Demand for raw materials used in the production of electric car batteries is set to soar, prompting the UN trade body, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), to call for the social and environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials, which include human rights abuses, to be... Continue reading

Mercedes-Benz AG has taken numerous measures to sustainably improve its cost structure and become significantly more efficient. An important lever for this is the adjustment and realignment of capacity within its global production network. Against this backdrop, the company intends to start talks on the sale of its car plant... Continue reading

Ballard Power Systems has received a $7.7-million purchase order for membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for use in manufacturing FCvelocity-9SSL fuel cell stacks from Guangdong Synergy Ballard Hydrogen Power Co., Ltd. (Synergy-Ballard JVCo), a joint venture in which Ballard holds a 10% ownership interest. Ballard FCvelocity-9SSL fuel cell stacks (CNW Group/Ballard... Continue reading

Buick is adding the VELITE 6 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to its new energy vehicle (NEV) portfolio in China. The model is expected to be launched this month. The VELITE 6 PHEV will be powered by Buick eMotion electric drive technology that leverages GM’s global electrification expertise. It will... Continue reading

Mercedes-Benz has entered a far-reaching strategic partnership with the Chinese battery cell manufacturer Farasis Energy (Ganzhou) Co., Ltd., including taking an equity stake. Key elements of the agreement include the development and industrialization of advanced cell technologies, accompanied by ambitious goals for cost competitiveness. The technological focus is on significant... Continue reading

Researchers at the University of Oregon have advanced the effectiveness of the catalytic water dissociation reaction in bipolar membranes. The work, published in the journal Science, provides a roadmap to realize electrochemical devices that benefit from the key property of bipolar membranes operation—to generate the protons and hydroxide ions inside... Continue reading

The technology group Wärtsilä, in close customer cooperation with Knutsen OAS Shipping AS and Repsol, as well as with the Sustainable Energy Catapult Centre, will commence the world’s first long-term, full-scale, testing of ammonia as a fuel in a marine four-stroke combustion engine. (Earlier post.) The testing is made possible... Continue reading

Ford has awarded TomTom a global multi-year deal to provide Ford’s next-generation SYNC with its real-time traffic service. The all-new 2021 Ford F-150 pickup and the soon to be delivered all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV are the first Ford vehicles available with the technology. TomTom Traffic provides accurate, real-time traffic information,... Continue reading

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected seven projects for awards totaling $1.94 million to conduct research and development to accelerate the adoption of performance-advantaged biofuel blendstocks. These fuels are derived from renewable feedstocks, and can deliver exceptional efficiency with low emissions. The seven projects will leverage National Laboratory... Continue reading

In China, SAIC-GM-Wuling recently put into operation Guangxi province’s first cascading energy storage power station utilizing retired electric vehicle batteries at the company’s Baojun base in Liuzhou. The facility stores wind and solar energy as well as energy from the grid generated during non-peak hours for use by the grid... Continue reading

The BMW Group has opened the Competence Center for E-Drive Production at its largest European manufacturing location in Dingolfing. Having produced electric powertrain components in Dingolfing since 2013, the BMW Group is now expanding its capacity significantly. Production of the highly integrated BMW e-drive—final assembly Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder and... Continue reading

China-based premium EV manufacturer NIO delivered 3,740 vehicles in June 2020, representing a strong 179.1% growth year-over-year. The deliveries consisted of 2,476 ES6s, the company’s 5-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV; and 1,264 ES8s, the Company’s 7-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV, and its 6-seater variant. NIO delivered 10,331 vehicles... Continue reading

Norsepower Oy Ltd., the leading global provider of auxiliary wind propulsion systems, and SEA-CARGO, leading logistics provider in the North Sea market, announced an agreement to install two of Norsepower’s largest Rotor Sails (earlier post) on board the SC Connector, a sidedoor Ro-Ro. The agreement also marks the installation of... Continue reading

Cambridge Consultants, part of the Capgemini Group, has introduced EnfuseNet, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system for autonomous vehicles. EnfuseNet fuses data from low-cost sensors and cameras—hardware costing just tens of dollars—to generate high-resolution depth data, the ideal reference point for autonomous systems. The result is very low-cost, high-resolution depth data... Continue reading

To accelerate the progression of driverless technology, Project ASLAN has launched an open-source and rapidly deployable self-driving software platform. The free and open software stack has been launched expressly to foster engineering collaboration. Project ASLAN is a new international not-for-profit collaboration between commercial enterprise, leading technology universities, transport authorities and... Continue reading

NEVS has presented its new mobility ecosystem: PONS—the first generation of autonomous vehicles with a connected user interface. The self-driving vehicle Sango is the centerpiece of the system. The self-driving vehicle Sango NEVS developed PONS because cities all over the world, clogged by pollution and traffic, want to do whatever... Continue reading

A new Leaderboard Report from Guidehouse Insights evaluates the strategy and execution of 21 electric vehicle (EV) upstarts, with Rivian, NIO, and Nikola ranked as the leading market players. The Guidehouse Insights Leaderboard Grid Interest in and adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and fuel... Continue reading

Volvo Penta has developed an electric driveline for leading fire service vehicle manufacturer Rosenbauer’s pioneering fire truck, enabling a new solution with zero exhaust emissions and significantly reduced noise levels. The truck is currently undergoing intensive testing and will soon begin real-world customer testing with fire departments in Berlin, Amsterdam... Continue reading

NREL has issued a request for proposals for qualified partners to participate in cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) projects with the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) national laboratories in support of DOE’s H2@Scale initiative. Through this CRADA call, DOE's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) seeks to accelerate... Continue reading

Volkswagen has premiered the new Tiguan, now available with a plug-in hybrid drive option for select markets (not including the US), the Tiguan eHybrid. (Earlier post.) Tiguan eHybrid The Volkswagen Tiguan is Europe’s most successful Sports Utility Vehicle and one of the top-selling SUVs in the world. More than six... Continue reading

Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA) welcomed its first overseas liquid natural gas (LNG) transport ship to the VWGoA port in Davisville, RI. The LNG-powered car carrier ship, named Siem Confucius, left Emden, Germany on 16 June 2020 on its first voyage, which includes one stop in the US before heading... Continue reading

Daimler Truck AG is pushing forward with series production of fuel cells with Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG. Over the past ten years, experts from Daimler have built up extensive know-how in this field and have developed production methods and processes. In close cooperation with their colleagues... Continue reading

A collaboration between Neste, HERE Technologies, and PTV Group indicates that traffic-related CO2 emissions can be reduced by choosing the right driving route, especially in urban areas on short trips with private cars. Earlier this spring, Neste and its partners tested the emissions of different route options by installing measuring... Continue reading

BASF is launching an engineering plastic that is particularly suited for automotive parts that come into contact with hot oil. The new polyethersulfone (PESU) Ultrason E0510 C2TR shows very good tribological properties, high oil resistance and excellent dimensional stability also with broad ranges of temperature fluctuations. The injection-molding grade with... Continue reading

Toyota Motor Corporation has developed a world’s stamping-type plating technology that uses a polymer membrane (solid electrolyte membrane), through which metal ions can pass, to apply plating, like a stamp, only to areas requiring plating. The technology is used in the plating process for forming copper, nickel, and other metal... Continue reading