British airline easyJet is making progress on its plan to fly electric passenger jets on some of its routes by 2027. Its partner, US startup Wright Electric, has successfully flown a two-seater electric aircraft, and is now moving to the next stage of engine development. Wright is now working on an electric engine for a… Read more »
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Between the wheels: AxleTech goes electric
Can a company that’s 100 years old be called a startup? Mary Petrovich, Executive Chairman of AxleTech, certainly thinks so. AxleTech was founded in 1919 as Wisconsin Custom Built Axles, and has seen a century’s worth of sales, acquisitions, and rebrandings since then. Petrovich herself brought AxleTech back from the brink of failure not once,… Read more »
Wrightspeed partners with AxleTech to meet demand for heavy-duty vehicles
Business is picking up for Wrightspeed, the manufacturer of plug-in powertrains for heavy-duty vehicles headed by Tesla founder Ian Wright. The company is expanding its supply chain team, bringing on experts with experience at Tesla, Ford, Cummins, and others, and scaling up operations to meet demand from customers such as New Zealand bus operator NZB… Read more »
BYD and Wayne Engineering unveil electric refuse truck
Electrification isn’t just for glamorous sports cars – the humble garbage truck is a likely candidate too. Companies including Motiv Power Systems and Wrightspeed have deployed plug-in refuse trucks. Now Chinese automaker BYD and Wayne Engineering, a manufacturer of chassis-mounted productivity solutions for the solid waste industry, have announced the launch of a pure electric… Read more »
Wrightspeed plug-in garbage trucks take to the road
California refuse collection company the Ratto Group will roll out 15 refuse trucks retrofitted with Wrightspeed’s Route range-extended electric powertrain over the next 12 months. The Wrightspeed Route powertrain is optimized for heavy-duty frequent-stop drive cycles, like those of refuse trucks. It replaces a vehicle’s engine, transmission and differential systems with a fuel-agnostic microturbine generator… Read more »
Navigant Research: New report assesses the various types of electric powertrains for buses
Bus systems around the world are electrifying, driven by environmental regulations and cost savings. But decision-makers at transport authorities have several electrification options – hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery electric, fuel cell – each with its own set of benefits and limitations. In a new report, “Medium and Heavy Duty Buses with Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid, Battery… Read more »
Mercedes presents electric delivery truck
Despite the demonstrable savings, commercial vehicles have been slower to electrify than passenger cars, and the majors have mostly left the field open for start-up firms such as Motiv Power Systems and Wrightspeed. However, as performance improves and emissions regulations tighten (some European cities are making noises about someday banning ICE trucks from city centers),… Read more »
Philadelphia transit authority orders 25 Proterra electric buses
Philadelphia is set to become the first city in the Northeastern US to put battery-electric buses into service. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) plans to purchase 25 40-foot Proterra Catalyst e-buses, which will be deployed on two bus routes in South Philadelphia. Two canopy-style charging stations will be installed along the routes, and operators… Read more »
Wrightspeed to provide its turbine-based PHEV powertrain to New Zealand bus operator
Ian Wright was a co-founder of Tesla, but he soon left to start his own company, partly because he felt that large commercial vehicles represented a better target for electrification than passenger cars (read more about Wright’s electrifying adventures in the April 2014 issue of Charged, and in the book Tesla Motors). Since then, Wrightspeed’s… Read more »
Wrightspeed introduces new Fulcrum turbine generator for range-extended EV architecture
Wrightspeed, the startup led by Tesla co-founder Ian Wright, has identified a promising target for electrification – it retrofits plug-in powertrains to urban service trucks, the most inefficient and polluting of commercial vehicles. Customers include FedEx, which recently ordered an additional 25 of the company’s powertrains. Now Wrightspeed has unveiled the Fulcrum, a new turbine… Read more »