NEWSNOTES | August 7, 2024
News Notes

Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining traction, but adoption rates vary across states. As of June 2024, the U.S. has 3,299,502 registered EVs. California is leading the way along with Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii as early adopter states. Mississippi, North Dakota, and West Virginia are among the states lagging. Investments in charging, infrastructure, tax incentives, and stringent emissions regulations are all drivers of adoption. 

General Motors (GM) is featured in EV Magazine with an overview of everything from their 2040 carbon neutrality goals to billions of planned dollars in investments for an “All-Electric Future.” GM’s EV sales have climbed during the second half of this year as they delivered 21,930 EVs in the second quarter.

Waymo, the Alphabet-owned self-driving car company, is serious about scaling its commercial operations. It has just added 10 more square miles to its robotaxi service in cities surrounding San Francisco. It now has a territory of 55 square miles. The company is also doing business in Los Angeles and has a waitlisted service in Austin, Texas. 

REE is another company with a robotaxi as part of its portfolio. REE is an EV platform leader and has announced that its P7-C software-defined Class 4 EVs are now available for purchase by government agencies across all states. This is the result of a four-year contract awarded to National Auto Fleet Group (NAFG) by Sourcewell, a government agency that streamlines procurement processes.

Mullen Automotive is out with a new lease plan for the Mullen ONE, Class 1 electric cargo van. Based in Southern California, the lease program offers a transition to EVs with a three-year lease option starting at $475 per month plus applicable taxes and fees.

Battle Motors opened shop in 1946 as Crane Carrier Company (CCC). Today, in partnership with Velocity Truck Centers (VTC), they are announcing a network of nationwide dealers including the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, and Alabama.

Synop is an enterprise-grade software platform focused on EV fleets. They integrate with vehicles, chargers, and utilities to support light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle classes. Their software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering has attracted Prologis and Forum Mobility as customers.   

It's back-to-school time in parts of the country, and First Student is looking forward to the school year. The transportation provider is the largest operator of electric school buses (ESBs) in North America. It plans to deploy 110 new ESBs in 10 school districts and surpass 6 million miles driven on ESBs. 

InductEV’s specialty is wireless charging technology for the electrification of commercial fleets. They have rolled out a high-power inductive wireless charging system for bus fleets that has passed interoperability testing and validation between the BetterFleet charge management system. The companies will collaborate to accelerate wireless charging in Canada and the U.S.  

RESOURCES

• EV Adoption in the US, Reports.com 
• GM’s Bold Journey to an EV Future, EV Magazine 
• Waymo Expanding Robotaxi Service, The Verge 
• REE P7-C Now Available to Governments, Work Truck Online 
• Mullen Automotive Offers New Lease Program, NGT News 
• Battle Motors Goes National with Velocity Truck Centers, Truckinginfo 
• Synop Helps Fleets Get Paid, FreightWaves 
• First Student’s Biggest School Year Ever, CleanTechnica 
• BetterFleet, InductEV Announce U.S., Canadian Integration, Metro