California-based student transportation services company Zūm has completed a $140-million Series E funding round led by Singapore-based global investment firm GIC. UK-headquartered decarbonization investor Climate Investment and existing investors including Sequoia and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 also participated.  This latest round brings Zūm’s total funding to $350 million. The new funding will be used to… Read more…

Sponsored by Indium Corporation In the ever-evolving landscape of electronics manufacturing, innovation is the key to staying ahead. Indium Corporation®, a leading player in the industry, has once again demonstrated its commitment to advancement with the introduction of Indalloy®301 LT. This novel alloy technology is specifically designed for power module package-attach applications and enables lower… Read more…

Multifamily housing developer HHHunt is working with EV infrastructure provider EnviroSpark to install and upgrade charging stations at 38 apartment properties in the Southeast. EnviroSpark will install Level 2 charging stations at 24 of HHHunt’s existing apartment buildings in Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The company will also install the equipment… Read more…

Q&A with Umicore’s Robert Privette Umicore traces its roots to a Belgian mining company formed in 1906. Since then, it has moved on from mining to a variety of high-tech pursuits including refining, recycling and the manufacture of specialized metal products. Today it’s one of Belgium’s largest companies, and has a strong presence in e-mobility,… Read more…

Kinterra Capital, a Canadian private equity firm, has announced that portfolio company NiVolt Technologies has demonstrated production of high-quality nickel and cobalt products for the battery supply chain. NiVolt has produced mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) containing over 45% nickel plus cobalt with low impurities and is conducting a feasibility study for a Quebec hydrometallurgical facility…. Read more…

Akerman, a top-100 US law firm with over 700 employees, has launched three new teams under the umbrella of its Energy and Infrastructure Sector Team, focusing on renewable energy and other high-tech infrastructure. The multidisciplinary teams “build upon the existing capabilities of Akerman’s Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure Practice and Renewable Energy and Electric Power… Read more…

Under pressure from trucking trade groups, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) decided to delay enforcing some of the registration and reporting provisions of its Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, which had been scheduled to take effect at the end of 2023. Under the rule, drayage fleets and other “high-priority” fleets must register any legacy combustion-powered… Read more…

Redwood Materials, the battery recycling firm run by Tesla alum JB Straubel, recently broke ground on a new facility near Charleston, South Carolina. The plant will complement the company’s Nevada materials location, and will be used to recycle, refine and remanufacture anode and cathode components. Also like Redwood’s Nevada site, the new Battery Materials Campus… Read more…

In the beginning stages of a technological transformation, the new tech tends to conquer the best use cases first. Regular Charged readers will be familiar with EV-friendly applications such as drayage trucks, delivery vans, school buses and suburban yuppies, but here’s one you may not have heard of: skid steer loaders. A skid steer is… Read more…

Some may think of Mars as a candy company (your correspondent has a weakness for peanut M&Ms), but it’s a food industry giant that owns 50 global brands, and operates a large truck fleet. Now the company has announced plans to put 300 heavy-duty electric trucks into operation in Europe by 2030, in partnership with… Read more…

EV startup Canoo seemed to have fallen off the media radar, until a recent volume order for its electric vans brought it back to the headlines. Now the company has announced another high-profile deal, this time with the United States Postal Service (USPS), which, after a decade or two of deliberation, finally appears to be… Read more…

New battery chemistries using niobium oxide in the cathode active materials are nearing completion in Asia, according to CBMM, a niobium manufacturer and seller. Since 2019, CBMM has seen a 500% increase in niobium oxide exports to fulfill demand for new uses for EV battery cathodes. The company expects sales to reach 1,000 tons in… Read more…

Solid-state battery technology is widely expected to be the next big thing in the EV world, as it promises higher energy density, lower cost and more safety than current Li-ion designs. However, Mercedes Chief Technology Officer Markus Schäfer recently voiced a contrarian view, saying that solid-state batteries “may not be necessary,” thanks to developments in… Read more…

Professional EVSE installers understand that the standard electrical receptacles sold at big-box stores aren’t really suitable for use with plug-in EV charging stations (see our 2023 interview with Qmerit’s CEO). To support sustained high power levels and frequent insertions, you need something like Leviton’s new industrial-grade 50 Amp Heavy Duty EV Charging Receptacle. Leviton calls… Read more…

US-based tech research firm ABI Research foresees revenue from public EV charging growing by 2035 to more than $164 billion. EVs are expected to comprise 27% of registered cars globally by that date. The Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure report also found that by 2035, about two thirds of public charging points will be AC chargers… Read more…

Government agencies and municipalities are lining up to buy Beam Global’s EV ARC solar-powered off-grid EV charging systems, which not only come in handy in a disaster-recovery scenario, but also offer a quick and simple way to deploy EV charging. The latest customer is the US Department of Homeland Security, which has ordered 47 Beam… Read more…

The latest round of funding to be announced by the US Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office includes support for a wide range of projects designed to advance low-carbon transportation technologies, including several EV-related initiatives. A big chunk of the money—$60 million—will go to the United States Advanced Battery Consortium to further develop pre-competitive vehicle-related… Read more…

The Canadian province of Alberta, currently the country’s top producer of petroleum, could soon be producing substantial quantities of lithium. Alberta-based lithium developer E3 Lithium has announced the discovery of higher-than-expected lithium concentrations in the Nisku Aquifer through a new six-well sampling program conducted late in 2023. E3 Lithium sampled brine in the Nisku from… Read more…

Sponsored by SECOThe electric mobility surge owes its momentum to a confluence of factors—heightened environmental consciousness, strides in battery technology, and the perspective of reduced operational costs. As electric vehicles gain traction, they emerge as a linchpin in smart city management, aligning with sustainability, enhanced efficiency, and reduced emissions goals. The growing use of EV… Read more…

Electronics giant Kyocera AVX has released a new line of surface-mount automotive antennas. The new A-Series low-profile SMT antennas meet AEC-Q200 standards, and are designed for automotive applications, including wireless battery management systems, telematics control units and vehicle access key fobs. They support GNSS L1/L2/L5/L6, ISM, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth, cellular, LTE, 5G and UWB wireless… Read more…