In line with the recently released National Electric Vehicle Strategy (NEVS), the Australian Government has opened public consultations for the design and introduction of a fuel efficiency standard (FES) that will apply to passenger and light commercial vehicles – and the question of refrigerant global warming potential is included. Australia, like Russia, is one of … Continue reading Should Australia’s fuel efficiency standard give a free kick to gas guzzlers running R1234yf?
On April 19, 2023, the Australian government released its first National Electric Vehicle Strategy (NEVS), outlining how it intends to minimise roadblocks to EV uptake and accelerate their adoption. Federal minister for climate change and energy Chris Bowen said the strategy “delivers on our commitment to provide greater choice for Australians to drive cars that … Continue reading Industry reacts as Australia finally gets a national EV strategy
Having a plan for when the first electric vehicle customer arrives at your workshop will be crucial to retain their ongoing business, as well as that of their family and friends, according to the panellists at the recent Autocare convention in Brisbane. Even if electric vehicles currently make up a small portion of a workshop’s … Continue reading Autocare panel discusses why workshops must be ready for the day that the first EV shows up for repairs – or risk losing that customer forever
As we continue to negotiate the aftershocks of 2020’s COVID-19 outbreak, the automotive repair and service industry’s enduring shortage of skilled technicians remains a key disruptor – especially as around a third of the 1.5 million people who left Australia during the pandemic have not returned. During a panel session entitled The Race to Find … Continue reading Autocare panel talks recruiting and retaining technicians in 2023
This year’s Brisbane Truck Show featured record numbers of electric, hydrogen and hybrid commercial vehicles on display, from utes to road trains and everything in between. It was also the largest transport industry event in the Southern Hemisphere with more than 40,000 visitors during the four-day extravaganza, including a strong showing from overseas executives representing … Continue reading Brisbane Truck Show uncovers huge clean transport shift, from utes to road trains
Scientists have developed a window coating to regulate heating and cooling, which could one day improve energy efficiency in vehicle HVAC systems. A global team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore claim that the coating is self adaptive, and that this would reduce energy use by cooling in the summer and heating in … Continue reading Thermal glass could improve HVAC energy efficiency
Tier 1 automotive components supplier ZF has developed a heated seatbelt for electric vehicles designed to reduce the energy used to heat the vehicle and improve safety by dissuading occupants from wearing bulky warm clothing that can hamper the effectiveness of restraint systems. Especially effective in combination with seat heaters, the warm embrace of ZF’s … Continue reading Up next: Heated seatbelts
Incorporated in Australia in 2003, Sprintex Ltd is primarily a clean air compressor engineering, research, product development and manufacturing company. Its products are used to supercharge combustion engines, clean industrial air, treat wastewater, and most recently to supply hydrogen fuel cells with a constant flow of oxygen-rich air. Sprintex has received its first production order … Continue reading Aussie supercharger-maker Sprintex gets into HVAC compressors, fuel cell tech
Now that Congress has passed the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority to force a production phase down of non-refillable refrigerant cylinders by 2025. The EPA has decided that the single-use canisters can contribute to HFCs leaking into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. Continue reading US EPA now authorised to ban disposable refrigerant cylinders, shot cans
A new approach to refrigeration known as ionocaloric cooling takes advantage of how heat is stored when a material changes from a solid to a liquid and could spell the end of refrigerants as we know them. When a material melts it absorbs heat from its surroundings, when it solidifies it releases heat. In the … Continue reading Ionocaloric cooling: The end of refrigerants?
