Jan. 6, 2021(ZME Science),-Norway has become the first country in the world to sell more electric vehicles (EV) than petrol, hybrid, and diesel engines, figures from 2020 show. The achievement is part of a long-term government scheme to lead the EV revolution, giving tax breaks and financial incentives to encourage the purchase of more sustainable vehicles.

Electric vehicles accounted for 54.3% of new car sales in 2020, up from 42% in 2019, according to figures published by the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV). Meanwhile, vehicles with diesel-only engines have fallen from a peak of 75.7% of the Norwegian vehicle market in 2011 to just 8.6% last year.

(CleanTechnica),by Jo Borrás Jan. 5, 2021, -As I type this, there are some 390 diesel-powered buses roaming the storied streets of Madrid, but they represent the end of an era. That’s because the Spanish city’s City Council has placed fresh orders for 520 electric and natural gas (CNC) powered buses, committing itself to mothball its remaining diesel fleet by 2023.

The move away from diesel is part of the city’s comprehensive Madrid360 plan to promote green and sustainable procurement habits. The project integrates a multidisciplinary team of engineers, sociologists, scientists and jurists, who have worked together with the contracting authorities of the City Council and other stakeholders to develop guidelines for government purchasing that put the continued health of the citizens of Madrid — and the environment they live in! — ahead of short-term cost savings. So far, the holistic, “360 degree” approach seems to be making real progress.

(CleanTechnica), Jan 1, 2021, - Scotland set a 2035 decarbonization goal for its passenger rail system last summer, and they sure have their work cut out for them. Squeezing diesel locomotives out of the picture is not as easy as it may seem. Electrification has been the weapon of choice, and now they’re moving in for the kill with new hydrogen fuel cell trains. Wait, what happened to electrification?

Funny you should ask. Nothing happened to electrification. It just depends, that’s all.

Installing new electric infrastructure on previously un-electrified routes can run into cost and engineering obstacles, which cuts off that option for some railways. Trains can also be electrified with on-board batteries, like any other electric vehicle. However, battery packs for locomotives and other heavy-duty uses can take forever to charge, leading to conflicts with scheduling and fleet availability in some cases.

(ENN Network), Dec 30, 2020, -Transportation-related emissions are increasing globally. Currently, light-duty vehicles — namely passenger cars, such as sedans, SUVs, or minivans — contribute about 20 percent of the net greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. But studies have shown that switching out your conventional gas-guzzling car for a vehicle powered by electricity can make a significant dent in reducing these emissions.

A recent study published in Environmental Science and Technology takes this a step further by examining how to reduce the emissions associated with the electricity source used to charge an electric vehicle (EV). Taking into account regional charging patterns and the effect of ambient temperature on car fuel economy, researchers at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) find that the time of day when an EV is charged significantly impacts the vehicle’s emissions.

“If you facilitate charging at particular times, you can really boost the emissions reductions that result from growth in renewables and EVs,” says Ian Miller, the lead author of the study and a research associate at MITEI. “So how do we do this? Time-of-use electricity rates are spreading, and can dramatically shift the time of day when EV drivers charge. If we inform policymakers of these large time-of-charging impacts, they can then design electricity rates to discount charging when our power grids are renewable-heavy. In solar-heavy regions, that’s midday. In wind-heavy regions, like the Midwest, it’s overnight.”

(CleanTechnica), Dec. 27, 2020 -There are many new electric vehicles coming out in 2021, which is great for all us EV enthusiasts because we’ll have more options to consider for purchasing and more new EV content to consume. This new EV interest surge may also draw more attention to all electric vehicles, including the ones on the used market even though this market may not be nearly as exciting or intriguing.

Not all vehicle owners can afford a new EV, because of their relatively high sticker prices. Note this cost can be somewhat misleading to many who are new to EVs, because in some cases total cost of ownership over five to ten years might be less than the cost of a new internal combustion vehicle — but a price that’s too high is still a price that’s too high.

Used EVs don’t get much press or any, but there are some interesting deals out there right now. And those EVs also benefit from very low operational costs.

(Renewable Energy World), Dec. 18, 2020 -With most major car manufacturers releasing electrical vehicle (EV) models, along with newcomers such as Tesla and NIO securing billions of dollars in investments, there remains no doubt that the EV revolution is upon us. The electrification of our transportation sector comes as good news to renewable energy advocates, environmentalists, and electric car enthusiasts. Implementing mass change across the automotive industry, however, does come with its own set of challenges such as sourcing raw materials for car batteries, safety of autonomous vehicles, electrical grid capacity, and EV charging infrastructure to name a few.

EVs have numerous advantages over traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Soon widespread adoption of personal EVs will be common and following it, a reimagining of our transportation and logistics system which includes maintenance fleet vehicles, delivery vans, and freight trucks. With range anxiety at the center of many EV discussions, the long-haul Class 8 truck is an interesting case study on infrastructure requirements for long range and high power consumption vehicles.

(POWERGRID International), Dec. 10, 2020 - Connecticut Green Bank and its partners are proud to announce a collaboration that is the first joinable, grouped carbon offset credit project registered under the new methodology for electric vehicle (EV) charging systems. The project design has been successfully validated under Verra’s internationally recognized Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program by third-party verification firm, SCS Global Services.

CT Green Bank’s expanding roster of project partners, which currently includes EV pioneers Volta, U-Go Stations which was recently acquired by Blink Charging, Proterra, and the Ev Structure Company – with Dominion Energy joining – already have 725 EV charging stations across the United States enrolled with the project. With registered carbon credits, this validated project, once verified in mid-2021, is expected to bring in new funding from the carbon capital markets, which will increase the value proposition and accelerate the deployment of EV charging infrastructure in communities across the U.S.

(ZME Science), Dec. 9, 2020 -Aptera Motors, an American startup company based in San Diego, California, recently announced a new three-wheeled electric car with a range of up to 1,000 miles. If you have at least one eyebrow raised in skepticism, you’re not alone. That’s because no other auto company, not even market leader Tesla, has come up with a vehicle close to this range. The catch? You can charge the car’s 100 kWh battery from an electrical outlet, but also while driving or parked thanks to its solar harvesting roof.

Electric vehicles have been bashed by skeptics for a number of reasons since they rose to prominence in the past decade. Two arguments usually come to mind. One is their limited range compared to a conventional petrol car on a full tank of gas, the other is environmental, with many critics highlighting the irony of buying a car to “go green” while charging using electricity from a coal-powered plant.

(ZME Science), Dec. 4, 2020 -Japan will soon join the growing list of countries set to ban sales of new gasoline-engine cars. The new policy, which should be announced as soon as next week, would ban sales by the mid-2030s, encouraging instead the use of electric or hybrid cars across the country to lower the country’s carbon emissions.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga wants to accelerate the decarbonization of the automobile industry as part of the country’s climate goals. Japan has already committed to being carbon neutral by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change, but questions remain on how it will accomplish this.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry will hold a meeting next week with automakers representatives to discuss the details of the policy to reduce the use of gasoline vehicles. Electric and hybrid cars currently account for about 29% of the country’s 5.2 million new registration.

(CleanTechnica), Nov. 29, 2020 -At first glance, the idea of an e-bike ambulance sounds absurd. Where would the patient go? How does this get an injured or dying person from wherever they are too much needed hospital care? In cities, congestion is a major issue for ambulances, often causing long delays before EMS personnel can get to the patient. By sending somebody ahead who can cut through congestion, care can begin much faster, greatly upping their chances of survival.

To make this possible, Wunderman Thompson and Ecox teamed up to build custom e-bikes in Paris. With a lot of insulated onboard storage space, there’s room for critical medical supplies that can be used to stabilize a patient while waiting for the full ambulance to arrive. According to the video, the bike can often arrive at the patient’s address twice as fast as the ambulance, and in the event of major traffic problems or disasters, many times faster.

(CleanTechnica), Nov. 28, 2020 -The Xiongan Railway Station is a new train station in China that is the largest in Asia, covering 680,000 square meters. It’s 2020, so, naturally, the train station is covered in solar panels — 6 megawatts (MW) worth of them.

The large rooftop solar system is expected to create 5.8 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year for the train station.

Mibet Energy provided the rooftop solar power system, including a steel tracking system. This seems to extend beyond the company’s normal work, as it is primarily a rack and tracker supplier. “This project has tested our overall ability, including sales, design, technical support, teamwork, manufacturing, logistics control, and etc.,” Leo Lin, the domestic sales director of Mibet Energy, said.”Mibet has been proved capable to meet requirements of customers in such a complex environment.”

(INHABITAT), Nov. 26, 2020 -The Fiat 500 3+1 electric car is designed to attract customers who want a smart, sustainable ride that blends style and functionality. The addition of a third door is practical, and the car features the same Fiat 500 aesthetic. Best of all, the electric vehicle capabilities are a big win for the planet.

For the interior, Fiat chose a warm and soft color pallet on the interior textiles to emphasize a stronger bond with nature. Eco-friendly and recyclable materials are featured as well. Seats are made from a combination of vegan leather and Seaqual fiber derived from recycled plastic, some of which was collected from the ocean. Additionally, chrome replacement paints and mats are made of recycled fibers, and components of the dashboard are made of wood.

(ZME Science), Nov. 13, 2020 -What if you could reach airplane speed in a train? It sounds far fetched, but it’s exactly the concept that Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) is working on, and it seems to be going well. The institute has just announced a working proof-of-size model that can reach a whopping 620 mph (or 1000 km/h).

The official plans started in 2017. “We hope to create an ultra-fast train, which will travel inside a state-of-the-art low-pressure tube at lightning speeds, in the not-too-distant future,” a KRRI official said at the time. The goal was to create a train system capable of reaching speeds double those of magnetic levitation (maglev) trains, which can currently travel at around 500km/h. Now, the first results have been announced.

Click now track what's happening.

(Deutsche Welle), Nov. 12, 2020, -Pollution has long plagued the Manila. E-mobility could help reduce traffic and improve air quality. But e-vehicles are expensive and a rare sight on the city's streets. manufacturers such as Tojo?Motors rely on?foreign funding and know-how.

(Green Car Journal), Nov. 10, 2020 -Widely recognized as the most important environmental awards in the automotive field, the Green Car Awards recognize 30 of the best-and-brightest ‘green’ models of the year and 6 stand-out vehicles driving away with Green Car Journal’s 2021 Green Car Awards.

Green Car Journal’s Green Car Awards, the annual awards program honoring the year’s most standout new ‘green’ models, was presented at the Virtual Greenbuild Conference + Expo in November this year. The 2021 virtual awards program was an innovation during an unusual year, amid the postponement and cancellation of international auto shows where the Green Car Awards typically take place.

(CleanTechnica), Nov. 9, 2020 -Last week, Volvo Trucks announced that its full range of heavy duty trucks and haulers would be available with battery-electric drive trains as early as next year. The move is seen as a massive step towards eliminating fossil-fuel use throughout Europe, and a realization of Volvo’s commitment to be a fully “climate-neutral” company by 2040.

They are currently running real-world tests of battery-electric FH, FM, and FMX model heavy duty trucks and semis, as well as the more familiar (to US eyes, anyway) Mack-branded versions of these trucks. And, keep in mind, these are big trucks. Some have a gross combination vehicle weight rating of over 40 tons, and would feature a driving range of nearly 200 miles between charges.

(Green Car Reports)), Nov. 4, 2020 -Kandi America announced Tuesday that the lowest-priced of its two small, Chinese-made electric cars has been EPA certified and cleared for California roads, and the company is preparing to start deliveries in the state.

Considering both the federal EV tax credit and Kandi’s eligibility for the state’s $2,000 incentive, the K27 has an effective cost of just $7,999, the company reported.

In September, The Company updated its website to include estimated EPA-cycle numbers, with an expected 59-mile range from the 17.7-kwh battery pack. It lists a seven-hour charge time on 240V AC (Level 2). The K27 isn't for everyone, though. While it appears to be certified as a full-fledged passenger car, it can only reach 63 mph.

(CleanTechnica), Nov. 3, 2020 -In an obvious swipe at General Motors, whose first battery electric vehicle to feature its Ultium batteries will be a $112,000 Hummer, Ford’s latest CEO, Jim Farley, told analysts yesterday on a conference call the electric vehicles coming from his company will be cars ordinary people can buy.

“We are not going after the $100,000-plus market. These are affordable vehicles,” he said.

When will they go on sale? That is a matter of intense speculation. The first all electric car from Ford will be the Mustang Mach-E, an SUV about the size of their Edge. That car is expected to find its way into the hands of private owners before the end of this year. With a starting price of $43,995, it will cost less than a Tesla Model Y, although the current Model Y has dual motors while the entry level Mach-E will have one. The Mach-E is expected to have a range of 300 miles while the Model Y can travel about 22 miles further without recharging. Fully optioned versions of the Mach-E are expected to sell for around $65,000.

(Luxury Launches), Oct. 23, 2020 -The only way to progress sometimes is by delving into the past. That’s exactly what Wallenius Marine,a shipbuilding company out of Sweden, is doing with Oceanbird taking cues from aviation and the old-fashioned way of seafaring. Call it an outsized sailboat, but this could be the way to move ahead in a sustainability-driven world.

This futuristic transatlantic car carrier holds 7,000 vehicles; the 650 foot-long vessel is a similar size to conventional car carriers, but it will look radically different with five wing sails that stand 80 meters high, replacing traditional fabric sails. Oceanbird will be the world’s largest wind-powered vessel, promising an average speed of 10 knots, making it capable of traveling across the ocean with a total journey time of 12 days which when compared to a carrier powered by fossil fuel takes only four days long and emits 90 percent less CO2 in the journey.

This is a groundbreaking step towards bettering the environment as maritime freight transport counts for 10 percent of trade in the whole world.

(POWERGRID International), Oct. 21, 2020 -Seven auto companies have plans to roll out new battery-powered pickup trucks over the next two years, aiming to cash in on a popular and lucrative market for expensive vehicles.

General Motors is among them, and on Tuesday its GMC brand introduced a new electric Hummer pickup, with a high-end version due in showrooms sometime in the fall of next year.

The Hummer will be joined by crosstown rival Ford’s electric F-150, Tesla’s Cybertruck and pickups from four startup companies. All intend to start producing them between June of next year and the end of 2022.

Prices announced thus far show they range from roughly $40,000 for a base Cybertruck to a loaded off-road Hummer “Edition 1” that will start at more than $112,000.

(ZME Science), Oct. 19, 2020 -Pick a region of the globe — any region. There’s a 95% chance electric cars in that area will be greener than petrol cars, even if the electricity comes from fossil fuels. In some areas, the difference is already huge.

The sale of electric cars is taking off in the world. Places like Scandinavia, China, California, or Japan are leading the way, but the rest of the world is also catching up. It’s a bumpy road, however, and misleading myths aren’t helping.

A particularly pervasive myth is that electric cars aren’t really that eco-friendly, that they produce more emissions than regular old cars. But while electric cars have their own environmental concerns (especially in regards to the elements in their batteries), when it comes to emissions at least, electric cars are almost always better. A study recently published in Nature clearly shows it.

(CleanTechnica), -Oct. 2, 2020 Tesla has released its 3rd quarter production and delivery numbers. The total figures for both production and deliveries were new quarterly records for the company — and by far.

The previous quarterly delivery record was 112,000 vehicles, in the 4th quarter of 2019. Last quarter’s 139,300 deliveries were more than 27,000 units higher.

(POWERGRID International), Sept. 28, 2020 -This week, September 26-October 4, 2020 is the tenth annual National Drive Electric Week, a coast-to-coast celebration of electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States. Due to covid-19, more than 100 events planned for the week are virtual but there are plenty of in-person events, too.

The goal of Drive Electric Week is to highlight the environmental, health, and consumer benefits of clean plug-in vehicles. It’s hosted by Plug In America, Sierra Club, and Electric Auto Association.

“The need for clean vehicles and clean air is more evident than ever. This drive plays a major role in educating people about rebates, charging, and any other questions that people may have about EVs, in busting misconceptions, and in getting people who are charged up about EVs to spread the enthusiasm. This year looks different as we prioritize keeping people safe during the COVID pandemic and expanding EV education online, but the enthusiasm around electric vehicles and their benefits remains the same,” said Hieu Le, campaign representative with the .

(ZME SCIENCE), -Sept. 30, The company has announced in a blog post that it successfully completed the testing of the technology that will underpin its range of electric airplanes. The testing was part of Rolls-Royce’s ACCEL initiative, which aims to “build the fastest all-electric plane the world has ever seen”.

The testing didn’t involve a proper aircraft, but rather a full-scale model of the front part of the ionBird — which is what Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited has christened their future plane.

Still, the model included all the bits that needed testing. The electric engine developed around 500 horsepower, requiring 6,000 lithium-ion energy cells to do so. All in all, they store enough energy to fly the plane for around 320 km (~200 miles) at 480 km/h (~300 mph). To put things into perspective, the company explains that is roughly enough power to supply 250 houses, although they do not say for how long.

(Renewable Energy World), Sept. 23, 2020 -Elon Musk just presented a new battery design for electric vehicle (EV) giant, Tesla, during the company’s long-awaited event “Tesla Battery Day.”

The presentation began with the introduction of a new 4680 cylindrical cell design, also known as “tabless” batteries. This design will allow for five times the energy, six times the power with a 16 percent range increase, and will replace the current cobalt in their batteries.

Musk believes that the conditions in cobalt mining violates human rights, thus enforcing the replacement. Manufacturing has begun on these cells at the company’s pilot 10-gigawatt (GW) power production facility in California. The cell factory change alone enables a 14 percent cost per kilowatt hour (KWh) reduction, according to the company.

(CleanTechnica), -Sept. 21, 2020, The thought that a Tesla produces more CO2 than a Mercedes C-Class with a diesel engine is laughable, but that was the conclusion of a misleading and misguided study published in 2019 in Germany and covered even on engineering and tech news sites. Not only is this clearly incorrect on the surface; it has been proven false by a recent study explaining that electric vehicles last longer than initially expected and are much greener than fossil-fueled cars.

“A Tesla Model 3 currently emits 65% less CO2 than a Mercedes C-Class,” Auke Hoekstra, co-author of the study, said.

In this study, conducted by researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology, the researchers discovered that electric vehicle batteries last much longer than originally thought. Also, unlike what some believe, the production of the battery leads to significantly less CO2 than simplistic studies like the one referenced at the top have assumed — all of the CO2 emissions of an EV are less than half of that of ICE cars.

(CleanTechnica), -Sept. 20, 2020, There are 480,000 school buses in America, making them the largest fleet of commercial vehicles in the nation. By comparison, there are just 96,000 public transit buses, 35,000 intra-city buses, 7,400 airplanes, and 1,200 railway passenger cars. Now imagine all those school buses were electrics, equipped with batteries of about 150 kWh, and they all could be connected to the electrical grid using V2G technology. Consider that all those buses are only in service for a few hours a day, leaving their batteries available to supply electricity to the grid the majority of the day. Holy education, Batman! We now have the mother of all virtual power plants!

Nuvve Corporation, headquartered in San Diego, has partnered with Blue Bird, America’s largest school bus supplier, to bring electric school buses equipped with its vehicle to grid technology to school systems across America.

(CleanTechnica), -Sept. 15, 2020, With home/rooftop solar, a growing number of EV drivers are doing most of their driving on home-generated solar power. Solar panels mounted on vehicles themselves, on the other hand, have been the subject of well-deserved skepticism. But is this skepticism still well deserved in 2020?.

While directly powering a vehicle’s electric motor with on-vehicle panels is still pretty far out of the question (outside of very impractical experimental cars), using relatively low-power solar cells to charge a battery shows a lot more promise. Universities and companies with fairly deep pockets have been experimenting with battery-solar vehicles for decades, with some fairly good progress recently.

(Renewable Energy World), -Sept. 14, 2020, The largest electric vehicle infrastructure project in Minnesota’s history is getting underway as installations begin for a network of 22 fast-charging stations along major state highways.

The fast chargers can fully charge an electric vehicle in 30 to 40 minutes, substantially faster than the more common Level 2 chargers. They’re being installed by ZEF Energy as part of a state effort to build out a fast-charging network outside of the Twin Cities metro area, where a robust network already exists.

The $1.7 million initiative used money from the state’s share of the Volkswagen emissions cheating settlement, which is being managed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

(POWERGRID International), -Aug. 28, 2020,According to data released last month by the China Electric Charging Infrastructure Promotion, as of the end of July 2020, members of the Alliance reported that 566,000 public charging stations had been installed and put into service across the country, among which 326,000 are AC, 240,000 are DC, while 488 come equipped with both AC and DC capabilities.

From August 2019 to July 2020, the number of new public charging stations installed per month averaged just about 10,000 units.

In July 2020, the total charging power of all stations across China had reached some 670 million kWh, representing a year on year increase of 52.4 percent. The figure rose by 70 million kWh or 11.6 per cent from the prior month.

ZME SCIENCE, Aug. 18, 2020 -Vehicle electrification across the US could prevent hundreds to thousands of premature deaths annually, while also reducing CO2 emissions by hundreds of millions of tons. Taken together, these effects would prevent substantial economic damages, according to a new study.

Researchers from Northwestern University combined climate modeling with public health data to assess the impact electric vehicles (EV) can have on US lives and the economy. If EVs replace 25% of combustion-engine cars, the country would save $17 billion annually by avoiding damages from air pollution and climate change.

CleanTechnica , Aug. 15, 2020 -CrossWater is an autonomous, electrically-powered floating horizontal elevator designed to traverse bodies of water safely and comfortably. Imagine if people in New Jersey didn’t need to cross the George Washington Bridge or use the Lincoln Tunnel to get to Manhattan every day. Instead, they could go down to the banks of the Hudson River and be whisked across in a matter of minutes. Pair the CrossWater with bicycle sharing on both sides of the river and millions of trips by car could be eliminated every year.

Aug. 11, 2020,(CleanTechnica)-A new electric trolley began operating in Estes Park, Colorado in July, with a second on the way in 2021.

Motiv Power Systems, based in California, provided the all-electric chassis and collaborated with Wisconsin-based Hometown Trolley, the company that designed and constructed the body. Estes Park is a little over 60 miles northwest of Denver and is near the eastern entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. This small town has a population of about 6,300, but the national park has several million visitors annually. Motiv’s Chairman and CEO, Matt O’Leary, answered some questions about the trolley for CleanTechnica.

Aug. 10, 2020,(CleanTechnica)-For those of who tend to think of Nikola as being pretty much a joke, it may be time to rethink that position. Construction of the company’s first factory is proceeding apace in Arizona, where it expects to produce 35,000 heavy duty electric trucks a year.

And it announced on August 10 that it has signed an agreement with Phoenix-based Republic Services for 2,500 zero emissions all electric refuse trucks, with the possibility of 2,500 more at a later time. Republic is the second largest refuse hauler in the United States.

Aug. 4, 2020,(CleanTechnica)-General Motors? CEO Mary Barra announced July 31 that her company is partnering with EVgo?, the largest EV charging network in the US, to add 2,700 fast chargers in 40 cities across America over the next 5 years. They will install the new charging stations at grocery stores, retail outlets, entertainment centers and other high-traffic areas. These are places where people typically spend 15 to 30 minutes, GM said, allowing them time to charge their vehicles while they run their errands.

The new EVgo fast charging stations will be available to customers starting early next year and will be located in highly visible areas. All drivers will be welcome, not just those who own GM electric vehicles. Most locations will be able to charge at least four vehicles simultaneously.

Aug. 4, 2020,(Energy Central)-Sandy Munro has done ultra-detailed teardowns and reverse-engineering of Telsa cars. He describes how the thermal management used in the Tesla Model Y is vastly superior to other carmakers.

This enables Tesla to have superior range. CEO Rahul Sonnad of Tesloop is using Telsa cars to take passengers to Las Vegas. They have been driven over 750,000 miles. Sandy thinks that battery day news will likely reveal new battery technology. This could be the Maxwell drycell technology or something solid-state. Elon said Tesla is open to supply software (autopilot), powertrain and batteries to other automakers.

Aug. 3, 2020,(Sarasota Herald Tribune)-Sarasota’s most famous test pilot is on a mission to reduce, and maybe eliminate, fossil fuels from air travel.

And 48-year-old Miguel Iturmendi, best known for his record-setting work with the world’s fastest and highest-flying glider, is confident the revolution will begin in his lifetime.

“There are other electrical airplanes, but none of them go into the stratosphere, and none of them recharge their batteries while they fly,” he says from inside a hangar at Payerne Air Base in western Switzerland. “And none of them come back with more power, with more juice, than when they left the ground.

July 29, 2020,(POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL )-Electric vehicle sales have grown exponentially in recent years, accompanied by dropping prices. However, adoption of EVs remains limited by their higher sticker price relative to comparable gas vehicles, even though overall cost of ownership for EVs is lower.

EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles are likely to reach sticker price parity sometime in the next decade. The timing hinges on one crucial factor: battery cost. An EV’s battery pack accounts for about a quarter of total vehicle cost, making it the most important factor in the sales price.

Battery pack prices have been falling fast. A typical EV battery pack stores 10-100 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. For example, the Mitsubishi i-MIEV has a battery capacity of 16 kWh and a range of 62 miles, and the Tesla model S has a battery capacity of 100 kWh and a range of 400 miles. In 2010, the price of an EV battery pack was over $1,000 per kWh. That fell to $150 per kWh in 2019. The challenge for the automotive industry is figuring out how to drive the cost down further.

July 20, 2020,(POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL)-Late last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a package of major clean transportation initiatives, including a “Make Ready” order approved by the New York State Public Service Commission to advance New York’s commitment to accelerate its transition to cleaner mobility.

After decades of work removing carbon from the power (electricity) sector, the transportation sector is now responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. New York has a plan to decarbonize transportation, which includes a target of reducing emissions 85% by 2050. The state was also part of the recently announced MOU with 14 other states and DC to work on making all sales of new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles zero emission vehicles by 2050 in partnership with NASCUM.

See also the article below this one.

July 15, 2020,(POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL)-This week, 15 states and the District of Columbia announced a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU), committing to advance and accelerate the market for electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including large pickup trucks and vans, delivery trucks, box trucks, school and transit buses and long-haul delivery trucks (big-rigs). The goal is to ensure that 100% of all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales be zero emission vehicles by 2050 with an interim target of 30% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030.

States signing the MOU are California, Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

July 1, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -Transportation accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. oil consumption and 28% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, making it a prime target for technological improvements that can reduce emissions and combat climate change. Electrification of the transportation sector represents one of the highest impact strategies to help achieve that goal.

Demand is rapidly growing for electrics due to long-term cost savings, tax incentives, declining battery costs, and environmental awareness. In 2020, it is anticipated that 2.7% of global passenger vehicle sales will be for EVs. That percentage is expected to grow rapidly – to 10% in 2025, 28 % in 2030 and more than half of all vehicle sales in 2040. In that year, more than 30% of passenger vehicles on the road worldwide will be electric. Even stronger gains are expected in electric buses, delivery vans and trucks, mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles.

June 17, 2020,(University of Birmingham) -The UK’s first hydrogen-powered train (HydroFLEX) is moving closer to commercial operation after the University of Birmingham has been awarded new funding by the Department for Transport.

The grant, worth £400,000, is part of InnovateUK’s First of a Kind (FOAK) Program. It will enable the HydroFLEX development team at the University of Birmingham and industry partners Porterbrook to develop the detailed final production design and testing of the HydroFLEX train

June 12, 2020,( CleanTechnica ) -Ellen, Denmark’s first all-electric ferry, entered revenue service in September last year. The electric ferry trial was supported by the Horizon 2020 program funded by the European Union, so of course the backers wanted to know if Ellen met all the program criteria. The results are now in and the answer is a resounding yes. After 10 months in service, the electric ferry has met or exceeded all expectations. In addition, it has proven that electric propulsion costs less than diesel power.

An electric ferry is a lot like an electric car. It costs a little more in the beginning but pays for itself with reduced fuel and maintenance costs over its lifetime. Reduced carbon emissions are a welcome bonus as well.

June 8, 2020,(ScienceDaily) -Washington State University researchers have made a key advance in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) that could make the highly energy-efficient and low-polluting technology a more viable alternative to gasoline combustion engines for powering cars.

Led by PhD graduate Qusay Bkour and Professor Su Ha in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, the researchers have developed a unique and inexpensive nanoparticle catalyst that allows the fuel cell to convert logistic liquid fuels such as gasoline to electricity without stalling out during the electrochemical process.

The research, featured in the journal, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, could result in highly efficient gasoline-powered cars that produce low carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.

June 6, 2020,(CleanTechnica) -It’s long been the case that one of the top challenges to electrification of transport has been lack of models. Consumers like diversity, so the market needs to offer diversity. This is also true in less consumer-focused markets, for a different mixture of reasons. The good news out of the US and Canada is that the number of available and announced zero-emission truck, bus, and off-road equipment models is expected to increase 78% in 2020 — comparing the end of 2020 to the end of 2019.

“By the end of 2020, there will be 169 different zero-emission (ZE) medium- and heavy-duty vehicle models in commercial production compared to 95 models in 2019,” CALSTART reports.

June 6, 2020,(CleanTechnica) -Tesla Giga Berlin, like a seed sprouting, now has steel, dust, and concrete. These three items may not seem like much, but these are the tendrils of a new seed of success planted in Germany, one that is taking root.

This buildout is probably more comparable to GF1 and will likely take shape in a very similar fashion. If I recall, GF1 excavated their footings, which is handy as you don’t need to form them if the soil is competent enough not to slough, but it looks like a lot of sand here, so no such luck.

This person thinks that the buildout process is more comparable to Gigafactory 1’s in Nevada than Gigafactory 3’s in Shanghai, China. It will likely be similarly shaped, he or she assumes.

June 1, 2020 (CleanTechnica-Story by Jesper Berggreen) - A couple of months ago I introduced you to a UK company that converts classic cars to electric propulsion. The company, named eDub Services, was founded by a young man named Kit Lacey, and since my piece on his business, he and I have been in conversation about this fascinating field of entrepreneurship. I have an old Volvo 240 in my garage that one day will need an electric drivetrain for sure, so getting acquainted with someone like Kit is a good bet.

I talked to Kit about the concrete and chronological information on his rebuilds and how we could make it accessible for all of us curious about how such projects can be carried out. This series is the result, in Kit Lacey’s own words. So let’s begin at the beginning:

May 28, 2020 (CleanTechnica)- The city of Cracow in Poland has decided to order 50 Solaris Urbino 18 electric buses to help clean up its air and do its part (some of it) to stop global heating.

More specifically, the transit operator MPK placed the order, which will add the new 50 to an existing 28 Solaris electric buses. This makes it one of the top cities outside of China for electric bus procurement. No city outside of China has ordered this many electric buses.

The order also included 50 electric bus charging stations, and everything should be delivered by the end of the year. The cost of the order is reportedly $41.18 million (US Dollars).

May 25, 2020 (CleanTechnica)-Lordstown Motors is using the manufacturing delay caused by the coronavirus to reconfigure the Lordstown assembly plant it bought from General Motors last year to build its Endurance electric pickups trucks. It expects to manufacture 30 pre-production trucks before the end of this year.

CEO Steve Burns, who previously founded Workhorse, says he expects to build 20,000 electric trucks in 2021 and will hire 600 workers to make that possible, but that is just the tip of his ambitions. The Lordstown factory could build 400,000 cars a year at its peak, but Burns tells the Detroit Free Press that because electric vehicles have many fewer parts and components, it should be possible to build 600,000 electric trucks and SUVs there a year.

May 21, 2019 (CleanTechnica)-Rad Power Bikes is launching a new and improved version of the much loved RadWagon e-bike that starts off with a switch from 26? to 22? rims and tires. These smaller diameter, wider tires bring the immediate benefit of a lower center of gravity to the bike, making it more stable when hauling heavier loads.

“We went back to the drawing board and looked at all the ways we could improve our beloved electric cargo bike, keeping our customers’ feedback and requests at the forefront of our minds the entire time,” said Mike Radenbaugh, Rad Power Bikes’ Founder and CEO. “The result is a next-level people and cargo hauler that’s essentially a brand new cargo bike. With a patent-pending frame design, custom tires, and more adjustability than ever before, the RadWagon 4 is the raddest car replacing bike we’ve ever created.”

May 18, 2020,(TESMANIAN) -A few months ago, Tesla began working on creating its own battery for cars in the secret project Roadrunner which goal is goal is to mass-produce a new battery cell that will be more energy-intensive and cheaper.

Tesla enthusiast, JPR007/Twitter, offers a closer look at this. In his article, he concludes that Tesla is not only working on new chemical processes in cells and improvements in coating processes, but they are also working on new cell designs with different physical sizes and new drainage paths for the flow of electric currents.

He writes that we should expect to see new processes for assembling those cell connections into electrical paths outside of the cells, and possibly radical changes in module and battery pack design.

Tesla tries to achieve its goal in various ways, both through acquisitions of Maxwell and Hibar, and through internal developments like laser welding and heat pump capabilities.

May 15, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -With an $800-plus billion electric vehicle market looming over the horizon by 2027, the idea of charging your zero emission car on-the-go with a solar rooftop is trotting along not far behind. The key challenge is coming up with a system light enough, and efficient enough, to make the whole exercise in direct solar-powered mobility worthwhile.

Two companies that claim to have the solar EV roof all figured out are Royal DSM and Lightyear. Lightyear’s signature Lightyear One electric vehicle is set to launch next year with five square meters of built-in solar cells covering the roof and hood.

With that much juice, Lightyear estimates that its solar roof can provide an average of 70-90% of a car’s annual mileage.

May 15, 2020 (CleanTechnica) - Kyiv, Ukraine-based Delfast pushed e-bikes to the limit with its Top 2.0 and is now extending its lineup with a new model designed to meet the needs of law enforcement. The new Delfast TopCop e-bike was recently shipped off to the Brevard Police Department in North Carolina to give law enforcement officers there a chance to learn about, experience, and trial the TopCop in real world applications.

From the sound of things, early testing is going well and the department already sees many benefits of upgrading their officers to the platform. They started things off with a round of training given by two early adopter police officers. The training resulted in a lot of interest from officers across the department to put the TopCop e-bike into use in day to day enforcement work.

Mar. 24, 2018 -With all the talk of hyper-performance electric vehicles (EV) and other ‘unobtainium’ cars, we’re happy to report a refreshing story that should appease those unhappy with electric vehicle (EV) affordability. How about a 3D-printed EV for $7,500? And the best part is that you won’t have to wait for it very long.

July 24, 2019,(Scientific American) - EWPG Holding AB is a Swedish company, founded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2011, that has developed a patented, smart and cost-efficient technology for turning ocean and sea waves into green electricity. Eco Wave Power is the only wave energy company in the world, to own and operate a wave energy array, which is connected to the grid in accordance with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

April, 2017 (Curbed.com)-From bike shares to newly redesigned electric bikes, there are more options than ever for biking in American cities. Bike companies are also working to change the industry, specifically through the use of “power-boosting technology.”

Pedal-addicts might remember when the prototype of the bright red Copenhagen Wheel was released by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lab in 2009. The company Superpedestrian—which launched in 2013—just debuted a new version of the product to consumers after years of intense anticipation and improvements.

June 8, 2020,(Outsider Club) -The electric car revolution is in full swing. Countries all over the world are curbing emissions. Consumers are trying to stretch their miles per gallon and geopolitical concerns over oil never seem to go away.

Gas guzzlers are on the way out...

But while Tesla is getting the lion’s share of the media attention, there is another fuel that is a far better bet for investors.

t’s a new kind of vehicle that could transform the way we travel. It doesn’t involve lithium or batteries or rare earths. It doesn’t involve solar, wind, water, biofuels, or any other form of renewable energy you’ve heard of.

And best of all, it doesn’t involve oil, coal, or any other fossil fuel, and 100% emissions free...

We're talking about hydrogen fuel cells.

Aug. 2, 2018 (nocamels)-Autonomous vehicles, electrification, connected cars and shared transport are the megatrends now remaking the auto industry. Offshoots of these four main forces include ways to detect sleepy drivers, infotainment solutions, digital cockpits, intelligent transport systems, vehicle cybersecurity, and satellite navigation technologies.

The Israeli companies in the car arena address all these needs as well as future ones.

Jan. 29, 2020, CleanTechnica -When Hyundai and KIA announced last week that they were jointly investing $100 million in UK startup Arrival, they probably knew something we didn’t know — until now. UPS has signed a deal with Arrival to buy 10,000 of its electric delivery vans between now and 2024 and to possibly purchase another 10,000 after that.

The vans will be placed in service in the UK, Europe, and North America. UPS has also invested an undisclosed amount in the company.

PBS.org, Mar.15, 2019

1832-39 Scottish inventor Robert Anderson invents the first crude electric carriage powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.

1835: American Thomas Davenport is credited with building the first practical electric vehicle -- a small locomotive.

1859: French physicist Gaston Planté invents the rechargeable lead-acid storage battery. In 1881, his countryman Camille Faure will improve the storage battery's ability to supply current and invent the basic lead-acid battery used in automobiles.

For the rest of the history, click now

March 12, 2017 - The Netherlands is covered with bike paths, connecting more or less every destination a person might wish to go to and greatly increasing the convenience of cycling as a sustainable mode of transport.

In the densely populated country, where space is scarce, a consortium of companies and research labs called SolaRoad is endeavoring to make those cycle lanes reduce carbon emissions in yet another way: by having them to generate solar electricity.

Feb. 7, 2017 - The first Wattway solar road pilot in America has popped up in rural west Georgia. The Ray C. Anderson Foundation, named for sustainable manufacturing pioneer Ray Anderson, is testing renewable technologies along an 18-mile stretch of road, and recently installed 538 square feet of Colas‘ Wattway solar road system near the border between Georgia and Alabama.