New DOE Funding Opportunity Targets Alt-Fuel Trucking Research

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced funding of up to $51.5 million for gaseous fuels research.

The funding opportunity announcement (FOA) targets the research of technologies for trucks, off-road vehicles and the fuels that power them. Funded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the FOA addresses priorities in gaseous fuels research, including natural gas, biopower and hydrogen; heavy-duty freight electrification; hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell technologies for heavy-duty applications; and energy-efficient off-road vehicles.

“As the fastest-growing fuel users, trucks offer an important opportunity to use innovation to improve energy productivity,” says Mark Menezes, under secretary of energy at the DOE. “Through research and new developments in both energy efficiency and domestically sourced fuel technologies, we can not only strengthen our energy security but also improve transportation affordability for our nation’s trucking industry – helping those who deliver American goods and those who use them.”

 

CARB Certifies Agility Nat-Gas System for Ford Medium-Duty Vehicles

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Agility Fuel Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hexagon Composites ASA, has received California Air Resources Board (CARB) certifications for a natural gas fuel system for installation on Ford 6.8L V-10 gasoline engines with a gaseous engine prep package.

The Ford 6.8L engine with Agility’s natural gas fuel system is certified to meet CARB’s optional low-NOx emissions standards with NOx emissions at or below 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour.

In addition, Agility received CARB’s heavy-duty on-board diagnostics and greenhouse-gas emissions standards certification with full compliance.

Volvo’s First All-Electric Vehicle Will compete With Tesla’s Model 3

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Volvo now has its own Tesla competitor, the Polestar 2. The electric vehicle was unveiled Wednesday and will directly compete with Tesla’s Model 3.

Polestar is an electric car brand that was spun off from Volvo in 2017. The company announced late last year to make the Polestar 1, its plug-in hybrid sports car, available in the United States toward the end of 2019.

The base price for the Polestar 2 will be 40,000 euros, around $45,000, CNN reports. That puts it on par with the pricing for Tesla’s comparable Model 3.

The vehicle will have an expected range of 275 miles on a full battery, and owners’ phones will be able to work similarly to a key fob to unlock and start the vehicle. Polestar will also offer an optional “Pilot Package” for the vehicles that will include driving assistance features such as land assist and self-parking.

ROUSH CleanTech Develops First Available Propane Autogas Engine that is 90 Percent Cleaner than National Emissions Standard

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Alternative-fuel technology company, ROUSH CleanTech, has developed the first available propane autogas engine certified to California Air Resources Board’s optional low oxides of nitrogen emissions standard for heavy-duty engines with 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr). The engine is 90 percent cleaner than the current Environmental Protection Agency’s most stringent 0.2 g/bhp-hr heavy-duty engine standard.

“Last year, we introduced a propane autogas engine that was 75 percent cleaner than the EPA’s emissions standard. But, we knew our next challenge was to meet CARB’s lowest NOx standard at 0.02 g/bhp-hr,” said Todd Mouw, president of ROUSH CleanTech. “Our newest propane autogas engine reinforces ROUSH CleanTech’s commitment to provide vehicle solutions that reduce the impact to the environment while leveraging an abundant, domestically produced fuel that costs less than diesel.”

NOx emissions are regulated under federal air quality standards because they are known to be harmful to human health and to the environment, contributing to regional ozone attainment challenges, smog and other air-quality issues. Heavy-duty diesel trucks are the single largest source of NOx emissions, contributing to smog in a majority of the nation’s most populated urban regions. According to the EPA, operating vehicles with ultra-low emission engines can make significant improvements to regional air quality and reduce a wide variety of human health impacts.

Forty-One Models of Light-Duty Plug-In Electric Vehicles Were Available in Model Year 2018

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A total of 41 different light-duty plug-in electric vehicle models were available for purchase in model year (MY) 2018 – 27 of which were plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and 14 of which were all-electric vehicles (EV). The first two mainstream plug-in electric vehicles, the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf, debuted in 2010. The total number of plug-in electric models has grown for every model year except for 2015, in which the number of PHEV and EV models changed, but the total available stayed constant. The model counts include only one record per model name, even if some models have multiple configurations (i.e., Tesla Model S has various battery sizes and drive configurations, but it was only counted as one model).

Hydrogen Stakeholders Team up to Advance Heavy-Duty Fueling

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Air Liquide, Hyundai, Nel, Nikola Motor, Shell and Toyota have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop and test hydrogen fueling hardware for heavy-duty (HD) vehicles.

Under the MOU, the vehicle and infrastructure companies plan to test pre-commercial 70MPa hydrogen heavy-duty vehicle high-flow (H70HF) fueling hardware for future Class 8 (40-ton) trucks. The industry group has created specifications for the fueling nozzle, vehicle receptacle, dispenser hose and breakaway device components for the purpose of developing a request for proposals for suppliers.

The group is requesting notification of suppliers’ intent to participate in a pre-commercial development and test program designed specifically for this fueling hardware. The hardware samples will undergo performance tests in accordance with the appropriate SAE/ISO/CSA industry standards.

Argonne Launches Online Tool for Alt-Fuel Decision-Making

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Argonne National Laboratory’s AFLEET Tool (Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation) is now available in an online version.

Argonne – which is managed by UChicago Argonne LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science – says the resource is a free, publicly available, spreadsheet-based tool that calculates and compares the costs and environmental benefits of a broad range of alternative fuels and vehicle technologies. It also accommodates all vehicle types, from passenger cars and pickup trucks to buses and freight trucks.

Electric vehicle charging stations coming to Danville

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Danville will join a few select cities in the state to offer electric vehicle charging stations, allowing environmentally conscious drivers who opt to lessen their carbon footprint in the world to recharge.

Engineer Earl Coffey received the city commission’s approval recently to allow Kentucky Utilities’ installation of two “EV” charging stations, which will be located in the two southern-most parking stalls on Fifth Street, off of Main and on the edge of Centre College’s campus.

Coffey told the city commission KU has “been keen to some of the things going on in Danville” and taking an interest in local projects. He reminded commissioners the company dedicated some funding toward the new water plant park and, most recently, contributed money toward construction of the trail connector, from Corporate Drive over to Hughes Lane.

Refuse Sector’s Demand for RNG Increasing

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There is increased demand for renewable natural gas (RNG) from the refuse sector, especially in California, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. announced. With RNG, refuse trucks are fueled by the very solid waste they haul.

Clean Energy’s Redeem RNG vehicle fuel is derived from capturing biogenic methane that is naturally sourced by the decomposition of dairy and landfill waste. Redeem enables at least 70% reduction in carbon emissions when displacing diesel or gasoline, according to California Air Resources Board (CARB) estimates.

The City of Fresno, Calif., signed a two-year agreement with Clean Energy for renewable liquefied natural gas (RLNG) to power approximately 140 refuse trucks for an anticipated annual total of 1.6 million LNG gallons, the equivalent of just over one million gasoline gallons equivalent (GGEs). The City of Long Beach, Calif., has entered into a new two-year contract to fuel 77 vehicles with an expected 225,000 GGEs of Redeem, including its 35 LNG refuse trucks.

First national lithium-ion battery recycling R&D center launched

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With lithium-ion battery technology expanding across the world, through electronics, Electric Vehicles and stationary storage, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have launched the  first lithium-ion battery recycling center, called the ReCell Center, at Argonne National Laboratory. DOE says the center will help the U.S. grow a globally competitive recycling industry and reduce the country’s reliance on foreign sources of battery materials.

According to DOE, recycled materials from lithium-ion batteries can be reused in new batteries, reducing production costs by 10 to 30 percent, which could help lower the overall cost of EV batteries to DOE’s goal of $80 per kilowatt-hour. 

The center will focus on four key research areas to enable profitable lithium-ion battery recycling for industry adoption: 

  • A direct cathode recycling focus will develop recycling processes that generate products that go directly back into new batteries without the need for costly reprocessing;
  • A focus to recover other materials will work to create technologies that cost effectively recycle other battery materials, providing additional revenue streams;
  • Design for recycling will develop new battery designs optimized to make future batteries easier to recycle; and
  • Modeling and analysis tools will be developed and utilized to help direct an efficient path of R&D and to validate the work performed within the center.