Just last summer, the much-watched lithium-ion industry finally reached sight of a long-sought super-stretch goal — a battery pack costing $100 per kWh, allowing the price of electric vehicles to drop to that of conventional …
Continue readingCategory: Industry News
UK Value of Rail Freight report gives new appraisal of rail (RailFreight)
New research shows rail freight is levelling up Britain’s economy and cutting emissions across the country. The Value of Rail Freight report, from the Rail Delivery Group, says total economic and social benefits of rail …
Continue readingWhat happens without rail business travel? (Freewheeling)
A friend of mine used to be an ‘expert’ for a management consultancy. His job consisted of travelling to various towns and cities far from home, answering questions from a client for an hour, then …
Continue readingEarth needs light electric vehicles, not electric cars (SmartCitiesDive)
Recent months have seen many splashy electric vehicle (EV) headlines: Tesla continues to rise the ranks of the world’s highest-valued companies, General Motors announced its fleet will be fully electric by 2035, and President Biden committed to converting the federal government’s …
Continue readingWho’s in charge of transport app data? Not the authorities (Freewheeling)
Currently, the NHS Test & Trace app is entirely confidential. When it pings to tell you to self-isolate, no-one else will ever know – including the NHS. Do you think that you should be able …
Continue readingThe Zero Carbon Godfather speaks (DecarbTransport)
Speeding up rail project delivery (RailEngineer)
“There can be no place, I believe, for deniers who are unable to acknowledge that the industry’s reputation, built over many years, was of rising costs, deadlines inevitably moving to the right and estimates wrong …
Continue readingTrolleybus cities world atlas (TrolleyMotion)
Continue to see atlas and city trolleybus network listings
Continue readingMaking ecological asphalt (OnTheRoadTrends)
For years now, rubber powder has been used to pave roads. The aim is to get highways that are more silent and safer but also more ecological. One of the projects being carried out in …
Continue readingProprietary EV chargers restrict EV uptake (Vice)
There is no such thing as “the” EV charging network. It’s a complicated patchwork of plugs and proprietary software. And unless something changes, it’s only going to get worse. Last week, the electric vehicle (EV) …
Continue readingBattery packs below $100/kWh for first time in 2020 (BloombergNEF)
Hong Kong and London, December 16, 2020 – Lithium-ion battery pack prices, which were above $1,100 per kilowatt-hour in 2010, have fallen 89% in real terms to $137/kWh in 2020. By 2023, average prices will be …
Continue readingHow to get more people onto buses (Freewheeling)
Pre-Covid, more journeys were made by bus than on the National Rail network, London Underground and all tram and metro systems combined. It will be impossible to hit the country’s carbon targets without more people …
Continue readingCalais-Mediterranean lorry trailer rail service EoI (RailwayGazette)
FRANCE: The government has called for expressions of interest to operate a lorry trailer carrying service between the English Channel port of Calais and the Mediterranean port of Sète south of Montpellier. Submissions are required …
Continue readingPotential US first: Battery/third-rail BEMU (RailwayAge)
If all goes as planned, in about one year, MTA Long Island Rail Road will be testing a prototype “BEMU” (battery-electric multiple unit) that operates on third-rail power or batteries on the 13-mile, non-electrified Oyster …
Continue readingContinental chess merger game for Kansas City, CP, & CN (RailwayAge)
A bidding war has broken out for the Kansas City Southern, but it’s actually more like a chess game. Here are some observations about what it all could mean, especially in terms of railroad “real …
Continue reading