While the exact reason – as well as the amount – is unknown, a recent announcement has confirmed that Swedish furniture giant Ikea has invested in XL Hybrids, a Boston-based manufacturer of hybrid conversion kits for standard gasoline-powered vehicles. The full article can be found at Green Car Reports, but here are the bullets: Continued
A truck powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), operated in Fair Oaks, Indiana by Ruan Transportation Management Systems, has successfully passed the million mile mark. The truck, a 2014 Kenworth T660 class 8 tractor, symbolizes a major milestone in the viability of alternative fuels. You can read the full article on NGT News, butContinued
For the first time, researchers using the Mira supercomputer at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), part of the DOE Office of Science, can now quickly design engines for a given fuel. By eliminating the need to develop and test designs and prototypes one at a time, scientists and engineers have reduced their design time fromContinued
Update: London has revoked Uber’s license to operate in the city, prompting the new CEO to plea for further discussion. It remains to be seen what the Uber outcome will be, but the trend toward hybrids and EVs remains apparent. Earlier this month, Uber announced that all of its London-based drivers (40,000 of them) willContinued
It’s no secret that California is on a mission to reduce GHG and NOx emissions. The state will eventually deploy fleets of zero and near-zero emission trucks and buses. However, that switch going to take awhile. In the meantime, the California Air Resources Board is pushing the development of hybrid engines to help accelerate clean technologies.Continued
State Senate members in California have called for almost $1 billion worth of cap-and-trade generated funds to be allocated toward clean vehicle placement and diesel retrofit and replacement projects. The full article from Fleets & Fuels is here, but here are the quick hits you should know: Programs being targeted for boosted funding include:Continued
Audits Are A Good Thing In the world of business we often associate audits with bad things. However, for original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM’s) an audit is not only necessary, it can be a company and image saving risk management tool. Volkswagen, Fiat, GM and Daimler are just a few of the major brands out there underContinued
The Clean Air Act The Clean Air Act in the United States facilitates the legal action and compliance activities as they relate to industry regulation. An early enforcement notice from the EPA outlines the following set of instructions related to reporting and recordkeeping; “Parties involved in the certification, assembly, or distribution of vehicles and enginesContinued
Production Line Testing for OEMs Production line testing is a compliance requirement which applies to all OEMs. This requirement is one that must be satisfied for both the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Production line testing requirements stipulate that quarterly reports must be sent to the EPAContinued
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