The Massachusetts Fleet Advisor program has been awarded $5m of federal money from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, thus tripling the fleet electrification program. This could now help serve as many as 200 (vs the original target of 65) small businesses, nonprofits, and cities/towns served by municipal electric utilities. CALSTART is running the program for the state, and we champion this initiative. Interestingly, transportation accounts for 37% of Massachusetts’ greenhouse emissions and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles make up 3% of the vehicles on the road yet produce 20% of the state’s transportation emissions. Thus, it is crucial to target and help these types of assets to help reduce emissions.
Wrightbus has launched a new enterprise, NewPower UK, which offers repowering services to replace diesel engines with electric powertrains, thus, making it the first OEM to offer such a service. This is an affordable method to decarbonise bus fleets, as repowering conversions take around 3 weeks and cost c£200,000 which is c40% less than a brand-new bus. This new service allows NewPower to take buses that are 5-9 years old and give them an extra 10 years of life.
Gotion and InoBat have announced they are investing c$1.29bn to build an EV battery plant in Slovakia. This plant will also receive €150m in subsidies and €64m in tax breaks, which is a great level of support. The plant is pencilled in to have an annual output of 20 gigawatt hours and production is scheduled to begin in Q1 27. This is another example of Europe trying to boost its EV battery supply chain, so it is less reliant on Asian supply chains. Furthermore, this further strengthens Slovakia’s automotive industry and is strategically positioning itself to become an important part of the EU EV battery supply chain.
Following productive conversations between EU Commissioner Mr Dombrovskis and Chinese Commerce Minister Mr Wentao, over the weekend, both sides have agreed to restart tariff talks. However, China is pushing for the EU to scrap its tariffs by July 4th. To recap, levies as much as c48% are pencilled in to start on the 4th of July. It seems unlikely that these tariffs will be scrapped by then unless China makes major concessions. Bruegel, an EU affairs think tank, believes that the French election (30th of June – 7th of July) makes it unrealistic to hold any serious discussions and scrap the tariffs before the 4th of July. We believe that a resolution will be achieved between both parties however nearer to November 2nd which is the end of the EU anti-subsidy investigation.
BMW has announced it has upgraded its plant in Spartanburg (South Carolina) by installing a new press shop for BMW X3s outer skin components. The company invested $200m in the new press shop and it intends to introduce at least 6 fully electric models, by 2030, at the aforementioned plant. This further emphasises BMW’s commitment to EVs, sustainability and the American automotive market.
The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has released the results of a poll it had commissioned, where one of the key findings was that 42% wanted buses to be one of the top 3 transport spending policies after the 4th July (UK) general election. Furthermore, 56% of respondents wanted investment directed towards more frequent services and 37% wanted the creation of new routes. What’s quite clear is that the UK bus sector needs greater investment, especially in the current cost of living crisis environment we are in. The CPT has, for many months, put forward multiple suggestions on how local economies could be jumpstarted (/or help revive local communities) by investing in the local bus community and we champion these ideas.
Deals
Princeton NuEnergy, a lithium-ion battery recycling startup, has raised $30m in a Series A funding round. Investors such as Samsung Ventures and Helium-3 participated. NuEnergy has patented a low-temperature plasma-assisted separation process that produces battery-grade cathode and anode materials that are suitable for direct reintroduction into cell manufacturing at half the cost and a much lower environmental footprint than conventional methods. The startup intends to use the raised capital to help build its first standalone full-scale direct battery recycling advanced manufacturing facility in South Carolina.
Waabi, an AI autonomous driving startup, has raised $200m in a Series B round, led by Uber and Khosla Ventures. Investors such as HarbourVest Partners, G2 Venture Partners, Export Development Canada, Radical Ventures, and Incharge Capital, also participated. Waabi, currently, focuses on developing an AI-based solution for self-driving trucks. It is important to highlight that due to the use of its proprietary end-to-end AI system and simulation platform, Waabi has developed a cost-efficient solution, and reduces the need for extensive on-road testing to validate the system.
Kinetic, a Californian electric and autonomous vehicle repair startup, has raised $21m in a series B funding round, led by Menlo Ventures. This startup applies a robotic system, computer vision and machine learning software to rapidly diagnose and recalibrate the sensors and software in EVs. Kinetic will use the raised capital to hire (and train) technicians and build out its service hubs.