American EV startup Lucid (LCID) is beginning preparations to enter the largest EV market globally. Newly hired Zhu Jiang, a former executive at NIO, Ford, and other high-profile automakers, revealed plans Thursday to lead the EV maker’s expansion into China.
Former NIO executive to lead Lucid’s China EV business
According to local news reports, Jiang revealed, “Lucid, a new American car manufacturer, is beginning to prepare for entering the Chinese market.”
Jiang, who previously served as vice president at NIO, led Ford China’s Mustang Mach-E rollout and held positions at BMW and Jidu Auto, will be responsible for Lucid’s EV operations in China.
Lucid’s plans to expand to China were initially revealed in the company’s first earnings call after going public in November 2021. CEO, Peter Rawlinson, said:
We also plan probes in other parts of the world, the Middle East and in China, and this is going to be part of our global expansion plan.
He continued to say that most reservations at the time were in its home market, the US, but “we haven’t even opened up the big market and teacher, which is China.”
A few days later, Rawlingson told CNBC‘s Jim Cramer the EV maker was looking to build a plant in China and the Middle East for a global expansion. Lucid already began hiring in the region, posting over a dozen jobs in China last December.
Lucid Air Pure (Source: Lucid)
After producing 2,314 Lucid Air models in the first quarter and delivering 1,406 (+300% YOY), the EV maker is projecting to hit the lower end of its yearly production guidance of around 10,000 units.
Ahead of the full unveiling of its first electric SUV later this year, the Lucid Gravity, the company raised $3 billion last week, with the majority ($1.8 billion) coming from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Lucid Gravity electric SUV (Source: Lucid Motors)
Electrek’s Take
Lucid has been planning to expand into China from the beginning, but hiring someone with experience in the market, like Jiang, is smart.
With experience growing a premium EV startup in China with NIO and launching an American model with Ford’s Mach-E, Jiang has the real-life experience for a successful introduction to the market.
It will be interesting to see how Lucid sells in China. With the Lucid Air Pure starting at $87,400 and its top model, the Saphire selling for $249,000, there isn’t much competition in Lucid’s price range. As leaders from several automakers have pointed out, buyers in China are no longer interested in just brand names or styling. They are more concerned with the new tech, software, and experience.
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DHL Express has more than 10,000 eSprinter vans in its global delivery fleet, but none of those have been deployed in North America – until now, that is! The company recently added 45 new Mercedes eSprinter panel vans, and they’ve got plans for plenty more!
While Mercedes offers its eSprinters with a promised 206 mile estimated range, DHL says it’s consistently seen them exceed 240 miles in stop-and-go delivery duty, making them the longest-range battery electric vehicles in DHL’s US fleet.
And, of course, the eSprinter will do all of that without the noise, vibration, and harmful carbon emissions of diesel.
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“Electrifying our fleet is one of the most visible and impactful ways we are moving toward a more sustainable future,” explains Greg Hewitt, CEO of DHL Express, US. “The Mercedes-Benz eSprinter brings an extended range and proven cargo capabilities that allow us to serve our customers with zero emissions, while also advancing our global goal of more sustainable logistics. These vehicles not only strengthen our operations in major US cities but also set the stage for future electric fleet growth across the Americas.”
The 45 eSprinters will see deployment in Chicago, Indiana, and Pittsburg, and will act as a first step DHL’s global Sustainability Roadmap, which will see the company electrify 66% of its last-mile US delivery fleet (and some of its long-haul fleet operations) by 2030.
In short, they’re doing the right thing – or seem to be, anyway. Whether or not that commitment to decarbonization will win them more American customers remains to be seen.
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Enphase Energy just launched a new off-grid system that lets homeowners power their homes without a utility connection – even for extended periods. The California-based Enphase says the off-grid setup delivers a seamless way to live independently from the grid while still using solar, batteries, and a standby AC generator.
A full off-grid setup
The new system combines Enphase’s IQ Battery 5P with embedded grid-forming microinverters, IQ8 Series Microinverters with Sunlight JumpStart, and a third-party standby AC generator. The components work together to supply power to a home and automatically manage energy sources to maximize efficiency and reliability.
If the batteries are drained and the generator runs out of fuel, the Sunlight JumpStart feature can automatically recharge the batteries the next morning once the sun comes up.
The IQ Battery 5P delivers 3.84 kVA of power per 5 kWh of capacity, and systems can be scaled up to 40 kWh and 15.4 kVA. That’s enough power to start big household appliances like HVAC systems or water pumps. The IQ System Controller 3G provides the backbone, managing solar, batteries, and generator inputs to deliver up to 46 kVA of off-grid power.
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Smarter control and connectivity
Each system connects to the cloud through Enphase’s IQ Combiner 5C HDK, which bundles solar interconnection, communications, and metering into one box. For homes without reliable broadband, the built-in 4G LTE Cat 4 modem keeps the system online for monitoring, firmware updates, and remote support.
Homeowners can manage everything from the Enphase App – from solar generation and battery status to generator integration and load control.
Why it matters
As grid outages become more common and homeowners look for ways to gain energy independence, off-grid systems like this are becoming more appealing.
“With the launch of our off-grid solution, we are giving homeowners a reliable path to complete energy independence,” said Nitish Mathur, Enphase’s SVP of customer experience. Enphase says over 100 homes are already operating entirely off-grid using its technology. The company plans to expand availability beyond the US in 2026.
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Global offshore wind targets are still strong enough to triple global capacity by 2030, despite the US’s offshore wind stagnation under Trump. A new analysis from energy think tank Ember and the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) shows that the rest of the world is charging forward, underscoring confidence in offshore wind as a cornerstone of future clean energy systems.