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Oil prices are low, production prices are rising. Love this news!
Oil Majors’ Costs Have Risen 66% Since 2011
by Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com The oil majors reported poor earnings for the fourth quarter of last year, but many oil executives struck an optimistic tone about the road ahead. Oil prices have stabilized and the cost cutting measures implemented over the past three years should allow com...
The top lithium ion 18650 batteries hold about 3.4 A*h (~ 0.2C). The above mentioned figure of 1.5 times the energy density results in a battery that is 5.3 A*h (almost 20 watt*hours). Wow!
FDK and Fujitsu Labs develop high-energy-density lithium cobalt pyrophosphate cathode material for solid-state batteries
FDK Corporation and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. have jointly developed lithium cobalt pyrophosphate (Li2CoP2O7) as a high-energy-density cathode material for all-solid lithium-ion batteries. The new material can operate at charge/discharge voltages of more than 5V, which is beyond the limits of c...
There are so many organizations and ideas in this article that I look forward to failing - OPEC, BP, oil shale, the oil-corrupted parts of the Middle East, Russia, and the US. May EVs put them in the garbage can of history and good riddance.
The Oil War Is Only Just Getting Started
The Oil War Is Only Just Getting Started by Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com It’s been a month now that investors and analysts have been closely watching two main drivers for oil prices: how OPEC is doing with the supply-cut deal, and how US shale is responding to fifty-plus-dollar oil with ...
The authorities in the EU and here should immediately subpoena email records. It will be interesting to see who pulled the trigger on this. May justice be served.
Volkswagen: new EU 6 diesels clear of software cheat, but up to 11M EA189 diesels worldwide affected
In a statement issued this morning, Volkswagen AG said that new vehicles from the Volkswagen Group with EU 6 diesel engines currently available in the European Union comply with legal requirements and environmental standards. The engine control software in those vehicles does not affect handling...
Lad - Modern diesels are wickedly complex and your point is well taken. However, in the Land Cruiser there will be times when you might want to go 500+ miles between refuelling. I bet if one drove this car carefully, then you could average over 30 mpg even on dirt roads. If it's got a 20 gallon tank and Jerry can on the back, then your range would be 750 miles. Electric is not there yet. Also, if you're driving in Africa, your odds of finding, say, a level 2 charging station is pretty low. For now, electrics are best in the urban/suburban cycle IMHO. Sadly, 90+% of these sold in Europe will be used how SUVs are used here in the States - like oversized station wagons for suburban transport.
HarveyD - eliminating 99% of carbon dioxide emissions would require making a given ICE 99% smaller ;^)
Toyota Land Cruiser in Europe offers new 2.8L diesel; first Toyota SCR NOx aftertreatment system
New D-4D diesel. Click to enlarge. Toyota’s Land Cruiser off-road 4WD vehicle in Europe is now available with a new 2.8 liter D-4D turbo-diesel. The engine replaces the current 3.0-liter engine, with a focus on improved driveability with better torque delivery, plus lower fuel consumption a...
It will be interesting to see if the new running mode will require more urea. I suspect that VWAG decreased this amount to extend the time between refills. They should be fined punitively for this!
Henrik - My 1600 kg 2001 VW Golf TDI with 1.9L engine and now ancient rotary fuel pump averaged 48 mpg on 100% biodiesel and 52 mpg on regular D2. I believe it was well over 20% efficiency. Todays 1.4-1.6L TDI engines with 2000 bar common rail fuel systems can easily top 65-70 mpg in the Golf platform. This might not be Prius efficiency here, but it's damn close.
It's too bad there isn't a Prius-'D', with, say, a 1.2L 3 cylinder diesel in it. That would probably break 90 mpg if driven mindfully.
Background on the 2.0L diesel engines at the core of the Volkswagen emissions testing debacle
Last Friday, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (ARB) charged that Volkswagen (Jetta, Beetle, Golf, Passat) and Audi (A3) passenger cars equipped with 2.0-liter diesels in the US have used a software defeat device to cheat on the results of NOx testin...
It would be nice if they expressed the heating efficiency in actual terms, like joules of heating delivered per KWH (or something), vs. existing resistive heaters. Also, there is no mention of any potential dangers of a sprayed CNT dispersion. Might abrading one of their sprayed surfaces produce an aerosol of CNTs? Better test that well before unleashing it. I hope it's safe, b/c it's very cool tech!
Fraunhofer researchers develop carbon nanotube thin film heater for EVs
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart have developed a film-based panel heater for electric vehicles. The panel is—particularly on short journeys—more effective than conventional electric heaters. (Electric cars generate little hea...
If we assume $300/KWH, then the battery pack is 77.1K USD. That's one expensive pack, but looking at the total cost of ownership might make this a very desirable option. They say 135K USD will be saved over 12 years in maintenance costs alone. If in 12 years the bus travels 500K miles at 10 miles/gallon, then that's 50K gallons of diesel, which is 150K USD (3 USD/gallon). The KWH price would be a tiny fraction of that. Sounds like a winner to me!
Proterra extended range electric bus delivers 258 miles on one charge of 257 kWh pack
A Proterra 40-foot Catalyst XR (extended range) electric bus drove 258 miles (415 miles) on a single charge under test conditions at Michelin’s Laurens Proving Grounds (LPG). The Catalyst XR configuration for the max mileage test used 8 NMC Li-ion battery packs, with a total energy capacity of 2...
"intense financial and economic pain" - Cry me a river 0.1 percent of the one percent! I guess Lamborghini, Bugatti and Ferrari will feel the pinch of fewer Saudi orders. Oh the tragedy!
Opinion: Saudis Could Face An Open Revolt At Next OPEC Meeting
by Dalan McEndree for Oilprice.com OPEC next gathers December 4 in Vienna, just over a year since Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi announced at the previous OPEC winter meeting the Saudi decision to let the oil market determine oil prices rather than to continue Saudi Arabia's role of guarantor o...
My 2001 Golf TDI would get up to 57 mpg on biodiesel, 60+ mpg on D2. The price here in CA is minimally more for diesel.
The Insight is a very cool car, but it's a two door and the max. weight you can put in it is 350 lbs. It says so right there on the door frame. That's two average Americans and an 8 oz. cup of coffee.
If you have a 20+ mile commute on the freeway each day, then you're better off buying a diesel. If you are doing a lot of city driving, get a Prius. Until Toyota makes a Prius with a diesel motor, there's no best option. It completely depends on your situation.
Chevy’s Cruze Diesel: a compact diesel contender in the US
The Cruze Diesel is identified by a discreet badge on the trunk. Click to enlarge. US buyers hunting for a non-premium diesel passenger car (i.e., not a truck or SUV, and not a vehicle from BMW, Audi, Porsche or Mercedes-Benz) have until recently only had Volkswagen-brand cars as an option: ...
This should be a 2.0L diesel making >= 150HP and >= 250 ft*lbs of torque, but either way, I hope this gets released in the US. We are starved for mid size diesel pickups!
Nissan reveals Frontier Diesel Runner with 2.8L Cummins turbo diesel; leveraging ATLAS engine program
Nissan Frontier Diesel Runner Powered by Cummins. Click to enlarge. At the Chicago Auto Show, Nissan debuted a concept diesel-powered mid-size pickup: the Frontier Diesel Runner Powered by Cummins. Based on a Frontier Desert Runner 4x2 model, was created to gauge the market reaction to a Ni...
It would be great if they shoe horned this engine into a Prius as it would help greatly with it's sub-50 MPG highway fuel economy.
2014 Toyota Verso offering new 1.6L diesel from BMW, first stop/start system
The new 1.6 D-4D for the Verso. Click to enlarge. Toyota first introduced the Verso in 2002, and in 2013, launched the current Verso MPV, developed exclusively for the European market. Verso has sold more than 700,000 units cumulatively. The 2014 Verso now features an expanded powertrain ...
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Feb 6, 2014
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