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Cummins Launches Accelera for Zero Emissions
Global power and technology leader Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) announced the launch of Accelera by Cummins, a new brand for its New Power business unit. Accelera provides a diverse portfolio of zero-emissions solutions for many of the world’s most vital industries empowering customers to accelerate their transition to a sustainable future.
The launch of Accelera is a significant step forward in Cummins’ efforts to achieve its Destination Zero strategy, focused on evolving Cummins technologies to reach zero emissions across its product portfolio. Cummins’ Destination Zero strategy is rooted in the understanding that multiple solutions are required to achieve industry-wide decarbonization across the diverse applications the company powers. Over the past several years, Cummins has invested more than $1.5 billion in research and technology, capital and acquisitions to build Accelera’s leadership and technological capabilities. Accelera is now a global leader in zero-emissions technologies, providing battery electric and fuel cell electric solutions across commercial and industrial applications with hundreds of electrolyzers generating hydrogen around the world today.
ZeroNox Goes Public
Zero Nox Inc. (“ZeroNox” or the “Company”), a leading provider of sustainable, off-highway vehicle electrification, announced that it will become the first publicly listed company of its kind through a transaction with The Growth for Good Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: GFGD) (“Growth for Good”), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. Upon closing, ZeroNox’s common stock is expected to trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “ZNOX”.
Xos Intros 2023 BEV StepVan
Xos, Inc. (NASDAQ: XOS) (“Xos” or “the Company”), a leading electric truck manufacturer and fleet services provider, today introduced its 2023 Battery-Electric Stepvan (“Stepvan” or “2023 Xos Stepvan”). The next-generation Stepvan introduces several engineering changes that will significantly reduce direct material costs and strengthen the Company’s gross margins, while offering enhanced technology capabilities and savings for customers. Watch the launch video for the 2023 Xos Stepvan here
Built on the medium- and heavy-duty X-Platform™ chassis that is on the road today operating in fleets in parcel delivery, uniform rental, and cash-in-transit industries, the 2023 Xos Stepvan features an enhanced telematics module and over-the-air software capabilities. Updates received via over-the-air offer additional features and improvements that will enhance the vehicle’s performance, while the telematics module enables advanced remote diagnostics for subscription customers of Xosphere®, the Company’s proprietary fleet management platform.
“The Xos Stepvan is a category-defining electric commercial truck that has proven its effectiveness, durability, and reliability with top fleets across North America for the last five years. Early last year, we undertook a company-wide effort to enhance the design and engineering of our stepvan vehicle, with the goal to improve performance while driving down material costs, strengthening our supply chain, and identifying opportunities for efficiencies in our manufacturing process,” said Dakota Semler, Chief Executive Officer at Xos. “Thanks to significant changes to the design, sourcing, and production processes, the 2023 Stepvan offers a significant reduction in unit production costs for Xos, while simultaneously enhancing the level of quality that our customers have come to know and value.”
The 2023 Xos Stepvan operates with a centralized liquid thermal management system and includes several structural changes to the chassis system. Together, these optimize the performance of the battery systems and allow for more compact packaging of harnesses, hoses, and high voltage electronics.
“The structural changes we made to the chassis system of the 2023 Xos Stepvan reduce the curb weight of the vehicle, enabling greater payloads and a more efficient vehicle,” said Scott Zion, Head of Engineering. “More compact packaging of the high voltage power electronics allows for body upfitters and fleets of varying vocations to utilize this chassis in new applications. The changes we have made to the design, engineering, materials sourcing, and production of our Stepvan are part of an ongoing process of continuous improvement as we look to provide an ever more efficient and high quality vehicle for our customers.”
This launch is a key component of a company-wide program to achieve positive gross margin at the unit level in mid-2023. Kingsley Afemikhe, Chief Financial Officer, added, “We expect to see the benefit of the new vehicles in our gross margins as deliveries of the new Stepvan scale up beginning in the second quarter and throughout the year.”
Mullen Partners with RRDS for Fed Opps
Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) (“Mullen” or the “Company”), an emerging electric vehicle (“EV”) manufacturer, announces teaming up with Rapid Response Defense Systems (“RRDS”) to fast-track U.S. Federal Government opportunities for potential large-scale vehicle fleet orders.
RRDS, one of the country’s leading small business federal contractors, has executed over 2,500 federal government delivery orders since 2014. The company currently holds a prime seat on 12 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) federal contracts with combined funding ceilings of $4 billion. In 2021, U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh recognized RRDS as a recipient of the 2021 HIRE Vets Medallion Award during an award ceremony at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Phoenix MOU with Matthews Specialty
Phoenix Motor Inc. (the “Company” or “Phoenix”) (Nasdaq: PEV), a leader in manufacturing of all-electric, medium-duty vehicles, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Matthews Specialty Vehicles, Inc., a global leader in the custom design and manufacture of purpose-built specialty vehicles, to jointly build and deploy Class 4 electric specialty vehicles for commercial applications including mobile healthcare, biomedical services, bloodmobiles, bookmobiles, classrooms, public safety and shuttles.
The comprehensive MOU will support both Phoenix and Matthews’ long-term goals through their partnership in product development, manufacturing, assembly, service, sales, marketing and certification related to Phoenix’s commercial electric vehicles including its Gen 4 vehicles, scheduled for launch within the next few months and its Gen 5 ground-up, purpose-built chassis design, which is scheduled for 2024. The two companies also agreed to explore the opportunity of deploying E-rolling chassis technology in Phoenix vehicle models. This new partnership will target a minimum of 50 electric specialty vehicles over the first 3 years, and both Matthews and Phoenix see significant and increasing demand for providing zero- emission specialty vehicles across the country and envision exceeding the minimum targets.
Ideanomics US Hybrid Picked by MiJack to Convert Crane
Ideanomics (NASDAQ: IDEX), a global company focused on accelerating the commercial adoption of zero emission vehicles, today announced that its subsidiary US Hybrid is has been selected by Mi-Jack to convert a rubber tire gantry (RTG) crane from fossil diesel to hydrogen powered.
“For our exceptional engineers at US Hybrid, this is a dream project. They get to come up with a zero-emission way to power a very big and energy intensive piece of machinery,” says Macy Neshati, Chief Commercial Officer at Ideanomics. “I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to Mi-Jack for taking action to decarbonize gantry cranes and trusting US Hybrid as their partner to do it.”
Under the terms of the agreement, US Hybrid is managing all procurement, engineering and design work relating to the hydrogen propulsion kit. The company will source a hydrogen fuel cell system from Hyundai Motor Corp, and will locally manufacture core components including the hydrogen storage tanks and cooling systems.
All manufacturing, assembly and system testing will occur at US Hybrid’s engineering facility in Torrance, California. Mi-Jack will install the hydrogen propulsion kit into the RTG crane at its Illinois facility, with US Hybrid providing all necessary engineering diagrams and on-site support.
Zevo Intros P2P EVs
Zevo Corporation – the world’s first peer-to-peer electric-only vehicle (EV) sharing platform – announces it is launching a pioneering ground transportation solution that creates a two-sided marketplace in which users and hosts connect for a seamless, emission-free carsharing experience. A disruptor to traditional rental car and rideshare platforms, the brand is seeking EV owners in Dallas and Austin to join the movement as hosts to support its national expansion plan starting with a Q2 rollout in those cities. The brand’s mantra states “If we are going to drive, why not do it cleanly?”
The Zevo platform offers users on-demand access to EVs at their discretion, whether it’s an hour, a week or even a month. Interaction is contactless and automated, eliminating the need for driver-dependent schedules or traditional rental car reservations and fees. Most importantly, hosts can leverage their EV to create passive income while not in use and reduce their carbon footprint. To build its network of host vehicles, Zevo is offering the first 100 EV hosts in Dallas and Austin to sign up their vehicle at www.zevo.com with up to $1,000 in rewards, along with free charging for a year!
“Owners of EVs are sitting on an asset and we want to incentivize them to help make a difference while also putting money in their pocket,” says Hebron Sher, Zevo Founder and CEO. “Ideally, we’d love to see people running their own business, providing small fleets of EVs, offering users more access and making a difference for their community and the environment.”
To spark user adoption and jumpstart its presence in these markets, Zevo will add its own vehicles for early users to test and use, and roughly five superchargers within metro areas. It will also work with local businesses to create parking spots as “exchange points,” in the effort to cure logistic problems that existing rental and sharing car companies struggle with, thus creating a flexible and enjoyable on-demand user experience, the brand plans to expand to future markets including the Los Angeles metro and Bay areas.
Energy Independence Pre-Oscars
Non-profit environmental group Energy Independence Now (EIN) and a gathering of eco-conscious celebrities, athletes and influencers gathered at the Petersen Automotive Museum on Thursday, March 9th as the green carpet is rolled out for the Hollywood community and supporters committed to research, green innovation, policy advocacy and public outreach to promote diverse, equitable zero emissions solutions. Sponsored by Toyota and Noble Oak Double Oak Whiskey, the Green Pre-Oscar Gala event will benefit the DriveH2 zero emissions movement and is designed to bring an unforgettable night of entertainment, cars, celebrity chef procured cuisine, sustainable cocktails, a lively fundraising auction, and a glimpse into a more sustainable future.
Canoos for Schindler Elevator
-Schindler Elevator Corporation plans to implement, through its Fleet Management Company, the use of fifty (50) 2023 Canoo Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle (LDV) battery-electric vans. The first in its industry to announce its intent to use EV light-duty vans in the United States, Schindler is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. The Canoo LDV is a Class 1 BEV Utility Van.
“We understand that companies like ours play a crucial role around climate change,” says Ray Bisson,” Schindler CEO, United States. “Deploying these vehicles brings us one step closer to a low-carbon future.”
For safety and efficiency, the Canoo vehicles will be upfitted for Schindler technician use. Features include:
- 200 + mile range
- 1543 lb payload
- 133 cubic feet of entirely usable cargo space
- Eight (8) Airbags
- Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) such as Forward Collision Warning and Automatic Emergency Braking.
EPA Tested Blue Arc 200-miler EV from Shyft
The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHYF), the North American leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing, assembly, and upfit for the commercial, retail, and service specialty vehicle markets, t announced it has completed testing and received certification from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the company’s Blue Arc™ EV Solutions Class 3, 4 and 5 electric delivery vehicles.EPA test results have revealed the Blue Arc™ Class 3 all-electric delivery vehicle can achieve up to a 200-mile range based on the EPA cycle test with a 165kwh battery pack. This provides Shyft customers with a driving range that can comfortably handle and in many cases exceed a daily last-mile delivery route.Certification from the EPA represents an important milestone that helps clear the way for Shyft’s Blue Arc vehicles to start production and be sold across the U.S. Shyft expects final approval from the California Air Resources Board in the near term. Shyft recently announced a $16-million investment at the company’s Charlotte, Michigan, campus to begin assembly of the electric vehicles in the second half of 2023. An initial pre-order for 2,000 of the all-electric vehicles was placed by Randy Marion Dealer Group.
“With a range of 200 miles, this changes the game and opens up new possibilities for electrifying last-mile delivery,” said CEO Daryl Adams. “Our approach has been to focus on the engineering and product development of Blue Arc EVs, making sure we get that right first and foremost. When we get that right, and I believe we have, our customers are taking notice and we expect to secure additional production contracts in the near future.”
In addition to the range, the Blue Arc Class 3 van received a 45 MPGe combined city / highway rating from the EPA. This means Blue Arc EVs can provide customers with more cargo carrying capacity and more range at the same time. The Blue Arc engineering team is able to achieve these results partially through optimizing the chassis and lightweighting the body to create an efficient and high-performing electric delivery vehicle.
In the transition to electrified commercial vehicle fleets, Blue Arc EV Solutions brings a unique edge to the competition: nearly 50 years of experience in custom, commercial-grade chassis and work truck body design and manufacturing as part of The Shyft Group.