Category Archives: Transport

The Tesla Semi: an impressive electric truck with “unrivalled performance”

After a leaked email from CEO, Elon Musk, Tesla is preparing for a “volume production” push of their electric truck, the Tesla Semi boasts its impressive features and cost benefits, potentially transforming the truck industry.
Electric vehicle company, Tesla, is leading the way with their electric truck, Tesla Semi. The company, whose mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, revealed plans for the truck back in 2017.

Production of the electric truck was due to postponed until 2021. A leaked email from CEO Elon Musk indicated that Tesla employees were to prepare for a “volume production” push of the vehicle in 2020.

Despite a drop in their stocks back in May, their Tesla Semi is taking charge toward the phase-out of diesel trucks. Tesla believes the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better. With their new electric truck, they are on the way to eliminating fossil fuels from the truck industry.

Founded in 2003, the company aims to prove that people don’t need to compromise to drive electric. This seems to be the case with the Tesla Semi as it promises to be: “The safest, most comfortable truck ever”.

Back in 2017, when Musk excitedly revealed the Semi, he said the electric truck “blows my [his] mind”. Boasting its “badass performance” the truck has quick acceleration. Musk demonstrated this at its reveal showing that it will radically outperform its diesel counterparts in terms of acceleration, both on the flat and uphill.

The truck is receiving support from fifteen different U.S. States, along with the Nation’s capital of Washington, D.C.

Tesla’s truck catalysing change in the US
With Tesla planning on beginning production soon, their electric truck could accelerate the push towards US states revising laws that deal with commercial vehicles. These laws look into the impact vehicles have on the environment.

A group of US states and the District of Columbia unveiled a joint memorandum of understanding aimed at boosting the electric vehicle market. The memorandum looks at heavy-duty vehicles and the phasing out of diesel-powered trucks by 2050.

In a report from Reuters showed that several states are pushing for an electric, zero-emission plan for the future for trucks by 2050. If effective, this plan would eliminate the need for diesel trucks that transport goods across the country.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Washington D.C., and Vermont are the states and Territories involved in the plan.

Aiming to reduce the number of gas and diesel vehicles in the US, the initiative focuses on various types of trucks, buses and vans. The goal is to have every medium and heavy-duty vehicle as emission-free by 2050. This comes with the short term goal of 30% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030.

What’s so good about the Tesla Semi?
According to their website, the Tesla Semi will deliver a far better experience for truck drivers The electric truck increases safety and significantly reduces the cost of cargo transport when compared to diesel vehicles.

With its “unrivalled performance” the Semi can achieve 0-60 mph in 20 seconds with a full 80,000 load. This task takes a diesel truck about a minute. Musk stated at the unveiling of the Semi: “One thing we really care about at Tesla; we really care about performance. We want to have a vehicle that feels incredible, that accelerates like nothing else”. It seems like Tesla has kept true to their promises with their impressive electric truck.

Designed specifically around the drive, the Semi has unobstructed stairs for easier entry and exit. Furthermore, the truck has full standing room inside along with a centred driver position for optimal visibility.

A new high-speed DC charging solution, or Megachargers, will add about 400 miles in 30 minutes. This can be installed at origin or destination points. The Megachargers will enable recharging during loading, unloading and driver breaks.

Tesla’s all-electric architecture inside the Semi is designed to have a higher safety standard than any other heavy-duty truck on the market. Safety features of the electric truck include;

Enhanced autopilot
Automatic emergency breaking
Automatic lane-keeping
Lane departure warning
Event recording
Along with all these impressive features, the electric truck can also travel in a convoy, where one or several Semi trucks will be able to autonomously follow a lead Semi.

What is probably the most impressive about the Semi are it energy and cost-saving benefits. When fully loaded, the Tesla Semi consumes less than two kilowatt-hours of energy per mile. It is both efficient and reliable. According to Tesla, owners can expect to gain $200,000 or more in savings over a million miles based on fuel costs alone.

Musk’s “ecological paradise”
It comes as no surprise that with all these impressive features Tesla’s electric truck is already receiving pre-orders from large businesses. Package chains such as the United Parcel Service (UPS), DHL, and FedEx, have pre-ordered 125, 10 and 20 of the trucks respectively.

Tesla will build its new factory in Austin, Texas, Musk announced this week. This factory will facilitate the production of the Semi. Promising to employ at least 5,00 people, Musk described the future factory as an “ecological paradise”.

Explaining the beauty of the new factory, Tesla’s senior global director of public policy has stated: “The potential is just great for recreation, for beauty, and the vision of being able to potentially transform an old mining site into a sustainable factory with recreational opportunities — that’s just a vision that sits perfectly with our mission”.

The factory will be open to the public with a boardwalk and bike lanes. It will be Tesla’s fourth factory in the US. So far the company has their vehicle factory in California, battery factory in Nevada and their solar factory in New York.

Tesla has – and continues – to revolutionise the electric vehicle industry, with their new Semi they are now tackling the electric truck market. With its impressive features and sleek design, it is clear the company are dedicated to transforming the electric truck industry.

Carbon-cutting policies at the forefront of the world’s biggest automakers’ business plans

Some of the world’s biggest automakers are adopting carbon-cutting policies despite an expected fall in car sales post-COVID-19. Macro trends have been identified explaining why the shift to sustainability is accelerating across the globe.
The world’s biggest automakers are making commitments to tackle their carbon emissions. Adopting carbon-cutting policies in their business models seems to be at the forefront of a lot of automakers minds. Porsche have a solid commitment to sustainability and reducing their carbon emissions. It seems many other large companies are following suit.

It is clear that the world is accelerating up their commitments to a clean future and adopting carbon-cutting policies post-COVID.

Just this week, German automotive company, BMW, have set a huge goal of reducing its carbon emissions per car by at least one-third by 2030. By developing and selling electric vehicles, incorporating more sustainable materials, working with its supply chain vendors and adopting clean energy facilities, BMW hopes to achieve its sustainability targets.

As part of an accelerated push into the technology to catch up with Tesla, BMW intends to offer 25 electric and hybrid models by 2032. Concerning their huge targets, Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Zipse said: “We will report on our progress every year and measure ourselves against these targets”. He also added that BMW will “overachieve” meeting stricter emission limits that are taking effect in Europe this year.

BMW also wants a third of its cars sold in Europe to be electric by 2025. Earlier this month the German automaker signed a $2.3 billion order for battery cells made by Sweden’s Northvolt AB to help with their sustainability plans.

Ford and Volvo following the trend
American automaker, Ford, announced last month their plans to be carbon neutral by 2050. This is a striking commitment for an American company, and they are the only full-line US automaker doing its part to reduce CO2 emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

To achieve their goal, Ford will focus on three areas that account for about 95 percent of its CO2 emissions; vehicle use, supply base and company’s facilities. The company pledge to ‘protect the planet, put people first and create tomorrow, together’.

Mary Wroten, director of sustainability at Ford has stated that Ford is aiming for 2050 to align with the Paris Commitments and because: “…Anything after 2050 is unacceptable climate change risk”.

With Asia rapidly switching to sustainable modes of transport, the continents largest automakers are also pledging carbon-cutting policies.

Volvo Cars, owned by China’s Geely Holding (not to be mistaken by Volvo Group) is pledging to become carbon neutral by 2040. By 2025, Volvo Cars plan to reduce the CO2 footprint of each car it makes by 40 per cent.

Chief Executive of Volvo Cars, Hakan Samuelsson stated concerning their commitment to sustainability: “We will address what we can influence, by calling on our suppliers and the energy sector to join us in aiming for a climate-neutral future”.

Why are companies committed to carbon-cutting?
Although automakers are expecting slower sales this year to a global recession, three macro trends have been identified behind the carbon-cutting policies adopted by car companies;

Regulators in Europe and China are tightening emissions rules and pushing automakers that sell into those markers to launch zero/low-emission vehicles. Although the US, at a federal level, is lagging behind in this movement, Joe Biden has promised to return the US to the Paris Agreement if he becomes president.
Over the years the auto industry has been slow to adopt zero-emission vehicle technologies. Opening up opportunities for sustainable EV companies like Tesla and Nikola to emerge. Losing market share, and fear of losing market share is a key driver of remaking the auto industry around sustainability.
The pandemic as a learning tool showing the need for change. “Build back better” is a refrain used repeatedly in relation to rebuilding post-COVID-19 sustainably, urging companies and leader to adopt carbon-cutting policies. In Europe particularly, there has been a huge push for the adoption of clean transport with the EU’s €750bn recovery plan to boost transport.
The identification of these macrotrends, along with the world’s biggest automakers committing to carbon-cutting policies, shows the worldwide commitment in transforming the mobility industry. It is exciting to think of what is to come in the world’s recovery post-COVID-19.

HYZON Motors and ReCarbon to push green hydrogen-powered heavy trucks

HYZON Motors, who offer comprehensive clean transport solutions, is the world-leading fuel-cell mobility commercialisation spin-off of Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies.
The company is focused on rapidly accelerating the adoption of zero-emission commercial vehicles.

Last month, the company opened Europe’s first dedicated Hydrogen Truck Production Facility in Groningen, the Netherlands. With this new European facility, the company expect to ship hundreds of fuel cell heavy vehicles by the end of 2021.

For this new Hydrogen Truck Production Facility, US-headquartered HYZON Motors have teamed up with Holthausen Clean Technology B.V. to offer high quality, locally built zero-emission commercial vehicles. These vehicles will meet European standards, reduce supply chain interdependencies, and create new local jobs in environmentally sustainable industries.

This is particularly exciting as the European Union member states and European corporations are actively seeking solutions to climate change. Heavy trucking has been at the forefront of the minds of many, especially as they are a significant contributor to carbon emissions.

The announcement of this new Hydrogen Truck Production Facility follows the HYZON re-launch of the former General Motors’ fuel cell facility in New York. Not only this but HYZON also announced the commencement of HYZON operations in Australia; the company is rapidly expanding across the globe.

Max and Carl Holthausen, joint Managing Directors of HYZON Motors Europe stated concerning this new production facility:

As a European pioneer in fuel cell vehicle commercialization, Holthausen Clean Technology has been delivering fuel cell trucks for years, and we are honoured now to join forces with our US partner, HYZON Motors, to bring the most advanced fuel cell truck technology to European customers. Made in Europe to meet European decarbonisation objectives.”

With this new initiative, HYZON Motors is at the centre of Europe’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery efforts. These efforts have sustainable transport at its heart. The European Union’s anticipated $140 Billion hydrogen economy by 2030 and the recently unveiled $9 Billion National Hydrogen Strategy for Germany, it is clear Europe is pushing for sustainable transport.

HYZON Motors and ReCarbon

Not only have HYZON Motors opened their new truck production facility, but they are also now in collaboration with ReCarbon, Inc. to commercialize green hydrogen-powered heavy trucks and buses.

ReCarbon Inc. is the creator of ReCarbon, an innovative technology platform that recycles carbon emissions into revenue-generating products. Specializing in building proprietary plasma generation systems, these systems convert carbon emissions into industrial gases.

George Gu, CEO of New York-based Hyzon Motors, Inc. stated in relation to this new partnership:

Offering green hydrogen mobility as a service is the cornerstone mission of our company. Our collaboration with ReCarbon creates an opportunity to provide this to fleet owners, to make the switch from diesel to hydrogen economically, while drastically reducing their carbon footprint from fuel to emissions.”

Dr Jay Kim, CEO of ReCarbon Inc. also stated concerning the new partnership:

We are pleased to collaborate with HYZON Motors, to play substantial role in the proliferation of green hydrogen mobility to holistically address the issue of carbon emissions, across the entire global heavy mobility sector.”

George Gu on HYZON Motors

George Gu
Following these advancements in the company, along with their commitment to sustainability, CleanTech News spoke to George Gu to ask him more about HYZON motors.

What are your companies core values?
Integrity and Innovation.

Why did you choose to develop a hydrogen-powered vehicle?
It was a 17-year-old dream that started when the Horizon founders were doing clean technology investments for Eastman Chemical Company. We believed hydrogen was the key for the world to go zero carbon.

HYZON Stands for Hydrogen Mobility Powered by Horizon. We began with making fuel cell toy cars to educate the public and to build core technologies and got Time Magazine Best Invention Award in 2006. Over the years we grew the size of our fuel cells and the size of our vehicles. We started HYZON Motors early this year and are developing the world’s most powerful fuel cell engine and the heaviest fuel cell trucks.

What are your sustainability goals?
Local waste, local fuel, local mobility, local resilience and local jobs.

What do you think are the benefits of sustainable modes of transport?
Zero-emission of greenhouse gas and air pollutants, energy resilience.

What makes your company stand out over other sustainable vehicle companies?
We are the few fuel cell vehicle companies with core fuel cell technologies which are critical for vehicle performance, cost and time to market. HYZON’s fuel cell stack has superior power and power density performance and can be used not only for trucks but also for forklifts, aircrafts, trains, boats, mining equipment, port equipment, etc. Horizon and its partners have already delivered hundreds of fuel cell trucks and now HYZON is able to ship the truck to first customers this year.

What are the benefits of hydrogen-powered technology?
Long-range, fast refill and zero-emission. Possibility to go to negative carbon.

How do you think your products could transform the transport industry?
We work with partners to decarbonize the transport industry by starting from the heavy truck sector, without adding customer additional cost. Our goal is to bring both affordable trucks and affordable hydrogen to end users, starting from now, not in 3 or 10 years.

What are the benefits to your collaboration with ReCarbon, Inc?
ReCarbon is one of the partners we are working with to bring negative carbon green hydrogen to truck customers. Biocarbon can be produced in the waste to hydrogen conversion process so it is carbon negative and greener. HYZON is working with pioneers to validate the technologies as well as the green business model, enabling worldwide adoption of green hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles in large scale.