School bus builder Blue Bird Corp, based in Macon, Georgia, has made two appointments to its executive team, for the roles of Electrification and Chief Strategy Officer, and Vice President Global Supply Chain Management.

The company has established the Torc Autonomous Advisory Council (TAAC) with the aim of allowing logistics firms to guide and advise Torc Robotics as it develops its first commercialised autonomous truck.

The plant, producing Class 6-8 vehicles and their powertrains, is the company's new benchmark facility for its manufacturing network, with innovations in digital work processing and in sustainability.

Hyliion Holdings Corporation, based in Austin, Texas, has announced the appointment of Cheri Lantz to the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Most recently, Lantz served as Vice President of Strategy for the Transportation Solutions Segment at TE Connectivity, where she was responsible for helping shape a forward-looking strategy within the automotive, commercial vehicle, and sensors industries.

Orlando, Florida-based Luminar Technologies Inc has announced it is to acquire a high-performance laser chip manufacturer, Freedom Photonics LLC, based in Santa Barbara, California.

Wave has announced the acquisition of a new 12,000 square-foot facility next to its headquarters which will enable the company to expand manufacturing capacity of its induction charging products.

Kodiak Robotics Inc, based in Mountain View, California, and CEVA Logistics of Houston, Texas, have teamed up to deliver freight autonomously between Dallas Fort-Worth and Austin; and Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.

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.

Austin, Texas-based truck retrofitter Hyliion Holdings Corp has recently received two orders for a total of 70 units of its Hypertruck ERX. 50 units have been purchased by GreenPath Logistics, with a further 20 units ordered by Mone Transport.

Nashville, Tennessee-based subsidiary of Japan’s Bridgestone Corporation, Bridgestone Americas Inc, has made a minority investment in May Mobility, an autonomous vehicle technology firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has opened the application process for its Low or No Emission Program for buses. The scheme is offering USD1.1 billion in competitive grant funding. In addition, the government is offering USD372 million in funding under the Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities (BBF) Program.

EO Charging (EO), based in London, has mutually terminated its August 2021 agreement with First Reserve Sustainable Growth Corp (NASDAQ: FRSG) that would have seen EO listed on the NASDAQ exchange through a merger previously announced agreement in September 2021. Both parties decided to terminate the Business Combination Agreement because of unfavourable market conditions.