Lynas Corporation Limited, an Australian Corporation and Blue Line Corporation, a Texas Corporation, signed an MOU for a joint venture to develop rare earths separation capacity in the United States. Lynas is the largest producer of rare earth materials outside of China and has captured a significant percentage of rare... Continue reading

Lubricants—a more than $146-billion market serving numerous applications, automotive among them—are produced from base oils derived from petroleum mineral oils (mineral base oil) or synthetic oils such as poly-α-olefins (PAOs) (synthetic base oil). As such, lubricants have a significant environmental footprint. A team at the University of Delaware has now... Continue reading

BYD delivered Seattle’s first all-electric refuse truck, which is also the first electric Class-8 rear loader in the United States. The major milestone for heavy duty battery electric trucks features BYD’s 8R Class-8 fitted with New Way Viper Rear Loader refuse body. The first-of-its-kind vehicle is now in operation with... Continue reading

UPS announced an agreement with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to purchase 170 million gallon equivalents of renewable natural gas (RNG) through 2026. This is the largest commitment for use of RNG to date by any company in the United States, with a range of 22.5 - 25 million gallon equivalents... Continue reading

Agility Robotics has unveiled a new bipedal robot named Digit, which adds an upper torso, arms, sensors, and additional computing power to the company’s Cassie robot design. Digit’s four degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) arms greatly extend both the mobility and utility of Digit, as compared to Cassie. Digit Agility is teaming up... Continue reading

ams, a leading worldwide supplier of high performance sensor solutions, will team with Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH, a German specialist for automotive LiDAR sensor technology, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG to advance solid-state LiDAR technology for use in autonomous driving and other applications. ZF took a 40% stake in Ibeo in... Continue reading

Mercedes-Benz will further expand the GLE model range with the introduction of the V8-powered Mercedes-Benz GLE 580 4MATIC. The GLE is the first SUV in the Mercedes-Benz line up to introduce the new E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL 48-volt active suspension system. The GLE 580 4MATIC features an electrified V8 biturbo gasoline... Continue reading

The Sacramento, California hydrogen station is open. It is the 40th retail hydrogen station in California and the third to open in the greater Sacramento area. The station, developed by Shell, will be open 24 hours a day and is located at 3510 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95864. Reflecting... Continue reading

Essex Magnet Wire is introducing a new, high-temperature rated insulation system for the windings of traction motors utilized in hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, as well as electric vehicles: EnduroTemp 260+. EnduroTemp 260+ is a thin film insulation that will extend the life of traction motors in critical... Continue reading

Bosch is working on sensor technology for air taxis. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that people around the world will take 1 billion flights in air taxis in 2030, once sharing services have also established a presence on fixed routes above the ground; most of those air taxis will be... Continue reading

The Audi Q5 55 TFSI e quattro with 270 kW (367 hp) system output (combined fuel consumption: 2.4 – 2.1 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 53 – 46 g/km) is the first of the new plug-in models from Audi. The new drive concept comprises a 2.0 TFSI, a four-cylinder, turbocharged... Continue reading

GILLIG LLC and Cummins Inc. announced that the GILLIG battery-electric bus, powered by Cummins (earlier post), is now available. The battery-electric bus incorporates the Cummins electrified powertrain, which features remote diagnostics and over-the-air connectivity and is backed by Cummins’ unparalleled support network and service training programs. The bus initially incorporates... Continue reading

Lightning Systems introduced a longer-range, higher-speed, Generation 2 model of its Lightning Electric system for the Ford Transit. (Earlier post.) The Lightning Electric Ford Transit is a battery-electric drivetrain package for the Ford Transit 350HD, a product used extensively by commercial and government fleets. With new thermally-managed NMC battery chemistry,... Continue reading

Solaris has signed another contract for the supply of electric buses on the Polish market. The Municipal Road and Transport Authority in Radom ordered ten Urbino 12 electric buses from Solaris together with infrastructure for charging them. The contract worth PLN 26 million (US$6.7 million) will be completed by mid-June... Continue reading

Southern California Edison (SCE) has launched Charge Ready Transport, a program that aims to add charging stations for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles at a minimum of 870 commercial sites within the utility’s 50,000 square-mile service area. This program is specifically tailored to Southern California, where the goods movement industry... Continue reading

Aerojet Rocketdyne and ZAF Energy Systems have established a new teaming agreement working together on an energy storage system utilizing ZAF’s nickel-zinc batteries and Aerojet Rocketdyne’s battery management system (BMS). While nickel-zinc batteries do not require a BMS for cell balancing and safety while charging, the BMS can enhance reliability... Continue reading

Under the EU FLAGSHIPS initiative, ABB will provide a fuel-cell-based power and propulsion solution for a newbuild push boat for the France-based Sogestran Group subsidiary Compagnie Fluviale de Transport (CFT), due for delivery in 2021. FLAGSHIPS is the EU-funded initiative to deploy commercially operated zero-emission vessels for inland and short... Continue reading

Proterra and Michelin are collaborating to develop the MICHELIN X InCity Energy Z tire, a new low rolling resistance tire designed and optimized for battery-electric buses in urban environments. The X InCity Energy Z tires help to reduce rolling resistance, increase load-carry capacity and leverage superior traction, resulting in increased... Continue reading

Low-speed electric vehicles (LSEVs) could reduce China’s demand for gasoline and, in turn, impact global oil prices, according to a new issue brief by an expert in the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “Low-Speed Electric Vehicles: An Underappreciated Threat to Gasoline Demand in... Continue reading

Constellium N.V. is the supplier of aluminum auto body sheet for the hood of Groupe PSA’s new PEUGEOT Partner and new Citroën Berlingo Van—International Vans of the Year 2019—as well as for the new Berlingo and the new PEUGEOT Rifter. While Groupe PSA frequently uses aluminum in passenger cars, this... Continue reading

General Motors President Mark Reuss unveiled the company’s all-new electronic platform necessary for its next-generation of vehicles, EVs, active safety, infotainment and connectivity features, and the evolution of the Super Cruise driver assistance feature. The technology powers an electronic system, capable of managing up to 4.5 terabytes (TB) of data... Continue reading

Einride’s T-pod—a cab-less, autonomous electric truck (earlier post)—has driven on a public road. The world premiere and inaugural run took place at DB Schenker’s facility in Jönköping, Sweden. The T-pod will transport goods between a warehouse and terminal at the facility, as part of a commercial flow. Einride’s T-pod has... Continue reading

Business Korea reports that sales of Hyundai Motor’s Nexo hydrogen fuel cell vehicle this year reached 1,075 units on May 17, exceeding the 949 units sold for the whole of last year. This marks the first time Hyundai has sold more than 1,000 hydrogen cars annually since 2013. Of the... Continue reading

Renault has equipped its Mégane range with a new 1.7 Blue dCi 150 diesel engine paired with a dual-clutch automatic gearbox. In addition to the Blue dCi 95 and Blue dCi 115 engines, this new engine offers driving pleasure right from low engine speeds and quick starts. It provides maximum... Continue reading

In 2018, 27% of new light-duty vehicles sold in the US had fuel economies of more than 30 miles per gallon (783 l/100 km), according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). By contrast, none of the light-duty vehicles produced in 1975 had fuel economy greater than 30 miles per... Continue reading