Electric Vehicles

The San Francisco-based company will partner with autonomous driving tech firm May Mobility next year to field a fleet of Toyota Sienna minivans that will be accessible through its app. Precise details and timing are not yet clear, but initial deployments will use human “safety operators,” transitioning over time to fully autonomous operations.

Gas-powered vehicles account for nearly half the greenhouse gas emissions in the city. Its goal is for 40 percent of passenger and light-duty vehicles registered in Orleans Parish to be battery-operated by 2035.

Guided by a consultant, the state group has opted to plan for putting an extra 15,000 Mainers in electric vehicles by the end of the decade to meet emissions reductions targets. Green hydrogen, members decided, is not likely to be commercially viable as soon as had been hoped.

The funding includes nearly $7 million for the Lowell Regional Transit Authority, which already has a hybrid-electric bus up and running. There’s also around $15 million for energy-efficient upgrades to school district HVAC systems.

The city has made more than 50 electric bicycles and scooters available for residents to rent, on a trial basis. The program, which runs through December 2025, will test whether the initiative makes sense long term.

Artificial intelligence is poised to become the next big energy hog and data centers stand to challenge sustainability goals. Some processing demands, however, can be shifted to periods when demand is low.

Durham Public Schools, which serves the city and county of Durham, will receive 38 electric buses as a result of a new $15 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The vehicles arrive as the district is in urgent need of full-time drivers.

After a delay, Linn-Benton Community College will roll out its new electric vehicle program in 2025. The program is designed to recruit women to the field, but had difficulty attracting qualified instructors. It is aimed at filling a training gap for EV technicians.

The northern San Diego suburb has opened a new fire station more than a decade in the making, which will house the city’s first electric fire engine. The engine and infrastructure cost around $2.7 million.

Work is set to commence this month on the fourth phase of the Robotics Technology Park, run by state agency Alabama Industrial Development and Training. It will focus on building and working with electric vehicles. Opening is expected in spring 2026.

Southern Maine Community College's class on EV repairs launched in 2021, teaching students to perform predictive maintenance, diagnose and repair hybrid and electric vehicles, and pass a national certification test.

A grant of more than $260,000 from the Maryland Energy Administration will help with the purchase. The county is believed to be one of the first on the East Coast to make such an acquisition; it is expected to arrive in December 2025.

Greenlane Infrastructure is developing the facility, a charging plaza in Colton, Calif., at the intersection of two heavily traveled truck corridors. The aim is to advance the transition to zero-emission trucking and fleets.

Part of a “regional transportation hub,” the new center also features a STEM center for young adults. The complex, which showcases a library, houses what is believed to be the nation’s largest public EV charging station.

The electric vehicle charging network is close to securing a federal Department of Energy loan and plans to stand up 7,500 high-speed chargers in five years. It and other companies are working to make charging simpler and more pleasant.

As the state pushes residents to buy electric vehicles, some Washingtonians wonder why they should invest in an electric vehicle when many state agencies still use gas-powered SUVs, pickups and sedans.

To meet air quality permit requirements to run a green hydrogen facility in Massena, N.Y., Air Products will build electric vehicle charging stations in the town. The firm is developing more than 84 acres to produce liquid hydrogen using hydroelectric power.

The EPA's Clean School Bus Program awarded money to New Orleans-area transportation companies to convert over 70 diesel school buses to zero- or low-emissions buses over the next couple years.