School districts have ordered more than 100 Blue Bird electric buses. The buses are currently operating in California, North Dakota, and Washington. Blue Bird will deliver additional buses to California, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, and Quebec by 2020. Powered by Cummins electric drivetrains, Blue Bird electric school buses are capable of 120 miles of… Read more »
4R Energy, a joint venture between Nissan and Sumitomo that focuses on EV battery reuse, will be the first group certified to the UL 1974 Standard for Evaluation for Repurposing Batteries. UL 1974 outlines how to sort and grade EV battery packs, modules, and cells, identifying state-of-health and determining viability for second-life use as storage…. Read more »
Danish ferry operator Scandlines has signed an agreement with Norsepower, a Finnish clean tech and engineering company, to install its Rotor Sail Solution onboard the M/V Copenhagen, a hybrid passenger ferry. Operating between Germany and Denmark, the M/V Copenhagen belongs to Scandlines’ already-existing fleet of hybrid ferries, which combines diesel and battery power. Since 2013,… Read more »
Banking and investment firm Desjardins and utility Hydro-Québec have installed what they describe as Québec’s first urban EV charging superstation at the Complexe Desjardins, the company’s headquarters. The superstation includes four 50-kilowatt charging stations. The project is part of Desjardins’ plan to install 200 charging stations at Desjardins caisses (credit unions) throughout Quebec and eastern… Read more »
Chinese EV maker NIO plans to reduce its workforce by at least 1,200 by the end of September, CEO Li Bin revealed in an internal e-mail (as reported by Gasgoo). Bin said NIO will retain roughly 7,500 staff after the cut. The layoffs are part of the company’s recent efforts to control cost, improve operation… Read more »
Electrify America and EVgo have announced an interoperability agreement that allows drivers to charge their EVs at both EVgo and Electrify America charging stations without additional fees, using their existing accounts. Drivers will be able to access public chargers on either the EVgo or Electrify America networks without having to create new memberships, registrations, or… Read more »
Venice, Italy’s transit operator, ACTV SPA Venezia, has ordered 30 Solaris Urbino 12 electric buses, nine fast pantograph chargers, six fixed plug-in chargers, and a mobile plug-in charger. The buses will be deployed on the islands of Lido and Pellestrina, replacing all of the diesel buses currently in use on the islands. ACTV SPA Venezia… Read more »
Warranty provider EFG Companies has launched a new extended warranty specifically for EV owners, which it calls the Motorist Assistance Plan (MAP) EV Protection. The Texas-based company says it designed this new exclusionary vehicle service contract to both meet the needs of EV owners and help dealers diversify their revenue streams through the Finance &… Read more »
Sponsored by Hesse GmbH By Sebastian Holtkämper, Product Manager, Hesse GmbH Looking back a decade ago on a tough worldwide EV market, hundreds of thousands of hybrid electrical vehicles (HEV), but only a few thousand battery vehicles (BEV) were yearly sold. Compared to the total car market, electric driving was a true niche experience at… Read more »
Researchers at the University of Warwick have found a way to repurpose used EV batteries as small energy storage systems (ESS) for off-grid applications in developing countries or isolated communities. Each of the repurposed units has approximately 2 kWh of energy capacity, which researchers say is large enough to power a small shop, a farm… Read more »
