Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

Twelve European Union Member States exceeded one or more of the emission limits set by the EU National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive, according to recent official data for 2010 reported to the European Environment Agency (EEA). In some instances the limits were exceeded by significant amounts. For the first time, preliminary data recently reported to the EEA by Member States allow a comparison with the legally binding emission limits for 2010 set in the EU NEC Directive.

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Pollution 2010 Liechtenstein Emissions 309

Electric Cars are for Girls

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

From the Understatement: "A Tesla Roadster that is simply parked without being plugged in will eventually become a "brick". The parasitic load from the car's always-on subsystems continually drains the battery and if the battery's charge is ever totally depleted, it is essentially destroyed." And how has Tesla been responding to customers with accidentally "bricked" cars?

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Green Car Reports

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

For years, Police forces across the U.S. drove specially built Ford Interceptors based on the humble Ford Crown Victoria. Fitted with a powerful V-8 engine, they formed the backbone of many police fleets. In the past year however, Ford’s Interceptor has undergone a change, replacing the aged Crown Vic for a Ford Taurus-based platform, and.

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Cleaner Engine Ford Fleet 144

Green Cars News

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Tuesday, February 21, 2012. The Green Piece Column. With the Plug-in Car Grants (PICGs) set to expand to vans and light commercial vehicles (see story)-PIVGs as the will be known-electric vehicles look like they could ever more creep into the business sector. A new report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests that electric [.].

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Green Electric Vehicles MIT Massachusetts 58

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Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

CoolPlanet BioFuels, a start-up developing technology to convert low-grade biomass into high-grade fuels including gasoline, and carbon that can be sequestered ( earlier post ), claims it has achieved a conversion yield of 4,000 gallons gasoline/acre biomass in pilot testing using giant miscanthus, an advanced bioenergy crop. On an energy basis, that yield is about 12 times greater than current corn ethanol production levels, the company noted.

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Gasoline Conversion Gasoline-Electric Mississippi 304

Electric Cars are for Girls

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

Some places, like Alaska, suffer the effects of global warming more than others.and the rest of the us depend on places like Alaska to keep OUR climate stable.

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Global Alaska Climate 142

Green Cars News

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

We may be on the cusp of an era of vehicle electrification, but according to Pike Research, biofuels still have a huge role to play in the future of the automobile. It predicts that the global market for biofuels will more than double during the next decade – when it is set to increase from [.].

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Market Automobile Global Future 56

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

Schematic of a redox flow battery. Staiger et al. Click to enlarge. Sandia researchers have developed a new family of electrochemically reversible, metal-based ionic liquid (MetILs) that could lead to non-aqueous redox (reducing-oxidizing) flow-battery energy storage systems ( earlier post ) able to cost-effectively store three times more energy than today’s batteries.

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Low Cost Batteries Battery Energy Storage 278

Electric Cars are for Girls

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

The Battery Council says: recycle a lead acid battery and be an 'environmental success story'. But I wondered - who ends up with the lead?

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Lead Acid Batteries Battery 133

Green Car Reports

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

Heard of "bricking" yet? No? You will shortly. It's the phenomenon in which the lithium-ion battery pack of an electric car that's left unplugged for a long period goes completely, utterly dead--to the point where it cannot be recharged, and becomes a large, expensive "brick." A post on the Understatement blog that ricocheted around Silicon Valley.

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Electric Cars Lithium Ion Batteries Battery 123

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Green Cars News

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

The pin-up of the electric car world, the Nissan Leaf, has been reissued a five star safety rating from Euro NCAP after being tested to new, more stringent crash standards introduced for 2012. It is not the only model to successfully pass the retesting, with seven other models also re-earning their five star ratings in [.].

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2012 Nissan Standards Electric Cars 55

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E) will make $30 million available for a new research competition in the coming months focused on natural gas vehicles ( DE-FOA-0000672 ). DOE will also make $14 million available ( DE-FOA-0000615 ) to support research and development into biofuels from algae. President Obama announced both new programs during a speech on Thursday at the University of Miami.

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Gas Miami Low Cost 2012 268

Electric Cars are for Girls

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Can you get a battery charger for a conversion that will work with commercial EV car chargers currently being installed throughout the country?

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Conversion Charging Installation Commercial 102

Green Car Reports

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

And now perhaps it all becomes clear. The Tesla battery 'bricking' post that was today's electric-car news story and generated reams of coverage may simply be an attempt by an unhappy owner to get Tesla Motors to replace the battery in his Roadster. At least, that would appear to be the logical conclusion from a letter we just received from a.

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Tesla Tesla Motors All-Electric Batteries 122

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Green Cars News

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

A new project to develop a smart charging system for electric cars is being run by Volvo, Ericsson, utility company Göteborg Energi and the Viktoria Institute. Called ELVIIS (Electric Vehicle Intelligent Infra Structure), the project aims to develop smart on-board system for controlling, measuring and paying for electricity when charging via any kind of outlet. [.].

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Electric Cars Charging Volvo Cars 52

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

New Energy dCi 90 engine. Click to enlarge. Renault is introducing two new 1.5L diesel engines in its Energy family ( earlier post )—the Energy dCi 90 and 75—and applying them first in the Kangoo range. Fuel consumption will be 4.4 liters/100 km (53.5 mpg US), equivalent to 115g of CO 2 /km. Oil change intervals have been extended to every 40,000 km/two years, instead of every 30,000 km/two years, the longest in the engine’s class.

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Energy Engine Range Diesel 268

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

A complete overhaul of global environmental governance is urgently needed if the challenges of global sustainability are to be met for seven billion people, according to a wide-ranging Foresight Process conducted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The process involved a Foresight Panel and more than 400 scientists and experts from around the world.

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Global Environment Climate Change International 257

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

The military is interested in replacing lead-acid batteries with higher performing Li-ion systems. From a 2011 TARDEC presentation. (Skalny). Click to enlarge. A123 Systems has introduced the Military 6T Battery, a robust Li-ion battery system engineered specifically to meet the demanding requirements of military vehicles. The 6T is a standard form factor (10.5 in. x 10 in. x 8.5 in.), and is used in a wide range of applications.

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Li-ion Lead Acid Lithium Ion Design 247

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

Volvo Car Corporation, Ericsson, the utility company Göteborg Energi and the Viktoria Institute are collaborating in the research project ELVIIS (Electric Vehicle Intelligent Infra Structure) to develop a concept for using intelligent infrastructure for the smart on-board charging of plug-in vehicles. The new architecture allows drivers to control charging of cars while plugged into any ordinary power outlet.

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Volvo Corporation Plug-in Plug 246

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

Toyota released a few more snippets of detail about the new FT-Bh—Future Toyota B-segment hybrid—to be unveiled at the Geneva show. ( Earlier post.) The new concept is as spacious as an average five-door supermini, but produces about 50% less CO 2 , and weighs less than 800kg—e.g., less than a three-door Aygo. The new concept is designed for maximum fuel efficiency, and built using economically viable methods and materials, not with what Toyota called exotic materials or expens

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Toyota Concept Future Hybrid 231

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

The Waterloo Global Science Initiative ( WGSI )—a non-profit partnership between Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the University of Waterloo—has released the Equinox Blueprint: Energy 2030. The Blueprint provides a view of high impact energy technologies along with a set of implementation strategies as a roadmap to a low-carbon and more sustainable energy future.

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Carbon Future Energy Grid 231

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

Nikkei. GS Yuasa Corp. will bring a new automotive Li-ion battery factory in Shiga Prefecture online next month, with the aim of reducing production costs. “Through mass production, we will soon lower production costs to a quarter” of what they were when the company first started making such batteries in 2009, said President Makoto Yoda. The annual output of the factory, which is being built with Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. at a cost of ¥37.5 billion (US$471 million), will be en

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Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

Mitsubishi Corporation will invest approximately C$2.9 billion for a 40% interest in the Cutbank Ridge Partnership. The Partnership holds about 409,000 net acres of Encana’s undeveloped Montney-formation natural gas lands in the company’s Cutbank Ridge resource play in northeast British Columbia. Under the agreement, Encana will own 60% and Mitsubishi will own 40% of the Cutbank Ridge Partnership.

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Mitsubishi Gas Canada North America 231

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Charge and discharge profile of first and second cycles of Li 2 MnSiO 4 samples measured at 45 °C at 0.02C rate. Credit: ACS, Rangappa et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers from Tohoku University, Japan, have developed novel ultrathin Li 2 MnSiO 4 nanosheets for use as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries. In a paper in the ACS journal Nano Letters , they report that the nanosheet structured cathode material exhibits a discharge capacity of 340 mAh g -1 at 45 ± 5 °C.

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Li-ion Lithium Ion Ni-Li Batteries 230

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Lithium-ion battery cell for plug-in hybrid vehicles (left) and. hybrid electric vehicles (right). Click to enlarge. Panasonic Corporation will supply prismatic lithium-ion battery cells for Ford Motor Company’s Fusion Hybrid Electric and C-Max Hybrid Electric as well as the Ford Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrids. Ford is doing the pack work in-house.

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Li-ion Nickel Metal Hydride Plug-in Ni-Li 225

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

The Financial Times reports that PSA Peugeot Citroën and General Motors are in advanced talks about an alliance to join forces to build cars and components in Europe. The partnership, if concluded, would see Peugeot and GM’s Opel/ Vauxhall unit jointly develop engines, transmission systems and entire vehicles that would be sold under their respective brands, two people familiar with the plan told the Financial Times on Tuesday.

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General Motors GM Europe Motor 225

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

BASF will acquire the electrolytes business for high-performance batteries from chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck. The companies have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction. The acquisition comprises the technologies and products for enhancing battery performance that Merck has developed, patented and brought to market, including the complete line of finished LiPF 6 -based and LiFAP-based electrolytes which are marketed under the Selectilyte brand.

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Li-ion Lithium Sulfur Batteries Battery 225

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Westport Innovations Inc. and Cummins Inc. have entered into an amended and restated joint venture agreement (JVA) for the Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI) joint venture. The JVA was amended to provide for, among other things, clarification concerning the scope of products within CWI. In addition, the parties have revised certain economic terms of the JVA.

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Gas Engine Fuel Economy North America 225

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Ford recently upgraded its VIRtual Test Track EXperiment (VIRTTEX) simulator ( earlier post ) with improved image rendering technologies and capabilities to study driver performance, helping in the development of safety and driver aid technologies. Upgraded image rendering technologies now provide a high-resolution, digitally projected 360-degree horizontal field-of-view to test and measure driver acceleration, braking and steering performance as well as overall driver reactions in varying condi

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Ford Future 2003 Fusion 225

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

The coming Chevrolet Cruze diesel engine for the US market ( earlier post ) will leverage GM’s global powertrain expertise. GM sold more than half a million diesel-powered cars across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America last year, including 33,000 Cruzes. GM expects that the introduction of a diesel option for Cruze—one of the top-selling gasoline-powered cars in the United States in 2011—will fuel its diesel car sales.

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Italy Diesel GM Engine 220

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Alcoa and China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) have finalized an agreement to establish a joint venture company to produce high-end fabricated aluminum products for the China market. The two partners had signed a Letter of Intent in September 2011. The new joint venture company, Alcoa CPI (China) Aluminum Investment Co. Ltd., will be majority owned and managed by Alcoa and based in Shanghai.

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China Commercial Transportation Market 220

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

New Zealand has issued new guidelines for electric vehicle manufacturers and importers to provide clarity about the regulations and rules for the safe use of electric vehicles in New Zealand. The guidelines— Deploying electric vehicles in New Zealand: A guide to the regulatory and market environment —was developed by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), together with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Economic Development.

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New Zealand Manufacturer Environment 2010 218

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

The US Geological Survey has released its first estimate of the potential of undiscovered, technically recoverable onshore shale oil and gas resources in Alaska’s North Slope. The estimates range from 0 up to 2 billion barrels of oil and from 0 up to 80 trillion cubic feet of gas—representing technically recoverable oil and gas resources, which are those quantities of oil and gas producible using currently available technology and industry practices, regardless of economic or accessibility

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Alaska Oil Gas 2012 218

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals ( earlier post ), has successfully completed contract negotiations to receive a portion of a $40-million grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Regional Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) for the development of drop-in renewable fuels (jet, diesel and gasoline).

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Washington Hydrogen Grant Idaho 218