NEWSNOTES | March 7, 2024
News Notes

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced two Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) to disburse $3 billion for zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure at U.S. ports. There is also $150 million for climate and air quality planning. CALSTART is hosting a webinar next Thursday, March 14^th to discuss the funding measures. It will help attendees get ready for and implement federal fund with maximum effect. You can register for it here.  

CALSTART member Microgrid Labs has entered a partnership with Landis+Gyr designed to provide electric utilities with support for their fleet customers. The offering includes everything from an EV fleet management platform and data-driven decision support to scalable solutions for large fleets. Voltera Power is in the news having shared an announcement of a $150 million EV charging infrastructure expansion. They now have 21 sites and are covering key EV markets including California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Florida. 

Charging just got easier for many, as well. Ford has adopted Tesla’s NACS standard and now owners of Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup and Mustang Mach-E SUV have access to more than 15,000 new fast charging stations throughout the US and Canada. 

Kudos to the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) which is hosting the largest event in the work truck industry this week in Indianapolis which is known as Work Truck Week. CALSTART was there and kicked off the week by hosting a member reception in partnership with our member Electrada. They work with fleets of all types and sizes power their electric vehicles (EVs) reliably and affordably. Electrada CEO Kevin Cushman welcomed CALSTART members and shared observations about the e-mobility landscape. 

The popular Rivian R1T electric pickup truck has been a hit since the first release. The company wants to serve more people and is launching multiple less expensive R2 models. Right about now they are announcing, through a livestreamed event in Laguna Beach, CA, an estimated R2 SUV price of $47,000 and a range of 330 miles (these are rumors but you should be able to find out shortly what they announced).  

DHL has plans to fully phase out diesel trucks by 2025 and they are making great progress thanks, in part, to Orange EV. DHL has 50 electric yard trucks from Orange EV that are deployed at more than 30 DHL Supply Chain sites across the U.S. Motiv Power Systems was also present this week at NTEA show having just announced Shasta Linen Supply has purchased five electric vans from them. The company is among those paving the way to transition their fleet in line with California’s Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) regulation. 

Ree Automotive announced that they have been chosen by Airbus UpNext to provide expertise in fully-by-wire control systems for a new research and technology demonstrator. That’s not all, they also closed a public offering of ordinary shares totaling close to $15 million. And, at Work Truck Week 2024  the company revealed their all-electric demo vehicle.

  RESOURCES

EPA Clean Ports Program Deployment Competition, EPA | https://tinyurl.com/3267bkck  

Federal Funding for Commercial ZEV Infrastructre, CALSTART | https://tinyurl.com/3anuavwf  

New Partnership to Revolutionize EV Fleet Planning & Operations, EV Engineering | https://tinyurl.com/mrx5pn84 

Voltera Kicks Off $150M Expansion, electrek | https://tinyurl.com/3fm87rcb 

Ford EVs Can Charge at Tesla Superchargers, CNET | https://tinyurl.com/547y7pzb 

Calculating the Cost of Powering Your EV Fleet, Electrada | https://tinyurl.com/yty9r73p 

Rivian Debuts Cheaper R2, Reuters | https://tinyurl.com/43jun7fm 

DHL Puts 50 Orange EV Yard Trucks to Work, electrek | https://tinyurl.com/3t5w6wmc 

Motiv Power Systems Delivers Five EVs to Shasta Linen Supply, NGTNews | https://tinyurl.com/39pyfkvw 

Ree Showcases Demo EV at Work Truck Week, electrek | https://tinyurl.com/4crrb8za