Sat.Dec 30, 2017 - Fri.Jan 05, 2018

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SoCalGas, partners developing technology to make carbon fiber during hydrogen production from methane; reducing the cost of H2 and cutting GHG

Green Car Congress

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) is partnering with a development team to advance a new process that converts natural gas to hydrogen, carbon fiber, and carbon nanotubes. The low-emission process, selected for funding as part of the H2@Scale initiative ( earlier post ) by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO), will create both hydrogen that can be used in fuel cell vehicles and industrial processes, as well as carbon fiber used in applications from medica

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Gas prices primed to rise in 2018, highest in four years: report

Green Car Reports

As Americans collectively sigh at their credit-card bills from the holiday season, GasBuddy has some bad news that won't help ease the financial pain. The fuel price-tracking website predicts the cost of a gallon of fuel will rise by $0.19 per gallon in 2018, on average, to the highest level gas prices have been since 2014. That might not seem.

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About to get a new company car? Have you considered an EV and the savings?

EV Driver

Between now and the next couple of years, EVs are going to become more and more prolific, it is inevitable. Humans don't like change but when it is undeniably impending we tend to get on with it and start learning how to adapt. That said, we are all interested in savings, whether we are earning at the top or getting by in lower income streams and EVs can offer significant savings to those who have company cars.

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What 2018 Will Bring to the New Retail Economy?

Green Car Congress

As the retail industry is basking in what’s predicted to be a profitable holiday shopping season, we look to the year ahead, working to stay ahead of consumer trends, emerging technologies, and disruptive changes.

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How serious is Norway about climate change? So much that its streetlights self-dim

emissions global warming Norway climate change carbon dioxide youtube lighting

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Nine Ways to Make More Sales This Year

Green Car Congress

If “Make more sales” is on your New Year’s Resolutions list (and I’m betting that it is), the question becomes “How, exactly?” The good news is that there are lots of ways. Here are nine simple ones you can implement immediately: 1. Do more prospecting If you want more sales, you need more prospects. Whether [.].

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@eriqgardner: Spotify Hit With $1.6 Billion Copyright Lawsuit Over Tom Petty, Weezer, Neil Young Songs [Music Modernization Act Fallout]

Green Car Congress

In a curious twist, Eriq Gardner reports that the controversial Music Modernization Act has already prompted the inevitible litigation from a publisher seeking to beat the bill’s new safe harbor deadline applicable to lawsuits filed after January 1, 2018. Wixen Pubilshing filed the new lawsuit on December 29, 2017, two years to the day after David Lowery filed the first class action against Spotify, but before the Music Modernization Act legislation is even available on thomas.gov.

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More Trending

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California legislator introduces bill requiring all new passenger vehicles to be ZEVs after 1 Jan 2040

Green Car Congress

California state legislator Phil Ting has introduced a bill— AB 1745 —that all new passenger vehicles in the state be zero emissions vehicles after 1 January 2040. For the purposes of the bill, zero emissions vehicles cannot produce exhaust emissions of any criteria pollutant or greenhouse gas under any operational mode or condition; upstream emissions are not counted.

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Research team explains mechanism for voltage loss in NCM Li-ion batteries

Green Car Congress

A team comprising researchers from Samsung and academic colleagues in China and the US have determined the reason for voltage loss in Li-ion batteries using lithium-rich layered transition metal oxide cathodes. Combining various X-ray spectroscopic, microscopic, and structural probes, they found that partially reversible transition metal migration decreases the potential of the bulk oxygen redox couple by?

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GM China sales top 4M vehicles for the first time in 2017; SUV sales up 37%

Green Car Congress

General Motors and its joint ventures sold more than 4 million vehicles in China for the first time in 2017. Retail sales totaled 4,040,789 units, which was up 4.4% from the previous high in 2016. China was GM’s largest retail market for the sixth consecutive year. The company benefited from record domestic sales by the Cadillac, Buick and Baojun brands.

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Volkswagen brand produced more than 6M vehicles in 2017

Green Car Congress

The Volkswagen brand produced more than six million vehicles in 2017, setting a new record. The largest model offensive to date in the history of the Volkswagen Group’s core brand and growing demand from customers across the globe led to the new record. This development is driven by the long-standing best-sellers Jetta, Golf, Santana, Passat and Polo, growing demand for the Tiguan and recently launched products such as the new Polo, Arteon and T-Roc.

2017 186
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Faurecia and Accenture partner on products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles

Brief

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Cummins Westport receives 2018 emissions certifications for ultra-low NOx ISX12N natural gas engine

Green Car Congress

Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI) received certifications from both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (ARB) for its 2018 ISX12N natural gas engine. ( Earlier post.) Like the Cummins Westport L9N engine, the ISX12N meets California ARB optional Low NO x standard of 0.02 g/bhp-hr, a 90% reduction from engines operating at the current EPA NO x limit of 0.2 g/bhp-hr.

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New strategy for enabling Li-metal anodes in high capacity batteries; trapping Li in microcages

Green Car Congress

Researchers in China are proposing a new strategy to retard dendrite formation on Li metal anodes in high-capacity Li-ion batteries. In a paper published in the ACS journal Nano Letters , they describe trapping Li within hollow silica microspheres with a carbon nanotube core to suppress dendrite growth. Such an electrode exhibited a dendrite-free morphology after plating 2 mA h cm –2 of Li.

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Average US new vehicle fuel economy in December down from November; 2017 average unchanged from 2016

Green Car Congress

The average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the US in December was 25.0 mpg 9.4 l/100 km)—down 0.2 mpg from the revised value for November, according to the monthly report from Dr. Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). This drop likely reflects the increased proportion of light trucks versus passenger cars in the sales mix, they suggested.

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Average gasoline prices in US up 13% in 2017 from 2016, but lower than in 2015

Green Car Congress

US regular retail gasoline prices averaged $2.41 per gallon in 2017, 27 cents/gal (13%) higher than in 2016, but two cents/gal less than in 2015, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Higher crude oil prices in 2017 contributed to higher gasoline prices. Source: US EIA, Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. In 3 of the 10 cities for which EIA collects weekly retail price data, gasoline prices exceeded $3.00/gal at least once in 2017, and prices in every city except Houston exce

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ExxonMobil announces 6th oil discovery offshore Guyana with Ranger-1; Guyana may move from non-producer to regional powerhouse

Oil

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DENSO partners with and invests in FLOSFIA to develop next-gen gallium oxide power semiconductor devices for electrified vehicles

Green Car Congress

DENSO Corporation and FLOSFIA Inc., a tech startup spun out from Kyoto University, are partnering to develop a next-generation power semiconductor device expected to reduce the energy loss, cost, size and weight of inverters used in electrified vehicles (EVs). Through the joint development project, the two companies aim to improve the efficiency of EV power control units, a key to drive widespread EV use.

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Continental to acquire 5% stake in HERE; collaborating on dynamically maintaining and updating HD maps

Green Car Congress

Continental has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 5% indirect ownership stake in HERE Technologies, a global leader in mapping and location services. The share will be sold by HERE’s current indirect shareholders, Audi AG, BMW Group and Daimler AG. The involved parties have agreed not to disclose any financial details. The transaction is subject to merger control approval.

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Anellotech begins key R&D program at newly commissioned TCat-8 pilot plant

Green Car Congress

Anellotech, developer of a process for the production of cost-competitive renewable aromatic chemicals and fuels from non-food biomass ( earlier post ), has completed the commissioning of its 25-meter tall TCat-8 pilot plant, and has begun a development and testing program. An integrated team of Anellotech and IFPEN research engineers and technicians will optimize process variables and generate data for process development and scale-up.

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Rice researchers show how to optimize nanomaterials as replacements for platinum in fuel-cell cathodes

Green Car Congress

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes or modified graphene nanoribbons may be suitable replacements for platinum for fast oxygen reduction, the key reaction in fuel cells that transform chemical energy into electricity, according to Rice University researchers. The findings are from computer simulations by Rice scientists who set out to see how carbon nanomaterials can be improved for fuel-cell cathodes.

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ON Semiconductor introduces scalable image sensor platform for ADAS and autonomous driving; up to 8.3MP resolution

Green Car Congress

ON Semiconductor announced a scalable family of CMOS image sensors to address the spectrum of applications for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. The sensors have resolutions scaling from 8.3 megapixels (MP) down to 1.2 MP, with industry-leading low-light performance from 4.2 µm pixels. The AR0820AT, AR0220AT and AR0138AT form a scalable image sensor family which provides a range of resolutions suited to new-generation ADAS and autonomous driving systems.

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Tesla reports best quarter for combined Model S and X deliveries; only 1,550 Model 3

Green Car Congress

Tesla reported Q4 deliveries of 29,870 vehicles, of which 15,200 were Model S (51%); 13,120 were Model X (44%); and 1,550 (5%) were Model 3. These results marked the best quarter for combined Model S and X deliveries, representing a 27% increase over Q4 2016, and a 9% increase over Q3 2017, Tesla’s previous best quarter. In total, Tesla exceeded its previously announced guidance by delivering 101,312 Model S and X vehicles in 2017—a 33% increase over 2016.

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All New Flyer facilities now capable of manufacturing Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric buses

Green Car Congress

New Flyer of America Inc., the US subsidiary of New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI Group), the largest transit bus and motor coach manufacturer and parts distributor in North America, announced that its Anniston, Alabama facility has successfully completed its first full build of an Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric heavy-duty transit bus. The Anniston facility now joins all other New Flyer locations with capability to manufacture the Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric bus, including Winnipeg, Manitoba

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Continental showcasing autonomous driving control unit at CES

Green Car Congress

At CES, Continental will showcase a highly flexible computing platform for automated driving systems and the processing of large amounts of data. Developed by Continental’s San Jose Research & Development Center in collaboration with Xilinx, the Assisted & Automated Driving Control Unit will enable Continental’s customers to get to market faster by building upon the Open Computing Language ( OpenCL ) framework, standardized by the Khronos Group, a consortium focused on the creation of open stand

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BMW Group US electrified vehicle sales up 31.2% to 21,208 units in 2017; 6% of total sales in US

Green Car Congress

Sales of BMW Group electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles increased 31.2% in 2017 to 21,208 units, accounting for 6.0% of total BMW Group sales in the US. BMW offers six electrified vehicle models in the US, including the BMW i3 and BMW i8, as well as the BMW i Performance models: BMW 330e, BMW 530e, BMW 740e and the BMW X5 xDrive 40e. MINI offers the MINI Countryman plug-in-hybrid electric vehicle.

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Ricardo supporting Active Response trial to unlock grid capacity for electric vehicles

Green Car Congress

Ricardo is supporting a trial run by UK Power Networks into using smart grid technology to unlock spare capacity for increased electric vehicle use—maximizing the power available from existing infrastructure while avoiding costly network reinforcement or substation replacement. The project, called Active Response , will trial a responsive, automated electricity network that reconfigures itself, moving spare capacity to where the demand is.

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Volkswagen Group in strategic collaboration with self-driving technology startup Aurora Innovation; Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) fleets

Green Car Congress

The Volkswagen Group and self-driving technology startup Aurora Innovation, founded by technology veterans from Google, Tesla and Uber, announced a strategic collaboration ahead of the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The collaboration brings the two companies together to realize self-driving electric vehicles in cities as Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) fleets.

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Hyundai Motor and Aurora partner to develop Level 4 autonomous vehicles by 2021; new autonomous features on next-gen fuel cell vehicle

Green Car Congress

Hyundai Motor Company and Aurora Innovation, an autonomous vehicle technology startup ( earlier post ), announced a strategic partnership to bring self-driving Hyundai vehicles to market by 2021. This partnership will incorporate Aurora’s self-driving technology into Hyundai vehicles starting with models custom-developed and launched in test programs and pilot cities.

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Magna to showcase its electrification and autonomy solutions at CES 2018

Green Car Congress

Magna will showcase key products in electrification, autonomy and mobility during CES 2018. By using virtual reality technology, attendees will experience firsthand how an autonomous vehicle works. Attendees can also design their own new mobility vehicle and take their bespoke design for a virtual test drive. In addition, the company will showcase its latest electrification technology through its e1 demonstration concept vehicle.

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Caterpillar Marine developing hybrid tug with Sanmar Shipyards; Advanced Variable Drive

Green Car Congress

Caterpillar Marine is collaborating with Sanmar Shipyards in Istanbul, Turkey to build an innovative tugboat with a hydraulic hybrid propulsion system. Sanmar is the largest tug builder in Turkey with over 40 years of experience and known as a market leader at the forefront of the tug building industry. The Cat Marine Advanced Variable Drive (AVD) is a patented system leveraging Caterpillar’s extensive experience with heavy-duty continuously variable transmission (CVT) technology, advanced contr

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BMW to use new i3s traction control system in all future BMW and MINI models

Green Car Congress

For the new i3s electric vehicle ( earlier post ), BMW not only the increased output of the motor but also developed an innovative traction control system adapted specifically to the instantaneous power deliver of the BMW eDrive system. BMW has now announced that it will use the new i3s traction control system in BMW and MINI models with front-, rear- and all-wheel drive.

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Nissan researching “Brain-to-Vehicle” technology; decoding driver motor cortex activity in real-time

Green Car Congress

Nissan is researching technology that will enable vehicles to interpret signals from the driver’s brain, redefining how people interact with their cars. The company’s Brain-to-Vehicle (B2V) technology promises to speed up reaction times for drivers and will lead to cars that keep adapting. Nissan’s B2V technology is the first system of its kind. The driver wears a device that measures brain wave activity, which is then analyzed by autonomous systems.

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DOE selects 6 projects for $30M in funding to boost unconventional oil and natural gas recovery

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected six projects to receive approximately $30 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development in unconventional oil and natural gas (UOG) recovery. The projects, selected under the Office of Fossil Energy’s (FE’s) Advanced Technology Solutions for Unconventional Oil and Gas Development funding opportunity, will address gaps in the understanding of reservoir behavior and optimal well-completion strategies, next-generation subsurface d

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Nexeon leading $13.6M project SUNRISE to advance silicon anode technology for higher capacity EV batteries

Green Car Congress

Nexeon, a UK-based developer of silicon anode materials for Li-ion batteries ( earlier post ), and its partners have been awarded £7 million (US$9.5 million) in Innovate UK funding toward a £10-million (US$13.6-million) project to develop significantly better materials for Li-ion batteries. The work is an essential step to achieving electric vehicles (EVs) with a range of 400 miles and above.

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Tata Motors, Westport Fuel Systems in development and supply agreement; natural gas solutions to meet upcoming India BS-VI emissions standards

Green Car Congress

Westport Fuel Systems Inc. has entered into a development and supply agreement with Tata Motors Limited for their 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder natural gas spark-ignited commercial vehicle engine family to meet the Indian Government’s new Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission standards, scheduled to take effect in April 2020. Westport Fuel Systems has been working with Tata Motors since 2012 and has partnered to develop and launch their current BS-IV certified natural gas spark-ignited engines for commer

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Titan LNG: ~11% of newbuilds in 2017 were LNG-powered; tipping point for marine fuel

Green Car Congress

Titan LNG, a full service supplier of LNG to the marine and industrial markets in North West Europe, reported that in 2017 around 11% of all new build contracts were LNG powered ships, a trend it expects to continue during 2018. The supplier suggests that LNG adoption as a marine fuel has passed the tipping point. The order book for LNG-powered ships grew substantially in 2017, the LNG bunkering infrastructure is maturing and the pricing of LNG has become structurally competitive versus MGO (mar

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