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Stellantis has unveiled a groundbreaking $6 billion investment in South America to develop the world’s most advanced ethanol-powered engines. This new generation of Bio-Hybrid engines combines internal combustion technology with electric drive, offering superior efficiency and reduced emissions compared to traditional gasoline engines. The flex-fuel engines can switch between gasoline and ethanol, with several configurations including Bio-Hybrid, Bio-Hybrid eDCT, and Bio-Hybrid Plug-In. This major investment underscores America’s commitment to advancing sustainable automotive technology and may impact the future of hydrogen and electric vehicles. Stellantis’ innovation aims to enhance fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, marking a significant leap in the automotive industry. #EthanolEngine #Stellantis #BioHybrid #FutureOfAutomotive #GreenTechnology #FuelInnovation #SustainableEngineering

Today’s The Australian Financial Review (print and online) features the below article by Agnes King on why hydrogen is the superior powertrain for commercial vehicles, especially where battery-electric technology faces limitations. At H2X Global Limited, our hydrogen powertrain is a breakthrough for commercial fleets. With no moving parts, it offers superior reliability and a better long-term Total Cost of Ownership. Partnering with Toyota Motor Corporation, we leverage their Fuel Cell technology, which lasts up to one million kilometres before only needing to change a PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) plate , and combine it with H2X’s proprietary bulletproof tanks, designed to last 15 to 30 years. While proudly Australian, H2X sees its strongest market opportunities in Europe and Scandinavia. We’ve consolidated engineering resources in the Netherlands to maximise efficiency, with plans to bring manufacturing back to Australia as the local hydrogen market matures. Our vehicles, including the Warrego 4x4 and Paroo trucks, offer 3 to 5-minute refuelling for ranges up to 600 km—all while producing zero emissions. These innovations are designed for heavy-duty and commercial transport, where uptime and efficiency are critical. With our upcoming IPO and strategic moves—such as the appointment of Georg Zembacher from Toyota’s European Innovation Division to our board—we are well positioned to capitalise on Europe’s expanding hydrogen market and Australia’s growing interest in hydrogen technology. #AFRMostInnovative2024 Cognizant #CleanTransport #InvestingInTheFuture #Sustainability #Decarbonisation #HydrogenFleet #ZeroEmissions #HydrogenFuelCells Read more at:

#DisruptiveTech 🟢 Low on charge? The gloom enveloping the electric-car industry is starting to flow upstream, with a slew of battery-material producers winding back expansion plans. On Friday, Belgium’s Umicore said it’s delaying construction of a C$2.8 billion ($2 billion) cathode materials plant in Canada and projected two more years of losses at its battery materials division. The Ontario factory was expected to open by 2026 and supply battery materials for as much as 800,000 electric vehicles annually. The move comes after Umicore, which is based in Brussels and has a battery materials joint venture with Volkswagen, said in June that it was starting to reassess its new projects around the world due to the EV slowdown and manufacturers’ ongoing reviews of investment plans. Umicore is far from alone. Earlier this month, BASF abandoned plans to invest in lithium mining assets in Chile. The German chemicals maker also has scrapped a planned $2.6 billion nickel-cobalt project in Indonesia with France’s Eramet. And last week, Eramet lowered its planned capital expenditure for its Argentinian lithium project after postponing the start of construction on a second plant until next year. The moves come against a backdrop of slowing demand that’s led automakers including Tesla, General Motors and Porsche AG to rethink their EV outlooks. Porsche just dropped a target for EVs to account for more than 80% of its new-car sales in 2030, while GM CEO Mary Barra said earlier this month the automaker won’t pull off plans to have production capacity for 1 million EVs at the end of next year. This is set in the context that the number of electric cars worldwide increased by about half last year. According to the German research institute Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), there were around 42 million cars with an electric motor at the end of 2023. These are fully electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles with a range extender. More than half of the global total, 23.4 million cars, are used on the road in China. The United States is in second place, with 4.8 million vehicles. Germany is in third place with 2.3 million, followed by France and the United Kingdom with 1.6 and 1.5 million respectively. In recent months, however, many car manufacturers have noticed a decline in demand for fully electric vehicles. As a result, German Mercedes-Benz AG announced last week that it has scaled back its electrification plans to invest more in vehicles with combustion engines. #ev #electricvehicles #gigafactories #lithium Campaign Catapult, Pravo Consulting

Stellantis Invests $6 Billion To Keep Combustion Engines Alive https://lnkd.in/ehFhCzeP Stellantis has announced a new powertrain development investment equating to over $6 billion, with one of its biggest goals being the implementation of Bio-Hybrid technology. What is that, you ask? As the name suggests, it's a combination of electrification and flex-fuel engines running on biofuels like ethanol. This will include powertrains with plug-in hybrid functionality, those with dual-clutch transmissions, and fully electric vehicles. The Stellantis Automotive Hub in Betim, Brazil, is where this technology is being developed for the global market and also where a new fully electric vehicle will be produced sometime in the future. Stellantis says that new hybrid technologies will start becoming available by the end of this year, meaning the electric Charger Daytona isn't a preview of every Stellantis product to come. "Four global platforms, associated with Bio-Hybrid technologies, will be implemented - more than 40 models, in addition to eight new powertrains and electrification applications," noted Stellantis South America COO Emanuel Cappellano.

🚘 #Investors in #auto_companies face huge legal, regulatory and reputational risks if they do not take adequate action on human rights, climate and environmental issues in their supply chains. 📣 In February this year, together with Regnskogfondet (RFN), we published an investor statement signed by 31 institutional investors. The statement calls upon companies, for responsible mining requirements in their nickel supply chains of the electric vehicle (EV) industry. 🚓 Last month we started #engagement with 28 EV-auto manufacturers and EV-battery producers, including Tesla, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Toyota Motor Corporation, Samsung SDI and BYD. 🤙 On July 17th, EVCONNECTORS LEADTHECHARGE will organise an investor briefing. The briefing explains how investors can encourage automakers to act on climate and human rights, and accelerate progress toward decarbonization of heavily polluting industries. 🙋♀️ Join them, RSVP for the briefing at 9 AM CEST/4 PM KST here: https://lnkd.in/e-TyT2T3

The XC13 surely sounds agnostic in FPT Industrial’s unofficial nomenclature; it comes, indeed, with a tripartite certification: Euro 6E (winking an eye at the upcoming Euro 7), methane gas and also biofuel, with a link to hydrogen. Andrea Abbà, FPT’s product marketing manager, told us about dialoguing with Iveco upon conceiving the XC13 for the Model Year 2024. Read the full article in the March issue of Powertrain International. https://lnkd.in/dhuaP6Ff

The quickest way to decarbonise mobility is accepting that we need a mix of technologies: from hybrids and range extenders to hydrogen and efuels. A “battery electric vehicles only” approach will fail: we need technology neutral targets for an open and innovative industry. #INEOS - INEOS Automotive - #NetZero - #Sustainability

The Nikola strategy to profitability: build truck for $1,200,000, sell for $350,000. "The average selling price for its Tre FCEV fuel-cell electric trucks in the fourth quarter of last year was $351,000, but they cost $679,000 each to produce during the same period, according to Nikola Corporation. However, if you include the per-vehicle fixed costs and “accruals” — as Nikola did in its last month's presentation of its Q4 results — the production cost rises to a little over $1.26m, which suggests that the trucks are actually being sold at almost a quarter the price of its total manufacturing costs." We've laughed a lot at some of the wild losses that companies like Lucid and Rivian have made recently, but Nikola takes the cake. Revenue per unit is only half of direct production costs, and just over one quarter of total costs. That's a staggering number. Compared to the two above, which both have a lot of cash in the bank, Nikola is struggling to pay the bills, and hold the SEC and investors as much. The problem is that anything which touches hydrogen costs stupid amounts of money, and this includes Class 8 FCEV truck production. The other problem is that Nikola can't put the price up as they'll be completely uncompetitive (as if they aren't already) One wonders if there is any possibility of profitability in the medium term future. Personally, I doubt it. The investment announcements in EV truck charging just in the last week destroys any chance hydrogen might of had. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below #automotive #batteries #climatechange #electricvehicles #innovation #sustainability #cleanenergy #renewableenergy

With our Mercedes-Benz #GenH2 Truck a “record-setting” vehicle is being displayed at the IAA TRANSPORTATION 🚛⭐️ Did you know? 💡 Four years ago, on September 16th 2020 we announced in Berlin the commitment to invest in hydrogen technology on a grand scale. Since then, we have: ✅Founded our fuell-cell joint venture, cellcentric, together with the @VolvoGroup that will build up one of Europe's largest fuel-cell production factories in the coming years ✅Ran first prototypes of the Mercedes-Benz #GenH2 Truck through its paces on our test track and public roads ✅And have demonstrated its capabilities at the #HydrogenRecordRun, completing a trip of 1,047 kilometers across Germany with one fill of liquid hydrogen - fully loaded and under real-life conditions. After the rigorous testing phase, the Mercedes-Benz #GenH2 Trucks have now reached an advanced development stage and five trucks will now run in initial customer trials over the next year. #DaimlerTruck #MercedesBenzTrucks #LeadingSustainableTransportation #Hydrogen

Is hydrogen the fuel of the future, or hype? We're breaking down why the Toyota Mirai flopped, but hydrogen trucks are gaining traction. Could commercial success be the key to bringing hydrogen to our everyday cars? Get the full story on YouTube. #hydrogen #hydrogenfuelcell #hydrogencars #toyotamirai #hyundainexo #hondacrv #trucks #cleanenergy #alternativefuels #futureoftransportation #automotive #innovation #cartech