Search Results Found For: "ZF"

GreenPower receives order for two Synapse electric school buses

California’s Rialto Unified School District, which operates a fleet of 68 school buses serving 29 schools, has ordered two Synapse 72 electric school buses from GreenPower Motor Company, for delivery by the summer of 2018. GreenPower offers a range of electric buses with low-floor or high-floor bodies.  GreenPower’s e-bus is based on a clean-sheet design,… Read more »

Lilium hopes to make its VTOL electric jet an airborne Uber

EVs are taking to the skies. Startups Eviation and Zunum are working on electrified passenger aircraft. Electric truck maker Workhorse recently spun off a subsidiary that makes a personal octocopter. The latest plane play to hit the headlines is Lilium, which was founded in 2015, and raised $90 million in funding in September. Lilium’s aim… Read more »

Making a motor: Many automakers rely heavily on third party motor-winding experts like Odawara Engineering

Electric motors are everywhere: in household appliances, in hand tools, in buildings, in consumer electronics, and increasingly in automobiles. Motors are used in windshield wipers, power windows, throttle controllers, and, more and more, in the drivetrains of electrified vehicles. Electric motors abound, and Odawara Engineering knows how to make them. Charged spoke with Odawara’s Chris… Read more »

GreenPower sells 10 electric buses to California city

Canada-based GreenPower Motor Company has signed a contract to supply 10 of its EV350 40-foot electric transit buses to the City of Porterville, California. The e-buses will be deployed on all 9 Porterville Transit routes. The $9-million order includes 11 charging systems to be installed at the city’s maintenance facility and transit center. The first… Read more »

California’s big three utilities submit proposals to increase access to EV infrastructure

January 20 was an important day for transportation electrification in California. That was the deadline for the state’s three major investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to submit applications for major upgrades to electric transportation infrastructure. California’s Senate Bill 350 (2015) requires the IOUs to establish programs that will increase “access to the use of electricity as a… Read more »

Yet another EV startup: Rivian buys Illinois Mitsubishi plant

Another secretive startup, another web site with pix of smiling multicultural techies and vaguely-worded flights of eloquence about redefining the automobile. But now Rivian Automotive has taken a concrete step towards realizing its dreams, buying a 2.4-million-square-foot former Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois. According to county records, the company paid $2 million for the 500-acre… Read more »

California city to deploy 10 GreenPower electric buses

GreenPower Motor Company has announced that the City of Porterville will deploy 10 of the company’s EV350 40-foot electric transit buses, as well as charging infrastructure including 11 charging stations, supported by a $9.5-million grant from the California Air Resources Board. CARB’s award to Porterville was one of nine awards from the Zero-Emission Truck and… Read more »

Automakers already lobbying Trump to relax emissions standards

Barely two days after his election, US automakers contacted the new president-elect to urge him to “reform” federal regulation of the industry, including fuel economy, emissions, autonomy and safety standards. In a letter to the Trump transition team (via Automotive News), the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers proposed that the new administration pause the ongoing midterm evaluation… Read more »

BMW electrifies its best-selling model: the 330e iPerformance PHEV launches in the US

Which major automaker has sold the highest percentage of plug-in vehicles relative to its overall US sales? You may be surprised to learn that it’s BMW – aside from Tesla, of course, which sells 100% EVs. In the first half of 2016, BMW’s four plug-in vehicles – the i3, i8, X5 xDrive40e and 330e iPerformance… Read more »

Albemarle to acquire lithium salt production assets in China

Specialty chemical firm Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) has signed an agreement to acquire the lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate conversion assets of Jiangxi Jiangli New Materials Science and Technology. The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of Q1 2017, includes manufacturing assets located in Jiangxi and Sichuan, China, focused on the production of… Read more »