In terms of electric vehicle, battery and charging news, Octillion Energy, ELMS, Nauto, EVgo, Ford, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Volkswagen, 24M Technologies, SEA Electric, Lucid Group, Blink, Arrival, Tritium, ARAMCO, ZEV and General Motors.
EVgo Inc. is the nation’s largest electric vehicle (EV) public fast-charging network. It is first powered by 100% renewable electricity. The company announced that it has been selected by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Bay Area Air Association. The proposed Award Quality Management District (BAAQMD) for this grant will install a new high-power DC fast charger (DCFC) to help the state achieve its transportation electrification goals. The five proposed awards are funded by the California Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund to support the state's ZEV action plan.
Public funds can help accelerate the deployment of infrastructure to support the adoption of electric vehicles. EVgo currently has more than 330 stations and 820 fast charging stations in California. This set of new sites will add 5 fast charging stations and 38 charging stations, including a large site in Los Angeles and 18 charging stations, enabling more retail drivers and fleets across the city to transition to electric vehicles. All of these sites will include power sharing and power routing 350kW fast chargers capable of charging most vehicles up to 80%* in 15 to 45 minutes.
EVgo Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Levy (Jonathan Levy) said: “As a local state-owned company, EVgo thanks CARB and BAAQMD for their leadership in supporting the adoption of electric vehicles, and thank them for choosing EVgo to receive these proposed funding awards.” "EVgo has a long track record of successfully working with public sector agencies to deploy fast charging. These new sites will help enable Californians of all communities and income levels to take advantage of the benefits of electric vehicles."
The California Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund, which resulted from the diesel gate scandal, allocated US$5 million to fund light-duty zero-emission infrastructure. At least 50% of the funds are used in disadvantaged and low-income communities to expand the state's access to electric vehicle charging. EVgo has long been committed to installing charging infrastructure in California, including the first batch of chargers in Compton and Inglewood, California, and continues to work with local community organizations to ensure equal access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Currently, more than 80% of Californians live within a 10-mile drive of the EVgo fast charger, ensuring that more and more electric vehicle adopters in the state have access to a reliable network.
* The actual charging speed depends on the charging capacity of the vehicle.
Ford F-150 is no longer pre-ordered
Since May, Ford has stopped accepting reservations for the electric F-150 Lightning after receiving a $200,000 refundable deposit of $100.
Bridgestone supplies tires for Audi Q4 e-tron
Bridgestone was selected as the tire supplier for Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi's first compact all-electric SUV. In order to meet Audi's demanding technical requirements for the Q4 e-tron, Bridgestone has developed custom-designed summer tires with ultra-low rolling resistance using ENLITEN technology. ENLITEN technology is sustainable and lightweight. It can reduce tire rolling resistance by up to 30% and weight by up to 20%, thereby extending the driving range of electric vehicles and reducing environmental impact by improving resource productivity. 1
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement and letter of intent with Monolith to develop and potentially use carbon black produced from methane and/or biomethane for tires. Goodyear is an industry leader in using this plasma-based methane pyrolysis process to produce carbon black, which will help promote Goodyear's work to identify and use more sustainable materials.
Volkswagen Group (VWAG) and 24M Technologies, Inc. (24M) announced that they have established a strategic partnership to use the 24M SemiSolid™ platform to manufacture next-generation lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries. The focus of the partnership is the development of production technology for SemiSolidTM batteries used in VWAG electric vehicles (EVs).
As part of the partnership, Volkswagen Group will make a strategic investment in 24M. In addition to direct investment, Volkswagen will also establish a wholly-owned subsidiary to cooperate with 24M to develop SemiSolidTM battery production technology for automotive applications.
As the demand for electric vehicles increases, automakers need cost-effective battery solutions that go beyond R&D and can be implemented immediately. The SemiSolidTM manufacturing platform combines these two functions. Through strategic partnerships with energy innovators such as GPSC, Kyocera, AXXIVA, LucasTVS, FREYR, Koch strategic platform and now VWAG, 24M has established an ecosystem to rapidly expand the SemiSolidTM manufacturing platform.
FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) ("FREYR") is a clean next-generation battery production developer, welcomes FREYR’s partners 24M Technologies, Inc. ("24M") and Volkswagen Group ("24M") ) Announced strategic partnerships and investments. “VWAG”) uses the 24M SemiSolid™ platform to manufacture next-generation lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries. The focus of the partnership is the development of production technology for SemiSolid™ batteries for VWAG electric vehicles (EV).
As part of the partnership, Volkswagen Group will make a strategic investment in 24M. In addition to direct investment, Volkswagen will also establish a wholly-owned subsidiary to cooperate with 24M to develop SemiSolid™ battery production technology for automotive applications.
SEA Electric and Midwest Transit Equipment (MTE) have teamed up to update 10,000 school buses with battery-powered systems. This is the largest deal of its kind to date, paving the way for a zero-emission future for children's transportation in North America.
MTE is one of the largest school bus dealers in the country, and it will be able to provide customers with nearly brand new 100% electric buses at a fraction of the cost of new electric school buses. The transaction will cover Type A and Type C school buses and is scheduled to be delivered within the next five years.
These buses will be powered by SEA Electric's SEA-Drive(R) power system, which currently powers buses and work trucks in four continents and six countries, with actual mileage exceeding one million miles worldwide.
SEA Electric will power the almost new all-electric buses and extend their service life by more than ten years. This partnership promotes the ESG principle of secondary use, while reducing waste, eliminating diesel particulates, and most importantly, having a positive impact on the health and well-being of our students.
Each bus can provide a complete vehicle-to-grid function, and the SEA-Drive(R) power system can feed power back to the grid to improve the stability when connected to the charging station.
Lucid Group is setting new standards for its advanced luxury electric vehicles (EV), announcing that it has selected Bank of America as its preferred loan partner. Lucid customers can apply for financing online at Bank of America or work with a concierge agent for a seamless financing experience. Lucid started delivering Lucid Air in October, and the bookings for all models exceeded 17,000.
-SG Blocks, Inc., a leading designer, innovator and manufacturer of modular structures, announced that the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary SGB Development Corp. ("SGB DevCorp") will cooperate with Blink Charging Co. (NASDAQ stock symbol : BLNK) cooperation, BLNKW) A leading owner, operator and supplier of electric vehicle ("EV") charging equipment and services, deploys Blink's EV charging technology through the modular design of SG Blocks.
The agreement extends the 2020 master development and production agreement originally signed between SG Blocks and Blink to include the company's real estate development subsidiary SGB DevCorp, whose mission is to maximize the delivery of affordable multi-family residential development projects. SGB DevCorp hopes to use Blink's technology in all current and future development locations to improve the facilities provided by each location and give every resident the opportunity to reduce their own carbon footprint.
The first project between the two companies plans to deploy more than 300 electric vehicle chargers at the SGB DevCorp site in Lago Vista, Texas. This innovative residential project uses modular building practices, with one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Modularly designed projects, such as Lago Vista, reduce the total completion time and reduce the carbon footprint by reducing the consumption of materials and building in a controlled environment (such as the SG ECHO factory). As new technologies emerge or need to be developed, modular design and construction can also achieve an efficient installation process. Due to its ecological and economic benefits, modular construction is one of the fastest growing vertical industries in construction.
Arrival (NASDAQ: ARVL)'s mission is to clean the air by replacing all vehicles with affordable electric solutions produced by local micro-factories, and announced that it will build a high-voltage battery module (HVBM) on the west side of Charlotte The assembly plant adds 150 jobs and invests approximately US$11.5 million. This will be Arrival's third plant in Charlotte, including its North American headquarters at the south end and Van Microfactory, also on the west side. Arrival has assembled its own proprietary battery modules that can be used on all of its platforms, enabling customers to configure their battery requirements according to their specific needs. The internal design complies with Arrival's plug-and-play hardware and software architecture, which can achieve scalability, upgradeability, and easy repair and maintenance. Arrival's proprietary software runs in all its internal components to diagnose potential problems and optimize the customer experience, thereby reducing overall operating costs. Operators can replace only one module instead of the entire assembly, saving costs and downtime. The modules manufactured in Charlotte will be used in the Arrival Bus and Van produced in nearby micro-factories. Earlier this week, Arrival also announced a cooperation agreement with Li-Cycle, a leading lithium-ion battery recycler in North America, to establish a closed-loop electric vehicle battery supply chain in the United States and Europe. Arrival believes that its vehicles will be truly sustainable-this local HVBM facility will be a key part of Arrival's broader sustainability strategy-being locally located and creating easily upgradeable components that can extend the life of the vehicle. The broader strategy also includes the goal of zero-waste production and the use of recyclable composite materials on the body that are more durable than steel and do not require painting. ////
Tritium Holdings Pty Ltd ("Tritium" or "Company"), the world's leading developer and manufacturer of electric vehicle ("EV") direct current ("DC") fast charging technology, announced PKM, the company's new architecture and fast charger series .
The PKM line is designed to break the linear relationship between power conversion equipment (management of feeding to the grid on site) and charger power output (management of power delivery to the EV). This development allows charging point operators to freely share a centrally converted DC power source around the site. Since the infrastructure is shared, fewer devices are required, allowing operators to deploy more charging stations and increase the number of fast chargers available to electric vehicle drivers.
PKM represents the company's most innovative series of fast chargers, which greatly expands the company's unique modular and scalable charging architecture method, with a groundbreaking system that focuses on providing customers with the flexibility to adjust charging sites according to today's needs , And easily expand the infrastructure to meet future sites and electric vehicle charging capabilities.
“One of the biggest challenges facing the electric vehicle charging industry is to increase utilization without increasing the waiting time for drivers to charge. Operating and capital costs are traditionally proportional to peak power demand, but the revenue generated by our customers comes from average electricity Convey," said David Finn, co-founder and chief growth officer of Tritium. "PKM provides a new distributed architecture that provides unique site capital efficiency and scalability. With PKM150, we have built a powerful basic model for this new platform, which will provide our customers with more capital for deployment Opportunities for efficient sites so that they can build more charging sites in their network."
PKM150 is the first fast charging system released on the company's new PKM architecture. The PKM150 system utilizes tritium's patented liquid-cooled modular design and is the first to adopt the company's award-winning RTM fast charger to provide customers with 50kW, 100kW or 150kW dual-line charging station power options to meet business needs. Compared with non-modular systems, the modular structure of these chargers makes their repair and construction faster and easier. Through modular design, Tritium can provide customers with chargers, components and modules that have undergone rigorous field testing and are interchangeable between models. This vision has been realized, using up to 80% of the same components between the RTM and PKM150 charging stations.
"Our customers are critical to Tritium's success. Through our more than ten years of fast charging experience, they have provided Tritium with valuable insights and described the features they need to optimize their business," Tritium Chief Revenue Officer David Toomey Say. "PKM150 leverages customer feedback and Tritium’s data and knowledge gained from providing more than 3.6 million high-power charging sessions to provide Tritium’s highest level of product performance and flexibility. With PKM150, our customers can truly develop and expand their fast Charging infrastructure, through our advanced hardware and software to meet the fast-growing industry, the ever-increasing drive and battery technology needs."
The DC microgrid unique to the PKM architecture transmits power to the entire system using 950V DC instead of 400V alternating current ("AC"). This design reduces the wiring specifications by half, which can save tens of thousands of dollars in costs for small charging sites and hundreds of thousands of dollars for large charging sites.
MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) announced that it will build its initial rare earth (RE) metal, alloy and magnet manufacturing plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The company also announced that it has signed a binding long-term agreement with General Motors (NYSE: GM) to provide rare earth materials purchased and manufactured in the United States for more than ten models of electric motors using General Motors. , Alloys and finished magnets. The Ultium platform will be gradually produced from 2023.
In Fort Worth, MP Materials will develop a new 200,000 square foot metal, alloy, and neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnet manufacturing facility that will also serve as the business and engineering headquarters for its growing magnetics division, MP Magnetics. The facility will create more than 100 technical jobs and will be located in the AllianceTexas development project owned and operated by Perot Company Hillwood.
MP's initial magnetic equipment will have the capacity to produce approximately 1,000 tons of finished NdFeB magnets per year, and it is possible to power approximately 500,000 EV motors per year. The NdFeB alloy and magnets produced will also support other key markets, including clean energy, electronics and defense technology. The facility will also supply NdFeB alloy flakes to other magnet manufacturers to help develop a diversified and resilient US magnet supply chain.
James Litinsky, Chairman and CEO of MP Materials, said: "MP Materials has established an excellent magnetic team and important business relationships, which will accelerate our mission to restore a complete rare earth supply chain in the United States." "This is the return of the US supply chain. At this important moment, we thank GM for its confidence, commitment and leadership."
Neodymium iron boron magnets are vital to modern technology. Neodymium iron boron permanent magnets are a key input for electric motors and generators, enabling electric vehicles, robots, wind turbines, drones, defense systems, and other technologies to convert electricity into motion, and Convert movement into electrical energy. Although the development of permanent magnets originated in the United States, today the United States has almost no capacity to produce sintered NdFeB magnets.
Just like semiconductors that are closely related to almost every aspect of life with the proliferation of computers and software, neodymium iron boron magnets are a basic part of modern technology, and with the electrification and decarbonization of the global economy, their importance will also Increase. Independent research company Adamas Intelligence predicts that by 2030, global demand for neodymium iron boron will double, mainly driven by the increase in electric vehicle production.
Expanding domestic renewable magnet production to support the electric vehicle revolution MP Materials' initial Fort Worth metal and magnet facilities have been carefully designed to achieve a commercial economy on the smallest scale required. This measured approach will enable MP Materials to improve its production processes and technologies and apply the learned knowledge to future larger capacity facilities.
MP Materials' Fort Worth plant will consume 10% of the 6,075 tons of NdPr oxide expected to be produced annually in Mountain Pass. The company envisions building more alloy and magnet production capacity in the future to consume a larger proportion of its primary products and supply the growing US demand.
Environmental sustainability and recycling MP Materials' operations in California and Texas will provide certainty of source and sustainability. Mountain Pass is a closed-loop, zero-emission renewable energy production facility that uses dry tailings technology to recover more than 1 billion liters of water each year. The operation of this facility is in full compliance with the environmental regulations of the United States and California.
The vertically integrated nature of MP operations also provides flexibility to optimize recycling routes using first-principles methods. The waste generated during the production of alloys and magnets will be recycled. Scrap magnets can also be reprocessed into high-purity separated rare earth oxides in Mountain Pass. The recovered oxides can then be refined into metals and reproduced into high-performance magnets. MP's vertically integrated operations also allow for the development of more innovative recycling methods that bypass these traditional methods. The company is currently working with important commercial entities to develop a recycling concept for end-of-life recycling.
MP Materials (NYSE: MP) is the largest producer of rare earth materials in the Western Hemisphere. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility (Mountain Pass), which is the only large-scale rare earth mining and processing base in North America. MP Materials produced approximately 15% of the rare earth content consumed by the global market in 2020. The separated rare earth elements are a key input for magnets, enabling electric vehicles, drones, defense systems, wind turbines, robots and many other high-growth, advanced technologies.
Aramco and Goldman Sachs (ALGAU-FR0013495298), one of the world's leading integrated energy and chemical companies, are pioneers in the transportation of clean and smart goods and people, and have begun to establish a partnership in the hydrogen vehicle business.
The agreement was signed in the presence of His Excellency Khalid Al Falih, Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Franck Riester, Representative of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness of France, and Amin H. Nasser, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco.
From December 2 to 4, 2021, French President Macron paid a state visit to Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Goldman Sachs CEO Christophe Gaussin was invited to participate in the French CEO delegation. The business delegation includes organizations such as Airbus, Ardian, Egis, Air Liquide, Engie, GL events, HSBC and EDF.
The agreement between Saudi Aramco and Gaussin aims to establish a modern manufacturing facility for hydrogen-powered vehicles in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a first step, Gaussin and Aramco will study the feasibility of manufacturing facilities and hydrogen distribution business serving the Middle East.
The two companies also agreed that Saudi Aramco's newly established Advanced Innovation Center (LAB7) will closely participate in the development of Goss hydrogen-powered vehicles and the development of remote control/automatic hydrogen racing cars. LAB7 aims to integrate Aramco's composite materials into Gaussin's existing product line to reduce the weight, energy consumption and cost of these vehicles.
Saudi Aramco will also sponsor the world’s first hydrogen-fueled race car developed by Gaussin. The truck will participate in the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January 2022-Gaussin H2 race car (see news on November 9, 2021 draft). It will be operated as an experimental new energy vehicle. Saudi Aramco sponsored Gaussin to participate in the Dakar Rally to continue to promote the development of low-emission transportation technology.
Mobility House announced that since the beginning of the 2021 school year, Stockton Unified School District has reduced carbon emissions by more than 120,000 pounds, which is equivalent to consuming 5,000 gallons of diesel. Using The Mobility House’s Smart Charging and Energy Management System ChargePilot, the area continues to ensure that all buses are still available for designated routes while minimizing charging costs. In conjunction with the California Energy Commission’s new blueprint grants, The Mobility House will also use the school district’s 92 vehicle fleet to analyze the charging requirements, operations, and potential vehicle-to-grid (V2G) revenue opportunities of other school districts. /
The Mobility Business Development and Growth Director Zoheb Davar said: “Seeing that the electric buses in Stockton Unified School District are now in use and measuring their early positive impact on the community, this is the perfect power house for The Mobility House to enter STN EXPO "On the road to becoming a leading zero-emission school district in the country, Stockton’s electrification plan is a blueprint for schools across the country to actively reduce their carbon footprint while streamlining fleet operations. "
The ChargePilot software of Mobility House can intelligently optimize the charging performance of electric bus fleets. Based on factors such as real-time travel plans, battery life, local utility rates and peak demand charges, ChargePilot provides fleet operators with reliable and clean transportation services at the lowest cost. In addition to the Stockton Unified School District, ChargePilot is deployed in more than 500 charging facilities, including the Ocean View School District and the largest fleet in the United States and Europe.
Nauto, a leading supplier of artificial intelligence-based vehicle safety technology for commercial fleets and the automotive industry, announced that it has established a partnership with Electric Last Mile Solutions, Inc., which provides electric and smart mobility solutions for commercial vehicle customers pioneer.
ELMS plans to provide Nauto's advanced predictive artificial intelligence fleet safety platform as a customer option, which can be pre-installed on new vehicles. The partnership will help drivers of ELMS vehicles avoid collisions and enable fleet managers to improve operational efficiency, reduce vehicle downtime and save costs through discounted insurance premiums. Nauto's safety platform options will be provided through ELMS Air + Driver Safety Package.
ELMS Chief Strategy and Digital Officer Jonathan Ballon (Jonathan Ballon) said: “ELMS vehicles understand their environment and contain advanced sensors with deep learning and predictive behavior algorithms to improve operational efficiency and reduce downtime.” “Together with Nauto , ELMS customers will greatly improve the safety and performance of their drivers."
Nauto's artificial intelligence solutions have undergone more than 1.3 billion miles of artificial intelligence processing driving mileage training, and are used by the world's top commercial fleets to warn drivers of impending collisions in advance. These predictive alerts may translate into critical additional time for the driver to react, helping to avoid collisions and reduce the resulting costs. Nauto technology has proven that it can provide preventive warnings with 95-99% accuracy and significantly reduce dangerous driving behaviors in just a few weeks.
Customers of ELMS' Urban Delivery and Urban Utility vehicles will utilize Nauto's technology in a variety of use cases and industries, including package delivery, telecommunications, utilities, transportation, and e-commerce.
“As a leader in commercial electric vehicles, it is only natural for ELMS to continue to innovate. This partnership will enhance the safety capabilities of the ELMS fleet and help ensure community safety,” said Nauto CEO Stefan Heck. "We look forward to working with ELMS to not only reduce the risk of drivers, but also reduce the risk of vulnerable road users such as cyclists, children, and pedestrians. Nauto's fleet customers drive a disproportionate amount of city mileage, which is the most fatal accident. The complex and riskiest road. We are working together to achieve the zero vision-zero emissions and zero deaths."
Octillion Energy, a global supplier of advanced high-density lithium-ion battery packs for passenger cars, trucks, buses and energy storage systems, announced that it has achieved the milestone of shipping more than 1,500 battery packs per day, which is expected to reach 2,000 Battery packs every day this month.
Octillion expects to sell about 200,000 battery packs on average within a year, which is equivalent to more than 3 gigawatt hours (GWh). The company expects that by 2022, this number will triple to nearly 600,000 batteries.
Paul Beach, President of Octillion Energy's subsidiary Octillion Power Systems in the United States, said: "These figures are amazing and show that we are now a global power to provide high-density, high-output electric vehicle batteries." "We are able to provide batteries for Wuling Hongguang Mini EV I am particularly proud. It is the best-selling electric vehicle in China and helps us promote the production of battery packs."
Octillion is a global supplier of advanced high-density lithium-ion battery packs for passenger cars, trucks, buses and energy storage systems. The company operates in six locations in Asia and North America and has more than 400 employees worldwide. Octillion operates battery manufacturing plants in the United States, China and India.
Octillion has delivered more than 300,000 electric vehicle batteries to the global electric vehicle market, with a system mileage of more than 4.5 billion kilometers. The advanced circuit boards that Octillion uses for its battery management system are designed in California, and the battery pack itself is usually manufactured in the country where the vehicle operates.
Zero Electric Vehicles, Inc. ("Company" or "ZEV") has cooperated with the following agencies for AAMCO gearboxes and comprehensive car maintenance: Mesa, East Mesa, Gilbert /SanTan, Gilbert /Chandler (AMMCO Phoenix) through the establishment of authorized services Provider (ASP) network, providing electric vehicle modification and post-modification warranty support throughout the southwestern United States.
As a ZEV ASP, AMMCO "Phoenix" will initially pass the ZEV standard certification of the Athena Project, which provides conversion and continuous support for 2-4 commercial vehicles throughout the region. Athena-the fastest way to electrify commercial fleets-brings new life to existing assets, uses trusted and proven industry components, and is usually completed within 1 day of a certified store.
AMMCO "Phoenix" also serves as our launch partner for the Athena program in the wider national AMMCO franchise network, and will provide active and continuous support to enable other AMMCO franchisees to provide professional and high-quality products in their respective regions Serve.
Wayne Martella, head of AMMCO “Phoenix”, pointed out: “Now is the best time to collaborate with local technology innovators such as ZEV to bring low-cost electric vehicle solutions to commercial fleets. Our partnership with ZEV complements our comprehensive The car maintenance program also utilizes the deep technical expertise and years of experience of our employees in vehicle service and support."
"AMMCO'Phoenix' is equipped with unique equipment to support our fleet customers. This partnership will help accelerate AMMCO's entry into the electric vehicle service sector, while also bringing immediate scale and regional support capabilities to our customers.", ZEV Services And Michael Mayfield, senior vice president of support, suggested. "In addition, since both companies are located in the Phoenix metropolitan area, the synergy between our companies is easy to develop, enhance and continue to manage to ensure a seamless service experience."
InTEST Corporation (NYSE: INTT), a global provider of innovative test and process solutions for the automotive, defense/aerospace, industrial, life sciences, semiconductor and telecommunications markets, announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Acculogic Inc.. ("Acculogic") and its affiliates, a global manufacturer of robot-based electronic production test equipment and application support services, are priced at approximately US$9 million. The purchase price is expected to be funded by borrowings under the company's existing credit line for delayed withdrawal periods. The transaction is expected to be completed within the next 30 days, subject to customary closing conditions.
– The US$1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act (IIJA) provides substantial funding for transportation electrification and modernization. Already at the forefront is Motiv Power Systems, a sustainable technology company. The company focuses on providing a seamless path to the electrification of medium-duty trucks and buses, and announced the successful test of the Electronic Stability Control System (ESC) on its EPIC4 platform. A two-lane change processing test conducted by TRC Inc. examined the use of automatic computer-controlled braking for individual wheels to help operators maintain control in critical or dangerous driving conditions. Motiv Power Systems EPIC4 is the first medium-sized level 4 electric vehicle (EV) to pass this type of verification, providing greater safety for the drivers and passengers of many fully electric trucks and buses (including school buses) manufactured by Motiv EPIC4 .
As a broad-spectrum technology application, ESC plays a vital role in the safety of electric vehicles in the future. Vehicles equipped with this advanced technology can help the driver to drive on daily routes when suddenly turning or decelerating, otherwise it may lose traction on the road and cause the vehicle to roll over or slip.
"I am proud that Motiv is leading the mid-size electric vehicle industry in adopting this critical safety technology-electric vehicles should comply with the same or higher safety standards as internal combustion engine substitutes," founder and CEO Jim Custer Raz (Jim Castelaz) said Motiv's technical officer. "Although this is a particularly high-impact safety feature for the EPIC chassis built into schools and shuttle buses, and is another step in maximizing passenger safety, this technology is also useful for pedestrians. , Cyclists and others nearby provide safety."
For 45 years, TRC Inc. has been the most advanced independent mobile testing service provider in North America, meeting the complex engineering, research, evaluation and testing needs of the world's leading transportation companies. Motiv's cooperation with TRC to obtain this milestone certification is the next step in furthering the company's mature technology.
Electric Power Intelligent Chassis® (EPIC) is Motiv's battery electric chassis series, built on mature OEM platforms such as Ford's E-450 and F-59. The EV technology on these chassis was the first all-electric system approved by Ford eQVM in 2017, and has since provided power for many vehicles, including school buses. The last-mile operation and return-to-factory use cases make these vehicles perfect candidates for electrification. Motiv's technology has now developed to the fifth generation, which includes features and improvements based on actual deployment experience over the past five years. So far, the actual electric mileage of Motiv through USPS, Aramark, Cintas and other customers has exceeded 1 million miles. The ESC function is expected to be available on the F59 chassis configuration in 2022. //
Merge Electric Fleet Solutions, a leading fleet electrification services and finance company, announced that it has closed its Series A financing led by strategic investor Pickering Energy Partners (PEP). Merge will use the funds to accelerate team expansion and expand its electrified service products to more fleet segments.
Merge supports the fleet during the entire life cycle of the EV transition, including planning, deployment, operations, and financial services. The company’s unique vehicle drive infrastructure planning process is built on an analytical engine that maximizes economic and environmental benefits while minimizing operational risks. This approach provides customers with a data-driven plan to achieve measurable and realistic goals for pilot plans and full deployment.
Merge has a first-class founding team led by Glen Stancil, a pioneer in the electric vehicle industry, and combines vehicle, infrastructure, and financial expertise to provide a simple and affordable electrification solution for the fleet. The Merge team has decades of EV experience in the design, delivery and operation of integrated charging solutions for residential and commercial applications on L2 and DC platforms at more than 1,500 sites in 40 states.
General Motors and MP Materials announced a strategic partnership to develop a fully integrated U.S. rare earth magnet supply chain. According to the long-term agreement, MP Materials will provide GMC HUMMER EV, Cadillac LYRIQ, Chevrolet Silverado EV and more than ten types of motors using GM Ultium with rare earth materials, alloys and finished magnet platforms purchased and manufactured in the United States, and will be gradually produced from 2023. .
Neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets are the key input that enables electric motors to convert electricity into motion. Although the development of permanent magnets began in the United States, there is currently almost no domestic production capacity for sintered NdFeB magnets. This strategic cooperation aims to accelerate the restoration of the U.S. rare earth supply chain on a commercial scale with high flexibility and environmental sustainability.
MP Materials owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California, which is the only active and large-scale rare earth production base in the United States. Rare earth materials from Mountain Pass will be converted into metals, neodymium iron boron alloys and magnets in a new production facility. MP Materials announced that it will establish an end-to-end U.S. supply chain in Fort Worth, Texas.
General Motors has taken another big step forward in creating a strong, sustainable and scalable supply chain for electric vehicles. General Motors and VAC of Germany announced that VAC plans to build a plant in the United States that will produce permanent magnets for motors for GMC HUMMER EV, Cadillac LYRIQ, Chevrolet Silverado EV and more than a dozen other models using GM's Ultium platform. The new factory will plan to use locally sourced raw materials.
VAC is the world's leading manufacturer of advanced magnetic materials and the largest permanent magnet manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere, with nearly 100 years of experience.
Shilpan Amin, GM's vice president of global procurement and supply chain, said: "We are building a flexible and sustainable electric vehicle manufacturing value chain from raw materials to parts in North America to promote GM's growth and support the mass market of electric vehicles." Our cooperation with VAC is another big step forward, which will help ensure that we achieve our goal of leading the North American electric vehicle industry in more than just sales. "