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Zenobe / BAE / Motiv / Camber
Audio:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5tLFTApN7Rz6e9XryEaR77?si=bf7873cbe4854a5f
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/newze/id1797582892
https://sites.libsyn.com/563770
This week’s content: June 23rd, 2025
Zenobē and Brampton Lead CA$4 Billion Initiative
Zenobē, a global fleet electrification and battery storage specialist headquartered in London, and the City of Brampton, Ontario, announced their leadership of U.K. and Canada-based groups that will launch a CA$4 billion partnership to support the zero emissions transition of the Brampton Transit bus fleet. This effort will mark the first phase of a 10-year electrification framework, serving Toronto's largest suburb and supporting the transition to a zero-emission public transit system. The partnership will replace the city’s existing diesel vehicles with 1,000 electric buses, with the first phase expected to go live in early 2027. Brampton will procure electric buses from Canadian suppliers, with planning and design, software, supply chain relationships and capital markets expertise provided by the Zenobē team. The initiative also includes comprehensive technical experience and expertise from the U.K. and dedicated electrical and civil engineering teams on the ground in Brampton.
BAE Raises the Standard for Transit Industry
BAE Systems’ innovative Gen3 electric drive system has successfully completed testing at the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Bus Research and Testing Center (BRTC), demonstrating best-in-class fuel economy and emissions results. Equipped with BAE Systems propulsion and accessory power controls, the bus produced an average fuel economy of 6.6 miles per gallon during testing, setting a new benchmark for a hybrid-electric bus in North America. The Gen3 system was developed to enhance power delivery, improve acceleration, cut replacement and maintenance time, and significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions on hybrid buses. BAE Systems has nearly 30 years of experience developing and integrating electric drive systems for buses and heavy-duty vehicles. The company has more than 19,000 systems in service on transit buses worldwide, including hybrid-electric, battery-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell applications. Its electric propulsion technology is developed and serviced at the company’s facilities in Endicott, New York and Rochester, U.K.
Motiv Welcomes New Chief Product and Engineering Officer
Motiv Electric Trucks, a leading manufacturer of medium-duty electric trucks and buses, has announced the appointment of Scott Zion as Chief Product and Engineering Officer. Zion will oversee Motiv’s product roadmap and ensure technologies and finished vehicles are designed, validated, and tested to perform to the highest quality standards while meeting customer specifications. Zion joins Motiv with over 30 years of experience in vehicle engineering and electric vehicle technology from companies like Bollinger Motors, Xos Trucks, Hino Motors, and Ford. Motiv now accounts for 45 percent of electric step vans in California and 19 percent of step van deployments in the U.S. overall. Most importantly, Motiv leads the industry with repeat/follow-on orders; since founding, 64 percent of vehicles have been delivered to repeat customers. Scott Griffith, CEO of Motiv, said, “His background and leadership will be critical as we scale our team to continue to design and produce the most technologically-advanced, reliable, sustainable and cost-competitive electric trucks and buses for the largest fleets in North America."
Electric Buses Add to the Beauty of Public Lands
With proposed budget cuts threatening the preservation of America’s public lands, National Park Service staff are looking for ways to reduce their expenses without harming the lands they protect. Enter: a viable solution from CALSTART member company Camber. A few years ago, they helped South Lake Tahoe implement electric transit buses, logging nearly 67,000 miles and eliminating 13,000 gallons of diesel in their first year of operation. Operating an electric bus costs just 44 cents per mile and eliminates traditional maintenance expenses like oil changes and exhaust repairs, which surely catches the attention of budget-conscious park managers. Camber designed Tahoe’s charging depot with the region’s dispersed landscape in mind, installing overhead pantographs to charge at high speed while out running routes, limiting range anxiety. The electric buses also use regenerative braking to recharge as they descend from mountain passes. Over its twelve-year service life, a single electric bus returns more than $400,000 in avoided costs, and infrastructure support from companies like Camber show that electrification is possible even in the great outdoors.
Join CALSTART’s Push to Save IRA Incentives & Stand Up for Innovation
Last week, the Senate Finance committee published its highly anticipated tax proposal which includes plans to drastically weaken key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). At stake are several core tax credits (25E, 30D, 45W, 30C, 45X) that have helped drive U.S. competitiveness, innovation, domestic manufacturing and so much else. To draw media attention to the business perspective, CALSTART has launched an outreach campaign to tell the stories of companies and how changes to the IRA threaten to slow progress, shift investment overseas, and hurt domestic jobs and manufacturing. If you would like to be a part of this timely and important effort, please contact our Head of Policy, Trisha Dello Iacono at [email protected]
Cal Fleet Advisor Hosts Workshop to Support Electric School Bus Adoption
Earlier this month, Cal Fleet Advisor’s school bus experts hosted an Electric School Bus Planning Workshop in Bakersfield, California. School transportation teams, utility partners, and industry leaders came together to discuss key strategies for planning, deploying, and operating electric school bus fleets.
Special thanks to our panel speakers: Brandon Smith (PG&E), Monique Hampton (Turlock Irrigation District), Jason Groves (SCE), Gil Rosas (Modesto City Schools), and Brad Rohrbach (Porterville Unified School District) for sharing their insights.
To learn more about Cal Fleet Advisor's no-cost technical assistance for school bus fleets, visit us: https://calfleetadvisor.org/esb/
New Jersey Fleet Advisor: Only 11 Spots Remain in Round 2!
Funded by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), New Jersey Fleet Advisor provides FREE fleet electrification feasibility analysis to vehicle fleets in New Jersey. Each fleet selected to participate will receive a personalized Fleet Electrification Roadmap developed by CALSTART, NJDEP’s technical experts.
There are just 11 spots remaining to public, private, or nonprofit fleets and school districts!
Learn More and Apply: https://dep.nj.gov/drivegreen/njfleetadvisor/
CALSTART Members-Only Webinar: Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks – The Road Ahead
Wednesday, June 25 at 9:00am PT / 12:00pm ET
Join us for an exclusive webinar designed just for our members. This session will dive into critical updates and opportunities in the medium- and heavy-duty truck sector, featuring ZIO ZET insights from CALSTART’s Jacob Richard, funding opportunities from Tor Larson and Jacob Richard, and Northeast MHD truck developments from Jordan Stutt, alongside a Northeast infrastructure update from one of our CALSTART member companies. Stay engaged with a dynamic Q&A session to address your questions and help shape the future of clean transportation. Register now and join us for this impactful discussion!
Register here!
Upcoming Events:
Join Us in June at the Transit Retreat in Des Moines, June 25-26
Next month, CALSTART joins transit leaders from across the country for a retreat-style event centered on innovation, implementation, and open dialogue. Don’t miss sessions exploring how the clean transit landscape is evolving as well as strategic insights and practical implementation best practices.
Join us there: https://www.transitretreat.org/
Zenobē and Brampton Lead CA$4 Billion Initiative to Electrify Transit Bus Fleet in Landmark UK-Canada Collaboration, PR Newswire https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zenob-and-brampton-lead-ca4-billion-initiative-to-electrify-transit-bus-fleet-in-landmark-uk-canada-collaboration-302481871.html
BAE Systems’ Electric Drive System Demonstrates High Fuel Economy in Federal Testing, BAE Systems https://www.baesystems.com/en-us/article~electric-drive-system-demonstrates-high-fuel-economy-in-federal-testing~
Motiv Electric Trucks Appoints Scott Zion as Chief Product and Engineering Officer, GlobeNewswire https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/06/18/3101423/0/en/Motiv-Electric-Trucks-Appoints-Scott-Zion-as-Chief-Product-and-Engineering-Officer.html
The Electric Solution California Parks Can’t Ignore (Opinion), Tahoe Daily Tribune https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/the-electric-solution-california-parks-cant-ignore-opinion/
View all episodes
By Jared SchnaderAudio:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5tLFTApN7Rz6e9XryEaR77?si=bf7873cbe4854a5f
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/newze/id1797582892
https://sites.libsyn.com/563770
This week’s content: June 23rd, 2025
Zenobē and Brampton Lead CA$4 Billion Initiative
Zenobē, a global fleet electrification and battery storage specialist headquartered in London, and the City of Brampton, Ontario, announced their leadership of U.K. and Canada-based groups that will launch a CA$4 billion partnership to support the zero emissions transition of the Brampton Transit bus fleet. This effort will mark the first phase of a 10-year electrification framework, serving Toronto's largest suburb and supporting the transition to a zero-emission public transit system. The partnership will replace the city’s existing diesel vehicles with 1,000 electric buses, with the first phase expected to go live in early 2027. Brampton will procure electric buses from Canadian suppliers, with planning and design, software, supply chain relationships and capital markets expertise provided by the Zenobē team. The initiative also includes comprehensive technical experience and expertise from the U.K. and dedicated electrical and civil engineering teams on the ground in Brampton.
BAE Raises the Standard for Transit Industry
BAE Systems’ innovative Gen3 electric drive system has successfully completed testing at the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Bus Research and Testing Center (BRTC), demonstrating best-in-class fuel economy and emissions results. Equipped with BAE Systems propulsion and accessory power controls, the bus produced an average fuel economy of 6.6 miles per gallon during testing, setting a new benchmark for a hybrid-electric bus in North America. The Gen3 system was developed to enhance power delivery, improve acceleration, cut replacement and maintenance time, and significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions on hybrid buses. BAE Systems has nearly 30 years of experience developing and integrating electric drive systems for buses and heavy-duty vehicles. The company has more than 19,000 systems in service on transit buses worldwide, including hybrid-electric, battery-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell applications. Its electric propulsion technology is developed and serviced at the company’s facilities in Endicott, New York and Rochester, U.K.
Motiv Welcomes New Chief Product and Engineering Officer
Motiv Electric Trucks, a leading manufacturer of medium-duty electric trucks and buses, has announced the appointment of Scott Zion as Chief Product and Engineering Officer. Zion will oversee Motiv’s product roadmap and ensure technologies and finished vehicles are designed, validated, and tested to perform to the highest quality standards while meeting customer specifications. Zion joins Motiv with over 30 years of experience in vehicle engineering and electric vehicle technology from companies like Bollinger Motors, Xos Trucks, Hino Motors, and Ford. Motiv now accounts for 45 percent of electric step vans in California and 19 percent of step van deployments in the U.S. overall. Most importantly, Motiv leads the industry with repeat/follow-on orders; since founding, 64 percent of vehicles have been delivered to repeat customers. Scott Griffith, CEO of Motiv, said, “His background and leadership will be critical as we scale our team to continue to design and produce the most technologically-advanced, reliable, sustainable and cost-competitive electric trucks and buses for the largest fleets in North America."
Electric Buses Add to the Beauty of Public Lands
With proposed budget cuts threatening the preservation of America’s public lands, National Park Service staff are looking for ways to reduce their expenses without harming the lands they protect. Enter: a viable solution from CALSTART member company Camber. A few years ago, they helped South Lake Tahoe implement electric transit buses, logging nearly 67,000 miles and eliminating 13,000 gallons of diesel in their first year of operation. Operating an electric bus costs just 44 cents per mile and eliminates traditional maintenance expenses like oil changes and exhaust repairs, which surely catches the attention of budget-conscious park managers. Camber designed Tahoe’s charging depot with the region’s dispersed landscape in mind, installing overhead pantographs to charge at high speed while out running routes, limiting range anxiety. The electric buses also use regenerative braking to recharge as they descend from mountain passes. Over its twelve-year service life, a single electric bus returns more than $400,000 in avoided costs, and infrastructure support from companies like Camber show that electrification is possible even in the great outdoors.
Join CALSTART’s Push to Save IRA Incentives & Stand Up for Innovation
Last week, the Senate Finance committee published its highly anticipated tax proposal which includes plans to drastically weaken key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). At stake are several core tax credits (25E, 30D, 45W, 30C, 45X) that have helped drive U.S. competitiveness, innovation, domestic manufacturing and so much else. To draw media attention to the business perspective, CALSTART has launched an outreach campaign to tell the stories of companies and how changes to the IRA threaten to slow progress, shift investment overseas, and hurt domestic jobs and manufacturing. If you would like to be a part of this timely and important effort, please contact our Head of Policy, Trisha Dello Iacono at [email protected]
Cal Fleet Advisor Hosts Workshop to Support Electric School Bus Adoption
Earlier this month, Cal Fleet Advisor’s school bus experts hosted an Electric School Bus Planning Workshop in Bakersfield, California. School transportation teams, utility partners, and industry leaders came together to discuss key strategies for planning, deploying, and operating electric school bus fleets.
Special thanks to our panel speakers: Brandon Smith (PG&E), Monique Hampton (Turlock Irrigation District), Jason Groves (SCE), Gil Rosas (Modesto City Schools), and Brad Rohrbach (Porterville Unified School District) for sharing their insights.
To learn more about Cal Fleet Advisor's no-cost technical assistance for school bus fleets, visit us: https://calfleetadvisor.org/esb/
New Jersey Fleet Advisor: Only 11 Spots Remain in Round 2!
Funded by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), New Jersey Fleet Advisor provides FREE fleet electrification feasibility analysis to vehicle fleets in New Jersey. Each fleet selected to participate will receive a personalized Fleet Electrification Roadmap developed by CALSTART, NJDEP’s technical experts.
There are just 11 spots remaining to public, private, or nonprofit fleets and school districts!
Learn More and Apply: https://dep.nj.gov/drivegreen/njfleetadvisor/
CALSTART Members-Only Webinar: Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks – The Road Ahead
Wednesday, June 25 at 9:00am PT / 12:00pm ET
Join us for an exclusive webinar designed just for our members. This session will dive into critical updates and opportunities in the medium- and heavy-duty truck sector, featuring ZIO ZET insights from CALSTART’s Jacob Richard, funding opportunities from Tor Larson and Jacob Richard, and Northeast MHD truck developments from Jordan Stutt, alongside a Northeast infrastructure update from one of our CALSTART member companies. Stay engaged with a dynamic Q&A session to address your questions and help shape the future of clean transportation. Register now and join us for this impactful discussion!
Register here!
Upcoming Events:
Join Us in June at the Transit Retreat in Des Moines, June 25-26
Next month, CALSTART joins transit leaders from across the country for a retreat-style event centered on innovation, implementation, and open dialogue. Don’t miss sessions exploring how the clean transit landscape is evolving as well as strategic insights and practical implementation best practices.
Join us there: https://www.transitretreat.org/
Zenobē and Brampton Lead CA$4 Billion Initiative to Electrify Transit Bus Fleet in Landmark UK-Canada Collaboration, PR Newswire https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zenob-and-brampton-lead-ca4-billion-initiative-to-electrify-transit-bus-fleet-in-landmark-uk-canada-collaboration-302481871.html
BAE Systems’ Electric Drive System Demonstrates High Fuel Economy in Federal Testing, BAE Systems https://www.baesystems.com/en-us/article~electric-drive-system-demonstrates-high-fuel-economy-in-federal-testing~
Motiv Electric Trucks Appoints Scott Zion as Chief Product and Engineering Officer, GlobeNewswire https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/06/18/3101423/0/en/Motiv-Electric-Trucks-Appoints-Scott-Zion-as-Chief-Product-and-Engineering-Officer.html
The Electric Solution California Parks Can’t Ignore (Opinion), Tahoe Daily Tribune https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/the-electric-solution-california-parks-cant-ignore-opinion/