On  March 31, EU ministers met to discuss the global shortage of around 11million barrels of oil per day. At the meeting, European Commissioner Dan Jørgensen urged nations to outline measures to reduce the use of oil and gas, particularly in transportation. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused panic within Europe. As a result, the EU has been advised to consider biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Unlike America, Europe is struggling to find sources of oil that are either not in Russia nor the Middle East. As a result the European Union has been advised to look again at Biofuels.

The EU’s Renewable Energy Directive requires member states to achieve a 29% share of renewable energy in transport by 2030, including a sub-target for renewable hydrogen and advanced biofuels of 5.5%.

Source: MSN: Read The Article

PSR Analysis: The real question is can biofuels actually replace fossil fuels? While it is possible to grow high energy crops on some poor-quality land, it is generally viewed that biofuels are a niche option at best.    PSR

Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research

China has also committed to installing 10,000 photovoltaic systems for isolated homes and critical facilities. China is also investing in Cuba’s wind farms.

Source: Clean Technica Read The Article

PSR Analysis: What makes this article interesting is one factor –President Trump has blocked Cuba’s access to cheap Venezuelan oil, and he has forced them to consider alternative sources of power. This comes just at the time when the US has attacked Iran and Iran has forced oil prices to grow dramatically. It turns out that while President Trump has pulled the USA back from renewables, he may just have given renewable and EVs the biggest growth boost it has ever had.   PSR

Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research

Refining battery metals in the US and Europe has been difficult to scale up because the more traditional refineries often require billions of dollars in upfront investment, take a long time to get all the necessary permits and require huge amounts of material in order to be profitable.

Nth Cycle says that its process is different and can be operated without the constraints of traditional refineries and is profitable at much smaller scales.

Source: Electrek: Read The Article

PSR Analysis: The world of battery recycling is developing at a fast rate but the real significance of this is the scale – despite being profitable at smaller scales, this deal is for thousands of tons of material.   PSR

Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research

There seems to be a never ending cycle of oil-related problems. In 2008, supply, demand and speculation caused a massive price hike. In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine causing another oil price hike. And now, the US-Israeli attack on Iran has driven yet another price hike. The fundamental problem is that transportation remains totally dependent on oil, and oil prices are set by a very volatile global market.

This whole problem has encouraged motorists to do the math, and the result is staggering. Motorists simply cannot afford not to buy an EV as their next vehicle. This article goes into the math behind this.

Source: Electrek: Read The Article

PSR Analysis: EVs cut across this problem, and it doesn’t impact them because electric prices are set nationally not by a very volatile global market and they are a fraction of gas prices. Electric prices are also a way out of oil dependence.      PSR

Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research

Global medium and heavy truck production is expected to increase in most important regions this year, but China’s MH truck segment probably will see a major structural change. Overall production in South America is expected to be flat, although Argentina is likely to post a gain of almost 10%.

North America. Medium and heavy truck production in North America is expected to increase by 9.4% this year compared with low 2025 production. While class 8 truck production is expected to increase by 11.3% this year as order rates for class 8 trucks improved strongly from December – March. 

Improvement in freight rates and freight demand along with tightening truck capacity and some level of truck pre-buy ahead of the 2027 GHG emission regulations is expected to drive increased truck production this year.  However, a protracted conflict in the Middle East would put significant downside pressure on truck demand primarily due to higher fuel cost, supply chain disruptions and an overall concern about the state of the economy moving forward throughout the year.

Europe. Medium and heavy truck production in Europe is expected to increase by 6% this year compared to 2025.  After very low truck demand during the past few years, it does appear that demand may have bottomed out and has started to improve this year.  Truck demand in Western Europe is expected to improve this year as the fleets will need to replace their older trucks purchased in 2022 and 2023. 

With regard to the conflict in the Middle East, if this conflict is relatively short lived (a month or two), it will probably have minimal impact on the European and global economy.  However, if this conflict were to drag on and oil tankers could not pass through the Strait of Hormuz, this would impact Europe with higher energy prices and supply chain disruptions.  Just the thought of an economic slowdown would likely give the fleets pause on capital investment.

South Asia. After a strong level of vehicle replacement during the past few years, commercial vehicle production is expected to increase by 3.1% this year compared with 2025.  In India, truck and freight capacity has mostly rebalanced and MHCV production is expected to increase by 3% this year compared with 2025.  Demand is expected to grow in the mid-term owing to a strong macroeconomic environment, healthy fleet utilization levels, Government capex on infrastructure projects, and stable freight demand. 

South America. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle production is expected to be flat this year compared with 2025.  Production in Argentina is expected to increase by 9.6% as the economy is improving and inflation is down significantly from a year ago.  MHCV production in Brazil is expected to be flat this year while vehicle production in Columbia is forecasted to increase by 5% this year.

Japan/Korea. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle production in Japan and South Korea is expected to increase by 2.1% in 2026 over last year.  Commercial vehicle production is expected to increase by 2.1% in Japan and increase by 2.6% in South Korea this year. 

In Japan, infrastructure spending and the continued need for the fleets to replace older trucks will be the primary reasons for increased truck demand this year.  For both Japan and South Korea, the trade tariff uncertainty will place pressure on the OEMs in their various export markets throughout the year.

Greater China. In 2026, China’s heavy-duty truck industry total sales are expected to remain in a high range of 1.1 million to 1.16 million units, showing a trend of “slight total growth but drastic structural change.” Domestic sales, supported by the concentrated replacement of China V emission standard models and the continuation of the “trade-in” policy, are projected to be approximately 700,000 to 790,000 units, while the export market will become a key growth pole, contributing an estimated 300,000 to 340,000 units.   PSR

Chris Fisher is Senior Commercial Vehicle Analyst at Power Systems Research

ALTERNATIVE POWER REPORT

• A “Failed Experiment”? Biofuels Under Spotlight
• US Battery Recycler Lands $1.1B Metals Refining Deal
• When Fossil Fuel Supplies Falter, Interest In Renewables Increases
• Oil Crisis Makes Drivers Reconsider Electric

DATAPOINT: 2026 Aerator Production
GLOBAL REPORT: 2026 Global MHCV Production Gains Seen
EUROPE REPORT:

• Volvo Moves into Big Electric Equipment
• KTM Completes Strategic Realignment and Leap into Premium EVs

SOUTH AMERICA/BRAZIL REPORT:

• Import Tax Decision on Buses Is Reversed
• Indian Preet Enters Brazil With Tractor Manufacturing Plant
• Selic Interest Rate Cut Has Limited Impact in Auto Market
• VWCO Tests B100 Soybean Biodiesel in Engines
• GAC Plans Vehicle Production in Brazil

JAPAN REPORT: Yanmar To Build Plant for Marine Hydrogen Engines
SOUTH KOREA REPORT: HD Construction Sets Electric Safety Training System
PHILIPINES REPORT: Power Shortages Boost Reliance on Generators
CHINA REPORT: Zhangxue Demonstrates Strength of “Made in China”
INDIA REPORT: Ashok Leyland Takes Major Step Toward EV Leadership

Guy Youngs is Forecast and Technology Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research

Aerators are machines that have tines for soil penetration. The process involves perforating the soil with small holes to allow air, water and nutrients to penetrate the grass roots.

Engine-powered aerators are used to combat soil compaction in lawns and turf by creating holes (plugs or spikes) that allow air, water, and nutrients to penetrate deep down to the grass roots, leading to healthier, stronger growth, better drainage, and reduced thatch, essential for heavily trafficked areas or tough soils. These powerful machines make it feasible to aerate large areas efficiently, delivering benefits that surpass manual methods for serious lawn care or professional use. 

This product information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink , which provides information on engines, and OE Link, a database of equipment manufacturers.

Trends. In 2025, production of Aerators in North America decreased nearly 3%.  However, production is expected to gain 4% in 2026.  The gain is attributed to healthy lawn needs that include parks, residential, commercial/professional landscaping and sport fields. Expect production to increase by 10% by 2035.   PSR

Carol Turner is Senior Analyst, Global Operations, at Power Systems Research

Study shows PHEVs exceed government estimates. There have been several studies that suggest that hybrid electric vehicles (also called PHEVs) are simply not the great environment saver that the marketing people are suggesting. A new study by the Fraunhofer Institute shows that on average, PHEVs use more than three times as much fuel as government estimates suggest.

The study is highly credible as it was based around on-board fuel consumption monitoring data from a massive 981,035 vehicles across Europe.

A gap of over 300% is severe and makes it hard for the EU to regulate something when the estimated numbers are so wildly different from reality. The EU is aware of this problem, and is taking some measures to fix it

Source: Electrek: Read The Article

PSR Analysis: For some time now, people have been arguing that PHEVs are not the planet saver that the marketing people are suggesting it is. This is just more data to confirm this.  PSR

Guy Youngs is Forecast and Technology Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research

But that’s easy, I hear you say, its Australia and its sunny. Well, how about cold and snowy Canada? Transport Canada’s Zero-Emission Trucking Program, recently published a study which monitored over than 200 thousand kms (124,224 miles) of diesel and electric truck data over a year of operations in the Montreal-area. There findings were staggering with nearly $200k of savings per electric truck

Meanwhile in Europe, Trailer Dynamics in Germany has a different idea. Instead of electrifying the tractor, electrify the semi-trailer, so if you use an electric truck, great, this boosts your range, but if you are using a diesel truck, the e-Trailer can reduce fuel costs considerably. The benefits of a self-powered, battery-electric semi-trailer go beyond reducing CO₂ emissions as the technology also promises significant efficiency gains, which is music to the ears of fleet managers

Source: PV Magazine: Read The Article

PSR Analysis: This article is one of many that give a clear indication of where trucking (especially reefers) will go in the future, but the key isn’t really the cost saving, the efficiency improvements or the de-carbonization, but rather insurance. In the trucking world, if you have a 100k cargo of say, pharmaceuticals, the insurance company has historically insisted on a second diesel ICE to power the reefer unit alone. This is why this real life test of refrigerated goods in Australia’s heat, is very telling.    PSR