Toyota expects the majority of future Verso sales in Europe will be versions equipped with a BMW-sourced diesel engine.The Japanese automaker, which is the world’s No. 1 seller of gasoline-electric hybrids, is strengthening its diesel offerings in the region where about half of new vehicles sold are diesels.
Haifang Wen, assistant professor of Civil Engineering in the Washington State University (WSU) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has developed a technology to substitute restaurant cooking oil for the crude oil used traditionally in the production of asphalt, creating a sustainable bioasphalt that looks and handles just like its petroleum-based counterpart.
The European Union has tightened a cap on carbon dioxide emissions from cars, ending a skirmish with Germany through a compromise that eases the potential costs for automakers.The European Parliament voted today in Strasbourg, France, to cut average car-CO2 emissions to 95 grams a kilometer in 2021 through varying targets for individual manufacturers, according to a statement. Current EU rules cap auto discharges at 130 grams a kilometer on average as of 2015 and set a non-binding goal of 95 grams for 2020.
Burning cars and bankruptcies have marred the market for batteries powering electric vehicles. That isn’t deterring the world’s biggest chemical maker, BASF, from investing in the space.The German company is betting that customers will flock to electric cars and is using its chemical products to create a battery that will enable vehicles to run longer.
BASF, with an annual 1.7 billion euro ($2.3 billion) research budget, has made battery materials one of 10 areas it’s targeting for growth.
Autoliv will start building an airbag plant in the second half of this year in the north China city of Baoding, where Great Wall Motor Co. is headquartered.The plant will make airbags mainly for Great Wall’s Haval SUVs as well as the Great Wall-badged C30 compact sedan, the automaker said.
The two companies signed a letter of intent on the plant construction last week in Baoding. More details about the plant were undisclosed.
