In Germany, the Frankfurter Entsorgungs- und Service GmbH (FES) will be putting eight eEconic from Mercedes Benz Trucks into operation with municipal house-to-house waste collection in the Rhine-Main region.
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Volkswagen Group Components is expanding its plant in Kassel in central Germany, opening a new competence centre for power electronics there. It will bundle all areas relevant to the development of pulse inverters for e-drives. At the same time, the site is preparing to produce the new APP 550 electric drive.
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In the German state of Hesse, Germany’s national rail services Deutsche Bahn (DB) has announced a major project with automated shuttles using electric vehicles from the Chinese manufacturer Nio. More than 100 on-demand vehicles will be in operation by the end of the year.
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Siemens Mobility has received another order for its battery trains. The Hessian public transport operator Hessische Landesbahn is procuring three two-car Mireo Plus B. The new battery trains will operate on the local lines ‘Oberwesterwaldbahn’ (OWB) and the ‘Unterwesterwaldbahn’ (UWB).
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BMW and Daimler are dovetailing their Free Now and Share Now offerings. The vehicles of the Share Now car-sharing service can be booked in France, Germany, Spain and Italy via the Free Now multi mobility platform from the end of July onwards.
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Solaris has won the tender from the municipal utility In-der-City-Bus (ICB) in the German city of Frankfurt. The Polish company is expected to deliver 13 hydrogen buses set to enter regular service in 2022.
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There are issues with the solid-state battery buses Daimler delivered to the city of Wiesbaden in February. The 21 Mercedes-Benz eCitaros have been out of service for a good two weeks as their batteries are undergoing checks due to an insulation fault that could lead to short circuits.
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The German startup Green Mobility Solutions has developed ‘Book-n-Park’, a control system that keeps charging points free and allows them to be reserved for specific drivers.
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Wiesbaden’s public transport operator, ESWE is building electric momentum as the first Daimler buses with solid-state batteries arrive. Now ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft added corresponding charging infrastructure.
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In Germany, the Darmstadt transport company HEAG mobilo has ordered 24 eCitaro electric buses from the Daimler subsidiary EvoBus including eleven solo and 13 articulated buses. The fleet should arrive at the Böllenfalltor depot from the third quarter of 2021 and replace older diesel vehicles.
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The EDAG Group has started a joint research project with Hexagon Purus to develop a hybrid system of hydrogen and battery storage for integration into car floors. The customer should then be able to configure the number of storage units individually.
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The PSA Group has recently decided to produce the next generation of the Peugeot 3008 at the Sochaux site from 2022. Meanwhile, French media report that the new 3008 will come in a plug-in hybrid version as well as a purely electric offshoot.
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The PSA Group and the Belgian transmission manufacturer Punch Powertrain have signed an agreement to set up a second joint venture and expand their strategic partnership in the field of electrification. This will focus on transmissions for HEV and PHEVs – also for other manufacturers.
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The battery systems manufacturer Akasol commissioned Woll Maschinenbau from Germany to develop and supply highly automated production systems. From mid 2021, the new battery systems of the type AKASystem AKM CYC will be manufactured in Darmstadt.
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The battery system manufacturer Akasol has put its second series production line for lithium-ion batteries into operation at its production site in Langen, Hessen – six months earlier than originally planned.
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The German battery systems manufacturer Akasol has commissioned the mechanical engineering company Manz to supply production equipment for its new location in Darmstadt, Germany. The order also includes several options – including for its US location – and could amount to a double-digit million euro figure.
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Akasol will supply battery systems for more than 40 hydrogen trains of the type Alstom Coradia iLint, which were ordered from Alstom by the regional public transport company of Lower Saxony and the Rhine-Main transport association.
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In Germany, Flixbus has closed the country’s first electric long-distance bus connection between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim – due to ongoing problems with the BYD buses and/or their batteries.
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UPS is expanding its low emission fleet in Germany as part of the ZUKUNFT project funded by the government by retrofitting a further 33 diesel vehicles. 15 will be pure electric, and the remaining 18 will be plug-in hybrid vehicles.
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Germany’s electric highway project Elisa is experiencing delays. Five cantenary trucks i.e with overhead current collectors are to collect data on the A5 in order to sound out the opportunities for tomorrow’s freight traffic. Less than five months after the start of the project, only two trucks are in operation.
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German battery system manufacturer Akasol has significantly expanded its cooperation with Samsung SDI. Akasol has nominated the Korean company as a supplier for lithium-ion battery cells and modules for two large series orders with commercial vehicle manufacturers.
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At the IAA, Opel presented the Corsa-e and Grandland X Plug-in-Hybrid, as well as the Corsa-e Rally. The Germans further announced the next steps of their electric offensive concerning light commercial vehicles.
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In Braunschweig, Germany, Volkswagen’s first employee charging park went into operation with 60 charging points. By 2025, 4,000 charging points are to be created at ten locations across Germany.
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Moovel, the joint venture of Daimler and BMW that will soon be Reach Now, is collaborating with Tier Mobility to expand its multimodal mobility app to include electric kick scooters. It remains unclear, what this means for the companies‘ own scooter brand Hive.
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Customers of car rental firm Sixt will soon be able to book thousands of Tier Mobility electric kick scooters via the Sixt app. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Bonn and Münster are the first cities to start with more to come.
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Opel is planning to install more than 160 charging points for EVs at their research and development centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany. This is where the German carmaker will be researching future electrical grid concepts with the University of Kassel and the charging infrastructure specialists Flavia IT and Plug’n Charge.
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Dutch charging infrastructure provider Fastned has struck a new deal. Together with Rewe, a grocery retailer, they will trial fast-charging at four large supermarkets in Germany. If the pilot is a success, they will expand their cooperation to other locations and we asked more details.
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Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hesse reportedly wants to electrify its entire bus fleet of by 2022. The tender had been open since last August and the public transport provider (ESWE) had wanted to take a decision by now. However, the catalogue just got extended and tougher.
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Building works have started on Germany’s first electric highway that will see electric trucks run along overhead wires, thus charging dynamically. The technology comes from Siemens.
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Tesla upgrades to 100 kWh: The EV maker now offers its Model S and X with a 100 kWh battery pack. The Model S 100D has a range of 315 miles (613 km) and is the first EV to exceed the 300-mile-threashold. Able to go from zero to 60 in 2.5 seconds, the Model S 100D with Ludicrous is also the third fasted production car ever made. The range of the Model X increases to 289 miles.
engadget.com, tesla.com, greencarcongress.com
Denza EV with endurance: Daimler and BYD have upped the range of their jointly build model for China. The Denza 400 now has a 62 kWh battery pack (up from 47.5 kWh), allowing it to go up to 400 km on one charge. Why can’t Daimler offer a similar electric car in the other corners of the world?
autocar.co.uk, greencarcongress.com
FF EV caught on camera: First images of the upcoming electric car from Faraday Future have surfaced online. Even though the testing vehicle is still heavily camouflaged, it is clear that we have a crossover model similar to the Tesla Model X to look forward to.
electrek.co
Strict rules for utility vehicles: The U.S. EPA and DOE have determined fuel efficiency standards for utility vehicles from 2021 to 2027. Tractor units, for example, will then have to emit 25 percent less CO2 than allowed in 2018.
automotive-business-review.com, epa.gov
Soul gets makeover: The Kia Soul has gotten a small facelift. Next to some minor updates, it now comes in five different colours. The electric variant sells from 42.75m won (38.300 USD) in South Korea.
koreaherald.com
More money for electric mobility: The German federal state of Hesse announced that it will increases grants for electric mobility from 1.5 to 2.3m euros for 2017. The money will be spent on pilot projects, practical applications and community mobility hubs. Another 5m euros annually will be earmarked to purchase electric buses and help develop EV charging infrastructure.
bundesverkehrsportal.de (in German)
