NEWSNOTES | July 7, 2021
News Notes

CALSTART Executive Vice President Bill Van Amburg’s eloquence was on full display last week as he testified before the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. His topic was how investing in clean transportation can solve the climate crisis. In addition to naming several CALSTART members, he talked about the need for federal leadership and the importance of incentives for fleets that reduce the vehicle cost at the time of sale.

And just this morning a new badging system went up on CALSTART’s Global Drive to Zero website. If you go here you’ll see the interactive inventory of globally available offerings of zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. As of today the tool makes it easier to identify the vehicles eligible for point-of-sale discounts in California and New York.

The Volvo Group recently announced a $33 million expansion of its powertrain research and development site in Hagerstown, MD. The lab will allow comprehensive testing of current and future products for Volvo Trucks, Mack Trucks, Prevost and Volvo Bus.

Kudos to Phoenix Motorcars which recently exceeded the 2.75 million electric mile mark, counting all their fully electric trucks and shuttle buses in operation. The California-based company is currently producing their third-generation drivetrain which will get up to 160 miles in range.

General Motors (GM) has announced a strategic investment and commercial collaboration with Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) to secure lithium in the U.S. for development of its next generation of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Their multi-million dollar investment in  Australia-based Controlled Thermal Resources is expected to provide a significant amount of the lithium it needs for EV batteries. 

Meanwhile, Ford has acquired a silicon valley startup (and CALSTART member) Electriphi. The company provides charging management and fleet monitoring software for commercial electric vehicles. Ford Pro is a new business unit for commercial customers which Electriphi will be integrated into. Viriciti, a Dutch telematics company, has formed a partnership with ABC Companies, exclusive distributor and reseller of Van Hool motorcoaches in North America. Viriciti will power ABC Connect Telematics to manage Van Hool electric motorcoaches.

Eberspacher is an automotive supplier that provides solutions in exhaust technology, thermal management and automotive electronics. They are now joining the hydrogen market having acquired ViCTORi which develops and produces fuel cell cathode air compressors and related components.

With much federal attention focusing on infrastructure investments, companies making electric bikes or e-bikes so far aren’t getting much notice in Washington, D.C. Half of U.S. car trips are less than three miles so it was notable last year when global sales of e-bikes soared. STREETSBLOG did some number crunching and found that 600,000 e-bikes were sold in the U.S. in 2020- a rate of once every 52 seconds!

RESOURCES

CALSTART’s Bill Van Amburg Congressional Testimony, House Select Committee Hearing - https://bit.ly/3dRdYkB

CALSTART Tool IDs Incentive Funding Availability in CA and NY, CALSTART - https://bit.ly/3gSYNqP

Global Commercial Vehicle Global Drive to Zero, CALSTART - https://bit.ly/3qTvYQL

Volvo Group Breaks Ground on Vehicle Propulsion Lab, Trucknews - https://bit.ly/3xjfymZ

Phoenix Motorcars Surpasses 2.75 Million All Electric Miles, Yahoo!Finance - https://yhoo.it/3wihjzu

GM Strikes a Deal to Source Lithium in the US, The Verge - https://bit.ly/3hH4VUl

Ford Acquires Electriphi, Forbes - https://bit.ly/3xnHXbH

ViriCiti to Power ABC Connect Telematics for Van Hool, ABC Companies - https://bit.ly/2UprRzA

Eberspacher Acquires 100% of ViCTORi to Enter Hydrogen Market, Green Car Congress - https://bit.ly/3dPWJA2

An American Buys an E-Bike Every 52 Seconds, StreetsBlog - https://bit.ly/3hmLLEj