Green Car Congress

JUNE 16, 2014

'A123 Systems LLC, a developer and manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batteries and systems, has acquired Leyden Energy’s intellectual property in battery materials covering lithium titanate (LTO) and non-flammable electrolyte (Li-imide) developments for an undisclosed amount. As a part of the deal, key technical staff of Leyden Energy have also agreed to join A123 Systems’ R&D organization.

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Creative Greenius

JUNE 17, 2014

'My politically connected friends (who prefer to remain nameless) advise me to accept State Senator Ted Lieu as he is and be happy for his strong environmental record. . They tell me to stop wishing he was somebody else and that I’m dreaming if I think he’s ever going to change into the dynamo that I fantasize about. . And I get that. You go to climate battle with the Ted Lieu you have, not the Ted Lieu you wished you had.

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Green Car Reports

JUNE 19, 2014

'Harley Davidson, the brand behind those often obnoxiously loud V-twin motorcycles favored by bikers, has built an electric motorcycle. No, the sky is not falling. Called LiveWire, the new electric motorcycle pairs Harley Davidson’s classic sense of style with what promises to be an impressive array of modern technology. At the moment, the.

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Electric Motorcycles Motorcycles Electric Electrical 167

Green Cars News

JUNE 20, 2014

'Legendary motorcycle manufacturer, Harley Davidson has revealed its very first electric motorcycle. The firm plans to allow select customers in the US to try out the new electric bike – dubbed Project Livewire – with plans for similar opportunities in Canada and Europe next year. Any decision [.].

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Motorcycles Electric Motorcycles Canada Electric 68

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Norway

Green Car Congress

JUNE 19, 2014

'The US Department of Energy (DOE) has six recently launched applied battery research (ABR) projects as part of its Vehicle Technologies portfolio. ABR, noted Peter Faguy, the DOE manager of the applied battery research program, during his presentation at the Annual Merit Review in Washington, DC, is the difficult regime between the discovery of materials and their application in batteries that can be commercialized.

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Li-ion PHEV Ni-Li Batteries 316

Green Car Congress

JUNE 19, 2014

'A team from Duke University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College and Ohio State University has published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology an overview and synopsis of recent investigations (as of January 2014) into one set of possible environmental impacts from unconventional shale gas development: the potential risks to water resources.

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Water Gas Oil Universal 306

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2014

'Impact of GTL diesel blending (5% penetration relative to refinery crude input) on US average overall refinery efficiency. Credit: ACS, Forman et al. Click to enlarge. A team from Sasol Synfuels, Jacobs Consultancy and Argonne National Laboratory has used results from a US industry-wide linear programming (LP) modeling study of individual US refineries to examine the impacts of a number of significant and looming changes—such as shifts in refinery crude slates; regional and seasonal varia

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Diesel Gasoline-Electric Oil Gasoline 287

Green Car Congress

JUNE 17, 2014

'Chevrolet Volt owners have accumulated more than half a billion all-electric miles since the vehicle’s launch in 2010. Additionally, based on a GM study of more than 300 Volts in service in California for more than 30 months, many owners are exceeding the EPA-rated label of 35 miles of EV range per full charge, with about 15% surpassing 40 miles of range.

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Volt Chevrolet Miles Idaho 285

Green Car Congress

JUNE 19, 2014

'The hydrogen shuttle bus. Click to enlarge. California-based US Hybrid Corporation has been awarded a contract by the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies (HCATT) for the design, integration and delivery of its H 2 Ride Fuel Cell Plug-In Shuttle Bus for operation by the County of Hawaii Mass Transit Agency’s (MTA) HELE-ON Big Island bus service.

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Hawaii Plug-in Plug Hybrid 281

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2014

' Performance of the new ESTEC engine (1NR-FKE) compared to the current 1NR-FE engine applied in the Yaris. Yamada et al. Click to enlarge. Engineers at Toyota have developed an approach to applying the Atkinson cycle—used in the engines in Toyota hybrids since 1997—for engines in conventional, non-hybrid vehicles. The Atkinson cycle with a high compression ratio is a common approach that hybrid vehicle engines use to enhance thermal efficiency.

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Fuel Economy Economy Engine Toyota 278

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 19, 2014

'The Lightning Hybrid system. Click to enlarge. Lightning Hybrids , a maker of hydraulic hybrid systems for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses ( earlier post ), released initial results from emissions testing conducted by an independent testing facility in Colorado of two medium-duty trucks upfitted with the Lighting Hybrids system. The results show decreases in NO x of up to 90% and decreases in CO 2 emissions of up to 16% over the same baseline vehicle, depending upon the drive cycle test

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2014

'TÜV Nord, an independent technical inspection organization, has certified the new Kia Soul EV according to the ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) standard. Comparing the Soul EV to its diesel counterpart currently on sale in Europe, TÜV Nord found the electric vehicle scored particularly strongly for “Global Warming Potential”, emitting 39.7% fewer greenhouse gases over the whole life of the vehicle.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 17, 2014

'MoO 2 -based SOFC using a fuel mixture consisting of n-dodecane, CO 2 and air. Kwon 2013. Click to enlarge. Researchers at Washington State University, with colleagues at Kyung Hee University and Boeing Commercial Airplanes, have been developing liquid hydrocarbon/oxygenated hydrocarbon-fueled solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for aviation (the “more electric” airplane) and other transportation applications, such as in cars.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2014

'Illustrative impact of the fuel roadmap. Source: LowCVP, Element Energy. Click to enlarge. The UK’s LowCVP has published twin reports which set out how the UK could meet its 2020 targets defined in the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, and proceed on a pathway to decarbonize road transport fuel in the period to 2030 and beyond. The LowCVP—the stakeholder body which brings government, industry and other stakeholders together to focus on the challenges of decarbonizing road transport—c

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Renewable Transportation Fuel Energy 255

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Guyana

Green Car Congress

JUNE 17, 2014

'The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award $20 million to ten new research and development projects that will advance hydrogen production and delivery technologies: six on hydrogen production and four on hydrogen delivery. The six hydrogen production R&D projects selected aim to produce, deliver, and dispense hydrogen at less than $4 per gallon gasoline equivalent: National Renewable Energy Laboratory of Golden, Colorado will receive $3 million to develop high-efficiency tandem absorbers base

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Hydrogen San Antonio Production Hawaii 253

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2014

'The new materials designed with additive manufacturing techniques exhibit high stiffness and low density, occupying a previously unpopulated area (upper left) of the Ashby material selection chart for Young’s modulus (stiffness) vs. density. The octet truss structure recently fabricated by Livermore researchers is a stretch-dominated lattice. Source: LLNL Click to enlarge.

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MIT Polymer Connect Connected 252

Green Car Congress

JUNE 19, 2014

'Battery-electric bus manufacturer Proterra Inc. has raised more than $30 million in additional funding to accelerate further deployment of its EV transit technology. Participation in this round of funding was bolstered by rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles in transit, as well as additional deployments by existing customers. Kleiner Perkins and GM Ventures led the financing, with significant growth funding from other existing investors.

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GM Financing Electric Electrical 252

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2014

'In a new report , Navigant Research forecasts that the market for next-generation advanced batteries (i.e., beyond Li-ion), will grow from $182 million in 2014 to more than $9.4 billion in 2023. The technologies covered in the report include Lithium sulfur (LiS); Magnesium-ion (Mg-ion); solid electrolyte; next-generation flow batteries; and metal-air batteries.

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Li-ion Market Lithium Sulfur Batteries 240

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2014

'2015 Sonata Eco. Click to enlarge. Hyundai announced the third powertrain available in the 2015 Sonata: the Sonata Eco. The 2015 Sonata Eco is powered by a variant of the 1.6-liter turbocharged Gamma four-cylinder engine ( earlier post )—already available in the Veloster—producing an estimated 177 horsepower (132 kW) and 195 lb-ft (264 N·m) of torque.

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MPG 2015 Hyundai Alabama 239

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2014

'Neste Oil recently produced its first batch of transportation fuel from recycled lubricants. Following treatment, spent lubricating oil can be reused as a feedstock for producing gasoline and diesel fuel. Neste Oil successfully tested using spent motor oil in this way at its Naantali refinery at the end of May and now aims to begin using this material on a continuous basis.

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Oil Transportation Fuel Waste 239

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2014

'Statoil reports another high-impact gas discovery offshore Tanzania; the discovery in the Piri prospect is Statoil’s and co-venturer ExxonMobil’s sixth discovery and the fifth high-impact discovery in Block 2 offshore Tanzania. The discovery of an additional two to three trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas in place in the Piri-1 well brings the total of in-place volumes up to approximately 20 tcf in Block 2. (1 Tcf = 180 million barrels of oil equivalent).

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2014

'The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy’s energy enterprise, Enova SF, has pledged NOK 1.55 billion (US$259 million) in investment backing for Hydro’s full scale next-generation electrolysis pilot project at Karmøy, on the west coast of Norway. This contribution is subject to approval by the European Free Trade Association’s (EFTA) surveillance authority ESA.

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Norway Clean Cleaning Gas-Electric 236

Green Car Congress

JUNE 19, 2014

'Researchers at MIT and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia have devised a robotic system that can detect leaks in gas, oil and water pipelines at a rapid pace and with high accuracy by sensing a large pressure change at leak locations. The concept was presented at two recent international conferences, and has been described in several recent papers.

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MIT Saudi Arabia Water Gas 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 16, 2014

'The Hertz Corporation recently joined Zero Emissions Mobility To All (Zem2All) in Spain—the largest electric mobility demonstration project in Europe. In partnership with Endesa, Hertz will be renting the Nissan LEAF from its Malaga city and airport locations to help to promote sustainable and smarter city transport. Globally, Hertz is working to provide customers and communities with sustainable mobility solutions, such as zero emissions and alternative fuel vehicles as well as car shari

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Spain Recharge Alternative Fuels Europe 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 14, 2014

'Aston Martin Racing is partnering with Beijing-based Hanergy Global Solar to explore the use of thin film solar panels to improve GT race car performance at the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), starting with the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend. We aren’t looking at solar power technology for our race cars because it is a green option. We are looking at how we can use the power of the sun to improve the comfort of our race cars for our drivers and therefore increase our performance on tr

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Aston Martin Solar Global Power 231

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2014

'The Energy Commission approved 15 grants totaling more than $5 million to install 475 electric vehicle chargers in communities throughout California, including the cities of San Francisco, Burbank, Torrance and San Diego and the counties of Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles. These grants are funded by the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP).

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California Energy San Diego San Francisco 225

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2014

'Toyota Motor Corporation will this summer in Japan begin rolling out “T-Connect”, a new telematics service, along with compatible navigation systems and a smartphone app. T-Connect improves on Toyota’s current “G-BOOK” service in several key ways: in addition to interactive voice response, it features a service that allows third-party apps to be downloaded to the car’s navigation system and an online help service that integrates and improves on the functions currently provided by G-BOOK.

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Toyota Connect Connected Vehicles 225

Green Car Congress

JUNE 15, 2014

'Bombardier Recreational Products & Vehicles (BRP) has introduced a new two-stroke direct-injection outboard engine that produces up to 75% fewer total regulated emissions, with 15% better fuel efficiency and 20% more torque than leading four-stroke engines: the G2 engines, the next generation of Evinrude E-TEC outboard engines. Engine output ranges from 200 to 300 hp.

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Cleaner Wisconsin 2002 Fuel Economy 225

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2014

'Oil and gas consultancy Rystad Energy estimates that oil sands and the Arctic continue to be the most expensive resources, with an average breakeven price of $75-80 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe). The attractiveness of these resources has declined over the past years, mainly as a result of the introduction of North American shale. The break-even price of NA shale is estimated at an average of $60-70/boe.

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Oil-Sands Oil Energy 2020 218

Green Car Congress

JUNE 20, 2014

'Oerlikon Graziano will display new transmission products for hybrid and electric vehicles at the upcoming VDI Wissenforum in Germany. Products displayed at VDI include the 2SED, a dual-speed seamless-shifting transaxle that can be coupled with a transversal electric motor, for front or rear full electric axle, and the electric transmission multispeed 4SED, a new compact, lightweight transmission offering increased efficiency, smooth shifting and a scalable design, making it suitable for a wide

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Electric Electrical Germany Hybrid 218

Green Car Congress

JUNE 19, 2014

'Ford Motor Company is furthering its commitment to aggressively step up water conservation programs at its global facilities and among the company’s suppliers, according to its 15 annual Sustainability Report, released today. Last year Ford reduced per vehicle water use by 30% globally from a 2009 baseline, reaching its goal two years ahead of schedule.

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Water Ford 2000 2013 218

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2014

'Enbridge Inc. announced today that pursuant to the Joint Review Panel’s (JRP) recommendation, the Northern Gateway Project (NGP) ( earlier post ) has received Governor in Council (GIC) approval by the Canadian federal government. The JRP’s recommendation was subject to 209 conditions. The Northern Gateway Project is a proposed 1,177-kilometer twin pipeline system and marine terminal.

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Canada Monaco Oil-Sands Oil 218

Green Car Congress

JUNE 18, 2014

'The new Opel Meriva minivan offers a new range of economical gasoline, LPG and diesel engines. The highlight is the 1.6 CDTI diesel available in three output levels: 100 kW/136 hp, 81 kW/110 hp, and new in the range, the 70 kW/95 hp. The new 70 kW/95 hp 1.6 CDTI comes with Start/Stop as standard and is available with a low-friction six-speed manual transmission.

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Green Car Congress

JUNE 17, 2014

'The automotive segment accounted for about 10.5% (4,972.2 MWh) of global advanced battery shipments of about 47,400 MWh, according to the most recent Advanced Battery Tracker from Navigant Research. The majority of advanced batteries (87%) went to the consumer electronics segment. The chemistries included in the report are all lithium-ion (Li-ion) chemistries, flow battery chemistries, sodium metal halide, sodium sulfur (NaS), aqueous sodium-ion, and advanced lead-carbon.

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