Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 11, 2021

Rock Tech Lithium intends to build Europe’s first lithium converter—a production plant for battery-grade lithium hydroxide—in Guben, Brandenburg, Germany. The company intends to locate all production steps of lithium refining in one overall plant at the Guben site. The converter is scheduled to start operations in 2024. Location at the industrial site Guben South (CNW Group/Rock Tech Lithium Inc.).

Convert 524

Convert Germany Building Lithium Ion 524

Green Car Reports

OCTOBER 25, 2021

The rental-car giant Hertz on Monday announced plans to add 100,000 Tesla vehicles to its fleets in North America and Europe by the end of 2022, along with some of its own charging infrastructure. Starting in November, customers will be able to rent the Tesla Model 3 at airport and neighborhood locations “in U.S. major markets and select.

North America 217

North America Neighborhood Tesla America 217

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 7, 2021

New research by economic and public policy consulting group M.Cubed finds a proliferation of backup generators across California, with nearly 90% being diesel-fueled, posing significant obstacles to achieving greenhouse gas reduction targets and driving nearly $136 million in annual health costs. Over the last year, the generator population jumped by 22% in the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), and by 34% in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) over the last

Diesel 480

Diesel California Fuel San Francisco 480

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Volkswagen is taking a further step in the direction of fully networked factories. A local 5G campus network is now available at its main plant in Wolfsburg that initially covers the main production development center and the pilot hall. The pilot project will test whether the 5G technology meets the demanding requirements of vehicle production with a view to developing this for industrial series production in the future.

Production 468

Production Industry Industrial Manufacturer 468

Speaker: tara

dsoacf

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 14, 2021

An electric school bus in Beverly, Massachusetts, successfully delivered power back to the electricity grid for more than 50 hours over the course of the summer using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. This is the first time an electric school bus has been leveraged as an energy resource by the regional utility National Grid in New England and among the first instances in the United States that an electric school bus has supported the electric grid in this way.

Grid 468

Grid Massachusetts Highlander Power 468

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 31, 2021

Energy Vault, a company developing grid-scale gravity energy storage solutions, has entered into an energy storage system agreement with DG Fuels, a developer of renewable hydrogen and biogenic-based, synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and diesel fuel. Under the terms of the agreement, Energy Vault agreed to provide 1.6 gigawatt hours (GWh) of gravity energy storage to support DG Fuels across multiple projects, with the first project slated for 500 megawatt hours (MWh) in Louisiana.

Energy Storage 459

Energy Storage Energy Fuel Louisiana 459

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 5, 2021

Research by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office estimates the cost of an electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack declined 87% between 2008 and 2021 (using 2021 constant dollars). The 2021 estimate is $157/kWh on a usable-energy basis (the equivalent of $143/kWh on a rated-energy basis) for production at scale—i.e., 100,000 units per year.

2008 448

2008 Lithium Ion Batteries Battery 448

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 12, 2021

Alumobility, a non-profit organization focused on technical studies to advance the adoption of aluminum automotive body sheet, revealed the results of its newest study demonstrating that an aluminum automotive top hat—the upper structure of a vehicle’s Body-in-White—can save significant weight compared to steel while meeting or exceeding automakers’ performance criteria.

Fuel Economy 447

Fuel Economy Audi Global Future 447

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 29, 2021

Autonomous driving company Aurora has released its first commercial beta of the Aurora Driver, which consists of the hardware, software, and data services needed to safely operate an autonomous Aurora-powered vehicle. Aurora Driver Beta is currently hauling loads between Dallas and Houston, TX, in a commercial pilot of Aurora Horizon, a suite of subscription services for carriers and fleet owners.

Commercial 435

Commercial Dallas Houston Fusion 435

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 30, 2021

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence reports that battery producers have begun to increase lithium-ion cell prices following a period of consistent raw material price rises throughout 2021, particularly for lithium. According to Benchmark, several of China’s major lithium-ion battery makers have written to customers setting out intentions of new pricing structures, citing the rise in cathode and anode raw material prices as well as higher costs more generally, including for non-active materials such a

Lithium Ion 435

Lithium Ion Carbon Price Batteries 435

Advertisement

emissions global warming Norway climate change carbon dioxide youtube lighting

Norway

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 16, 2021

Rolls-Royce is further developing its mtu gas engine portfolio for power generation and cogeneration to run on hydrogen as a fuel and thus enable a climate-neutral energy supply. Already today, gensets powered by mtu Series 500 and Series 4000 gas engines can be operated with a gas blending of 10% hydrogen. Beginning in 2022, operation with a hydrogen content of 25% will be possible.

Hydrogen 435

Hydrogen Power Powered Climate Protection 435

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 17, 2021

Silicon Valley-based autonomous driving company Pony.ai has been authorized to conduct driverless tests on public roads in Beijing. The company is one of the two autonomous software companies (along with Baidu) to receive this important Beijing permit. Prior to receiving this driverless test permit in Beijing, Pony.ai received a permit to conduct tests on certain sections of Beijing highways in July 2021.

China 435

China California Companies Vehicles 435

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 6, 2021

Volvo Trucks received an order for 100 Volvo FM Electric trucks from DFDS, Northern Europe’s?largest shipping and logistics company. The deal is the largest commercial order to date for Volvo electric trucks, and one of the largest yet for heavy electric trucks worldwide. First deliveries of the Volvo FM Electric to DFDS will start in the fourth quarter of 2022 and continue throughout 2023.

Volvo 435

Volvo North America Electric Electrical 435

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 1, 2021

Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. have developed a compact, lightweight direct-drive system for EVs, combining the motor, inverter, and brake into a single unit. This enables the installation of the entire system into the wheel. The major features of the technology are: Halbach array magnets and innovative flat coils produce world-class power density.

Motor 435

Motor Motors Motoring Installation 435

Advertisement

Brief

Connect

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 25, 2021

China-based EV maker XPeng unveiled a series of technology innovations at its annual 1024 Tech Day, including the latest and most sophisticated version of its in-house developed advanced driver assistance system XPILOT 3.5 and XPILOT 4.0; the design of a new generation road-capable flying car; high-voltage supercharging technology; and robotic innovations, forming the key components of the company’s smart mobility ecosystem.

Fusion 434

Fusion Cars China Environment 434

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 20, 2021

An ultra-white paint incorporating barium sulfate (BaSO 4 ) particles that is up to 98.1% reflective, developed by engineers at Purdue University, has earned a Guinness World Records title for the whitest paint. The record appears in the 2022 edition of Guinness World Records. The 98.1% reflectivity compares to a reflectivity of 80–90% for other white paints designed to reflect sunlight that are currently available.

Universal 433

Universal Commercial Building Grant 433

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 19, 2021

Foxconn (Hon Hai Technology Group), a global leader in smart manufacturing, unveiled three electric vehicles in has developed in-house: the Model C recreational vehicle; the Model E sedan; and the Model T electric bus. The announcement was made during the livestreamed Hon Hai Tech Day 2021 (HHTD21) event, underlining Hon Hai's commitment to become a global next-generation automotive manufacturer.

Pininfarina 432

Pininfarina Taiwan Electric Vehicles Extended Range 432

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 31, 2021

Boundary Layer Technologies, a California-based marine technology startup, revealed its concept design for a fully electric hydrofoiling ferry: ELECTRA. ELECTRA, with a 9,000 kWh battery, has a range of up to 100 nautical miles and cruise speed of 40 knots—twice the speed and range of existing electric ferries—due to Boundary Layer Technology’s proprietary hydrofoil technology and podded propulsion system.

Concept 418

Concept All-Electric Mariner Fuel Alternative 418

Advertisement

Oil

Guyana

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Volvo Trucks North America’s customers and carrier partners, Watsontown Trucking Company and Camrett Logistics, have placed orders for their first Volvo VNR Electric trucks. By the end of 2021, the Virginia-based fleets will utilize the zero tailpipe emission trucks to transport inbound parts and components daily to the Volvo Trucks New River Valley Assembly Operations (NRV) in Dublin, Virginia, where every Volvo truck in North America is assembled.

Volvo 418

Volvo Fresno Virginia North America 418

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 23, 2021

BorgWarner is the recipient of a $4.97 million US Department of Energy (DOE) Award for the development of a Scalable Ultra Power-dense Extended Range (SUPER) inverter. This research and development project is one of 24 university and industry-led projects that collectively were awarded $60 million in an effort to reduce CO 2 emissions from the transportation sector. ( Earlier post.).

Power 418

Power Powered Virginia Extended Range 418

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 28, 2021

Volkswagen Group of America’s Innovation Hub Knoxville, the company’s technology unit for applied materials science, has expanded its research collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT). The expanded collaboration aims to explore how to integrate break­throughs in material science and recycling concepts to support electric mobility and sustainable transportation.

Tennessee 418

Tennessee Universal Sustainable Transportation Porsche 418

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 17, 2021

Despite a shortage of semiconductors, the Volkswagen Group delivered 122,100 BEVs (battery-electric vehicles) to customers in the third quarter (July to September), an increase of 109% compared with the prior-year quarter. The market ramp-up in China accelerated significantly in Q3, where 28,900 BEVs were delivered, compared with 18,300 in the first half of the year.

Electric Vehicles 418

Electric Vehicles Vehicles Batteries Battery 418

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 7, 2021

A team at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSL) has developed a bifunctional catalyst for the oxygen electrode in a unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC). A paper on their work is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs) combine the functionalities of both electrolyzers and fuel cells in a single cell/stack, enabling lower weight, volume, and capital cost.

St. Louis 418

St. Louis Fuel Hydrogen Energy Storage 418

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 18, 2021

Honda last week held a virtual press conference on its electrification strategy in China. During the conference, the company announced its new environmental and safety initiatives and also held the world premiere of two planned production models and three concept models of Honda-brand electric vehicles. All new models Honda will introduce in China after 2030 will be electrified—hybrids (HEVs) and EVs.

Honda 418

Honda China Vehicles Concept 418

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 19, 2021

A team from Argonne National Laboratory recently produced a program record for the DOE Offices of Vehicle Technologies, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies, and Bioenergy Technologies in which the Argonne researchers documented cradle-to-grave (C2G) and well-to-wheels (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of light-duty vehicles, assuming key parameters for a variety of current (2020) and future (2050) vehicle-fuel technology pathways.

Gasoline-Electric 417

Gasoline-Electric 2020 SUV Gasoline 417

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 19, 2021

Ford announced that it intends to invest up to £230 million (US$316 million) at its Halewood vehicle transmission facility to transform it to build electric power units for future Ford all-electric passenger and commercial vehicles sold in Europe. Halewood will be Ford’s first electric vehicle component in-house assembly site in Europe with production beginning in 2024.

Ford 417

Ford Building Turkey Power 417

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 5, 2021

Eighteen months after start of construction of its intelligent satellite production and testing center in Taizhou, China, Geely Technology Group has begun mass production of commercial satellites. The first set of low-orbit satellites rolled off the production line, marking a new milestone in Geely’s advancement into the commercial aerospace sector.

Commercial 417

Commercial Future Production Vehicles 417

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 16, 2021

Italy-based integrated energy company Eni is launching the production of alternative sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Eni has been producing Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) biofuel in its Venice and Gela bio-refineries since 2014 via its proprietary Ecofoning technology; it can also produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) from waste and plant-based raw materials using the same technology.

Production 417

Production Fuel Waste Oil 417

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 31, 2021

ElDorado National (California) or ENC, a subsidiary of REV Group, will launch its fully electric Axess bus at APTA Expo 8-10 November 2021. In addition to being the first zero-corrosion battery electric bus (BEB), it is the first to offer 40', 35' and 32' bus lengths. ENC partnered with Cummins for the electric powertrain/battery system on the Axess; the Axess BEB uses Cummins NMC batteries in either 444 or 518 kWh configurations.

Batteries 415

Batteries Battery Electric Electrical 415

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 11, 2021

A team at Sandia National Laboratories has designed a five-component gasoline-like blend containing 40% vol of a mixture of 2-methyl furan and 2,5-dimethyl furan (representative of products of a viable pathway to make furans from bio-feedstock). Simulations show promising results when the resulting fuel is compared to regular E10 gasoline. Measurements show that the fuel has research octane number (RON) = 97.4 and octane sensitivity (S) = 13.6, improving the RON and S of E10 by 5.4 and 6.3 units

Gasoline 416

Gasoline Renewable Fuel 2019 416

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 15, 2021

Cummins and GILLIG announced the production of the 100 th GILLIG battery-electric bus built since the two companies began partnering on the heavy-duty transit vehicle. ( Earlier post.) The milestone bus will be delivered to Metro Transit in St. Louis, Missouri this month. The companies have collaborated since 2019 to bring reliable zero-emissions electric buses to communities across the country.

St. Louis 415

St. Louis Production Batteries Battery 415

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 4, 2021

In Japan, Toyota is introducing the C + walk T , a three-wheeled electric scooter designed for walking areas. The C + walk T features a low, flat base just 150 mm high for easy boarding and alighting. It is designed so that it is comfortable to use in walking areas, facilitating side-by-side travel and communication with fellow pedestrians. In addition to being environmentally friendly, the vehicle takes up a similar amount of space as a single person, and travels at typical human walking speeds

Toyota 416

Toyota Batteries Battery Lithium Ion 416

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 26, 2021

Hertz is making a significant investment to offer the largest EV rental fleet in North America and one of the largest in the world. This includes an initial order of 100,000 Teslas by the end of 2022 and new EV charging infrastructure across the company’s global operations. Today, 40% of US consumers say they are likely to consider an electric vehicle the next time they are in the market for a new vehicle, according to Pew.

Tesla 411

Tesla North America Neighborhood Fleet 411