November, 2011

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GM outlines further steps on battery safety, customer satisfaction initiatives for the Volt; the importance of de-powering the battery after a severe crash

Green Car Congress

General Motors today announced initiatives for customer satisfaction and outlined its steps in battery safety research to ensure ongoing confidence in the safety of Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle. On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a formal safety defect investigation to assess the risk of a battery-related fire in Chevy Volts that have been involved in a serious crash. ( Earlier post.

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Winter EV Conversion Workshop

Electric Cars are for Girls

If you're in the San Diego area, and would like to attend an EV conversion workshop. The Kick Gas Car Club is offering a series of evening classes, starting in January, on converting a small pickup to electric. Class size is limited to 8 people. Follow the link for more information or to grab a seat.

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Fire Marshal Says NC Garage Fire Started Away From Chevy Volt: Exclusive

Green Car Reports

Preliminary conclusions from the investigation into a Mooresville, North Carolina, house fire that destroyed a Chevrolet Volt indicate the fire did not start in the vehicle, but elsewhere, and progressed to engulf the electric car. Iredell County chief deputy fire marshal Garland Cloer told GreenCarReports in an exclusive interview that, "the.

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Review of Chris Paine's new documentary, Revenge of the Electric Car

National Green Transportation

The long-awaited sequel to Chris Paine's ground-breaking documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car, is now being shown in selected theaters around the country. Revenge of the Electric Car starts with a brief recap of WKtEC.

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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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Volvo makes diesel automatics as clean as manual models

Green Cars News

Volvo has made improvements to its automatic transmissions on its low emission DRIVe models which means that clutch-less cars now achieve the same low emission levels and strong fuel economy as manual models. The Swedish car maker, which prides itself on being among the leading manufacturers in Europe in tackling carbon emissions, announces two new [.].

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Toshiba’s SCiB battery for the Fit EV

Green Car Congress

20Ah SCiB cell. Click to enlarge. Honda selected Toshiba Corporation’s SCiB rechargeable Li-ion battery to power the Fit EV. ( Earlier post.) Toshiba will supply battery modules for the new car, which Honda will launch in summer 2012 in Japan and the US. In 2010, Toshiba announced that it was working with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation to bring the SCiB battery ( earlier post ) to electric vehicles (EVs). ( Earlier post.

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More Trending

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Tesla receives Letter of Intent from Daimler for full electric powertrain program for a Mercedes vehicle

Green Car Congress

In its letter to its shareholders reporting Q3 performance, Tesla Motors said that it had received a letter of intent from Daimler for a full powertrain program for a vehicle in the Mercedes line. Details of this deal remain confidential, Tesla said, but will be announced in the coming months. Tesla’s existing production agreements with Daimler and its development services agreement with Toyota produced combined revenue of. more $29 million in the third quarter; total Q3 revenues were $58

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Volkswagen unveils eT! electric delivery van research vehicle with capability to drive semi-automatically on command

Green Car Congress

The eT! research vehicle. Click to enlarge. Volkswagen unveiled the eT! electric delivery van research vehicle at the Design Center in Potsdam. The all-electric eT!, which is equipped with wheel hub motors, can be operated semi-automatically in certain situations. The van can follow the delivery person from house to house (“Follow me”), or the van can return to the delivery person on command (“Come to me”).

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Toyota and Yamaha Motor collaborate on communications-linked next-generation vehicles

Green Car Congress

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. are collaborating in the development of communications-linked next-generation vehicles. A part of this collaboration is their joint exhibition of a communications-linked electric commuter concept and an electrically power assisted bicycle concept at the 42 nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011. Electric commuter EC-Miu.

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New nanoparticle copper compound cathode could enable low-cost, long-life and high-power potassium-ion batteries for grid storage

Green Car Congress

A team at Stanford led by Prof. Yi Cui has developed nanoparticle copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF) battery cathode materials that demonstrate long cycle life and high power for use in grid storage applications. In a paper in Nature Communications , they report that after 40,000 deep discharge cycles at a 17?C rate, 83% of the original capacity of copper hexacyanoferrate is retained.

Low Cost 304
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Faurecia and Accenture partner on products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles

Brief

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SunLine Transit unveils 7th generation hydrogen-fueled bus

Green Car Congress

The new American Fuel Cell Bus. Click to enlarge. Canada-based Ballard Power Systems has, together with consortium partners BAE Systems and ElDorado National (California) Inc., successfully deployed a “Buy America”-compliant, fuel cell bus for SunLine Transit Agency in Palm Springs, CA. This marks the 7 th generation of hydrogen buses deployed by SunLine, which has pursued an aggressive strategy of implementing clean technologies into its fleet.

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Toyota unveiling new hydrogen fuel cell concept vehicle indicative of 2015 production model at Tokyo Motor Show; Aqua hybrid and FT-EV III

Green Car Congress

The FCV-R concept. Click to enlarge. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) will stage the world premiere of the FCV-R, a practical sedan-type next-generation hydrogen fuel-cell concept vehicle, at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. Toyota calls this concept model “ a highly practical fuel-cell vehicle ” that is planned for launch in about 2015. With the fuel-cell unit located beneath the specially designed body, the vehicle can accommodate up to four passengers and offers what Toyota calls &ldq

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New high-power Si–graphene composite electrode for Li-ion batteries

Green Car Congress

Northwestern Univ. researchers report on a new high-power Si–graphene composite anode material for Li-ion batteries in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. With current technology, the capabilities of a lithium-ion battery are limited in two ways: energy capacity is limited by the charge density, and charge rate is limited by the speed at which the lithium ions can make their way from the electrolyte into the anode.

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Testing solar radiation management as a geoengineering technique

Green Car Congress

Solar radiation management (SRM) is one of the geoengineering techniques proposed as a potential means of offsetting some of the anthropogenic radiative forcing of climate as a means to reduce climate change. ( Earlier post.) However, the effectiveness and associated risks of SRM are uncertain. A team of researchers from California Institute of Technology, the Carnegie Institution for Science and Harvard University has now examined the possibility of testing solar radiation management (SRM) thro

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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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UN report projects that increasing use of HFCs likely to have a significant climate impact by 2050; equivalent to current total annual emissions from transport

Green Car Congress

The decrease in CO 2 equivalent emissions of ODSs (ozone-depleting substances: CFCs, halons, HCFCs, and others) may be offset by the projected increase in their non-ozone depleting substitutes (HFCs) (lines designated as HFC scenarios). Source: UNEP. Click to enlarge. A new report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) projects that by 2050, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) could be responsible for emissions equivalent to 3.5 to 8.8 Gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide (Gt CO 2 eq)—comparable to t

Climate 287
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US Navy destroyer completes largest demo of shipboard renewable fuel; 20,000 gallons of 50:50 algal oil/F-76 fuel blend

Green Car Congress

The US Navy successfully concluded its largest demonstration of shipboard alternative fuel use with the successful arrival of the Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS) to Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme. The SDTS is a decommissioned Spruance-class destroyer ex-Paul F. Foster (EDD 964) reconfigured to provide the Navy an at-sea, remotely controlled, engineering test and evaluation platform without the risk to personnel or operational assets.

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MIT researchers developing algorithms to predict more accurately which cars are likeliest to run red lights

Green Car Congress

Researchers at MIT are devising algorithms for more accurately estimating driver behavior at road intersections—i.e., whether or not an oncoming car is likely to run a red light—and validating them using real traffic data. The team has introduced two classes of algorithms that can classify drivers as “compliant” or “violating”. These are based on i) Support Vector Machines (SVM) and ii) Hidden Markov Models (HMM)—two very popular machine learning approaches that have been used

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Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and 6 other Japanese companies to establish organization for membership-based EV quick charging services

Green Car Congress

Overview of Charging Network Development Organization, LLC charging service. Click to enlarge. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC); Honda Motor Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Motors Corporation; ULVAC, Inc.; Kanematsu Corporation; Kandenko Co., Ltd.; Suzuyo Shoji Co., Ltd.; Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.; and the Development Bank of Japan Inc. are establishing an organization to provide membership-based quick-charging services for users of electric vehicles (EVs).

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EEA says industrial air pollution cost Europe up to €169 billion in 2009; some 37% attributed to CO2

Green Car Congress

Aggregated damage costs by pollutant. The EEA quantified the damage costs arising from CO 2 emissions based on estimated marginal abatement cost. Source: EEA. Click to enlarge. Air pollution from the 10,000 largest polluting facilities in Europe cost citizens between €102–169 billion (US$135–224 billion) in 2009, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) which analyzed the costs of harm to health and the environment caused by air pollution.

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Mazda to begin deployment of i-ELOOP ultracapacitor-based regenerative braking system for passenger vehicles in 2012

Green Car Congress

Mazda’s ‘i-ELOOP’ regenerative braking system. Click to enlarge. Mazda Motor Corporation has developed the first production passenger vehicle regenerative braking system that uses an ultracapacitor. The system, which Mazda calls ‘i-ELOOP’, will begin to appear in Mazda’s vehicles in 2012. In real-world driving conditions with frequent acceleration and braking, i-ELOOP improves fuel economy in stop-and-go driving conditions by approximately 10%, according to the company.

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Ford launches production of 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine; could reach 1.3M units per year worldwide in future

Green Car Congress

Cutaway of the 1.0L EcoBoost. Click to enlarge. Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally launched volume production of Ford’s smallest gasoline engine—the 1.0-liter, turbocharged, direct injection EcoBoost engine ( earlier post )—at Ford’s Cologne (Germany) Engine Plant. The 1.0L EcoBoost will debut in Europe in early 2012 and ultimately be available worldwide.

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Qualcomm announces first EV wireless charging trial for London

Green Car Congress

Qualcomm Incorporated, which just recently acquired the team and technology of wireless charging company HaloIPT (earlier post) , announced the first Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) trial for London in what is a UK and industry-leading initiative. Qualcomm is collaborating with the UK Government, as well as the Mayor of London’s office and Transport for London (TfL) to deliver the trial.

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Study finds no alternative to widespread switching of direct fuel uses to electricity to meet 2050 California GHG targets; putting detail in climate wedges

Green Car Congress

Emission reduction wedges for California in 2050. Williams et al. Click to enlarge. Technically feasible levels of energy efficiency and decarbonized energy supply alone will not be sufficient to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, according to a detailed modeling of the California economy performed by a team from Energy and Environmental Economics, the Monterey.

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Volvo Car Corporation DRIVe diesels with automatic transmission now deliver same fuel consumption as manual versions

Green Car Congress

Volvo Car Corporation’s 1.6-liter diesel combined with the automatic Powershift gearbox now delivers the same low fuel consumption and CO 2 levels as the manual DRIVe versions. The combination of the four-cylinder, 1.6-liter diesel engine (115 hp) with the six-speed Powershift. gearbox is available in four models: Volvo S60, V60, V70 and S80. Fuel consumption in the Volvo S60 with the 1.6D engine and Powershift is 4.3 L/100km (54.7 mpg US).

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A third effect of anthropogenic aerosols on the climate

Green Car Congress

In a paper published in the journal Science , Natalie Mahowald at Cornell University reports on a third effect of anthropogenic aerosols on the climate—their slow impact on biogeochemical cycles potentially affecting the fluxes of CO 2 into and out of the atmosphere. The net effect of aerosols is usually considered the sum of their direct radiative effect plus the indirect effect through aerosol-cloud interactions.

Climate 261
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Ballard signs MOU with Delta to expand focus of clean energy fuel cell system sales in India

Green Car Congress

Fuel cell maker Ballard Power Systems has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Delta Power Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Delta Electronics (Thailand) PLC, expanding the range of clean energy applications they will focus on under an existing fuel cell system collaboration agreement. Ballard and Delta recently announced their collaboration agreement in relation to sales of fuel cell-powered backup power systems in the India telecommunications market, under which an initia

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LG Chem to supply grid-scale Li-ion batteries and management systems to ABB

Green Car Congress

LG Chem Ltd. will supply Li-ion battery and management systems to Swiss-based ABB under a newly signed long-term agreement. Among the projects to be undertaken will be a power system stabilization demonstration project. LG Chem did not disclose the size of the deal. In October 2010, Southern California Edison (SCE) selected LG Chem, Ltd. to provide lithium-ion battery packs for a pilot program involving energy storage systems (ESS) for residential and small commercial applications, marking LG Ch

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Siemens launches 6MW direct-drive wind turbine

Green Car Congress

Siemens Energy launched its new 6-megawatt (MW) direct-drive wind turbine at the European Offshore Wind Energy Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The new SWT-6.0 will be available with rotor diameters of 120 and 154 meters and is designed for the most challenging offshore sites. Prototype of the new SWT-6.0 wind turbine. Click to enlarge. The new turbine features the Siemens direct drive design with 50% fewer parts than comparable geared wind turbines.

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BMW AG takes 15.16% stake in SGL Carbon SE

Green Car Congress

BMW AG has secured a 15.16 percent stake in SGL Carbon SE, reflecting its strengthening of focus on lightweight construction and the use of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) in automobile manufacture. The BMW Group and the SGL Group already operate a joint venture, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (B Earlier post.). The company is not disclosing the financial details of the transaction.

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Renault invests €28M in electric vehicle technology test center at Lardy

Green Car Congress

Renault inaugurated an electric test center in Lardy, France. The €28-million (US$38-million) center is the cornerstone of the brand’s development of new electric technologies and houses most of the test facilities for electric motors and batteries. Operational since 2009, it has been gradually expanded to cover 3,300 sq. meters and some 100 test benches: Eight test benches for electric motors: unlike test benches for internal combustion engines, which are powered by fuel, electric motor test be

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Study links air pollution and cyclone intensity in Arabian Sea; suggested solutions include diesel filters and two-stroke engines running on LPG fuel

Green Car Congress

Scientists are working to better understand atmospheric brown clouds and their effects. Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation Click to enlarge. Pollution is making Arabian Sea cyclones more intense, according to a study in the journal Nature. Historically, prevailing wind shear patterns prohibit cyclones in the Arabian Sea from becoming major storms.

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AIST team developing Li-air capacitor-battery targeted for EVs

Green Car Congress

A team from Japan’s AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) reports on the development of a “lithium–air capacitor–battery based on a hybrid electrolyte” in a paper in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science. The team had earlier investigated a hybrid electrolyte lithium–air battery, in which a lithium anode in a non-aqueous electrolyte and an air-catalytic cathode in an aqueous electrolyte solution were separated by a ceramic LISICON film. ( Earlier po

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Report: Toyota and BMW discussing broad partnership; diesel and hybrid technologies

Green Car Congress

The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor Corp. is discussing a broad partnership with BMW AG, including procuring diesel engines. In August, Toyota announced a partnership with Ford to develop rear-wheel drive hybrid system for light trucks, among other technologies. ( Earlier post.). Under the proposed arrangement, BMW will provide diesel engines for Toyota’s passenger vehicles sold in Europe, most likely 2-liter versions for midsize cars.

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Former Commerce and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta urges technology neutral policies in reaching proposed CAFE standards

Green Car Congress

Former Transportation and Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta, who served under former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, is calling for policymakers to employ technology neutral policies as they begin to implement the new CAFE regulations proposed by President Obama. In a white paper released at a National Press Club briefing, Secretary Mineta detailed his support for such policies—i.e., those which do not favor one technology over another through consumer incentives, federal subsid

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