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Scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Utrecht University have identified key mechanisms of the aging process of catalyst particles that are used to refine crude oil into gasoline. This advance could lead to more efficient gasoline production. Their recent experiments studied so-called fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) particles that are used to break long-chain hydrocarbons in crude oil into smaller, more valuable hydrocarbons like gasoline. "A major problem is that these catalysts quickly age and lose their activity, so tons of fresh catalysts have to be added to a reactor system every day," said lead researcher...

Can cars run on formic acid? They just might one day, after what physical chemist Georgy Filonenko discovered in his dissertation. He developed a catalyst in which hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) can form formic acid in no time, faster than had ever been measured before. And the reverse reaction is just as quick. It seems to be the start of a hydrogen battery for use in hydrogen cars of the future, for example. He received his PhD degree yesterday, cum laude. Hydrogen is one of the foremost candidates in the running towards becoming the energy carrier of the future....

Electric carmaker Tesla announced Friday it delivered a "record" number of vehicles in the first quarter, as it began more timely reporting of sales figures. The California firm started by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk said it sold 10,030 cars in the first three months of 2015. "This was a new company record for the most cars delivered in a quarter and represents a 55 percent increase over the first quarter last year," the company said in a statement. Going forward, Tesla said it would publish the number of new car deliveries within three days of quarter end. "We have decided...

In the past, six-year auto loans were few and far between. Today, more of those loans are being issued, with seven- and eight-year loans gaining popularity. NPR reports such loans are helping to fuel a boom in U.S. new-car sales, with one-third of the loans lasting 74 months and beyond. AutoPacific analyst Ed Kim says the cars are one of the reasons for the long loans: Consumers are demanding a lot more technology in their vehicles, infotainment technologies. There’s also a lot more safety features that are in vehicles right now. Emissions and efficiency technology that are in vehicles right...

Who says that you can’t make anything useful on a desktop 3D printer? Sure, there are plenty of designs that you can find on 3D printing repository websites which make you question the motive of the designers — but at the same time, there are engineers and designers creating things that make you just stop and say, “WOW!” One of these latter instances comes in the form of a 3D printed 5-speed transmission for a Toyota 22RE engine, created by a mechanical engineer named Eric Harrell of Santa Cruz, California. Not only does it look legitimate, but it also is...

The last time Ford made a GT, it built more than 4,000 of them and sold each one for around $150,000. Judging by the premiums at which they later traded, they were evidently worth a lot more than that. But this time, the new Ford GT will be far more expensive and far more scarce. Official performance, production and pricing figures have yet to be released, but upon the new American supercar's European debut in Geneva, Ford performance chief Dave Pericak indicated it would be priced competitively with the Lamborghini Aventador – which carries a base sticker price approaching $400,000,...

The U.S. has so much crude that it is running out of places to put it, and that could drive oil and gasoline prices even lower in the coming months. For the past seven weeks, the United States has been producing and importing an average of 1 million more barrels of oil every day than it is consuming. That extra crude is flowing into storage tanks, especially at the country's main trading hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, pushing U.S. supplies to their highest point in at least 80 years, the Energy Department reported last week. If this keeps up, storage tanks...

Japanese motorcycle giant Yamaha will join the four-wheel market by launching small cars in Europe as early as 2019 to meet rising demand for energy-efficient vehicles, a company official said Friday. The firm has been mulling manufacturing four-wheel vehicles for years, exhibiting a prototype 1,000 cc engine car and an electric-car battery at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. Yamaha is planning to build car plants in Europe to sell them in the region before 2020, the company spokesman said, without elaborating. "As small cars are already prevalent in Europe, our first car launch will be (there)," he said. "But we...

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering have developed a novel paper-like material for lithium-ion batteries. It has the potential to boost by several times the specific energy, or amount of energy that can be delivered per unit weight of the battery. This paper-like material is composed of sponge-like silicon nanofibers more than 100 times thinner than human hair. It could be used in batteries for electric vehicles and personal electronics. Scanning electron microscope images of (a) SiO2 nanofibers after drying, (b) SiO2 nanofibers under high magnification (c) silicon nanofibers after etching, and (d) silicon nanofibers...

George Gibson Jr., a former chief engineer for Dodge, died Wednesday in Rochester, Minn. He was 92. As chief engineer, Gibson’s biggest pride of his work was the Dodge Dart. According to his daughter, Lisa Gibson, the Dart was the most hands-on work he did at the company. He admired the functionality of the compact car and was even featured in Dart ads. Given his 6-foot, 190-pound frame, critics couldn’t believe that a man of his size could fit in the car. He proved them wrong with the ad showing him getting in and out of the car. It read,...

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A Gannett propaganda outlet is the source. http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/traffic/cameras/2014/11/04/issue-35-clevelands-trafficspeed-cameras-will-be-removed/18509815/

Sergey Brin lives in another world. Like every other non-gearhead, he doesn't understand us. He doesn't get why we wrench in our garages, spend weekends at track days, or take off in the middle of the night for a ride. He's like your Aunt Martha, except Brin has the power to change the world. And he doesn't make those awesome cookies. Brin recently joined his compatriot, Google CEO Larry Page, on stage with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla to chat about where Google is headed. In many respects, where Google goes, so goes the world, so naturally, the conversation turned to...

Washington needs more money and if it doesn’t get it, your morning commute will become: a) more expensive b) more unpleasant c) both The problem, you see, is that the Highway Trust Fund is "going broke,” by the Beltway’s curious definition of the phrase. It is sort of the way that after a round of painful “cuts,” spending somehow still goes up. The Highway Trust Fund takes in more than 18 cents on every gallon of gasoline sold in this country, so there is plenty of revenue. Just not enough to meet Washington’s needs and desires. People are driving more...

Ford opened 88 dealerships in China last year." "Ford opened 88 dealerships in China during the first half of 2014." "Ford opened 88 dealerships in China last month." None of those statements – even the last one – would seem unbelievable. Saying "Ford opened up 88 dealerships in China last Thursday," though, is a bit more dramatic. Yes, on June 19 alone, Ford opened the doors on nearly 100 showrooms in the People's Republic, boosting the Blue Oval's total presence in the country to 750 dealerships. Of course, while an overabundance of dealers in the US proved troublesome for American...

Honda may have been the first OEM to bring Chinese-made cars to North America, but their Made-In-China Fit never arrived in the United States. Now, it looks like Volvo will be the first brand to import Chinese-made cars to America. Reuters is reporting that Volvo will import the S60L (for long wheelbase) sedan to the United States, with volumes of around 10,000 units per year. The S60L is identical to the S60, save for a 3.1 inch longer wheelbase, for enhanced rear seat comfort. Volvo did not confirm which models will actually come to the United States, but a Volvo...

If you think that the world's greatest inventions came from the fevered minds of solitary geniuses, think again. As you scan this list of the 10 inventions that changed the world, note how many of them perfected workable designs. 10. Plow Compared to some of the gleaming, electronic inventions that fill our lives today, the plow doesn't seem very exciting. It's a simple cutting tool used to carve a furrow into the soil, churning it up to expose nutrients and prepare it for planting. Yet the plow is probably the one invention that made all others possible. No one knows...

The idea of a flying car might seem like something out of a science fiction novel, but it may soon become a reality. All it'll take is about $30 million in funding and some patience. Terrafugia, a Woburn manufacturer of flying cars has been working on its vehicles for almost eight years. The MIT-born company has been working on two kinds of cars: the Transition, which is scheduled to be released in mid-2016 and can fly at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour at up to 10,000 feet in the air; and the TF-X, a semi-autonomous plug-in hybrid...

In the past several years, one of the topics covered in detail on these pages has been the surge in such gimmicks designed to disguise lack of demand and end customer sales, used extensively by US automotive manufacturers, better known as “channel stuffing”, of which General Motors is particularly guilty and whose inventory at dealer lots just hit a new record high. But did you know that when it comes to flat or declining sales and stagnant end demand, channel stuffing is merely the beginning? Presenting… Where the World’s Unsold Cars Go To Die Above is just a few of...

Unlike the average Beltway insider, a report by Interest.com claims the majority of medium-income American households in 24 of 25 cities studied cannot afford the average new-car price of $32,086. AOL Autos reports the study focused on each city’s median income in relation to the new-car price average as pegged by Kelley Blue Book. Said price was broken down to monthly payments of $633 per month for 48 months with 20 percent down while interest, insurance and principal exceeded no more than 10 percent of the household’s gross income. The only city out of 25 to pull off the feat?...