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Parched Taiwan Prays for Rain as Sun Moon Lake Hit by Drought
Erik Martin TAIWAN — Taiwan’s Sun Moon Lake is so low that parts of it have dried and turned to grass. Jetties that normally float are sprawled awkwardly on dry land, and tour boats are crowded at the tail ends of pontoons still in the water.
Usually one of the island’s most famous tourist destinations, the lake has recently become a star of a different kind. Following the worst drought in 56 years, it is now famous for all the wrong reasons. These days, Instagram influencers photograph themselves posing in a dust-colored, dinghy half-buried in a cracked and cratered lakebed…
But away from the quirky headlines, the situation is dire. Other reservoirs across central and southern Taiwan are effectively empty, down to 5% or less.
Taiwan has had drought before, but observers are hoping the severity of this one – which has lasted 18 months and threatens Taiwan’s economic lifeblood of semiconductor production – is enough to prompt real action on climate change.
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Müller Launches Rigid Off-Highway Truck MDT430 in Brazil
Fabio Ferraresi The Brazilian group that acquired Randon Veículos, the division of Randon group that produced OH Trucks and Construction Equipment, at the end of 2020 launched the first model under the Müller brand. It has a 350 HP Turbo Intercooler produced by Scania and an Allisson Automatic Transmission.
Source: M&T Read The Article
PSR Analysis: Whether lucky or visionary, Müller is well positioned to produce positive results in coming years. While mining activity in…
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GM Announces LCV To Be Produced in Brazil
This pickup truck will be produced at the São Caetano plant using the GEM platform, the leader in the compact car segment with Chevrolet Onyx. This vehicle will be smaller than the GM S-10, produced in São José dos Campos, Brazil, and bigger than the old Montana. It should compete with Fiat Toro, leader in sales ant he Pick-up segment.
Source: M&T Read The Article
PSR Analysis: GM hopes to follow the success history of Stellantis in Brazil with a smaller, yet not compact pick-up. The successful…
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Continental Wins First Order for CV High-Performance Computer
Frankfurt, Germany–For the first time, Continental has won an order to supply the commercial vehicle sector with telematics units that include high-performance computers. This means that the technology company now also offers a solution that can master the increasing requirements for connectivity, complexity and functional scope in trucks.
Continental will use its telematics know-how – already proven in the passenger car sector – to complete this order from Volkswagen. Last year, Continental was…
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European EV Buses Under Pressure
Emiliano Marzoli After three years, Alstom is halting their EV bus production. By the end of 2021, the production lines will be stopped, and unless a buyer will take over, most of the operations will be shut down. Twenty employees will remain active to assure maintenance for the existing vehicles in operations with RATP.
Just two years ago, Alstom was one of the winners of a contract to supply electric buses to the French operator. However, this was not enough to maintain profitability.
PSR Analysis: We believe that electric buses have a great future, particularly in Europe. According to our database CV Link™, alternative drive buses, including Hybrid, Fuel Cells and Battery Electric, will grow at a 22% CAGR between 2020 and 2030.
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Powersports Recreational Equipment Update
EDITOR’S NOTE. Power Systems Research tracks the global trends powersports recreational equipment, especially the electrification of these units. This is one of a series of reports on these trends.
Michael Aistrup The first LiveWire branded motorcycle is scheduled to launch on July…
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Forecast: Component Shortages and Supply Chain Disruptions
Chris Fisher Since the latter part of last year, North American heavy commercial truck orders have been extremely strong as freight rates remain very high. Both contract rates and spot rates are in record territory, primarily driven by consumer spending, a strong housing market and an improving manufacturing sector.
The anticipation of the stimulus spending and increasing vaccination rates for Covid-19 are also driving optimism in the economy. However, rising inflation could derail the improving economy.
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DATAPOINT: NA Scooters, 2021 Production, 431,900
431,900 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Scooters to be produced in North America (Mexico and the U.S.) in 2021.
This 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.
Market Share: Dominating the NA market for Scooter production is Mexico-based Italika with 89% of total units produced. In second position is Honda-Mexico with 11%; third is US-based Go-Ped with 178 units.
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Enhancements Made in MHV Segment Data
Joe Zirnhelt As we move through the 2021 year, we at Power Systems Research are working to include enhancements within the data for our Medium and Heavy Vehicles segment that is available in OE Link™, CV Link™ and PartsLink™.
We have added several new fields to increase the value of the data to users as they analyze and further segment the markets. These enhancements, now available as of March 31, 2021, include:
OEM Assembly Information for Knockdown (Kit) Production. New fields including OEM Assembly Type (Kit vs. Full), OEM Assembly Plant and OEM Assembly Country which will help in the analysis of OEMs involved in knockdown production (i.e. Kit) where initial production of the engine and chassis are different from the final OEM Country.
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Rosatom Eyes Battery Production for Electric Cars in 2025
Maxim Sakov OOO Renera, subsidiary of Rosatom, has purchased Enertech International, a South Korean company.
According to the signed agreement, Li-Ion accumulator batteries and related power systems will be produced in Russia. It’s expected that production will be started in 2025, and in 2030 the plant capacity will be increased to minimum 2 GWt*hr
The batteries will be installed in trucks, buses and special machines.
PSR Analysis: It’s important to notice that there are no passenger…
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