UPS has taken delivery of an updated Workhorse Custom Chassis W62 gasoline-powered chassis, Workhorse announced at the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Work Truck Show. The upgraded W62 includes a 6.0-liter GM Vortec gasoline engine designed for 20% better fuel economy than the previous 8.1-liter Vortec in previous models. The W62 is rated at 17,000, 19,500 and 23,500 lbs. GVWR. [More]

On March 5th, 2010, hydrogen and fuel cell industry experts joined Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii to brief US Senate staff on the balance needed between industry and government commitments as well as between different clean vehicle technologies. Daimler, General Motors, Linde and Dr. C.E. (Sandy) Thomas led the event on "Solving the Market's Dilemmas-Energy Infrastructure for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles." Charles Freese, Executive Director of Fuel Cell Activities, General Motors spoke about the benefits of other electric technologies like pure battery electric vehicles which are very efficient for smaller, low speed and short range urban vehicles. However, said Freese, "hydrogen fuel cells are better suited than other electric technologies for some applications, like powering larger vehicles at highway speeds, and for larger family vehicles that can comfortably carry four or more passengers with heavier payloads." [More]

The market "footprint" of natural gas as a transportation fuel for medium- and heavy-duty trucks is expanding, according to a panel of industry experts convened at the CALSTART/NTEA Green Truck Summit in St. Louis. Andy Douglas, National Sales Manager for Kenworth's specialty markets, said Kenworth is committed to its natural gas products and that the market is now more than just California and the West Coast, but encompasses Texas, the East Coast and elsewhere. All major truck makers have now added natural gas options, and are focused on heavy vocational and heavy regional haul applications. Patric Ouellette, Chief Technology Officer of Westport Innovations, noted a distinct upswing in natural gas engine demand since 2005, driven by energy security and climate concerns and greatly improved incentives. Bill Zobel, Vice President of Business Development for infrastructure provider Trillium USA said that the addition of gas producers to the natural gas vehicle coalition had strengthened policy efforts, and that having consistent public policy in energy was crucial. Panelists also noted that as natural gas and hybrid systems mature, a logical next development and demonstration step would be to combine the systems, greatly multiplying carbon and emissions reductions and operational savings.   

Azure Dynamics Corporation today announced at the CALSTART/NTEA Green Truck Summit that AT&T has agreed to purchase two of the first Ford Transit Connect Electric vans, the latest addition to AT&T’s growing fleet of alternative-fuel vehicles. The Ford Transit Connect Electric -- the all-electric version of the 2010 Ford Transit Connect, the North American Truck of the Year -- will be powered by Azure Dynamics’ patented Force DriveTM electric drivetrain with an advanced lithium-ion battery from Johnson Controls-Saft. The vehicle, which goes on sale later this year, has a range of up to 80 miles on a single charge and will be rechargeable using either 240-volt or standard 120-volt outlets. It has a top speed of 75 miles per hour. [More]

St. Louis, MO - The US EPA will regulate truck emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) and those regulations will likely be linked with emerging fuel efficiency standards for trucks, according to presentations made at the CALSTART-NTEA Green Truck Summit in St. Louis. While no specific timing or rules were announced, they are coming said the EPA's Byron Bunker. He said the agency has the authority under the Clean Air Act and will develop emissions rules for GHGs. He gave a sense of how such rules may roll out by referring to past air quality rules, which laid out steady reduction "steps" over time. The agency intends to collaborate with industry to develop the rules and did lay out its principles for the regulations: 1) to build off the SmartWay program; 2) to get reductions as soon as possible, perhaps starting by 2014; 3) to get reductions from the whole vehicle, not just the engine: 4) to make a straight-forward, clear regulation; and 5) to keep flexibility to design trucks that can do the work fleets need. Bunker also said that just like with passenger car rules, where GHG and fuel efficiency standards have been aligned, the rules for trucks will also align efficiency and GHG standards so truck makers do not face two different sets of rules.

St Louis, MO - Despite the national recession, momentum in the medium- and heavy-duty hybrid truck and bus market continues to grow and expand in product type, according to a panel of experts speaking at the CALSTART-NTEA Green Truck Summit in St. Louis.  Dimitri Kazarinoff, VP and General Manager of Eaton Hybrid Power Systems, said that last year his company increased their system sales by five times over the previous year and now have hybrid systems operating on four continents with 35 million miles of experience. The panel noted that hybrid system costs are dropping, but that early market incentives were still critically important to maintain momentum while production volumes are still low. Darren Gosbee, Director of Hybrid Strategy and Execution for Navistar (International Trucks), said he felt incentives for hybrids were very important through about 2014, but that the industry can stand on its own by then without incentives. Ed Greif, VP Engineering for Bosch Rexroth, noted that hydraulic hybrids are now moving to market, and that refuse applications were a very promising first application but that other applications, like parcel delivery, also so great promise. Panelists shared the idea that there will be no single technology "winner" in hybrids but we will need a range of approches.  They also noted growing interest in hybrids for shuttle bus and regional heavy-haul applications, and the growth of next generation capabilities, including electrified components, reduction in energy storage costs, plug-in and all-electric vehicles.

Eaton’s Hybrid Fuel Tank Isolation Valve enables fuel vapor containment within the tank until the engine is available and prevents canister saturation and hydrocarbon leakage. The design allows for quick tank venting, minimizing refueling ‘splash-back’ caused by high fuel tank pressures...


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The funding focuses on three areas: “Grid Scale Rampable Intermittent Dispatchable Storage,” cost effective storage that can manipulate the variable, short-duration generating capacity; “Agile Delivery of Electrical Power Technology,” which involves high-performance power converters; and “Building Energy Efficiency Through Innovative Thermodevices (BEET-IT) seeking high efficiency heating and cooling technologies, with an emphasis on technologies that perform in warm, humid, and hot climates...


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According to BIO, the EPA's recently released rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard recognize that algae-based biofuels can qualify as advanced biofuels and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to gasoline, but algae-based biofuel developers do not qualify for existing tax incentives for advanced biofuel development...


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But the shift toward electric vehicles also represents a huge leap of faith for the automakers, especially as they emerge from a devastating industry downturn. To be able to produce electric cars in a few years, they must invest billions now without knowing how large the market will be...


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