of-the-art mechanical systems.

Low Cost 232
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Skeleton Technologies raises €9.8 million; ramping up production of graphene-based ultracapacitors

Green Car Congress

Ultracapacitor company Skeleton Technologies ( earlier post ) closed Series B financing of €9.8 million ($10.7 million) from a consortium led by a strategic investor in the electrical equipment sector, Harju Elekter Group, which owns electrical equipment manufacturing plants in the Nordic-Baltic markets, and UP Invest, one of largest investment firms in the Baltic region.

Estonia 228

More Trending

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Gevo’s cellulosic alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel to be used in NARA test flight; “wood-to-wing”

Green Car Congress

Gevo, Inc. announced a development in its fermentation technology that will allow it to produce isobutanol from cellulosic feedstocks such as wood waste; the isobutanol can then be converted into Gevo’s alcohol-to-jet fuel. In 2011, the company was awarded $5 million from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the development of biojet fuel from woody biomass and forest product residues. ( Earlier post.).

Fuel 220
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Toyota to explore integration of SmartDeviceLink Technology with Ford subsidiary; open source version of Ford AppLink

Green Car Congress

Toyota Motor Corporation has reached an agreement with Ford Motor Company to explore collaboration with Livio, a Ford subsidiary acquired in 2013 ( earlier post ), for the implementation of SmartDeviceLink (SDL) technology in future Toyota and Lexus vehicles. SDL is an open source version of Ford AppLink, created to facilitate smartphone applications including entertainment, traffic, parking and other data from the internet for use in in-car infotainment systems.

Ford 220
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UMTRI: Average new-vehicle fuel economy in US in May up 0.3 mpg from April

Green Car Congress

The average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the US in May was 25.5 mpg (9.22 l/100 km)—up 0.3 mpg from April—according to the latest monthly report from Dr. Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). They suggested the improvement likely reflects the increased price of gasoline in May.

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US$7.5M JOSPEL project to develop energy efficient climate control for EVs; leveraging Joule and Peltier effects

Green Car Congress

A trans-European collaboration aims to develop a novel energy efficient climate control system to help reduce the energy used for passenger comfort in electric vehicles by at least 50%. Even in today’s modern electric vehicles, a lot of energy is wasted on heating or cooling, in turn limiting the already relatively short range by further draining the battery capacity.

Climate 214
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Faurecia and Accenture partner on products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles

Brief

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US DOT releases summary of vehicle-to-pedestrian technologies; 86 V2P technologies ID’d far

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has released a summary of available vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) technologies. The objective of the technical scan was to review available literature and to scan existing technology to identify pedestrian collision warning applications and assess their suitability to be adopted under the Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) Connected Vehicle Program.

Vehicles 209
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Scania to test electrically powered trucks on “electric road” under real-life conditions

Green Car Congress

In February 2016, Scania will start testing electric trucks on the electric road which will become a reality as the Swedish Transport Administration has now approved support for the Gävle Electric Road project. The project will demonstrate and evaluate conductive technology, which involves electrical transmission through overhead lines above vehicles equipped with a pantograph power collector.

Power 209
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Toshiba to supply 40MW-40MWh Li-ion storage system to Tohuku Electric Power

Green Car Congress

Toshiba Corporation will supply a large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) to Tohoku Electric Power Company’s “Minami-Soma Substation Project to Verify the Improvement of Supply-demand Balance With Large-capacity Power Storage Systems″. Toshiba will supply a 40MW-40MWh lithium-ion BESS, Japan’s largest to date, integrating an array of SCiB lithium-ion batteries.

Li-ion 209
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Study finds 3D printing of metal parts could reduce an airplane’s weight by 4-7%; fuel, CO2 and metal savings

Green Car Congress

Using additive manufacturing (3D printing) to produce aircraft’s metal parts could save a significant amount of fuel, materials and other resources, according to a new study by researchers from Northwestern University, Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, and the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Manufacturing Office. Among the findings of the study: Estimated fleet-wide life-cycle primary energy savings at most reach 70-173 million GJ/year in 2050, with cumulative savings of 1.2–2.

Parts 209
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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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1st major utility proposal for EV charging infrastructure presented to CPUC

Green Car Congress

A diverse set of public interest groups, automakers, labor unions, and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) submitted a proposed settlement to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to accelerate the deployment of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging stations that would support the utility grid in San Diego. The application is California’s first utility pilot proposal to help develop charging infrastructure, and, through pricing that allows for customer-managed charging, to manage transpo

San Diego 207
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Researchers synthesize magnetic nanoparticles that could offer alternative to rare earth magnets

Green Car Congress

A team of scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University has synthesized a powerful new magnetic material that could reduce the dependence of the United States and other nations on rare earth elements produced by China. The team’s findings will appear in an open-access paper in Applied Physics Letters. The new material consists of nanoparticles containing iron, cobalt and carbon atoms with a magnetic domain size of roughly 5 nanometers.

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A123 Systems to invest additional $200+ M to double Li-ion manufacturing capacity; current facilities running at full utilization

Green Car Congress

A123 Systems LLC, a developer and manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batteries and systems, plans to double global manufacturing capacity to 1.5 GWh within the next 3 years. The company operates manufacturing hubs in the state of Michigan; Hangzhou, China; and Changzhou, China. All three are now operating at capacity due to considerable growth in demand.

Li-ion 207
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Linde and OMV open new hydrogen fueling station in Innsbruck

Green Car Congress

Technology company The Linde Group and OMV today officially opened a new hydrogen fueling station in Innsbruck. The. H 2 station with the capacity to fuel six vehicles per hour is located on one of Europe’s key transit routes and will make the journey from Germany to Italy feasible for fuel-cell vehicles. Austria’s second public hydrogen fueling station bridges the existing H 2 hubs in Munich and Bolzano.

Hydrogen 203
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HPA and NXP unveil V2X intelligent traffic light for Port of Hamburg

Green Car Congress

The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) and NXP Semiconductors jointly unveiled the first intelligent traffic light for the port of Hamburg. The smartPORT Traffic Light optimizes the flow of truck traffic and guides drivers through the increasingly heavily used port more quickly and safely. The smartPORT Traffic Light was realized by the HPA in conjunction with its partners NXP, Siemens, Heusch/Boesefeldt, and Hamburg Verkehrsanlagen.

Light 203
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Toyota Research team reports significant advance in electrolytes for high-energy Mg batteries

Green Car Congress

A team at Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA) reports a critical advance in the the development of electrolytes for magnesium (Mg) batteries in the journal Angewandte Chemie. The researchers, led by Dr. Rana Mohtadi, Principal Scientist at TRINA, developed an electrolyte based on a simple-type magnesium monocarborane salt (MMC) that is compatible with Mg metal (> 99 % coulombic efficiency); possesses high anodic stability (3.8 V vs.

Li-ion 200
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California ARB staff posts revised models for determining direct lifecycle emissions of fuels

Green Car Congress

California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff have posted version 2.0 of the California-Modified Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (CA-GREET) Tier 1 and Tier 2 models. In 2009, ARB approved the original LCFS regulation order. That order designated CA-GREET, version 1.8b, as the model to be used for estimating direct life cycle emissions from the production, transport, and use of transportation fuels.

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UT Austin team achieves best reported full-cell hybrid Li-air battery cycling with new ordered catalyst

Green Car Congress

Cycling performance of the hybrid Li− air batteries with (top) ordered Pd 3 Fe/C air electrode and (bottom) conventional Pt/C air electrode. Credit: ACS, Cui et al. Click to enlarge. A team from the University of Texas at Austin led by Professor John Goodenough has achieved significantly enhanced activity and durability for the oxygen reduction reaction under alkaline conditions in a hybrid Li-Air battery using a new ordered Pd 3 Fe/C catalyst.

Austin 197
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Ford making FlexFuel system standard on Transit Connect van

Green Car Congress

Among the changes Ford is implementing for its 2016 Ford Transit range, the flexible-fuel vehicle system will be standard equipment on 2016 Transit Connect vans with 2.5-liter I-4 engines destined for non-California emissions states. Flex-fuel Transit Connect vans are engineered to run on E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline), unleaded gasoline or any blend of the two.

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Stanford team develops new ultrahigh surface area 3D porous graphitic carbon material for improved energy storage

Green Car Congress

Stanford University scientists have created a new ultrahigh surface area three-dimensional porous graphitic carbon material that significantly boosts the performance of energy-storage technologies. Their results are presented in an open access paper published in the journal ACS Central Science. The multivalent cross-linker and rigid conjugated framework help to maintain micro- and mesoporous structures, while promoting graphitization during carbonization and chemical activation.

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Reduced graphene oxide separator improves performance of Li-sulfur battery

Green Car Congress

Researchers in have shown that a lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery with a reduced graphen oxide (rGO) -coated separator exhibits much smaller impedance and much better electrochemical performance than cells with an uncoated separator. After coating with rGO, the initial discharge capacity can be as large as 1067 mAh g −1 at 0.2 C; the cell can retain 878 mAh g −1 after 100 cycles; and the discharge capacity can reach 710 mAh g −1 even at 2 C.

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Voith receives order for high-volume production of CFRP components for future Audi model

Green Car Congress

Audi AG has placed an order with Voith for the high-volume production of a CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) component for a future Audi model. Voith and Audi will jointly prepare the manufacturing ramp-up for the CFRP component. The order is one more important step in developing the industrialization of composite production. Voith founded Voith Composites GmbH & Co.

Audi 195
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Automotive Grade Linux delivers first open in-vehicle infotainment software requirements specification

Green Car Congress

Automotive Grade Linux ( AGL ), a collaborative open source project developing a common, Linux-based software stack for the connected car, announced availability of the AGL Requirements Specification 1.0. It’s the industry’s first open in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) software specification that allows automakers and suppliers to collaborate directly with AGL’s global community of developers and advance the creation of a de facto reference platform for the connected car.

Vehicles 190
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Retrofit of ship with Caterpillar diesel-electric twin fin system yields 30% gain in fuel efficiency

Green Car Congress

Caterpillar’s twin fin diesel-electric marine propulsion system, introduced in 2014 and first retrofit to the Polarcus Naila , a seismic vessel, has resulted in a 30% gain in fuel efficiency and an 84% performance improvement in bollard pull thrust during seismic conditions for the vessel, with no reported reliability problems, according to Cat’s 2014 Sustainability Report.

Diesel 190
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Ballard to operate and support hydrogen fuel cell bus fleet in London for 5 more years

Green Car Congress

Ballard Power Systems signed an agreement with Transport for London (TfL) to extend the operation of eight hydrogen fuel cell buses in London for five more years. TfL first began operation of the first five fuel cell buses in 2010 as part of its publicly stated goal to reduce CO 2 emissions 60% from the 1990 level, by 2025. Three additional zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell buses joined the fleet in 2013.

London 188
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Ricardo supporting Detroit Materials in commercialization of innovative lightweight steels

Green Car Congress

Ricardo Strategic Consulting, the global management consulting subsidiary of Ricardo plc, is providing support to start-up Detroit Materials (DM) for strategy and supply chain development to assist in the commercialization of its ultra-high performance structural materials into the automotive, truck and transportation sectors in support of structural lightweighting initiatives.

Detroit 188
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BMW, INRIX developing on-street parking prediction system

Green Car Congress

The BMW Group is working on a parking prediction system designed to shorten the search for vacant on-street parking, particularly in cities. Together with its partner INRIX, a leading provider of transportation intelligence and connected car services, BMW is presenting a research prototype of the Dynamic Parking Prediction application at TU-Automotive Detroit.

BMW 188
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Cat 336F L XE hybrid excavator delivers up to 20% fuel savings

Green Car Congress

The Cat 336F L XE Hybrid excavator features an integrated design that conserves fuel, optimizes performance, and captures and reuses energy. The machine delivers an estimated fuel savings of up to 20% compared with its standard 336 counterpart with no compromise in performance and no added maintenance costs. In addition, the new Cat Production Measurement system adds even more value by enabling operators to load trucks with just the right weight while allowing managers to remotely monitor the ma

Hybrid 188
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IAD testing demonstrates benefits of PowerGenix NiZn Battery for stop-start and auxiliary EV applications

Green Car Congress

PowerGenix, the supplier of high performance, automotive Nickel-Zinc (NiZn) batteries ( earlier post ), has completed a comprehensive product evaluation test plan with Institute of Automotive Mechatronics GmbH (IAM), a part of the Institute of Automotive Technologies Dresden (IAD), at the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD). IAD evaluated NiZn performance capabilities to meet all the requirements of a 12V auxiliary power unit for plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) and all-electric vehicles (EVs), a

Lead Acid 188
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Juniper Research: connected cars to represent 20% of the global car market by 2019

Green Car Congress

Juniper Research. href="https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/connected-cars-to-represent-20-of-the-global-car-market-by-2019-predicts-juniper-research-505799631.html">forecasts that the telematics sector will continue to outperform all other M2M (machine-to-machine) markets over the next five years, in revenue terms, with one in five passenger vehicles connected globally by 2019.

2019 188