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• Santa Pod hosts first green UK drag meet
• Brands Hatch owners reach noise agreement
• Green vehicle company appoints ex-motorsport man as VP
• Technology Strategy Board selects 16 Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform projects for £23m funding
• Vocis prepares for increasing driveline integration
• New chairman appointed for NAX MG UK
• PSA 1.6 twin-turbo petrol engine wins 1.4-1.8 litre category in IEYA 2008 awards
• New side view mirror’s inventor seeks manufacturers or angel investors
• US firm unveils ‘MicroFueler’ home ethanol kit
• ALD Automotive measures fleet emissions
• Zipcar survey finds Kensington and Chelsea members shifting shift in modal habits
• New Eco Driving guide from GE Fleet Services
• Conference: ‘Sustainable Fuel - Developing The Algae Opportunity’
• Argonne releases latest version of GREET lifecycle model
• Neville Briggs named new managing director of CFC Solutions

The UK’s Santa Pod Raceway near Northampton hosted a brand new event on 25th April, showcasing alternative energy in a drag race challenge at the venue's quarter mile strip.

The event was well attended and two titles were hotly contested. The Fastest Alternative Fuel Vehicle, which was won by Bike Magazine’s Triumph Daytona 675, in a time of 10.87 seconds and Fastest Electric Vehicle, which was won by Hungerford VW Club with their Electric VW Beetle in a time of 14.41 seconds.

EEMS Project and Campaign Partner, Jenkins Motorsport Development was also there with both its biodiesel fuelled racing trucks which competed alongside each other. JMD’s Dave Jenkins said, "Despite fairly stiff headwinds I set a time of 14.2 seconds (99.38mph) in the new MAN truck which equals the best truck time here at Santa Pod - further proof that running on biodiesel doesn't mean compromising on speed and performance".

EEMS Campaign Partner Team Inzane Laverda was also in attendance with its E85 bioethanol fuelled 1995 Laverda 650cc Formula motorcycle which set a best time of 11.96 seconds.

Other teams and vehicles attending included Vectrix UK, an electric scooter utilising a 125v nickel metal hydride battery; Hungerford Volkswagen Club with its electric 1972 VW beetle with 240v, 2000 amp battery; Bio Performance with its Nissan Silvia S15 fitted with a bio performance full flex dual fuel conversion that runs on bioethanol; Bike Magazine with its Triumph Daytona 675 triple running on bioethanol (and has aspirations to run on apple-ethanol.); TV's Fifth Gear running a Lotus tri-fuel powered Exige; Green Fuels UK running a VW Touareg which runs on 100% biodiesel and a biodiesel VW Golf; RX Motors running a virtually standard Mazda RX7 twin turbo running on E85 bioethanol; Advanced Fuel Technologies running an Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon running a chlorine filtered biofuel called BIESEL; Graham Lamming running a Rover 75 production vehicle which runs on 100% biodiesel made from recycled restaurant waste; Chip Shop Customs fielding three cars, namely a Land Rover Discovery 2.5tdi a VW Type 25 and a Toyota Granvia Campervan - all running on biodiesel; Voil Racing running a Skoda Fabia VRS running on 100% vegetable oil; and Wayne Dearden running a BMW 525 TDS on 100% vegetable oil in a home-made conversion costing less than £110.

Rick Cuthbert, the Alternative Energy Racing Project Manager at Santa Pod Raceway, said, “This event was the first of its kind and will, we hope, inspire others to take up the challenge to create a more sustainable future for our sport."

MotorSport Vision which owns the UK’s Brands Hatch in Kent, has signed a signed an agreement to reduce noise and disturbances at its race events.

MSV reached the agreement, which sets out days and times of operation, noise limits and a code of practice for tannoy use and aircraft flightpaths, with the local Sevenoaks District Council, after listening to proposals from residents groups

MSV CEO Jonathan Palmer said, "Whilst motor racing will inevitably create some noise, we have now finalised a very detailed management plan that will ensure noise from Brands Hatch progressively decreases in future."

Robin Hales, the chief executive of Sevenoaks District Council said, "By working closely with the owners of the circuit to develop its first ever noise action plan, local people will receive greater protection from noise disturbance."

The American based Aptera Motors company, which is developing an eco-friendly vehicle that will be available either in electric powered or hybrid powered form in December, has appointed Neil Hanneman as its senior VP of programme management and manufacturing.

In a career of more than 30 years Hanneman has worked for large volume manufacturers DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors as well as niche manufacturers McLaren and Saleen. At GM Hanneman directed an engineering team responsible for the aerodynamic development of NASCAR Winston Cup cars and later worked on the race development of the Dodge Viper at DaimlerChrysler.

The UK Technology Strategy Board has chosen16 projects to receive £23 million in government investment through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform. Including investments by the companies involved, the total value of the development projects will be £52 million.

The sixteen new research, development and demonstration projects represent the first investment by the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform since it was established last autumn, and follows an open competition launched in September. The government investment is funded in equal parts by the Technology Strategy Board and the Department for Transport.

Thirteen projects were confirmed as of yesterday, 8th May, including:

- Axon 60 - A structural carbon fibre car with plug-in hybrid option. The Axon 60 will use a patented structural carbon beam technology. A plug-in hybrid system will be used to explore the capabilities of PHEVs in light vehicle applications. The vehicle is lightweight (weighing less than 500 kg), has a low drag coefficient and is powered by a 500 cc engine and Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT).

Lead Organization: Axon Automotive; Consortium members: University of Warwick, Powertrain Technologies Ltd, Scott Bader Company Limited.

- Hybrid electric technology for buses - This project will accelerate the production of a UK hybrid electric drive (HED) bus application and develop a UK centre of excellence for HED application engineering.

Lead Organization: BAE Systems; Consortium members: Alexander Dennis Ltd, University College London.

- Li-ion batteries for plug-in HEVs - This project aims to improve the energy density of the low cost, very safe titanate/manganate Li-ion system by incrementally increasing the capacity of the active electrode materials while preserving their other characteristics.

Lead Organization: FiFe Batteries Limited; Consortium member: ABSL Power Solutions Limited.

- Engine optimization for reduced parasitic losses - This project will investigate the application of various new technologies which seek to lower the losses due to friction within engines, plus other engine- and gearbox-related parasitic losses. The aim is to demonstrate an overall fuel economy improvement and thus CO2 reduction of between 5 and 10% on the European drive cycle.

Lead Organization: Ford Motor Company Ltd; Consortium members: MAHLE Powertrain Ltd, BP.

- Commercial vehicle fuel and carbon reduction by the use of ‘aerospace aero’ devices - This project will develop a device fitted to commercial vehicles to significantly reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The intention is for the device to build on current systems and technology using developments from the aeronautical industries.

Lead Organization: Hatcher Components Limited; Consortium members: Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd, Cranfield University.

- Zero emission London taxi commercialization - This project will initiate and accelerate the introduction of commercial fleets of zero-emission fuel cell hybrid taxis primarily for London by 2012 and for other cities by 2014. The project will develop and integrate PEM fuel cell hybrid powertrains into LTI TX4 taxis. The arduous duty cycle of the London taxi will be utilized to provide a platform for accelerated fuel cell vehicle lifecycle testing.

Lead Organization: Intelligent Energy; Consortium members: Lotus Cars Ltd, LTI Ltd, TRW Conekt

- Flywheel hybrid system for premium vehicles - This project will design and develop a mechanical hybrid (flywheel and variable drive system), kinetic energy recovery system for use in a premium brand car (Jaguar) as an alternative, cost-competitive solution to other hybrid systems. The project will demonstrate this within an existing vehicle platform to prove its effectiveness and viability for production and suitability for modular application.

Lead Organization: Jaguar Cars Limited; Consortium members: Flybrid Systems, Ford Motor Company Limited, Prodrive, Ricardo UK Ltd, Torotrak plc, Xtrac Ltd.

- Limo-Green -This project will use Jaguar XJs’ aluminium body structures as a basis for proving the concept of a large luxury vehicle with an advanced hybrid electric driveline, consisting of an advanced drive motor, small battery pack and a small auxiliary power generator for sustained cruising. The project aim is to demonstrate a vehicle with sub-120 g/km CO2 emissions while maintaining the premium quality of the vehicle.

Lead Organization: Jaguar Cars Ltd.; Consortium members: MIRA Ltd, Lotus Engineering, Caparo Vehicle Technologies.

- Lower cost lightweight vehicles increasing the ise of post consumer aluminium scrap - This project will demonstrate the feasibility of manufacture within five years of a mass-producible lightweight car based on a body in white (BIW) structure built using aluminium sheet derived in part from low cost energy efficient recycled post-consumer scrap. The sheet manufacture will be based on continuous casting and melt conditioning technologies using sheet cast from melts containing up to 75% of recycled material.

Lead Organization: JLR; Consortium members: Novelis Inc, Zyomax, Norton Aluminium, Innoval Technology, Brunel University, Stadco Ltd.

- Range extended electric vehicle (REHEV) - This project will develop a modular electric and electric/diesel powertrain, suitable for several different vehicle types. This will be tested on a large premium SUV (Land Rover) platform delivering 120 to 130 g/km and zero emissions range of at least 12 miles. The project will also investigate range extension and plug-in charging and installation/ commissioning of local recharging facilities for vehicle trials within the E.ON fleet.

Lead Organization: Land Rover; Consortium members: Amberjac Projects Ltd, Ricardo UK Ltd, E.ON UK PLC.

- High torque density electric drive for commercial vehicles (HiTED) - This project will develop a novel brushless permanent magnet electrical machine incorporating integral magnetic gearing for traction use with hybrid trucks, buses and construction vehicles. The recently invented pseudo-direct-drive (PDD) has the highest torque density of any known electrical machine, according to the team, and has improved energy efficiency, requires only natural air cooling, and is more compact with low manufacturing cost. The project will provide and evaluate two demonstrators.

Lead Organization: Magnomatics Limited; Consortium members: Kollmorgen Corporation, Magnet Applications Ltd, Volvo Group.

- 2/4CAR 2/4-stroke switching carbon reduction vehicle - This project will deliver a Jaguar car demonstrating a 25-30% reduction in CO2 emissions with no loss of performance using an innovative, highly-downsized petrol engine with two-stroke/four-stroke switching technology. Laboratory work has shown that torque output more typical of an engine of twice the capacity is achievable. The engine design incorporates a cycle-switching valvetrain, an advanced boosting and control system, and will demonstrate powertrain integration and driveable control strategies.

Lead Organization: Ricardo UK Ltd; Consortium members University of Brighton, DENSO Sales UK Ltd, Jaguar Cars Ltd.

- DESERVE (Develop high energy battery + high power supercaps for all-electric range – This project will integrate high energy Zebra batteries and high power supercapacitors in a 3.5-tonne electric delivery van. The project will look to maximize the respective energy and power capabilities of the two systems. A power electronic interface controller to optimize the performance of the combined storage system will also be developed. The project will also integrate the storage system within the vehicle and optimize vehicle performance. The targets are a range of 150 miles, top speed 60 mph, acceleration to 59 mph in 18 seconds.

Lead Organization: Tanfield Group plc; Consortium members: Beta Research and Development Ltd, The University of Manchester, Energy Technology Services.

The Technology Strategy Board says a further three projects will be confirmed shortly. It also announced its intention yesterday to launch a Low Carbon Vehicles Integrated Delivery Programme this autumn, stimulated by a further £70 million of government investment. This programme will co-ordinate low carbon vehicle activity from initial research through to future procurement opportunities, speeding up the time it takes to bring low carbon vehicle technologies to market.

The British driveline control specialist Vocis is preparing for substantially higher levels of systems integration by introducing new technologies alongside its core Dual Clutch control systems capability. Several of these were shown for the first time at the 2008 SAE World Congress in Detroit.

“There is a growing trend towards the controls integration of elements of the drivetrain that have traditionally been standalone or linked only to the engine,” explains managing director Mike Everitt. “Our clients have been asking us to apply our control systems expertise to integrate gearbox controls with functions such as traction control, stability control and hybrid drives and we see even greater integration approaching.”

Over the last twelve months, Vocis has delivered DCT applications including a city car and a top-end supercar with a seven speed transmission, Driveline integration projects commissioned by customers include the development and calibration of a new eLSD (Electronically controlled Limited Slip Differential), control systems for active torque distribution systems and transmission controllers for radical new gearbox concepts.

Also at SAE 2008, Vocis launched a third generation version of its TMS-20 transmission control unit that is more compact and lighter than the previous model The system can be implemented with the customer’s choice of processors and with either Vocis Siena software or the customer’s choice of software.

More than forty Vocis TMS-20 transmission control units have so far been supplied to vehicle manufacturers and transmission suppliers. Vocis is also working on an equivalent engine controller.

Vocis was formed in 2006 by a group of senior engineering managers & control system specialists.

(www.vocis.co.uk)

NAC MG UK Ltd. announced yesterday the appointment of a new chairman, Mr He Xiao Qing. Mr He (pronounced (Hurr) takes over from Wang Hong Biao, who had led the board since the entity was set up in 2005.

At 44 He Xiao Qing already has experience in legal, international trade and management and in international finance with Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation. He has also held directorships and secretariats in a number of other companies. Among He’s first duties as chairman will be the announcement of a date for the start of production at Longbridge. The MGTF LE500 will be the first car he presides over with full scale production of the MGTF and a family of new cars “following on shortly”.

The 1.6-litre 4-cylinder direct injection, twin turbo petrol engine jointly developed by PSA Peugeot Citroën and BMW Group has won the 1.4 to 1.8 litre category at the International Engine of the Year Awards 2008 for the second year running.

Currently fitted in the Peugeot 207 and 308, this engine is the largest of a family of engines ranging between 120 and 175 hp. This engine family will equip other models in the Peugeot and Citroën ranges, and in the BMW MINI and 1 Series.

Announced in July 2002, the co-operation between PSA Peugeot Citroën and BMW Group has applied the strengths of each partner to solve the conflict between advanced engine technologies and cost pressures in the small and compact car segment.

All major components for these engines are made at a dedicated €330 million, 60,000m2 production facility at PSA Peugeot Citroën’s Française de Mécanique plant in Douvrin.

A new and innovative vehicle side-view mirror designed by Andre Roberson, a Houston, Texas inventor sets out to solve what he says is a growing problem facing drivers. The patents-pending design helps prevent accidents by allowing drivers to maintain a view to the front of their vehicle, while simultaneously checking to the side and rear during merging operations.

Roberson created a presentation and placed it on YouTube.com in an effort to find a licensor or angel investor/partner to help bring it to the market.

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVFHVnD7EuA")

E-Fuel Corp., a recent start-up in the US funded by a computer games inventor, unveiled yesterday the "MicroFueler", a $5,000 portable machine that allows people to make their own ethanol.

The pump plugs into a domestic power socket and water supplies to make ethanol from sugar for as little as $1 a gallon (3.8 litres), according to E-Fuel. E-Fuels says it will link its customers to cheap surplus sugar supplies, including inedible sugar from Mexico that sells at a fraction of the price of supermarket packets. It also hopes to get users to help pay for feedstock by selling carbon credits for using the machine, since making ethanol from sugar emits fewer greenhouse gases than making it from maize.

The firms says that a two-car family that drives about 34,500 miles a year, the MicroFueler will pay for itself in less than two years, assuming average gasoline prices of $3.60 per gallon. The unit can make up to 35 gallons of 100% ethanol per week. E-Fuel says the machine is more efficient than industrial-scale ethanol plants because it removes water from the fuel with fine filters that reduce the fuel costs of distilling the water out.

(Reuters/Planet Ark)

An analysis of vehicles added to ALD Automotive’s fleet of more than 47,000 vehicles since January 2003 indicates that company cars delivered that month averaged 166.87 g/km of CO2, but the average CO2 figure for company cars delivered in December 2007 had dropped to 153.83 g/km.

The average CO2 figure for all company cars delivered by ALD Automotive in 2003 was 166 g/km; in 2007 the average figure had dropped to 155.8 g/km; and by the end of the first quarter of 2008 the average CO2 figure for all company cars delivered had dropped still further to 155.6 g/km.

Over the same period company cars are also clocking up less mileage, according to the analysis, which shows that in January 2003 the average contracted annual mileage for a company car on the ALD Automotive fleet was 23,782, but by March this year that figure had reduced to 17,660 miles. In 2003 as a whole, company cars added to the ALD Automotive were contracted to clock up an average 22,475 miles, but in 2007 the average contract mileage was 17,918 - a reduction of 4,557 miles a year.

The data also reveals that emissions figures for new company cars being supplied to customers by ALD Automotive are significantly below those of the company car sector as whole and the private new car market.

Recently published figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders in its ‘New Car CO2 Report 2008: Driving Down Emissions’ show that the average CO2 figure for newly registered company cars in 2007 was 164.2 g/km, down from 166 g/km in 2006. Meanwhile, for new privately registered cars the 2007 average CO2 figure was 165.8 g/km, down from 168.7 g/km in 2006.

By the end of this year, ALD Automotive expects average figures for both emissions and mileage to have reduced from their 2007 levels as businesses and company car drivers respond to Budget 2008 fiscal measures and fuel prices being at record levels - currently 110.6p per litre for petrol and 120.9p per litre for diesel, according to AA data.

In a poll of residents in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea who are members of Zipcar, the world’s largest and fastest car sharing club, 50% indicated they would have bought a car if it were not for joining Zipcar. And nearly 20% gave up a car as a result of joining Zipcar.

Zipcar’s London operation has seen membership rise by 25% since January 2008. The company experienced 100% year on year growth though has up-scaled its corporate projections by 10% overall due to the sub-prime crash. Zipcar members report saving an average of £450 a month.

Cars are located in dedicated bays near homes and offices, from £4.95 an hour or from £35 a day.

Of Zipcar’s Kensington and Chelsea poll respondents almost 90 percent said they used taxis and mini cabs less now, 30% use private cars less often than they did before joining Zipcar, 50% of respondents cycle more or the same amount as before joining Zipcar.

(www.zipcar.co.uk)

A new guide to greener motoring for company car drivers –available free of charge - has been issued by GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services this week. The 16 page Your Guide to Eco Driving provides practical advice covering vehicle preparation, fuel choice, driving style, carbon dioxide-based company car taxation and many other topics.

Copies can be obtained by e-mailing enquiries.fleet@ge.com. The guide is the second in a series of Essential Driver Support guides from GE Fleet Services. The first Keep Me Safe, covering risk management issues for drivers, was issued last month and is also still available free of charge.

This one day seminar at the University of Southampto is focused on the use of algae as a sustainable fuel. The event will bring together research expertise in biology, processing and combustion, SMEs developing and deploying products, for cultivating algae through to oil extraction, companies seeking to engage and develop supply chains for sustainable fuel, funding and support organization, and networking organisations with specific expertise across the 'tank to tank' supply chain.

Organisations presenting include Virgin Atlantic Airways, Eco-Solids, the Renewable Fuels Agency, the University of Southampton, the Carbon Trust, First Light Energy, Bioscience for Business KTN, Regenatec, WRc , and the Marine Biological Association.

(www.envirobusiness.co.uk/registrationform.asp)

The Argonne National Laboratory in the US has released the latest version (1.8b) of the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) full life-cycle model used to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of new transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies.

The update will allow scientists to model combustion of ethanol produced from Brazilian sugarcane and used by US automobiles; production and use of bio-butanol as a potential transportation fuel; and production and use of biodiesel and renewable diesel via hydrogenation, coal/biomass co-feeding for Fischer-Tropsch diesel production and various corn ethanol plant types with different process fuels. New fuel production pathways covered include soybeans to renewable gasoline production; oil sand to pet coke; and pet coke to H2.

In addition, simulations of many existing fuel pathways in GREET are updated. The new version updates the shares of Canadian oil sands products in crude oil blends; updates the petroleum refinery processes including hydrogen from different feedstock sources; updates the calculation of renewable energy use in the production of biofuels from corn and soybean feedstocks; and adds missing higher heating values (HHV) for some biofuels and feedstock sources. Petroleum refining energy efficiencies in GREET are updated with recent survey data from the Energy Information Administration.

Enhancements to current pathways include three methods for dealing with co-products for soybean-based biodiesel; compression energy efficiencies for natural and hydrogen gases are calculated with the first law of thermodynamics; and a tube trailer delivery option for hydrogen gas to refueling stations is included.

In addition to the fuel-cycle GREET module, the vehicle-cycle GREET module (2.7) incorporates an additional platform, allowing researchers to model sport utility vehicles in addition to cars and light trucks. That version better evaluates the energy consumption required to produce the aluminum used in the chassis of vehicles.

Led by Dr. Michael Wang, a group of Argonne transportation researchers regularly update key parameters and assumptions in the GREET model on the basis of new research and development in fuel pathways and vehicle technologies. Today, GREET can simulate more than 100 fuel production pathways and more than 80 vehicle/fuel systems. The model has more than 4,000 registered users worldwide.

The US Environmental Protection Agency uses a specific set of assumptions with the GREET model in its analysis of the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the potential expanded use of renewable and alternative fuels, while the California Air Resources Board has been using a GREET version in its effort to develop low-carbon fuel standards.

(http://www.transportation.anl.gov/software/GREET/index.html)

Neville Briggs has been named as the new managing director of the fleet software supplier CFC Solutions. He already holds and will retain the same role at CFC’s sister company, Pinewood Computer Solutions, which supplies dealer management systems for motor retailers. Briggs has been at Pinewood for 10 years, holding the managing director’s role since 2000.