Fast-charging network EVgo has entered into an MOU with Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics to jointly develop next-generation EV charging architecture.
The architecture is designed to provide EVgo with more control over the customer experience and to improve reliability, cost savings and energy efficiency. The company aims to lower its gross capital expense per stall by 30% while increasing peak power delivery by nearly 20%.
The fast chargers will include advanced software, all-in-one power electronics, a contactless payment interface, 400 kW dispensers, dynamic power sharing across up to six charging stalls, and extended cable length. EVgo expects to complete final design and testing in its Innovation Lab and to deploy the new chargers by the second half of 2026.
“As the next step in our evolution,” said EVgo President Dennis Kish, “EVgo will leverage our learnings and experience from working with over one million customers across the US to develop this next-generation charging architecture in collaboration with Delta Electronics, with the goal of increasing consumer confidence in public EV infrastructure and supporting broader adoption of electric vehicles nationwide.”
Daimler Buses Italia, the Italian Daimler Buses sales company, is in the process of delivering 110 Mercedes-Benz eCitaro buses to Autoservizi Troiani, operator of suburban routes in Rome’s eastern periphery. Ten are already in operation, and delivery is scheduled to be completed by mid-2026.
Each of the 12-meter-long, three-door buses can accommodate up to 26 seated and 47 standing passengers. Of the 110 ordered, 65 are equipped with NMC3 batteries that provide a range of up to 280 kilometers, and 45 will be equipped with next-generation NMC4 batteries.
Autoservizi Troiani has been operating 40 Mercedes-Benz Citaro hybrid buses since the beginning of the year. It plans to eventually electrify its entire fleet.
South Korea-based LG Energy Solution has signed agreements with Ford Motor to supply battery modules from its Poland facility for Ford’s commercial vans in the UK and EU.
Under the contracts, LG Energy Solution is expected to supply a total of 109 GWh of batteries to Ford for its electric commercial vans starting in 2026, for four to six years.
The two companies also agreed that batteries for the current Ford Mustang Mach-E will be produced at LG Energy Solution’s Michigan facility in 2025, instead of Poland, to enhance efficiency and capitalize on tax credits available under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for EVs that use batteries manufactured in the US.
“These agreements attest to our experience and expertise in powering commercial vehicles with innovative battery technologies designed to handle extreme user environments,” said David Kim, CEO of LG Energy Solution.
Hurricane-force winds are blowing through the global auto industry, and we may just have seen the first roof fly off.
German carmaker Volkswagen has announced that it plans to close at least three factories in Germany, for the first time in the company’s history. According to the company’s works council, VW is also expected to lay off thousands of workers, impose major pay cuts, and abolish a 30-year-old employment protection agreement.
“The board wants to close at least three factories in Germany,” Daniela Cavallo, Chairwoman of VW’s works council (roughly analogous to a labor union in the US), told employees at VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg. “All German VW plants are affected by these plans,” she added. “None is safe.”
Of course, multiple factors are at work. Europe’s largest economy is struggling, total auto sales are in decline, and EV sales haven’t grown quickly enough to pull the automaker through the Valley of Death. (Germany’s foolish decision to end its EV subsidy program certainly hasn’t helped.)
Germany does have some storm-mitigation resources that may come into play. The country’s works councils are generally more powerful than (for example) auto workers’ unions in the US, and in some cases large employers (VW employs some 120,000 people in Germany) are partly owned by regional governments. The state of Lower Saxony, where a plant in Osnabrück is threatened with closure, is Volkswagen’s second-largest shareholder.
Cavallo has raised the prospect of industrial action, saying that the company is “playing with the massive risk that everything will soon escalate here,” and that workers will “do what a workforce has to do when it fears for its existence.”
Political and labor action may cushion the job losses (in September, Germany implemented a modest tax break for company EVs), but of course in the long run, the only way forward for legacy automakers is to start building EVs that can compete with Chinese models.
The roof in Wolfsburg may be the first to take flight, but every global automaker is in the storm’s path.
Italian bus manufacturer Iveco Bus, a brand of Iveco Group, has received three new contracts in France for a total of 31 hydrogen fuel cell buses and 20 battery electric buses.
Cannes Lérins Urban Community has ordered twelve GX 337 H2 LINIUM BRT hydrogen fuel cell buses, Lorient Agglomération has ordered nineteen GX 337 H2 LINIUM buses, and Grand Reims Mobilités has ordered twenty GX 437 ELEC LINIUM BRT battery-electric buses, with an option for an additional nine. Deliveries will start in the second half of 2025.
The GX 337 H2 LINIUM BRT hydrogen fuel cell buses are equipped with a fuel cell system developed in partnership with Hyundai Motor Company’s HTWO and a battery pack from Iveco Group brand FPT Industrial.
“These projects underscore Iveco Bus’s expertise in sustainable mobility, covering all ranges and technologies for low- to zero-emission vehicles,” said Domenico Nucera, President, Bus Business Unit, Iveco Group.
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Molabo, a German manufacturer of 48-volt electric motors, has announced that Finnish shipyard Kewatec delivered a 16-meter-long firefighting and rescue boat to the Kiel, Germany, fire department that is equipped with a hybrid waterjet propulsion system using Molabo’s Aries i50 electric motors.
The RESCUE 1500 boat, based on Kewatec’s e-FiFi 1470 design, is powered by two 50 kW electric drives running on Molabo’s 48 V technology and two jet drives from DOEN Waterjets, in addition to standard combustion engines.
The vessel can operate in either electric or diesel mode as well as in boost mode, in which both the electric and combustion drive trains are activated. This adds up to 3.5 knots to the diesel mode’s top speed. In electric mode, the vessel attains a top speed of 6.8 knots, exceeding the contractual requirement that it be able to maintain speeds of up to 6 knots for up to two hours.
Installation, repair and maintenance of Molabo’s safe-to-touch drive system does not require specialized personnel trained to handle high voltage, thus reducing risk to crew, emergency workers and the public. In addition, the boat’s jet drives eliminate propeller hazard.
“Safety is paramount to Molabo—that’s why we developed the safe-to-touch high-performance electric drive,” said Molabo COO Adrian Patzak.
Eaton, a multinational power-management manufacturer, has partnered with German electronics manufacturer Munich Electrification to develop and market a battery configuration switch (BCS) for 400-volt/800-volt dual-string battery packs in EVs. This allows 800 V vehicles to effectively charge via a 400 V charger.
Eaton says the new switch simplifies the system and streamlines packaging and assembly by enabling reduction of up to 12 components in a battery disconnect unit. It also minimizes contact resistance by reducing the number of contact points compared to conventional contactors.
The unit offers a mechanical interlock to prevent pack short-circuits due to crashes, software bugs or contactor malfunction. It can maintain stable conditions when the electronic control unit loses power.
“There are a lot of 800-volt vehicles in the market, but many charging stations can only supply 400-volt power. BCS provides charging flexibility to consumers who want access to an expanded network of DC chargers,” said Mark Schneider, President of Eaton’s eMobility unit.
British-Australian multinational mining and metals company Rio Tinto and global lithium producer Arcadium Lithium, headquartered in Ireland, have made an agreement under which Rio Tinto will acquire Arcadium in an all-cash transaction for $5.85 per share.
The deal will bring Arcadium’s lithium business into Rio Tinto’s portfolio of commodities that include aluminum, copper, high-grade iron ore and lithium.
Arcadium’s lithium chemicals manufacturing and extraction processes range from hard-rock mining to conventional brine extraction and direct lithium extraction. Its annual lithium production capacity, which is expected to more than double by the end of 2028, is 75,000 metric tonnes (82,673 tons) of lithium carbonate equivalent. The company, which has approximately 2,400 employees, has projects underway in Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, the UK and the US.
“Arcadium Lithium is an outstanding business today and we will bring our scale, development capabilities and financial strength to realize the full potential of its Tier 1 portfolio,” said Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm.
The EV battery industry is evolving rapidly, pushing the need for advanced materials that are thinner, lighter and safer. Engineers are increasingly turning to mica as a material solution that helps improve vehicle reliability and safety by containing thermal runaway. Pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes, meanwhile, have emerged as a preferred solution for bonding mica materials in a battery pack.
Our new white paper explores common challenges associated with using mica. Referencing laboratory data, this report provides guidance to engineers and others involved in the design and assembly of these materials. It offers insight into how PSA tapes offer many advantages when combined with mica for EV battery packs including, but not limited to:
Safety: PSA tapes require no special hazardous material handling protocols.
Assembly optimization: PSAs provide virtually immediate green strength with cure time measured in microseconds rather than hours or days. Tapes can also hold parts in place while a pack is assembled.
Consistency: PSAs offer consistent thickness upon application. Each battery pack coming out of assembly will have the same amount of adhesive as every other pack.
Versatility: PSA tapes can be laminated to foams, fibers and films, and die-cut to specification. Adhesives can be engineered with properties that enhance their ease of use (such as easy removability/repositionability), long-term durability and flame resistance
The white paper outlines the properties to consider for Muscovite and Phlogopite mica as well as the effect of adhesive pattern coating, tape constructions, and the peel angle on the materials. This study was developed in conjunction with the Asheville Mica Energy Solutions.
Today, the adoption of electric vehicles for both consumer and commercial purposes is rapidly growing. In 2023, EVs made up 17 percent of worldwide automobile sales. For EV design engineers and purchasing agents, this drive towards increased electrification results in the challenge of finding cutting-edge components that can handle increasing temperatures, voltage, and power without sacrificing reliability, availability, and footprint.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) are commonly used in EV electronics and subsystems because of their high temperature ratings, tiny size, and easy surface mount form factor. To help you choose the right automotive-grade capacitors for your EV project, this whitepaper discusses the key considerations and certifications for EV components, common use cases in EV subsystems, and capacitor requirements for specific applications.
Student transportation provider First Student is working with New York electric utility Con Edison to demonstrate a Smart Energy Hub that will support the electrification of school buses in Brooklyn.
First Student has around 2,000 electric school buses under contract in school districts across the US, and more than 360 EVs deployed.
The Brooklyn project will include a fleet of 12 electric school buses, which will be topped with solar panels, and will replace diesel buses at First Student’s location on Malta Street. The panels, along with solar arrays on the rooftop of the facility, will be part of a generation, battery storage and power delivery system that’s capable of shifting loads to non-peak times and/or providing backup power in outages.
For this project, First Student will deploy its First Charge solution, a trenchless power deployment approach that the company says reduces construction costs by at least 30% and enables a more efficient deployment.
The project includes V2X capabilities (aka a microgrid). “V2X goes beyond simply plugging electric school bus batteries back into the grid, expanding instead to include the capacity to direct electricity delivery where it is needed,” First Student explains. “In summer months, when the buses are idle, and energy needs soar, or during emergencies, the smart energy hub significantly increases capacity, generating additional power for Con Edison.”
“First Student’s unparalleled battery storage capacity and pioneering First Charge technology solves an immediate need in many American communities: affordable, clean electricity supply that expands the capabilities of existing power grids,” said First Student CEO and President John Kenning. “We do this while providing a better experience for students by putting more electric buses on the roads, creating a safer, more enjoyable ride that’s healthier for kids and better for the environment.”
“Our company leads the industry in moving students, and now we are showing the world how to move electrons. We’ are proving that a scalable, cost-effective microgrid is possible, and doing it using bus batteries that otherwise would be sitting dormant,” said First Student Chief Engineer Alex Cook. “We learned from successful trials in multiple other deployments that combine First Student’s innovative charging infrastructure solution with unique energy storage options and dynamic load management software.”
Lithium-ion battery technology and manufacturing company Electrovaya has received a C$2 million ($1.45 million) investment from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) to make automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and capacity enhancements at its Mississauga, Ontario manufacturing facility.
“This funding will help assist the company in its goal to scale deployments of its Infinity lithium-ion battery technology in a wide range of applications that require industry-leading safety and longevity including robotics, material handling, locomotives and other mission-critical applications,” said Raj DasGupta, CEO of Electrovaya.
As it did in previous decades, Honda has used another maker’s car to enter a new US segment.
Honda is often known as the world’s largest maker of internal combustion engines—more than 14 million of them a year. It sells those engines in a variety of containers, from home generators and lawn mowers to ATVs and automobiles. Over the years, the company has pioneered a number of advanced powertrain technologies, including both natural gas and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
None of those were battery-electric vehicles, however.
That left Honda severely behind in the global race toward long-range electric vehicles that Tesla kicked off in 2012 with its Model S. Since then, in North America, Honda has sold two pure EVs in tiny numbers: the 2013-2014 Honda Fit EV (82 miles of EPA range) and the 2017-2019 Honda Clarity Electric midsize sedan (89 miles of range). Both were purely compliance cars.
Now, finally, Japan’s third-largest automaker (and perhaps that country’s most Americanized car brand) is selling a real EV. It’s the 2024 Honda Prologue, a midsize crossover utility with roughly the footprint of Honda’s midsize two-row, gasoline-powered Passport. A spacious five-seat utility vehicle, it’s EPA-rated at 273 to 296 miles of range.
Data since sales started in March suggests that the Prologue has done well for Honda—more than 5,400 were sold in August 2024 (the most recent month before this article closed). A Honda exec told Charged in February he was confident they’d receive 40,000 Prologues from the factory in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, during calendar 2024.
It’s worth noting that the Prologue presently carries heavy incentives, from the federal $7,500 point-of-purchase rebate to Honda’s own internal spiffs. As Electrek recently said, “With up to $14,250 in incentives, the Honda Prologue can be even cheaper to lease than a Civic, despite costing nearly double.”
Honda did a deal with GM to develop its own electric SUV, the Prologue, on Blazer EV underpinnings.
Is it really a Honda?
The secret to this remarkable debut lies in a deal announced back in 2020 between Honda and General Motors. GM planned to roll out a variety of vehicles based on its Ultium architecture, from the luxury Cadillac Lyriq through the rock-climbing GMC Hummer EV to the mass-market compact Chevrolet Equinox EV. A core vehicle within those plans was the midsize Chevy Blazer EV—which shares structural dimensions and body hard points with the more upmarket Lyriq.
Honda did a deal with GM to develop its own electric SUV, the Prologue, on Blazer EV underpinnings. GM would build the car for Honda alongside the Chevy in its Ramos Arizpe plant. Honda would also develop an upmarket Acura ZDX crossover on the same platform—that one would be built by GM at the Lyriq assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
While the battery sizes, body hard points, and other core characteristics remain common between the Blazer EV and the Prologue, Honda made several revisions to give the Prologue more of a Honda feel. For one thing, it declined a rear-wheel-drive version, offering the Prologue only with front- or all-wheel drive, to preserve the expected on-road behavior from a brand that has never sold a four-seat, rear-wheel-drive car in the US.
While the battery sizes, body hard points, and other core characteristics remain common between the Blazer EV and Prologue, Honda made several revisions to give the Prologue more of a Honda feel.
Another tweak was multiple refinements to the multi-link suspension, front and rear, to give the Prologue more of a sporty feel on the road. Finally, the Prologue offers both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard. That compares to GM’s new EV lineup, which includes 8 years of free Google Maps navigation, but doesn’t mirror phones using either operating system. Instead, GM-branded Ultium EVs give buyers 3 years of App Access free—after which that capability alone costs them $14.99 per month, for the ability to do what they used to do for free on their phones. How that will play out remains to be seen; clearly Honda didn’t want to run that risk.
Behind the wheel
In both a January media drive through California’s Napa Valley and an August week in upstate New York with a Prologue test car, we came away with the same impressions: Honda is selling a pleasant, large, spacious midsize EV crossover.
Powertrain specs for the Prologue are similar to those of its GM counterparts. All versions are powered by an 85 kWh battery pack under the cabin floor. In the all-wheel-drive version with two motors, Honda quotes power of up to 212 kW (288 hp) and 333 lb-ft of torque. The base front-wheel-drive model is rated at 155 kW (212 hp) and 236 lb-ft.
That provides enough acceleration and cruising to keep up with almost any form of traffic a family is likely to encounter. Steering is somewhat vague, and the Prologue is a happier vehicle on wide, flat suburban arteries than being tossed through curving, irregular canyon roads. Its one-pedal driving is exceptionally well-executed, with standard and strong levels available (also none at all). Drivers of other EV brands will notice that the Prologue accelerates more deliberately than the hair-trigger thrust of some other makes.
Honda said it tuned accelerator response and other characteristics to make the Prologue feel “more like a Honda,” but you won’t find many similarities to the light, tossable Civic compact sedan in this SUV of 5,000 pounds or more. Here, the goal was interior space, comfort and battery range more than performance.
A few peculiar aspects likely reflect the combination of fixed GM architecture underneath with Honda’s approach to controls and information layout. For instance, there’s no front trunk.
A few peculiar aspects likely reflect the combination of fixed GM architecture underneath with Honda’s approach to controls and information layout. For instance, there’s no front trunk, which seems like a major lost opportunity in a lowish SUV with a long hood designed to mimic the proportions of an SUV with a big engine up front.
Trims and specs: all below $60k
Honda laudably kept hard controls—knobs and buttons—for a majority of the vehicle functions. Its center console has large cupholders for big bottles or smaller coffee cups, lower storage, an upper tray, and space for your phone. But compared to the crisply executed cabin of a Civic, the materials—Honda surface styling over GM underpinnings—can seem a bit chaotic or unfinished.
Three trim levels are offered: a base EX, a midlevel Touring, and a top-of-the-line Elite. All share identical propulsion systems, whether front- or all-wheel drive (a $3,000 option on EX and Touring, standard on Elite). They are differentiated mostly by trim and appearance items and technology features.
Pricing starts at $48,795 for the EX in FWD form; the AWD EX at $51,795 may be the best value for many buyers. A top-trim Prologue Elite—which adds niceties like perforated leather upholstery, heated and cooled front seats and heated wheel, 21-inch wheels, a head-up display, and even an AC outlet for rear passengers—comes in at just below the crucial $60,000 mark: $59,295. All prices include Honda’s mandatory $1,395 delivery fee.
We expect the Prologue to find takers fairly easily among its customers who are EV-curious but would never consider a domestic brand—and may have been underwhelmed by the Toyota bZ4X.
We expect the Prologue to find takers fairly easily among its customers who are EV-curious but would never consider a domestic brand—and may have been underwhelmed by the Toyota bZ4X.
Cheaper joint EV program: cancelled
So how’s the Honda-GM partnership working out? The Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX are presentable, competent and competitive. But that may not have been enough. After 12 to 18 months of GM delay in getting its Ultium vehicles into series production—through an inability to scale up the automated assembly of battery modules using new equipment—in October 2023 Honda canceled plans for a previously-announced second GM partnership to develop less costly, more affordable EVs using next-gen technology.
In October 2023 Honda canceled plans for a previously announced second GM partnership to develop less costly, more affordable EVs using next-gen technology.
Just three months later, Honda announced that its first vehicles on an internally developed Honda 0 Series platform will hit the market in 2026, earlier than previously expected. Prototypes shown include a sleek Saloon (aka sedan) and a more boxy Space-Hub van/SUV. The series was developed using three precepts, said Honda: thin, light and wise. In Asia and Europe, the company has had its subcompoact Honda e three-door hatchback on sale for a few years. But with likely US range under 200 miles and a smaller size than most Americans would consider, that vehicle was never intended for North America.
Meanwhile, the Prologue and ZDX will represent Honda in the mainstream sector for EVs in north America. They’ll likely run at least through 2028—with GM underpinnings, built by GM in its own factories.
Honda’s deal to jump into a new segment using another automaker’s products shouldn’t be all that surprising. Students of auto industry history will recall that Honda rebadged an Isuzu Trooper as the Acura SLX, while Honda in turn provided Isuzu with an early generation of the Odyssey minivan—which Isuzu relabeled an Oasis and sold for the 1996 through 1999 model years. The minivan didn’t help the smaller Japanese company, which exited passenger cars in 1993 and the US market altogether in January 2009.
It seems safe to suggest GM probably won’t suffer that fate.
Heavy on heritage and light on details, the launch event showed Scout’s concepts for an EV 4×4 that’s every bit the equal of Jeep or Bronco.
Scout Motors, the startup electric-truck maker owned by Volkswagen, took the wraps off concepts for its first two 4×4 models outside Nashville on Thursday evening. The Terra truck and the Traveler SUV share most design and interior cues, with the truck riding on a longer wheelbase. While the vehicles shown will change, Scout executives suggested that what the assembled fans, owners, and reporters saw was 85 to 90 percent of the production vehicles.
Two different powertrains will be offered: a battery-electric version with up to 350 miles of range, and the Harvester model with a range-extending gasoline engine that delivers a combined range of more than 500 miles. It’s not a plug-in hybrid but a range-extended EV, meaning the gasoline engine powers a generator that recharges the battery, but cannot power the wheels mechanically. Scout prices will start at roughly $60,000 before incentives, and the company targets initial production in 2027.
Despite their electric powertrains, the two Scout models use a newly developed body-on-frame architecture unlike anything found elsewhere in the VW Group. For 4×4 capability, they feature a solid rear axle and locking differentials both front and rear. If they debut on schedule in 2027, they will compete against off-road-capable models that include Ford’s Bronco 4x4s and Jeep’s Wrangler and Gladiator, all gasoline-powered, and electric trucks like the GMC Hummer EVs and the Rivian R1S and R1T. All those vehicles will likely have been updated from today’s specs by the time the Scouts go on sale.
Photos by John Voelcker.
Scout plans to sell the vehicles directly through its own sales and service network, foregoing the franchised dealers that sell all other VW Group vehicles in North America—none of whom have experience with either body-on-frame vehicles or serious 4x4s. The Scouts are to be built in a brand-new factory now under construction near Columbia, South Carolina. Consumers can reserve the new models on the Scout Motors website.
Over the long run, we’d expect Scout to end up selling more Traveler SUVs than Terra trucks—just as Rivian said it would, and has, with the R1S utility vehicle against the R1T pickup truck that preceded it in production.
Heavy on heritage, light on details
Leaning heavily into the heritage theme, the launch event featured a few dozen original International Scouts, including the first one built in 1960 and the last Scout II built in 1980. Scout owners and enthusiasts at the event were uniformly delighted the brand would return, though many said they were dubious about the idea of Scouts powered by batteries and electric motors.
Those original Scouts we saw would be compact to midsize trucks in today’s terms. The new Scouts are full-size trucks, dimensionally far closer to a Ford F-150 and Expedition than to the Rivian R1T and R1S. The longer of the two, the Terra pickup, is 229 inches long, 77 in high, and 92 in wide. Riding on a wheelbase that’s a whopping 28 inches shorter than the Terra’s 148 in, the Traveler SUV is 21 in shorter in length.
Photos by John Voelcker.
The bed of the Terra is 5.5 feet long, roughly a foot more than that of the Rivian R1T. And 6-foot adults will easily fit into the rear seats, which are reached via exceptionally long doors. A middle seat is even available for the front row, making the two-row Scouts capable of carrying six passengers rather than the usual five.
Weight remains an open question; any battery-electric vehicle with 100 kWh of battery or more likely weighs 3 to 4 tons.
Those who watched the event online commented a lot on similarities to Rivian, with some presuming the Scouts were based on Rivian underpinnings. Given VW’s joint-development agreement with Rivian, announced in July, that wasn’t unreasonable. But excluding Scout’s use of Rivian’s zonal electric architecture—which allows over-the-air updates and additional features to be added during the life of the vehicle—Scout executives uniformly said no structural, mechanical, or interior components came from Rivian.
Details on the specifics of the electric drive trains were sparse. No power output was given, though torque was projected at “near 1,000 lb-ft” with acceleration from 0 to 60 mph as low as 3.5 seconds. Scout gave no details on the range-extending combustion engine, which will be located under the load bay behind the rear axle. (One exec confirmed it will NOT be a diesel, ahem.) The betting among reporters was that the engine will be a version of the Volkswagen EA288 inline-4, likely supplied from VW’s factory in Puebla, Mexico.
Base suspension is mechanical, but air suspension will be available as an option. Wheels up to 35 inches in diameter will be offered, with ground clearance of more than 12 inches and projected wading depth of nearly 3 feet. Payload for each model was quoted as “near 2,000 pounds,” with projected towing capacity given as 10,000+ pounds for the Terra truck and 7,000+ pounds for the Traveler SUV.
Owners doing it for themselves
One theme of the reveal was the simplicity of old-fashioned controls. The Scouts have fixed door handles, not the flush or retracting ones used by Rivian and Tesla to reduce aerodynamic drag. Knobs and dials perform every major function in the cabin—an implicit rebuke to Volkswagen, which has replaced many hard controls in its latest models with onscreen icons and virtual controls.
There’s a small front trunk, which Scout claims is large enough to store a bag of golf clubs, a cooler, and a gym bag. A rectangular panel at the back of the left-rear fender, under the taillight, opens to reveal a NACS charging port—standard on every Scout—and three 120-volt power outlets. Three 240-volt outlets were mentioned as well, something that startled and impressed Scout owners in attendance.
The Scout faithful in attendance clapped and cheered at several points during the presentation over specific features—the bench seat, the power outlets, the locking axles. But the loudest, longest applause came at the end, during a moment when Scout CEO Scott Keogh paused in front of a screen saying “One more thing”.
The screen then displayed a jerry can of gasoline, and Keogh announced the range extender and its name—Harvester, another nod to Scout’s heritage, given its birth as a product from the International Harvester farm-equipment company.
Will Harvester EREVs get plugged in?
Keogh went on to stress the Scouts are still EVs, with all the associated benefits, including the front trunk. But, he noted, the combination of a smaller battery pack and the range-extending generator would provide more than 500 miles of range—something very few EVs offer today.
Afterward, I caught up with Phil Coonrod, the owner of the very first Scout (# 501). He’d had a blast during the day, with the Scout faithful appreciating and complimenting his preservation of the 1960 model. What did he think of the new ones, I asked? He loved them, he said, and planned to order one that evening for his wife.
Which model, the battery-electric or the range-extended one? “Oh, the hybrid,” he said.
Fair enough. Would he plug it in? He paused.
“I don’t know. Probably.”
We’ll see whether the affluent suburban families who are likely to buy the bulk of the new Scouts take the same attitude. As passionate as the heritage Scout community is, and as much as they appreciate their trucks’ 4×4 capabilities, a full-size electric SUV will more likely be used as family transportation than for rock-crawling—as a Scout executive quietly acknowledged.
With more than two years until the start of production, there’s a lot left to learn about the new Scouts. But it seems safe to say the market for full-size, body-on-frame pickup trucks and SUVs—a vehicle category largely confined to North America—will have a new electric entrant in a few years. The new Scouts had a successful debut. Now the company has to do the hard work of getting them into volume production. Stay tuned.
Scout Motors provided airfare, lodging, and meals to enable Charged to bring you this first-person report.
Hyundai Auto Canada has chosen Lithion to collect electric vehicle batteries and modules for recycling from more than 250 Hyundai and Genesis dealers and distributors across Canada.
The multi-year agreement follows an initial agreement between the two companies signed in 2021, which was aimed at validating Lithion’s extraction technology that is designed to recover 98% of the minerals contained in batteries.
Hyundai dealerships and Genesis distributors can now contact Lithion when they have a vehicle with a battery at the end of its lifecycle. Lithion will then have the battery delivered to its recently inaugurated recycling plant, Lithion Saint-Bruno, in Montreal.
“This partnership with Lithion allows us to ensure optimal recycling of our batteries, all while doing business with a Canadian company,” said Ken Maisonville, Executive Director of Customer Experience and Aftersales at Hyundai Auto Canada.
German technology company Siemens has integrated its numerical control system, SINUMERIK ONE, into the latest model of Prima Power’s 3D laser cutting machine, Laser Next, for automotive manufacturing.
Prima Power, a manufacturer of sheet metal working machinery and 3D laser cutting technology, said it has enhanced its machine’s compatibility and integration capabilities. Incorporating the advanced safety features of SINUMERIK ONE allows it to meet global safety standards without the need for additional modules, making it efficient and flexible.
Siemens’ comprehensive PLC standard communication protocols streamline the integration with automation systems. Compatibility with OPC-UA and MQTT communication protocols meets global market demands for simplified integration of data collection systems for data-driven application development.
Laser Next 1530/2130 equipped with SINUMERIK ONE is more productive, faster, flexible and more efficient as it has integrated the SIMATIC S7-1500F PLC controller and Siemens Totally Integrated Automation Portal ecosystem, as well as Siemens’ Digital Twin capabilities for manufacturing efficiency and sustainability.
The Digital Twin enabled Prima Power to engineer and optimize the machine before it made the prototype, shortening its time to market. The Digital Twin enables manufacturers to create an accurate digital replica through an entirely virtualized process, eliminating the need for physical machining on the shop floor.
“Siemens advanced technology represents a future-proof platform for Laser Next machines, ensuring a high level of performance and flexibility. It enables us to meet the growing demands of end users for secure, powerful, and innovative machines. We look forward to continuing this successful collaboration and driving further advancements,” stated Massimiliano Galli Head of Motion Control at Siemens Digital Industries in Italy.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more popular and affordable as the demand for clean and sustainable mobility grows. However, EVs have increasingly higher power levels that can have unsafe overcurrent situations. To address these challenges, EVs need reliable and efficient power distribution and protection solutions that can ensure safety, performance, and durability of the vehicles and the charging infrastructure. Eaton, a global leader in power management, offers a range of solutions for EV power distribution and protection, from components to systems, that can meet the diverse needs of EV manufacturers, operators, and users.
Eaton’s components for EV power distribution and protection include fuses, Breaktor® circuit protection technology, busbars, and connectors. These components are designed to handle high currents and voltages, withstand harsh environments, and provide fast and accurate protection against short circuits, overloads, and overtemperature. The exclusive Breaktor technology combines the functions of a fuse and a contactor in one device. It can interrupt high currents and voltages in milliseconds, isolate faults, and enable fast and safe reconnection. It also reduces the size, weight, and complexity of the EV power distribution system, saving space and improving competitiveness. With a broad variety of components are compatible with various EV architectures, such as AC or DC, single-phase or three-phase, and low-voltage or high-voltage, Eaton is able to design solutions for customized vehicle system applications.
Eaton’s systems for EV power distribution and protection include power distribution units (PDUs) and battery disconnect units (BDUs). These systems integrate Eaton’s components, like Breaktor, to provide comprehensive and customized solutions for EV system power management with advanced circuit protection. Eaton’s PDUs and BDUs distribute the power of the EV battery, as well as protect it from overcharging, undercharging, and thermal runaway. The BDU is also specially designed to isolate the battery from the power distribution system in case of a fault or an emergency and reconnect it when needed. Both PDUs and BDUs can be customized to fit various EV architectures and applications.
Eaton’s power distribution and protection solutions for EVs can help EV manufacturers, operators, and users achieve their goals of reducing emissions, improving efficiency, and enhancing safety. Eaton has a proven track record of delivering innovative and reliable solutions for EV power management and is committed to advancing the safety of electrification of transportation to create a better future.
US-based battery manufacturer Enovix has started shipping EX-1M battery cell samples from its new Agility Line in Malaysia.
The start of shipments follows the shipping of initial samples from the company’s Fab1 in California, and the opening of the high-volume Fab2 in Malaysia this summer. The company says it is on track to commence high-volume production in 2025.
Enovix also recently completed internal UN38.3 certification for its cells. UN38.3 is the United Nations standard for safe transportation of lithium-ion batteries.
“This success with the Agility line is an encouraging early indicator as we prepare for the high-volume line, which is on track for Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) completion,” said Ajay Marathe, COO of Enovix.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks, a division of Daimler Truck, has received an order for 75 Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 trucks from Netherlands-headquartered logistics service provider Simon Loos, which plans to expand its electric fleet to a total of 135 trucks.
Simon Loos was the first company outside Germany to start practical tests of the near-series prototype eActros 600. In the summer of 2024, professional drivers trained by Mercedes-Benz Trucks test engineers drove 25,000 kilometers between suppliers and distribution centers of Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn.
The eActros 600 is equipped with three 207 kWh battery packs, offering an installed total capacity of 621 kWh. Series production is slated to start at the end of November at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth.The first eActros 600 trucks with Simon Loos branding are set to hit the road in the first quarter of 2025.
“While we used to be able to safely plan around 250 to 300 kilometers per trip with electric vehicles, we will be able to cover 500 kilometers with these vehicles. This means that the route is no longer a planning obstacle for our company, and we are taking a big step forward in the integration of electromobility,” said Wim Roks, Fleet Manager at Simon Loos.
Automotive MOSFET 750 V G1 family. Learn how these innovative power switches can simplify, robustify, and optimize your on-board charger, HV-LV DC/DC converter, and battery disconnect applications.
