By mmillikin The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $45 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002760) to support the domestic development of advanced batteries for electric vehicles. Through DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the Department is launching the Electric Vehicles for American Low-Carbon Living (EVs4ALL) program to develop more affordable, convenient, efficient and resilient…
By mmillikin To boost the global production capacity of green methanol, A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) is entering strategic partnerships with six leading companies with the intent of sourcing at least 730,000 tonnes/year by end of 2025. The six companies are CIMC ENRIC, European Energy, Green Technology Bank, Orsted, Proman, and WasteFuel. With this production…
By mmillikin At the International Engine Congress in Baden-Baden (Germany), Liebherr-Components AG and US-based Tula Technology presented the results of their joint study on heavy machinery. Based on simulations, Tula’s diesel Dynamic Skip Fire (dDSF) software (earlier post) allowed the reduction of NOx tailpipe emissions by 41% and CO2by 9.5%. For this study, Liebherr Machines…
By mmillikin Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Ford Motor Company announced a collaboration exploring how Ford’s new F-150 Lightning electric vehicle (EV)—the first commercially available light-duty truck with bidirectional charging technology (earlier post)—can interact with the electric grid and provide electric reliability benefits to PG&E customers. One in five EVs in the country…
By mmillikin Solid-state batteries could potentially not only deliver twice as much energy for their size, they also could virtually eliminate the fire hazard associated with today’s lithium-ion batteries. However, instabilities at the boundary between the solid electrolyte layer and the two electrodes on either side can dramatically shorten the lifetime of such batteries. Some…
By mmillikin The BMW iX5 Hydrogen (earlier post) is currently undergoing testing in extremely challenging winter weather conditions on public roads and at the BMW Group’s testing center in Arjeplog, northern Sweden. The integrated functional testing and validation of the fuel cell system, hydrogen tanks, peak power battery and central vehicle control unit have confirmed…
By mmillikin Toyota’s second-generation Mirai, a premium rear-wheel drive fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) with coupe-like design, is offering Toyota Teammate advanced driver assistance technology for model year 2022. Toyota Teammate is built around the philosophy that people and vehicles can work in partnership to achieve safe, convenient and efficient mobility. Toyota Teammate, available on the…
By mmillikin BMW Group, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Arriver Software AB announced a long-term development cooperation for the development of Automated Driving technologies. The companies signed an agreement for a strategic cooperation, which will focus on joint development of next-generation AD technologies ranging from New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), Level 2 Advanced Driving Assistance Systems…
By mmillikin Sanctioning Russian nickel will slow the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and hinder the decarbonization of Western economies, according to GlobalData. The data and analytics company notes that such actions will simply mean Western countries will be more reliant on Russian oil and gas for longer. According to GlobalData’s Mining Commodity Analyzer, Russia…
By mmillikin Rocsys, the first company offering autonomous charging solutions that automate industry-standard CCS connectors, has signed an order of agreement with SSA Marine, the world’s largest independent, privately-held marine terminal operator, to supply ROC-1 autonomous charging systems. The systems will autonomously charge part of the electric yard tractor fleet of SSA Marine at the…
By mmillikin Recent battery fires have renewed investigation of the safety of Li-ion batteries. One possible path to battery safety is a solid-state battery that replaces the volatile and flammable liquid electrolyte with a non-flammable solid electrolyte. While the safety benefits of this solid electrolyte replacement are widely acknowledged, the broader safety of Li-metal anode…
By mmillikin Sony Group Corporation and Honda Motor signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines their intent to establish a joint venture through which they plan to engage in the joint development and sales of high value-added battery electric vehicles (EVs) and commercialize them in conjunction with providing mobility services. The two companies will proceed…
By mmillikin Neural Propulsion Systems (NPS), a developer of autonomous sensing platforms, issued a white paper that concludes that new innovations enable vehicles with or without human supervision to see soon enough, clear enough and far enough to eliminate roadway deaths. Achieving zero roadway deaths is necessary for universal adoption of autonomous driving and is…
By mmillikin Chevron Corporation and Renewable Energy Group announced a definitive agreement under which Chevron will acquire the outstanding shares of REG in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.15 billion, or $61.50 per share. The acquisition combines REG’s growing renewable fuels production and leading feedstock capabilities with Chevron’s large manufacturing, distribution and commercial marketing position….
By mmillikin Researchers at Stanford University have shown that porous polymer encapsulation of metal-supported catalysts can drive the selectivity of CO2 conversion to hydrocarbons. Using this technique, they report orders of magnitude higher turnover frequencies for hydrocarbon formation compared to conventional catalysts. A paper on their work is published in Proceedings of the National Academy…