Happy Thursday and Happy Holidays. We have news on the Rivian, Tesla, Cintas, the Lightning, Toyota, UberEats and a ton more.
Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share this newsletter with your EV friends. Have a great day and stay warm.
EV News
Rivian has released an update to help with handling winter driving conditions. The update includes a new "Snow mode" drive mode that is optimized for driving on snow, slush, and ice. The update reduces the accelerator pedal response to reduce the likelihood of wheelspin and reduces regenerative braking to help avoid slipping or locking the wheels when driving on slippery surfaces. The update also includes features such as remotely warming the cabin, defrosting and de-icing windows and mirrors, and remotely activating seat and steering wheel heaters. Perfect for the weather this week... I think it’s cold everywhere.
In other EV News
- Toyota and Kenworth have demonstrated that fuel-cell electric trucks can match the performance of diesel trucks in real-world operations. The companies tested zero-emission heavy-duty Class 8 FCEVs at the Port of Los Angeles and found that the fuel cell electric truck had a range of over 300 miles and could be refilled in 15-20 minutes, allowing it to operate for multiple daily shifts and cover 400-500 daily miles.
- Toyota is shifting its plans to become more like Tesla - and wants to reach Tesla’s level of profitability in the EV industry. Toyota will announce a new business strategy in January.
- Audi will convert all factories to produce EVs by 2029 as the company plans to phase out gas cars. Audi will launch only electric vehicles from 2026 and have its last combustion car come off the line in 2033.
- Tesla’s Gigafactory in Berlin has reached a production capacity of 3,000 electric cars per week. The company’s original goal was to produce 5,000 cars per week by the end of the year.
- Cintas Corporation has announced its electric vehicle pilot program which includes 20 vehicles from various manufacturers.
- 2022 was a record year for EV battery supply chains due to the increased amount of consumers in the EV industry.
- I know we include info like this every week, but it seems to always be changing. Check out the latest with the US Treasury Department delaying its guidance on battery sourcing requirements for the EV tax credit.
- The U.S. Postal Service will buy 66,000 electric vehicles and spend around $9.6 billion on the vehicles and associated infrastructure. 45,000 of the 66,000 EVs will come from Oshkosh.
- The International Energy Agency (IEA) is launching a total cost comparison tool for EV owners.
EV Adventure of the Week
Last weekend, my dad and I flew from Denver to Norman, Oklahoma to pick up a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro. The drive back was a 700-mile journey that wasn't without its frustrations (i.e. the dealer "forgot" to charge it before we arrived) but we made it and had some fun along the way.
It was my first extended road trip in an EV, and I learned that the Lightning wasn't intended for this purpose. However, I think any modern electric sedan would've crushed it. For the overall trip, we averaged a dismal 1.4 miles/kWh. I'd attribute this to a number of factors, but I believe the most influential were the constant high speeds and headwinds across the plains. In comparison, my Kia Niro EV had a lifetime rate of 4.3 mi/kWh (note this is mainly city driving).
-Joe @ Mobility EVo
Ned's Corner
Have you ever wondered why charging power for your EV sometimes is all over the map, rising and falling? Most often, the EV and EVSE will agree and settle on a power without too much hunting, but sometimes the algorithms on both sides can't agree.
Be careful looking at this plot…
About Ned
Ned is an EV professional with experience with chargers from 1 to 500kW and EVs ranging from unicycles to buses and class 8 trucks. An EV owner since 2014, he is currently a Technical Solutions Manager with Electrada where he develops and refines charging solutions for fleets using his engineering experience to drive for high uptime, reliability, and efficiency.
AV Corner
Estonian company Clevon has completed a delivery using a self-driving car in the US. The car traveled 3.6 miles to deliver in-flight meals from a catering service to Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport. The delivery was made within the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone, a hub for the development of transportation technology. Clevon opened its North American headquarters in Fort Worth in October, with the aim of bringing "the future of last-mile delivery to Texas and beyond". Congrats Clevon!
In other AV News
- UberEats is rolling out a fleet of self-driving delivery robots in Miami for snacks.
- Ghost Autonomy has been granted approval to test autonomous vehicles in California by the California Public Utilities Commission.
- Pennsylvania’s first-ever self-driving shuttle will be tested in 2023 at Navy Yard. Drexel University researchers will conduct the study.
- Helm.ai has obtained $31 million to scale its autonomous driving software after already raising $78 million.
- Cruise can now offer its driverless service throughout San Francisco 24/7.
- Hyundai Mobis teams up with Ottopia to develop remote mobility assistance solutions for autonomous vehicles.
- Caterpillar is partnering with Luck Stone to produce Caterpillar’s autonomous trucking solution in Virginia.
EPG and Mobility EVo
Mobility EVo is brought to you by EPG. EPG is an electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle recruiting and staffing company. We created Mobility EVo to bring you the latest news on the Electric Vehicle and Autonomous Vehicle industry through our newsletter. Whether it’s Tesla, Ford, Mobileye, Cruise, Waymo, GM, Rivian, we bring it to you. We also have some electric vehicle merch too. Check out our EV hats, EV Shirts, EV Hoodies, etc… We have something for everyone.