NEWSNOTES | January 24, 2024
News Notes

Forbes offers some hope for the health of the electric vehicle (EV) market regardless of how this year’s election cycle plays out. It turns out that red states are seeing significant growth in investments. Cummins, Daimler, and Paccar will invest in their first battery plant in Mississippi and multibillions of dollars will go into facilities and job creation.  Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, and Kansas are among states benefiting from EV growth.

The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act has resulted in significant public funding. Clean Technica guest writer Jeff Allen, Executive Director of Forth, offers an overview of various incentives and a listing of places to go for assistance in navigating opportunities. 

Yesterday, Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) rolled out its redesigned Volvo VNL and VTNA President Peter Voorhoeve called the debut a quantum leap forward. The product offers gains in fuel efficiency, safety, driver comfort and connectivity.

HummingbirdEV is poised to expand to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) having joined in a strategic partnership with the IBMC Group. The company is based in California and the new facility will produce their commercial vehicles which will be designed to meet the demands of the region. Hummingbird co-founder Rakesh Koneru is eager to make the UAE a central hub for commercial vehicle manufacturing.

In a vote of confidence for Nikola’s management team, combined with promising state and federal incentives, Baird Equity Research initiated the company with an outperform rating as the stock moved up today. Baird pointed to manufacturing improvement and the build out of hydrogen infrastructure, among other things to the positive rating.

If you feel like you have been hearing about the United States Postal Services (USPS) move toward electric delivery vehicles for years, that is because you have. Earlier this week the USPS unveiled their first charging stations at an event in South Atlanta. They say that hundreds of sites across the country will benefit from a $40 billion investment as charging stations will be installed throughout the country.

Endera specializes in charging stations, smart electric commercial vehicles, and software solutions. They have just launched the Endera EV Pool which consists of chassis that are electrified before the construction of the custom body. Their offering significantly reduces the wait time for fleets to receive the vehicles.

Rivian is about to launch its next-gen electric models including the R2 and R3. MOTORTREND lists the pros and cons of the 2024 Rivian R1T citing more configurations, excellent range and enhanced versatility with clever features added in. You will have to check for yourself to see the cons. 

I cannot quite explain why watching Tesla’s full self-driving mode navigate streets in the middle of San Francisco is mesmerizing, but it is. The video shows, with no interaction from the driver, how the vehicle navigates the busy city.

RESOURCES

Climate Green Tech Surges in Red States, Forbes | http://tinyurl.com/2byxf6bw

Climate Pollution Reduction Grants, CleanTechnica | http://tinyurl.com/yc6nb5b6

Volvo Rolls Out VNL as Platform for the Future, Truck News | http://tinyurl.com/3tdpzcx4

Hummingbird Set for UAE Expansion, Logistics Middle East | http://tinyurl.com/3tks9wdv

Nikola Gets Outperform Rating, Stock Rises, Morningstar | http://tinyurl.com/2k452xx2

Postal Service Rolling out Electric Mail Trucks, NewsNation | http://tinyurl.com/3b95y3mz

Endera EV Pool Lowers Delivery Wait Time, NGTNews | http://tinyurl.com/4tft6ap6

2024 Rivian Lineup, MotorTrend | http://tinyurl.com/3nev2nn9

Tesla Self-Driving Car Video, SupercarBlondie | http://tinyurl.com/2r36cmkh