Bus Fleets Convert To Zero Emission Vehicles

News: North America

2020-10-28

Bus Fleets Convert To Zero Emission Vehicles

During the past few years, many cities and states have committed to full adoption of their transit bus fleets to zero-emission vehicles.  While the implementation dates vary, most are aiming to have the transition completed by 2040. 

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

Since transit buses typically have pre-defined routs and access to recharging infrastructure, they are good candidates for adoption.  It also helps that this segment is not-for-profit, and a short-term payback is not required.  The significant barriers to adoption appear to have been overcome. 

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2020-10-23

Robotic Lawn Mower Industry Expected To Reach $1.3 Billion in 2020

There’s nothing like the look and smell of freshly cut grass, but for an increasing number, mowing the lawn as become an unpleasant experience and a waste of time. Some home owners spend hours every week doing the work while others are investing in a robot lawn mower to do the work.

A robotic lawn mower is an autonomous robot used to cut lawn grass. A typical robotic lawn mower (in particular earlier generation models) requires the user to set up a border wire around the lawn that defines the area to be mowed. The robot uses this wire to locate the boundary of the area to be trimmed and in some cases to locate a recharging dock. Robotic mowers are capable of maintaining up to 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft) of grass.

Think of robot lawn mowers as Roombas, but for lawns.

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2020-10-19

HDMA-PSR Webinar Report

HDMA-PSR Webinar/Richard Anderson Survey 10.14.2020Download
HDMA-PSR Pulse-Webinar 10.14.2020Download

Power Systems Research produced a one-hour webinar with the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) that provided the outlook for commercial vehicle production in North America and Europe during Q4 2020 and 2021. 

Download the presentation by PSR representatives Chris Fisher, senior commercial vehicle analyst, and Emiliano Marzoli, senior business development manager-Europe. A member survey by HDMA’s Richard Anderson also is available for download here. PSR

2020-10-12

HDMA Presents Pulse Webinar with PSR

Providing 2021 Forecast on Global Production of Commercial Vehicles

Power Systems Research will produce a one-hour webinar with the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) providing the outlook for commercial vehicle production in North America and Europe during Q4 2020 and 2021. 

Hope you can participate. During the session, we’ll present important information that updates the North American comments we made in our COVID-19 Impact webinar in June. The HDMA Pulse Series Webinars provide suppliers with the information needed to make decisions in today’s rapidly changing business environment. 

The webinar will be held Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020 1:00pm – 2:00pm EDT.

Space is limited, so please register as soon as possible using the REGISTER NOW button on the HDMA website at www.hdma.org. If you are not a PSR Client or HDMA Member, an individual registration is $100.

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2020-09-30

OEM Off-Highway Magazine: Heavy Equipment Markets See Improvement in 2021

OEM-Off-Highway-MagazineDownload

Off-road equipment markets are expected to see a slight recovery from the devastating effects of COVID-19 in 2021, according to a report prepared by Power Systems Research that appeared in the October 2020 issue of OEM Off-Highway magazine.

One segment, the construction equipment market in North America has been riding a strong economy over the past few years. The segment was due for a slowdown; however, current worldwide economic conditions have caused a rapid cycle to reset in the construction industry. Government is committed to support the demand in the sector by investing heavily into infrastructure. We have yet to see any new level of demand, but we expect to see signs of the new normal in H2 2020 and early 2021. PSR

2020-09-27

DATAPOINT: US Combines, 2020 NA Production Forecast–6,300 units

The 6,300 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number Combines to be produced in the U.S. in 2020.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

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Electric Boats Gain Industry Share

There seems little doubt that electric powered boats will grow as the fast-improving technology trickles down from the automotive industry, which is driving battery technology, to the marine engine industry.

Michael Aistrup
Michael Aistrup

Today the electric boat has become a $4.5 billion global marine industry segment, and a report by IDTechEx shows that the market for hybrid and pure electric boats will rise significantly to over $20 billion worldwide by 2027.

Brushless permanent magnet electric motors and advances in lithium ion battery technology have allowed leaps to be made in the rush to marine electric. Lithium-ion batteries are half as heavy as lead-acid batteries and last three times as long, and advances in their effectiveness and stability have been significant.

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Tesla Poised To Start the Engine…as Competitors Close In

Even though Tesla’s “Battery Day” was held Sept. 22, 2020, it didn’t produce the wildly exciting results that Elon Musk had promised would “blow your mind.”

Tyler Wiegert
Tyler Wiegert

During its event, Tesla unveiled plans to develop a “million mile” battery that could last an electric car’s entire lifetime on the road. It also outlined plans to dramatically reduce the cost of its battery cells and packs to $100 per kilowatt-hour, at which point experts believe electric cars will become comparable in price to combustion engine vehicles.

Bill Gates-backed QuantumScape, the first US battery company to go public in a decade, announced that it has overcome two major hurdles to create an all-metal lithium battery, which, if true, would allow electric vehicles to go up to 50% further on a single charge. Those hurdles were metallic lithium’s propensity to explode when it comes into contact with liquid and its needle structure that has historically punctured plastic separators between electrodes and caused shorts.

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Generac Capitalizes on Series of (Un)fortunate Circumstances

In last month’s issue of PowerTALK™ News, I wrote about how the pandemic was impacting some of the giants of the power generation industry, and Generac stood out as an OEM that had been well-positioned to capitalize on the disruptions in the marketplace.

Tyler Wiegert
Tyler Wiegert

They were already dominant in home backup power, a household name, and a clear early thought for the many people who were suddenly working and learning from home and searching for a way to make sure they did not lose power. At the same as this enormous upheaval affected our lives, wildfires blazed across California and continue to ravage the state, and hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast.

While other residential power suppliers ran into supply chain bottlenecks that kept their dealers from being adequately stocked for the surge in demand, Generac managed to keep inventory flowing, leading to profits that are incredible by the standard of what we expect in this time, and a 20.8% jump in their share price in August alone.

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2020-08-23

DATAPOINT: 2020 NA Off-Highway Truck Production Forecast Is 1,200 Units

The 1,200 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Off-Highway Trucks to be produced in North America (Canada and the U.S.) in 2020.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

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