Green Car Congress

JUNE 22, 2016

Sweden inaugurated a test stretch of electric road on the E16 in Sandviken, thus becoming one of the first countries to conduct tests with electric power for heavy transports on public roads. The test stretch on the E16 is two kilometers long. The technology is similar to light rail, with contact lines 5.4 meters over the roadway. The truck has a pantograph on the roof that feeds 750 VDC to the truck’s hybrid electric system.

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Creative Greenius

JUNE 12, 2016

Out of the darkness, comes the light! Be there and shine with us! Your Creative Greenius loves him some Cults. You KNOW I dig Kaki King… In fact, there has NEVER been a greater, more talented, more entertaining musical line up than Sunstock! Hey, but don’t take the Greenius’ word for it, listen to what my bro, contemporary music expert, Dr.

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Green Car Reports

JUNE 30, 2016

At first glance, electric cars seem particularly well suited to urban driving. Trips are typically short enough to quell range anxiety, and stop-and-go traffic gives drivers plenty of opportunities to make use of regenerative braking. Meanwhile, everyone else likely appreciates the lack of engine noise and exhaust fumes. CHECK OUT: New York City.

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New York City Electric Cars New York Exhaust 124

Green Car Congress

JUNE 28, 2016

Led by Tesla, China’s BYD, and Volkswagen, the battery market for plug-in vehicles will rise to $10 billion in 2020, with electric vehicles (EV) emerging as the drivetrain of choice, according to a new forecast by Lux Research. Volkswagen will show the most growth as it focuses on plug-ins following its emissions scandal, while Toyota will continue to lag in plug-in sales as it focuses more on hybrids and fuel cells.

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Plug-in 2020 Plug Market 250

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Norway

Green Car Congress

JUNE 27, 2016

At the 2016 Paris Motor Show in October, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will unveil a new “Ground Tourer Concept” high-end plug-in hybrid SUV coupé. The reveal will follow on the introduction of the “Concept XR PHEV II” at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show and the “eX Concept” at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show.

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Mitsubishi PHEV Concept Motor 250

Green Car Congress

JUNE 30, 2016

Electric vehicles (EVs) will need to increase their combined market share to 16% by 2020 for markets to achieve the aggressive fuel economy standards set by regulators, according to new research by the World Energy Council, the UN-accredited global energy body representing the entire energy spectrum. While EVs currently represent less than 1% combined market share across the world’s largest markets for new passenger cars, they should be considered central to any policy and technology portfolio d

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Fuel Economy 2020 Economy Standards 247

Green Car Congress

JUNE 9, 2016

The US DRIVE Cradle-to-Grave Working Group has published the “Cradle-to-Grave Lifecycle Analysis of US Light-Duty Vehicle-Fuel Pathways: A Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Economic Assessment of Current (2015) and Future (2025–2030) Technologies” Argonne National Lab Report. The study provides a comprehensive lifecycle analysis (LCA), or cradle-to-grave (C2G) analysis, of the cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a variety of vehicle-fuel pathways, as well as the levelized cost of driving (LCD)

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 24, 2016

At the 2016 International VDI Congress “Drivetrain for Vehicles” in Friedrichshafen, Germany, John Fuller, Director of Concepts & IP for Torotrak Group, presented and discussed the company’s latest advances to optimize its full-toroidal variator technology for the light vehicle market as applied in continuously variable transmissions (CVTs). Torotrak’s main drive CVTs combine its full toroidal traction drive variator with other conventional transmission components.

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Low Cost Downsizing Congress Fuel Economy 225

Green Car Congress

JUNE 1, 2016

Researchers in Sweden and Spain have devised a three-step process for the conversion of precipitated kraft lignin from black liquor into green diesel. Their paper appears in the journal ChemSusChem. The kraft process converts wood into wood pulp for paper production. The process produces a toxic byproduct referred to as black liquor—a primarily liquid mixture of pulping residues (such as lignin and hemicellulose) and inorganic chemicals from the Kraft process (sodium hydroxide and sodium s

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Conversion Diesel Green Finland 224

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2016

In 2014, Scripps Institution of Oceanography received a grant from the US Department of Transportation to test the use of biofuel on the research vessel Robert Gordon Sproul for more than a year. Spearheaded by Scripps Associate Director Bruce Appelgate and co-led by Scripps atmospheric scientist Lynn Russell, the biofuel project investigated the viability of using hydrotreated renewable diesel fuel (HRD) on a long-term basis.

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Renewable Diesel Emissions Fuel 223

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 24, 2016

Strem Chemicals, a manufacturer and distributor of specialty chemicals founded in 1964, has licensed 23 separate pieces of intellectual property for next-generation battery materials from Argonne. Strem will manufacture and distribute nine resulting battery solvents and additives via its extensive marketing and global distribution networks. The materials were all invented at Argonne’s Electrochemical Energy Storage Center and scaled at Argonne’s Materials Engineering Research Facility (MERF).

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Market Battery Batteries Energy Storage 218

Green Car Congress

JUNE 17, 2016

Dana Holding Corporation will present its VariGlide planetary variator for beltless continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) at the International VDI Conference, to be held 21-22 June 2016, in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Dana’s VariGlide technology features a unique planetary, coaxial configuration, which eliminates belts and pulleys used in conventional CVTs.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 3, 2016

Researchers at Harvard have created a hybrid water splitting–biosynthetic system based on a biocompatible Earth-abundant inorganic catalyst system to split water into molecular hydrogen and oxygen (H 2 and O 2 ) at low driving voltages. Grown in contact with these catalysts, the bacterium Ralstonia eutropha then consumes the produced H 2 to synthesize biomass and fuels or chemical products from low CO 2 concentration in the presence of O 2.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 21, 2016

BMW i announced a home stationary energy storage system solution integrating its BMW i3 vehicle battery at EVS 29 in Montréal. The system utilizes BMW i3 high-voltage batteries and can be expanded to incorporate second-life batteries as they become available in the market. This strategy will extend the useful life of the battery for the owner, even beyond in-vehicle use, BMW said.

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Energy Storage BMW Energy Battery 210

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 30, 2016

Elio Motors, the start-up vehicle manufacturer planning to launch a three-wheeled vehicle that will get up to 84 mpg (2.8 l/100km) with a targeted base price of $6,800, has completed its first E-Series testing vehicle, code-named the E1A. As Elio Motors continues to develop the E-Series vehicles, its supplier and engineering teams will put the vehicles through a battery of tests that will help refine and finalize the overall design prior to final production.

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Motor Motoring Motors Vehicles 199

Green Car Congress

JUNE 30, 2016

As one of the outcomes of the “Three Amigos” meeting in Ottawa, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Barack Obama, and Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto committed to an “ambitious and enduring” North American Climate, Clean Energy, and Environment Partnership. A key element of that partnership is a goal for North America to strive to achieve 50% clean power generation by 2025.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 23, 2016

Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a novel, flexible, solid-state, ion-conducting membrane based on a 3D ion-conducting ceramic nanofiber network. The researchers said that their work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), represents a significant breakthrough to enable high performance lithium batteries.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 23, 2016

Ricardo is exploring the value proposition for applications of its novel split-cycle combustion engine ( earlier post ). In a poster-session paper presented at CIMAC Congress 2016 in Finland, Ricardo described the use of this split-cycle concept in high- and medium-speed engines for power generation to achieve efficiencies of 60% from units of 1–30 MW mechanical output.

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Engine Market Exhaust Waste 199

Green Car Congress

JUNE 8, 2016

TM4 will introduce three new SUMO medium-duty (MD) powertrain options at the 29 th Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition (EVS29), offering an increase of up to 45% in torque and speed, thanks to a new technological advancement. Until now, the main rotor technology found in TM4’s electric motors was based on surface-mounted permanent magnets. The desire to limit the use of rare-earth magnets has resulted in a technology choice that leverages the reluctance torque of TM4’s external rotor design

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Motor Motoring Motors Mariner 195

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2016

Researchers at Hunan University, China, have developed a new strategy to suppress the diffusion of polysulfides into the electrolyte in Li-Sulfur batteries, resulting in improved performance. As described in a paper in the Journal of Power Sources , the research tea used hydrophilic carbon paper anchored by hierarchically porous cobalt disulfides as an interlayer for capturing polysulfides through physical absorption and chemical bonding.

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Battery Batteries Carbon 2016 190

Green Car Congress

JUNE 1, 2016

European researchers have devised a new way to make nanoparticles that could replace rare-earth material use in magnets. The researchers used a mixed iron-cobalt oleate complex in a one-step synthetic approach to produce magnetic core-shell nanoparticles. The resulting materials showed strong magnetic properties and energy-storing capabilities. The approach could signal an efficient new strategy toward replacing rare earths in permanent magnets such as those uses in electric motors and keeping c

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Store IDEA 2016 Motor 190

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2016

The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, awarded a $4-million contract to SiNode Systems Inc. for development of advanced anode materials for automotive lithium-ion battery applications. The competitively bid contract award is 50% cost share-funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE).

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2016

Honda has launched the 2017 Accord Hybrid ( earlier post ) at its dealers in the US. Featuring an advanced second-generation two-motor hybrid powertrain, the 2017 Accord Hybrid midsize sedan delivers peak total system output of 212 hp, best-in-class EPA fuel economy ratings of 49/47/48 mpg US (4.8/5.0/4.9 l/100 km) (city/highway/combined), and a starting MSRP of $29,605.

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2017 Hybrid Honda Motor 183

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2016

In a new report, researchers have challenged the belief that growing crops for bioenergy will cut food production, a concern they say is stalling new schemes. The report also identifies five ways that countries as diverse as the United States and Brazil can achieve their targets to increase energy security, foster rural economic development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2016

Daimler is developing a dedicated, multi-model electric vehicle architecture for battery-powered vehicles. ( Earlier post.) The global debut will take place at the Paris Motor Show this fall, and the first model is to be launched onto the market before the end of the decade. Mercedes-Benz said it will benefit not only from its internal development and production expertise but also from the group’s multi-model series modular strategy for alternative drive systems and direct access to key componen

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Electric Vehicles Motor Motoring Motors 183

Green Car Congress

JUNE 1, 2016

BMW will launch the latest BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo in time for the start of summer. Combining the style of a coupé, the passenger spaciousness of a luxury sedan and the trunk capacity of a station wagon, the 3 Series Gran Turismo has developed into a firm fixture of the mid-size class over the last three years. Its biggest sales markets are China, Germany and the USA; the majority of BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo customers are new to the BMW brand.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2016

MAHLE Powertrain is the first independent engineering service provider (ESP) to have its real driving emissions (RDE) test process and routes approved by the UK Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA). MAHLE’s approval comes well in advance of the adoption of RDE across Europe in 2017, when portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) will become mandatory for the emissions testing of all new vehicles.

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Engine Audi Emissions 2018 174

Green Car Congress

JUNE 3, 2016

Researchers at the University of Manchester (UK) have developed a graphene-based nano-rectifier (“ballistic rectifier”) that can convert waste heat to electricity. The nano-rectifier was built by a team led by Professor Aimin Song and Dr. Ernie Hill, in collaboration with a team at Shandong University (China). The device exploits graphene’s phenomenally high electron mobility—a property which determines how fast an electron can travel in a material and how fast electronic devices can opera

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Waste 2015 Universal Convert 174

Green Car Congress

JUNE 29, 2016

A team from Ford’s Research and Innovation Center and LG Chem’s Corporate R&D group has reported the first cradle-to-gate (i.e., the factory gate—before delivery to the consumer) emissions assessment for a mass-produced battery in a commercial battery electric vehicle (BEV)—the lithium-ion battery pack used in the Ford Focus BEV. Their paper is published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.

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Manufacturer Commercial Ford Battery 170

Green Car Congress

JUNE 28, 2016

Volvo Trucks North America is adding a turbo compounding option for the Volvo D13 engine. By converting wasted heat energy, the 13-liter D13 with turbo compounding improves fuel efficiency by up to 6.5 percent%, while also delivering up to 100 extra lb-ft of torque for improved performance. Turbo compounding increases fuel efficiency by converting wasted heat energy from the exhaust into useable mechanical energy that is returned as extra torque to the crankshaft of the engine.

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Volvo Engine Fuel North America 170

Green Car Congress

JUNE 28, 2016

Even with wide-ranging unpredictable gas prices, US automakers will remain profitable and suppliers will benefit under existing national fuel economy standards slated to be in place until 2025, according to a new economic analysis brief prepared by independent automotive industry analysts, commissioned by the nonprofit group Ceres. The brief is a summary for investors and policy analysts of a larger study that will be available from Ceres in August 2016.

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Standards Price Fuel Future 170

Green Car Congress

JUNE 22, 2016

Sainsbury’s has become the first company to introduce a refrigerated delivery truck cooled by a liquid nitrogen powered engine ( earlier post ), which will eliminate all emissions associated with refrigeration. Supplied by cooling technology specialist Dearman and its partners, the zero-emission cooling unit replaces the traditional diesel engine used to chill the vehicle and will significantly cut emissions.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 21, 2016

PG&E announced a Joint Proposal with labor and leading environmental organizations that would increase investment in energy efficiency, renewables and storage beyond current state mandates while phasing out PG&E’s production of nuclear power in California by 2025 with the retirement of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant—California’s last operating nuclear power generation station.

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Energy Storage Renewable Energy California 170

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2016

NASA will test new propulsion technology using an experimental airplane now designated the X-57 and nicknamed “Maxwell.” The X-57 features 14 electric motors turning propellers, all of them integrated into a uniquely-designed wing. NASA researchers ultimately envision a nine-passenger aircraft with a 500 kW power system in 2019. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden highlighted the agency’s first X-plane designation in a decade during his keynote speech Friday in Washington at the American Institute

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