Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks are recalling nearly all the battery-powered electric trucks made over the past four years because of an issue that can cause a battery fire.
The recall is the fourth for the trucks since they entered series production in 2022. The latest recall affects 173 Volvo and nine Mack vehicles built between April 1, 2019, and Feb. 10, 2023.
Battery-powered electric trucks are still relatively new on the market. Some of the issues are consistent with new...
Not unlike startup accelerator company Y Combinator and venture capital firm 500 Global, the starting point for hundreds of young entrepreneurs, Sweden’s Volvo Group has its own version of finding and tapping tomorrow’s talent for trucking and its other businesses.
It’s called CampX, a physical location where more than 50 startups have explored and accelerated new ideas under the watchful eye of the global truck maker. The latest addition is an incubator where early-stage startups can develop...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/volvo-group-gathers-startups-for-incubation
The New Power division at Cummins Inc. probably won’t break even before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization before 2027. But when it does, it may never look back. One reason is its investment in producing electrolyzers, a critical enabler to making hydrogen fuel for zero-emission long-haul trucking among myriad other uses.
IDTechEx forecasts the water electrolyzer market will grow over the next decade to $120 billion by 2033. By 2025, the firm estimates fivefold growth in electrolyzer...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cummins-sees-billions-from-its-hydrogen-electrolyzer-business
Michael Patterson is a serial entrepreneur who has an inscribed baseball bat for every company he starts, grows and sells. His latest move: taking over 76-year-old Crane Carrier Co. to introduce battery-electric refuse trucks under the name Battle Motors. He has a bat for it too.
Serial entrepreneur flips the scriptMichael Patterson has little to prove in the world of entrepreneurship. He has started and sold four companies. For each, the 54-year-old Patterson has an inscribed baseball bat...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/serial-entrepreneur-tells-back-story-of-spac-sponsored-romeo-power
Nikola Corp. is acquiring struggling startup Romeo Power Inc. in a $144 million all-stock deal that Nikola says will assure its supply of battery packs critical to assembling electric trucks.
The transaction exchange ratio implies Romeo’s shares are worth 74 cents each, a 34% premium to its closing price Friday of 55 cents. Romeo shareholders get a 4.5% pro forma ownership of Nikola. The boards of both companies have approved the deal.
The deal potentially preserves up to 400 jobs at Romeo.
“In...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nikola-acquires-struggling-romeo-power-to-secure-battery-supply
Even as its $3.7 billion merger with Cummins Inc. proceeds, Meritor Inc. said Friday it has agreed to purchase the Siemens Commercial Vehicles electric propulsion business. The move would bulk up its electrification portfolio.
The battle among players in commercial vehicle electrification is growing fierce. Tier 1 suppliers like BorgWarner Inc., Dana Inc., Eaton Corp. and Cummins are jockeying for market share in fully integrated systems to meet the expected growth in electric trucks.
“The...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/meritor-buying-siemens-electric-propulsion-business
My favorite scene in the movie adaptation of Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball” occurred during 2003 in the darkened Oakland A’s locker room where Billy Beane, the team’s general manager, reluctantly slid a folded piece of paper across a table to his math genius assistant Peter Brand.
Unfolding the paper, Brand stared at the number written, telling Beane after a pause the offer from the Boston Red Sox would make Beane the highest-paid general manager in sports.
“So?” So what? Beane replies somewhat...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/commentary-its-not-about-the-money-its-what-the-money-says
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Nestled among flat-roofed Silicon Valley startups in an unassuming tree-lined neighborhood, Tula Technology is perfecting its Dynamic Skip Fire engine controls for diesel and electric truck powertrains that could clear expected 2027 regulatory emissions hurdles — and save a lot of fuel in the process.
The private company doesn’t care if you’ve never heard of it as long as automotive and commercial vehicle manufacturers have. Through regular appearances at industry confabs,...
Nikola Corp. has signed a multiyear deal with battery maker Proterra Inc. to use Proterra battery packs in its electric trucks. It is the first Class 8 truck maker to align with Proterra Powered, a newer business unit of the company best known for electric transit buses.
The deal creates supply certainty for Nikiola, which has signed several letters of intent with major carriers that will try and potentially buy hundreds of Nikola Tre battery-electric and fuel cell trucks in the next few years.
N...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nikola-signs-multiyear-deal-for-proterra-battery-technology
Meritor Inc., a supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking, aftermarket and electric powertrains, announced a raft of deals Tuesday that will make the name of its 14Xe chassis hard to ignore as it spreads throughout trucks, buses and industrial applications.
It is a big deal because Meritor (NYSE: MTOR) competes with other suppliers, including Dana Inc., BorgWarner and Eaton Corp., in pursuing a conversion of significant portions of their business aimed at internal combustion engine-driven...