Wed.Jan 11, 2017

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Volkswagen AG agrees to plead guilty and pay $4.3B in criminal and civil penalties; 6 execs and employees indicted

Green Car Congress

Volkswagen AG has agreed with the US government to resolve criminal and federal environmental and other civil claims against the company relating to the diesel emissions cheating débâcle. As part of the resolution, Volkswagen has agreed to plead guilty to three criminal felony counts, to pay penalties and fines totaling $4.3 billion, and to a series of measures to further strengthen its compliance and control systems, including the appointment of an independent monitor for a period of three year

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California's PG&E utility now offers $500 rebate for electric-car use

Green Car Reports

In certain states, electric utilities are getting into the business of installing and operating electric-car charging infrastructure. They may build public charging stations, or work with other entities that operate them, but that's usually as far as their efforts to promote electric cars go. But one California utility is now taking direct action.

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New Opel Insignia to offer torque-vectoring all-wheel drive with Twinster system

Green Car Congress

The all-new Opel Insignia Grand Sport, arriving in the market early this year, will be available with a torque vectoring all-wheel drive system. The new Opel Insignia uses a GKN Twinster all-wheel drive system with a rear drive module that uses a twin clutch system without differential. The two clutches distribute torque between the front and rear axle and between the two rear wheels.

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Toyota Prius Prime buyers misled by dealers; more education needed

Green Car Reports

The Toyota Prius Prime is a far better car than its plug-in hybrid predecessor, and it seems likely to become one of the higher-volume plug-in electric cars on the U.S. market. If, that is, Toyota's own dealers prove willing to sell it—or even find out that it exists. After three separate complaints by readers in different areas of the U.S.

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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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Avantium acquires Liquid Light; electrocatalysis to convert CO2 to chemicals

Green Car Congress

Renewable chemicals company Avantium has acquired the assets of Liquid Light. Liquid Light has developed proprietary process technology to make major chemicals from low-cost, globally-abundant carbon dioxide. The acquisition combines the technologies of both Liquid Light and Avantium to develop a world-leading electro-catalysis platform and to commercialize new process technologies using CO 2 as feedstock to produce sustainable chemicals and materials.

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Why Faraday Future's luxury electric car is named FF 91

Green Car Reports

Faraday Future unveiled its FF 91 electric car at a special event held during the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. It's a crossover-utility vehicle with a claimed 1,050 horsepower and 378-mile range, the latter courtesy of a 130-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. Aside from those ambitious performance claims, the FF 91.

More Trending

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Honda hybrid minivan, SUV, or pickup coming; dedicated hybrid in 2018 too

Green Car Reports

In recent years, Honda has announced that it planned to release advanced-technology green cars in the future—without mentioning even their names, let alone any details or specifications. That's what happened two years ago with a pair of unnamed battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that later proved to be two new variants of the Honda.

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Nexteer Automotive and Continental form JV focused on electronic steering and braking systems for automated driving

Green Car Congress

Nexteer Automotive and Continental have agreed to form a joint venture focused on the advancement of motion control systems and actuator components for automated driving. This joint venture will combine Nexteer’s advanced steering and driver assistance (ADAS) technologies with Continental’s portfolio of Automated Driving and advanced braking technologies to accelerate advancements in vehicle motion control systems.

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Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for January 2017

Green Car Reports

It's a new year, and that means a new crop of buyer deals on green cars. The 2017 model year is now well underway, but older 2016 versions of certain vehicles still sit on dealer lots. As dealers get more anxious to clear this older stock, look for more aggressive incentives on these models. DON'T MISS: Plug-in electric car sales in Dec: Bolt EV.

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FCA calculates operational GWP impact of 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid as 31% less than previous-generation minivan

Green Car Congress

The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid plug-in hybrid ( earlier post ) has an operational global warming impact 31% less than that of the previous-generation, gasoline-powered Chrysler minivan, according to an analysis by FCA US engineers using industry-standard software. The software determines Global Warming Potential (GWP), which considers the environmental impact of fuel production and delivery, along with the implications of the vehicle’s own fuel consumption.

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

Brief

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Honda hybrids, Prius Prime buyers misled, PG&E electric-car rebate: Today's Car News

Green Car Reports

Today, Toyota Prius Prime buyers complain of uncooperative dealers, Honda announces a new dedicated hybrid model for 2018, and California utility Pacific Gas & Electric offers rebates for electric-car use. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Find out why Faraday Future's luxury electric car is called the FF 91. China plans to invest $360.

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King County Metro Transit to purchase 120 battery-electric buses by 2020, 73 from Proterra

Green Car Congress

King County, Washington, Executive Dow Constantine announced that King County Metro Transit will acquire 120 battery-electric buses by 2020. As part of this commitment, Metro will purchase up to 73 battery buses from Burlingame, Calif.-based Proterra. The first 20 are scheduled to go into service this year and 2019. Metro serves Seattle and the rest of King County.

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Five EVs and hybrids you can lease for less than £250 a month

Green Cars News

If you’re thinking about an electric or hybrid vehicle as your next car, it’s a good call. Manufacturers the world over are announcing ambitious plans.

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BETO report identifies biofuel/bioproducts opportunities from wet and gaseous waste: ~22.2B GGE/year

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office has published a report, titled Biofuels and Bioproducts from Wet and Gaseous Waste Streams: Challenges and Opportunities. The report is the first comprehensive assessment of the resource potential and technology opportunities provided by wet and gaseous feedstocks, including wastewater treatment-derived sludge and biosolids, animal manure, food waste, inedible fats and greases, biogas, and carbon dioxide streams.

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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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First drive review: Citroen C3

Green Cars News

When the C4 Cactus turned up, complete with its distinctive Airbumps, the world thought Citroen must have finally lost it. Then we drove it and realis.

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UCR team’s new evolutionary-algorithm-based EMS for PHEVs can deliver >30% fuel savings than conventional controls

Green Car Congress

Engineers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have developed a new online energy management system (EMS) based on an evolutionary algorithm for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) that they say can improve PHEV fuel efficiency by more than 30%. A paper describing the research was recently accepted for publication in the journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.

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The top five compact executive saloons

Green Cars News

Once upon a time executive saloons were the reserve of their namesake – the executive. However, thanks to ever-more affordable finance deals, compact.

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China's five-year budget for renewable energy: $360 billion

Green Car Reports

Despite a recent downturn, the Chinese government is moving full-speed ahead to invest heavily in renewable energy. The country's national regulators have already promoted renewable energy as a possible cure for the country's notoriously-bad air pollution. But China has placed more emphasis on renewable power in its latest five-year economic plan.