PowerTALK

  • Eletra Converts Trucks and Buses to Electric in Brazil

    Eletra started converting Trucks and Buses from 3.5 to 54 Tons for the range of 50km to 150km by replacing the actual Powertrain (ICE, Transmission, Axels,) and suspension with batteries, electric drive and new suspension. The main benefits for the approach is to provide 30% less cost than a new Electric Truck and shorten the timing to meet sustainability targets, since the retrofit is done quickly. Companies like Ambev (AB-Inbev) announced 102 trucks retrofitted with Eletra.

    Source: M&T    Read The Article

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  • Toyota To Invest 1.5 trillion Yen in Auto Batteries

    FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT

    Akihiro Komuro
    Akihiro Komuro

    Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that it will invest 1.5 trillion yen in automotive batteries by 2030. Of this amount, 1 trillion yen will be used to increase the production capacity to 200 GWh, 33 times the current level. This is an increase of more than 10% over the previous target.

    The company also announced that it will invest 500 billion yen in research and development, with the goal of reducing the cost of batteries per electric vehicle by more than half. As demand for electric vehicles is sure to grow, the battle for leadership among manufacturers will intensify.

    Toyota’s investment in batteries was 80 billion yen in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, and it is calculated to continue to exceed 100 billion yen per year until 2030. The total amount of capital investment is expected to be 1.35 trillion yen in the fiscal year ending March 2022, of which more than 10% will be allocated to batteries.

    Source: The Nikkei

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  • Hyundai Motor To Convert Heavy-Duty Trucks and Buses To Hydrogen and Electric Vehicles

    FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT

    The Hyundai Motor Group has announced its “Hydrogen Vision 2040,” which states that 2040 will be the first year of the popularization of hydrogen energy. The company plans to launch new models of all commercial vehicles, including heavy-duty trucks and buses, with hydrogen-electric and electric vehicles. The goal is to reduce the price of hydrogen-electric vehicles to the level of general electric vehicles by 2030 by developing a next-generation hydrogen fuel cell system that is inexpensive and has good performance.

    The Hyundai Motor Group will not launch any new commercial vehicles powered by internal combustion engines in the future. It plans to mass-produce hydrogen-electric trucks in the country in the first half of next year and plans to apply hydrogen fuel cells to all of its commercial vehicle lineup by 2028.

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  • VinFast Partners with Chinese Company To Make EV Batteries

    SOUTHEAST ASIA: VIETNAM REPORT

    Automaker VinFast is partnering with China’s Gotion High-Tech to research and produce batteries for electric vehicles as part of its vision to become a global brand.

    According to a statement released by Vingroup, VinFast’s parent company, the two companies are planning to build Vietnam’s first lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant. LFP is an iron-based battery that does not rely on rare raw materials such as cobalt or nickel. That makes LFP batteries much cheaper, although they have lower energy density than nickel-based chemistries.

    According to Vingroup, Gotion is the leading manufacturer of LFP batteries in China, with eight research and development centers worldwide and 10 manufacturing facilities in China. Thai Thi Thanh Hai, vice chairman of Vingroup, said the partnership is key to VinFast’s ability to achieve supply chain autonomy.

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  • Avtotor Company Left Without Subsidies for BMW Cars

    Avtotor is no longer receiving utilization fees for BMW cars, assembled according to the contract with the OEM in Kaliningrad. The German OEM is not ready to announce plans for increasing localization of production in Kaliningrad to return compensations.

    It looks like for BMW it’s easier to raise final the price to compensate for a loss of subsidies, than to make local production deeper. Currently, Avtotor assembles X5, X6 and X7 in Kaliningrad. Sedan car assembly was shifted abroad last Spring.

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  • Rostselmash Increases Investment Program More Than 40%

    Rostselmash, the largest Russian AG machine maker, during the period into 2024 will increase investments for production development from US$ 275 million to US$ 390 million (19.9 billion Rubles to 28.5 billion Rubles, respectively).

    Initially, the transmission plant was scheduled to make 90,000 gear units per year, but as soon as the plan of tractor production was corrected, planned output of the transmission plant was increased to 150,000 gear units per year. Also, three new painting lines were a…

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  • India EV Segment Gains Traction

    Aditya Kondejkar

    The EV segment in India is continuing to grow with additional government support. In July of this year, the government partially modified the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) in India Phase II. It has included an additional demand incentive for electric two-wheelers to ₹15,000 per KWh from an earlier uniform subsidy of ₹10,000 per KWh for all EVs, including plug-in hybrids and strong hybrids except buses.  

    This decision will increase the subsidy for such vehicles by 50% under the FAME II scheme and be a game-changer in adopting EVs.

    Such moves from the government will boost faster adoption of EVs. Furthermore, with this kind of solid support, OEMs will also take a step forward to accelerate the mass adoption of EV.

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  • CNH Acquires Sampierana SPA

    Emiliano Marzoli
    Emiliano Marzoli

    CNH Industrial has purchased Sampierana S.p.A. an Italian construction equipment and components manufacturer.  The deal totals €101.8 million and will allow CNH to control 100% of Sampierana within the next four years.

    “This latest strategic acquisition will further accelerate the profitable growth of our construction equipment business. Sampierana’s exceptional portfolio solidifies our presence in critical market segments and provides our dealers and customers access to industry-leading products backed by our brand, distribution, and manufacturing experience,” said Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer of CNH Industrial.

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  • California May Ban Gas-Powered Lawn Mowers and Leaf Blowers

    Michael Aistrup
    Michael Aistrup

    California may soon ban the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers under a bill the Legislature passed and sent to Gov. Newsom.

    Assembly Bill 1346 would direct the California Air Resources Board to phase out the sale of “small off-road engines” by 2024, or as soon as the board finds feasible, whichever is later.

    The bill’s author, Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, tweeted that the state will spend $30 million “to help gardeners transition to cleaner, greener equipment.”

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  • Segway’s First Robotic Lawnmower Uses GPS To Stay in Your Yard

    Since building a brand on self-balancing personal transportation devices, Segway has expanded its consumer product range to include e-scooters, go-karts and now, autonomous mowers. 

    The Segway Navimow is like a Roomba for your lawn, except it's different than most other robotic vacuums and mowers currently sold in one key way. Reports say that instead of requiring installation of a physical or a virtual boundary, the device uses GPS to stay on "precise position and systematic mowing…

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