Transportation

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SAKOR Technologies, Inc. (Okemos, MI) designed and installed a complete turnkey Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Test System for UQM Technologies, Inc. (Longmont, CO), a manufacturer of high-efficiency electric propulsion systems. UQM will use the system to test inverters and traction motors for use in hybrid and electric vehicles for the automotive, commercial truck, bus, and military markets.
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Tune in for a live webcast from the U.S. Department of Energy on June 19th, from 12-1 p.m. EDT. Electrocatalysts developed by Brookhaven National Laboratory's (BNL) scientists use less costly platinum and increase the effectiveness of fuel cells for use in electric vehicles.
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The U.S Department of Energy has recently announced up to $4 million available this year to accelerate the development and deployment of wireless charging systems for light-duty electric vehicles (EVs).

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Researchers with DOE’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have engineered the first strains of Escherichia coli bacteria that can digest switchgrass biomass and synthesize its sugars into all three of those transportation fuels. The microbes are even able to do this without any help from enzyme additives.
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A research team from the University of Georgia has developed a "super strain" of yeast that can efficiently ferment ethanol from pretreated pine - one of the most common species of trees in the U.S. Their research could help biofuels replace gasoline as a transportation fuel.
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DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) will hold its third annual Energy Innovation Summit at the Gaylord Convention Center near Washington, D.C. The Summit will unite key players from all sectors of the nation’s energy innovation community to share ideas for developing and deploying the next generation of clean energy technologies.
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With the DOE, Virent, Inc., and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) working together, planes may soon take to the skies using less petroleum. In June, DOE announced an award of up to $13.4 million dollars to Virent and its partners to develop a process to cost effectively convert cellulosic biomass - in this case the non-edible parts of corn - into jet fuel.
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On November 15th at 1:00pm EST, tune in to a 90-minute live webcast hosted by the Department of Energy on new recommendations for implementing energy-saving street lighting projects. The webcast will be moderated by Consortium Director Edward Smalley of Seattle City Light.
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The AutoTram® is as long as a streetcar and as maneuverable as a bus. It doesn’t need rails or overhead lines because it rolls on rubber tires and simply follows white lines on the street. In “Fraunhofer’s System Research for Electromobility,” the AutoTram® was used as an experimental platform. It was a component of the research collaboration of more than 30 of Germany's Fraunhofer institutes.
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International Rectifier (El Segundo, CA) has released automotive-qualified 600 V IGBTs optimized for variable speed motor control and power supply applications used in electric and hybrid vehicles. The new devices cover a broad current range and offer a short-circuit rating of ≥5µs.
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A development by engineers of Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is inspired by nature. To fill the porous electrodes of lithium-ion batteries more rapidly with liquid electrolyte, they use a physicochemical effect that also provides water transport in trees. The new process increases the throughput of battery production and reduces investment costs.
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STMicroelectronics (Geneva, Switzerland) introduces the L99PM72PXP, an automotive IC supporting advanced networking technology to unlock valuable improvements in fuel efficiency and emissions. The new chip reduces the energy consumed by systems such as door electronics and climate controls by allowing modules to be turned off individually when not being used.
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The 2011 CAFE Green Flight Challenge has a winner! NASA awarded a $1.35-million first place prize to team Pipistrel-USA of State College, PA. The team's electric Taurus G4 aircraft achieved the equivalency of more than 400 miles per gallon. The second place prize of $120,000 went to team eGenius, of Ramona, CA.
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Fraunhofer scientists working on electronic drives have replaced a battery box for lithium-ion batteries with a lightweight component. Not only does the housing save weight and sustain no damage in an accident – for the first time ever, it can also be mass-produced.
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MUTE, an electric vehicle from the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), is an agile, sporty two-seater for regional road traffic. Its lithium-ion battery is designed to guarantee a range of at least 100 kilometers. When needed, a zinc-air battery serves as a range extender.
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Hybrid Power Management (HPM) is the integration of diverse, state-of-the-art power devices in an optimal configuration for space and terrestrial applications. The basic vehicle architecture consists of a primary power source, and possibly other power sources, that provides all power to a common energy storage system that is used to power the drive motors and vehicle accessory systems.
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An enhanced algorithm has been developed that builds on a previous innovation of fuel-optimal powered-descent guidance (PDG) for planetary pinpoint landing. The PDG problem is to compute constrained, fuel-optimal trajectories to land a craft at a prescribed target on a planetary surface.
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Mitsubishi Electric (Tokyo, Japan) recently introduced a transfer molded power module (T-PM) designed for hybrid and electric vehicle applications. The J-Series T-PM, incorporating proprietary technology that ensures power loss reduction, has a lifespan 30 times longer than industrial power modules and is also Pb-free - including the terminal plating.
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A team of students from Virginia Tech University won EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge after designing and building an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) using E85 (ethanol). Virginia Tech competed against 15 other universities to take home the top prize of the three-year competition.
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New technology is being developed at Oregon State University to capture and use the low-to-medium grade waste heat from automobiles, diesel generators, or factories and electrical utilities. The new systems should be able to use much of that waste heat either in cooling or the production of electricity.
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Neutron analysis of the atomic dynamics behind thermal conductivity is helping scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) gain a deeper understanding of how thermoelectric materials work. The analysis could spur the development of a broader range of products with the capability to transform heat to electricity.
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Linear Technology Corporation (Milpitas, CA) offers a high-reliability (MP-grade) version of the LT3511, a high-voltage isolated monolithic flyback regulator that operates over a -55°C to 150°C junction temperature range. The device simplifies the design of an isolated DC/DC converter since it needs no optocoupler, third winding, or signal transformer for feedback, as the device’s output voltage is sensed from the primary-side flyback signal.
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Advanced biofuels are highly touted as potential replacements for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels. Equally touted is the synthesis of these fuels through the use of microbes. However, many of the best candidate compounds for advanced biofuels are toxic to microbes, which presents a “production versus survival” conundrum.
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Air conditioning is a ‘must-have’ for most new cars. But the fluorocarbon refrigerant HFC-134a – the global standard – is one of the ozone-depleting greenhouse gases causing global warming. With these concerns, the European Union has passed regulations phasing out the compound beginning in 2011 and mandating the use of alternatives with less environmental impact.
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In the SmartEnergyLab, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany are investigating how to network various electrical household appliances and operate them remotely. The researchers can analyze, assess, and develop almost any energy-management system for controlling power and heat.
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