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

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Companies Fuel Energy Asia 209

Creative Greenius

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

Wednesday, June 25, 2008. There’s an old joke that most of us baby boomers first heard when we were kids. Here’s the version I remember hearing in New Jersey: A man goes on vacation and his brother agrees to housesit for him — feeding the cat, picking up the newspapers and mail, watering the plants, etc. After the first week goes by the vacationing brother phones to check in. “I’m sorry bro,” his brother at the house tells him almost immediately, “but your cat died.”

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2008 Climate Change Climate Las Vegas 230

Electric Cars are for Girls

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Jeff U'Ren talks more about his Chevy Volt: ".luxury everything, heated leather seats, great air conditioning." Oh, and it's got its own phone, too.

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Volt 104

Green Car Reports

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

As the sun set over Fremont, California, on Tuesday evening, convoys of luxury buses delivered Tesla owners and enthusiasts to a nondescript office park for the official launch of the Model X. It was a friendly audience that cheered through most of Elon Musk's presentation. The Tesla CEO began with a focus on the Model X's safety credentials.

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Tesla Production California 128

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National Green Transportation

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

The fallout of the Dieselgate scandal isn't limited to Volkswagen's headquarters in Germany, it affects every locale hosting a VW factory. On Monday, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam urged Volkswagen to act quickly to resolve Dieselgate.

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Tennessee Germany 41

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Lord Drayson, CEO and Chairman of Drayson Technologies, introduced Freevolt: an energy harvesting technology that turns ambient radio frequency waves (RF) into usable electricity to charge low-power electronic devices. The patent-pending technology was developed by an international team from Drayson Technologies and Imperial College London. Drayson Technologies is the first to market with this technology, which is commercially available for license to the international developer and business com

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Energy London Personal International 188

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 ).

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Audi Hybrid Lithium Ion North America 221

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.

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Volvo Cars 2017 2013 203

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.

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Honda Hybrid Motor Motors 203

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co Ltd (JAC) and Ricardo are collaborating on a project to develop the Ricardo HyBoost concept ( earlier post )—a combination of low-cost technologies to deliver improved performance and fuel economy which featured recently in the Ricardo Centenary celebrations —into volume production on a JAC vehicle. The Ricardo HyBoost concept is based on a downsized, highly boosted turbocharged direct injection gasoline (TDGI) engine giving improved fuel economy a

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Fuel Economy Economy Concept Fuel 197

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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.

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Japan Toyota Market Connect 214

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.

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Pollution EPA Standards Emissions 207

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

As part of its restructuring, Volkswagen Group is combining its activities in the US, Mexico and Canada into the newly formed North American Region (NAR). The Supervisory Board has appointed Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland, since 2010 the CEO of Group company ŠKODA, to take over all responsibility for the North American Region. In this new role as President and CEO of Volkswagen NAR, Prof.

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2002 Brazil 2005 Mexico 188

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.

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International Rhode Island Europe America 232

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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

Diesel 214

Diesel Engine Vehicles Audi 214

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.

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Li-ion Lithium Ion Power Powered 207

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

XPRIZE Chairman and CEO Peter Diamandis competition the $20-million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE , a competition to address CO 2 emissions from fossil fuels. Teams are challenged to develop breakthrough technologies that convert the most CO 2 into one or more products with the highest net value. Co-sponsored by NRG and COSIA (Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance), the 4-½ year competition will include two tracks, with the new technologies tested at either a coal power plant or a natural gas facilit

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Conversion CO2 Production Oil-Sands 197

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.

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2017 Hybrid China Production 207

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have detailed the role of NO x in the formation of the brown haze that hovers over cities on sunny days. A paper on their work was published recently in the RSC journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. The PNNL team examined the chemistry of atmospheric brown carbon (BrC)—a significant contributor to light absorption and climate forcing.

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Light Pollution Carbon 2015 188

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Mercedes-Benz has delivered the first Euro VI-compliant Econic NGT (Natural Gas Technology) to Vienna International Airport. The natural-gas-powered truck will operate as a catering truck equipped with a lifting mechanism manufactured by Doll. Econic’s low cab enables a very low delivery height from catering vehicle to plane, which means that all the more widespread types of aircraft, from the Boeing 737 to the Airbus A380, can be served.

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Mercedes Gas Diesel International 188

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Gevo has begun selling renewable isooctene to BCD Chemie, a subsidiary of Brenntag. Initial orders in 2015 are expected to result in revenues to Gevo of more than $1 million. The isooctene will be produced at Gevo’s biorefinery in Silsbee, Texas, derived from isobutanol produced at Gevo’s plant in Luverne, Minn. Gevo’s biorefinery is operated in conjunction with South Hampton Resources.

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Renewable Fuel Europe Canada 188

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.

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CO2 Diesel Exhaust Emissions 250

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Starting next month, Park24 Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation will expand the scope and scale of their joint car sharing service trial in central Tokyo. ( Earlier post.) In addition to continuing to use the Toyota i-Road, the service will now also make use of the COMS, a super-compact electric vehicle produced by Toyota Auto Body. A number of new locations have been added throughout central Tokyo, and the service's vehicle management system has been overhauled with several user-friendly upd

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Toyota Cars Corporation Transportation 197

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Shell announced on Monday that it will cease further exploration activity in offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future. The company said the decision reflects the results from Burger J exploration well located in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea; the high costs associated with the project; and the “ challenging and unpredictable ” federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska.

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Alaska Future Mexico 2015 188

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

The Center for Economic Criminal Matters (Zentralstelle für Wirtschaftsstrafsachen) of the German public prosecutor in Braunschweig (Staatsanwaltschaft Braunschweig) has begun an investigation of Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, the former CEO of Volkswagen AG, over the VW exhaust affair (“VW-Abgasaffäre”). The focus of the investigation is the accusation of fraud related to the sale of vehicles with manipulated exhaust systems.

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Exhaust Porsche Audi Sale 197

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.

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Power Powered Fuel China 214

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.

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Li-ion China Chinese 2017 266

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.

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2018 Companies Saudi Arabia 2014 214

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.

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Plug-in Plug Germany Sale 199

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.

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Manufacturer Idaho 2002 Parts 209

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

An international research study examining the safety performance of US and EU motor vehicles has found differences in performance between the two. The study is the first side-by-side comparison of predicted risk for EU-regulated and US-regulated vehicles and was conducted collaboratively by The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI); and Safer Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), in association with Centre Européen d’Etudes de

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Vehicles Environment Standards Sweden 188

Green Car Congress

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Researchers from Central South University in Changsha, China, have developed a separator with a nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon sphere (NHC) coating for use in Li-S batteries. The NHC-decorated separator enormously improves the utilization of active material and enhances electrochemical performance. They prepared the nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres by pyrolysis of a polydopamine (PDA) carbon precursor on the surface of silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ).

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Carbon Lithium Sulfur Batteries Battery 188

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

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Polymer Waste Carbon Low Cost 223

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 )—

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West Virginia Diesel Lithium Sulfur Plug-in 240