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News from the Automobile Industry

New Interesting Approach - open source principle
Because radical new alternative fuel vehicles seldomly leave the showrooms, there is may be a better approach by working together jointly on a better design. Click for the hydrogen powered city car
more...

This news post closes also this column.
In this column 86 postings were issued. For a follow up after the end of the sugre project starting with January 1st 2009 go to biosire.eu.

Jathropa good as jet fuel
Air new Zealand powered one engine of a Boeing 747-400 airplane with a 50-50 blend of oil from jatropha plants and standard A1 jet fuel.
The economics and the long term impacts are not clear yet but the test is a beginning.
source

Packing all expensive technology into one bus
Combining battery electric with fuel cell delivers a zero emission system with range extender. The light-weight composite bus produced by Proterra from Colorado features a 250 miles/400 km range backed up by a 50 kW fuel cell and fast charging capability of 6 minutes. Since this is only an announcement about a demonstration project scheduled for 2009 we have to wait seeing valid results.
pdf.
In Europe the CUTE project had similar aims.

Refuse trucks - just the best application for hybrid electric vehicles
Four pre production hybrid electric refuse trucks will be delivered to Veolia Propreté operating in London and Paris as from autumns 2009.
The vehicles are based on Volvo Trucks' heavy-duty FE model. A total fuel reduction of up to 30 per cent is envisaged. Series production is due to start at the end of 2009.
source

What is the best business model bringing a BEV to the market?
Well we have seen massive delay with Teslas roadster, also the electric Smart will be delayed till 2012. Also no success on the side of the small manufacturers like Newteon. It seems that the crisis does also prevent from putting money in RTD in order to achieve the ambitious targets of primary league automotive products.
May be this is a viable alternative - Michelin partners with a Chinese battery specialist and will simply retrofit existing vehicles (more).
We will see- the mean thing is that even electric promises low electricity costs, the TOC are high because of the need for higher autonomy. I guess that range extenders will prevails saving a lot and electric utilities will love to pre finance batteries in order to create a market for BEVs. They should be warned from the hydrogen history- waiting for the costs to come down might not be the most promising behaviour. Better radical rethinking of vehicle concepts and support of the customers who have also lost money in the crisis is high on the agenda.

Hybrid Electric Vehicle combines with CNG efficiently
The 08 LA auto show will present a show car using a HEV which has been retrofitted with two CNG tanks instead of the 5th wheel.
Since spark ignition engines do profit more from hybridisation, we are looking eagery to see more of the same..
detail photos
Toyota source

Two battery electric field test have started
BMW Group and Vattenfall Europe started in Berlin, Germany a field test using 50 MINI E and publicly available recharging stations source in German.
In Japan the Postal Services are testing different types of battery electric vehicles source. Amongst them a Mitsubishi i MiEV and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd's "Subaru Plug-in Stella Concept".

Will fast charging slam alternative BEV concepts?
PEDELECs are a nice field to test innovative battery electric technology. In the past we have seen battery swapping and few try out fuel cell range extenders. Toshiba now utlises its quick-charging lithium ion rechargeable battery "SCiB" in a PEDELEC to allow much higher autonomy. The PEDELEC is to be launched by Cannondale next year more. For larger vehicles however grid capacity stands against fast charging unless innovation will erase this problem...

Volvo debuts Hybrid Electric Bus
Claims to save 30% with the I-Sam parallel hybrid. Would be interesting knowing what the price premium for the hybrid plate is compared to other brands (MAN, Solaris) which are also offering hybrid buses.
source

Strongly recommended Alternative Fuel Blogs
They might be a little US-centred but to find out global trends have an eye on:
greenfuelforecast
autobloggreen

For Europe we recommend:
mygreencar

Please notify other rss-feeds, thank you!

Public utilities support car manufacturers in introducing battery electric vehicles and hybrids
EDF and PSA Peugeot Citroën have formed a partnership to support the development and future marketing of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
source...

Fuel cells back on the agenda
Starting with power generators for notebooks and range extenders for electric scooters methanol powered fuel cells are back. The respective producers are Panasonic and efoy. While the solution for laptops is still under development the efoy's power generator is sold, mostly for yachts. Bio-methanol now produced in Delfzijl may be biofuel source...

Big brands learn the lessons using alternative propulsion as USP
We cannot name all the news coming in every minute in the battery electric segment. C-Net counted 16 start-ups source. Now the interesting thing is to see how the electric vehicles slip out of the niches and create a completely new segment.
Toyota was the first with its Prius to define the brand HEV, the Chevy Volt might be next. The unique selling proposition will be underlined by having a separate classification (CARB) source. The presentation of the Chevy Volt and more the start of the production of Li-Ion batteries in Germany initiate the era of electric power trains source.

A Bacteria Increases the Yield in Biofuel Production
Bacterium Escherichia coli may transform Glycerol, a major by-product of biodiesel production into ethanol.
source

Build your own 150mph racing bike
Bored? Build your 150mph racing bike - it's damned easy following this photo story
photo story
This is probably the video from the drivers perspective
video

European Tier 1 supplier prepares for Battery Electric Vehicles
While auto makers try to keep demand low - see previous news posting - tier 1 suppliers prepare for the roll out of battery and hybrid electric. SB LiMotive, a joint South Korean and German undertaking will ramp up production of LiIon batteries.source

Why Battery Electric Vehicles Are Bad In Europe
They are bad according to the major European car brands, simply because they can't deliver models to the sale rooms. But lets stick to the facts:

battery innovation is with Japan and the USA, and we are short of supply of usable batteries!
both the Chinese and Indian will serve their markets first invalidating the hypothesis that battery electric is not doable. This also means that there will no chance to have rebranded Asian cars in Europe because they are needed in heavily polluted Asian cities.
good range extenders are the key to he big market success: since light rotary engines (Mazdas Wankel) were neglected and two stroke engines have not been prepared for longevity and low emission European car manufacturers have no range extender - fuel cells are way to expensive

The only way to pull out of this mess is to stop investment in hydrogen economy and nuclear fission for a while and concentrate fully on the battery electric vehicles - with range extenders of course - fast charging is difficult because of the weak grid and the cost for the infrastructure and the batteries which don't like it. Battery exchange is a way - but only for captive fleets - market diversity will not allow to make a business model out of it - even if Shai Agassi pours Millions of marketing money in it. Flow batteries are easier to refill but have the same principal problems. we need a standardisation of liquid electrolytes as we have standardised fuels now.

Yes we can do it!

End of some white horses/unicorns
Tata announced regarding the compressed air car that a "launch in near future is ruled out".
source
We also think the vehicle running on pure water with positive energy balance of the whole process are not viable.
So this is definitely the last news about those kind of new promising technologies.

E-Diesel enters the arena with passenger cars?
Swedish auto maker Saab facing problems in eco-labeling its E85 powered sport cars may be forced to go a step further introducing more efficient E-diesel cars using E95. Viability has already been demonstrated by a car tuner.
source www.e95.eu

Trouble ahead - battery electric bubble melts down or migrates?
Recent rumours and announcements tell us that something is wrong with industry:

Mercedes is said to be taking up Tesla technology for its own hybrids- Tesla having build so far 40 vehicles, delivering 10 to their clients.
GM steps back to an endurance of 40 miles for their Chevy Volt, delivering another but faster neighbourhood vehicle.
battery maker A123 is said to have lost a big client (either for DIY equipment or GMs Volt).
another battery maker Cobasys is for sale after some battery recall.

There are some facts which should be observed when designing new vehicles for the market:

Autonomy is tremendous expensive for battery electric vehicles, so its better to offer dual mode vehicles for inter city traffic.

Only dedicated captive vehicles may operate on batteries - flat SOC cycling and slow charging benefits the economic lifetime of the secondary batteries.

Since batteries may come down in price and go up in quality good replacement options shall be part of the packaging. It's not about DIY, but the possibility to choose the battery type and size of your own choice or switch to fuel cells later (may be) should be part of the manufacturers offer for buyers allowing them to reduce their risks.

Concluding, time for battery electric vehicles has come, but only if the application and logistic fits- all other applications should have an eye on hybrid or dual mode power trains (this does only refer to the bivalent operation mode and not whether the energy is harvested during driving or via plug in).

Solar Boating Benefits Inland Waterways
This swan will make the change. In Berlin the second generation of the passenger boat named Swan II equipped with photovoltaic panels was presented. The boat is capable to host 12 persons and has a maximum speed of 14 km/h which equals 7.5 knots. The cruising speed is slower to match the solar power rated at 3.8 kW.
source in German

Who is first in the race for the first serious battery electric car?
After some announcements from VW (you may find below) also Mercedes thinks loudly about market introduction of BEVs in the range of 2009-2010. Experiments using the Smart have already started in London. By 2012 there will be more than 10,000 vehicles produced per year, Weber - chief developer with Mercedes - announced.
source in German
We will see how fast green zones will pull auto makers into electric or their lack of expertise with electriccal engineering and lack of ressources for electric equipment will slow down this process.

Quality as Hurdle for Market Introduction
The quality of nowadays combustion engines is such that all new technologies do have problems to compete. Especially with SUVs the power requirements are very high due to the high mass. This problem hit now Audi who cancelled the introduction of the hybrid electric Q7. Toyota only introduced its second generation THS with its heavier cars.
The other way round with bicycles we are used that stores sell off 99€ bicycles having a low quality. In a new round now cheap electrically assisted bicycles are flooding the market (starting with Walmart in the U.S.A.). If you want to trade that in for your car for commuting or climbing hills however think twice about it. A little more investment will make you a lot happier. LiIon is now standard for batteries and geared hub motors are a must for hill climbing.
But again it’ s the low price starting at 350 USD which will bring a big land slide. Retrofitting LiIon batteries however will cost extra after two years...
source

Hydrogen Test Ride - BMW in New York
Wan't to know how an internal combustion engine performs with hydrogen read this

Long awaited improvement of PEDELECs
Sanyo of Japan has managed to combine a geared hub motor with regeneration of braking energy in a brushless DC motor being as light as 2.3kg. Together with battery packs of 2-3 kg this results in sufficient performance with a total bicycle weight below 20kg.
source

Build up of battery production resources as from 2009
In Japan a massive slide into battery electric is visible. Several companies will start mass production of LiIon batteries in 2009 source.

Fuelling the electric rabbit, who wins?
Latest news puts even more focus on electric propulsion. The easy task is to add solar energy to the supply for ancillary devices as Toyota does (source). This is no big news since WEBASTO offers solar panels as sun roof since a long time. The more risky news is from GM. The Chevy Volt will materialize as battery only vehicle. Continental AG using A123 cells and LG Chem are competing to supply the batteries (source). Apparently LGC will be the first supplier selected (source TR July 08).

Who tops 50 g CO₂ per km?
There are at least two possibilities going below 50 g CO₂ per km with a motor vehicle. One possibility is a battery electric microcar, the other a hybrid electric scooter. Piaggo is developing a range of solutions which will allow having 40 g CO₂ per km. Awaiting the market introduction... source

Pay Back Time for Hybrid Electric Buses
In depth analysis of current Hybrid Electric Buses have shown that the investors earn back the additional investment. The problem with some imported HEV technology having a pay back time of ten years is that it was not adapted to European topology. Smaller engines for flat terrain and stop& start automatic may save another 6l/100km. The message: For the next adapted generation of this imported technology the decision is buy buy buy...
source DER NAHVERKEHR 6/2008 p. 8ff

Roadmap Alternative Propulsion Volkswagen
Germans Volkswagen CEO Winterkorn thinks that battery electric vehicles may be bought in 2011, and the dual drive concept combining internal combustion with electric (plug-in hybrid electric) in 2015.
Competitors may be on the market with battery electric city cars two years earlier testing their conversion electric vehicles in US fleets starting end of 2008 (source). Plug in Hybrids may be retrofitted using the newest Toyota Prius generation now (source) or be found on the market by 2013 from Mitsubishi (source).

Produce your own ethanol at home
A new start-up announced a device which allows you to brew your own fuel at home source.

Toyota got approval for its new FCHV-adv
The autonomy of the fuel cell powered car was increased to 830km. The FCHV-adv will work up to minus 30 Celsius. The media coverage is still confusing naming it a hybrid electric vehicle. It is however more feasible that a battery electric concept was combined with a fuel cell replenishing the battery.

Volkswagen and Sanyo team to develop new LiPolyIon batteries
By 2020 Germany's Automaker Volkwagen intends introducing LiIon batteries with its hybrid electric vehicles. This announcement follows one in 2006 focusing on nickel metal hydride batteries, which have never been introduced with Volkswagens fleet.
source

GM's Wagoner announces market appearance of the Volt by 2010
GM's CEO introduced a new strategy phasing out SUV's and bringing the Volt to the market by 2010. Be the electric force with them.
source

2nd generation of CNG engines really save significant CO₂
While with bivalent spark ignition engines (Otto) there were some doubt about the CO₂ savings compared to compression ignition (Diesel) engines especially in city traffic- we now see a positive development introducing at least turbo charging. But we are waiting still for engines profiting from the higher knock resistance of methane increasing compression...
source

Edge design hits PEDELEC market
The electric assist gains momentum in the bicycle market and starts to compete with mopeds having less emission and lower operational cost.
Germans Riese & Müller, known for the more exclusive bicycle market offering fully suspended city bicycles launched a new range of powerful PEDELECs. Using BionX engines and controllers the three new bikes including a folder will be launched at the upcoming Eurobike Show.

Fuel cells as range extender approaching the market
Whilst full size fuel cell vehicle remain not affordable by the public, there is new hope of implementing them in near future. Combining an electric vehicle - in this case a formerly hybrid Peugeot Partner - with a hydrogen fuel cell range extender the autonomy has been increased by PSA from 100 to 300 km. The concept does not need hydrogen refuelling stations since it uses exchangeable racks. Well done PSA.....

Media goes mad - TÜV-Süd had been positive about 7% biodiesel blend, not vice verse
Since biofuel bashing got popular in Germany the media reported that TÜV-Süd was critical about raising the biodiesel blending level in Germany. This turned out to be untrue - the criticism was only with regards to B100. According to TÜV-Süd engines are capable to run on B7 without problems.

source in German

Deutsche Post testing hybrid 7.5 ton trucks
20% fuel saving is envisaged in this test of mail and DHL parcel delivery vehicles. The test utilizes both new German and already tested Japanese technology.
press release in German

Partners sought for FP7 hub motor research
GREEN IN WHEEL - Development of a novel electric-hybrid power train for heavy vehicles based on in-wheel concept
more...

Austrian aircraft chosen for Boing Fuel Cell tests
A first successful flight with an engine powered two seater glider had been using electric energy from both battery and a fuel cell. In the USA there are a couple of full electric air planes - may be the fuel cell will compete with solar recharging for light gliders.

New top score on the CO₂-emission ranking
If you think 100 g CO₂ per km is a good figure have a look at the Hyundai i10 CNG.
It features a 0.8 l 3-cylinder turbo charged engine having 6-gears, low resistance tires, an intelligent start-stop system and improved aerodynamics resulting in an emission of 65 g CO₂/km only.
Unfortunately you won't be able to buy this car in the upcoming year(s) according to Hans van Gent, HYUNDAI MOTOR EUROPE
source in German

Battery electric charged to 80% in 15 minutes
Subaru is testing the R1e in New York together with the New York Power Authority. The 40kW full battery electric two seater has a range of 50 miles and a maximum speed of 65 mph - perfect city car.
Because of its fast charging capability a full day operation is possible if power plugs are available (certainly no domestic plugs).
source

Good, but sold out -the Biodiesel Motorcycle
Ever looked for a 96MPG (2.44 l Diesel/100km) fun ride at reduced carbon foot print? Here it is - or here it could be - if you are patient. The producers claiming to have created a B100 compliant vibrant bike put the orders on hold. You might profit from it waiting for the electronic injection system. The second drawback is that you have to buy military technology...

supplier
story

2.0l engine for Fords FFVs
Ford will introduce three additional Flexi-fuel models in March 08: the S-Max, the Galaxy and the Mondeo flex-fuel, with an adapted 2.0-liter engine.
source

Hybrid for the Masses: Doubly articulated hybrid bus is tested in Jena
Three of them might be tested in Brisbane, Australia one is already running in Jena. The data: 24.70m long, two joints and two propelled, and two steered axles. The passenger capacity is 200. Regeneration of braking energy will save 20-25% fuel says Hess the Swiss producer. They also may run on biodiesel.
source in German
photo gallery
Australian order?

Saab 9-4X BioPower Concept - Further adapting the engine to E85
Although the use is in a rather inefficient vehicle concept, Saab has released some info about its Ethanol capable engine. The compression ration is now 10.5:1 improving engine efficiency as well as the use of direct injection (DI) and continuously variable valve timing (VVT) on both the inlet and exhaust sides.
source

Don't bother Alaska - biodiesel may be used in the cold...
This one is not surface bound but underlines the quality of todays
biodiesel. BioJet 1 flew for 37 minutes on refined cooking oil only. It reached approx. 5.180 m- where it is rather cold...
source

China's BYD Aims to Sell Hybrid Cars in U.S. by 2010
The world's biggest maker of mobile-phone batteries has taken over Qinchuan Automobile Co. It in 2003. They have plans to sell hybrid cars in the U.S. as soon as 2010, using its competencies in batteries expanding into the market for energy-efficient vehicles. The first step was a hybrid sedan displayed at the Detroit Motor Show.
source BYD

Project Better Place Plans Roll-out of Battery Electric Vehicles in Israel
We are looking forward also to new business models introduced by non carmakers regarding batteries, since another consortium went public this week with a battery rental system. Its Shai Agassis project better place will set up the battery exchange places in Israel including the Li-Ion batteries allowing a 124 mile autonomy, Nissan will provide the vehicles.
Nissans Hyper Mini
source NYT

Electric Audi first European Battery Electric Fun Car?

Just watch this link.

Not just another concept car- Toyota 1/X
Seems that Toyota makes everything right. Understanding that the vehicle mass dominates the fuel economy they have multiplied the Prius mass by the factor 1/3. For that weight the internal combustion engine is far too big - another 1/x cut having 500ccm displacement of course supported by the huge torque of the electric motor. What comes out is a really outstanding vehicle, the 1/X. This leaves only the wish that cost and energy efficient production of the carbon composites will enable mass production. Then we all will love the 90 MPG which equals 2.6l/100km gasoline, not diesel- another 1/x of today's figures.
source Edmunds

Is this the first affordable fuel cell car?
Beginning summer 2008 Honda is leasing its FCX Clarity for 600 USD a month. They will choose households in Southern California according to their distance to refuelling stations although the autonomy is 260 miles and predict to half CO₂-emission compared to gasoline fuelled vehicles.
source NYT

Not automotive but interesting for polar climates
Virgin Group will test aircraft bio fuel with a Boing 747 aircraft together with GE Aviation. Since ethanol freezes at 15,000 feet they will use butanol. source cited in TRANSPORT INNOVATOR VOLUME 3, No. 5 September-October 2007 subscription

Battery electric from the start
The FIAT Fiorino was presented both as version with internal combustion engine and with battery electric version.
NEWTEON is the European retailer for Micro-Vett.

Piaggo will introduce hybrid electric scooters
Not much has been revealed though...

source

Two new hybrids covering both ends of the spectrum
While one of the new vehicles covers light two seaters the other aims at improving propulsion in buses.

smart fortwo mhd (micro-hybrid drive) will save up to 14%.
Volvo Buses has developed a parallel hybrid, saving up to 35%.

source

Another two electric vehicles in the pipeline
Hybrid Technologies starts to produce the electric Mini Cooper- originally produced by BMW.
100 electric - smarts will be tested in London for 4 years, scheduled endurance is 115km.

Porsche Cayenne Hybrid saves 25%
Starting with 2009/2010 a hybrid electric version will be available.
The electric motor will have 54 PS and is accompanying the 280-PS- gasoline engine. Electric only 120 km/h shall be possible. Total CO2 emission will be 216 g/km (8.9 l/100km). Few Porsche cars will follow like the Panamera other cars from Audi and VW will be offered as stop'n go.
source

Kia shows 37% fuel saving in a middle class vehicle
The Kia Rio Hybrid is achieving the savings with a small 4-cylinder 1.4 liter, 90 HP engine with a 12 kW electric motor recharging the Nigh 144 volt battery pack when regenerating braking energy.
The power train is considered to be a mild hybrid, employing engine idle cut-off and restart as needed.
The savings are achieved by reducing the weight 23 percent compared to the standard version. Employing an aluminium hood, trunk and front seat frames and also using lightweight wheels this weight saving results in a total weight which is not compromised by the additional hybrid components. The hydraulic power steering system has also been replaced by an energy saving all electric system. A CVT reduces diver induced fuel consumption running the engine at optimum RPM. Last bit not least low-friction tires contribute to the exceptional low fuel consumption.
source

Hybrid racer competes at the 24 h race of Tokachi
Toyota will run a hybrid racing car having three electric motors- one with 150kW and two with 10kW in the frond wheels. The braking energy is stored in supercaps. In total this amounts to 470PS.
source in French

Hybridisation offers new chances for the hydrogen bus?
European bus makes split in their strategies. While Scania focuses on Ethanol internal combustion hybrid buses, Daimler Benz will introduce the hybrid Citaro in 2008 and Van Hool builds five hybrid buses with UTC fuel cells.
In the U.S.A. growing interest is on Lithium Ion batteries, BAE will replace lead acid by LIFePO4 chemistry of A123.
source Transport Innovator Vol. 3 June/July 2007

Toyota does not go with lithium cobalt oxide Batteries for Next Prius
According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is alarmed by growing concern over the safety of these batteries....
source
But the story does not tell that there will be a safer solution with LiFePO4 or similar chemistry.
Here is a picture of a prototype; the Next Prius will appear in spring 2008:
more

Hybrid Electric Technology steps in in heavy trucking
Volvo has acquired Nisan with their HEV Know-how. In city transport savings of 30 to 35 %, in long distance transport 5-10% are expected.
From an interview with Mr.Johansson VOLVO in Welt Online
30. Mai 2007, 00:00 Uhr Reiner Gatermann:

Hybrid utility van utilises two cylinder engine?
Acc. to VDI Newspaper CLEANOVA will utilise Swiss two cylinder spark ignition engines for their vans giving mainly electric e.g. zero emission propulsion in city operation.

Solar boat made it over the Atlantic
With about 4-5 knot the catamaran reached New York these days acc. to the VDI Newspaper.

Hybrid buses perform well in recent evaluations
A 12-month evaluation of hybrid buses in Seattle found that, on average, the hybrids’ fuel economy was 27% higher than comparable diesel buses. The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) evaluated ten hybrid and ten diesel buses run by King County Metro in similar service. The evaluation vehicles were all 2004 New Flyer 60-ft buses with diesel particulate filters. The hybrids ran on a GM-Allison hybrid drive instead of a diesel
engine and cost about $200,000 more.
The hybrids’ fueling costs were 22% lower than the diesels’ costs, while overall maintenance costs were similar. As a result, the hybrids’ total operating cost per mile was 15% less than the
diesel buses. The short evaluation period did not allow for a life-cycle cost analysis.

King County Metro has operated a fleet of 235 hybrid buses since 2004. They recently issued an RFP for 20 hybrids with an option for up to 340 more.

Translink, the transit agency for the greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, is running a demonstration and comparison of
hybrid, natural gas, clean diesel, biodiesel and conventional diesel buses in regular revenue service. In preliminary results, the hybrids
had the best fuel efficiency, lowest fuel costs and lowest emissions. A second test phase with a different test procedure will be
conducted to confirm the results, which will be used to determine future bus purchases.

link1
link2
link3

source Transport Innovator, Vol. 3 No. 1 (Jan-Feb 2007) www.gobrt.org

Czech venture to develop hybrid fuel cell trolley bus
A hybrid fuel cell trolley bus is being developed through a new project in the Czech Republic.
German fuel cell company Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH will work with Czech trolley manufacturer Skoda to develop the new bus, which is expected to start service in Prague by 2009. The project is supported by the European Commission.
link
Source: Journal "Transport Innovator", Vol. 3 No. 1 (Jan-Feb 2007) link

Flywheel storage in trolley buses
The public transport operator BBG from Eberswalde will test a flywheel system from RWS Railway Service Gmbh in operation. The energy content is 4kWh.

Pilot with Hybrid Fuel Cell buses in Düsseldorf
Two midi buses will be tester over a 5 year period!
The basis is the battery electric Gulliver U520ESP from Technobus SA.
The NiCd battery is combined with Hydrogenis fuel cells. Costs are 5-7 times of a Diesel fuelled ICE bus. Increasing the service life of the stacks is a major aim of the pilot project.
Source: Journal "Verkehr und Technik" 2007 Heft 1

GM is giving away 100 FC vehicles for customer testing in Canada
With support from the Federal and Ontario Governments as part of GM
Canada's Beacon Project (announced in March 2005) GM's engineering
centre in Oshawa is playing a key engineering role in the conversion of more than 100 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles to be placed with regular GM customers in the fall of 2007.
source

New York Begins Testing Lithium-Ion Taxi
According to Green Car Congress, the Taxi and Limousine commission is testing a L-PT Cruiser using a Ballard Power Systems 312V 67 MS electric drive system. source

Serial hybrid electric van with Ethanol fuelled engine to be introduced in France
SVE (Société de véhicules électriques), an electric vehicle developer jointly created by the French companies Heuliez and Dassault, has launched a new version of its hybrid power train called Cleanova Plus, which combines the firm’s battery-electric system with a spark ignition engine running on 100% bioethanol as a range-extender.
more

Peugeot guarantees that all of their engines may run on 30% FAME

The new French radio ads speak also about the new combination of a particle trap FAP and diester, which is the French word for biodiesel.

Honda is developing the Home Energy Station, a comprehensive system designed to meet residential energy needs by supplying electricity and heat in addition to hydrogen fuel for vehicles. Generating hydrogen from natural gas supplied for residential use, the Home Energy Station system also offers consumers the convenience of refuelling hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles at home. The system is equipped with fuel cells that generate and supply electricity to the home, and is configured to recover the heat produced during power generation for domestic water heating. In addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by some 40 percent, the Home Energy Station system is expected to lower the total running cost of household electricity, gas and vehicle fuel by 50 percent.
source

Hybrid power trains enter the European bus market
First European Contracts for Allison Two-Mode Heavy-Duty Hybrid System
The Phileas hybrid tram from APTS will be launched in France using the GM Allison Hybrid System.
GM’s Allison Transmission confirmed today at the Internationale Automobil Ausstellung (IAA) commercial vehicle show that Polish bus manufacturer Solaris Bus & Coach Co. and Dutch guided-vehicle manufacturer APTS will use the advanced two-mode GM Allison Hybrid System.
The parallel-hybrid drive train offers bus manufacturers the opportunity to cut emissions, increase fuel economy and improve vehicle performance. More than 500 Allison diesel-electric hybrid bus systems are in service in the United States and Canada.
Solaris will apply the hybrid drive in its Urbino articulated bus. APTS will apply the hybrid systems in its Phileas guided articulated vehicle system in Northern France.
20 September 2006 greencarcongress
source

Successful tests with biofuels on an airplane of the defence sector

Air Force Flight Test of Syntroleum Gas-to-Liquids Fuel Successful
The test plane takes off from Edwards Air Force Base. (US Air Force photo/Chad Bellay)
Syntroleum announced that its Fischer-Tropsch (FT) jet fuel has been successfully tested in a United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress Bomber aircraft.
19 September 2006 greencarcongress
source

Plug-In Hybrid to Power Grid
A prototype plug-in hybrid featuring lithium ion batteries from A123Systems and designed by Hybrids-Plus, Inc. gets the equivalent of 125 miles per gallon, according to the companies. The press release also says the vehicle can provide power to the grid...
SOURCE

Rheinbahn will install a fuel cell into a Tecnobus Gulliver
electric MidiBus
Most recently, Hydrogenics Corporation has announced a US
$460,000 order for a fuel cell hybrid MidiBus from Rheinbahn Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG, the public transit authority of the
greater metropolitan Düsseldorf area in Germany. According to a Hydrogenics release, the power systems team based in Germany will install a fuel cell hybrid power-plant into a Tecnobus Gulliver
electric MidiBus platform. The hybrid design will allow the MidiBus to travel 200 km on one tank of hydrogen, compared with only 60 to 80 km if powered by lead-acid batteries alone (source BRT newsLane, Vol. 5, No. 3).

Hybrid-electric shuttle buses ordered
The Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation contracted with Azure Dynamics Corporation for five,
20-passenger hybrid-electric shuttle buses. The shuttle buses will employ the same chassis and hybrid-electric drive system currently used in delivery vans supplied to other Azure customers such as Purolator Courier Ltd. but the chassis will be fitted with conventional shuttle bus bodies (source BRT newsLane, Vol. 5, No. 3).

The hydrogen powered fork lift

Publication Date:16-September-2006
11:00 AM US Eastern Timezone
Source:Michael Kanellos-CNET
Six companies--including Wal Mart and Bridgestone--are currently conducting trials with fork lifts that run on hydrogen rather than lead acid batteries, according to John Sheridan, CEO of Ballard Power Systems, which makes hydrogen fuel cells, at the ThinkEquity Partners Growth Conference taking place in San Francisco this week. Cellex Power and General Hydrogen produced the vehicles, which run on fuel cells from Ballard.

Granted, a fork lift isn't as glamorous as a four-seater hydrogen-powered convertible, or a 21st Century version of the Hindenburg, but the application fits pretty well hydrogen. Fork lift drivers don't have to worry about being stranded far from a hydrogen filling station. Acceleration and high speeds, two concerns about hydrogen cars, are also not really an issue with fork lifts. And if you dropped a pallet of Gorton's No Flip Fishsticks one is going to scream "Oh, the humanity!!!"

Ballard shipped 76 Mark 9 SSL vehicular hydrogen fuel cells to its customers in the first half of the year.

The company is also working with Tokyo Gas, Nippon Electric and Ebara on trials with hydrogen fuel cells in homes in Japan. "They (the fuel cells) provide the first kilowatt to the household and unlimited hot water," he said. The companies are trying to bring down the cost of these units down to the equivalent of $5000. The Japanese government is heavily subsidizing the effort. Panasonic is also looking at delivering hydrogen fuel cells for the home.
In the first half, Ballard shipped 216 Mark 1030 residential fuel cells to customers. Residential fuel cells may begin to get released
commercially in Japan in 2007 or 2008, he added.

Earlier fuel cell market entry? Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory replace rare metals in fuel cell stacks by cobalt.
The researchers have found a class of non-precious metal composites that can replace the platinum on the cathode side of a PEFC. While it would be ideal to be able to replace the platinum on both electrodes on the cell, replacing it on the cathode only will result in a large decrease in the amount of catalyst needed. This is due to the fact that the slower oxygen reduction reaction requires much more catalyst than the hydrogen oxidation reaction that takes place at the anode. The researchers found that a composite consisting of cobalt (Co, a non-precious metal) covalently trapped in-between polypyrolle (PPY, C4NH3n) backbones on an amorphous carbon support could give both decent fuel cell performance, and excellent stability, all at a low cost. Fuel cells built with this catalyst were tested in a pure H2 and O2 environment and were reported to be capable of generating ~0.2 A/cm2 at 0.5V potential. While this is less that what may be obtained with a Pt-based catalyst system (~ 1 A/cm2, from early reported numbers), it was shown to be able to maintain this output level for the entirety of a 100 hour test. While it may not produce the same amount of energy per unit time, this technology has shown that it can produce energy at a fraction of the cost-cobalt costs ~$0.20/gm. It can also sustain its energy output for long periods of time, longer than the traditional precious metal catalyst are capable. This work represents a large step towards economically viable hydrogen fuel cells, something many the world have been waiting for.
source

Westport and Ford Announce Hydrogen Engine Technology Development.

Westport Innovations, the Ford Motor Company and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the government of Canada will begin work together on the development of Westport's hydrogen direct injection (H2DI) technology. Westport and Ford have been working together for a few years now, and testing “has shown the potential to provide high power and engine torque with diesel-like efficiency and very low emissions”.
source

General Motors to build hybrid SUVs with enhanced technology

General Motors has announced that it will be building its Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs using enhanced hybrid technology, which will include a special transmission for boosting highway performance.

source

Peugeot is developing a hybrid electric vehicle with diesel fuelled internal combustion engine.

Toyota presented the 2007 CamryHybrid (source Green Car Journal Spring 2006 page 45).

Renault debuts the Clio running on E85.

Honda offers CNG fuelled Civics and a home filling station called Phil.
By 2009 200,000 Civic HEV's should be sold world wide per year aiming at a further reduction of the price.

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