This puts a whole new ‘spin’ on winter driving in an electric car.
Source: Electric Vehicle News

GM has been cryptic about its plan for the first year of production of the GMC Hummer EV electric pickup truck that it claims was sold out in minutes.

Now we have a better idea of how many pre-orders it received, and it is higher than we thought.

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Source: Charge Forward

How do these two premium all-electric speed demons match up across several categories?
Source: Electric Vehicle News

EVBox, a provider of charging hardware and software, has announced plans to go public through a merger with a company called TPG Pace Beneficial Finance (NYSE: TPGY). EVBox’s current owner, the French multinational utility ENGIE, will retain an ownership stake of over 40 percent, and will continue as a key partner of EVBox.

The business combination values EVBox at an enterprise value of $969 million. Following the transaction, which is expected to close late in the first quarter of 2021, EVBox expects to have more than $425 million of cash on its balance sheet. It will use the new growth capital to expand its reach globally, with the main focus on Europe and North America, and to broaden its technology portfolio.

EVBox’s hardware offerings include a suite of Level 2 and DC smart charging stations, ranging from 3 to 350 kW. The company has an installed base of over 190,000 charge ports in 70 countries. EVBox is a founding member of the Open Charge Alliance, and its offerings comply with all Open Charge Point Protocols.

EVBox’s revenue comes not only from sales of equipment, but also from software subscriptions, services and transaction processing fees. EVBox’s open-architecture SaaS platform, Everon, features a cloud-based charging management solution that can support both EVBox and third-party hardware. The Everon software enables monetization opportunities for charging station owners, supports dynamic load management, and allows integration with other software via APIs.

“For over a decade, EVBox has been a pioneer in the electric vehicle charging industry, developing and launching innovative software propositions along with award-winning charging stations,” said EVBox Group CEO Kristof Vereenooghe. “With our new partners at TPG, support from ENGIE and a prestigious group of new investors, we anticipate being well-positioned to help meet these goals by accelerating product development and providing end-to-end solutions to our expanding customer base, particularly in North America.”

“We’ve been closely following this sector, and have come to appreciate that charging solutions in Europe are several years ahead of the US, and are poised to experience explosive growth from the green initiatives of governments, major corporations, automotive OEMs and consumers,” said TPG Pace President Michael MacDougall. “EVBox has an enviable position as a clear leader across Europe with the best charging station offering and a clearly differentiated cloud-based software solution that will be an even more important factor in the next stage of this critical market’s evolution.”

Renault Trucks is broadening its all-electric range, and offering a wider choice of batteries for its medium-duty EVs. The Renault Trucks D and D Wide Z.E. can now accommodate 66 kWh battery packs, and the Master Z.E. utility vehicle has just been released in a 3.5-ton model.

Renault’s all-electric trucks can be customized from 3.1 to 26 tons GVW, and offer ranges of up to 400 km, depending on the model and configuration. As the batteries are the biggest component of vehicle cost, Renault Trucks offers a range of battery pack sizes, so customers can choose the range they actually need. “This solution is tailored to customers’ real-life requirements, maintaining the payload and ensuring their business remains competitive.”

The Renault Trucks D and D Wide Z.E. are now available in five different battery pack configurations, up to a maximum of six 66 kWh battery packs, which translates to a range of up to 400 km.

The Renault Trucks Master Z.E. has a total GVW of 3.1 to 3.5 tons, a 57 kW motor, a 33 kWh battery pack, and a real-world range of up to 120 km.

The D Z.E. offers a total GVW of 16 tons, a 185 kW motor (130 kW continuous output), battery capacity of 200 to 400 kWh, and a real-world range of up to 400 km. It can charge at 20 kW AC or 150 kW DC.

The D Wide Z.E. is available in a variety of wheelbase sizes, with GVW op to 26 tons. It sports two electric motors with a total rating of 370 kW (260 kW continuous output), battery capacity of 200 to 265 kWh, and a real-world range of up to 180 km. It also charges at 20 kW AC or 150 kW DC.

Charging infrastructure giant ABB has established a new E-mobility Innovation Lab. The $10-million, 3,600-square-meter facility is based on the Delft University of Technology campus, in the Netherlands. It will house 120 specialists, who will work on next-generation solutions to drive ABB’s future e-mobility development.

ABB strives to ensure seamless connections among vehicles, charging stations, charging networks, the grid, and the software systems that make it all work. The E-mobility Innovation Lab includes simulators built to ensure that ABB chargers are compatible with all types of vehicle. 95 percent of all tests will be conducted with digital copies of vehicles.

To test how vehicles perform in very hot or cold weather, ABB has developed environmental testing rooms, where hardware will be subjected to extreme conditions, including temperatures from -40 to +100 degrees Celsius and high humidity. The atrium is large enough for manufacturers to drive their cars, buses or trucks into the lab for testing—an important feature for the rapidly growing heavy-duty EV segment.

ABB designed the facility to minimize its environmental impact. The complex will be connected to the university’s geothermal heating/cooling plant. The roof will house solar panels, connected to a battery storage system.

“Innovation is in our blood—ABB has led the way in EV charging and is proud to have played a key role in driving adoption rates of electric vehicles across the world,” said Frank Muehlon, Head of ABB’s global business for E-mobility Infrastructure Solutions. “That is why we wanted to locate our E-mobility Innovation Lab in Delft, in the heart of the university campus, where we are surrounded by the brightest tech talents and startups in the Netherlands.”

“Within ABB Electrification, we invest approximately $400 million per annum into R&D to ensure we remain at the forefront of technological leadership and set the standard when it comes to sustainable mobility. The new lab will allow us to strengthen our collaboration with EV manufacturers to drive further performance and progress across the sector,” Muehlon added.

EV powertrain engineering specialist Drive System Design (DSD) has announced a strategic expansion of its test facilities, adding two additional test cells for high-performance hybrids and EVs. 

The first of the new facilities can deliver input torque up to 2,500 Nm at 2,100 rpm, 525 kW at 7,000 rpm, and 350 kW at 1,100 V of battery emulation. The new test cells complement existing DSD facilities, which include a 450 kW highly transient ETPS machine (Engine Torque Pulse Simulator) and three battery emulators.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has put an ever-bigger spotlight on our environment and recent government announcements on ICE restrictions are resulting in a faster shift to electrified vehicles than first anticipated,” explained DSD Director David Kelly. “There is a significant increase in demand globally, not only for design and development work but also for outsourced testing. The additional facilities will extend our ability to provide this for a wide range of hybrid and electric powertrains.”

According to Kelly, even the largest, established vehicle manufacturers are struggling to accommodate the upsurge in test requirements using solely in-house facilities, and the situation is likely to become even more acute in the future. “We are in the middle of a sea change in the industry, as the major players allocate more of their manufacturing to EVs,” he says. “Companies like DSD can provide a vital additional resource to help satisfy short-term peaks in testing demand as this change in policy takes effect.”

DSD is continually developing its automation capabilities within the facility to help speed up testing. This has proven particularly effective in the case of hot and cold environment testing. According to Kelly, tests that previously took six weeks to complete can be finished in half the time with suitably configured automatic control.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Vermont’s Public Utilities Commission slashes solar net metering rates by 3 cents.
• Québec’s public utility Hydro-Québec launches EVLO, an energy storage system subsidiary.
• The UK breaks a green energy power generation record with high winds.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

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Source: Charge Forward

Apparently, at least one other company is already using Tesla’s Supercharger network, though it’s “low key.”
Source: Electric Vehicle News