Updated rules will enable deployment of public heavy-duty EV charging stations in California

For the past two years, Volvo Trucks has been collaborating with the South Coast Air Quality Management District  and 13 other organizations on the Volvo LIGHTS project, which aims to develop a blueprint to introduce battery-electric Class 8 trucks and equipment into the market at scale.

Now Volvo Trucks, along with project partners CALSTART, Trillium and Greenlots, has helped facilitate the modification of California utility rules to allow private entities to sell electricity at publicly accessible charging stations for medium- and heavy-duty EVs.

Volvo LIGHTS partner and Volvo Trucks North America dealership TEC Equipment offers 150 kW fast chargers at their Fontana, California location so that fleet customers can charge their Volvo VNR Electric Class 8 trucks.

Prior to this modification, California utilities were guided by a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decision that exempted light-duty vehicle charging station providers from being regulated as a utility, but did not explicitly exempt medium- and heavy-duty charging station providers. In July, the Volvo LIGHTS partners filed a motion that sought to clarify the CPUC’s position. The CPUC ruled to extend the exemption, and directed California utilities to allow the resale of electricity as a motor fuel for EVs.

“CALSTART brought together a group of industry stakeholders to modify CPUC rules so that California can meet our ambitious goals and attract the needed infrastructure investments for medium-and heavy-duty electrification,” said Bill Van Amburg, Executive VP of CALSTART. “For California to achieve its ambitious zero-emission truck and bus deployment targets, the state will need to rapidly increase charging infrastructure, and heavy-duty trucks will need both innovative depot and public charging stations.” 

Under the modified regulation, charging provider Trillium can move forward with its plans to build a publicly accessible fast-charging station for heavy-duty trucks near Anaheim, California. “Building out public access charging along well-traveled corridors will enable fleet operators to pilot battery-powered trucks without having to commit significant upfront resources to construct and install charging infrastructure,” said Trillium’s Kim Okafor.

The electric truck chargers deployed through the Volvo LIGHTS project feature Greenlots’ cloud software, which integrates with the Volvo VNR Electric’s telematics to balance the needs of the vehicle, facility and utility grid. “Greenlots applauds the CPUC for its decision to exempt public medium- and heavy-duty EV charging stations from unnecessary regulation,” said Greenlots VP Tom Ashley. “This is a needed step as we collectively work to expand the required infrastructure for large-scale medium- and heavy-duty electrification.”

TRB’s new production process for high-volume continuous-fiber thermoset composite parts

TRB Lightweight Structures has created a new production process to deliver continuous-fiber thermoset composite parts at high volume. This automated manufacturing process is now being used to supply a global Tier 1 powertrain manufacturer with battery components for electric buses.

TRB’s manufacturing process combines proprietary snap-cure resins and in-house-produced prepreg materials with robotic production to generate high-spec, ready-to-ship thermoset parts in minutes. These custom materials are fed into a fully integrated process that automates cutting, lay-up, pressing and curing in order to allow parts to be manufactured faster and more cost-effectively. This method can be adapted to include additional material layers offering thermal, electrical and EMI protection. 

TRB has created a high-volume production facility in the US, and is establishing the same capabilities at its UK base. Managing Director Richard Holland said, “While high-volume composites have many applications, we have chosen to focus on the fast-expanding EV market—both on the road and in the sky—given our mission to accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation.”

Munich electrifies an entire bus line with 8 new Ebusco buses

With the deployment of 8 new electric buses from Netherlands-based manufacturer Ebusco, the Munich Traffic Association (MVG) has fully electrified the city’s bus line 144, which runs over the Landshutter Allee and through Olympia Park. The new 12-meter Ebusco 2.2 city buses join 4 Ebusco buses that were delivered to Munich earlier this year.

Line 144 is the first in the city to be served entirely by battery-electric buses. A second line, line 100, will also be electrified by the end of the year.

“The Ebusco 2.2 is a fully-fledged alternative to the traditional diesel bus,” said Peter Bijvelds, CEO of Ebusco. “Our buses can easily run for up to 300 km on a single battery charge. As a result, they only need to charge at night to run their entire service during the day.”

“Our goal is to convert our bus fleet almost completely to electric buses over the next 10 years and to run them on green electricity,” said Ingo Wortmann, CEO of MVG. “Two fully electric lines are a good start to gain experience. A condition for this sustainable transition is that electric buses are just as efficient as the current diesel buses. They need powerful batteries with a long range. On the other hand, the buses should have enough passenger capacity to be able to operate on our busiest routes.”

Another important step in the transition to a fully electric bus fleet is the establishment of charging infrastructure at the MVG depot in East Munich. This was recently supplemented with 10 additional Ebusco chargers, which will allow 15 buses to be charged at the same time.

“Public transport remains a forerunner in the field of environmental protection,” said Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter. “We will continue the transition to emission-free public transport at high speed in our bus, tram and metro networks. We need an alternative to the car, and public transport is an efficient and attractive solution for this.”

Tesla (TSLA) surges to new highs, valuation now reaching close to half a trillion dollars

Tesla’s stock (TSLA) is pushing to new record highs today, bringing the valuation close to half a trillion dollars.

Is it worth that kind of market capitalization?

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Source: Charge Forward

UN approves Arctic ship heavy fuel oil ban, but it’s got no teeth

The UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved a ban on Friday of ships’ use and carriage of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters after July 1, 2024. However, since it includes exemptions and waivers — loopholes — a complete HFO ban would only come into effect in mid-2029.

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The post UN approves Arctic ship heavy fuel oil ban, but it’s got no teeth appeared first on Electrek.


Source: Charge Forward

Tesla Model X gets hacked through new relay attack, Tesla says it is pushing a patch

A hacker managed to develop a new key cloning relay attack for Tesla vehicles and demonstrated it on a Tesla Model X.

Tesla was informed of the new attack and it is reportedly pushing a new patch for it.

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The post Tesla Model X gets hacked through new relay attack, Tesla says it is pushing a patch appeared first on Electrek.


Source: Charge Forward