NEWSNOTES | June 30, 2021
News Notes

Kudos to General Motors for creating a $25 million Climate Equity Fund, recognizing that climate change doesn’t impact all communities equally. As they move toward an electric future their equitable climate action focus is on electric vehicle (EV) access; infrastructure equity; climate equity; and the future of work.

The Canadian federal government plans to phase out sales of new gas- and diesel-engine cars and light trucks by 2035, five years earlier than originally planned. The 2035 plan will include investments in charging infrastructure and help for automakers to retool plants for EV production.

The City of Los Angeles adopted an ordinance at their City Council meeting yesterday that will create commercial loading zones exclusively available for zero-emission commercial delivery vehicles. The LA Department of Transportation will identify curbside locations in high density areas that are subject to high commercial loading zone demands and disproportionately burdened by air pollution.

$182 million and 49 projects later, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced grants to help transit agencies fund the purchase and development of low or no emission transit vehicles and buses. CALSTART is part of projects awarded to the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Transit Authority of River City which provides service to the Louisville, KY area.

GreenPower Motor manufactures electric transit, school bus, delivery, cargo vehicles and RV markets. They got a nice boost today from MarketBeat which said the company is well-positioned for industrial expansion and infrastructure spending. Highlighted in the article is the deal the company made with Forest River, a Berkshire Hathaway company.

It’s a beautiful thing when CALSTART members play well together and here’s looking at you Pritchard (nationwide dealership) and Endera which specializes in all-electric commercial vehicles, charging infrastructure and software solutions. Pritchard Ford has signed a contract to purchase 250 EVs and will expand Endera’s national service network and dealership presence with 2,600 service points across the country.

Mobility company Revel has some pretty impressive street cred as U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm made the trip to Brooklyn for the unveiling of an EV fast charging superhub. The superhub will have 25 brand-agnostic chargers and will be the largest universal charging station in North America.

Everyone knows Caterpillar, the Illinois-based construction and mining equipment behemoth, not to mention one of the earliest members of CALSTART. They are out with interesting news that they will develop all-electric mining machines to power Nouveau Monde Graphite’s (NMG) Matawinie graphite mine with all-electric machines by 2028. NMG is developing advanced carbon-neutral graphite-based material solutions for growing lithium-ion and fuel cell markets. Or, as Electrek put it, “Use an EV to mine graphite, then put it in batteries to power electric vehicles mining the graphite.”

RESOURCES

GM Commits $25M for Equity in EV Transition, The Detroit News - https://bit.ly/3y90pEJ

Canada Will Require 100% of Car Sales to be Zero Emission by 2035, InsideEvs - https://bit.ly/3jsQciv

LA Authorizes Loading Zones for ZEV Only, The 4^th Revolution - https://bit.ly/3x7MIWJ

FTA Provides $182M for Low- and No- Emissions Buses, Transportation Today - https://bit.ly/3x7zk4V

GreenPower Is an EV Stock Worth Buying, Entrepreneur - https://bit.ly/3AgSW8H

Pritchard Helping Endera Expand Commercial EV Presence, NGT News - https://bit.ly/3qAdx38

Revel Unveils EV Fast Charging Superhub, TechCrunch - https://tcrn.ch/3jsHUaa

Caterpillar’s Electric Graphite Mine Machines, electrek - https://bit.ly/3dtvxXR