BYD is taking part in a statewide contract that will allow American transit agencies to leverage California’s purchase power to buy BYD e-buses made in Lancaster, California. The agreement includes three models offered at competitive conditions.

In an online meeting between Berlin and Los Angeles, Carrie Hampel interviewed Hubject’s Senior Director of Corporate and Business Development Barton Sidles about the new Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

The Californian environmental authority CARB has now concluded five individual agreements with car manufacturers for voluntary CO2 reduction in the US state. The emission target supersedes the levels promoted by the Trump administration.

California now requires manufacturers to sell a gradually increasing proportion of electric trucks, vans and pickup trucks from 2024 onwards until 2035. By the year 2045, every new commercial vehicle sold in the US state should have zero-emission propulsion.

Washington State has become the twelfth state to adopt tighter emissions standards in the face of the new laxer laws brought in by the Trump administration, following the example of California. Four more states are about to do the same.

Orange County has unveiled a new bus fleet of 10 fuel cell-electric buses in Santa Ana. Besides the buses’ arrivals, the county also now boasts the largest hydrogen fueling station in the nation for public transportation.

Tesla does not plan to manufacture lithium-ion cells near Berlin in the first construction phase. This could be due to the tight schedule. Meanwhile, the Tesla Model Y has received certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in the USA.

The “Zero Emissions Roadmap 2028 2.0” for the Los Angeles area has just been presented. It outlines the way the city aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by 25% by the 2028 Olympic Games. E-mobility plays an essential role.

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG & E) has just submitted a proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission to install an additional 2,000 charging points for electric vehicles in condominium complexes, workplaces and apartments.

California’s subsidies for electric cars and plug-in hybrids will change this December. Only electric vehicles up to a price of USD 60,000 will be eligible for the grant, except hydrogen cars. But this is not the only change.

The US brewery Anheuser-Busch will use 21 BYD electrically powered heavy-duty trucks in its Californian fleet as part of a government project. The BYD 8TT electric trucks are scheduled to go into service at the end of this year.

While the Trump government is sticking to its plan to freeze emissions standards for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles at today’s levels until 2026, VW, BMW, Ford and Honda have now signed a framework agreement with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to reduce emissions.

The state of California could soon triple the subsidies for zero-emissions cars while cutting those for hybrids. This means buyers in the Golden State could get as much as $7,500 per EV. However, the Senate has yet to approve the draft bill.

The California Air Resources Board is considering a new regulation in two weeks, which would mandate that EV charging network operators have credit card readers. Besides, it looks like memberships or subscriptions may also be banned.

The new Nissan Leaf featuring a 62 kWh battery, has approximately 40 km more range in the basic version, than in premium trims due to the higher weight of the more luxurious models. Meanwhile, Nissan also updated their US strategy with regards to rapidgate.

Truck maker Kenworth and Toyota Motor North America are collaborating to develop ten trucks using Toyota fuel cell technology. The hydrogen trucks are to run at the Port of Los Angeles and are part of a million dollar initiative funded by CARB.

California on Friday became the first state to mandate a full shift to electric buses on public transit routes. Starting in 2029, mass transit agencies in California will only be allowed to buy buses that are fully electric under a rule adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

In the Bay Ship & Yacht shipyard, the construction for the first fuel cell ferry named Water-Go-Round has begun. The ferry will most likely be completed in September 2019, before it will be used for three months of testing in the San Francisco Bay.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has approved a 483 million dollar budget for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal period. The budget will be used to fund clean vehicle rebates, zero emission public transport and logistics and other mobility pilot projects.

Volvo Trucks has announced plans to begin commercialising electric trucks in North America starting in 2020. The first electric demonstration trucks will arrive in California next year as part of a private-public partnership project.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has announced up to $205 million in grants for projects to accelerate the adoption of clean freight technologies and improving air quality in the state. Eleven projects will receive $150 million, with another $55 million to be considered for further investment.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has issued an outline for Innovative Clean Transit (ICT). The outline shows how the state can transit to a zero-emissions transport system utilizing new energy buses.

The Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine company is planning to produce the first hydrogen fuel cell powered ferry for commercial use in the USA.

The US manufacturer Peterbilt has now also begun working on an electric semi truck. They are cooperating with Meritor and TransPower, who will produce fully electric drive systems for two vehicle platforms.

US bus maker Blue Bird has received all required certifications for its electric school buses which are now in pre-production. The company also opened the order books and their EVs qualify for grants available in California and New York respectively.

CARB has certified Motiv’s Electric Powered Intelligent Chassis (EPIC) family for use in electric trucks and buses. With the executive order, EPIC chassis are certified for all of their service life, requiring no further emissions testing.

The Golden State has set its course on climate action and the latest proposal requests to put a halt on all sales of gas guzzlers from 2040 onwards. Chances are for the zero-emission legislation to be passed into law.

Hello Helsinki says DriveNow as BMW brings its car sharing service to Finland. The Nordic capital will receive 150 BMW and Mini cars by May, 24 but it is not clear how many will be electric. After Stockholm and Copenhagen, Helsinki is the third Scandinavian city to welcome the service but as a franchise.
drive-now.com

Clean transport in California: 24m dollars have been granted through the California Energy Commission to green freight transportation projects in Los Angeles and Long Beach. Another 12m dollars went to other clean transportation projects. Among the funded demos are electric yard tractors, cranes or charging stations for harbours but also airports and farms or high school districts.
greencarcongress.com

Another type of freight will be “hauled” in California emission-free as well as CARB grants 7.5m dollars to an electric school bus initiative. MotivPower Systems together with school bus maker Trans Tech, is bringing 13 all-electric school buses to the Sacramento region. Theirs was the only application approved.
prnewswire.com

Scooter superchargers: Indian Ather Energy wants to install charging stations in crowded areas like offices, malls, or business hubs ahead of the launch of its electric scooter S340. The start-up is backed by Hero and derives its charging idea from Tesla’s Supercharger model.
livemint.com, moneycontrol.com

Renault extends its range in Paris where it will deliver 50 Kangoo Z.E. equipped with Symbio’s fuel cell range extender to Engie Cofely. To supply the extra energy, a dedicated hydrogen station will be opened on the firm’s site in Hauts-de-Seine.
qtelegram.com, autoplus.fr (in French)

Reading tip: New figures show that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has already invested more than 599m dollars in zero-emission vehicles since 2013. Green Car Congress summarises the details and gives an overview of the types of vehicles that have been supported so far.
greencarcongress.com

Reading and video tip: The trike Solo is an ultralight EV made by Canadian start-up Electra Meccanica with place for just one person. A CNET reporter climbed now behind the steering wheel of a preproduction piece and found out that this is by far “not the only weird thing.”
cnet.com

Download tip: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has published the “Midterm Review” of its EV programme. It is expected that just because of the programme, at least 1m new electric vehicles will hit the road in California by 2025.
arb.ca.gov via greencarcongress.com

Video tip: In the newest episode of Fully Charged, Robert Llewellyn takes the Renault Zoe with the 41 kWh battery for a spin. On his drive in Portugal, Robert finds that the 400 km range that Renault advertises is actually not far off from reality.
youtube.com via electriccarsreport.com

Events for the upcoming week: ARCHI Symposium Applied Research on Charging Infrastructure (Jan 24; Amsterdam, Netherlands) ++ Decarbonizing Europe’s transport sector (Jan 25; Brussels, Belgium) ++ You can find a complete list of upcoming industry events at electrive.com/calendar