Toronto, Ontario – In this week’s electric and autonomous vehicle report, Prime Minister Trudeau keeps pushing Biden for a fair deal on EVs in North America, a British Columbia company has launched a 40-car-strong hydrogen EV fleet and Ford has partnered with Purdue University to tackle fast-charging technology.
All for One, None for All
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned to Ottawa on Friday following a series of meetings with American and Mexican trade officials in Washington D.C. in the hopes of convincing Joe Biden to scrap his EV incentive plan.
Biden didn’t budge, but Trudeau remains determined that “There are a number of ways to look at solving this,” and that he will continue to push to “find solutions.”
“The Americans are very aware of Canada’s position on this, and our concerns around it, and quite frankly, the threats it poses to over 50 years of integrated automaking in our two countries,” said Trudeau.
Flavio Volpe, head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, chimed in on the matter, calling the Biden government’s refusal to negotiate “senseless bravado.”
In the Geazone
British Columbia’s Geazone Eco-Couriers has announced the launch of North America’s first hydrogen-powered courier fleet.
Through a series of partnerships with Toyota and Lyft, Geazone Eco-Couriers has managed to get a hold of 40 new Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles for ride-share drivers in the Vancouver area.
“When I saw the Toyota Mirai, I was excited. I took one for a test drive and a few days later, came back and told them I wanted 40 of them, right then and there. A few weeks later, we added the first batch of FCEVs to our fleet,” said Geazone president and CEO Andrew Mitchell.
B.C. Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Bruce Ralston said, “Geazone Eco-Courier is a great example of a local company that is working to adopt cleaner vehicles which not only aligns with our hydrogen strategy and CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 but helps other businesses and communities reach their own climate change targets by ensuring their couriers are behind the wheel of zero-emissions vehicles.”
Turning up the Heat
A new partnership between Ford and Purdue University in Indiana is aiming to crack the code to fast-charging technology for EVs.
This new research partnership will see the two organizations working together to develop a charging cable that is capable of withstanding high enough heat that it can charge an EV at a comparable speed to a gas pump.
“Today, chargers are limited in how quickly they can charge an EV’s battery due to the danger of overheating. Charging faster requires more current to travel through the charging cable,” said Michael Degner, Ford’s research and advanced engineering senior technical leader.
Professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, Dr. Issam Mudawar said “Electric vehicle charging time can vary widely, from 20 minutes at a station to hours on an at-home charging station, and that can be a source of anxiety for people who are considering buying an electric vehicle. My lab has come up with a solution for situations where the amounts of heat that are produced are beyond the capabilities of today’s technologies.”
