NEWSNOTES | February 8, 2023
News Notes

School transportation provider First Student has announced that they’ve successfully achieved 1-million miles driven in electric buses. The company has 230 EV buses and has carried 800,000 students to school. Vertically integrated commercial EV maker Endera is celebrating landing the largest state EV bus contract ever. Basin Transit Authority in San Bernardino County, California has awarded a contract for up to 1,000 electric buses. The vehicles are manufactured in Ottawa, Ohio.

Kudos to Phoenix Motorcars, a manufacturer of medium-duty EVs, and Fermata Energy, a bidirectional charging innovator. The two companies have signed an equipment testing agreement that will allow Phoenix’s customers to use Fermata’s bidirectional chargers and software platform.

Nikola has gotten California Air Resources Board (CARB) approval for its Tre hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) under the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP). In coming months Nikola will be collaborating on commercial demonstrations of the Tre FCEV with potential fleet customers in California.

The Shyft Group has expansion plans as they invest $16 million to expand its engineering and manufacturing capabilities in Charlotte (20 miles southwest of Lansing, Michigan). They will have the capacity to produce 3,000 Blue Arc electric delivery vehicles. They expect to hire 200 new employees.

Ideanomics keeps adding onto its portfolio and they recently acquired VIA Motors and has positioned Ideanomics Energy as the preferred charging solutions provider for VIA’s electric work trucks. They will offer a cost-efficient, integrated EV and charging solution for commercial fleets.

What will EV maker Rivian think of next? An electric bike, of course. There aren’t too many details yet but it looks like it will be a battery-powered motorcycle or bicycle. CEO RJ Scaringe says moving into the micro-mobility space is a long-term goal and he announced the electric bike move at a company-wide meeting last week. 

Get ready for the super bowl ads where Will Ferrell is delightfully cringey in GM’s EV ad with Netflix. Ferrell navigates several renowned Netflix series alongside GM EV brands.

RESOURCES

First Student Marks Million Miles of EV Travel, schoolbus | https://bit.ly/3HM4ftP

Ohio Company Just Landed the Largest State EV Bus Contract Ever, electrek | https://bit.ly/3YlMmt1

Phoenix Motorcars & Fermata Energy Form Partnership, ChargedEVs | https://bit.ly/3ln0mUV

CARB Approves Nikola Tre Hydrogen Fuel Cell for HVIP, NGTNews | https://bit.ly/3jDigST

Shyft Group Plans $16M EV Delivery Van Expansion, MiBiz | https://bit.ly/3DPZsX6

Ideanomics Completes Acquisition of VIA Motors, Metro | https://bit.ly/40ECRXv

Rivian is Developing an Electric Bike, Robb Report | https://bit.ly/3Y7M3C1

Will Ferrell Touting EVs in Netflix Shows, electrek | https://bit.ly/3lnezRL