Rivian Starts Production in Normal
Rivian started of commercial production of its R1T electric pickup trucks. The first truck rolled off the line at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois manufacturing plant, RJ Scaringe, founder and CEO of the California-based company, tweeted.
Rivian also wants drivers to partner with the company to help design Amazon custom EV sustainably.
Rivian’s First Mile Event Tour is about to hit the road. This experience provides the opportunity to see, touch and learn about our vehicles up close, as well as the chance to drive them in certain locations around the country.
Ford Invests More in Electric Polices Vehicles and Hires More for Lightning Round
Ford is paving the way for electric police fleets in America. As part of its more than $30 billion investment in electrification through 2025, Ford is exploring all-electric, purpose-built law enforcement vehicles.
To demonstrate that a vehicle with an electric powertrain can deliver strong performance and stand up to demanding police duty cycles, the company is submitting an all-electric police pilot vehicle based on the 2021 Mustang Mach-E SUV for testing as part of the Michigan State Police 2022 Model Year Police Evaluation on Sept. 18 and 20. Ford will use the pilot program testing as a benchmark while it continues to explore purpose-built electric police vehicles in the future. Law enforcement demand for all-electric vehicles is growing worldwide.
Last week, Ford introduced a new Mustang Mach-E police concept car in the United Kingdom that has police agencies lining up for a chance to try it out.
As the first pre-production F-150 Lightning trucks roll out of Ford’s new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and demand soars for the all-electric truck, Ford today said it will increase investment and add jobs to boost production.
Ford is investing an additional $250 million and adding 450 more direct jobs across the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center and Rawsonville Components Plant. The investment and added jobs will help increase production capacity to 80,000 trucks a year.
“We knew the F-150 Lightning was special, but the interest from the public has surpassed our highest expectations and changed the conversation around electric vehicles. So we are doubling down, adding jobs and investment to increase production,” said Bill Ford, executive chair, Ford Motor Company. “This truck and the Ford-UAW workers who are assembling it in Michigan have a chance to make history and lead the electric vehicle movement in America.”
F-150 Lightning, with a starting MSRP of $40,000 and targeted EPA-estimated driving range of 300 miles with the extended range battery1, is aimed at the heart of the U.S. auto market. Ford has taken more than 150,000 reservations for the trucks to date.
GM announce it will continue its shut down of Bolt production until mid October. It also advised Bolt owners to park at least 50 feet from other vehicles added to previous advise to park outside and not charge overnight, charge above 90 % and not dropping below 70 miles in range.
Element 1 Corp Licenses Kaizen L-Series Hydrogen Generator
-Element 1 Corp (“e1®”), a leading developer of hydrogen generation technology, announced that it has licensed proprietary L-Series hydrogen generator technology to Kaizen Clean Energy (“KCE”), a leading developer of distributed hydrogen generation. Under the terms of the license agreement, KCE has been granted rights to manufacture and deploy L-Series hydrogen generators for distributed Battery Electric Vehicle (EV) charging, hydrogen production for hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs), and standby power generation in the United States.
wejo Partners with Palantir
wejo, a global leader in connected vehicle data, and Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) (“Palantir”) detailed the early success of a new partnership aiming to solve the most ambitious problems of the mobility revolution. As the world moves at furious pace to reduce emissions, improve vehicle safety, and design resilient smart cities, Wejo and Palantir are looking to create an integrated data ecosystem for the automotive industry and beyond.
“The partnership between Wejo and Palantir is ultimately about delivering on the promise of connected vehicle data to improve the way we live, work, and travel for the better,” said Sarah Larner, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Innovation at Wejo. “It’s about putting our DataForGoodTM products and services to work, and making a safer and better transportation experience. The partnership is accelerating the invaluable connected vehicle data insights we can give.”
Connected vehicle data is vastly underutilized across the automotive industry, and needs to be turned into actionable intelligence in order to address the most pressing mobility problems of the day. Wejo collects and analyzes more than 16 billion data points per day in near real time across a network of 11 million live vehicles. To date, Wejo has ingested more than 10 trillion data points and 48 billion journeys from connected vehicles. The partnership aims to combine Wejo’s robust data asset with the power of Palantir’s Foundry platform to unlock a diverse set of use cases that will benefit society on a global scale. These use cases range from working with parts suppliers on component quality, to working with regulators in defining the future of autonomous driving, to helping city planners make data-driven investments in smart city infrastructure.
Together, Wejo and Palantir are expanding the perimeter of who can benefit from the billions of journeys taken by millions of connected vehicles around the world — beyond just drivers and OEMs — all while implementing robust access control and data provenance tracking to secure the ownership, security, privacy, and safety of data. The new data ecosystem will also allow OEMs and other stakeholders to discover the hidden value that lies within their data, spurring innovation, improving quality, and opening the doors for new products and services.
VW SUV ID.4 AWD 249 Miles Range
Volkswagen of America, Inc., is pleased to announce another round of fuel economy figures for the 2021 ID.4 electric SUV. The ID.4 AWD Pro has an EPA-estimated 249 miles of range on a full charge and the AWD Pro S has an EPA-estimated 240 miles of range on a full charge.
The ID.4 Pro rear-wheel-drive previously received an EPA-estimated range of 260 miles on a full charge, while Pro S rear-wheel-drive was rated at an EPA-estimated 250 miles of range on a full charge.
The EPA-estimated fuel economy for ID.4 AWD Pro is 102 MPGe in city driving; 90 MPGe in highway driving, and 97 MPGe in combined city/highway driving. The EPA-estimated fuel economy for the AWD Pro S is 98 MPGe in city driving; 88 MPGe in highway driving, and 93 MPGe in combined city/highway driving.
The AWD ID.4 models offer an 82kWh (gross) battery along with a permanent-magnet synchronous motor in the rear and an asynchronous motor in the front offering a combined maximum 295 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque. At a public DC fast-charging station, with 125 kW charging, the ID.4 can go from five to 80 percent charged in about 38 minutes.
ID.4 owners receive three years of unlimited charging at Electrify America DC Fast Chargers at no additional cost. Electrify America is the nation’s largest open DC fast charging network with more than 650 charging stations and more than 2,700 DC fast chargers, including two cross-country routes that can allow electric vehicle (EV) drivers to travel from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles and Jacksonville to San Diego.
The 2021 ID.4 AWD Pro has a starting MSRP of $43,675, before a potential Federal tax credit of up to $7,500. The AWD Pro S carries an MSRP of $48,175. Rear-wheel-drive ID.4 models start at $39,995 for the Pro and $44,495 for the Pro S.
AlphaStuxture Microgrids with Mobility House
-AlphaStruxure and The Mobility House announced a strategic partnership to streamline the development of electric fleets with clean energy microgrids plus intelligent charging systems. With North America projected to see nearly 15 million electric vehicles in fleets by 2040, transit and fleet operators now have the opportunity to further reduce carbon emissions and increase operational resilience by charging electric vehicles with on-site renewable energy. The Mobility House’s intelligent charging solution wrapped into AlphaStruxure’s powerful Energy as a Service (EaaS) transportation electrification microgrid approach is already contracted for the Brookville Smart Energy Bus Depot, one of the most large-scale fleet electrification projects underway in North America.
AlphaStruxure’s Energy as a Service approach provides a holistic solution for fleet operators to leverage distributed energy resources to create more sustainable, resilient and reliable energy infrastructure. AlphaStruxure’s EaaS model allows fleet operators to take advantage of renewable energy with no upfront capital outlay, while The Mobility House provides an intelligent charge management interface between AlphaStruxure’s microgrids and the zero emissions vehicles.
The Mobility House’s Charging and Energy Management solution ChargePilot allows system operators to optimize charging for electric vehicle fleets of any size to ensure all vehicles remain readily available for scheduled routes. ChargePilot is deployed at over 500 sites around the globe, successfully managing some of the largest operating U.S. and Dutch electric transit fleets as well as the entire electric fleet of the Austrian Postal Service.
– IVECO, the commercial vehicles brand of CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI) and Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hamburg Port Authority AöR (HPA) during the inauguration of their joint-venture manufacturing facility in Ulm, Germany. The agreement states their joint intent to partner in two phases encompassing up to 25 Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicles (BEV) for delivery to the Port throughout 2022.
The first phase involves testing of the Nikola Tre BEVs at the port for transport and logistics operations together with high-performance charging solutions. A more definitive second phase in the project partnership plans to see the full integration of the BEV vehicles in port operations, installation of charging infrastructure and on-site service support including major suppliers. The vehicles provided for these two phases will be the US version of the Nikola Tre with special permissions for in-port operation.
Tritium Partners with Ampcontrol
Ampcontrol, in partnership with Tritium, has been announced as one of just 21 companies across the globe to be shortlisted for the “Charge On Innovation Challenge.” Competing against international vendors such as Hitachi Group, Shell Consortium, Siemens, and Mitsui & Co., Ampcontrol and Tritium are honoured to be announced as one of the shortlisted innovators to further research and develop innovative electrical mining solutions.
Facilitated by Austmine, Australia’s leading industry body for the mining equipment, technology and services sector, and sponsored by founding patrons BHP, Rio Tinto and Vale, the worldwide “Charge On Innovation Challenge” aims to solve one of the biggest mining challenges today: the decarbonisation of mining operations.
Ampcontrol Managing Director & CEO Rod Henderson said, “Technological breakthroughs are vital to our decarbonisation journey as we work toward zero emissions. Collaborative partnerships with organisations such as Tritium are critical to our research and development as they bring together innovative thinkers to deliver safer, cleaner, electrically operated solutions to the mining industry.”
The scope for the challenge was to uncover novel, tangible solutions to large-scale haul truck electrification systems, reduce the consumption of diesel fuel and significantly lessen emissions from surface mine operations.
The challenge asked vendors to present interoperable solutions that can safely deliver electricity to large battery electric off-road haul trucks in a way that maintains or improves current productivity levels. Specifically, innovations were sought to identify mechanisms capable of producing in the order of 400kWh of electricity to each truck within a haul cycle (i.e., load, travel, dump, return, queue). The delivered electricity is to charge a battery, and if applicable, directly propel the truck.
Romeo Power Partners with Dynexus
Romeo Power, Inc. (“Romeo Power”) (NYSE: RMO), an energy technology leader delivering advanced electrification solutions for complex commercial vehicle applications, and Dynexus Technology, a leader in battery sensing solutions and data-driven battery intelligence, announced a collaboration to integrate Dynexus Technology’s actionable battery performance and health sensors into Romeo Power’s battery ecosystem.
The technology developed by Dynexus will initially be utilized for incoming cell quality control and end-of-line verification, as well as module and pack diagnostics and prognostics, enabling multiple opportunities to reduce total cost of ownership for Romeo Power’s customers.
“As part of our holistic approach, we’re committed to being first movers in progressing battery safety and performance technology and features,” said AK Srouji, CTO of Romeo Power. “Dynexus generates critical data that can accelerate the qualification process of cells and batteries, including cell screening and matching, further improving quality control, safety and reliability of our battery systems. We look forward to collaborating with Dynexus to advance the electrification of commercial vehicles.”
Dynexus’s award winning and patented Inline Rapid Impedance Spectroscopy (iRIS®) sensors generate near real-time, rich, frequency-based battery data that provide information about the state of the battery physico-chemistry. Traditional measurement methods treat the battery as a blackbox. The Dynexus sensor “looks” inside the battery and generates a “fingerprint” or signature that uniquely describes a battery’s health, degradation, and therefore safety.
Romeo Power will integrate iRIS into its proven battery systems, providing a new class of battery data that, until now, was only available for research purposes and was not practical as a commercial sensor or tool. This cutting-edge technology enables measurements that typically take 30 minutes, to be reduced to 10 seconds or less. As a result, this game changing technology provides significant commercial application opportunities for Romeo Power’s advanced electrification solutions.
Dynexus Technology’s iRIS system has been validated in Romeo Power’s in-house testing lab and demonstrates superior accuracy and repeatability. The iRIS system also has high voltage capability and enables measurements under dynamic battery conditions. In addition to screening and quality control applications, Romeo Power intends to implement iRIS inside its next-generation battery systems and is expected to start road testing in 2022. This integration is also additive to Romeo Power’s sustainability efforts as it may enhance reuse and battery second life assessment.
“We are excited to work with an energy technology leader like Romeo Power as we enable advanced diagnostics and prognostics for lithium-ion batteries,” said David Sorum, CEO of Dynexus Technology. “Integrating our in-line and on-board battery sensing solutions will not only reduce diagnostic times, but will also maximize performance, safety and the overall lifetime value for end users.”
Deloitte Orders 140 Electric MINIs
More and more young people are opting for an electric company car: at Deloitte alone, 26% of employees do. To meet this growing demand, Deloitte has ordered 140 electric MINIs. According to BMW, this is the largest order of fully electric MINIs in Europe so far. With an additional charging infrastructure, Deloitte wants to make a significant contribution to climate neutrality.
Deloitte added the first 100 MINI Electric to its fleet back in August last year. Now the company announces that it is adding 140 new MINI Electric to its electric fleet. Deloitte’s fleet now has 240 MINI Electric. The fully electric MINIs with the eye-catching green rear-view mirrors in Deloitte colour are particularly popular with new employees. In total, Deloitte has ordered 540 new MINIs since June this year.
The growing popularity of electric cars at Deloitte goes hand in hand with the increasing demand for hybrid vehicles at the company. As of June 2021, electric and hybrid cars together account for 88% of all company cars ordered at Deloitte. This clearly shows that employees prefer sustainable alternatives to conventional cars with internal combustion engines. In addition to purchasing electric cars, Deloitte is investing heavily in its electric vehicle infrastructure. For example, the Belgian office currently has 540 charging stations for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
“All our investments in sustainable mobility are part of Deloitte’s goal to be CO2 neutral by 2030. As our fleet accounts for 70% of our carbon footprint, every small and big step brings us closer to carbon neutrality. That’s why we launched a new mobility programme in 2017. We have also been working successfully with MINI for many years and I am delighted that we are working with them to increase enthusiasm for electric cars at Deloitte. The fact that one in four new employees now chooses an electric car gives me full confidence that we are on the right track to make Deloitte a pioneer in sustainable mobility,” says Piet Vandendriessche, CEO of Deloitte Belgium.