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California May Ban Gas-Powered Lawn Mowers and Leaf Blowers
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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Stanley Black & Decker To Purchase Cub Cadet Maker and Excel
Stanley Black & Decker has announced plans to buy the remaining 80% of MTD Holdings Inc.’s stock for $1.6 billion in cash after previously buying a 20% stake in 2019.
In addition to lawn tractors such as the Cub Cadet, MTD also makes push lawn mowers, snow blowers, robotic lawn mowers, outdoor power equipment and garden tools.
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Briggs & Stratton Acquires SimpliPhi Power
Briggs & Stratton has acquired SimpliPhi Power, a battery manufacturer whose technology can be found in many microgrids. Briggs & Stratton plans to speed its growth into the energy storage market through the acquisition.
SimpliPhi manufactures ferrous phosphate batteries, management technology systems and plug-and-play power packs for residential, commercial and industrial customers.
SimpliPhi Power started in the movie business, making battery packs and lights. The company…
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Ford, Argo AI, and Walmart Plan Autonomous Vehicle Delivery Service in Three U.S. Cities
John-Krzesicki The way we deliver products from point A to point B is changing. This transformation is creating new partnerships, with implications affecting more than just the transportation industry.
Our team at Power Systems Research provides market intelligence to companies working in and around transportation and mobility functions.
Ford Motor Company, Argo AI, and Walmart are working together to launch an autonomous vehicle delivery service in Miami, Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C. — Walmart’s first multi-city autonomous delivery collaboration in the U.S. The last-mile delivery service will use Ford self-driving test vehicles equipped with the Argo AI Self-Driving System to deliver Walmart orders.
The collaboration brings together a self-driving technology provider with an automotive manufacturer able to integrate that technology with vehicles at scale, plus the world’s largest retailer.
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DataPoint: US Crawlers, 2021 Production: 4,100 Units
Today Joe Delmont presents the 2021 forecast for Crawler production in North America. This forecast has been developed by Carol Turner, senior analyst of global operations, at Power Systems Research. Carol provides annual production forecasts for important equipment applications.
4,100 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of crawlers to be produced in North America 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: With combined plant totals of 55% Caterpillar leads in production of crawlers in North America. In second position is Deere with 31.5%; third, is Case with 10%.
Exports: Collectively, up to 30% worldwide.
Trends: During 2020, production of Crawlers in North America (US) decreased nearly 18%, but production is expected to rebound 19% in 2021, compared to 2020. Most of the decline in 2020 was due to COVID-19-related factors such as plant shutdowns, parts availability and lack of workforce. The market significantly dropped in the Spring of 2020 due to the combination of low oil prices and a lull in mining and construction projects.
A few years ago, construction spending in the United States was above annual levels, according to a new analysis of federal data released by the Associated General Contractors of America. Construction and mining activities increased resulting in gains for 2018.
Decreases in production are also attributed to divergent trends however, as public sector construction activity has continued to decline while private sector demand for new construction strengthened. Even though sales dropped considerably in 2020, production is expected to gain up to 15% by 2025 primarily influenced by the positive outlook for construction (infrastructure) and mining related activities. PSR
Carol Turner is Senior Analyst, Global Operations
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South Korea’s SK and LG to Build EV Battery Plant in the U.S. Joint Venture in the Gap between U.S.-China Conflict
South Korean automotive battery giants are moving into the U.S. market, with SK Innovation teaming up with Ford and LG Chemical with GM to promote the construction of an automotive battery plant. SK plans to invest about 300 billion yen in the plant to produce 22 gigawatt-hours of automotive batteries, enough to power 220,000 EVs a year, and in a joint venture with Ford, the two companies will invest 600 billion yen to build a giant 60-gigawatt plant.
SK’s annual production capacity as of 2019 is only 5 gigabytes at its Korean plant. The capacity is expected to increase to 30 gigawatts in 2020 with the launch of plants in China and Hungary, to 85 gigawatts in 2023 with the addition of the US plant, and to exceed 185 gigawatts in 2025 with the addition of the joint venture with Ford. SK, a late entrant to the market, ranks sixth with a 5% share of the global market in 2020.
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Strong Post-pandemic Growth Expected into 2022-23 for North America
Yosyf Sheremeta SUMMARY. After the GDP declined 3.5% last year, the worst performance in almost 75 years, the US economy is set for a strong comeback. There are many reasons to be optimistic about the economy for the next few years, including strong readings of macro-economic factors combined with the economic cycle reset backed by government initiatives and policies.
Our positive outlook is based on the reviews of key economic indicators, including GDP, unemployment, and inflation.
During H1 2021, we witnessed a strong level of activities and a rebound for many industries. As local governments eased lockdown restrictions, service-oriented industries gained traction and that translated to an overall increase of economic activities across many industries.
We expect this level of rebound to continue and we now expect even stronger overall growth for 2021. The US economy is on track to reach or even surpass the growth level of 1984 – the highest one since 1950s. In the near term, consumer spending will help drive demand and support the strong growth trend.
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DATAPOINT: NA Excavators, 2021 Production: 19,900 Units
19,900 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Excavators to be produced in North America 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: With combined plant totals of 47.5% Caterpillar leads in production of excavators in North America. In second position is Doosan Bobcat with 22%; third, is Deere-Hitachi with 14.5%.
Exports: Collectively, up to 30% worldwide.
Trends: Excavators are heavy pieces of equipment designed for large scale projects for a variety of sectors that include construction, mining, and industrial activities. Despite the recent lull in production, excavators are a popular device for construction activities.
Production of excavators in North America decreased 9% in 2020, largely because the global pandemic made 2020 challenging across most industries. The off-highway segments (agricultural, construction and industrial) saw dramatic production drops in 2020 compared to 2019.
Another factor in the recent decline is the fact that purchasers are choosing backhoe loaders that are more versatile than excavators. Expect production to gain an additional 3% by 2025.
As fabrication has resumed, assembly is back on track for 2021 with an expected gain of 9% from last year to a total of about 19,900 units.
One example of the rebound: Doosan Bobcat North America, a global leader in the compact equipment industry, is celebrated the completion of a $26 million expansion at its manufacturing facility in Litchfield, Minn., in Q2 2021. The 15-month project nearly tripled the size of the facility, from 70,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space to nearly 200,000 square feet. PSR
Carol Turner is Senior Analyst, Global Operations, for Power Systems Research
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Edge Computing Helps Connect America
John Krzesicki Cities, nationally and globally, are embarking on innovative efforts to harness the benefits of rapidly emerging technologies to improve citizens’ quality of life, increase operational efficiency, and enhance economic vitality and sustainability.
These efforts often involve changing the nature of data storage and transfer, primarily by moving these steps from data storage “clouds” to local data centers closer to the application.
Since Power Systems Research began tracking global equipment manufacturers in 1976, its analysts have been aware of new technologies and electrification trends such as these which can affect future markets. Today, we’re closely following these changes in data transfer and storage.
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