NEWSNOTES | August 18, 2021
News Notes

Goodyear Ventures has made electric vehicle (EV) charging company AmpUp happy with the news that they are the most recent seed-to-growth-stage startup they are investing in. AmpUp’s charging network and software solutions is working to make charging accessible for EV drivers everywhere.

Favorite headline of the day-Electric Trucks Delivering Beer in NYC. Aside from electric trucks and beer delivery in the headline, the story features Volvo Trucks North America and none other than Manhattan Beer Distributors, both of whom are CALSTART members. Manhattan Beer is including five Volvo VNR electric truck Class 8 trucks as part of their 400 truck fleet.

Electric truck manufacturing Nikola continues to drive change as they validate the first batch of five Nikola Tre battery electric vehicles (BEVs). In addition to proving ground testing the company is expanding its sales network, announcing 51 new locations across 9 states, including Texas. Rivian, backed by Ford and Amazon, is also eyeing Texas where they are in negotiations to build a factory that can produce 200,000 vehicles a year. They are working with the Fort Worth Economic Development Department on a potential project that would create 7,500 jobs by 2027.

GM’s latest announcement is that they are working on two new zero-emission commercial vehicles including a full-size battery-electric Chevy cargo van and a medium-duty truck using batteries and hydrogen fuel-cell technology.

The latest transit partnership is between ElDorado National California (ENC) and Ohio-based Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA). ENC is taking advantage of SARTA’s Borrow a Bus program as part of a zero-emissions tour through Canada. The tour began in Toronto on July 26.

Tesla recently announced that they will open their Supercharger network to EVs from other automakers by the end of this year. The company is adding jobs while growing the network which had 26,900 Superchargers at almost 3,000 stations around the world last quarter.

Ford-owned micromobility company Spin has announced an integration with Google Maps. That means users in 84 cities, towns and campuses across the U.S., Canada, German and Spain can view Spin’s electric scooters and bikes on the app to plan their trips. New York City-based Revel rents thousands of electric mopeds and e-bikes in New York. The company has announced their launch of a new ride-hailing service in New York City. What sets it apart? Every car is a Tesla, and all of the drivers are employees. They are launching with 150 drivers and fleet maintenance operators.

Goodyear Buys Into AmpUp EV, Traction - https://tinyurl.com/3y2jnmcz

Electric Trucks Delivering Beer in NYC, Yahoo! Finance - https://tinyurl.com/8daaznpj 

Nikola Puts Truck Through Its Paces, HDT - https://tinyurl.com/44xrb3m6

$5B EV Factory in Texas Could Rival Tesla Plant, WFAA - https://tinyurl.com/p4a8rp6r

GM Working on Two New Zero-Emission Commercial Vehicles, CarandDriver - https://tinyurl.com/4sapa5wf

ENC Partners with SARTA, Metro - https://tinyurl.com/up5taw32

Tesla Prepping for Giant Supercharger Expansion, Electrek - https://tinyurl.com/ycxw2r8b

Spin’s Electric Scooters and Bikes Now on Google Maps, Techcrunch - https://tinyurl.com/ztud38tj

Revel Launches New Ride Hailing Service in NYC, AXIOS - https://tinyurl.com/4naxzmuf