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Alternative Power Report, May 2023
The May issue of the Alternative Power Report produced by Power Systems Research contains several articles that discuss plans for production of alternative power sources. These include articles on VW’s plans to build its largest battery factory in Canada, Cummins decision to invest $1 billion in a hydrogen fuel network plus a report Caterpillar and NMG joining forces.
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Show Report: Hannover Messe 2023
Guy Youngs General Observations. The core topics at HANNOVER MESSE included artificial intelligence, hydrogen, energy management, connected and intelligent production, and the new Manufacturing-X data ecosystem.
More than 4,000 exhibitors presented their solutions and welcomed 130,000 visitors from around the globe. There seemed to be a very large Chinese contingent at the show (both as visitors and exhibitors), as well as a large number of local governments, universities and startups. There seemed to be a predominance of exhibitors showing bearings, copper fittings, cables and components as well as systems / electronics companies.
There was also a large number of independent robots in evidence, ranging from robotic dogs and robotic servers to robotic messengers following pre planned routes.
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Japan’s Emphasis on Hydrogen Power Is Questionable
Japan continues its efforts to make hydrogen a carrier of energy at all levels of society even though the results are not productive. Japan’s focus on hydrogen for transportation, imported hydrogen and derivatives for electrical generation, and hydrogen for home heating and cooking is proving economically destructive.
Japan, and especially, Toyota, has been pushing hydrogen for years. Toyota began exploring hydrogen for vehicles in 1992, at the same time it was exploring electric vehicles. It delivered the first EV cars in 1993.
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Cummins To Invest $1 Billion in US Hydrogen Fuel Network
Cummins has announced that in addition to the recent investments it has made in its Fridley, Minn., plant, it will also invest more than $1 billion across its US engine manufacturing network in an effort to support the transition into hydrogen fuel.
The investments are being made in Indiana, North Carolina and New York. The $1 billion is intended to provide an upgrade of facilities supporting the first “fuel-agnostic” engine platforms in the industry. The fuel-agnostic concept refers specifically engines that can use different types of fuel, especially a variety of low-carbon and zero-carbon fuels.
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VW To Build Its Largest Battery Factory In Canada
The battery division of Volkswagen Group, PowerCo SE, said it plans to construct its biggest battery gigafactory to date in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. A potential final expansion stage could produce up to 90 GWh of batteries annually.
This will be the company’s first overseas gigafactory for cell production, and it will provide the company’s BEVs in the North American region with their unified cells technology, a cell technology created for mass production. Construction is expected to start in 2024 and be completed in 2027.
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Caterpillar and NMG Sign Circular Supply Chain Deal
Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NMG) and Caterpillar Inc. have signed agreements to provide a zero-exhaust emission fleet, supporting infrastructure, and service for NMG’s Matawinie Mine. Caterpillar will supply heavy mining equipment to transition from traditional models to Cat zero-exhaust emission machines.
Additionally, a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two companies to advance commercial discussions targeting NMG’s active anode material.
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Alternative Power Report, April 2023
Engines powered by gasoline and diesel fuel are reaching a critical point in production compared to electric and hybrid vehicles, according to reports in the April issue of Alternative Power Report. 2026 could be a critical year. Read about this trend and related articles that address alternative power in this issue.
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Achieving Peak Efficiency in Diesel Technology
Guy Youngs Many leading construction companies now are looking at ways they can reduce their CO2 footprints. With the advent of market-ready electrified powertrains, gas-fueled internal combustion and even fuel cell electric drives, where does the push for CO2 reductions leave diesel power?
Diesel technology has made real improvements. With cleaner combustion cycles, the introduction of low-carbon fuels and advanced emissions treatment hardware, diesel has never been cleaner. Diesel engines are so…
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Compact Track Loaders Eat into US Skid Steer Market
The past decade has seen compact track loaders (CTLs) eat into the market share held by skid steer loaders in the US, before overtaking sales of their wheeled counterparts completely. In 2012, there were 36,125 skid steer loaders sold in North America, compared to 21,500 sales of compact track loaders. By 2022, that number had jumped to 93,000 compact track loader sales, compared to 30,000 skid steer sales.
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Global ICE Industry Cliff Is Here
This article includes an important graph showing vehicle production numbers between 2015 and 2026, (projected for 2023–2026) which are based on historic BEV growth data and trends. Hybrids are lumped in with ICE cars and are shown as a preference over full BEVs which is clear in the data.
The chart shows that the overall auto industry has declined from its peak in 2017–due to the pandemic and chip shortage–before it started to recover in 2021. This chart/model is conservative in predicting industry growth at 1.6% y/y going forward and BEV growth at 50% for 2023 (average BEV growth was 57% for the past 7 years)
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