Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
As part of the Joint Venture between Dongfeng and Renault—Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC)—DRAC will produce an electric vehicle that is based on the Fluence Z.E. The electric car will be produced at the Wuhan plant in 2017 and will be commercialized under a local Dongfeng brand for the Chinese market only. Fluence Z.E. Click to enlarge.
Green Car Reports
SEPTEMBER 26, 2015
The bad news for Volkswagen just keeps on coming. In the last week, the company has fired much of its upper management, eradicated all mention of its TDI diesels from its U.S. website, and admitted that 11 diesel million vehicles have software that enabled them to pass emission tests whle emitting 10 to 35 times the permissible U.S. levels of.
National Green Transportation
OCTOBER 1, 2015
On Thursday, GM announced plans at an investors conference which add up to an autonomously driving robotaxi service which will be owned and operated by General Motors sometime in the future. At the moment the company is launching several.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 2, 2015
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) announced a grant solicitation for Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Pilot Commercial Deployment Projects. Up to $23,658,000 is available for this project from FY 2014-15 funds. Up to an additional $60,000,000 may be available for projects under this solicitation from future funds appropriated by the California legislature on or before 30 June 2016.
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Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Emission measurements conducted by Institute of Transport Economics in Norway, in collaboration with VTT in Finland, show that new Euro 6 cars with diesel engines are struggling with NO x emissions well in excess of regulatory type limits when in real traffic. Since 2011, TØI and VTT have conducted emission measurements of 12 heavy vehicles with Euro VI engines, and seven Euro 6 diesel cars.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
Reflecting on the implications of the still evolving Volkswagen emissions testing scandal (“ a vehicle emissions scandal of unprecedented proportions ”), analysts at Lux Research suggest that one outcome of the crisis could be an aggressive push by Volkswagen to accelerate the push towards plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. VW was slowly moving beyond conventional gasoline and diesel engines anyway, Lux noted, with plans of putting out 20 more plug-in vehicles by 2020 ( earlier post )—
EV Driven brings together the best content on electric vehicles from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Eleven European and North American governments are the founding partners of the International ZEV Alliance, which has the mission of accelerating global adoption of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont in the United States; Québec in Canada; and The Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom in Europe are the founding members.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 26, 2015
Under a newly signed long-term license and supply agreement, Ballard Power Systems will supply Guangdong Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology Co., Ltd., an existing partner in China, fuel cell power products and technology in support of the planned deployment of approximately 300 fuel cell-powered buses in the cities of Foshan and Yunfu, China. The deal has an estimated initial value of $17 million through 2016, with the opportunity for significant recurring royalties starting in 2017.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 2, 2015
In a statement issued following its meeting on 30 September the Executive Committee of Volkswagen AG’s Supervisory Board said that it has concluded that the completion of investigations into the emissions testing scandal will take at least several months. For this reason, the Executive Committee will propose to the Supervisory Board that the Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for 9 November should not be held.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 1, 2015
Idaho National Laboratory has released the voluminous findings from its analysis of five large-scale PEV and charging infrastructure projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Collectively, these projects represent the largest-ever deployment, data collection and analysis, and reporting of PEV and charging infrastructure petroleum reduction benefits.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 2, 2015
As part of its ongoing investigation into Volkswagen’s emissions issues, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, 8 October. The hearing is entitled, “Volkswagen’s Emissions Cheating Allegations: Initial Questions.”. Volkswagen Group of America President and CEO Michael Horn and the Environmental Protection Agency are scheduled to testify as the subcommittee investigate
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
By employing proprietary pretreatment and processing, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Drexel University have produced flexible polymer carbon composite films from scrap tires for use as electrodes for supercapacitors. The first synthesized highly porous carbon (1625 m 2 g −1 ) using waste tires as the precursor. The narrow pore-size distribution and high surface area led to good charge storage capacity, especially when used as a three-dimensional nanoscaffold to polymerize poly
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
Schaeffler has been testing and demonstrating the performance capabilities of 48 volt hybridization in a range of concept vehicles including the“Gasoline Technology Car” (GTC), co-developed with Ford and Continental and the “Schaeffler Efficient Future Mobility North America” vehicle, as launched at the 2015 Detroit Motor Show (NAIAS) ( earlier post ).
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 26, 2015
A city with half a million inhabitants would save about SEK 100 million (US$12 million) per year if the city’s buses ran on electricity instead of diesel, according to an analysis conducted in collaboration between the Volvo Group and the audit and advisory firm KPMG. The analysis has taken into consideration such factors as noise, travel time, emissions, energy use, taxes and the use of natural resources.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Volkswagen AG announced that it will retrofit the some 11 million vehicles equipped with the 2.0-liter EA 189 Euro 5 diesel tainted by the software emissions defeat device. ( Earlier post.) New vehicles with EU6 engines currently available are not affected by the cheat, Volkswagen said. The scope of the retrofit is not yet clear—e.g., software only, or software and new hardware—but Volkswagen and the other Group brands whose vehicles are affected will present the technical solutions
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 1, 2015
In an effort to help develop a sustainable domestic supply of rare earth elements and lessen US dependence on China for materials that are vital to the production of electronics, wind turbines, and many other technologies, two researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have developed a method of extracting rare earths from the drive units and motors of discarded electric and hybrid cars.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
By the end of 2015, Toyota will make a new ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) safety package available on three models in Japan. The package, named ITS Connect, uses Japan’s standardized ITS frequency of 760 MHz to receive and share data transmitted by external infrastructure and other vehicles. Equipping ITS on these three models will make Toyota the world’s first automaker to bring a driver assist function that uses a dedicated ITS frequency to market.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
Ballard Power Systems has signed a joint development agreement and a supply agreement to develop and commercialize a fuel cell module specifically designed for integration into low floor trams manufactured by CRRC Qingdao Sifang Company, Ltd. (CRRC Sifang), a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer. The agreements include 2016 delivery of 10 customized FCvelocity modules and the agreements have an initial value expected to be approximately $6 million.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
The Board of Directors of Alcoa has unanimously approved a plan to split the lightweight metals leader into two independent, publicly-traded companies. The globally competitive Upstream Company will comprise five business units that today make up Global Primary Products: Bauxite, Alumina, Aluminum, Casting and Energy. The Value-Add Company will include Global Rolled Products, Engineered Products and Solutions, and Transportation and Construction Solutions.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 1, 2015
ITM Power has signed an agreement with Symbio FCell and Arcola Energy to provide an integrated package of fuel-cell-based commercial vehicles, on-site fuel and after-sales support for UK commercial fleet operators. The agreement is to work together to provide fleet customers with the assurance of a one-stop complete solution including preparation, insurance, site approvals, vehicle registration and staff training.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
Fuel cell technology company Intelligent Energy has extended its joint development program with one of its existing Asian automotive OEM customers. The new contract is worth around £6.5 million (US$10 million) and is expected to last for approximately two and a half years. The new joint development program marks another step in IE’s long-standing links with the Asian automotive market where fuel cell electric vehicle commercialization has started with the arrival of consumer products on the mark
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
Nano-structured steel materials design company NanoSteel ( earlier post ) introduced its first powders designed for the binder jet 3D printing process and its initial commercial application in additive manufacturing. These materials, BLDRmetal J-10 and BLDRmetal J-11, enable the 3D printing of components for highly abrasive environments that can benefit from additive manufacturing’s ability to eliminate tooling, create advanced geometries, and build custom parts on demand.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
Researchers at the University of York (UK) have found that longer-chain unburned hydrocarbons released from diesel—which are not currently explicitly considered as part of air quality control strategies—represent only 20–30% of the total atmospheric hydrocarbon mixing ratio but contribute more than 50% of the total atmospheric hydrocarbon mass and are a dominant local source of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in London—and by extension to other developed megacities.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has updated air pollution standards to further control toxic air emissions from petroleum refineries. The rule requires first-of-its-kind fenceline monitoring to better protect and inform nearby communities, while also strengthening emission controls for flares, pressure relief devices, storage tanks, and delayed coker operations that will reduce thousands of tons of hazardous air pollutants.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
LG Chem Power Inc. (LGCPI), announced that Prabhakar Patil, who has served as the CEO for 10 years, will retire effective tomorrow. He will be succeeded by Denise Gray starting 1 October. Gray was the Director of Global Battery Systems Engineering at General Motors, where her team successfully developed and launched the lithium-ion battery system used in the original Chevrolet Volt, working closely with the LG Chem team.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Schaeffler has developed a new P2 (parallel, two-clutch) high-voltage hybrid module—arranged between the internal combustion engine and transmission—that can transmit engine torques of up to 800 N·m (590 lb-ft) to the transmission without having to incorporate a commensurately expensive clutch.The new generation P2 hybrid module can be used in both medium- and very high-performance transmission concepts—e.g., from mild to plug-in hybrids.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 2, 2015
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff has published a discussion draft of a. proposed strategy for further regulation and reduction of mobile source—cars, trucks, and off-road equipment—emissions. The approach described is designed to meet simultaneously federal air quality standards; achieve greenhouse gas emission reduction targets; reduce petroleum consumption; and decrease health risk from transportation sources through 2030.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 1, 2015
General Motors CEO Mary Barra and her leadership team outlined the company’s plans to capitalize on the future of personal mobility by owning the customer relationship beyond the vehicle, building upon nearly two decades of connectivity leadership. GM also said it plans to strengthen its core business through global growth initiatives and an aggressive product launch cadence, while continuing to focus on driving cost efficiencies.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, and Autoliv, the automotive safety technology company, two of the world’s leaders in automotive safety, have agreed to work together on the Drive Me large-scale autonomous driving (AD) initiative. Drive Me involves 100 self-driving Volvos being used by families and commuters on public roads in everyday driving conditions in the Swedish city of Gothenburg—the first time AD cars are being made available to members of the public for daily use.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
At the upcoming 44 th Tokyo Motor Show 2015, Honda will showcase its all-new fuel cell vehicle—tentatively being called the FCV&mdash NSX hybrid supercar, and NEOWING three-wheeler hybrid, as well as stage the Japan premiere of the all-new Civic Type R and the planned production model of the Odyssey Hybrid equipped with the further advanced SPORT HYBRID-iMMD (Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive) system.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 2, 2015
Audi has implemented a feature on its national Audi websites that will allow a customer to enter his or her Audi’s VIN number to determine whether or not that particular Audi has the software defeat device for emissions testing. The functionality is now available in Germany on www.audi.de ; Audi will roll it out in the coming week to its other worldwide markets.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 1, 2015
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). issued its final rule revising the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone to 70 parts per billion (ppb) from 75 ppb to protect public health. Ground-level ozone forms when nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react in the air. EPA examined nearly 2,300 studies in this review of the ozone standards including more than 1,000 new studies published since the last review of the standards in 2008.
Green Car Congress
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
The Volkswagen Passat GTE plug-in hybrid ( earlier post ) is now on sale , starting at €44,250 (US$49,000) for the sedan, €45,250 (US$51,000) for the wagon. Volkswagen uses GTE to designate its plug-in models; the Passat is the second Volkswagen brand PHEV after the Golf. The Passat GTE is powered by a 1.4-liter TSI engine delivering 115 kW / 156 PS and an electric motor producing 85 kW / 115 PS.
Green Car Congress
OCTOBER 2, 2015
Bridgestone Corporation has successfully built passenger tires with 100 percent of its natural rubber-containing components derived from guayule, a desert shrub that grows in arid regions. Natural rubber is contained in the plant’s barks and roots. ( Earlier post.) Built at the Bridgestone Technical Center in Japan, the tires were constructed using the company’s guayule natural rubber cultivated by Bridgestone at its Biorubber Process Research Center (BPRC) in Mesa, Arizona.
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