Alt Fuels
-
Mercedes and parent company Daimler AG will pay $1.5 billion in penalties, as it continues to priorities Europe over the U.S. for cleaner EVs.
-
BMW invests in company aiming to produce zero net carbon gasoline
Through BMW i Ventures, the automaker is putting its brand behind gasoline that might help lower emissions versus fossil-fuel sources.
Stephen Edelstein -
EV charging, carbon reduction included in $500B transportation infrastructure bill
The House version of the new transportation infrastructure bill incorporates some of the spirit of the Green New Deal.
Bengt Halvorson -
Will synthetic fuel be a viable alternative to battery-electric or fuel cells?
McLaren is planning to give synthetic fuels another try, although it knows that they won't replace battery-electric technology at this point.
Stephen Edelstein -
Ethanol may be the loser amid cheap gas and an oil glut
Will the corn ethanol industry survive a year when refiners are holding back and gasoline pump prices drop as low as $1 a gallon?
Bengt Halvorson -
2020 Jeep Wrangler diesel rated 25 MPG, plug-in hybrid on the way
With the addition of an EcoDiesel V-6 engine achieving an EPA 29 mpg highway, the Jeep Wrangler is no longer a gas-guzzler.
Bengt Halvorson -
Despite controversies over a formulation that adds to smog issues, a Trump push for more E15 gas has been stymied by state rules and costly station retrofits.
-
Rusting sheet metal could generate electricity for EVs
In a process that's a bit like a flow battery, scientists have generated electricity by spraying salt water on a rusty film.
Eric C. Evarts -
EU engine-tech project could help gas catch up with gasoline
Tech has lagged for light-duty engines designed to use gaseous fuels, like natural gas, propane, and biogas; an EU project has aimed to address that.
Bengt Halvorson -
Gasoline from solar and wind power: Zero-carbon doesn't assure clean or efficient
At least one startup may be getting close to scaling up fuel production with carbon captured from the air. But burning the fuel would still pollute.
Bengt Halvorson -
Trump expected to lift E15 ban limiting ethanol in summer gasoline
President Donald Trump is expected Tuesday to direct the EPA to lift the seasonal ban on higher-ethanol E15 blends of pump gasoline linked to summer smog issues. The move has been anticipated for months. This timing for it, according to Reuters, is aimed at helping Republican candidates in...
Bengt Halvorson -
Algae blooms could be a boon for eco-diesel under DOE-funded project
Algae-based biodiesel has been hyped in the past as a renewable fuel that can be produced here in the U.S., lowering greenhouse-gas emissions without displacing food crops or taxing water supplies. And yet it still hasn’t arrived in any significant way. There’s no single factor to blame...
Bengt Halvorson -
Nine months after announcing its intention to buy 10,000 Hyundai Nexo hydrogen-fueled cars, the South Korean government has halved its order. That's according to Business Korea, which said Tuesday that a report published by the government earlier this month indicated that the government plans to purchase 5,000 Nexo vehicles over the next two years. MORE: Hyundai Nexo fuel-cell SUV verdicts: classy, zippier, still a "niche vehicle" To keep the 378-mile range Nexos moving, the South Korean government has said that it plans to subsidize construction of 130 hydrogen fueling stations by 2020...
-
E10 gasoline now standard, but E15 push stalled, so here comes E30
Though the Environmental Protection Agency has already ruled on ethanol-blended gasoline mixtures for 2018, that hasn't stopped ethanol advocates from pushing for a higher 30-percent blend for non-flex-fuel vehicles. The latest call for ethanol comes from corn-state ethanol refiners, farmers, and...
Mark Stevenson -
What topic should we have covered less in 2017? Take our Twitter poll
No single definition exists for the idea of "green car," and very few shoppers set out to go buy a green car. Instead, car buyers look for vehicles that meet their needs—with fuel economy or energy efficiency somewhere in that list of needs, whether higher or lower. Certainly the definition...
John Voelcker -
Which alternative fuels will survive long-term? Twitter poll results
Building a fueling network turns out to be more of a challenge than many advocates, regulators, and drivers may have anticipated. The attempt to boost passenger vehicles fueled by cheap, abundant U.S. natural gas is now essentially over, with a mere 942 public natural-gas fueling stations...
John Voelcker -
Renewable-fuel mandate ruling leaves no one happy: the best compromise?
As they say, the best compromise is usually the one that leaves all parties equally dissatisfied. When it comes to the Environmental Protection Agency's renewable-fuel mandate, it seems regulators have reached equilibrium. The latest skirmish in the long-running battle over the U.S. renewable-fuel...
Mark Stevenson -
Which alternative fuels will survive long-term? Take our Twitter poll
You just don't hear the phrase "alternative fuels" as much as you did, say, 10 years ago. With a couple of million plug-in electric cars now on the world's roads, the idea of swapping in one hydrocarbon fuel for another may have passed its time. Admittedly biodiesel continues to make quiet inroads...
John Voelcker -
Let's say you buy the greenest car you can, one that uses a different kind of fuel, and drive it happily for several years. What happens when the supply of your fuel suddenly ends, and you can no longer fill up your car? That's just what happened to Duncan Chalmers of Seattle, who can no longer conveniently get natural gas to fill up his 2008 Honda Civic GX. DON'T MISS: RIP natural-gas cars, doomed by cheap gas and electric cars Chalmers wrote us in October, when all three of the public natural-gas fueling stations within 25 miles of his house had closed or announced they would soon do so...
-
Are electric airplanes actually a real thing?
With electrification spreading through many types of transport, one vehicle still remains largely absent in using electrons for propulsion: aircraft. Automakers have been building commercially viable electrified cars—in whole (electrics) or in part (hybrids)—for more than two decades...
Mark Stevenson -
Tesla builds world's largest lithium-ion battery, for utility use, in Australia
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a bet that he'd build the world's largest lithium-ion battery in Australia in 100 days. If his company failed, Musk would personally pay for the project, but the battery is now ready for its first test ahead of full operation—and on schedule. The massive...
Sean Szymkowski -
A Tesla Model S that runs on hydrogen fuel cells? Dutch firm claims it built one
Tesla has never built anything but battery-electric cars. Now a Dutch gasoline company believes it's improved upon the Silicon Valley automaker's design with a hydrogen fuel cell—so much so that it wants to sell its solution to the general public. The Holthausen Group, a Dutch gasoline...
Sean Szymkowski -
Stella Vie 'family sedan' wins long-distance solar car race
Earlier this month, the 30th World Solar Challenge kicked off in Darwin, Australia, with 42 competitors vying for victory. At the end of the 3,022-kilometer (1,880-mile) race from Darwin to Adelaide, one team emerged victorious in the highly contested Cruiser class. Solar Team Eindhoven, from the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Proposed ethanol cuts bring EPA up against Iowa's powerful politician
Following years of debate, the EPA said earlier this month it will study the possibilities of cutting the amount of ethanol in the United States' gasoline supply. Since 2007, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has required growing amounts of ethanol to be blended into U.S. fuel supplies, with...
Sean Szymkowski