NEWSNOTES | October 16, 2024
News Notes

DHL Supply Chain USA tested a Tesla Semi over the summer and concluded that the vehicle's ability to carry typical DHL payloads for a long distance on a single charge passed the test. They were able to get 500 miles on a single charge. Tesla has plans to build a factory in Nevada with an eye toward volume production next year.  

Amazon’s Vision-Assisted Package Retrieval (VAPR) is an AI-powered technology being added to its electric vehicle (EV) fleet. In lieu of the hand-held devices currently used to find relevant packages, the VAPR is designed to highlight which packages are to be delivered at each stop, avoiding shuffling to find the right package up for delivery. 

Rivian has met customer-satisfaction success and was ranked the best-rated EV in Plug In America’s 2024 EV Driver Annual Survey. More than 4,200 drivers took part and concluded that Rivian came out on top for overall satisfaction. The Rivian R1T electric pickup truck and the R1S electric SUV both earned top marks.  

Increased availability of EV models combined with available incentives resulted in sales increasing by 11% year-over-year in the third quarter of the year. Kelley Blue Book reports there was a 5% increase from Q2, and the share for Q3 hit 8.9%, the highest level recorded. 

EVs have proven to deliver new opportunities not typically associated with vehicles. CleanTechnica reports that the General Motors (GM) Energy branch has rolled out a new PowerBank product that allows customers to store energy from the grid or from solar panels. The PowerBank comes in two sizes, and when combining two 17.7-kWh PowerBanks, consumers can create enough power to keep the average American home running for 20 hours.   

4 Gen Logistics and Electrify America have installed 14 hyper-fast chargers for the purpose of supporting 4 Gen’s fleet of Class 8 drayage trucks. Partial funding in the first phase has come from Electrify America’s $25 million investment focused on medium- and heavy-duty electrification in the vicinity of the Port of Long Beach and the Wilmington neighborhood in Los Angeles, California.  

Republic Services has more than 17,000 vehicles in its fleet, making it the fifth largest vocational fleet operator in the United States. CleanTechnica goes on to talk about other fleets adopting electric buses and electric graders worldwide, highlighting the increasing interest in battery-powered heavy-duty trucks, buses, and mining equipment from the commercial sector.