NEWSNOTES | July 27, 2022
News Notes

General Motors (GM) has ambitious plans to build more than one million EVs in North America by 2025. The automaker has announced a deal with South Korea’s LG Chem for 950,000 tons of cathode active materials (CAM). CAM consists of the components that makes a battery a battery. They have now received enough CAM to power five million EVs.

Uber is rolling out some fancy EV options in seven new cities. Comfort Electric is their new ride hailing option allowing customers to ride in a Tesla, or Ford Mustang Mach-E or a Polestar. The additional cities include Austin, Baltimore, Denver, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland, and Seattle.

ChargePoint is partnering with Charge Across Town and the California Energy Commission to install hundreds of EV chargers at apartment buildings and condominiums across the state. Seventy-five percent of the charging will target disadvantaged and low-income communities. The Mobility House and Endera have teamed up to provide commercial EV charging. Endera sells commercial electric vehicles and charging stations while The Mobility House brings to the partnership its energy management system ChargePilot.

Also unveiling a new charger solution is Colorado-based Lightning eMotors which is out with its next-generation mobile charger. The modular unit can accommodate a variety of battery capacities and outputs to meet different customer use cases.

Keep your eyes open as Rivian has delivered their EV vans to Amazon for rollouts in Baltimore Chicago, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis. The custom electric delivery van is one of three that Rivian is producing. Amazon holds an 18% stake in Rivian.

Another collaboration between CALSTART member companies is bearing fruit through live demonstrations of their Proxima van. The van is the product of JB Poindexter subsidiaries EAVX and Morgan Olson. REE Automotive rounds out the partnership with the contribution of their P7 platform. REE is an Israeli company that will open a new U.S. headquarters in Austin, TX sometime this year.

The growing “Truck-as-a-Service” (TaaS) model is attracting the interest of freight companies. WattEV is one of them to watch as they develop an offering that eliminates the upfront cost and other complexities. The option is ideal for individual drivers and small fleets who can access a heavy-duty battery-electric truck, charging and maintenance without the responsibility of ownership. WattEV has facilities under construction in Bakersfield, San Bernardino, and Gardena, all in California.

RESOURCES 

GM Has Enough Cathode Material for five million EVs, The Verge | https://bit.ly/3BjB3ZN

Uber Expanding Comfort Electric to Seven More Cities, AXIOS | https://bit.ly/3zef043

ChargePoint and Charge Across Town Deploy Hundreds of Chargers, KQED | https://bit.ly/3bhEZPU

The Mobility House and Endera Offer Solutions for Fleets, NGTNews | https://bit.ly/3owuw6v

Lightning eMotors Unveils Mobile Charger, Metro | https://bit.ly/3bdra5d

Amazon Starts Delivering Packages with Rivian-built EVs, TechCrunch | https://tcrn.ch/3z9wGh3

EAVX, Morgan Olson, and REE Automotive Reveal Prototype, electrek | https://bit.ly/3vjytzg

Freight Companies Go Green, PYMNTS.com | https://bit.ly/3cH0ni2