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'DTNA’s SuperTruck was unveiled at the 2015 Mid-America Trucking Show. Click to enlarge. Daimler Trucks North America’s (DTNA) SuperTruck program has achieved 115% freight efficiency improvement (gallons of fuel consumed per ton of goods moved per mile traveled)—surpassing the Department of Energy (DOE) program’s goal of 50% improvement and exhibiting the best results of all reporting OEMs. ( Earlier post.
'It''s no secret that many owners of the Tesla Model S love their cars--to the point of becoming evangelists for the brand, and sometimes for electric cars in general. But if you''ve never had the pleasure of hearing a Tesla owner extol the virtues of his or her electric luxury sport sedan, consider the results of a recent consumer survey. MORE: What.
'Researchers at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) are proposing that it is possible to design an efficient graphene-cathode-based thermionic energy converter (TIC)—a device for converting heat to electricity leveraging the phenomenon of thermionic emission, or the release of electrons from a hot body—operating at around 900 K (626 °C) or lower, as compared with a conventional metal-based cathode TIC operating at about 1500 K (1227 °C).
'Five years and more than 35,000 European sales since the launch of its all-electric LEAF, proprietary data released by Nissan show that 99.99% of its battery units remain entirely fit for purpose. The failure rate of the battery power unit is less than 0.01 percent—three units in total—a fraction of the equivalent industry-wide figure for defects affecting traditional combustion engines.
'Mercedes-Benz is making a strategic push on plug-in hybrids: the Stuttgart-based automaker will introduce 10 new plug-in hybrid models by 2017. The company said that the main emphasis as regards alternative drives in years to come will be on plug-in hybrids. The announcement follows the market introduction of the C 350 e ( earlier post , earlier post ), the company’s second plug-in hybrid model following the S 500 Plug-In Hybrid ( earlier post ).
'Siemens researchers have developed a new electric motor that, with a weight of just 50 kilograms (110 lbs), delivers a continuous output of about 260 kW—five times more than comparable drive systems. The motor was specially designed for use in aircraft. Due to its record-setting power-to-weight ratio, larger aircraft with takeoff weights of up to two tons will now be able to use electric drives for the first time, Siemens said.
'In the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in the Le Mans 24 Hours as the season’s pinnacle event, Audi will compete with a thoroughly revised R18 e-tron quattro diesel hybrid racer in the 4-megajoule class. ( Earlier post.) A two-fold quantity of hybrid energy, fundamentally revised aerodynamics, the next step in lightweight design and detailed optimization work characterize the fifth generation of the Audi R18.
'In the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in the Le Mans 24 Hours as the season’s pinnacle event, Audi will compete with a thoroughly revised R18 e-tron quattro diesel hybrid racer in the 4-megajoule class. ( Earlier post.) A two-fold quantity of hybrid energy, fundamentally revised aerodynamics, the next step in lightweight design and detailed optimization work characterize the fifth generation of the Audi R18.
'by Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. Oil companies continue to get burned by low oil prices, but the pain is bleeding over into the financial industry. Major banks are suffering huge losses from both directly backing some struggling oil companies, but also from buying high-yield debt that is now going sour. The Wall Street Journal reported that tens of millions of dollars have gone up in smoke on loans made to the energy industry by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and UBS.
'The team achieved three-times-higher storage capacity through the reversible redox reactions of copper and iron—breaking and reforming copper-fluorine and iron-fluorine bonds while absorbing and releasing lithium. Source: BNL. Click to enlarge. A team led by researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has found that adding copper atoms to iron fluoride—a member of the class of materials called transition metal fluorides that are potential extremely high-capacity cathodes for
'Americans’ concern about several major environmental threats has eased after increasing last year, according to Gallup’s annual Environment survey, conducted March 5-8. As in the past, Americans expressed the greatest worry about pollution of drinking water, and the least about global warming. Gallup trends on many of these items stretch back more than two decades.
'Elio Motors, the start-up developing a $6,800, 84-mpg- (2.8l/100 km) three-wheeled vehicle with a target date of 2016, unveiled its engine prototype: a 0.9-liter, 3-cylinder unit developed by IAV. To provide its customers with high fuel efficiency and still provide the performance consistent with today’s passenger vehicles, the Elio Motors engine must operate efficiently at two different loads—lower loads representative of highway cruising, and more demanding loads associated with the fas
'Intelligent Energy is expanding its PEM fuel cell offerings with a new 100 kW automotive fuel cell architecture. Designed to deliver primary motive power within an advanced electric driveline, the 100 kW fuel cell architecture and core technology will be available to vehicle manufacturers through technology licensing programs and joint development agreements.
'Modeling study showing possible bimetallic sites on a Ti-modified Cu surface. The two Cu-Cu-Ti hollow sites exhibit HBE values close to that of Pt. The Cu-Ti-Ti hollow site binds hydrogen too strongly. Lu et al. Click to enlarge. A team from the University of Delaware and Columbia University, with colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, reports that a new hierarchical nanoporous copper-titanium bimetallic electrocatalyst is able to produce hydrogen from water under a mild overpoten
'Late last week, the 5-millionth vehicle with a Ford EcoBoost engine rolled off the assembly line at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. Ford had celebrated the production of its 500,000 th EcoBoost-equipped vehicle les than three years ago. A Ford Focus equipped with 1.0-liter turbocharged engine represents the 5-millionth Ford EcoBoost engine produced.
'Bloomberg reports that the Volkswagen Group will decide by July how to proceed with solid state energy storage technology under development by Quantumscape ( earlier post) , citing Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management, who spoke outside a press conference in Stuttgart. According to the report, Winterkorn said that the technology’s potential to boost the range of battery-powered vehicles is compelling and tests are progressing. “ Progress has been made, ” he said.
'Achates Power, Inc., the developer of a family of two-stroke compression-ignition opposed-piston engines ( earlier post ), has been awarded a $14-million project by the National Advanced Mobility Consortium to support research and development work of the US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). The project is the Single Cylinder Advanced Combat Engine Technology Demonstrator, part of the Army’s 30-year strategy to modernize tactical and combat vehicles.
'GM will introduce a strong hybrid version of the next-generation Malibu. Using technology from the 2016 Chevrolet Volt propulsion system ( earlier post ), Malibu Hybrid will offer an estimated combined fuel economy rating exceeding 45 mpg (5.22 l/100 km), higher than the combined cycle mileage ratings of the Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata hybrid variants and a significant boost over the 29 mpg combined of the MY 2015 Malibu with 2.5L engine with start/stop.
'Ford’s Go!Drive on-demand car sharing experiment apps allows users to register, select a vehicle and pay through a mobile app. Click to enlarge. Ford’s Go!Drive car sharing on-demand experiment in London is entering its beta phase, which will entail ramping up the fleet from 20 to 50 units and beginning to look at different elements of customer access around car sharing, including pricing and incentives in terms of how the car sharing model and operate smoothly and efficiently, according to Ali
'Purdue researchers have developed a process to manufacture carbon-nanoparticle and microsheet anodes for Li-ion batteries from polystyrene and starch-based packing peanuts, respectively. The work, performed by postdoc Vinodkumar Etacheri, Professor Vilas Pol and undergraduate chemical engineering student Chulgi Nathan Hong, is being presented at the 249 th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition in Denver.
'Graphene nanoribbons formed into a three-dimensional aerogel and doped with boron and nitrogen (3D BNC NRs) exhibit the highest onset and half-wave potentials among the reported metal-free catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline fuel cells, and show superior performance compared to commercial Pt/C catalyst, according to a new study by Rice University researchers.
'Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have linked fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) pollution to a dangerous narrowing of neck arteries that occurs prior to strokes. PM 2.5 pollutants are particulates with diameters less than 2.5 millionths of a meter. They are mostly by-products of combustion engines and burning wood. The scientists analyzed medical test records for more than 300,000 people living in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.
'Analysis by Lux Research suggests that the market space represented by the emerging lower-cost, 200-mile-range EV will be the biggest coming growth opportunity in electric storage for transportation. By 2020, this new EV battleground should account for $5 billion or more in Li-ion battery sales, because it combines larger packs (around 50 kWh) with more sales (hundreds of thousands of vehicles).
'Ford of Europe announced that the a new S-MAX will be the first Ford worldwide to offer Intelligent Speed Limiter, a new technology that scans traffic signs and adjusts the throttle to help drivers stay within legal speed limits and avoid fines. Intelligent Speed Limiter for the first time combines the two current Ford technologies Adjustable Speed Limiter and Traffic Sign Recognition, which are both already available on models including Focus, all-new Mondeo, and Kuga SUV.
'Volkswagen of America is hosting a media drive in Austin this week to introduce the newest US member of the seventh-generation Golf family, the Golf SportWagen. Based on the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) architecture introduced with the latest Golf generation, the SportWagen replaces the Jetta SportWagen in the Volkswagen US line-up. (The Golf SportWagen was also the basis for the hydrogen fuel cell Golf SportWagen HyMotion concept shown at the LA Auto Show last November.
'At the Geneva motor show, Toyota announced that it would begin sales of the new Mirai fuel cell vehicle ( earlier post ) in Europe by September. Sales of the FCV began in Japan last December. European launch markets in 2015 will be the UK, Denmark and Germany; more markets will be added in 2017. Toyota said that it is expecting annual volume of 50-100 cars/year in 2015 and 2016.
'At the recent ISTAT (International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading) Americas conference, Randy Tinseth, vice president, marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes unveiled a series of product improvements that will be available on the 777-300ER, the 777-200LR and the 777 Freighter. Baseline engine, airplane weight and aerodynamic improvements will be phased into production by the third quarter of 2016, lowering trip fuel use by 2%.
'BASF and Floatility have partnered for the development of an ultra-lightweight and solar-powered electric scooter. Weighing less than 12 kilograms (26.5 lbs) and consisting of more than 80% composite and plastic materials from BASF, the scooter will give commuters the sensation of floating and thus has been named ‘e-floater’. The e-floater is designed to bridge the gap on the last mile between home or city center and the nearest public transport.
'A new study by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley shows quantitatively that EV batteries can continue to meet daily travel needs of drivers well beyond the 80% floor for remaining energy storage capacity that is commonly assumed. An open access paper on their work, which applied detailed physics-based models of EVs with data on how drivers use their cars, is published in the Journal of Power Sources.
'Keeping pace with its announced intention to roll out 10 plug-in hybrids by 2017 ( earlier post ), Mercedes-Benz introduced the new GLE550 e 4MATIC plug-in hybrid (PHEV) along with the other members of the new GLE family of full-size SUVs. The GLE550 e is Mercedes-Benz’ first plug-in hybrid SUV. The high-performance SUV models, the Mercedes-AMG GLE63 4MATIC and the GLE63 S 4MATIC, will also celebrate their world premieres at the same time at the New York International Auto Show.
'Process for determining compliance status. Source: EPA. Click to enlarge. For the second consecutive model year, the automotive industry outperformed the national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards by a wide margin, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) second annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Light Duty Vehicles: Manufacturer’s Performance Report.
'EV Connect, a provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, including a cloud-based software platform for managing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, their interaction with utilities and the driver experience, entered into a joint marketing and product agreement with GE’s Industrial Solutions business. Under the terms of the agreement, GE will be a preferred charging station supplier of EV Connect, and EV Connect will be a preferred management provider for GE charging stations wor
'Mercedes-Benz Vans USA introduced the Mercedes-Benz Metris midsize van at the NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis. The Metris, which launches at US dealers in October 2015, is the US and Canadian sibling to the Vito ( earlier post ), which remains the midsize commercial van nameplate for all other global markets. The Metris will be available with a 4-cylinder gasoline engine that has 208 hp (155 kW) and 258 lb-ft (350 N·m) of torque, mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission with rear-w
'Due to growing requests from companies and fleets alike, Nissan has advanced the introduction of the latest iteration in its electric vehicle line-up—a seven-seat version of the all-electric e-NV200 van, and launched it at the Geneva Motor Show. ( Earlier post.). The e-NV200’s electric drivetrain, based on that used in the LEAF, is combined with the cargo volume of the NV200 to create a practical and versatile vehicle capable of carrying people or goods.
'XG Sciences (XGS), a leading provider of graphene nanoplatelets, has demonstrated full battery cell cycle stability through more than 400 charge/discharge cycles with a charge storage capacity of 600 mAh/gram over a broad voltage window in its next generation silicon graphene ( earlier post ) (XG SiG) anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. “ We believe our latest material is the first commercially viable silicon and graphene based anode formulation to achieve this all important performance
'Daimler is investing about €1 billion (US$1.07 billion) in the Mercedes-Benz plant in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim and is transforming it into a center of competence for highly efficient engines, hybrid powertrains and the production of fuel cell systems. From 1 June, Untertürkheim will assume responsibility for a facility in Nabern in the greater Stuttgart area where assembly of the fuel cell system will take place.
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