News

EV Xchange Technologies has announced the issuance of US Patent No. 8,146,694 which relates to a modular battery packs arrangement system for electric vehicles. In this system, the battery packs are much smaller in size compared to cluster battery pack design that exists today. The unique features of this invention are use of rechargeable multiple small size modular battery packs which are exchangeable manually or by an automated battery swap station. Another important feature is that a defective battery mo

Redflex Traffic Systems has acquired SBL Investments, and Americore Enterprises, leading providers of automated school bus arm photo enforcement in the United States. SBL and Americore offer the Smart Bus system, a dedicated on‐bus photo enforcement system intended to ‘Protect Our Most Precious Cargo, our children’. The acquisition positions Redflex as a leading provider of school bus safety photo enforcement technology at a time when more and more school districts are using the technology to deter reckless

Car2go has announced that Vancouver, British Columbia, is the first Canadian city selected to launch its innovative mobility service. A newly created company, Car2go Canada, a subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, will also be located in Vancouver.

Governor Tom Corbett has announced the award of US$8.4 million in grants for 106 transportation projects paid with fines collected from red light enforcement cameras in the city of Philadelphia.

Axion International, which claims to produce the world’s strongest recycled composite plastic industrial building products and railroad crossties (sleepers), has announced the successful completion of its first project with ONCF, the national railway of Morocco. The project provided Axion’s patented recycled plastic composite sleepers for the North African nation.

The eSafety initiative, which brings together the European Commission, public authorities, industry and other stakeholders in a drive to accelerate the development, deployment and use of intelligent vehicle safety systems, is holding its fifth edition of the eSafety Awards which will be presented on 24 October, 2011, at the next eSafety Forum Plenary meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

A UK-based group has set up an Internet-based petition to tackle the safety issue of drivers being dazzled by lights from other vehicles. The organisation, Lightmare, is the combination of two road sector groups that have campaigned against the improper use of vehicle lights in daytime and against the particular hazard posed by high intensity xenon lighting. The issue is a key one as there is a move towards all EC nations requiring the use of daytime running lights on vehicles. At present only a few Europea

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) will launch a new cooperative research project focusing on safe, reliable, cost-effective energy storage systems for electric and hybrid-electric vehicle applications. The Energy Storage System Evaluation and Safety (EssEs) consortium is intended to help vehicle manufacturers and battery suppliers develop pre-competitive, detailed cell-level test data on electrochemical storage systems and perform research to advance testing methodologies to evaluate batteries. The four-y

For more than 150 years, spark plugs have powered internal combustion engines. Automakers are now one step closer to being able to replace this long-standing technology with laser igniters, which will enable cleaner, more efficient, and more economical vehicles.

The French firm Systra has won an 18-month contract for civil engineering studies for the first metro line in Panama. The contract was signed with Consorcio Linea Uno, a joint venture formed by the Brazilian engineering company Odebrecht and the Spanish engineering company FCC, which won the international call to tender for the design and construction. Systra will be in charge of the civil engineering of the two overland sections of the 13.7km automatic line as well as detailed studies for the depot and wor

Having been an early pioneer in the M2M market in automotive, security and smart metering industries, Telenor Connexion developed an advanced M2M dedicated platform in 2009. This platform and managed M2M solutions were subsequently chosen by companies such as Omron, Nissan, TomTom, and Qualcomm for their embedded connectivity solutions. Telenor Connexion has announced the next step in the company's evolution - a strategic deal with Ericsson where Ericsson acquires the advanced M2M platform in order to allow

Siemens Energy has been commissioned to provide electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to support Loudoun County, Virginia's new commuter park and ride facility in Scott Jenkins Memorial Park. Located 30 minutes outside of Washington, D.C., Loudoun County's initiative with Siemens represents one of the first EV infrastructure deployment projects in the area.

Leading car sharing network, Zipcar, along with Mayor Kevin Johnson and the city of Sacramento Department of Transportation, have announced Zipcar's expansion into the Californian city, with the launch of 10 vehicles, all of which will have reserved on-street parking spots throughout the city, and will be available in pods of two at five locations. The programme is available to local residents, visitors, and government employees, as well as to employees of local businesses through the company's 'Zipcar for

"South Korea's Seoul city will shortly install GPS devices in short-haul public buses. A total of US$1.84 million will be spent on the installation of the Bus Management System in 1,366 village buses, while some of the money will be used to upgrade the CCTV system. When the system goes live in November, 2011, smartphone applications can be used to track buses via users' handsets. The locations of the buses can be transmitted to a central bus control centre via the GPS technology. Users can also use the Int

GreenRoad, a specialist in driver safety and fuel efficiency, says it has signed more than ten bus and coach customers following its presence at Eurobus 2010 five months ago with insurance partner Belmont International. As a result, GreenRoad will be used in an additional 2,100 UK buses and coaches with the total number now using the system standing at over 19,000.