Sat.Aug 06, 2016 - Fri.Aug 12, 2016

article thumbnail

BMW says electrified models exceeding sales expectations, especially in Europe

Green Car Congress

BMW said that its electrified models continue to exceed expectations, especially in Europe. While 4% of all BMW sales in Western Europe in July were electrified vehicles, that percentage increases significantly in markets where innovative electric mobility is supported through financial and infrastructure measures. In the Netherlands, 43% of BMW 3 Series registrations are for the plug-in hybrid BMW 330e model and 26% of 2 Series Active Tourer registrations are for the BMW 225xe.

BMW 204
article thumbnail

Plug-in hybrid problem: buyers don't understand them at all

Green Car Reports

What's an electric car? It's a car powered by a battery, like your cellphone. Doesn't use gasoline. What's a hybrid car? It's a car that runs on gasoline, but gets better fuel economy (whether or not you understand how). OK, so what's a plug-in hybrid? DON'T MISS: BMW 330e plug-in hybrid ads: no wait for Tesla Model 3 needed Ask average car buyers.

Plug-in 136
article thumbnail

VIDEO: How to charge an electric car

Drive EV

Record numbers of people are buying electric cars and plug-in hybrids, but many people still have reservations – and many of those centre on charging. How easy is it, where can you do it; how can you do it; and how long does it take?

article thumbnail

New Audi Q2 crossover available to order

Green Cars News

Audi’s new Q2, the company’s first crossover, is now available to order with three specification levels available from launch – SE, Sport and S line.

article thumbnail

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

emissions global warming Norway climate change carbon dioxide youtube lighting

article thumbnail

MIT, Novogy team engineers microbes for competitive advantage in industrial fermentation; the ROBUST strategy

Green Car Congress

Researchers at MIT and startup Novogy have engineered bacteria and yeast ( Escherichia coli , Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yarrowia lipolytica ) used as producer microbes in biofuel production to use rare compounds as sources of nutrients. The technique, described in a paper in the journal Science , provides the producer microbes with competitive advantage over other, contaminating microbes with minimal external risks, given that engineered biocatalysts only have improved fitness within the cust

MIT 200
article thumbnail

Which electric car excites you the most? Our poll results

Green Car Reports

This site covers all manner of vehicles, mostly for personal transport, with a focus on energy efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and advanced technologies to do so. When we started daily publication in 2009, our most popular articles were about hybrid cars. Now, our readers' highest enthusiasm is reserved for plug-in electric.

More Trending

article thumbnail

Self-driving Tesla Model X drives owner to ER after embolism

Green Cars News

If Tesla’s PR team are looking for some good news, especially regarding the manufacturer’s autonomous driving feature, they don’t need to look any fur.

Tesla 46
article thumbnail

Berkeley Lab researchers devise ant-nest-like structure for promising Li-S electrodes

Green Car Congress

Inspired by the structure of ant nests, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have devised a novel Li–S electrode featuring increased sulfur loading and sulfur/inactive-materials ratio to improve life and capacity. In a paper in the ACS journal Nano Letters , the team reports that the efficient capabilities of the ant-nest structure facilitate fast ion transportation, sustain polysulfide dissolution, and assist efficient precipitation.

Li-ion 190
article thumbnail

BMW 330e plug-in hybrid ads: no wait for Tesla Model 3 needed

Green Car Reports

The Tesla Model 3 electric car, which its maker says will launch late next year with 200 miles of range and a $35,000 price, has caused a few shock waves across the car industry. All the German luxury makers now have plans for their own 200-mile battery-electric vehicles coming in 2018 or later, at various prices. Now at least one maker, BMW, is.

BMW 98
article thumbnail

65 UK companies awarded ‘Go Ultra Low’ Status as they embrace electric vehicles

Drive EV

The Go Ultra Low Companies initiative has been endorsed by government and the automotive industry, and recognises organisations that are leading the electric motoring revolution by using electric vehicles (EVs), and pledging to buy even more.

article thumbnail

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

Brief

article thumbnail

Skoda reveals first close-up images of Kodiaq SUV

Green Cars News

Set to be premiered in Berlin next month, Skoda has revealed the first close-up images of its large SUV - Kodiaq. The exterior details of the model g.

SUV 41
article thumbnail

Urban Drive Cycle Testing shows a 26% mpg improvement on Ford Transits with XL Hybrids drive system

Green Car Congress

XL Hybrids announced vehicle testing results showing a 26% improvement in miles per gallon on the EPA UDDS (Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule) drive cycle for Ford Transit vans upfitted with XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive Systems. ( earlier post ) The fuel economy improvement on the EPA UDDS drive cycle also includes a more than 50% reduction in NO x emissions.

Ford 175
article thumbnail

Tesla Model X drives semi-conscious owner to hospital on Autopilot

Green Car Reports

Three months later, the May 7 death of a Model S driver in Florida continues to generate headlines and spark debate on the merits of electronic driver-assistance technologies. But a recent story points out at least one of the potential future advantages to self-driving cars: their ability to transport incapable occupants to their destinations. Or.

Florida 95
article thumbnail

Audi’s new suspension system that creates electricity

Drive EV

In an electric vehicle the recuperation of energy plays an important role in extending your driving distance by adding energy traditionally lost, back into the batteries. Currently the recovery of energy is performed under braking and when slowing down. This process is known as regen.

Audi 40
article thumbnail

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

Oil

article thumbnail

First drive review: Audi Q2

Green Cars News

I’m beginning to think that Audi can do no wrong right now. After reviewing the revised A3, I found that while perhaps not that exciting, it is an ext.

Audi 38
article thumbnail

LPE chooses Veefil for Australia’s first commercial EV fast-charging station

Green Car Congress

Australian energy retailer Locality Planning Energy has chosen Tritium’s Veefil ( earlier post ) as the first commercial electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging stations to be deployed in Australia. The first charging station, to be operational at Noosa, Queensland next week, is one of five planned across southeast Queensland and will enable drivers to charge EVs 25 times faster than a standard home charger.

article thumbnail

Tesla now 'driving force' behind San Francisco area manufacturing

Green Car Reports

Electric-car maker Tesla Motors has had many interesting and unexpected effects in its decade of existence. It's launched a series of electric cars with 200 miles or more of range, which remain—eight years after its first Roadster—the only such cars sold today that can make that claim. Perhaps one of its more unexpected impacts has.

article thumbnail

UK company car tax policy driving staff into older, dirtier vehicles

Drive EV

The number of employees paying company car tax has increased for the first time in 10 years, but the latest figures suggest that UK Government tax policy is driving staff into older, dirtier grey fleet vehicles via a Cash for cars allowances according to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association.

Tax 40
article thumbnail

Weekly round-up: Life-saving Tesla, government salary sacrifice concerns, order books open for Audi Q2

Green Cars News

In a week that has seen much of the news dominated by Team GB’s increasing medal haul at the Rio Olympics – currently standing at 16, with four gold –.

Audi 37
article thumbnail

Audi developing electromechanical rotary dampers; potential for energy recuperation from suspension; 48V

Green Car Congress

Audi is developing a prototype electromechanical rotary dampening system called “eROT,” in which electromechanical rotary dampers replace the hydraulic dampers used today for an even more comfortable ride. The eROT system also offers the potential for energy recuperation from the suspension. Every pothole, bump, and curve in the road induces kinetic energy during compression and rebound of the car’s suspension, observes Dr.

Audi 174
article thumbnail

Michigan won't let Tesla sell cars, but state fund invests in company (irony alert)

Green Car Reports

Tesla still isn't allowed to sell its electric cars in Michigan, owing to a ban on direct sales signed two years ago. All carmakers in the state must sell new cars solely through franchised dealers, something Tesla has fought against with no success so far. Yet while this ban continues, the state's Treasury Department is investing in Tesla Motors.

article thumbnail

BMW 225xe Active Tourer – Review

Drive EV

Guest post: Dan Brook of EVIOM (With thanks to Buchanan BMW) EVIOM (Electric Vehicles Isle of Man) took one of BMW’s PHEVs for a spin recently (that’s Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle to you). This is one of the first of many Plug-in versions of BMWs range that you will see.

BMW 40
article thumbnail

Electric vehicles – the be all and end all?

Green Cars News

We are at the tipping point where electric vehicles (EVs) are set to become a more dominant force than traditional fossil-fuelled machines. That’s a b.

article thumbnail

CALSTART brief highlights growth of and future opportunity for California’s clean transportation technology industry

Green Car Congress

A new CALSTART brief indicates that California’s climate and energy policies are not only helping to protect the environment and improve air quality, but are also helping to accelerate growth of the clean transportation technology industry (CTTI) in the state. The paper, “ California’s Clean Transportation Technology Industry: Time to Shift into High Gear ,” profiles the development of a burgeoning manufacturing sector that is producing zero- and near-zero emission light-, medium- and heavy-duty

Clean 174
article thumbnail

Is the elevated Chinese bus really practical? Could it work?

Green Car Reports

Last week, the massive Chinese elevated bus whose renderings had rocketed around the Internet made its first test run. The bus runs on rails embedded in the street, with room for cars to pass underneath it. Officially known as the Transit Elevated Bus, or TEB-1, it carried its first passengers on a stretch of street in the city of Qinhuangdao.

Chinese 95
article thumbnail

U Maryland and US Army Research Lab furthering “water-in-salt” electrolyte Li-ion battery; targeting EV use

Green Car Congress

University of Maryland (UMD) and US Army Research Lab (ARL) researchers are spearheading a public-private sector collaboration to further develop a lithium-ion battery that would be safer to operate and less costly to dispose of than those currently available on the market. Their approach involves using a high concentration of salt in aqueous lithium batteries to boost energy density and viability. ( Earlier post.

Li-ion 163
article thumbnail

Report: Sumitomo to begin selling fuel cells for commercial vehicles with US Hybrid

Green Car Congress

The Nikkei reports that Sumitomo Corp., the giant Japanese integrated trading company, will start selling fuel cells for commercial vehicles via a partnership with California-based US Hybrid. Sumitomo, which is strengthening its automobile business and expects growth in the fuel cell market, plans to supply mostly Japanese commercial vehicle makers, according to the report.

article thumbnail

Argonne team finds significant albedo warming effect for switchgrass ethanol

Green Car Congress

One of the key points of contention over the climate benefit of biofuels is the impact of land use change (LUC) associated with biofuel feedstock production. LUC results in biogeochemical (e.g., soil organic carbon) and biogeophysical (e.g., surface albedo, evapotranspiration, and surface roughness) changes. Of the biogeophysical factors, surface albedo has been considered a dominant effect at the global scale.

article thumbnail

DOE: number of PEV battery packs sold in 2015 dropped 3.4% from 2014, but overall capacity sold increased 22.6%

Green Car Congress

According to data compiled by the US Department of Energy (DOE), the number of battery packs sold for plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) in the US declined by 3.4% from 2014 to 2015. However, the total battery capacity for all PEVs sold between 2014 and 2015 increased by 22.6%. The increasing battery capacities of PEV models have thus supported increased battery production even when sales of PEVS—and thus battery packs—are down.

2015 163
article thumbnail

Lux: Total is leading example of oil supermajor expanding into solar plus storage and distributed generation

Green Car Congress

France-based Total is the first oil supermajor aggressively to enter new areas of business including solar plus storage and distributed generation, notes Lux Research in a new report : “Superpower Darwinism: What Big Oil Can and Cannot Do About Total’s Billion-Dollar Battery Move.”. Even though viable battery companies have become harder and more expensive to buy since Total’s $1-billion acquisition of Saft ( earlier post ), the oil supermajors—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Roy

Oil 163
article thumbnail

Sumitomo and US Hybrid partnering to grow hydrogen fuel cell business for commercial vehicles and mass transit

Green Car Congress

Sumitomo Corporation together with Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (collectively, SC Group) announced a strategic collaboration agreement with US Hybrid to grow US Hybrid’s fuel cell production business through the expansion of fuel cell stack production capacity. ( Earlier post.) SC Group will play an integral role in the project by coordinating discussions with OEMs using the integrated trading company’s global network.

article thumbnail

NSF to award $4.8M for catalysis research

Green Car Congress

The National Science Foundation will award up to $4.8 million through its Catalysis program ( PD-16-1401 ) is to advance research in catalytic engineering science and promote fundamental understanding and the development of catalytic materials and reactions that are of benefit to society. NSF anticipates an award duration of one to three years. The typical award size for the program is around $100,000 per year with allowance for up to $150,000 per year for collaborative projects or those involvi

article thumbnail

IBM Research and Stanford researchers ID develop new catalyst for cheaper bioplastics

Green Car Congress

A team from IBM Research and Stanford University has identified a chemical catalyst that can be used to create cheaper, biodegradable plastics from plants such as palm trees and beets. These inexpensive plastics can be used for making common consumer plasticware, such as eating utensils, as well as medical devices. The current method to convert plants into biodegradable plastics imparts heavy metals into the process.

Polymer 150
article thumbnail

Elio Motors locks in base price of $7,300 for non-refundable reservation holders for 3-wheeler

Green Car Congress

Elio Motors, the start-up vehicle manufacturer planning to launch a three-wheel vehicle that will get up to 84 mpg (2.8 l/100 km), is establishing a vehicle purchase base price of $7,300 for its non-refundable reservation holders until the company reaches 65,000 total reservations. Elio Motors aims to disrupt the American transportation industry with its low-cost, highly fuel efficient vehicle, much like Volkswagen did with the Beetle in 1968.

Price 150