WattEV

Workhorse on the bubble, or is it worse?

Less than three months after my generally upbeat visit to Workhorse Group’s refurbished plant near the Ohio-Indiana border, the electric truck maker’s situation appears dire.

Layoffs and furloughs

Workhorse has laid off 20% of its workforce. Much of the rest is on unpaid furlough and could be called back to work. 

The company is choked with inventory. It has less than $7 million in cash on the books and accounts payable for more than twice that amount. At a projected burn rate less than Q1’s $5.5...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/workhorse-on-the-bubble-or-is-it-worse

Could autonomous trucks help save the planet?

It’s understood that autonomous trucks boost fuel efficiency compared to human-driven big rigs.

But the potential energy efficiency gains could be far greater.

In a white paper released Tuesday, Aurora Innovation looked at immediate, medium- and longer-term opportunities and found some obvious and not-so-obvious savings.

The headline factoid: Autonomous trucks could achieve 13%-32% net energy efficiency improvement per loaded mile compared to human-driven miles. It is a lot to digest. 

Aurora makes...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/could-autonomous-trucks-help-save-the-planet

Fleet electrification does not have to break the bank

Electrifying truck freight transport to meet regulatory requirements and voluntary sustainability goals can be expensive and time consuming. One California company has figured out a way to get it done faster and at less cost than once thought possible. 

Sustainability is a hot topic across the logistics industry. In addition, freight movement has been identified as a major contributor to both greenhouse gas and criteria pollutants. Tapping into this dynamic, legislators across the nation have...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fleet-electrification-does-not-have-to-break-the-bank

Megawatt grants electrify truck charging corridors

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Startup electric truck infrastructure developer WattEV won’t say how much money it has raised from...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/megawatt-grants-electrify-truck-charging-corridors

Electric trucks should shake off setbacks in 2024

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Meaningful volume growth eluded heavy-duty electric trucks last year for several reasons: Charging...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electric-trucks-should-shake-off-setbacks-in-2024

Hyliion spikes powertrain business to prioritize Karno generator

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Hyliion Holdings is giving up on making hybrid electric powertrains and will focus on developing a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/hyliion-spikes-powertrain-business-to-prioritize-karno-generator

Nikola will replace batteries in fire-prone electric trucks

Nikola Corp. is telling customers it will replace the battery packs in its electric trucks, a worst-case scenario following several fires. Nikola is bringing all the trucks back to its Arizona plant but won’t say where or when it will get pack replacements.

In most recalls, the supplier of the part or component involved bears at least some of the cost of the campaign. In Nikola’s case, it owned its since-liquidated former supplier, Romeo Power Inc. It is therefore on the hook for the full cost...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nikola-will-replace-batteries-in-fire-prone-electric-trucks

Newsom leans toward allowing autonomous trucking in California

“And as the years go by

Our friendship will never die

You’re gonna see it’s our destiny

You’ve got a friend in me” — Randy Newman

The battle over whether to allow heavy-duty autonomous trucks on highways in California is coming to an end. It would be premature to call the outcome, but Gov. Gavin Newsom is lining up behind advanced technology over organized labor. Both are major constituent groups of the Democratic governor.

Assembly Bill 316 would effectively kill autonomous testing and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/newsom-leans-toward-allowing-autonomous-trucking-in-california

Real estate investors surge into electric truck charging

Somewhere around the middle of the Netflix movie “The Founder,” actor Michael Keaton’s Ray Kroc character is told that his franchise success turns on real estate, not flipping hamburgers.

The same could be said of the nascent electric truck charging business. Every electric charging depot needs land. As part of a multiprong strategy, the biggest real estate developers and a host of well-funded startups are gobbling up acreage for future sites.

The opportunity is enormous. The California Energy...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/real-estate-investors-surge-into-electric-truck-charging

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