NEWSNOTES | January 26, 2022
News Notes

The Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) continues to embrace cleaner vehicles, this time with the delivery of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (HFCEVs). The company has taken delivery of 23 Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicles and plans to expand to 50 next month. The company plans to operate a 100% zero-emission fleet by 2035.

General Motors (GM) aims to increase North American production capacity to 1 million EVs by 2025. The company announced they will invest over $6 billion in Michigan to grow pickup truck production and build a new EV battery cell plant.

Ford execs have been at an event in California this week rolling out more details about their Ford Pro standalone unit that focuses on commercial and government customers. Ford is ramping up a commercial EV charging business using the software and expertise of startup Electriphi which the automaker bought in June of 2021.

Lithion Recycling is another startup (and CALSTART member) that dismantles Lithion-ion batteries into metal, plastic, and strategic minerals and is moving ahead to produce recycled electric car batteries. The company has raised $125 million from a group of local and international investors.

Eaton has been around for more than 100 years, and trucks remain a core market as they continue to focus on the efficient use of power. The company is building a new business through their eMobility division, and while it takes time, Eaton’s CEO expects a ramp up in revenues next year positioning them to meet a long-term revenue target of 2-4 billion dollars by 2030.

Bird is a micromobility company that operates in more than 100 cities around the world. They are out with details about their battery management system (BMS) which improves micro-EV battery safety and technology by designing and implementing IP68-rated lithium-ion battery cell packs in its latest vehicles.

As E-bikes continue to grow throughout the country look no further than the Portland State University which is out with an online e-bike incentive program tracker. The E-bike incentives in North America table tracks e-bike purchase incentive programs and key details such as location, incentive rate, and how the incentive amount is delivered to the recipient. 

The American Public Transportation Association is out with a complimentary on-demand webinar featuring CALSTART member Anaheim Transportation Network sharing what their large transit agency has experience in deploying battery electric buses. The webinar includes a helpful explanation of what Charging-as-a Service is.

Paccar invites anyone who is interested to take look at their Innovation Center in the Silicon Valley where they are coordinating next-generation research and identifying emerging technologies. Among other things they are accelerating partnerships in the development of electric and fuel cell powertrains. Check it out here.

RESOURCES

SoCalGas Transitioning to Hydrogen Fuel Cell EVs, Patch.com | https://bit.ly/3fVyO2G

LG and GM Announce $2.1B US Battery Factory, CNBC | https://cnb.cx/3KJ8Mht

Ford Aims to Be Tesla of Connected Commercial Vehicles, Reuters | https://reut.rs/3gh3HPD

Lithion Recycling Raises $125M, Montreal Gazette | https://bit.ly/3Ixp4Ic

$2B EV Opportunity About to Start Paying Off, The Motley Fool | https://bit.ly/33OC6SY

Bird Unveils State of the Art Battery Management System, Mass Transit | https://bit.ly/3rcFU9P

E-bike Incentive Programs in North America, EurekAlert! | https://bit.ly/35snVnh

Electric Transit Bus Deployment Lessons Learned, APTA | https://bit.ly/3G3kBvo

Tour the Paccar Innovation Center, FleetOwner | https://bit.ly/3o1xTT0