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Category: EV Category (Page 2 of 4)

E-bike sales in U.S. could get a big boost from incentives in the Build Back Better Act

Ira Boudway / Bloomberg »

The Build Back Better spending bill, which passed the House last month and awaits action in the Senate, e-bikes could, for the first time, get a push from the federal government. Tucked among its more than 2,000 pages is a tax credit of up to $900 for e-bikes.

If the incentive survives intact, e-bike makers, which lobbied for its inclusion, will be taking a (battery-assisted) victory lap. “Tables will have turned if this goes through,” says Mike Radenbaugh, chief executive officer of the startup Rad Power Bikes. “We think that e-bikes should ultimately see a much bigger set of support…but we’re really excited to see us at least heading in the right direction.”

As it stands, the bill provides a credit of 30% for up to $3,000 spent on a new e-bike, excluding bikes that cost more than $4,000. (The credits also phase out according to household income beginning at $75,000 for a single taxpayer.) This is a comedown from the original proposal. In the bill that was introduced to the House, the credit covered 30% of spending up to $5,000 on bikes costing as much as $8,000.

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World’s first autonomous electric container ship launches in Oslo, Norway to replace 40K diesel truck trips per year

Andy Corbley / Good News Network »

Built by Yara to transport their mineral fertilizer stocks between the towns of Porsgrunn and Brevik, a trip which normally requires 40,000 trips by diesel truck per year, the Yara Birkeland will save around 1,000 tons of CO2 annually.

On November 19th, Yara Birkeland departed for a crewed maiden voyage—which included Norway’s prime minister—on a short 43-mile trip across the fjord from Horton to Oslo.

“We have been looking forward to this day for a long time,” stated Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara. “This is an excellent example of green transition in practice, and we hope this ship will be the start of a new type of emission-free container ships. There are a lot of places in the world with congested roads that will benefit from a high-tech solution like this.”

Onboard the 262-foot (80 meter) vessel is a 6.8 megawatt-hours battery pack that can generate 17 mph (28 kph). It can carry 3,200 tons of fertilizer, and should begin commercial operations next year while it carries out lengthy certification for its autonomous navigation technology.

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The most popular EVs aren’t cars, trucks, or motorcycles. They are e-bikes.

IEEE Spectrum »

Electric bicycles, better known as e-bikes, have moved from novelty to mainstream with breathtaking speed. They’ve been a boon to hard-working delivery persons during the pandemic (and their impatient customers), and commuters who don’t care to be a sweaty mess when they arrive. And while the scoffing tends to center around the “purity” of cycling—the idea that e-bike riders are somehow lazy cheaters—that electric assist is actually luring people off the couch for healthy exercise. That’s especially welcome for older or out-of-practice riders (which describes a whole lot of folks) who might otherwise avoid cycling entirely, put off by daunting hills or longer distances.

While powerful “Class 3” models especially are trying the patience of pedestrians in crowded cities like New York, with blazing assisted speeds approaching 30 mph, e-bikes are now front-and-center in discussions of future urban mobility. They’re a way to potentially free up precious street space, provide alternatives to automobiles and reduce energy consumption and harmful emissions. California, through its powerful Air Resources Board, recently allocated $10 million in rebates for e-bike buyers, a smaller-scale version of state or federal tax breaks for EV car buyers. The possibilities are fueling cool tech ideas, from covered, rain-proof cargo bikes; to pavement-embedded wireless chargers and automated stabilization systems to help senior riders. CityQ is taking pre-orders for a four-wheeled cargo “bike” that it touts as cycling “with a Tesla feeling.”

According to market research company NPD Group, the pandemic helped increase e-bike sales by 145 percent from 2019 to 2020, more than double the growth of traditional bikes. Exact figures on industry sales are hard to pin down; yet The New York Times quoted experts saying Americans bought roughly 500,000 e-bikes in 2020, compared to about 210,000 plug-in automobiles.

The truck industry would be able to phase out the sale of polluting trucks as early as the end of this decade if charging and refuelling infrastructure was rolled out fast enough

Peter Campbell / Financial Post 🔒 »

But Gerrit Marx, chief executive, warned that an expected lack of charging stations that could cater to large, long-distance vehicles was likely to hold back buyers.

“If you take infrastructure off the table [as a barrier], if it’s available today, the industry could go zero emission by 2030 or 2035,” he told the Financial Times.

However the prediction is “theoretical,” he added, because “the network of refuelling and recharging will not be there I’m afraid”.

Three of the largest truck manufacturers — Daimler, Volvo and Scania-owner Traton — are already planning to spend €500m putting in 1,700 charging stations for electric lorries across Europe. The industry estimates it needs 50,000 chargers across the continent by the end of this decade.

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Video » Rolls-Royce’s “Spirit of Innovation” electric plane breaks the world record, reaching a top speed of 555.9 km/h (345.4 mph)

Video below ⤵️

Rolls-Royce Press Release »

We believe our all-electric ‘Spirit of Innovation’ aircraft is the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft, setting three new world records. We have submitted data to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) – the World Air Sports Federation who control and certify world aeronautical and astronautical records – that at 15:45 (GMT) on 16 November 2021, the aircraft reached a top speed of 555.9 km/h (345.4 mph) over 3 kilometres, smashing the existing record by 213.04 km/h (132mph). In further runs at the UK Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down experimental aircraft testing site, the aircraft achieved 532.1km/h (330 mph) over 15 kilometres – 292.8km/h (182mph) faster than the previous record – and broke the fastest time to climb to 3000 metres by 60 seconds with a time of 202 seconds, according to our data. We hope that the FAI will certify and officially confirm the achievements of the team in the near future.
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General Motors acquired a 25% stake in electric boat startup Pure Watercraft with USD$150 million deal

CNBC »

General Motors, which has billed itself as “all in on electrification” this year, has acquired a 25% stake in Pure Watercraft, a Seattle start-up that makes electric outboard motors for boats, the companies told CNBC.

Pure Watercraft motors use lithium ion batteries and replace 40- to 50-horsepower outboard motors that burn gas or diesel. Traditional fuel-powered boats contribute to environmental problems including noise pollution, smog, and water pollution that is plainly visible floating on the water in their wake. Pure’s systems are much quieter and cleaner.

For Pure Watercraft CEO Andy Rebele, a lifelong fishing and boating enthusiast and former rowing coach, a personal drive to solve those problems lined up with a massive market opportunity.

Elsewhere » WaPo / The Verge / Geek Wire / Slash Gear

Europe’s DFDS orders 100 Volvo FM Electric trucks

Volvo FM Electric

Volvo FM Electric

First deliveries of the Volvo FM Electric to DFDS will start in the fourth quarter of 2022 and continue throughout 2023. The trucks will be used for both short and long transport in the DFDS logistics system in Europe.

DFDS provides ferry and transport services in and around Europe. Its 10,000 employees are located across more than 20 countries. DFDS is headquartered in Copenhagen.

Niklas Andersson, Executive Vice President and Head of Logistics Division at DFDS, says »

At DFDS, we’re determined to play our part in reducing CO2 emissions and creating a sustainable supply chain. We know how important electrification is in the journey to reach our CO2 targets, and I hope we can inspire others as we move forward in this vital transition.

The FM Electric can carry 44 tons (gross weight) and has a range of up to 300 km. With a top-up charging session during lunch the distance can be extended.

The electrification trend in the heavy truck market is accelerating. In Europe, a few hundred trucks above 16 tons have been registered so far this year.

Roger Alm, President of Volvo Trucks, says »

Our target for 2030 is that half of our global truck deliveries will be electric. We are pleased to see that growing interest among our customers is starting to be reflected in firm orders, not least by this impressive order from DFDS.

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