Sila, EVgo, GSPP, EAVX, InductEV, ChargePoint and VW.
In this Article
BrightDrop Ships Sold-out Zevo 600s — New Customer Ryder
BrightDrop is heading into spring with a few reasons to celebrate. For starters, they have started shipping the first 500+ BrightDrop Zevo 600s built in Q1 at CAMI Assembly, our large-scale manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada that just opened three months ago. Next up, demand for BrightDrop commercial EVs is at an all-time high, with our model year 2023 Zevo 600 already sold out. And finally, to add to the momentum, BrightDrops newest customer Ryder plans to add 4,000 BrightDrop EVs to their rental and lease fleet through 2025.
In just two years, Brightdrop secured more than 30 commercial customers across industries like retail, rental, parcel delivery and service-based utilities. This includes new customers like American Tire Distributors, WasteNot Compost and Rexel USA, in addition to our already announced customers FedEx, Walmart, Hertz, DHL Express and Purolator. Apparently, we aren’t the only ones interested in our purpose-built electric van.
After a record-setting commercialization and the fastest-ever plant conversion for GM, the company plans accelerater production of it electric delivery vans and reaching a 50,000-unit annual volume capacity by 2025.
Tacoma News
The best-selling midsize pick-up in America is all-new for 2024 with electrifying i-FORCE MAX performance.
Stay tuned for updates on Tacoma’s incredible new design and features.
AESP Intros EVDX
The Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP), a non-profit organization made up of nearly 5,000 active energy professionals dedicated to improving the development, delivery, and implementation of efficiency, clean energy, and demand flexibility solutions, with support from LeBlanc Energy Innovation, is pleased to announce the Electric Vehicle Driver Experience Initiative or EVDX.
EVDX’s mission is to ensure that consumers and businesses enjoy a superior EV adoption and charging experience in a rapidly shifting marketplace. Its work focuses on the entire EV journey, from early discovery to purchasing, charging, and enrolling in utility programs to minimize fuel costs and support a modern grid. EVDX is about putting people at the center of the EV revolution, complementing existing work on vehicles and chargers.
“We are so excited to spearhead this critical initiative that will drive us toward an electrified transportation market that benefits us all,” says Jen Szaro, President and CEO of AESP. “Our legacy of cultivating a community of energy professionals where they can expand their community, develop professionally, and push the envelope of innovation continues into the EV customer journey. The human behavior side of the EV business has not received adequate attention, and EVDX will address that critical element.”
Bill LeBlanc, President of LeBlanc Energy Innovation and Chief Catalyst at Rolling Energy Resources, states, “Electric vehicle adoption, at its core, is a significant behavior change away from the existing solution, the gas vehicle, that has been serving people effectively since the day they were born. Today, the EV driver experience is full of potholes, such as confusing rebates and non-working chargers, and key knowledge barriers and misconceptions are rampant. Installing thousands of public chargers will do no good unless consumers know how it all works.”
The EVDX Initiative will use advanced educational, behavioral, and marketing approaches through industry partners, to help move this market from early adopters to mainstream customers who are often averse to risk and don’t understand EV fundamentals such as how to charge an EV.
As a first step, EVDX will assemble an Executive Committee to steer EVDX’s growth and draw from non-profits, utilities, governments, and EV businesses to obtain the best knowledge possible for the initiative.
AESP will officially kick off EVDX in person with a Solutions Lab June 5-6 in Detroit, MI. Visit www.aesp.org/evdx to learn about the initiative’s work, upcoming Solutions Lab, and how to get involved.
Rancho del IP New EV Heater Tech
Rancho del IP announced the availability for licensing/sale of its patented passenger-cabin/HV-battery #automotive heater technology, which reduces the production cost of an #electricvehicle by approximately $500 by eliminating expensive, high-voltage, resistive heaters and their associated components.
Market research firm Fact.MR projects that the global high voltage electric #heater market for EVs will register a 23% CAGR, between 2020 and 2030, with the coolant heaters segment creating an absolute $ opportunity of US$4.4 Bn over the period.
“The word ‘disruptive’ has been abused to the point where media have been desensitized, but what other word better describes the potential extinction event of a more than $35B automotive supplier segment, if we apply the projected 23% CAGR from 2030-2040, which is a $35B EV OEM cost advantage, over the two decades our patents’ protections are in play? Cost reductions go right to bottom line of EV OEM P&L, or enables dominant market share in very elastic, higher volume, lower cost electric vehicle markets”, said Andy Turudic, company president.
This novel heater uses a third mode of operation of the existing power transistors in a #BEV/#PHEV’s traction inverter to readily produce several kilowatts of coolant heating, which can then be directed from the #inverter to heat the passenger compartment and/or its high voltage battery system in preparation for high speed charging or to facilitate electric vehicle operation in cold weather.
The technology’s ~$20 traction inverter modification leaves the traction inverter energy efficiency unaffected and completely eliminates unreliable resistive heating elements, typically based on sintered barium titanate #PTC resistors, used in all PHEV/BEV, along with their attendant high-voltage power and control circuits, modules, and plumbing, and makes the world a better place by eliminating environmental concerns with disposing, or recycling, of hazardous elemental barium when vehicles reach their end of life.
Mr. Turudic will be presenting his peer-reviewed technical paper, which fully describes this innovative, cost-reducing, technology in a technical session at the premier #SAE #WCX 2023 engineering conference in Detroit, Michigan, on April 18, 2023 at 9:30am.
Post April 18 For IRA Incentives
Following the release of additional guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department, Ford Motor Company has confirmed that all three of its currently available popular electric vehicles as well as its plug-in hybrids are eligible for Inflation Reduction Act federal tax credits in 2023.
“Customers made Ford the No. 2 electric vehicle brand in the U.S. last year, and as we scale our production to build more EVs for more customers, we believe this new incentive eligibility will help even more Americans join the EV revolution,” said Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer, Model e.
See below for the eligibility amount for each vehicle.
Ford F-150 Lightning: $7,500 credit
Ford Mustang Mach-E: $3,750 credit
Ford E-Transit: $3,750 credit
Plug-In Hybrids
Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid: $3,750 credit
Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring: $3,750 credit
Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring: $7,500 credit
For any eligible customers who take delivery of a Ford EV prior to April 18, the eligibility amount will be $7,500. All of these consumer incentives require the vehicle MSRP be at or below $80,000, and that the purchaser must meet certain income limits. Every one of these vehicles is assembled in North America, which is another requirement for the consumer tax incentive.
As an alternative to the consumer incentive, commercial customers are eligible for commercial tax incentives of as much as $7,500 on all these vehicles.
Ford’s EV sales grew 41.0 percent in the first quarter on sales of 10,866 electric vehicles. F-150 Lightning sales totaled 4,291 pickups with production capacity actions on track to hit an annual production run rate of 150,000 this year. Sales by Ford Pro of the E-Transit, America’s best-selling electric van last year, climbed 62.7 percent. Reflecting downtime at the plant for changes to increase production, Mustang Mach-E sales were down.
New Graphite in America from Ramaco Carbon
As the essential component in electric vehicle (EV) batteries and other important technologies, the United States government recently labeled graphite a “critical need” material for national defense. Unfortunately, roughly 80% of supply is currently produced overseas.
Now a major effort is underway to establish a new graphite industry that’s “made in America.” As part of that effort, Ramaco Carbon, a leading carbon technology company, is partnering with one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest science and energy laboratories — Oak Ridge National Laboratory — to develop new, large-scale processes for making graphite from coal.
The efforts on graphite are part of a larger research partnership between Ramaco and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory over the past three years, exploring a wide range of alternative uses of coal to make higher-value carbon products and materials.
The new two-year project is funded jointly by Ramaco Carbon and ORNL via a DOE Fossil Energy & Carbon Management Program Field Work Proposal, and it will focus on scaling up to commercial level a process that has already shown success at the bench scale at ORNL. Activities to be led by Ramaco include the use of specialized equipment at its iCAM research facility in Wyoming to prepare feedstocks for the process using coal from the mines of its parent company, the publicly traded metallurgical coal producer Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: METC).
“Ramaco has worked with ORNL on other projects that have ties to the EV industry, such as the light-weighting of vehicles using coal-derived carbon fiber,” said James Dietz, one of Ramaco’s primary researchers on the project. “If successful, this project has the potential to be extremely impactful, and turbocharge the United States EV industry.”
At its core, the research is focused on harnessing carbon, the key building block for synthetic graphite and many other products. Today, this carbon is typically derived from more expensive petroleum and related petrochemical feedstocks. The goal of this joint research project is to build upon previous research by both organizations and develop a novel process that uses the carbon in coal as a feedstock instead.
A technoeconomic analysis being prepared by researchers at ORNL suggests that the novel process will be less expensive compared to the petroleum-based alternative.
“Since its founding, ORNL has excelled in delivering translational science. This collaboration between the laboratory and Ramaco is a great example of how basic and applied research work together to accelerate science-driven technology developments,” said Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Science and Technology Dr. Xin Sun.
In this project, the team is focused on scaling up and commercializing a technology that was originally developed under the sponsorship of DOE’s Basic Energy Sciences program, which supports fundamental research to provide the foundations for new energy technologies.
“We try not to oversell research in early stages, but if it is successful, then the ability to use lower cost coal as the feedstock to make synthetic graphite could be transformational,” said Randall Atkins, Chairman and CEO of Ramaco. “The multi-year ongoing public-private partnership with ORNL has allowed us to make some unique and substantial technology advances in that direction. Our long-term goal has been to reinvent the use of America’s most abundant natural resource to make it a solution to some of our most pressing needs for the global energy transition. This will help reshape both the energy markets and the environment for the better.”
Sila Offering NCS Anode Titan Silicon
Sila, a next-generation battery materials company, today announced the availability of its high-performance nano-composite silicon (NCS) anode, Titan Silicon. Titan Silicon is the first market-proven, safe, and clean full graphite anode replacement engineered for mass scale to dramatically boost EV performance and address key consumer pain points. According to a consumer survey recently commissioned by Sila, nearly 90% of respondents who own or intend to purchase an EV view high-performance battery technology as more valuable than other tech enhancements or luxury features, including autonomous driving capabilities.
Graphite anodes and simple silicon compounds (Si, SiO, SiO2 ) for lithium-ion batteries have reached their energy limit, which stifles EV performance. In contrast, Sila solutions deliver the EV experience drivers want to reduce anxieties around range and charge time. For automakers who want longer range, Titan Silicon can deliver a 20% increase in range today, which could be up to 100 extra miles for some EVs, with a development runway to double those gains in future releases. Titan Silicon can also dramatically improve battery charging time, charging a battery from 10% to 80% in just 20 minutes – even if your charge time is currently as long as 60 minutes. Future releases will reduce that time to approximately 10 minutes, a standard similar to refilling a gas tank. Notably, Titan Silicon achieves these gains without sacrificing cycle life or safety while maintaining low swell, comparable to graphite anodes. And with Titan Silicon, automakers can benefit from up to a 15% reduction in battery weight and 20% increase in space, enabling higher vehicle efficiency and the addition of innovative designs and features.
EVgo Got CEC Awards
EVgo Inc. (NASDAQ: EVGO), one of the nation’s largest public fast charging networks for electric vehicles (EVs), announced it has been selected for proposed awards of $6.6 million from the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP) 2.0 program. The funding is designed to aid the deployment of fast charging infrastructure in the central and eastern regions of California through the Golden State Priority Project (GSPP), which provides rebates for the installation of DC fast chargers capable of at least 150kW, focusing exclusively on disadvantaged community or low-income community census tracts. With the rebate, EVgo will be deploying high-power 350kW chargers at each of the locations supported through this program as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to delivering a best-in-class charging experience.
GSPP Equity Charging
Launched in January 2023, the GSPP was the first project available through CALeVIP 2.0 with a focus on equity and swift charger installation. With the proposed funding, EVgo will build more than 100 DC fast charging stalls across 17 locations in central and eastern California, including Fresno, Hayward, Manteca, El Cerrito, Antioch and San Jose. More than 40% of EVgo’s existing fast charging network in California is located in disadvantaged and/or low-income census tracts, and with these 17 fast charging projects, EVgo can bring more convenient and affordable charging solutions to neighborhoods that will benefit most from the electrification of transportation.
In addition to its focus on equity, GSPP incorporates a number of public funding best practices, including a focus on higher-power equipment and project readiness, prioritizing projects likely to be able to deliver near-term results for Californians.
EAVX Partners with JBPCO
Cenntro Electric Group Limited (NASDAQ: CENN), a leading EV technology company with advanced, market-validated electric commercial vehicles, and EAVX, the newest business unit of JB Poindexter & Co (JBPCO), announced that they will collaborate to develop innovative and industry-leading All-Electric last mile and vocational work truck solutions. The joint development effort will focus on integration of the commercial truck bodies from JBPCO business units including last mile, service and utility, and vehicle cargo management systems with Cenntro’s All-Electric LS300 and LS400 cab chassis.
The non-exclusive collaboration agreement will initially focus on the Cenntro LS300 and LS400, utilizing current and next-generation EAVX body designs. The agreement calls for the integration of the bodies onto the Cenntro LS300 and LS400 platforms (Class 3 – 5) including but not limited to: Lightweight dry freight and refrigerated box bodies; landscape and dump bodies for municipal fleets; and open and enclosed service bodies for utility fleets.
“We are excited about our partnership with Cenntro and their global expertise in the EV space. Cenntro’s product catalog, and their mission, integrates well with EAVX’s mission to optimize the design and manufacture of next-generation commercial vehicles by collaborating with chassis manufacturers, technology suppliers and leveraging the formidable resources of JB Poindexter & Co,” said Mark Hope, General Manager and COO, EAVX.
“The EAVX business unit of JB Poindexter is focused on forward-thinking innovation and sustainable driving and we are looking forward to this partnership,” said Peter Wang, Cenntro Chairman and CEO. “Modifying our existing, proven electric LS300 and LS400 chassis to accommodate next-generation EAVX commercial truck bodies is a natural evolution for us as we look to expand our range of body designs and applications. JB Poindexter & Co is the leader in commercial work truck bodies and accessories and the depth of their understanding of the customer will enable our collaboration to deliver unique products to commercial EV market.”
Cenntro offers a fully configurable Class 1 – 4 All-Electric cab-chassis. A central charge of Cenntro’s business model includes aligning with market leading vocational work truck body manufacturers and enabling them to bring highly effective EV solutions to a multitude of industries.
InductEV Partners with ChargePoint
InductEV, the leading AI powered wireless EV charging platform for high-power vehicles, announced a strategic partnership with ChargePoint, a leading EV charging network, to expand the availability of high-powered wireless EV charging solutions across the United States.
InductEV’s technology can deliver up to 450kW of high power transmission and the partnership aims to help private and public operators of transit and commercial vehicles power their fleets by providing efficient wireless charging solutions.
The partnership will focus on developing high-speed wireless charging infrastructure on a large scale, with the economic and operational needs of fleets in mind. By combining InductEV’s expertise in wireless charging solutions with ChargePoint’s extensive network of charging stations and advanced fleet charging software, the partnership aims to provide more convenient and reliable charging options for EV drivers in fleet and commercial applications.
“We are excited to partner with ChargePoint to expand the availability of our high-powered wireless EV charging solutions,” said Brandon Anulewicz, Chief Revenue Officer of InductEV. “This partnership will allow us to reach a wider audience and help more organizations power their fleets with our efficient and reliable wireless technology.”
“Electric fleets will continue to adopt charging technology that delivers the lower total cost of ownership (TCO) benefit of moving to electric vehicles,” said Rich Mohr, vice president, fleet, at ChargePoint. “Together, InductEV and ChargePoint will provide integrated software and hardware solutions for fleets looking to maximize their TCO advantage.
VW Readies ID.7
The countdown to the launch of the new ID.701 has started: the world premiere of the new all-electric ID. flagship model will take place on Monday, 17 April. Just under two weeks before this date, Volkswagen is now providing further details on the drive, running gear and convenience features of the saloon designed for long-distance driving. The new ID.7 will enhance the upper mid-size class in Europe, China and North America. Volkswagen plans to increase the share of its electric models to 80 per cent in Europe by 2030. The new ID.7 is an important milestone on this path, as it is scheduled to be launched in Europe before the end of 2023.
The camouflaged ID.7 is still undergoing its final test drives in Alicante, Spain. The new all-electric model for long-distance driving is able to fully show off its strengths on the winding and mountainous roads in the region. Kai Grünitz, Member of the Board of Management responsible for Development, explains: “With the ID.7 we have exploited the potential of the MEB even further. We have also used a new, more powerful and more efficient electric drive motor. In addition, we have enhanced the control quality of the running gear and were thus able to further increase driving comfort. The combination of a superior drive system, comfortable running gear and long range make the ID.7 the perfect limousine for long distance travel.”
Higher performance and efficiency thanks to newly developed electric drive motor. The ID.7 is the first model based on the modular electric drive (MEB) platform that has a newly developed and highly efficient drive by Volkswagen. It is the most powerful and highest-torque electric drive motor in a Volkswagen ID. model so far. The power unit with the internal designation APP550 was developed by Volkswagen Group Components in Kassel and is also produced there.
The new electric drive has been optimised above all in terms of energy consumption: depending on the battery size, WLTP ranges of up to 700 kilometres02 and charging capacities of up to 200 kW are forecast. The ID.7 thus underlines its long-distance suitability, especially for frequent drivers and fleet customers.
New running gear – high level of comfort and precise steering. The optional adaptive chassis control (DCC) and the driving dynamics manager of the limousine for long distance travel have been fundamentally enhanced. Thanks to the driving mode selection options, they offer a large spread between comfort and sportiness. Together with the newly applied progressive steering, the systems ensure precise driving behaviour and a maximum of stability. These technologies have also been put through their paces as part of the test drives in Spain.
Extremely spacious, new operating concept and reduced cockpit architecture. The spacious and high-quality interior offers plenty of room in both the front and rear seats. The cockpit has been completely redesigned and the size of the classic instruments has been significantly reduced. All the necessary standard information and warnings are displayed behind the steering wheel in the ID. cockpit. The driver receives other important information via the standard augmented reality head-up display. The heart of the display and operating concept is the Infotainment system display equipped as standard in the ID.7: measuring 38 centimetres (15 inches) across the diagonal, its operating concept has been fundamentally redesigned. For example, based on customer feedback, operation of the air conditioning has been permanently integrated on the top operating level. There are also freely configurable direct access buttons.
ergoActive seats: adaptive seat Climatronic and new massage system. Volkswagen has developed a new generation of driver and front passenger seats for the ID.701. Depending on the version, these new seats offer up to 14 electrical adjustment options. As well as adaptive seat Climatronic, they also have a completely newly designed massage function. In addition to the individual settings, the driver and front passenger can alternatively activate an automatic mode for the seat climate; here, temperature and moisture sensors in the seats detect the cooling and/or heating requirement and control the climate accordingly. The newly developed massage function of the optional ergoActive Premium seats for the driver and front passenger offers a particularly high level of comfort. In the ID.7 segment, the new seats define a standard that was previously known only in the luxury class.
ID.7 takes the ID. family to a new level. With its high-quality product concept, the ID.7 underlines its position as the electric flagship model of the ID. family. In addition to long ranges and an agile drive, it also offers a high level of travel comfort thanks to its new operating concept and spacious interior. With innovative technologies and a high-quality appearance, the new ID.7 clearly positions itself as an electric limousine for long distance travel in the upper mid-size class.