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Following news of a long-term partnership with several commercial fleet developers under the Traton Group, including initial Level 4 autonomous truck testing on public roads, Plus has deployed its self-driving commercial fleet technology in the US and Europe.

Plus is a global provider of autonomous driving solutions headquartered in Silicon Valley with additional operational footprints in Europe and Australia. The company specializes in next-generation safety systems, automation like PlusDrive, and its Level 4 driverless truck technology, SuperDrive.

The startup’s proprietary tech has garnered interest from several commercial vehicle developers, including partnerships with Bosch, IVECO, Nikola, and Luminar, to name a few. Additional partners include multiple brands under the umbrella of commercial vehicle manufacturer Traton Group, like MAN, Navistar, and Scania.

This past March, we covered the news that Plus had extended its partnership with Traton Group to develop and deploy Level 4 autonomous trucks globally, and testing on public roads was already underway.

Today, the startup shared a progress update: testing is now complete, and the latest version of SuperDrive is enabling phased commercial deployment in the US and Europe.

Autonomous trucks
Plus’ Level 4 autonomous driving system, SuperDrive / Source: Plus

Plus and Traton Group roll out autonomous trucks in Texas

In its latest progress update, Plus and Traton Group reported that they have completed the initial phase of collaboration to bring autonomous trucks into commercial operations. Autonomous trucks on both continents are now operational after months of public road testing in the US and Europe using the Beta 5.0 version of Plus’ SuperDrive software.

In the US, Plus shared that both companies have helped map hub-to-hub routes for phased commercial deployment that will begin in Texas. Plus shared a video (seen below) of an autonomous truck traveling that route on a pilot run of 170 miles between San Antonio and Laredo, Texas, without any human intervening. Plus COO and co-founder Shawn Kerrigan spoke about its progress with Traton Group:

Today’s milestone exemplifies Plus’s ability to quickly deliver a safe and scalable AI-centric autonomous driving system that can already operate on two continents for the TRATON GROUP. The next phase of fleet pilots will help fleets gain a practical understanding of how to integrate our autonomous trucks into their operations, and the safety and efficiency benefits these trucks bring.

Traton Group brand International and Plus intend to use The Lonestar State as the starting point of their autonomous hub-to-hub transport operations in the US before expanding routes to other states and eventually covering the entire country. Peter Hafmar, vice president and head of autonomous solutions at Scania, leading the coordination of autonomous solutions for the Traton Group, also spoke:

Deploying a global product requires seamless integration across people and technology. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made in our Level 4 autonomous trucking program with Plus, and excited to move to the next phase of our collaboration, which will include continued technology development in addition to fleet trials in Texas in the coming months.

You can view the Level 4 autonomous truck in action in the video below:

Source: Plus

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Tesla police cruiser, Trump voters love solar, and at least the mines will be nice

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Tesla police cruiser, Trump voters love solar, and at least the mines will be nice

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I’d like to remind them that, as a trusted media personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves cobalt mines.

We’ve also got the world’s quickest police pursuit vehicle, an Amnesty International report highlighting Tesla and Mercedes’ efforts to improve worker conditions in the Congo, and an exploration of Trump voters’ love for solar power.

Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 50% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday pre-sale, now through November 11. Learn more by clicking here.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!

Read more: Cybertruck dually, overland Kia concepts, and electric Mopars at SEMA.

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Trump won – what now for US clean energy?

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Trump won – what now for US clean energy?

Donald Trump will push fossil fuels and undo renewable energy policies, but it ultimately won’t stop clean energy’s momentum.

Trump has always pushed for more oil drilling and fewer regulations, left the Paris Agreement in his first term as president, says he hates “windmills,” promised to scrap offshore wind on “day one” if he won the 2024 election, and calls climate change a “scam.” And now that he’s won, this is a direct threat to the US’s pledge to reach net zero by 2050. After all, federal policy directly impacts the pace of renewable energy growth, especially when it comes to incentives and research funding.

The Biden administration’s groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has spurred a clean energy boom, will be challenged under Trump. Because Republican states have received 80% of the IRA’s money with which they’ve built factories and created thousands of jobs, a complete IRA repeal is unlikely. What’s more probable is that the Republicans phase out tax credits earlier than planned or cap overall funding.

Federal financial support for innovative technologies and projects could also take a hit. Brendan Bell, COO of Aligned Climate Capital, who formerly led the US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, told Electrek:

My partner Peter and I led the DOE Loan Program Office under President Obama. We supported the first utility-scale solar and storage projects, as well as early EV investments – including the first loan to Tesla.

Today, these technologies are commercialized and are propelling the clean energy transition. None of it would have been possible if these programs had been cut off 10 years ago.

Put simply, Trump can’t turn back the tide of clean energy – but he could delay tomorrow’s solutions and the birth of new industries.

BloombergNEF’s “2H 2024 US Clean Energy Market Outlook,” released at the end of October, examined the worst-case scenario, where control of both the Senate and the House leads to a full repeal of the IRA tax credits:

The wind, solar, and energy storage sectors jointly see a 17% drop in total new capacity additions over 2025-2035, with 927 gigawatts (GW) of cumulative build compared to 1,118GW in BNEF’s base case forecast. Wind sees the greatest fall in activity in this scenario with a 35% drop, followed by energy storage at 15% and solar at 13% relative to BNEF’s base case.

That’s a blow we can’t afford at a time when we need to reduce emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2030 to avoid climate disasters becoming even worse than they already are.

But all is not lost. The clean energy market isn’t solely driven by federal policy. Over the last decade, solar, wind, and EVs have become more cost-competitive and popular. State policies play a huge role too, and many states are committed to their own clean energy goals regardless of who sits in the White House. States like California, New York, and Washington have ambitious targets to combat climate change, and deep red Texas is No. 1 in the US for both solar and wind.

Corporations are also key players. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Walmart have committed to going 100% renewable, and they’re not about to reverse course. This demand keeps the market for renewables strong. Plus, there’s significant public support for clean energy jobs, and renewables create more employment opportunities than fossil fuels in many regions of the country.

JD Dillon, chief marketing officer of California-based solar tech manufacturer Tigo Energy (Nasdaq: TYGO), said to Electrek, “The march toward renewable clean energy is both inevitable and the right thing to do. In a perfect world, we would eliminate partisanship from the renewable energy conversation because everyone benefits from a cleaner environment and affordable energy. Unfortunately, none of us live in said perfect world.”

The US clean energy sector may slow down, but it’s hard to stop a train that has already left the station. What consequences this slower-moving train will have for the US and the world remains to be seen.

Read more: Trump says he’ll end the EV mandate. The only problem: there isn’t one.


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CATL pushes forward with all-solid-state EV batteries

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CATL pushes forward with all-solid-state EV batteries

The world’s largest EV battery maker is advancing a new type of battery, promising higher energy density. According to a new local report, CATL is investing heavily while ramping up its workforce to bring all-solid-state EV batteries to market.

With trial production reportedly kicking off, we could see CATL launch all-solid-state EV batteries sooner than expected.

According to a new local report from LatePost (via CnEVPost), CATL has entered the trial production phase of 20 Ah samples. The news comes after the EV battery giant added over 1,000 workers to its R&D team this year.

The report claimed that CATL is now focused on the final Sulfide phase and has already commenced trial production of 20 Ah samples.

The company’s solution has an energy density of up to 500 Wh/kg for lithium ternary batteries, 40% more than current batteries. However, the report said charging speed and cycle life are not quite where they need to be.

At 20 Ah, the battery solution is finalized and ready for its next stage, production tech exploration.

CATL-all-solid-state-EV-batteries
CATL’s new EV experience center (Source: CATL)

CATL is advancing all-solid-state EV batteries

The report says after that it’s mainly manufacturing hurdles, that can be overcome with a bigger workforce.

In April, CATL’s chief scientist, Wu Kai, announced that the company had developed a verification platform for 10 Ah all-solid-state EV battery cells. Wu also said CATL aimed to produce all-solid-state EV batteries in small volumes in 2027, the first time the news was made public.

CATL-solid-state-EV-batteries
CATL launches Shenxing Plus EV battery (Source: CATL)

In September, the company’s chairman, Robin Zeng, said CATL’s research into the new battery tech was “second to none.”

Several companies, including Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and others, are betting on solid-state EV batteries as the future.

CATL-Super-hybrid-battery
CATL launches new Freevoy Super Hybrid Battery (Source: CATL)

According to data from CnEVPost, CATL is dominating the global EV battery market with a 36.7% share through September 2024.

China’s BYD is second with a 16.4% share of the market. BYD is also planning to launch solid-state batteries. At the September 2024 World New Energy Congress, BYD’s head scientist and engineer, Lian Yubo, said solid-state EV batteries could be widely used in five years.

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