NEWSNOTES | July 19, 2023
News Notes

CALSTART is lucky to have Cynthia Williams, Global Director of Sustainability at Ford, as our Board Chair. She’s featured in Business Insider explaining why she believes EV adoption will lead to a stronger power grid. Many wonder how the electric power grid infrastructure can keep up with growing electric vehicle (EV) demand. Williams lays out Ford’s innovation in the space including turning every Ford EV into a virtual power plant. 

Tesla’s Elon Musk believes that over time, almost all superchargers will be converted to solar/battery power and eventually disconnect from the grid. Tesla plans to deploy a solar “CyberCanopy” at a new Supercharger station in Canton, MA. 

Vietnamese automaker VinFast will begin building its U.S. factory next week in North Carolina and is expected to produce its first U.S. vehicles in 2025. The company received a $1.2 billion incentive package from North Carolina and expects to produce 150,000 vehicles per year in its first phase. 

Amazon has spent millions on wind and solar projects and notably they’ve worked to electrify its delivery fleet including 100,000 Rivian electric delivery fans. The company is reporting that they are seeing a decline in carbon emissions for the first time as they fell 0.4% between 2021 and 2022. Amazon plans to require their suppliers to regularly share their carbon emissions data and set emission reduction goals. DHL is also highly committed to sustainability through their electric fleet operations. PowerFlex pioneers fleet electrification for DHL with nationwide EV charging and they’ve installed 415 Level 2 EVSE’s for DHL Express. 

The growth of EV charging points in the U.S. is strong and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewal Energy Lab (NREL) show that the number of charging ports has almost doubled in the past three years. Charging ports are the number of individual outlets available to charge a vehicle. 

Nikola is out with one of the first commercially available fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and in a few months’ fleets will be able to place an order. The Nikola Tre FCEV range is up to 500 miles with fueling time of about 20 minutes. Nikola’s partner Bosch is behind Nikola’s hydrogen fuel cell power module. Bollinger Motors and Roush Industries are building new options, too, as they prepare to roll out the first five Bollinger all-electric chassis cabs. The initial vehicles will be used for customer demos in September. 

Penske Logistics is the first third-party logistics provider to use a new zero-emissions refrigerated tractor-trailer combination from Freightliner and ConMet eMobility. Freightliner’s e-Cascadia electric tractor was paired with a trailer that’s cooled by ConMet eMobility’s electric standby trailer refrigeration unit. 

RESOURCES

A Word from Ford’s Global Director of Sustainability, Business Insider | https://tinyurl.com/4kmexjbz 

Tesla Cyber Canopy, Benzinga | https://tinyurl.com/bd85rpk9 

VinFast Set to Break Ground in North Carolina, electrek | https://tinyurl.com/4khzu5c6 

Amazon Sees Decline in Carbon Emissions, CNBC | https://tinyurl.com/yywxmu9y 

DHL, PowerFlex Wrap Up Major EV Charger Rollout, NGT News | https://tinyurl.com/yc3a9bp4 

Number of EV Charging Ports in US Doubles in Three Years, CleanTechnica | https://tinyurl.com/2p8uk3cn 

Check Out Nikola’s Fuel Cell Electric Truck, CCJ | https://tinyurl.com/zhcr3j5v 

Bollinger Builds First All-Electric Class 4 Chassis Cabs, Truck News | https://tinyurl.com/5bpjahma 

ConMet Making Zero-Emissions Refrigerated Deliveries, Trucknews.com | https://tinyurl.com/yfz35p4z