European supplier of commercial natural gas vehicles is convinced by the availability of dry, landfill-derived biomethane to offer an entire line of CNG trucks with steering wheel on the right for Great Britain.

A lithium ion battery supplier is chosen for new fuel cell buses for California and Connecticut as the bus manufacturer gears up to promote its new line of ultracapacitor hybrid electric buses at the UITP show in Vienna.

A new and more powerful natural gas engine for transit and refuse operators will be launched this year as the Texas developer's 7.6-liter, DT 466-replacing engine is fully certified to 2010 emissions limits.

We deliver a roundup of Clean Cities proposals running the gamut of alt fuels and vehicle technologies, and we deliver more coverage of EVS-24, mid-May's world electric vehicles meeting in Norway.

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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Most 'legacy' OEMs stayed away but new ones showed new vehicles, with evidence of dramatic new international connections at EVS-24, the world electric vehicles meeting in Norway last week. Batteries made in China by U.S. companies for customers in Europe, Canadian batteries to be made in Norway for a Norwegian EV based on gliders from India. Korean batteries for a new U.S. plug-in. New vehicles from the U.S., France, the Netherlands, Norway. It's all in Fleets & Fuels' wrap of the meeting that concluded only on Saturday. (We include a noted skeptic's view too.)

Non-EVS news too, of course, including a key natural gas supplier's move to take a bigger share of the natural gas bus business in the U.S. — two of four major contract acquisitions, have already been closed. A New England firm claims a cellulosic ethanol breakthrough. Biodiesel backers get a break in California.

Some stats you may not have seen from the world's fourth-largest country for NGVs, with 1.3 million CNG vehicles.

It's all in the May 18 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have theirs, with a wealth of contact information for key players. Shouldn't you subscribe to Fleets & Fuels?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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The announced acquisition of FuelMaker through the Italian arm of an expanding gaseous fuel vehicle outfit was the talk of the natural gas vehicles world.

California has formally enacted its Low Carbon Fuels Standard. A Japanese OEM has expanded its battery EV charging network in the U.S. A Milwaukee firm has launched yet another heavy duty plug-in hybrid. An Oklahoma producer of natural gas has begun fueling vehicles with its own product. Indiana firm unveils its 'Idea' PHEV.

Fleets & Fuels covers the AF&V 2009 and NAFA I&E meetings in Orlando and New Orleans.

And we profile Zipcar, which accommodates a large number of drivers with a small fleet, and is now offering its expertise to operators wishing to run their own fleets more efficiently. The key to Zipcar's 'FastFleet' is reduced idle-vehicle time.

It's all in the May 4 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have theirs, loaded with contact information for key players — People Who Are Doing Business NOW. Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels too?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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The White House orders GSA to spend some $285 million on efficient vehicles this spring, including 2,500 hybrids from U.S. automakers. NGVs are specified as well.

Leading CNG fuel provider backs transition by 19-location airport shuttle operator to natural gas, as a new paratransit vehicle is unveiled in Orlando. A CNG-fueled concrete mixer is in development with government support. Aftermarket converters have new certifications for CNG and propane. Ground has been broken for a CNG station in Singapore that's to be the world's largest.

EVs advance as companies detail separate battery manufacturing plans, and a Silicon Valley startup tells today how its series hybrid electric drivetrain for buses will yield unprecedented efficiency — 100 miles all-electric or the equivalent of 50 miles per diesel gallon for longer daily runs.

It's all in the April 20 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have theirs, and they have contact information for the key players in all of these projects.

Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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Detroit OEM confirms that it will supply gas-ready 5.4-liter engines for natural gas and propane conversions, and support calibration work.

U.S. arm of British electric vehicles outfit picks brownfields site in the Midwest for U.S. assembly. Bus drive specialist says its new series hybrid electric is helping win new customers, some overseas. Battery maker applies for a federal loan for large-scale lithium phosphate factory in Texas.

Plug-in hybrid electric yard hostlers, methane hostlers for big name fleets, new CNG and LNG fueling for the ports, a proposed LNG tugboat, all at FFCA California.

A long-planned scheme to tap a major refinery hydrogen pipeline in Los Angeles for vehicle fueling is coming to fruition, and the first independently owned major-brand gasoline station to offer hydrogen will be supplied from the same economical source, via new tube trailers.

A venerable Detroit electronics firm's e-drive strategy. The sudden bankruptcy of a noted CNG fueling company.

It's all in the April 6 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have theirs, replete with contact information for key individuals — people doing clean fuel vehicles business NOW.

Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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The AT&T news, more than half a billion dollars for thousands upon thousands of alt fuel cars and trucks, including 8,000 natural gas vehicles, dominates. We I.D. the likely winner, who's to supply converted Ford vans. Forty or so CNG fueling stations will be needed too.

Elsewhere two gas drying and cleaning specialists are merging in Canada, a European battery EV manufacturer reaffirmed plans to locate a factory in the U.S., two NGV firms are teaming to sell vehicles in Florida, and an automaker fields a Class 8 hybrid for parts deliveries. A new hybrid from a major Japanese OEM goes on sale tomorrow for less than $20K.

SCR for the ISX, E85 for Ford-platform hybrids, a two-mode hybrid for over-the-road trucks, electric drive port yard hostlers, all from Calstart's CHDV meeting in Long Beach last week. We present more than a page of hydrogen news too.

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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The calm before the storm: amid clear signs that the current order vacuum for alternative fuel vehicles is ending, Fleets & Fuels delivers updates on a broad array of gaseous fuel and electric drive vehicle developments — how federal and California clean vehicles money will be spent, significant orders for natural gas conversions (and possible easing of conversion requirements), products and possibilities in hybrid drives both hydraulic and electric.

New options in biofuels are emerging too, and we detail the multi-faceted fleet of Chicago's electric utility — the seventh-largest green fleet in the nation.

It's all in the March 9 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have theirs, replete with contact information for key individuals.

Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels too?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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$6 million for natural gas vehicles as part of a refinery fire settlement in Texas, 1,000 U.S. battery packs for electric versions of a little German car, new electric drive and CNG-fueled vehicles at a major show in Chicago next week.

A U.S. OEM's partner strategy for electric drive vehicles, an emergent economy's largest CNG cylinder plant, more biomethane in the UK and Scandinavia. A battery-dominant transit bus that may need no engine at all.

A summary of clean vehicle opportunities in the historic American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is now the law of the land.

High-end hybrids too.

It's all in the February 23 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels have theirs, replete with dozens of sales leads. Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels too?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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A Detroit major confirmed at F&F presstime that it will collaborate with a British EV specialist for its battery electric van, a modified Ford Transit Connect, for 2011 (we reported this January 1). The automaker also confirmed details of factory PHEV SUVs for utilities (we reported this on January 1).

Drive supplier gets its parallel hybrid drive Altoona-certified for Ford-platform shuttles. German OEM shows a CNG car at the Washington Auto Show. German biogas firm buys out its co-located affiliate in Ohio. Trash giant releases details of its CNG trucks for Seattle (we reported on these January 1, too).

The national biodiesel meeting drew upwards of 2,000 to San Francisco last week, and while there was lots to celebrate in the way of capacity growth and enthusiastic consumption, there was likewise serious recognition of challenges and problems.

We profile Ohio's Hocking College, which is helping ready students for alternative energy jobs and is opening a new Energy Institute this autumn as 'a working laboratory.'

It's all in the February 9 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have their already, replete with key contact information, i.e. SALES LEADS. Shouldn't you subscribe to Fleets & Fuels too?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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Indian giant branching into electric vehicles taps Canadian for motors and controllers for e-cars to be built in Norway. A lithium ion battery plant is under construction.

Truck OEM confirms its interest in Dual-Fuel engines running mostly on natural gas. Letter of intent could lead to factory installations in heavy tractors.

New kits for converting Ford F-250 pickups to dedicated propane operation, price lowered for F-150s.

Coca-Cola commits to 185 more heavy hybrids with optimized drives.

Hydrogen from landfill gas with no carbon emissions, a new NGV group in Oklahoma, new CNG certifications for 2009, hybrid refuse trucks for England and France, and a major hybrid truck drivetrain supplier shifts from nickel metal hydride to lithium ion batteries.

We profile the American lithium phosphate battery leader that's prospering in Europe.

We detail two meetings in April aimed at helping fleet managers decide the best way to go green. They're in Orlando and New Orleans -- What's not to like?

It's all in the January 26 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Subscribers have theirs already, loaded with valuable contact information. Are you a clean vehicles professional? Then you should subscribe to Fleets & Fuels too.

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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We welcome a new U.S. president next week and we welcome a former big player back to the gaseous fuel vehicles business in the U.S. next month.

The world's leading automaker details plans for an alt fuels future as a Detroit OEM tells why a new battery design makes its new hybrid special. U.S. battery firms ask for big money to establish a world-class infrastructure, as a hybrid drivetrain specialist asks for even more, but says the gold can save at least one OEM factory that would otherwise be closed.

Biomethane buses in Scandinavia and natural gas vehicles in India. Africa, South America, and Canada too. A special report on Europe's clean vehicles strategy. A new health warning for diesel truckers.

It's all in the January 12 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have theirs, replete with a wealth of industry contact information. Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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An successfully filled order for 500 drivetrains (and battery systems) for a name OEM's battery cars marks a major milestone for a stalwart developer of electric vehicles. Certification of an 11-liter, made-in-U.S. methane engine by a Korean company is but one of the new options for natural gas vehicles as nearly half a dozen new NGV players come on the scene.

One busbuilder reports an order for 900 hybrid buses for Chicago while a competitor says that a Los Angeles order for 260 CNG buses includes an option for 740 more.

One Silicon Valley start-up says it will slash the cost of hybrids while improving performance. Another offers battery technology it says applies to multiple lithium ion variants.

A British electric truck manufacturer reports an order from a world package delivery player -- and a repeat order it considers a major vote of confidence. A lithium phosphate battery supplier has a key relationship with a French developer of electric trucks.

One of the biggest-ever natural gas truck orders is detailed, as are the manufacturer's plans for more major-badge CNG (then LNG) trucks. Coast-to-coast orders for CNG refuse trucks. Biomethane for vehicles in Austria and Korea. Software for hydraulic hybrids. Southern California Edison leads a growing group of utilities taking their evaluation of plug-in hybrids to a new level.

It's all in the January 1, 2009 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers already have theirs, including real-world contact information for key players. Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels?

Best Regards, (and Happy New Year!)

Rich Piellisch, Editor
Fleets & Fuels
San Francisco

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More methane, both CNG and LNG, for West Coast port trucks, with more fueling options. More options for conversion of lighter vehicles to natural gas too, as two U.S. firms team and another is tapped to distribute Italian gaseous fuel hardware.

A Japanese truckmaker reveals how it will tackle the U.S. market with hybrids -- sales of two cabover models are to begin in April 2011. Two Japanese carmakers advance their aggressive electric vehicle plans.

150 articulated 60-foot hybrid buses for a major Midwest city. 100 new hybrid sedans for a cell phone leader.

U.S. OEMs promise Congress they'll field electric vehicles as they beg for bailout money.

2009's Michelin Challenge Bibendum, the pre-eminent international environmental vehicle competition, has been postponed due to "the depth of the current economic crisis, which shows no signs of abating."

All this and much more is detailed in the December 8 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels subscribers have their issues, chock-full of contact information for key players. Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels too?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch
Editor

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New natural gas vehicles for fleets as California converter claims the first dedicated-CNG certifications, including California, for model year 2009 trucks and vans. Tanks and more on the 22 new articulated CNG buses for Washington, D.C. A major, multi-brand gasoline retailer vaults into propane fueling. New generators for series hybrid electric buses for two transit agencies. A UK busbuilder talks up the drives and batteries in its new hybrid buses, including at least one plug-in model.

We profile a Canadian PSA gas purification specialist that's shifting its market focus to biomethane.

It's all in the November 10 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have theirs, replete with vital contact information for key players. Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels too?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch
Editor

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An on-the-scene look at Calstart's Hybrid Truck User Forum. HTUF drew nearly 600 people to South Bend, Ind. this month -- 35% more than last year. HTUF 2008 was a "coming out party" for host Bosch Rexroth. We detail the firm's hybrid vehicle offerings, especially in hydraulic hybrids.

OEM offerings and hybrid retrofits at HTUF, why one upstart hybrid specialist now wants a partner, and over-the-road hybrids with idle-slashing air conditioning that can run on grid power. Significant lithium ion batteries news too: a bus contact and a major acquisition.

A world truckmaker's resolve to offer Class 8 CNG vehicles under the a new badge now that one of its others is going away, plans for more LNG fueling, and LCFS opportunity in California.

It's all in the October 27 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels subscribers have theirs, replete with contact information. Shouldn't you subscribe to Fleets & Fuels too?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch
Editor

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A rough rough week on Wall Street has everyone asking, "What Next?" Us too. But business and especially globalization marches on, as does investment in alternative fuels and electric drive. We detail India-Norway and Omaha-China connections in electric vehicles, and the plans of the world leader in CNG and propane fuel systems for light vehicles, an Italian company, to tackle the U.S. market.

Bus news from the APTA public transit meeting too, and how you can learn all about new ASTM specs for biodiesel.

It's all in the October 13 issue of Fleets & Fuels. Fleets & Fuels readers have theirs already. Shouldn't YOU subscribe to Fleets & Fuels?

Best Regards,

Rich Piellisch
Editor

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