Green Car Congress

JUNE 30, 2015

Mercedes-Benz has set a new record for the diesels in the Pikes Peak hill-climb race with a near-production C 300 d 4MATIC. Test driver Uwe Nittel completed the 19.99 km (12.4-mile) route—which includes 156 bends with a change in altitude of 1439 meters (4,721 feet)—in just 11.37 minutes. The 150 kW (204 hp) C 300 d 4MATIC (in Europe known as 250 d) fitted with a 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission competed in the hill-climb race in largely series-production configuration.

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Diesel Mercedes Production Exhaust 228

Green Car Reports

JUNE 30, 2015

There are electric cars and electric motorcycles, but what we've got here fits somewhere in between. Morgan is a century-old British automaker known for its purposely anachronistic sports cars, and a few years ago it decided to revive one of its oldest models--the 3 Wheeler. Originally built to take advantage of a British tax loophole that allowed.

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All-Electric Electric Motorcycles Motorcycles Concept 128

National Green Transportation

JUNE 28, 2015

Rhys Millen and Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, both driving electric cars in the 93rd running of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb race, on Sunday, took 1st and 2nd place in the overall ranking with preliminary times of 9:07.

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Electric Cars Cars Electric Electrical 54

Green Car Congress

JUNE 30, 2015

Amyris, Inc. and Total Energies Nouvelles Activités USA (a wholly owned subsidiary of Total S.A.) have agreed on the restructuring of their fuels joint venture to open the way for proceeding with commercialization of Amyris jet fuel technology over the coming years. Following the restructuring, Total would own 75% of the joint venture with Amyris, up from the current 50%. ( Earlier post.).

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Renewable Fuel Conversion USA 197

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 30, 2015

Battery-eletcric bus manufacturer Proterra has completed a $55M strategic financing. This signals a new growth phase for the company, as Proterra scales production to meet growing demand and accelerates cash realization. Proterra closed a $30-million Series 4 equity round led by $19 million from several new strategic investors. The existing major investors in Proterra added $11 million of equity.

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Financing California Grant 2015 232

Green Car Congress

JUNE 30, 2015

On 26 June, CLP Motorsports’ Superlite Coupe crossed the finish line in Santa Monica, California, after driving across the USA on one tank of NEXBTL renewable diesel ( earlier post )—the first time that this type of trip was driven using a fuel that is made exclusively from bio-based raw materials. The 2,507-mile (4,035 km) journey, which began in Jacksonville, Florida, and finished successfully in Santa Monica, California, took a total driving time of 37 hours 2 minutes (thus average spee

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Renewable MPH Diesel San Francisco 237

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

Evatran Group, Inc. has completed a strategic investment from Zhejiang VIE Science and Technology Company (VIE), a manufacturer of automotive parts based in Zhejiang Province, China. The initial investment of $1.6 million is the first phase of a planned further partnership with Evatran to introduce wireless electric vehicle (EV) charging product to China.

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China Companies Charging 2014 203

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

Ballard Power Systems signed a definitive agreement to acquire Protonex Technology Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of advanced power management products and portable fuel cell solutions, in a transaction valued at $30 million. Ballard is assuming and paying Protonex’s debt obligations at closing, currently estimated at approximately $4.4 million, and paying the balance of approximately $25.6 million through the issuance of 11.2 million Ballard shares.

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Power Powered Fuel Buy 197

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

Evident Thermoelectrics has launched the first commercial thermoelectric product using skutterudite material technology: the Evident Skutterudite Test Kit. This thermoelectric material, which was originally developed by NASA to power deep space probes, operates in the mid- to high-temperature range—suited for, among other applications, automotive.

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Production Kits Commercial Range 197

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

Europe’s Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) has issued a new, more than €200-million (US$223-million) call for proposals for bioeconomy projects. This latest call for proposals follows a €100-million (US$111-million) call launched in May. The BBI JU, a €3.7-billion (US$4.1-billion) public-private partnership aimed at supporting the development of Europe’s emerging bioeconomy, itself was launched in July 2014.

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Oil Grant 2014 Convert 188

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

Audi has unveiled the new-generation Audi A4 and A4 Avant, developed with a high priority on the reduction of CO 2 emissions. Among other developments, the new A4 is the launch vehicle for the new high-efficiency 2.0L TFSI based on Miller cycle, introduced by Audi earlier this year at the Vienna Motor Symposium. ( Earlier post.) The A4 Sedan and the A4 Avant will be launched in the market this fall.

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Audi Gas Engine MPH 216

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

Sumitomo Electric has developed a new silicon carbide (SiC) power transistor which achieves low on-state resistance, high stability and other excellent performance characteristics that are suited for for electric vehicles (EV)/hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), solar power conditioners and other applications. With the increasing need for energy efficiency, reducing power conversion loss is strongly required of power semiconductors.

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Power Powered Solar Conversion 207

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

Volkswagen of America announced the successful completion of its Renewable Diesel Evaluation Program in collaboration with Solazyme and Amyris. ( Earlier post.) Beginning in 2012, Volkswagen measured the environmental impacts from the use of pre-commercial renewable diesel formulas with TDI Clean Diesel technology found in the 2012 Passat TDI (which uses a NO x storage system) and 2012 Jetta TDI (SCR system).

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Renewable Diesel Fuel Economy 2012 197

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) held its project launching ceremony for the production and research & development joint ventures in Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech zone on 28th June, marking the start of NEVS’ strategic setup in China. NEVS’ Tianjin factory will be focused on new energy vehicles with an annual capacity of 200,000 units. NEVS will thus have two global production units, with the Trollhättan factory to support the Tianjin factory with manufacturing planning, workers training and pro

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Sweden China Electric Vehicles Production 203

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a funding opportunity ( DE-FOA-0001202 ) that will award an estimated $20 million to projects quickly to develop bench scale and pilot scale projects for recovering Rare Earth Elements (REE)—a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table and key components of electronics and renewable energy technologies—from coal and coal byproducts.

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Coal United States Design Commercial 214

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

Studies show that roughly half of drivers take defensive action (such as sudden braking or steering) to avoid collisions, with vehicle occupants commonly bracing themselves at the same time. Occupant posture—whether braced or relaxed—has a significant effect on body movement during a collision. However, current human surrogate models used in virtual crash simulations are unable to simulate the reflexive defensive actions that humans take in the moments before an imminent collision, s

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2015

by Henry Hewitt for Oilprice.com. During the late innings of the ICE-age (as in the Internal Combustion Engine age) it has become clear that feeding gasoline and diesel to the next billion new cars is not going to be easy, or cheap. In China alone, 500 million new vehicles can be expected to jam the roads between now and 2030. That may sound far-fetched, but considering annual sales have already made it to 25 million units per year (vs. around 17 million in the US—China became the top mark

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Solar Miles Gasoline-Electric MPG 295

Green Car Congress

JUNE 28, 2015

Mercedes-Benz increases engine range for refreshed A Class compact. With the refresh of its A-Class, Mercedes-Benz has increased the range of available engines. The A 160 with 75 kW (102 hp) is the new entry-level model. The new efficiency champion is the 80 kW (109 hp) A 180 d BlueEFFICIENCY Edition with an NEDC fuel consumption of 3.5 l/100 km (67 mpg US) and CO 2 emissions of 89 g/km.

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Mercedes Engine Range MPG 218

Green Car Congress

JUNE 27, 2015

A team at Samsung Advanced Institue of Technology ( SAIT , Samsung’s global R&D hub) reports in an open access paper published in the journal Nature Communications on a new approach to advance high-capacity silicon (Si) anodes for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) to commercial viability, with a particular focus on improving the volumetric capacity of LIBs. The SAIT team fabricated the anode material by growing graphene directly on a silicon surfaces while avoiding Si carbide (SiC) formation by developing

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Li-ion Lithium Ion Commercial Batteries 218

Green Car Congress

JUNE 27, 2015

The German automobile club Kraftfahrer Schutz e.V. (KS) awarded the 2015 Energy and Environment Prize to the Volkswagen Group for the plug-in hybrids Golf GTE ( earlier post ) and Audi A3 e-tron ( earlier post). Accepting the award in Munich was Hanno Jelden, Head of Powertrain Electronics at Volkswagen. The organization Kraftfahrerschutz e.V., which was founded in 1935, is one of the larger German automobile clubs with around 520,000 members.

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Environment 2015 Audi Energy 224

Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

Researchers at the National Transportation Center at Morgan State University are curious about the decisions that led EV owners to buy their vehicles. If you own or lease an EV, they would like to include you in a brief research survey. Although the survey says participants must own/lease a plug-in hybrid or plug-in battery electric vehicle registered in the State of Maryland, the MSU team is accepting responses from all EV owners.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

Volkswagen AG is coordinating a new €6-million (US$6.7-million) research project, selected for funding under the Horizon 2020 Programme, to advance the biocatalytic production of drop-in liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels, requiring only sunlight, CO 2 and water. The basic approach of the new 4-year Photofuel project is to develop and to advance microbes (the biocatalysts) that will directly excrete hydrocarbon and long-chain alcohol fuel compounds to the growth medium, from which the fuels

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Solar Fuel Italy Sweden 188

Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

LanzaTech’s gas fermentation technology ( earlier post ) is at the core of the new Horizon2020 Steelanol project (2015-2018), which seeks to produce bioethanol via an innovative gas fermentation process using exhaust gases emitted by the steel industry. The €14.6-million (US$16.3-million) project is coordinated by steelmaker Arcelormittal Belgium NV.

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Gas Belgium Waste Corporation 197

Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

Ricardo has signed two contracts with Beiqi Foton Motor Co. Ltd (Foton), a designer and manufacturer of commercial vehicles, including medium and heavy-duty trucks, light-duty trucks, vans, pickups, and buses. The first of the contracts is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Strategic Cooperation in Powertrain Products Development between Foton and Ricardo UK Ltd.

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Gasoline Engine Fuel Economy China 188

Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

The application process for the fourth (2015) BASF/VW “ Science Award for Electrochemistry ” ( earlier post ) is now open. Researchers have until 24 July 2015 to apply. The International Science Award offers total prize money of €100,000, including €50,000 for the first rank. The entries submitted will be judged by a jury made up of experts from BASF and Volkswagen and representatives from academia.

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2015 Li-ion Stimulus Switzerland 188

Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

The California Air Resources Board today approved a $373-million funding plan that covers all investments in advanced technologies for fiscal year 2015-16, from zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and buses to rebates for low- and zero-emission passenger vehicles. The budget for the annual Funding Plan for Low Carbon Transportation Investments and the Air Quality Improvement Program is up by $150 million over last year’s budget, and is subject to approval by the Legislature when it considers the pro

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California 2016 Vehicles Cleaner 207

Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

In a new, comprehensive study, a team from Argonne National Laboratory, Stanford University and UC Davis ITS has estimated the well-to-wheels (WTW) GHG emissions of US production of gasoline and diesel sourced from Canadian oil sands. The analysis uses an expanded system boundary including land disturbance-induced GHG emissions and also incorporates operating data that represent the average practices and technological advances of the oil sands industry since 2008.

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Oil-Sands Oil Gasoline Emissions 228

Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

Dr. John Wall, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of diesel engine manufacturer Cummins Inc., is one of the three recipients of the 2014 Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards , California’s premier award recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to improving air quality. Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards are given annually to individuals who have made significant lifetime contributions toward improving air quality and climate change science, technology and policy, furthering the

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Climate Change Pollution Climate Ozone 197

Green Car Congress

JUNE 26, 2015

The UK’s Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership has launched a Good Practice Guide for Local Measures to Encourage the Uptake of Low Emission Vehicles. A key recommendation is that policy measures implemented at the local level should be consistent with each other, that common definitions and vocabulary for low emission vehicles should be established. The Good Practice Guide for Local Measures to Encourage the Uptake of Low Emission Vehicles was prepared for the LowCVP by Urban Foresight.

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Emissions Vehicles Taxi Climate Change 203

Green Car Congress

JUNE 25, 2015

Opel has launched CarUnity, its new carsharing concept. CarUnity enables vehicle owners and users to offer their own car for rental or to rent a car of their choice quickly, easily and flexibly. It does not matter if the car is an Opel or a different brand. The CarUnity app can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play. We are taking a new approach with CarUnity.

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Concept Personal Germany Google 199

Green Car Congress

JUNE 25, 2015

In an event in Bern, Switzerland, Swiss National Council member and president of the Clean Fuel Now initiative Thomas Böhni filled up his Audi A2 with 100% synthetic diesel (Audi e-diesel) produced by sunfire GmbH to draw attention to the need to remove what he terms unjustified Swiss restrictions on synthetic fuels. In December 2014, Böhni submitted a motion for consideration by the National Council (Nationalrat) that would create the legal basis for importers and manufacturers of vehicles that

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Diesel Switzerland Audi Solar 197

Green Car Congress

JUNE 25, 2015

North American Repower (NAR)—a California-based natural gas engine management and conversion technology company—and Efficient Drivetrains, Inc. (EDI)—a developer of plug-in hybrid electric drivetrains—will convert a fleet of six 26,000-pound, Class-5 medium-duty armored vehicles operated by Sectran Security into PHEV vehicles that run on electricity and renewable natural gas.

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PHEV Convert Gas Gas-Electric 188

Green Car Congress

JUNE 25, 2015

HELLA is introducing an enhancement of its 24GHz radar-based driver-assistance technology. With production starting in June 2015 at HELLA’s US manufacturing plant in Flora, Illinois, the new 3.5 radar sensor system is a complement to its generation 3.0 system, which has been in production since last year. In addition to blind spot detection, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert and rear pre-crash functionalities, which are already in series production, HELLA’s new system adds a fifth fun

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 25, 2015

GM OnStar will launch its Emergency, Security, Navigation, Diagnostics and Connectivity services in Brazil on the Chevrolet Cruze later this year. OnStar, with more than 7 million customers in North America and China and 19 years of experience, is the leading global provider of connected safety and security solutions, value-added mobility services and advanced information technology in the automobile industry.

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