Volvo Cars has opened order books for the XC40 Recharge P8 AWD (earlier post), the company’s first fully electric car which is based on the best-selling SUV, in selected markets. The company says it has already received “several thousands” of firm orders even before the formal start of sales. Production... Continue reading

E-Trucks Europe, a manufacturer of electric-hydrogen hybrid commercial vehicles, has ordered five HyRange fuel cell systems from Proton Motor. The five hydrogen fuel cell systems will be used to outfit electric refuse trucks as part of the EU project REVIVE (Refuse Vehicle Innovation and Validation in Europe). The tender, which... Continue reading

Norway-based energy company Equinor has contracted with Eidesvik Offshore for the Viking Energy supply vessel, which is being retrofitted to make it capable of covering long distances fueled by carbon-free ammonia. The vessel will transport supplies to installations on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The Viking Energy. (Photo: Eidesvik Offshore)... Continue reading

The US Department of Energy announced up to $64 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002229) to advance innovations that will build new markets for the H2@Scale initiative (earlier post). This investment will support transformational research and development (R&D), innovative hydrogen concepts that will encourage market expansion and increase the scale of hydrogen... Continue reading

Following a successful feasibility study on the joint development of a new hybrid locomotive with Toshiba (earlier post), DB Cargo is now ordering the first 50 locomotives. The freight operating company will lease another 50 locomotives. Preparation of series assembly of the locomotives starts in 2021 at DB Cargo’s maintenance... Continue reading

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $133 million in funding to support new and innovative advanced vehicle technologies research. Funded through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, this funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0002197) supports projects in advanced batteries and electrification in support of the recently announced DOE... Continue reading

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to more than $96 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002203) for bioenergy research and development. Topic areas within this FOA will advance DOE’s Bioenergy Technology Office’s objectives of reducing the price of drop-in biofuels; lowering the cost of biopower; and enabling high-value products from... Continue reading

Due to the high demand for test capacities on battery modules and battery systems of electrically powered vehicles, Valmet Automotive is setting up a Battery Test Center (BTC) in Bad Friedrichshall. The facility should be operational by the end of February. The construction of Valmet Automotive’s new Battery Test Center... Continue reading

SAE International published its latest standard, SAE J3105: Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System Using Conductive Automated Connection Devices, along with three new tributary documents. The standard covers the general physical, electrical, functional, testing, and performance requirements for a mechanized (hands-free) conductive power transfer system primarily for transit buses using an... Continue reading

WeShare, Volkswagen and ŠKODA’s free-floating electric car sharing service, is to expand into seven more cities in Germany and other European countries in 2020. Prague and Hamburg in the spring are to be followed by Paris, Madrid, Budapest, Munich and Milan in the course of the year. In all these... Continue reading

Bosch has increased its stake in solid-oxide fuel-cell (SOFC) developer Ceres Power from 3.9% to around 18%. The stake increase is achieved through a subscription by Bosch for new Ceres Power shares, as well as the purchase of further shares from existing shareholders. Bosch’s total investment will be approximately €90... Continue reading

A consortium comprising Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals), Gasunie and four other partners will receive an €11-million European grant towards their proposed green hydrogen project in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The project is a front-runner among several hydrogen initiatives aimed at cutting carbon emissions and will be a significant milestone in... Continue reading

Audi of America, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announced plans for initial deployments of Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) communication on northern Virginia roadways, employing advanced wireless communications to enhance vehicle safety by using the same portion of the 5.9 GHz band... Continue reading

Volkswagen Group of America and Aeris, a technology leader in the Internet of Things (IoT), have formed Ventic LLC, a joint venture that is the result of a long-term commitment between Volkswagen and Aeris in the development and operations of connected vehicle platform technologies. The Aeris mobility suite can be... Continue reading

In the Ontario Court of Justice, Volkswagen AG was ordered to pay an unprecedented C$196.5 million fine after pleading guilty to 60 charges for offenses under federal environmental legislation. Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty to 58 counts of contravening section 154 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 by unlawfully importing... Continue reading

BMW i Ventures has invested in Software Motor Company (SMC), a Silicon Valley-based company developing reliable, efficient and intelligent motor systems. SMC’s electric motor system is based on switched reluctance technology, managed by advanced cloud software. The Smart Motor system partners a patented high rotor pole switched reluctance motor (HRSRM)... Continue reading

Zenuity, a developer of software for self-driving and assisted driving cars, has selected Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to provide the crucial artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure it needs in order to develop next-generation autonomous driving (AD) systems. Zenuity is a joint venture between Volvo Cars (VCC) and... Continue reading

Consumer Reports sent letters and a consumer petition to the leaders of General Motors, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Nissan, Subaru, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, and Mitsubishi, calling on the companies to drop their legal attack against America’s Clean Air Act, and instead support Clean Car standards that help drivers save money on... Continue reading

The external supply of power at the Volkswagen brand’s 16 plants around the world—excluding China—has already been switched to 70% green electricity from renewable sources. The company has now resolved to increase this figure to 90% inside just one year. Volkswagen plant in Emden. In addition, Volkswagen is systematically switching... Continue reading

Despite reports that global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, HFC-23, were almost eliminated in 2017, an international team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has found atmospheric levels growing at record values. Over the last two decades, scientists have been keeping a close eye on the atmospheric... Continue reading

OXIS Energy has successfully tested its Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery cell prototypes at 471Wh/kg and is confident of achieving 500Wh/kg in the next 12 months. Consistently shipping cells at 400Wh/kg to its clients in Europe, the US and Japan, OXIS is collaborating with major European chemical partners to develop an advanced... Continue reading

Domestic production of lithium, the lightest of elemental metals, is considered a priority for the US. It is essential for the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries commonly used for everything from electric vehicles to cell phones and laptops. However, lithium is sourced almost exclusively from other countries, either concentrated using a... Continue reading

The Hydrogen Council has published a new report, Path to Hydrogen Competitiveness: A Cost Perspective, demonstrating that the cost of hydrogen solutions will fall sharply within the next decade, sooner than previously expected. As scale-up of production, distribution and equipment manufacturing continues, cost is projected to decrease by up to... Continue reading

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Hydrogen Council Co-chair Euisun Chung has identified three key steps to accelerate the transition to a hydrogen society during the Hydrogen Council’s third annual CEO Meeting in Paris, France. EVC Chung opened the meeting stressing that there is “no shortcut to creating... Continue reading

Engineers at Rice University’s Brown School of Engineering have combined a macroporous silicon anode and alumina-coated NMC cathode to provide stable cyclability by means of capacity-limited charging. Their Si-NMC full-cell design with alumina passivation on cathode has exhibited a stable capacity of 1000 mAh/g, with 1.2 times higher energy density... Continue reading