SightGlass

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has allocated $20.1 million of funding to Team Global Express (TGE), in addition to the logistics firm’s own AU$24.2m investment, to deploy 60 electric trucks. A fleet of 24 Daimler Fuso eCanters and 36 Volvo eFLs (Volvo’s largest ever e-truck order) will be added to TGE’s fleet, along with … Continue reading TGE to establish Australia’s biggest e-truck fleet with $20.1m of ARENA funding

Tesla has launched and handed over its first Class 8 battery-electric Semi truck to PepsiCo at its Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada, five years after the first prototype was unveiled with a claimed range of 800km.  An initial low production run of 100 Semis is planned for 2023 and although no price has been announced – … Continue reading Pepsico takes delivery of first Tesla Semi truck

An indictment on the slow uptake of R1234yf in vehicles exported to Australia is that the same number of cars were found to have a full charge of R12 – banned since the mid-1990s – as were running YF in the latest annual mobile air-conditioning survey report produced by Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA). Produced using … Continue reading Slow YF uptake and poor refrigerant recovery rates are cause for concern

The refrigerant safety panel at Wire & Gas provided a stark reminder to all in the automotive repair sector need to be vigilant about hydrocarbon refrigerants when working on air-conditioning systems, and to ensure they are not adding to the problem by contaminating their refrigerant cylinders with flammable mixtures. Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA) general manager … Continue reading Automotive repair sector must remain vigilant of hydrocarbon refrigerants

“As I stand here today, it is now unlawful for a car manufacturer to withhold service and repair information from independent repairers for any vehicle manufactured from 2002 onwards. It’s unlawful. Small fines, 10 million bucks each time.” Powerful words from Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) government relations and advocacy director Lesley Yates during her … Continue reading Wire & Gas 2022 attendees shown how to use new AARSA repair info portal

Despite distinct angles and different participants, electric vehicle panel sessions at both the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Expo and Wire & Gas shared a common takeaway message: Workshops and technicians will be a key educator during the electrification transition. Furthermore, those who embrace this role stand to benefit earlier, and most, from the opportunities this transformation … Continue reading Workshops are the educators: AAAA Expo, Wire & Gas EV panels

“By somewhere between 2025 and 2028, there will be a new refrigerant on the market dedicated to EVs from the factory.” This was the bombshell dropped by Mobile Air Climate Systems Association (MACS) president Peter Coll at Wire & Gas 2022. Continue reading At least five new refrigerants under consideration for automotive applications