14 December 2012
In response to a court order, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized an update to its national air quality standards for harmful fine particle pollution (PM2.5), including soot, setting the annual health (primary) standard at 12 µg/m3. The outgoing annual standard is 15 µg/m3, which has been in place since 1997. (Earlier post.)
The ruling has no effect on the existing daily primary standard for fine particles (35 μg/m3) or the existing 24-hour health and environmental (primary and secondary) standards for coarse particles (PM10), which have been in place since 1987 and remain unchanged at a level of 150 μg/m3.
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14 December 2012
The SAE International Cooperative Research Project (CRP1234-4) team was recently established to perform an updated engineering review—the fourth such—of usage of the low global warming potential (GWP) R-1234yf refrigerant in vehicles. (Earlier post.) The group has been regularly meeting to review and share test information completed since the close of the original CRP1234-3 in 2009. The previous study concluded that R-1234yf is a safe and acceptable alternative refrigerant for mobile air conditioning systems that can be used to meet new environmental and consumer needs. (Earlier post.)
The new CRP team began by conducting a detailed review of the original Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and chose to expand the trees to ensure that newly-identified information and testing from each of the OEMs is incorporated. This study has highlighted concerns with relying on one test to be reflective of real world collisions across vehicle applications.
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14 December 2012
The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will partner with Johnson Matthey, a global specialty chemicals company, in a five-year, $7-million effort to produce economically drop-in gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from non-food biomass feedstocks.
The goal is to improve vapor-phase upgrading during the biomass pyrolysis process in order to lower costs and speed production of lignocellulose-based fuels; as part of the work, Johnson Matthey will supply and develop innovative new catalytic materials for such upgrading.
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14 December 2012
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| Highlights of the full-size Transit. Click to enlarge. |
Ford unveiled the full new 2014 Transit family of commercial vehicles for North America, comprising the full-size Transit, the Transit Connect Van, and the Transit Connect Wagon (shown earlier, earlier post). The new Transit family reflects Ford’s ongoing strategy of platform consolidation, said Raj Nair, Group Vice President, Global Product Development. In this case, Ford has consolidated two regional platforms—E-Series and the Transit—into the single Transit commercial vehicle platform.
The total commercial segment presents more potential for growth than any other segment, Nair said; global commercial vehicle sales are expected to grow by 4.8 million during the next several years to 21 million units annually by 2017. “People need to carry things,” said Jim Farley, executive vice president of Global Marketing, Sales and Service and Lincoln. “It’s that simple.”
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13 December 2012
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| 2014 4.3L V-6 EcoTec3 AFM VVT DI (LV3) for Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. Click to enlarge. |
The newly unveiled 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 pickup trucks will deliver more power, more torque and improved fuel efficiency, partly due to a trio of all-new EcoTec3 engines designed specifically for the needs of full-size truck customers. (From January through November 2013, GM has sold 506,088 Silverados and Sierras—22% of all vehicles it sold in that period.)
EcoTec3 engines feature three advanced technologies—direct injection, cylinder deactivation and continuously variable valve timing (CVVT)—to make the most of power, torque and efficiency across a broad range of operating conditions. The new engine family includes a 4.3L V6, a 5.3L V-8 and a 6.2L V-8, all matched with six-speed transmissions.
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13 December 2012
SAE International’s Hybrid Technical Committee has completed the technical standard “J2990—Hybrid and EV First and Second Responder Recommended Practice,” which offers recommended practices for emergency personnel responding to incidents involving hybrid or electric vehicles.
Separately, the US Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded a new grant for nearly $1 million to the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) at West Virginia University for a program to educate the nation’s first responders on the best ways to handle accidents involving alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. (Earlier post.)
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13 December 2012
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| Components of the e-gas plant. Click to enlarge. |
Audi is celebrating progress on its e-gas plant under construction in Werlte, Germany with a topping-out ceremony. End products from the plant will be hydrogen and synthetic methane (Audi e-gas), to be used as fuel for vehicles such as the new Audi A3 Sportback TCNG. (Earlier post.)
The Audi e-gas plant, which can convert six megawatts of input power, will utilize renewable electricity for electrolysis, producing oxygen and hydrogen, the latter which could one day power fuel-cell vehicles. Because there is not yet a widespread hydrogen infrastructure, however, the hydrogen is reacted with CO2 in a methanation unit to generate renewable synthetic methane, or Audi e-gas. Chemically speaking, this e-gas is nearly identical to fossil-based natural gas. As such, it can be distributed to CNG stations via the natural gas network and will power vehicles starting in 2013.
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13 December 2012
With the relevant authorities having given their approval, Bosch is moving ahead with the reorganization of its lithium-ion traction battery operations following the dissolution of its joint venture with Samsung, SB LiMotive. (Earlier post.) Effective immediately, the former operating units SB LiMotive Germany GmbH in Stuttgart and Cobasys LLC based in Orion, Michigan, will be incorporated into the Bosch Group as a wholly owned subsidiary under the new name Robert Bosch Battery Systems.
As part of the further intensification of battery activities, Bosch has taken on all existing battery system projects. Bosch plans for Samsung SDI to be the cell supplier. In addition, Bosch will have the flexibility to use cells from other manufacturers. The Fiat 500e, which was recently unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show and will go into series production in 2013 (earlier post), is the first all-electric vehicle with a Bosch battery pack.
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13 December 2012
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| (a) Disassembled commercial Li-ion battery showing the cathode, anode and separator; high-resolution optical cross-section image of the (b) anode (graphite–Cu–graphite) and (c) cathode (LiFePO4–Al–LiFePO4), showing the electrode structure; and (d) measured lithium concentration profile from the two surfaces of the copper current collector. Nagpure et al. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers led by Ohio State University engineers have discovered an unexpected factor that could degrade the performance of the Li-ion batteries commonly used in hybrid and electric vehicles.
The team, which recently reported its findings in a paper in the journal Scripta Materialia, was examining used car batteries and discovered that over time, lithium accumulates in the copper current collector (CCC)—a sheet of copper which facilitates electron transfer between the electrodes and the car’s electrical system. The lithium impurity in the CCC will lead to degradation in the cell’s thermal and electrical behavior and thus cannot be ignored for overall efforts in understanding the aging mechanisms predicting the life and performance of the batteries, the team said.
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12 December 2012
Nissan has launched production in its new battery plant in Smyrna, Tenn. The plant, which is making battery components for the ramp-up of production of the 2013 Nissan LEAF early next year, is located adjacent to Nissan’s existing vehicle assembly plant in Tennessee, which itself has been retooled to accommodate production of the Nissan LEAF.
Combined, the construction of the battery plant and modification of the Smyrna manufacturing facility represent an investment of up to $1.7 billion when built to full capacity. The project is supported by a US Department of Energy (DOE) loan for up to $1.4 billion, issued as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, program authorized by Congress as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. (Earlier post.)
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12 December 2012
Six German automotive companies—passenger car manufacturers Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen, and the supplier Bosch—launched their first joint campaign for diesels in the US. Under the slogan “Clean Diesel. Clearly Better.” they will argue for the advantages of modern diesel passenger car technology over gasoline engines in terms of cleanliness, consumption and performance.
The new vehicle market share of light-duty diesels in the US is quite low (2.6%) compared with a diesel share of 55% in Western Europe. However, sales of diesel passenger cars by German manufacturers—representing 100% of the market in diesel passenger cars in the US—have more than doubled over the last three years. In the first nine months of the current year, around 69,600 diesel cars were sold in the USA, compared to 30,600 for the same period in 2009.
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