Electric Vehicle, Battery & Charging News: Magna, Octopus Energy, bp, Hertz, EVgo, Enteligent, eCascadia, Phoenix Motors, HEVO, Stellantis & Volvo Trucks

In electric vehicle, battery and charging news are Magna, Octopus Energy, bp, Hertz, EVgo, Enteligent, eCascadia, Phoenix Motors, HEVO, Stellantis and Volvo Trucks.

Magna Supplies Battery Enclosures for Chevy Silverado EV

Magna announced that it has secured new business from General Motors (GM) to supply battery enclosures on the all-new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV. The company will produce the enclosures at its Magna Electric Vehicle Structures facility in St. Clair, Michigan, where it already produces the battery enclosure for the GMC HUMMER EV. Magna recently announced significant investment plans for the facility in St. Clair to support the fast-growing electric vehicle market. Production is expected to begin later in 2023.

Smart Rate Octopus Energy for Texas

Renewable energy retailer Octopus Energy U.S. announced Intelligent Octopus for EV, a smart-rate that will give drivers across Texas cheaper electricity rates when they smart charge their electric vehicles. Customers can now pair their EVs with Intelligent Octopus to automatically find the best, most efficient time to charge and save up to 20 percent on their monthly home electricity rate.

Octopus Energy customers will be able to register and connect their EVs via Octopus Energy’s mobile app that responds to various grid signals. By letting Octopus Energy smart charge the vehicle, customers will get a discount off their standard electricity rate for their entire household consumption. Customers just need to set their own preferences – and Intelligent Octopus will handle the rest.

Intelligent Octopus, which is powered by Octopus Energy’s proprietary Kraken Technology, is a smart device management feature that rewards customers for helping to balance the grid when the grid is constrained, so long as your device remains connected. This allows Octopus Energy to offer the cheapest electricity rates in the market by unlocking customer flexibility.

Already a success in the United Kingdom, Intelligent Octopus manages over 100 MW of EV charging power, which surpasses the largest battery on the UK grid. In fact, cars managed by Intelligent Octopus in the UK hold enough energy to power a city of about 300,000 people for a full hour.

Intelligent Octopus for EVs is the latest step in Octopus Energy’s mission to enable a smarter, greener future across the U.S. One of the most awarded energy retailers globally, Octopus Energy entered the U.S. market in 2020. More recently, Octopus Energy announced it will give customers the opportunity to integrate household batteries into their energy plans, which will allow Octopus Energy to build an aggregation of home batteries to create a Virtual Power Plant and further reduce the energy rates customers pay.

bp Partners with Hertz for Fast Charging in Major US Cities

bp (NYSE: bp) took another step toward delivering on its transformation to an integrated energy company today by announcing plans to invest $1 billion by 2030 into electric vehicle (EV) charge points across the United States. A cornerstone of the investment includes Hertz (NASDAQ: HTZ) and bp announcing an intention to bring fast charging infrastructure to Hertz locations in major cities, such as Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington, DC.

A number of the fast-charging installations will include gigahubs locations. These are large-scale fast charging hubs, such as one location previously announced by bp and Hertz at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The hubs will serve rideshare and taxi drivers, car rental customers and the general public at high-demand locations, such as airports. The buildout will be informed by telematics from Hertz’s fleet of connected cars.

“This is about more, faster. We’re bringing more, fast-charging options to more Americans for faster EV adoption,” said Dave Lawler, chairman and president of bp America. “Working alongside Hertz, we’re excited to drive the future of mobility.”

EV charging is one of bp’s five strategic transition growth engines in which the company expects to significantly grow investment through this decade. The other transition growth engines include bioenergy, hydrogen, convenience and renewables & power. Although the proportion may be different in the US, by 2030, bp aims for half its annual global investment to go into these businesses.

bp is aiming to enhance its ability to offer lower carbon transport solutions for customers by expanding EV charging and strategic convenience sites. Today bp has 22,000 EV charge points worldwide and aims for more than 100,000 globally by 2030 – around 90% rapid or ultra-fast.

EVgo For Cumberland Farms

EVgo Inc. (NASDAQ: EVGO), one of the nation’s largest public fast charging networks for electric vehicles (EVs), tannounced that EVgo Advantage™ is now available at select Cumberland Farms and Wawa locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Florida. As a proprietary coupon technology, EVgo Advantage sends EV drivers instant communications and in-store promotions to use while charging,* delivering more value to customers who shop and charge.

EVgo Advantage enables businesses that host fast chargers with EVgo to connect with their EV charging customer base by offering promotions that help drive engagement, increase sales, and generate customer loyalty. The program can increase foot traffic to participating retail site hosts stores and/or mobile applications, while also enhancing the charging experience for drivers. A 2022 survey conducted by EVgo found that 87% of EV drivers shop at local retailers while charging their vehicles.

“When EVgo first piloted EVgo Advantage in 2019, we knew it was one more way for us to deliver value to our drivers and site host partners. We’re thrilled to be able to offer EVgo Advantage™ at select Wawa and Cumberland Farms locations along the East Coast to make charging with EVgo even better than before,” said Jonathan Levy, Chief Commercial Officer at EVgo.

EVgo Advantage first launched at 10 Lucky/Lucky California locations in partnership with The Save Mart Companies. Now available in eight states, the growth of the program to date demonstrates how site host partners can leverage alternative ways to connect with customers.

Enteligent Solar Powered Charging

Enteligent Inc., developer of solar power optimization and electric vehicle (EV) solar charging technologies that delivers more of the clean solar energy you generate and dramatically reduces cost, is unveiling the world’s first DC-to-DC solar hybrid bi-directional EV charger this week at Intersolar NA 2023 in Booth 2460. Powered directly from the sun, Enteligent’s solar EV charger can supply 25 kW of fast DC charging – three times faster than AC Level 2 EV chargers – while also supporting vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) home energy resilience and providing significant energy savings.

Currently, EV owners plug their cars into home chargers which are powered by an alternating current (AC) flow of energy generated from the electric grid. But EV batteries operate on a direct current (DC) requiring the power to be converted from AC-to-DC in the charging process. This conversion is inefficient and results in a significant amount of lost energy and a longer charging time.

By eliminating the AC-to-DC conversion, Enteligent’s EV chargers help users optimize every kilowatt of precious, clean energy, resulting in up to 25% energy savings. And direct charging DC by-passes the EV’s internal conversion electronics, dramatically improving the time necessary to charge.

Additionally, BloombergNEF forecasts that by the end of this decade 52% of the total car market will be composed of EVs. Today, the vast majority of EVs are charged overnight by a fossil fuel-powered grid. With the dramatically increased number of EVs plugged in at night and with the rapidly growing array of household electronics we rely on daily, this proliferation of required electricity will strain the grid’s ability to reliability meet energy demand.

Enteligent’s proprietary solar EV chargers make it convenient and affordable to charge during the day, direct from convenient on-site solar generation, fostering a fundamental shift in energy consumption habits that leverage solar power when it is locally generated and readily available.

eCascadia for US Foods Delivery

-US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE: USFD), one of America’s largest foodservice distributors, announced that it received the company’s first battery-electric powered Freightliner® eCascadia® trucks at its La Mirada, California distribution center. The company previously announced plans to add 30 electric trucks to its La Mirada fleet in 2023.

The addition of the electric trucks reinforces the company’s commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of its growing fleet and will support the company’s near-term science-based emissions reduction target recently approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company has committed to reducing absolute Scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 32.5 percent by 2032 from a 2019 base year and commits that 67 percent of its suppliers by emissions covering purchased goods and services will have science-based targets by 2027. Additionally, these zero-emission battery-electric trucks will help to reduce harmful fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions throughout Southern California.

The battery-electric Class 8 Freightliner eCascadia single eAxle truck offers up to 395 horsepower (296 kilowatts) with an expected range of 230 miles, ideal for supporting US Foods’ regional delivery needs while producing zero tailpipe emissions. The vehicles also include a Detroit® ePowertrain™ that provides maximum torque to get loads moving as well as quick, smooth acceleration on the road, and new safety and connectivity features from Detroit Assurance® and Detroit Connect®.

Phoenix Motors Fullfills ZEV Trucks to Salinas

Phoenix Motor Inc. (Nasdaq: PEV) (“Company” or “Phoenix”), a leader in manufacturing of all-electric, medium-duty vehicles, is proud to announce that the company recently fulfilled an order for three all-electric, zero emission medium-duty trucks to the City of Salinas. The Phoenix zero emission vehicles included one flatbed and two cargo trucks, as well as three Level III charging stations.

The medium-duty trucks Phoenix delivered offer a driving range of up to 110 miles, with the ability to be fully charged within two to three hours with a 50-kW Level III charger. Compared to equivalent fossil fueled alternatives, the Phoenix vehicles will reduce atmospheric emissions by approximately 61 tons, maintenance costs by 75% and fuel costs by 80%, annually.

With 4 million all-electric miles driven on Phoenix’s zero emission drive systems to date, the company has unparalleled experience and expertise helping public and private fleets successfully deploy and adopt electric vehicles, cleaning the air and providing clean, quiet and safe zero emission transportation.

The trucks supplied to the City of Salinas were funded in part by the Monterey Bay Air Resources District (MBARD) Clean Air Management Program and the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) program.

HEVO  & Stellantis

HEVO Inc., a leading provider of wireless electric vehicle (EV) charging technology, and Stellantis N.V., a leading global automaker and mobility provider, are partnering to integrate wireless charging into Stellantis EVs, which will enable a superior charging experience without sacrificing safety, efficiency, or durability.

HEVO’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vic Peltola, commented: “HEVO is energized by Stellantis’s commitment to innovation and improving the end-to-end experience for EV drivers. With their diverse product lineup and brands such as Jeep®, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat, Maserati and Peugeot, our collaboration will accelerate decarbonization by enabling significant benefits for fleet and passenger customers seeking a more convenient and seamless charging experience.”

Wireless charging is designed to increase simplicity and safety, while removing operational friction associated with cord management. HEVO’s award-winning technology is up to 95% efficient (grid-to-battery) and is compliant with SAE and UL wireless charging standards. Prior to mass adoption, early applications of this technology include logistics and transit fleets, as well as disabled drivers who benefit from accessible and ADA-compliant charging.

HEVO and Stellantis are initially demonstrating Level 2 wireless charging on a Chrysler Pacifica PHEV at the company’s office complex in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Successful completion of this demonstration in 2023 and a subsequent 50kW fast wireless charging project will lead to opportunities for HEVO to provide wireless charging to Stellantis customers targeting cost competitiveness with plug-in charging as production volumes scale.

Volvo Trucks & Gilbarco Veeder-Root,

Volvo Trucks North America has added an additional vendor, Gilbarco Veeder-Root, to its Vendor Direct Shipping program, further enabling customers to procure mobile and fixed electric vehicle (EV) charging hardware solutions directly from Volvo Trucks dealers when they purchase Volvo VNR Electric trucks. The program was initially launched in September 2022 with Heliox as its first vendor.