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At the American Public Transit Association (APTA) Annual Meeting, Proterra unveiled the newest addition to its fleet of electric buses: the Catalyst E2 series, named for its Efficient Energy (E2) storage capacity of 440 - 660 kWh. Last month, an E2 series vehicle achieved a new milestone at Michelin’s Laurens Proving Grounds where it logged more than 600 miles (966 km) on a single charge under test conditions.
Over the past few years, a common refrain among analysts and pundits has been that the future of the U.S. car industry lies not in Detroit, but in Silicon Valley. With their nimbleness and more aggressive attitudes, as well as expertise with emerging technologies related to autonomous driving and connectivity, tech companies will soon give.
There are numerous considerations to be made the next time you choose between a cutaway or cab chassis. Cab configuration, maneuverability, vehicle class, desired body, off-road frequency, and cost should all play a role in the selection process.
The Mercedes AMG GT offers a perfect blend of GT car opulence and extreme performance, but with its latest versions, the German company has taken a sa.
Researchers at the Future Renewable Electric Energy Distribution and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center at North Carolina State University have developed an inverter for hybrid and electric vehicles using off-the-shelf components made of the wide-bandgap semiconductor material silicon carbide (SiC). The new SiC-based inverter has a power density of 12.1 kW/L—close to the US Department of Energy’s target of 13.4 kW/L by 2020.
Today, Volkswagen sells one all-electric car under its own brand in multiple markets—the e-Golf electric variant of its well-known five-door compact hatchback—and another in Europe only, the e-UP, a battery-electric minicar. But in the wake of continuing fallout from the Volkswagen diesel scandal, the company is wrenching itself toward.
Major automotive suppliers see national fuel economy standards as important for long-term planning and investment and don’t want to see them altered by US policymakers, according to a first-of-its-kind industry survey commissioned by CALSTART and conducted by Ricardo Energy & Environment. The firm polled and interviewed 23 suppliers, almost all of them global Tier 1 suppliers that sell parts directly to automakers.
Major automotive suppliers see national fuel economy standards as important for long-term planning and investment and don’t want to see them altered by US policymakers, according to a first-of-its-kind industry survey commissioned by CALSTART and conducted by Ricardo Energy & Environment. The firm polled and interviewed 23 suppliers, almost all of them global Tier 1 suppliers that sell parts directly to automakers.
As part of its new IONICS (Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion Conducting Solids) program awards ( earlier post ), the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) awarded $3.5 million in funding to a team that includes 24M, Sepion Technologies , Berkeley Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University. The funds will be used to develop novel membranes and lithium-metal anodes for the next generation of high-energy-density, low-cost batteries. 24M’s core technology is se
Cellulosic sugars company Renmatix has raised $14 million. The investment, intended to support the commercializing of the company’s Plantrose process, was led by Bill Gates. Gates is joined in the round by Total, the global energy major which, after an initial investment in 2015, has expanded its investment and has additionally signed a licensing agreement with Renmatix for 1M tons of annual cellulosic sugar production capacity, at Total’s discretion to build corresponding facilities.
The University of Waterloo has opened a new automotive research and testing facility, setting the stage for technological advances that will benefit both consumers and the environment. The $10-million Green and Intelligent Automotive (GAIA) Research Facility is supported by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, the University of Waterloo, and equipment suppliers.
Volvo Trucks North America unveiled an innovative SuperTruck demonstrator whose combination of advanced aerodynamics, vehicle and powertrain technologies achieved a freight efficiency improvement of 88%—exceeding the 50% improvement goal set by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Supertruck I program. The sleek tractor-trailer combination boosted fuel efficiency by 70%—exceeding 12 mpg, with some test runs showing more than 13 mpg—in road tests, and powertrain brake thermal effic
General Motors plans to generate or source all electrical power for its 350 operations in 59 countries with 100% renewable energy—such as wind, sun and landfill gas—by 2050. This new renewable energy goal, along with the pursuit of electrified vehicles and efficient manufacturing, is part of the company’s overall approach to strengthening its business, improving communities and addressing climate change.
At Mondial de l’Automobile Paris, Volkswagen will present a new EV concept; the production vehicle which follows will be the first Volkswagen to hit the market based on the new modular electrification kit (MEB) being developed by the brand. Volkswagen says that the new concept car signals the brand’s entry into a new era, and intends for it to be as revolutionary as the Beetle was seven decades ago before it evolved into the world's best-selling car of the century.
Renewable fuels and chemicals company Virent has established a strategic consortium with Tesoro, Toray, Johnson Matthey and The Coca-Cola Company focused on completing the development and scale up of Virent’s BioForming technology to produce low carbon bio-based fuels and bio-paraxylene (a key raw material for the production of 100% bio-polyester). The consortium members will work together to finalize technical developments and commercial arrangements, with the objective of delivering a commerci
Electric vehicle (EV) drivers can now travel the most heavily-trafficked corridors on the East and West Coasts of the United States with the installation of 95 new DC Fast charging stations as part of the Express Charging Corridors Initiative—a collaboration of BMW of North America, Volkswagen of America, Inc. and ChargePoint, the world’s largest EV charging network.
With the arrival of the new Golf Alltrack, the all-wheel-drive derivative of the Golf SportWagen, in US dealer showrooms in October, Volkswagen of America is offering an affordable, upscale and very fun-to-drive (more on this below) entry into an underserved market segment: all-wheel-drive wagons. More specifically, Volkswagen is directly targeting the Subaru Outback.
NVIDIA unveiled a single-processor configuration of the NVIDIA DRIVE PX 2 AI computing platform ( earlier post ) that automakers can use to power automated and autonomous vehicles for driving and mapping. The new computing platform for AutoCruise functions—which include highway automated driving and HD mapping—consumes just 10 watts of power and enables vehicles to use deep neural networks to process data from multiple cameras and sensors.
Peugeot is introducing the eU01s, a 45 km/h (28 mph) electric bicycle. Bridging the gap between traditional 25 km/h electric bicycles and scooters, the eU01s offers the rider an agile and rapid cross-town journey. The eU01s will be presented at the Paris Motor Show and launched at the end of 2016. Copyright Mikael PENNEC. Peugeot has made urban mobility a core priority with several new innovations being introduced this year: the eC01 electrically-assisted bicycle with automatic transmission, the
A consortium, led by Dearman, the clean cold and power technology company, has been awarded £6 million (US$7.9 million) by the UK’s Advanced Propulsion Centre to develop zero-emission Dearman Engine technology ( earlier post ) and applications, helping to move it into manufacturing and full commercial deployment. The Dearman Engine can deliver significant improvements to the fuel efficiency of HGVs and buses, helping to significantly reduce emissions of NO x , particulate matter and CO 2.
The world’s largest 2nd-use battery storage is starting up. The 13 MWh project is now nearing completion after a construction time of just under one year; a total of 1,000 battery systems from second-generation smart fortwo electric drive cars are being grouped into a battery storage in Lünen, Westphalia. Partners in the project are Daimler AG, The Mobility House AG and GETEC.
Toyota Research Institute (TRI) will partner with the Open Source Robotics Foundation ( OSRF ) and its newly-formed for profit subsidiary Open Source Robotics Corporation (OSRC) to expand the development of both open source and proprietary tools for Toyota’s fast-growing robotics and automated vehicle research initiatives. This move to significantly expand TRI’s research and engineering capabilities reflects Toyota’s ongoing evolution beyond the boundaries of the conventional automotive industry
Velodyne LiDAR Inc. unveiled its new Puck Hi-Res sensor, a version of the company’s LiDAR Puck that provides higher resolution in captured 3D images, which allows objects to be identified at greater distances. Puck Hi-Res is the third new LiDAR sensor released by the company this year, joining the standard VLP-16 Puck and the Puck LITE. ( Earlier post.).
A study from the University of Rome commissioned by Toyota Motor Italy has found that the new, fourth-generation Prius hybrid operates with zero emissions for most of the time and distance covered on a typical city commute in Rome. Data gathered from more than 2,200 km (1,367 miles) of driving on a typical Rome commuting journey revealed that the test Prius cars spent an average 73.2% of the journey time (62.5% of the journey distance) producing no tailpipe emissions.
Ford and the University of Michigan are teaming up to accelerate autonomous vehicle research and development with a first-time arrangement that embeds Ford researchers and engineers into a new state-of-the-art robotics laboratory on U-M’s Ann Arbor campus. While the new robotics laboratory opens in 2020, by the end of this year Ford will move a dozen researchers into the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC), kicking off the first phase of expanded presence.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles recently issued Baidu USA an Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit, allowing the company to test its autonomous driving technologies in the state. We will start testing our autonomous driving technologies on public roads very soon in California. Baidu has already built a strong team in Silicon Valley to develop autonomous driving technologies, and being able to do road tests will greatly accelerate our progress.
ABI Research forecasts global Mobility as a Service (MaaS) revenues will exceed $1 trillion by 2030. MaaS provides aggregated, single account, on-demand multimodal transportation services in a seamless and convenient way. Its anticipated disruptive impact on traditional transportation modes such as car ownership, buses, trains, aviation, taxis, and rental cars is stirring up not just the automotive but also the entire transportation industry.
ExxonMobil and Princeton University announced the selection of five research projects associated with their partnership focused on energy technologies. The projects will center on solar and battery technologies; plasma physics; Arctic sea-ice modeling; and the impact of carbon dioxide absorption on the world’s oceans. In June 2015, ExxonMobil commited to contribute $5 million over five years to the Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership, a program administered by Princeton University’s Andlinger Cent
Ecole Centrale Nantes and Renault launched the first Research Chair dedicated to the propulsion performance of electric vehicles. With a budget of €4.6 million (US$5.2 million) over 5 years, this new Chair of electric propulsion performance is led by Malek Ghanes. University professor at Centrale Nantes, he received in 2015 the prize for applied research from the Federation of Electrical, Electronics and Communications Industries (FIECC) for his pioneering work on the development of robust and i
PowerCell Sweden AB has received an order and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Chinese company focusing on green energy solutions, specialized in fuel cell applications for commercial light-duty trucks. The two companies see potential for cooperation within range extenders (REX) for commercial light-duty electrified distribution vehicles.
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) will hold its next Connected Vehicle PlugFest in Novi, Michigan, 15-18 November 2016. These events provide a venue for vendor-to-vendor connected vehicle device testing as needed to develop certification services for multi-vendor connected vehicle networks. Three certification service providers (Danlaw, OmniAir, and 7Layers) will be on site to demonstrate certification testing products developed through the USDOT Certification Testing Program.
In a milestone for the low-carbon fuel project, LanzaTech has produced 1,500 gallons of jet fuel from waste industrial gases from steel mills via a fermentation process for Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic and LanzaTech have been working together on the project since 2011. HSBC joined the partnership in 2014. The “Lanzanol” was produced in China at the RSB (Roundtable of Sustainable Biomaterials) certified Shougang demonstration facility.
This week, Jaguar Land Rover will expand its Ingenium powertrain family ( earlier post ), unveiling new technologies for both current and future vehicles. The new additions will support the company’s long-term commitment to reduce vehicle emissions and improve fuel economy across its range through the introduction of more efficient engines along with alternative powertrains, lighter vehicles and improved vehicle energy conservation.
Lux Research argues that while it will be possible to make a competent self-driving car using older internal combustion engine (ICE) technology as the power source that drives the wheels, there are six reasons why it is most likely that self-driving cars will be overwhelmingly electric—i.e, six reasons why the two technologies will “merge”. Technology-focused early adopters want both innovations in the same car.
Less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier FedEx Freight has purchased more than 100 Class 8 CNG tractors from Paccar units Kenworth and Peterbilt, and has installed a CNG fueling station to serve the new CNG fleet at its Oklahoma City Service Center. FedEx Freight contracted with Clean Energy Fuels Corp to design, build and maintain the fueling station. The CNG fueling station in Oklahoma City also provides efficiency for fueling the fleet through two different methods.
GKN Driveline has developed a new, complete electric drive system for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). The system will start production in 2019 on a global platform from a European vehicle manufacturer. Tighter integration of electric drivelines improves system efficiency and gives automakers more packaging and assembly options. The new module integrates a water-cooled electric motor and inverter with a single speed eAxle reduction gearbox.
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