INDUSTRY INSIGHTS YOUR PEERS ARE READING
What did Chevy reveal to an unsuspecting public? And how serious are Tesla''s drivetrain problems? This is the Week In Reverse for Friday, August 8, 2014, right here at Green Car Reports. On Friday, we asked how serious the Model S drivetrain-replacement problem is for Tesla Motors. MORE
Retrofitting new powertrains to used cars isn''t something that automakers have done, historically--but electric cars may change that rule. Now, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has suggested that the Silicon Valley electric-car maker will offer a replacement battery for the 2008-2012 Tesla Roadsters that were its first production cars. Musk''s MORE
Bullies. We all knew one at school--usually bigger than you, typically loud, obnoxious, and cruel, and often pretty dumb. Often they acted that way to make up for deficiencies in their own lives; today you may meet one who tormented you as a kid pushing shopping carts at your local mall. MORE
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding more than $55 million to 31 new projects to accelerate research and development of vehicle technologies that will improve fuel efficiency and reduce costs under a program-wide funding opportunity announced in January. (DE-FOA-0000991, DE-FOA-0000991, earlier post.) MORE
Building electric cars and plug-in hybrids is great, but what if there''s no place to charge them? Ford is starting a project that will not only give employees a place to charge, but also reduce its corporate carbon emissions. The carmaker announced it is teaming with Detroit utility DTE Energy to build a solar canopy over hundreds of parking MORE
The term "hacker" conjures up images of shady individuals stealing your personal details through loop-holes in your internet security, but in the modern world a professional hacker can actually provide a valuable skill. Tesla Motors, for example, recently attended the Def Con security conference in Las Vegas in order to hire hackers to develop MORE
Three and a half years after modern electric cars entered the mass market, there are now no fewer than 17 models on sale in the U.S. But that impressive number shouldn''t disguise a fundamental truth about the current state of the plug-in electric cars offered today: Only three of them are widely available nationwide. Those three are the Chevrolet MORE
Gas chromatographs (samples stacked for clarity) of Virents BioFormate biogasoline reformate vs. conventional petroleum reformate. Source: Virent. Click to enlarge. Virent has received fuel registration from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its BioForm drop-in biogasoline in blends of up to 45%. Earlier post.) As a registered fuel, Virents biogasoline can now be used in on-highway motor vehicles. MORE
If you''re an electric car fan, mark your calendar for roughly a month from now. In 2011, several organizers looking to promote electric cars started National Plug-In Day--but apparently one day is no longer enough to contain advocates'' enthusiasm for electric cars. National Drive Electric Week will take place September 15 to 21, with 113 events MORE
In his talk at the 2014 J.P. Morgan Auto Conference in New York, Bob Carter, Toyota Motor Sales (USA) Senior Vice President, Automotive Operations said that the company in spending an average of more than $1 million an hour this year on R&D. Carter said that a prime example of the R&D focus is the hydrogen fuel cell sedan to be launched to the public in California next summer ( earlier post ) and, he suggested, thereafter to the East Coast. MORE
The world now has something around half a million plug-in electric cars on the roads, and electric propulsion is slowly spreading into other types of transportation. One of them is electric boats, which have been around for more than a century but are now seeing renewed interest. Just as with automobiles at the turn of the last century MORE
Researchers at the Institute of Transportation Studies University of California, Davis suggest that a number of positive trends indicate that we may be seeing the beginning of a real hydrogen transition in transportation, despite earlier starts that fizzled. MORE
The current 2015 Chevrolet Volt, now in its fifth year, will be the last of its generation before a revised and updated 2016 Volt is unveiled next January and goes on sale later in the year. But GM''s first range-extended electric car turns out to have logged another minor distinction in its list of firsts: The Chevy Volt is, thus far, the sole MORE
Tesla Motors has increased the Model S drive unit warranty to match that of the battery pack—i.e., the 85 kWh Model S, the company’s most popular model, now has an 8-year, “infinite-mile” warranty on both the battery pack and drive unit. The warranty extension will apply retroactively to all Model S vehicles ever produced. There is also no limit on the number of owners during the warranty period. No other changes have been made to the warranty. MORE
Chevy Volt owners, and even Chevrolet itself, are usually quite proud of the amount of miles the range-extended electric car covers on grid electricity. The company said last week that 63 percent of all Volt miles driven have been covered on grid power, totaling more than half a billion miles altogether. But there''s one set of Volts that appears MORE
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind Program is seeking ( DE-FOA-0001155 ) feedback from the wind industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders regarding the Energy Department’s new perspective on Distributed Wind Research & Development (R&D) focus areas in order to inform future activities and priorities. MORE
Researchers have shown that magnesium industrial wastes of AZ91 alloy and Mg-10 wt.% Gd alloy can be used for the production of hydrogen storage materials. A paper on their work is published in the Journal of Power Sources. The team of researchers, from Germany, Denmark, Italy and Sweden, investigated the properties of the alloys by means of volumetric technique; in situ synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD); and calorimetric methods. MORE
While battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars have had much of the spotlight to themselves for the past four years, we''re going to be hearing a lot more about hydrogen fuel-cell cars over the next few. MORE
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to select competitively a Center of Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in fiscal year 2015. The goal is to create a cost-sharing relationship between academia, industry, and government that will focus on research areas of primary interest to the FAA and the US unmanned aircraft systems community. MORE
A new report by EY finds that 64% of multibillion-dollar, technically and operationally demanding oil & gas megaprojects continue to exceed budgets, with 73% missing project schedule deadlines. On average, current project estimated completion costs were 59% above the initial estimate. MORE
It''s one of the recurring questions asked by electric-car skeptics: Yeah, but what about all those battery packs? Won''t they just end up in landfills? We know already that the 12-Volt lead-acid car battery appears to be the most-recycled consumer good in the world--though that''s largely for safety reasons, as lead is far more toxic than the MORE
Tour Engine , the developer of a novel split-cycle engine ( earlier post ), has secured a $2-million investment from Joan and Irwin Jacobs to further the development of the latest generation of the engine, which features a new patent-pending crossover mechanism. MORE
Polestar, the motorsport and performance collaboration with Volvo Cars, has introduced a modest Performance optimization of the Volvo V60 diesel Plug-in Hybrid. Earlier post.) MORE
Schaeffler is presenting the new automatic bicycle gearshift system FAG-VELOMATIC at EUROBIKE 2014. MORE
We can buy a hybrid or electric vehicles and cover the roof of our homes in solar panels, but when it comes to other aspects of our daily lives a fossil-fuel reducing lifestyle is often a the whim of local governments or private businesses. MORE
When Tesla Motors announced the short list of possible locations for its lithium-ion cell "Gigafactory," California wasn''t on it. The Silicon Valley electric-car maker is headquartered in Palo Alto and builds the Model S in Fremont, about 30 miles away. But it chose Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas as the finalists for the Gigafactory site MORE
The Antelope Valley Transit Authoritys (AVTA) and BYD operators have put AVTAs new BYD electric bus through a 24-hour marathon ride that looped from Rosamond to Palmdale (California) a total of 18 times. The BYD bus traveled 746 miles (1,201 km) over the 24-hour period, operating in three shifts. Each shift logged between 240 and 256 miles (386 and 412 km) before recharging the battery. AVTAs electric bus was loaded with 5,250 lbs. MORE
The assembled 200W TEG tested in June delivered 270W of output. Click to enlarge. MORE
Rosneft and ExxonMobil joint venture company Karmorneftegaz began drilling of Universitetskaya-1, the Russian Federations northernmost well, using the West Alpha rig in the Kara Sea. The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of West Siberia. Earlier post.). Click to enlarge. MORE
Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations new Lightweight E-type. Click to enlarge. Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations unveiled its new Lightweight E-type—the first recreation to come from Jaguar Heritage, which operates within the Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations division. MORE
Mercedes-Benz will replace conventional aluminum pistons with a new generation of steel pistons in the V6 diesel engine of the E 350 BlueTEC in September. MORE
The Tesla Model S is a great car, but if there''s one thing the luxury electric sedan is missing it''s a bit of Art Deco style. And maybe a hint of World War II fighter aircraft. And some steampunk cool mixed in for good measure. All those aspects somehow come together in the Icon Helios--a 1930s-style streamliner using the batteries and running MORE
Chevrolet’s 2015 City Express cargo van, the company’s first entry into the small van segment, will offer an EPA-estimated 24 mpg city and 26 mpg highway, resulting in 25 mpg combined (9.8, and 9.4 L/100 km, respectively). The vehicle’s 2.0L MORE
Shanghai Metals Market. BYD Auto will begin production of a new high-energy density battery in 2015 and apply them in its vehicles, according to board secretary Wu Jing-sheng, as cited by Chinas Securities Times. BYD reportedly plans to add manganese to its lithium iron phosphate cathode material to improve the range of electric vehicles and reduce costs. MORE
Plants use photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen. The process starts in a cluster of manganese, calcium and oxygen atoms at the heart of a protein complex called photosystem II, which splits water to form oxygen gas, protons and electrons. Numerous researchers have attempted to develop synthetic catalysts that mimic this cluster, using light or electricity to convert water into fuels such as hydrogen gas. MORE
In January I drove a Nissan LEAF from London to Edinburgh, it was cold and we had the heater on. We stopped to charge eight times. Twenty minutes charge each time, we never got close to empty. MORE
A catalyst made from a foamy form of copper has different electrochemical properties from catalysts made with smooth copper in reactions involving carbon dioxide, according to a new study by a team from Brown University. The research, reported in the journal ACS Catalysis , suggests that copper foams could provide a new way of converting excess CO 2 into useful industrial chemicals. MORE
Whatever you think of the diminutive city cars produced by Daimler''s Smart brand, the company certainly has a talent for marketing. MORE
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 11, 2014
Tour Engine , the developer of a novel split-cycle engine ( earlier post ), has secured a $2-million investment from Joan and Irwin Jacobs to further the development of the latest generation of the engine, which features a new patent-pending crossover mechanism.
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 15, 2014
We can buy a hybrid or electric vehicles and cover the roof of our homes in solar panels, but when it comes to other aspects of our daily lives a fossil-fuel reducing lifestyle is often a the whim of local governments or private businesses.
Green Cars News
AUGUST 11, 2014
In January I drove a Nissan LEAF from London to Edinburgh, it was cold and we had the heater on. We stopped to charge eight times. Twenty minutes charge each time, we never got close to empty.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 14, 2014
Schaeffler is presenting the new automatic bicycle gearshift system FAG-VELOMATIC at EUROBIKE 2014.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 15, 2014
A new report by EY finds that 64% of multibillion-dollar, technically and operationally demanding oil & gas megaprojects continue to exceed budgets, with 73% missing project schedule deadlines. On average, current project estimated completion costs were 59% above the initial estimate.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 9, 2014
Rosneft and ExxonMobil joint venture company Karmorneftegaz began drilling of Universitetskaya-1, the Russian Federations northernmost well, using the West Alpha rig in the Kara Sea. The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of West Siberia. Earlier post.). Click to enlarge.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 11, 2014
Mercedes-Benz will replace conventional aluminum pistons with a new generation of steel pistons in the V6 diesel engine of the E 350 BlueTEC in September.
EV Driven brings together the best content on electric vehicles from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 12, 2014
Bullies. We all knew one at school--usually bigger than you, typically loud, obnoxious, and cruel, and often pretty dumb. Often they acted that way to make up for deficiencies in their own lives; today you may meet one who tormented you as a kid pushing shopping carts at your local mall.
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 15, 2014
Whatever you think of the diminutive city cars produced by Daimler''s Smart brand, the company certainly has a talent for marketing.
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 15, 2014
While battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars have had much of the spotlight to themselves for the past four years, we''re going to be hearing a lot more about hydrogen fuel-cell cars over the next few.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 11, 2014
The assembled 200W TEG tested in June delivered 270W of output. Click to enlarge.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 15, 2014
Polestar, the motorsport and performance collaboration with Volvo Cars, has introduced a modest Performance optimization of the Volvo V60 diesel Plug-in Hybrid. Earlier post.)
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 14, 2014
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding more than $55 million to 31 new projects to accelerate research and development of vehicle technologies that will improve fuel efficiency and reduce costs under a program-wide funding opportunity announced in January. (DE-FOA-0000991, DE-FOA-0000991, earlier post.)
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 13, 2014
In his talk at the 2014 J.P. Morgan Auto Conference in New York, Bob Carter, Toyota Motor Sales (USA) Senior Vice President, Automotive Operations said that the company in spending an average of more than $1 million an hour this year on R&D. Carter said that a prime example of the R&D focus is the hydrogen fuel cell sedan to be launched to the public in California next summer ( earlier post ) and, he suggested, thereafter to the East Coast.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 14, 2014
Chevrolet’s 2015 City Express cargo van, the company’s first entry into the small van segment, will offer an EPA-estimated 24 mpg city and 26 mpg highway, resulting in 25 mpg combined (9.8, and 9.4 L/100 km, respectively). The vehicle’s 2.0L
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 11, 2014
Researchers have shown that magnesium industrial wastes of AZ91 alloy and Mg-10 wt.% Gd alloy can be used for the production of hydrogen storage materials. A paper on their work is published in the Journal of Power Sources. The team of researchers, from Germany, Denmark, Italy and Sweden, investigated the properties of the alloys by means of volumetric technique; in situ synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD); and calorimetric methods.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 13, 2014
A catalyst made from a foamy form of copper has different electrochemical properties from catalysts made with smooth copper in reactions involving carbon dioxide, according to a new study by a team from Brown University. The research, reported in the journal ACS Catalysis , suggests that copper foams could provide a new way of converting excess CO 2 into useful industrial chemicals.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 12, 2014
Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations new Lightweight E-type. Click to enlarge. Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations unveiled its new Lightweight E-type—the first recreation to come from Jaguar Heritage, which operates within the Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations division.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 13, 2014
The Antelope Valley Transit Authoritys (AVTA) and BYD operators have put AVTAs new BYD electric bus through a 24-hour marathon ride that looped from Rosamond to Palmdale (California) a total of 18 times. The BYD bus traveled 746 miles (1,201 km) over the 24-hour period, operating in three shifts. Each shift logged between 240 and 256 miles (386 and 412 km) before recharging the battery. AVTAs electric bus was loaded with 5,250 lbs.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 13, 2014
Shanghai Metals Market. BYD Auto will begin production of a new high-energy density battery in 2015 and apply them in its vehicles, according to board secretary Wu Jing-sheng, as cited by Chinas Securities Times. BYD reportedly plans to add manganese to its lithium iron phosphate cathode material to improve the range of electric vehicles and reduce costs.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 15, 2014
Tesla Motors has increased the Model S drive unit warranty to match that of the battery pack—i.e., the 85 kWh Model S, the company’s most popular model, now has an 8-year, “infinite-mile” warranty on both the battery pack and drive unit. The warranty extension will apply retroactively to all Model S vehicles ever produced. There is also no limit on the number of owners during the warranty period. No other changes have been made to the warranty.
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 9, 2014
What did Chevy reveal to an unsuspecting public? And how serious are Tesla''s drivetrain problems? This is the Week In Reverse for Friday, August 8, 2014, right here at Green Car Reports. On Friday, we asked how serious the Model S drivetrain-replacement problem is for Tesla Motors.
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 14, 2014
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to select competitively a Center of Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in fiscal year 2015. The goal is to create a cost-sharing relationship between academia, industry, and government that will focus on research areas of primary interest to the FAA and the US unmanned aircraft systems community.
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 12, 2014
It''s one of the recurring questions asked by electric-car skeptics: Yeah, but what about all those battery packs? Won''t they just end up in landfills? We know already that the 12-Volt lead-acid car battery appears to be the most-recycled consumer good in the world--though that''s largely for safety reasons, as lead is far more toxic than the
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 14, 2014
Retrofitting new powertrains to used cars isn''t something that automakers have done, historically--but electric cars may change that rule. Now, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has suggested that the Silicon Valley electric-car maker will offer a replacement battery for the 2008-2012 Tesla Roadsters that were its first production cars. Musk''s
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 14, 2014
The world now has something around half a million plug-in electric cars on the roads, and electric propulsion is slowly spreading into other types of transportation. One of them is electric boats, which have been around for more than a century but are now seeing renewed interest. Just as with automobiles at the turn of the last century
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 13, 2014
The current 2015 Chevrolet Volt, now in its fifth year, will be the last of its generation before a revised and updated 2016 Volt is unveiled next January and goes on sale later in the year. But GM''s first range-extended electric car turns out to have logged another minor distinction in its list of firsts: The Chevy Volt is, thus far, the sole
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 12, 2014
The term "hacker" conjures up images of shady individuals stealing your personal details through loop-holes in your internet security, but in the modern world a professional hacker can actually provide a valuable skill. Tesla Motors, for example, recently attended the Def Con security conference in Las Vegas in order to hire hackers to develop
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 11, 2014
Three and a half years after modern electric cars entered the mass market, there are now no fewer than 17 models on sale in the U.S. But that impressive number shouldn''t disguise a fundamental truth about the current state of the plug-in electric cars offered today: Only three of them are widely available nationwide. Those three are the Chevrolet
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 13, 2014
Gas chromatographs (samples stacked for clarity) of Virents BioFormate biogasoline reformate vs. conventional petroleum reformate. Source: Virent. Click to enlarge. Virent has received fuel registration from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its BioForm drop-in biogasoline in blends of up to 45%. Earlier post.) As a registered fuel, Virents biogasoline can now be used in on-highway motor vehicles.
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 13, 2014
If you''re an electric car fan, mark your calendar for roughly a month from now. In 2011, several organizers looking to promote electric cars started National Plug-In Day--but apparently one day is no longer enough to contain advocates'' enthusiasm for electric cars. National Drive Electric Week will take place September 15 to 21, with 113 events
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 10, 2014
The Tesla Model S is a great car, but if there''s one thing the luxury electric sedan is missing it''s a bit of Art Deco style. And maybe a hint of World War II fighter aircraft. And some steampunk cool mixed in for good measure. All those aspects somehow come together in the Icon Helios--a 1930s-style streamliner using the batteries and running
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 14, 2014
Chevy Volt owners, and even Chevrolet itself, are usually quite proud of the amount of miles the range-extended electric car covers on grid electricity. The company said last week that 63 percent of all Volt miles driven have been covered on grid power, totaling more than half a billion miles altogether. But there''s one set of Volts that appears
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 12, 2014
When Tesla Motors announced the short list of possible locations for its lithium-ion cell "Gigafactory," California wasn''t on it. The Silicon Valley electric-car maker is headquartered in Palo Alto and builds the Model S in Fremont, about 30 miles away. But it chose Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas as the finalists for the Gigafactory site
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 9, 2014
Plants use photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen. The process starts in a cluster of manganese, calcium and oxygen atoms at the heart of a protein complex called photosystem II, which splits water to form oxygen gas, protons and electrons. Numerous researchers have attempted to develop synthetic catalysts that mimic this cluster, using light or electricity to convert water into fuels such as hydrogen gas.
Green Car Reports
AUGUST 15, 2014
Building electric cars and plug-in hybrids is great, but what if there''s no place to charge them? Ford is starting a project that will not only give employees a place to charge, but also reduce its corporate carbon emissions. The carmaker announced it is teaming with Detroit utility DTE Energy to build a solar canopy over hundreds of parking
Green Car Congress
AUGUST 15, 2014
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind Program is seeking ( DE-FOA-0001155 ) feedback from the wind industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders regarding the Energy Department’s new perspective on Distributed Wind Research & Development (R&D) focus areas in order to inform future activities and priorities.
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