Mercedez-Benz do Brasil celebrated the silver anniversary (25 years) of its Sprinter light-duty vehicle range in Brazil with the launch of the new Sprinter Street models, which are fitted with new PROCONVE L7-compliant engines.

Hyvia, a joint venture between Renault Group and Plug Power based in Villiers-Saint-Frédéric, France, has inaugurated its plant at Renault Group’s manufacturing site in Flins, France. Hyvia states it is ready to begin assembly and testing of fuel cell modules based on Plug Power’s technology.

Lightning eMotors Corp, based in Loveland, Colorado, has completed the expansion of its manufacturing facility to more than 226,000sq-ft, doubling its production capacity. The firm expects the investment of more than USD5 million to support an annual production capacity of up to 1,500 zero emission vehicles and powertrain systems by the end of 2022.

Ford Motor Co, based in Dearborn, Michigan has announced that Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş. (Ford Otosan), based in Gölcük, Turkey, will assume control of its manufacturing plant in Craiova, Romania, subject to regulatory approval, in Q3 2022.

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation, based in Kawasaki City, Japan, has unveiled the next generation eCanter test vehicle. Prior to the official launch, the test vehicles are destined to undergo a total test distance of over 1 million km, which includes testing in severe hot and cold climates both domestically and abroad.

General Motors Company’s subsidiary BrightDrop Inc, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, has rebranded its electric product range. It’s delivery vehicles, first dubbed the EV600 and EV410, have been renamed the Zevo 600 and Zevo 400, respectively.

Shyft Group launched a new brand with a range of electric vehicle products, while subsidiaries DuraMag and Utilimaster showcased a range of light truck products.

BorgWarner Inc, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA, has announced it has signed an agreement with Santroll Automotive Components of Tianjin, China, to purchase its eMotor business for approximately USD220 million. The deal is expected to close in late Q1 2022.

CALSTART has recently published its annual ‘Zeroing in on Zero-Emission Trucks’ report highlighting that, as of December 2021, there have been 1,215 ZETs (zero-emission trucks) deployed on US roads.¹ Crucially, however, CALSTART estimates that over 60% of ZETs deployed in the US are no longer operational. Consequently, the true number of active ZETs is much lower than initially suggested.

The order for 100 units of the VMC 1200 range is worth CAD12m and is set to be fulfilled beginning in Q2 2022.

Ricardo's goal is to develop an electric motor with a smaller composition of scarce materials without compromising on performance.

Production will begin initially in Charleston, South Carolina, USA in the second half of 2023 and subsequently at two German plants.