Proterra and Scale Microgrid Solutions are collaborating to install a microgrid and EV fleet charging system for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). The project, which just secured a grant from the California Energy Commission, includes solar panels and a battery energy storage system.
In the event of an extended power outage, electricity stored in the microgrid’s battery storage system can provide back-up power to allow the agency to continue operating its electric buses, providing emergency transport if needed. The system will also give VTA the ability to purchase its utility power from PG&E at optimal times, saving the agency on electricity costs.
The system includes approximately 1.5 megawatts of solar capacity, provided by panels on rooftop space and an overhead carport canopy at VTA’s Cerone bus yard. The battery storage system can store four megawatt-hours of usable electricity, and can deliver one megawatt of peak output power—enough to enable up to 20 hours of emergency operations. The agency will also install two Proterra 1.5 MW fleet chargers to power 34 electric transit buses. The microgrid and charging infrastructure will be linked together by a switchgear and controls package designed by Schneider Electric.
The system is expected to come online in late 2023.
“If the lights go out, transit agencies and fleet operators need to know that their electric vehicles will be there for the communities they serve,” said Chris Bailey, President of Proterra Powered & Energy.
“California’s electric grid needs distributed energy resources in order to support fully electrifying its transportation sector,” says Tim Victor of Scale Microgrid Solutions. “The system we are deploying for VTA will set the example of how distributed energy will alleviate many of the risks associated with the energy transition and provide cleaner, cheaper and more reliable charging power.”
“This project combines several VTA goals. It shifts us toward greener sources of energy, saves VTA money that can be reallocated to other operating needs and provides the infrastructure to charge our next batch of zero-emission buses,” said Adam Burger, Senior Transportation Planner with VTA.
Massachusetts-based solid-state battery developer Factorial Energy raised $200 million in a Series D funding round from Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. It will use the funding for research and development, commercial production and the deployment of batteries with its Factorial Electrolyte System Technology (FEST) electrolyte. While Stellantis announced 2026 as its goal for introducing the first competitive solid-state battery technology, Factorial Energy expects construction on a New England-area pilot plant for producing the batteries to begin in early 2022.
In 2021, Factorial says it became the first to develop a 40 Ah solid-state battery, which included the company’s FEST electrolyte. Its R&D efforts will be directed at customer testing.
“We look forward to getting batteries in the hands of our customers for strenuous testing and validation at the next level,” says Factorial Energy CEO Siyu Huang.
FEST is a proprietary solid electrolyte material. Factorial says it delivers safe and reliable cell performance at room temperature. Factorial estimates that its FEST batteries could offer up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion batteries. The batteries are compatible with current lithium-ion battery manufacturing infrastructure, which could lower costs and complexity for automakers.
In addition to the joint development agreement that generated the funding round, Factorial has a joint development agreement with Hyundai to commercialize its batteries.
Tesla’s new 4680 cell features a new chemistry that promises to boost efficiency and reduce costs. Now Panasonic says it is investing heavily in the development of the new cell, and plans to start mass production as early as 2023.
The new cell is about twice the size of Tesla’s current 2170 cell, but has five times the capacity. The greater energy density should allow EV-makers to increase range, reduce costs, or both. According to Nikkei Asia, the new cell should cost 10% to 20% less per kWh to produce than current cells.
Panasonic plans to invest some 80 billion yen ($704 million) to expand its plant in Wakayama prefecture and install new equipment to mass-produce the new Tesla batteries. The Wakayama factory’s annual production capacity is expected to be about 10 gigawatts per year—around 20% of Panasonic’s tiotal production capacity, and enough to equip 150,000 EVs.
Panasonic’s rivals are also bulking up on batteries. China’s CATL recently announced new investment of around 2 trillion yen. LG Chem has raised around 1 trillion yen by listing an affiliated company, and plans to use the proceeds to invest in the US. Toyota says it will invest 2 trillion yen in battery production and development by 2030.
Scientists at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology—a graduate school and research university—have developed a new carbon-based anode material that may increase the durability of batteries and shorten charging times.
The scientists calcinated a polymer called polybenzimidazole at 800 degrees Celsius to construct a carbon-based anode with 17 percent nitrogen, then tested it. The scientists compared graphite anodes to their anode in an article published in Chemical Communications, and say their anode retained more capacity—90 percent after 3000 cycles.
“The extremely fast charging rate with the anode material we prepared could make it suitable for use in EVs,” said lead scientist Professor Matsumi.
For the second year in a row, Charged has partnered with the global engineering and consulting firm umlaut to test and compare the user experience at the top DC fast charging networks and bring you the 2021 EV Charging Infrastructure Benchmark.
In 2020, after performing a comparative study of network providers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, umlaut adapted its testing methodology to the US market, where testing took place in EV hotspot California in early September 2020.
In 2021, umlaut’s testing team moved to the Northeast and covered 2,100 miles to find and test top sites from 7 networks—through 7 states over 6 days during September 2021. The testers conducted nearly 150 tests at 28 stations (4 each from 7 different networks) in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The goal was to bring you a comparison of the charging industry’s best efforts: a search for the best user experience currently available.
The testing experts: umlaut
umlaut is a global, full-service, cross-industry, end-to-end engineering consultancy company with 4,200 specialized experts and engineers, and operations in 50 locations all over the world. It was recently acquired by Accenture. The company regularly releases “technology roadmaps” in various industries, including energy, telecommunications, automotive and aviation.
umlaut has more than 20 years of experience in testing and benchmarking, and has worked with all the US automotive OEMs on various vehicle-related technologies, as well as all the telecom operators in areas like 5G. For example, every year umlaut assesses over 200 telecom networks in more than 120 countries. Its methodology is respected as the de facto industry standard.
Charged recently chatted with umlaut Managing Director Hakan Ekmen to learn more about its busy year and the 2021 EV Charging Infrastructure Benchmarks.
Charged: First of all, congratulations! I understand umlaut was acquired by Accenture in 2021.
Hakan Ekmen: Yes, Accenture has made a series of acquisitions to build its capabilities across industries. Recent acquisitions include operational technology providers like Advoco here in the US, a systems integrator for asset management solutions. Also, some consultancy companies and technology companies, like SALT Solutions in Germany. The move to acquire umlaut is one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of the company. The idea is that engineering and manufacturing of products all around cloud, artificial intelligence, 5G, will be redefined. The agreement was closed a few months back, and now our 4,200 employees are with Accenture‘s Industry X service.
Charged: Can you compare this year’s EV Charging Infrastructure Benchmarks and last year’s in both Europe and the US? What differences have you seen, what’s encouraging, and what still needs to be done?
Hakan Ekmen: First of all, we have to ensure continuity. We cannot start an exercise and then change it abruptly. Therefore, the methodology we are doing has to evolve, always keeping in mind that it should have end-user relevance. We did make some changes in the methodology, introducing technical key performance indicators (KPIs) in the charging process. Last year was the first year we assessed US charging infrastructure, and we started in the state which had the most relevance for electrified vehicles—California.
A total of 5 charging providers were tested last year. This year, we added Tesla and Blink, because to make it more relevant, the methodology and the things we do should evolve. We have also introduced some new KPIs, to have in-depth analytics, because the industry is interested in this comprehensive level of data and analytic insights.
The 2021 benchmark indicates that charging infrastructure is growing substantially, and the charging process is becoming more reliable. Our testers found clear improvements in holding charging power, as well as roaming and interoperability between charging networks, compared to last year.
The user experience is always a main focus for us, and many steps in the process could be removed or improved, as each customer interaction has the potential for error. If you look to what steps are of concern from an end-user perspective, then we see that the whole chain can be improved in the future.
In Europe, we also published a charging infrastructure benchmark, and we definitely see that, with the rising numbers of EVs, the importance of charging infrastructure is growing. In Germany, for example, 25% of new cars are electrified. There are now 70 electric vehicles for every charging station, which means if you just wait, it’ll explode. But you see also that the automotive industry is managing the transition well.
umlaut and our partner, Connect, conducted and published a comprehensive end-user charging test of EMPs (providers of charging apps and billing solutions) and CPOs (operators of charging points) in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
When you look to the end results, EnBW won twice in Germany, ranking first in the EMP and the CPO categories. Ionity secured victory among the CPOs in Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. Fastned ranked first among CPOs in the Netherlands. Among the EMPs, Smatrics won in Austria and Move in Switzerland. In Luxembourg, where Chargy is the only CPO, no winner was chosen.
Charged: Do you have any other services for EVs and e-mobility, and how do they integrate with all your other services?
Hakan Ekmen: That’s definitely a future topic for us. Our experts are always working end-to-end, including all the relevant topics—strategy, business model, end users, quality management and many more. We cover the entire value creation process from battery to vehicle, and charging infrastructure to the ecosystem. New examples are battery storage systems, fuel cell electrical vehicles and aircraft electric charging infrastructure. Then H2 infrastructure and the usage of H2 as a fuel is a central component to decarbonize the mobility sector, which was also relevant for the US. We see the whole chain as relevant, and we are ramping up our talents here. Across the regions, in the US, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Europe, the UK, Australia, India and a lot of other countries, we are ramping up the talents on our team to become a relevant partner for our customers there.
We also are working on additional benchmarks relative to the connected vehicle space and ADAS [advanced driver-assistance systems], which we’re going to release soon.
In the connected vehicle benchmark, we look to the cockpit of a vehicle, and we test more or less everything that is there—entertainment, usability, all the functionality the users are receiving when they are sitting in a car. We have established this format in the US, in Europe and in China recently. We compared, for example, how the Chinese OEMs are performing compared to the European ones. It’s interesting when some Chinese OEMs are entering Europe, what they can expect out of this.
Our Best in Test seal isn’t necessarily awarded to the vehicle, but to the measure of the OEM’s most connected features. So for example, we’re evaluating the highest-level ADAS feature that is available in the market for customers to experience. We have an entire benchmarking system and methodology for both the ADAS features and for the connected vehicle features.
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GM has announced new investment of more than $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing sites, calling it “the single largest investment announcement in GM history.” Most of the new investment, which is expected to create 4,000 new jobs, is aimed at increasing battery cell and electric truck manufacturing capacity.
Projects include the construction of a new Ultium Cells plant in Lansing and the conversion of GM’s assembly plant in Orion Township for production of the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the electric GMC Sierra. GM says the new investment will support an increase in electric truck production capacity to 600,000 units once both Factory ZERO and the Orion facilities are fully ramped.
“Today we are taking the next step in our continuous work to establish GM’s EV leadership by making investments in our vertically integrated battery production in the US, and our North American EV production capacity,” said GM CEO Mary Barra. “Our plan creates the broadest EV portfolio of any automaker and further solidifies our path toward US EV leadership by mid-decade.”
At the Orion assembly plant, GM will invest $4 billion to convert the facility to produce electric trucks using the Ultium Platform. Electric truck production, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV and electric GMC Sierra, will begin at Orion in 2024. Expansion at the site will include new body and paint shops and new general assembly and battery pack assembly areas. Production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV will continue during the plant’s conversion.
Orion Assembly will be GM’s third US assembly plant to be transformed for production of Ultium-powered EVs. GM assembly plants slated for conversion to build EVs include: Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan; Spring Hill Assembly in Spring Hill, Tennessee; CAMI in Ingersoll, Ontario; and Ramos Arizpe Assembly in Mexico. By the end of 2025, GM plans to have more than a million units of EV capacity in North America.
GM and LG Energy Solution, via their Ultium Cells joint venture, are investing $2.6 billion to build Ultium Cells’ third US battery cell manufacturing plant in Lansing, joining plants currently under construction in Ohio and Tennessee. Site preparations will begin this summer, and battery cell production is scheduled to begin in late 2024. Ultium Cells Lansing will supply battery cells to Orion Assembly and other GM assembly plants. Ultium Cells expects the facility to have 50 GWh of annual battery cell capacity when ramped up to full production.
“With a shared vision, GM and LG Energy Solution pioneered the EV sector by seizing new opportunities in the market well before anyone else did,” said Young-Soo Kwon, CEO of LG Energy Solution. “Our third battery manufacturing plant, fittingly located in America’s automotive heartland, will serve as a gateway to charge thousands and later millions of EVs in the future.”
Ultium batteries feature large-format, pouch-style cells that can be stacked vertically or horizontally inside the battery pack. This is designed to allow engineers to optimize battery energy storage and layout for each vehicle design. Energy options range from 50 to 200 kWh, which could enable a GM-estimated range of up to 450 miles.
Most of GM’s future Ultium-powered EVs will have 400-volt battery packs and up to 200 kW fast-charging capability, while GM’s truck platform will have 800-volt battery packs and 350 kW fast-charging capability.
“This significant investment demonstrates our commitment to strengthen our Michigan and US manufacturing presence and grow good-paying jobs,” said Mary Barra. “We will have the products, the battery cell capacity and the vehicle assembly capacity to be the EV leader by mid-decade.”
Dutch civil engineering company Bam Infra Nederland has commissioned yellow-machine builder Wirtgen and Dutch powertrain developer New Electric to convert an asphalt spreading machine into “the world’s first fully electric paver.”
The conversion team replaced the paver’s stage V motor with an electric drive consisting of a 270 kWh battery pack and two “smartly switched” electric motors. The e-paver can run for up to 10 hours on a charge, and makes “considerably less noise than current machines.”
Bam estimates that it will save some 150 liters of diesel fuel per day, and eliminate around 93 tons of CO₂ and 115 kg of nitrogen oxide emissions per year.
Bam built an electric roller in 2020, and aims to have a completely emissions-free set of asphalt machinery on the road by the middle of this year.
Automated testing, data acquisition and control system provider Bloomy has introduced a test system for battery management systems. The FLEX BMS Validation System is designed to evaluate hardware, software and firmware, and is intended for the electrification and test lab markets.
The FLEX BMS Validation System simulates vehicle electronic signals, and uses Bloomy’s FCC- and CE-certified Battery Simulator 1200 to simulate battery cell voltages and balancing currents. The system relies on industry-standard connectors to link to the BMS and an ergonomic signal interface panel for monitoring and controlling signals and models. While models can be run through the embedded Linux Real-Time controller, it also supports NI TestStand test sequences and Python scripts as well as models developed through Mathworks Simulink, C/C#/C++ and NI LabVIEW.
Applications for the FLEX BMS Validation System include testing prototypes, comparing systems by configuration, performance and safety, as well as testing the long-term performance of systems.
Tesla’s latest earnings report, for the fourth quarter and full year 2021, was another strong one. Deliveries grew by 87% in 2021, earnings per share and revenue each beat analyst estimates by a healthy 6%, and the company claimed that it achieved “the highest quarterly operating margin among all volume OEMs…demonstrating that EVs can be more profitable than combustion engine vehicles.” Tesla also confirmed that Model Y production has begun at Gigafactory Texas, and that it’s only waiting for final certification to start deliveries.
In response to all this great news, TSLA stock tanked—it lost over 10% the day after the report, and is still in freefall at this writing. To a certain extent, this is standard procedure—investor expectations for Tesla have flown so high for so long that even spectacular earnings news is considered mediocrity. However, most of the stock pundits seem to believe that the main reason for the sudden souring is the fact that the launch of Tesla’s Cybertruck and Semi will be delayed until “hopefully next year.”
Each of these vehicles has the potential to open up an important new segment to electrification, and the continued delays are bad. However, they aren’t news—the media has been discussing the plight of the two stalled trucks for weeks.
At least one Tesla-watcher believes that the real reason for the stock slide is a sense that the company is straying from its mission of electrifying transport. At a time when Tesla should be calling all hands on deck to bring its new vehicles to market, the mercurial Mr. Musk spent much of his time on the earnings call discussing other projects. Explaining why Tesla isn’t working on a new, lower-priced model, he conceded, “We have enough on our plate right now, too much on our plates, frankly.”
An overloaded plate is a common problem in our spoiled society, but an overeager visitor to an all-you-can-eat buffet can always remove the lime Jell-O and sheet cake from their tray in order to make room for meat and potatoes.
Tesla seems to have plenty of room on its plate for robotaxis. “The thing that overwhelmingly matters is when is the car autonomous,” said Musk, adding that “my personal guess is that we’ll achieve Full Self-Driving this year.” A certain Tesla-bashing web site claimed that this is the ninth year in a row that Musk has made that prediction.
Also occupying a prominent place on the piled-high plate is the humanoid robot now dubbed (with an unintentional second level of irony) Optimus Subprime. “In terms of priority of products, I think actually the most important product development we’re doing this year is the Optimus humanoid robot,” said the man who, in his younger days, donned his armor and set out to slay the dragon of climate change.
As for the practical purpose of this robot, Musk served up only this word salad: “The foundation of the economy is labor. Capital equipment is distilled labor. So what happens if you don’t actually have a labor shortage? I’m not sure what an economy even means at that point. That’s what Optimus is about, so, very important.”
Most of the EV press devoted little ink to the robot, preferring to focus on the positives in the report. However, Electrek called the announcement “quite a surprising change of strategy.” Autoblog was skeptical of Musk’s claim that the robot “has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business,” calling it (with understatement) “a tall order, at least from an earnings perspective.”
As intended, the Lost In Space reject got a lot of headlines in the mainstream media, though not much respect. CNBC called the robot project “an example of Musk’s showmanship,” and lamented that “it’s more important for Tesla to make a robot than new car models this year,” but injected a hopeful note, speculating that the robot “could be years away and may never come to fruition.”
Actually, given Tesla’s robust demand and constrained supply, it’s probably not a bad idea for the company to defer introducing new models at this time. However, it’s definitely a bad idea to divert resources from getting the highly-anticipated Semi and Cybertruck into production, while hyping a vanity project that has nothing whatsoever to do with Tesla’s stated mission.
German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon introduced the EiceDRIVER 2ED4820-EM gate driver with an SPI interface, which is designed to protect 48 V lithium-ion battery systems from negative and positive voltages. It’s part of the EiceDRIVER APD product line, and is in production now.
The new dual-channel high-side gate driver can withstand negative voltages at Vbat down to -90 V and positive voltages up to 105 V. It also includes a current sense amplifier and two integrated output channels. The amplifier supports high- or low-side measurements. Infineon says the low-side measurement “helps reduce cost, PCB space and the overall power dissipation, since the existing shunt resistor of the battery management system can be used.”
The two integrated output channels provide some options Infineon says will reduce PCB space and overall cost, including setting up a dedicated pre-charge path or splitting the charging and discharging current paths of the battery.
Infineon says the new gate driver complies with the ISO26262 standard, and expects it to help protect 48 V battery systems used in mild hybrids, trucks, e-wheelers and battery packs for solar panels.
Dana brings together its expertise in hydraulics and fluid controls with TLX Technologies’ proven capabilities in control valves and electronics to deliver customized on-off and proportional fluid-routing e-Valves for electric vehicle applications.
The Rise of the e-Valve
e-Valves are not a new technology; however, with the acceleration of vehicle electrification, their popularity is skyrocketing, for a few reasons. First, to maintain safe fluid temperatures, electrified vehicles require thermal management system valves with dynamic control and faster response times than what wax-motor flow controls offer. If a battery is running hot, for example, time is of the essence and fast-responding flow control is critical. Second, conserving energy usage is crucial for extending the range of electrified vehicles. To achieve this, the most effective e-Valves do not require power to hold position.
Dana: Delivering e-Valves for 25 Years
Dana recognized early on the value that flow controls bring to the mobility industry and launched its first conventional valve program in 1996. For the last 25 years, the company has leveraged its expertise in hydraulics, flow control, and electrification to advance its e-Valve offering. Recently, Dana partnered with TLX, which designs and develops custom solenoid solutions, to infuse specialized electronic controls expertise, including fail-safe capability, into the e-Valve offering.
Together, Dana and TLX deliver custom proportional e-Valves that bring together the best in fluid and electronic controls for light- and commercial-vehicle segments. These precise, fast-acting e-Valves react to system needs and eliminate the need for power consumption to hold position, which contributes to extended vehicle range. All e-Valves are custom designed and built to the customer’s requirements.
On-off e-Valves are customized for the application. Generally, larger on-off e-Valves for the commercial-vehicle market feature a piloted design that uses less copper, resulting in light and cost-effective valves. On-off e-Valves for automotive applications tend to feature a directly actuated design. These e-Valve designs offer packaging-friendly configurations that adopt to solenoid or motor actuation, with a fail-safe feature and the potential of no-power-consumption to hold position.
The Dana Difference
Dana brings more than 25 years of experience in hydraulics control design. With full thermal management integration, Dana takes a system approach to flow controls and offers a packaging-friendly solution.
Dana is known for its ability to deliver customized solutions — cost effectively. The company can do so because of its unique modular design. By utilizing the same tooling for the core components on multiple platforms, Dana achieves faster turnarounds for prototypes and production, as well as lower costs for changeover — all benefits that bring added value to the e-Valve offering.
Complete System Capabilities
While other e-Valve manufacturing companies often tout that they optimize for the whole system — Dana is putting that optimization into practice. The company is actively integrating valves and flow controls alongside key thermal management systems within electrified vehicles.
Specifically, Dana brings together e-Motor cooling, power electronics cooling, and proportional e-Valves into a completely integrated thermal management system for e-Drive units. Engineered for seamless integration, these systems are a compact and packaging-friendly solution. By taking a full-system approach, Dana streamlines complexities — for example, optimizing and reducing the usage of connections and hoses to place parts in closer proximity, leading to improved energy efficiency and weight reduction. The company is known for collaborating closely with customers to develop a system that is optimized to meet their unique needs.
A Smart Choice
As OEMs continue their shift towards vehicle electrification, they are going to need partners that have specialized solutions designed to deliver superior performance in electrified applications. Together, Dana’s history and expertise in hydraulics and fluid controls combined with TLX’s specialization in valves and electronics controls make the company a smart choice for e-Valve production.
Learn more about how Dana is leading the charge in vehicle electrification at Dana.com.
Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, plans to expand its electric and hybrid vehicle services at 44 of the company’s Firestone Complete Auto Care and Wheel Works stores in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California.
While EV services today account for less than 10% of total services at Bridgestone’s retail operations nationwide, the company expects demand to increase significantly by the end of the decade.
Bridgestone Retail Operations operates more than 2,200 tire and vehicle service centers across the US, including Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Hibdon Tires Plus and Wheel Works store locations.
New services offered in Austin and San Francisco consist of inspections, diagnostics, maintenance and repairs involving high-voltage components, including health checks and troubleshooting for batteries, electric motors and electrical systems. Bridgestone currently offers low-voltage hybrid and EV services at retail stores nationwide. The company also offers safety training for work on hybrid and electric vehicles at all technician levels.
Bridgestone plans to install a total of 50 Level 2 charging stations at 25 Firestone Complete Auto Care and Wheel Works stores in the first quarter of 2022. The chargers, provided by Blink Charging, will be installed at stores in Austin, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“It’s an exciting time to be in the automotive service industry as mobility evolves to be cleaner and more sustainable,” said Marko Ibrahim, President, Bridgestone Retail Operations. “We truly believe what’s good for society is good for business, which is why we are increasing our investments in plug-in vehicle services in two key markets with plans to expand further in the future. The steps we take now will ensure we are the service provider of choice for new-energy vehicles.”
Charging specialist CTEK has integrated its EV chargers with billing software from Fuuse Billing, a brand of the England-based company Miralis Data. Customers with CTEK Chargestorm Connected 2 chargers can now link their chargers to Fuuse Billing software to generate revenue.
The payment card industry-compliant software supports payment collections from drivers, automated invoicing and secure storage of card and payment details, and displays financial data and reports for connected chargers.
Fuuse software includes several tariff options. Operators can charge drivers by the kWh, by the minute, or both. The company says Fuuse Billing’s remote management features are capable of monitoring and resolving hardware faults, managing and reducing electricity supply costs, setting operating hours, restricting access and addressing problems such as ICEing and bay-hogging.
CTEK’s Fuuse-integrated chargers are OCPP-compliant, scalable from a single charger to a large network, and available through a per-charger license or a percentage of revenue arrangement.
Ford Pro, the division of Ford that caters to commercial fleet customers, has introduced Ford Pro Intelligence, a cloud-based platform to support EV fleet operations.
Ford Pro Intelligence combines Ford Pro’s suite of services, including telematics, with Salesforce’s cloud-based CRM system. It’s designed to help fleet operators keep track of vehicles, manage drivers and share data with customers. It “brings together everything [fleet operators] need in one comprehensive cloud-based suite of services as well as consultation on complex topics like charging solutions, including depot site design, to help optimize energy costs and uptime.”
“Ford Pro is going to revolutionize the way our commercial customers work. We are integrating an intelligent management system—more data, more uptime, more productivity, smart charging and much less hassle,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley. “Ford Pro is leading Ford’s transformation to an always-on relationship with our customers and it is one of our biggest bets to lead the connected, electric mobility future.”
“The biggest pain point we hear from commercial customers when it comes to managing their fleets is not having a single place to access all of their information across vehicles and services,” says Ted Cannis, Ford Pro CEO. “We’ve created a platform that centralizes and powers our entire digital ecosystem, working across gas and electric powertrains, Ford and non-Ford vehicles.”
Ford has launched a pilot program with the Sonoma County Winegrowers, a group of more than 1,800 grape farmers in Northern California—three farms in Sonoma County will test Ford F-150 Lightning Pro pickups, E-Transit cargo vans, and Ford Pro Intelligence products and services.
The goal is to demonstrate how EVs and web-based fleet management tools can help the agriculture industry increase productivity, improve sustainability and lower the total cost of fleet ownership. Pilot farmers will have access to Ford Pro Intelligence software, home and depot charging, Ford Pro Telematics Essentials and Ford Pro E-Telematics and energy management.
“This collaboration with the Ford Pro team is a great natural next step to help us continue our progress in sustainable agriculture,” said Sonoma County Winegrowers President Karissa Kruse. “A lot of farming families have a rich history with Ford, so as many of our farmers look for ways to lead in innovation and be a part of the solution, that trust is critical when it comes to investing in electric vehicles and in solutions to manage farming fleets.”
Meanwhile, Ford reports strong demand for the upcoming 2022 E-Transit electric delivery van—some 300 customers, including the City of Orlando and Walmart, have ordered over 10,000 vans.
“For commercial customers, one size does not fit all needs,” says Andrew Walker, Ford Pro Commercial Van Brand Manager. “That’s why we designed the original gas Transit with a best-in-class range of configurations backed by a network of nearly 300 upfitters to further customize it for specific applications. E-Transit adds another eight configurations to that lineup.”
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Volvo Trucks North America is currently delivering its Volvo VNR Electric Class 8 truck to fleets across the US. Now the company has announced that production of a new model, which features an 85% increase in range, faster charging, and more configurations for heavy-duty transport, will begin in Q2 2022. The next-gen VNR Electric is now open for orders.
Volvo Trucks began commercial production of the VNR Electric model in mid-2021 at the company’s New River Valley manufacturing plant in Dublin, Virginia. Over the past year, Volvo has been collecting valuable operating data from early customers.
Volvo says battery improvements have delivered an increase of up to 40% in storage capacity, which is up to 565 kWh for a complete battery system, enabling a range of up to 275 miles. A dedicated Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS) was added to maintain ideal environmental temperatures. Charging time has also been reduced: Volvo says that, at 250 kW, an 80% charge can be delivered in 90 minutes for the six-battery package, and 60 minutes for the four-battery version.
Volvo Trucks has added two new configurations to its VNR Electric lineup—a 6×4 straight truck and a 6×4 tractor—joining its three existing models: 4×2 tractor, 6×2 tractor, and single-axle straight truck. Each configuration is designed for applications with local and regional distribution ranges, including food and beverage, drayage, and pick-up and delivery routes.
Volvo Trucks offers various ancillary services to fleet customers. It helps to leverage funding opportunities across North America. Volvo Financial Services offers complete financing and insurance solutions for both trucks and charging infrastructure. The Volvo Gold Contract, which comes standard with the Volvo VNR Electric, incorporates maintenance, towing, uptime services, and full coverage of major components.
“Volvo Trucks is continuing to expand the capabilities of the VNR Electric to make it more efficient, satisfy our customer demands for expanded range, and provide a better driving experience,” said Andy Brown, Volvo Trucks’ Product Marketing Manager for Electromobility. “The electric driveline featuring a two-speed I-Shift transmission provides best-in-class, powerful and smooth acceleration. Innovations such as Volvo Active Driver Assist and Dynamic Steering make driving effortless and precise, while at the same time improving safety.”
The Rimac Group has spun off Rimac Technology as a wholly-owned independent company. Sister company Bugatti Rimac (previously Rimac Automobili) is jointly owned by the Rimac Group, which has a 55% stake, and Porsche, which owns the remaining 45%.
Bugatti Rimac will continue to focus on building “hypercars,” while Rimac Technology will provide components to other OEMs. “This new structure will enable each company to flourish to their full potential, while still sharing the synergies between them—for example using our own hypercars as testbeds for new technology before we offer it to other OEMs.”
Rimac Technology “is free from any oversight by any other manufacturer, including investors into the Rimac Group business. It’s…important for Rimac Technology clients that their projects are kept confidential.”
Rimac Technology currently works with “many major automotive manufacturers across Europe,” using the engineering expertise gained by developing the Nevera hypercar to offer a range of products. Rimac Technology is known to have worked with Porsche, Hyundai, Kia, Pininfarina, Koenigsegg and Aston Martin, and says it has “many additional projects which are still unknown to the public.”
Rimac Technology is ramping up its production capacity, and will be manufacturing “tens of thousands of high-performance systems per year by 2024,” and will be offering “products ranging from small hybrid battery systems to full rolling chassis.”
The company will expand its activities in the engineering, development, production, and supply of battery systems, electric drive units, electronic systems, and user interface components.
“If we go back to the very beginning of the Rimac Automobili business in 2009, the dream for me was to build my own electric hypercar,” said Mate Rimac, CEO of The Rimac Group. “With Nevera we believe we’ve achieved that dream, creating a car that is not only the fastest accelerating in the world, but also comfortable, usable and brimming with our advanced technology. But Nevera isn’t just a standalone project, it’s a showcase of what Rimac Technology can do free from the costs or volume restraints of a large-scale manufacturer. The e-axles, torque vectoring, battery systems, connectivity, AI, and countless other electrical systems on Nevera are all our own creations, and each of them can be scaled to suit applications you might find on a range of higher-volume performance vehicles.”
While consumers are keen to reduce their carbon footprint, the move to E-Mobility, especially private electric vehicles (EV), is hindered by the limited charging infrastructure, most notably in fast charging.
This white paper reviews the charging landscape and examines implementation approaches for fast DC chargers. Specific focus is placed on chargers delivering 350 kW and more for fast electrical “refueling”. It also examines the role SiC power semiconductor devices and other supporting technologies in the Infineon portfolio offer in such applications.
EV Connect has announced the general availability of its Fleet Charging Management Platform. The new fleet management solution is designed to provide complete control over fleets and their energy consumption for fleet service providers as well as in-house-managed vehicle fleets.
As a lead customer, the City of Porterville, California is now using the EV Connect fleet solution for real-time charger and vehicle data, automatic and manual charging prioritization, and energy management to help mitigate on-peak energy costs. In addition to serving more than 20 of its own vans and buses, the city can now optimize its charging schedules for demand response, manage charging costs, and ensure uptime across a multi-vendor charging environment.
The EV Connect Fleet Management Platform presents a dashboard that can track a vehicle’s state-of-charge, ready time and overall status, with complete visibility into depot specifics. The charging management software is designed to support all use cases, including parking lots, distribution centers, transit hubs and other publicly accessible locations. Thanks to collaborations with various payment, telematics and fleet management software providers, the software enables fleets to manage energy, track fuel time, and notify managers of potential problems through real-time alerts.
“Electrified fleets represent one of the biggest opportunities for clean transportation, and fleet owners and operators need a flexible, reliable, and frictionless EV charging solution that maximizes vehicle uptime,” said Jon Leicester, VP of Fleet at EV Connect. “The EV Connect Fleet platform provides the freedom to deploy many different charging hardware options, serve all kinds of vehicle types, and control cost as well as revenue, all from within a single platform.”
