Lowest price per mile: Despite its hefty price tag, the Tesla Model S 75 is the first EV to fall under the 300 dollars per mile mark in the U.S., which means you get the best millage for your buck. With EV incentives factored in, the Chevy Spark takes the lead, with just 230 dollars per mile. insideevs.com
Steel for the Model 3: In order to stay on budget, Tesla will use steel instead of aluminium for bigger components in the Model 3. A corresponding supply agreement with Korean manufacturer Posco has now been signed. elektrek.co, insideevs.com
Ballard Power Systems has signed a follow-on contract with an unnamed automotive OEM to provide its expertise in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology. All that is known is that the two companies have been working together since 2014 and that the customer programme is expected to end later this year. greencarcongress.com
Nano-Nouvelle heads to the U.S.: The Australian company has been asked to show its 3D nanotechnology to a U.S. battery manufacturer. The 3D nano-porous conductive membrane is said to increase energy storage capacity by as much as 50 percent. itwire.com
Real energy management: A real-time energy management system developed at the University of California increases efficiency of plug-in hybrid vehicles by up to 12 percent. The system itself becomes more efficient over time as it is learns to make optimal decisions based on past driving cycles. greencarcongress.com, phys.org, ucrtoday.ucr.edu
South Korea renews: Korea Energy Power Corp. (Kepco) and SK Telecom Co. (SKT) signed a MOU to jointly invest 500 billion won (413.9m dollars) in renewable energy and linked fields, such as micro grids until 2020. This includes the development of self-driving electric vehicles and charging infrastructure as well as business models. apec-vc.or.kr, pulsenews.co.kr
South Africa strives: The platinum producing country plans to set up a fuel cell component factory by 2018. The aim is to increase demand while decreasing cost, as the precious metal would be sourced locally. A feasibility study is underway and partly funded by the trade and industry ministry. reuters.com, moneyweb.co.za
FCV supplier: Ballard Power System names TM4 as supplier of electric motors and inverters for new compressor units for Ballard’s FCvelocity-HD7 power module used in fuel cell vehicles. greencarcongress.com
U.S. gives EV technology a boost: The U.S. Department of Energy announced that it will support the domestic auto industry’s efforts to develop new technologies with 58m dollars. The bulk of the money will be spent on electric drivetrains, as well as charging and energy storage technology. greencarcongress.com, energy.gov
Franco-Canadian alliance: PSA Peugeot Citroën, Exagon Motors, Hydro-Québec and TM4 have formed a joint venture. With financial help from the Canadian government (16m Canadian dollars), they plan to develop a new electric drivetrain for light utility vehicles. greencarcongress.com, businesswire.com
BMW’s first non-European engine plant: Working together with its Chinese partner Brilliance, the Bavarian carmaker has opened a new engine plant in Shengyang. Next to combustion engines, the site is said to also produce high-voltage batteries for hybrid vehicles. greencarcongress.com, bmwgroup.com
Ballard Power Systems in Asia: The Canadian fuel cell experts received an order worth 12m dollars from China for the delivery of FCvelocity-9SSL fuel cell stacks for buses of the Guangdong Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology. The joint research and development project with Japanese company Nisshinbo for the production of cheaper PEM fuel cell catalysts is meanwhile entering its seventh phase. greencarcongress.com, ballard.com (China), ballard.com (Nisshinbo)
Audi plays catch-up: The carmaker presented its electrification plans to the press at the “Future performance Days.” For 2017, it announced the inductive charging system AWC (Audi wireless charging) for private garages, also fit for plug-in hybrids like the new Audi Q7 e-tron 3.0 TDI. There was also much interest in the A7 h-tron concept. Audi says it is ready to take fuel cell technology to serial production,as soon as public infrastructure allows. audi-mediacenter.com
H2 partnership: The Canada-based fuel cell specialist Ballard Power Systems has signed a strategic cooperation with Chinese bus manufacturer King Long. The goal is the joint development of hydrogen-fuelled buses. greencarcongress.com
Electric mining: Keshi has presented the first electric mining vehicle at the China Coal and Mining Expo. The electric motor is delivered by UQM Technologies, which will also deliver drive trains for other possible electric mining vehicle models. This version can carry up to 19 passengers. businesswire.com
H2 competition: The U.S. Department of Energy and Hydrogen Education Foundation now count six participants for its 1m dollar “H2 Refuel H-Prize.” The two-year competition challenges America’s engineers and entrepreneurs to develop affordable systems for small-scale hydrogen fueling (we reported). greencarcongress.com
Domestic disturbance? Tesla turned to LG Chem to supply the upgraded battery for its Roadster. The Califonian EV maker confirmed the contract but did not say why it would not use Panasonic cells. The Japanese usually are Tesla’s trusted partner and biggest investor in the Gigafactory. LG Chem however, acts increasingly competitive, as it reportedly will supply GM with batteries at 145 dollars/kWh. nasdaq.com, teslarati.com
Vision Tokyo unveiled: Mercedes presents its newest autonomous concept in Japan. The Vision Tokyo uses the fuel cell system from the F 015 as presumed. Range is given at almost 1,000 kilometres. Batteries last for 190km and can be charged inductively while the fuel cell generates energy for the remaining 790km. Up to five passengers are invited to lounge on the wrap-around couch. autoblog.com, electriccarsreport.com
Strategic partners: Ballard Power Systems will receive a 5-million-dollar investment by Nisshinbo. The deal between the firms that have worked together for over 20 years, is expected to close in early November. Nisshinbo provides the fuel cell industry with carbon plates used in MEA. greencarcongress.com
The Science Award Electrochemistry by Volkswagen and BASF goes to Dr. Bryan McCloskey from the University of California, Berkeley, for his “outstanding research results” in lithium-oxygen batteries. volkswagen-media-services.com
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Most clicked link on Wednesday was a new kind of battery with a silicon-based anode that is said to last longer, is lighter and makes for 40 – 60 percent increase in energy density. business-standard.com
Public transport deals: Ballard Power Systems has won two contracts from China. Its fuel cell technology will be used in 300 H2-buses in the Chinese cities of Foshan and Yunfu for 17m dollars. Another deal worth 6m dollars will see Ballard develop and deliver fuel cell modules for trams build by CRRC Sifang for Foshan. greencarcongress.com (Buses), prnewswire.com (Trams)
LeTV charges ahead: The Chinese internet giant has become a major investor in Dianzhuang Technology. The start-up produces EV charging stations and has already installed stations in more than 30 cities. Dianzhuang is currently building the largest EV charging station in Beijing, which can serve 100 EVs at a time. ecns.cn
22.5m dollars for green buses have been made available by the U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA). This latest round of the ‘Low or No Emission Vehicle Deployment Program’ (LoNo) has been earmarked for transit authorities and firms to fund electric and fuel cell electric buses. greencarcongress.com
e-clearing.net grows: E.ON has joined the e-roaming platform e-clearing.net, increasing the latter’s number of roaming-enabled EV charging points by about 800 – most of them in Denmark. The platform now counts about 7,300 roaming-enabled chargers across Europe. smartlab-gmbh.de (in German)
Fuel cell racer unveiled: GreenGT presented its race car powered by SymbioFCell fuel cells as expected in France, despite previous delays. The GreenGT H2 features two hydrogen tanks (350 bar) and 18 stacks fuel cell that deliver 340kW. Maximum speed is said to be 300 kph and it weighs just 1,240 kg. electricautosport.com
What is behind that “quantum leap” VW CEO Martin Winterkorn mentioned, wondered TransportEvolved and came up with an explanation: the solid-state battery by QuantumScape. Volkswagen recently acquired 5% of the Stanford spin-off and says it is impressed with the latter’s progress. transportevolved.com
Sports car vs SUV: Bentley will have to make a tough decision, since it can only develop one car at a time. Will either the concept EXP 10 Speed 6 get the go-ahead or a smaller SUV that would sit under the Bentayga? A final decision is due only in 2016 or 2017. We hope for the mighty hybrid concept. indianautosblog.com
Lugano fast forwards Formula E: Mayor Marco Borradori has handed over the Swiss city’s official application to host a Formula E race next season. Lugano thus overtakes Zurich, where a new initiative also considers applying. Now, Lugano has to find 10 million euros from sponsors. nzz.ch (in German), cdt.ch (in Italian)
Ballard Power Systems will acquire Protonex Technology Corporation, manufacturer of power management products and fuel cell solutions. The deal is valued at 30 million dollars. Ballard hopes to scale up and broaden its offering, while keeping staff and teams at Protonex intact. greencarcongress.com
Daimler readies its power packs: The German carmaker is now taking orders for its stationary batteries for home use. Reservations can be placed without obligation via Accumotive with deliveries scheduled to start from September this year. greencarcongress.com, schlauerspeichern.de (reservation, in German)
Fuel cell module exclusively for China trams: Ballard Power Systems has signed an agreement with Chinese Tangshan Railway Vehicle Company (TRC). It will see Ballard develop a new fuel cell module specifically for TRC’s trams in China. A prototype shall be up and running by 2016. greencarcongress.com
Funding wanted: Evolute Drives, a sister company of Drive System Design (DSD), is now looking for investors to help fund the commercialisation of its MSYS multi-speed transmission system for hybrids and electric vehicles. It is said to provide EVs with up to 15% more range (we reported). greencarcongress.com
Funding granted: The US Department of Energy (DOE) has chosen 162 projects, which are to receive 26.6 million dollars in the 2015 Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Awards. Among them are projects developing batteries while two are hydrogen related. greencarcongress.com
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Most clicked link on Wednesday was our news on Volvo’s first fully electric bus. automotiveworld.com
Fuel cell buses for China: Canadian Ballard Power Systems has been asked by a Chinese manufacturer to equip eight buses with its FCvelocity-HD7 fuel cell power modules. The buses will serve in a number of Chinese cities. greencarcongress.com, ballard.com
Revamped fleet: XL Hybrids will convert four General Motors vans for Watkins Heating & Cooling in Springboro, Ohio with its XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive system. Watkins plans to retrofit its entire fleet of 15 vehicles within the next few years. greencarcongress.com, ngtnews.com
CarCharging in Memphis: The EV charging operator says it finalised an agreement with the Downtown Memphis Commission for 12 Blink Level 2 EV chargers in the commission’s garages. The stations will be owned, operated and serviced by CarCharging. prnewswire.com
Worcestershire EV ready: The British county now has three new EV charge points. They are the first in a row of 12 planned for the county. The EV charging initiative is supported by 600,000 pounds from both the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and Chargemaster (150,000 GBP). eveshamjournal.co.uk
Li-Ion cells made in Germany: German ZSW, a research centre for solar and hydrogen energy, says it has produced Li-Ion cells close to serial production on its recently completed assembly line in the city of Ulm. According to the ZSW, 23 Ah capacity puts them at level with similar cells commercially produced in Asia and the research centre strives to increase this capacity even further in the future. iwr.de (in German)
Hybrid tech for small cars: Maruti Suzuki engineers are working on a low cost hybrid technology aimed at small cars. Set to be ready by 2017, the technology is to first be utilised in the next generation Swift. Production will take place in India, which is seen as a key market. business-standard.com, indianautosblog.com
Canada to fund clean tech: Natural Resources Canada and Sustainable Development Technology Canada will spend 29.5 million dollars to support 6 projects. Nemaska Lithium is to receive 12.87 million dollars to pilot production of lithium hydroxide and carbonate which could make for cheaper EV batteries. 3.7 million will go to TM4 to develop low-cost wheel motors for electric and hybrid vehicles. labcanada.com
Ballard fuel cells for buses: Ballard Power Systems expects to supply 10 FCvelocity-HD6 fuel cell modules to power buses as part of two projects that were recently awarded funding by the U.S. Federal Transit Administration. BAE Systems and ElDorado National are project partners for Ballard. greencarcongress.com, ballard.com
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Most clicked link on Wednesday was the NanoFlowcell Quantino, which is said to offer a range of more than 1,000 kilometres. performancedrive.com.au
Polish XXL electric bus: Solaris together with the Technical Universities of Poznan and Warsaw plan to develop a 24-meter electric bus based on the Urbino. The batteries will be charged externally while an on-board fuel cell is planned as well. The project is part of the Inno-Tech program of the Polish government and receives 1.5 million euros funding. auto-medienportal.net (in German)
Chevy Volt AWD? General Motors now renewed the Crossvolt trademark from 2011. The move has led to speculations what kind of vehicle might bear that name in the future – could Chevrolet bring us a Volt with an all-wheel drive or is that too much wishful thinking? Fingers crossed! greencarreports.com, insideevs.com, autoblog.com
Li-air: A team at Yale University has introduced a new Li-O2 cell architecture that uses a mesoporous catalytic polymer-based membrane between the oxygen electrode and the separator to achieve high reversibility and efficiency, rather than placing the catalyst particles on the oxygen electrode itself. greencarcongress.com
Size matters: A team at Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO) has demonstrated that the electrochemical performance of sulfur nanoparticles in the cathode of a Lithium-sulfur battery is critically dependent on the sulfur particle size. greencarcongress.com
Broken fuel cell agreements: Ballard Power Systems is to terminate two fuel-cell licensing agreements with Azure Hydrogen in China. The reasons are material breaches of these agreements by Azure Hydrogen. One license agreement concerns the assembly of Ballard’s FCvelocity-HD7 Bus fuel-cell power modules which were destined for the Chinese market. greencarcongress.com
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Most clicked link on Monday was our Short Circuit showing a BMW i3 with “M” stripes added by a Norwegian EV enthusiast insideevs.com
S-Pedelec perfection: 250 Nm torque that can be activated via throttle or pedals and a 1,600-Wh battery make the Trefecta e-bike come very close to a motocross machine. The super-stylish speed pedelec with a frame developed by the former Fokker Aerospace engineering team can go up to 80 kph but weighing about 40 kilos. Price: 22,500 euros (28,550 dollars) before taxes. trefectamobility.com (with video), elektroniknet.de (in German)
Stretching polymers: The Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) at Stanford University has awarded 10.5 million dollars to seven research projects. One team set out to develop self-healing polymers that can stretch to endure large volume changes in the battery during charge and discharge. greencarcongress.com
Profitable partnership: Ballard Power Systems has signed a long term supply agreement to provide fuel cell stacks for use in Plug Power’s GenDrive systems for forklift trucks. The agreement is a continuation of an existing partnership. Plug Power customers include Walmart, Sysco and Mercedes among others and the company expects to bill orders for about 150 million dollars this year. greencarcongress.com
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Most clicked link on Thursday was the radical customized BMW i3 from Garage Everyn, Japan. transportevolved.com
EV conversion kit: As part of a pilot project, the Indian government plans to support car owners willing to retrofit their car with a “specialised conversion kit.” Reportedly, this kit can be used on any vehicle not older than two to three years, but is only available from one manufacturer so far. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, indianradios.com
Next-gen fuel cell partnership: Once again, New Flyer Industries ordered fuel cells from Ballard to power its H2 buses. The American bus manufacturer will be the first to use Ballard’s FCvelocity-HD7 module with integrated compressor and coolant pump and with reduced static as well as moving parts. greencarcongress.com
Hydrogen refuelling station dispensers: How accurate are they? To test the meter, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed a prototype Transient Flow Facility that imitates the conditions of a FCV during refuelling. greencarcongress.com
Comparing apples and oranges can sometimes reveal interesting facts. Like this report by Green Car Reports on the new E-Golf and Golf TDI. The electric Golf not only is lighter but almost as cheap as its fossil-burning brother. Winner on efficiency is the E-Golf, while the diesel scores on perceived sportiness. greencarreports.com
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Most clicked link on Wednesday was the Smart fortwo taking on, or crashing into an S-Class. youtube.com
Real energy management: A real-time energy management system developed at the University of California increases efficiency of plug-in hybrid vehicles by up to 12 percent. The system itself becomes more efficient over time as it is learns to make optimal decisions based on past driving cycles.
Audi plays catch-up: The carmaker presented its electrification plans to the press at the “Future performance Days.” For 2017, it announced the inductive charging system AWC (Audi wireless charging) for private garages, also fit for plug-in hybrids like the new Audi Q7 e-tron 3.0 TDI. There was also much interest in the A7 h-tron concept. Audi says it is ready to take fuel cell technology to serial production,as soon as public infrastructure allows.
Fuel cell racer unveiled: GreenGT presented its race car powered by SymbioFCell fuel cells as 
Daimler readies its power packs: The German carmaker is now taking orders for its stationary batteries for home use. Reservations can be placed without obligation via Accumotive with deliveries scheduled to start from September this year.
Hybrid tech for small cars: Maruti Suzuki engineers are working on a low cost hybrid technology aimed at small cars. Set to be ready by 2017, the technology is to first be utilised in the next generation Swift. Production will take place in India, which is seen as a key market.
Polish XXL electric bus: Solaris together with the Technical Universities of Poznan and Warsaw plan to develop a 24-meter electric bus based on the Urbino. The batteries will be charged externally while an on-board fuel cell is planned as well. The project is part of the Inno-Tech program of the Polish government and receives 1.5 million euros funding.
S-Pedelec perfection: 250 Nm torque that can be activated via throttle or pedals and a 1,600-Wh battery make the Trefecta e-bike come very close to a motocross machine. The super-stylish speed pedelec with a frame developed by the former Fokker Aerospace engineering team can go up to 80 kph but weighing about 40 kilos. Price: 22,500 euros (28,550 dollars) before taxes.