Latest news with #SmartCitiesDive
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Honda launches cargo e-bike delivery business
This story was originally published on Smart Cities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Smart Cities Dive newsletter. Honda debuted a new business unit named 'Fastport' this week that will use cargo e-bikes to serve the last-mile delivery market in dense urban areas in North America and Europe. The automaker developed a modular, electric quadricycle it will use for deliveries. The vehicle, which can operate in bike lanes, will be manufactured in Ohio beginning later this year. Honda plans to work with delivery providers to offer the new Fastport service. 'Instead of just selling the vehicle itself, [Honda is offering] the entire support ecosystem: the batteries, the cargo box, the maintenance, the service, as well as the software,' Adam Elsayed, head of product at Fastport, an American Honda Motor Co. venture, said in an interview. Electric-powered cargo bikes can help reduce emissions and traffic congestion from truck deliveries. In recent years, several pilot programs have tried to increase their use with delivery hubs, three-wheel cargo bikes and larger bikes. Honda plans to work more holistically: 'We're dedicated to transforming the last-mile delivery space, and we plan to do that through what we're calling an ecosystem of hardware and software products,' Elsayed said. Since the bikes will operate on crowded city streets, they have safety features such as proximity sensors, a rear-view camera and automatic parking brakes, Elsayed said. The bike, which Honda is calling the Fastport eQuad, will be available in two sizes. Each will have a maximum speed of 12 mph; a canopy, vent fan and front enclosure are designed for rider comfort, the company says. The larger model can handle a payload up to 650 pounds; the smaller model can handle 320 pounds. The bike's software can be updated over the air. The eQuad's swappable batteries are also a Honda product, its mobile power pack. Each bike carries two 1.3-kilowatt-hour batteries, Elsayed said, with a range of up to 23 miles, depending on payload, for the larger vehicle. Honda calls its Fastport business model 'fleet-as-a-service,' which it will be selling to business customers. Honda said it is speaking with 'major logistics and delivery companies' in North America and Europe about pilot programs, but it did not reveal any names. Elsayed said the company is 'mainly focused on parcel and food delivery' for the initial rollout. Fastport was the brainchild of the Honda New Business Innovation Lab at American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance, California. The Fastport eQuad will be produced at the Honda Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio, which the company describes as a small volume, specialty manufacturing facility. 'We believe that [the Fastport eQuad is] more advantageous than a van and more capable than an e-bike,' Elsayed said. 'If we get these on the road, we may be able to replace some of those larger vans, and we think that will be a benefit for the city.' Recommended Reading NYC launches 'microhub' pilot to reduce truck delivery congestion, pollution
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Archer Aviation begins piloted air taxi test flights
This story was originally published on Smart Cities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Smart Cities Dive newsletter. Archer Aviation began the first test flights of its Midnight air taxi with a pilot on board, the company announced June 2, following over 400 autonomous flights in 2024. The electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft reached an altitude of over 1,500 feet above ground level at a speed of up to 125 mph, the company said in a press release. Archer Chief Test Pilot Jeff Greenwood was at the aircraft's controls during the test flight over Salinas, California. 'Everything responded exactly as we trained for, which is exactly what you hope for during a test flight,' Greenwood said in a statement. Archer plans to launch a network of air taxis in Southern California as soon as 2026, when the FIFA World Cup comes to Los Angeles. The Santa Clara, California, company also announced plans for air taxi service in the San Francisco Bay Area and the New York City region. To do so, it will need FAA certification for the aircraft, pilots, maintenance personnel, training and other aspects of air taxi operations. The initial piloted flight used a conventional runway takeoff and landing procedure to test the landing gear and related components, Archer said in a news release. Regulators and customers said that both vertical and conventional takeoffs and landings are necessary for operational flexibility and enhanced safety. 'Midnight's VTOL and CTOL capabilities are a strong differentiator for us,' Archer CEO and founder Adam Goldstein said in a statement. Greenwood joined Archer in 2021. Previously, he was a pilot in the United States Marine Corps for 13 years and served as a test pilot for Bell Textron, where he worked on rotorcraft. Among his tasks at Archer, he worked on cockpit design. Archer and its closest competitor, Joby Aviation, are pushing to get their respective aircraft ready for final certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. Joby began piloted test flights in April. Recommended Reading Air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation ups flight tests with onboard pilots
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Archer Aviation begins piloted air taxi test flights
This story was originally published on Smart Cities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Smart Cities Dive newsletter. Archer Aviation began the first test flights of its Midnight air taxi with a pilot on board, the company announced June 2, following over 400 autonomous flights in 2024. The electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft reached an altitude of over 1,500 feet above ground level at a speed of up to 125 mph, the company said in a press release. Archer Chief Test Pilot Jeff Greenwood was at the aircraft's controls during the test flight over Salinas, California. 'Everything responded exactly as we trained for, which is exactly what you hope for during a test flight,' Greenwood said in a statement. Archer plans to launch a network of air taxis in Southern California as soon as 2026, when the FIFA World Cup comes to Los Angeles. The Santa Clara, California, company also announced plans for air taxi service in the San Francisco Bay Area and the New York City region. To do so, it will need FAA certification for the aircraft, pilots, maintenance personnel, training and other aspects of air taxi operations. The initial piloted flight used a conventional runway takeoff and landing procedure to test the landing gear and related components, Archer said in a news release. Regulators and customers said that both vertical and conventional takeoffs and landings are necessary for operational flexibility and enhanced safety. 'Midnight's VTOL and CTOL capabilities are a strong differentiator for us,' Archer CEO and founder Adam Goldstein said in a statement. Greenwood joined Archer in 2021. Previously, he was a pilot in the United States Marine Corps for 13 years and served as a test pilot for Bell Textron, where he worked on rotorcraft. Among his tasks at Archer, he worked on cockpit design. Archer and its closest competitor, Joby Aviation, are pushing to get their respective aircraft ready for final certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. Joby began piloted test flights in April. Recommended Reading Air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation ups flight tests with onboard pilots
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New York bets big on green economy with climate innovation hub in Brooklyn
This story was originally published on Smart Cities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Smart Cities Dive newsletter. A consortium of Los Angeles and New York City economic development nonprofits is creating a 200,000-square-foot climate innovation hub on the waterfront in Brooklyn, New York. The BATWorks hub — named after the Brooklyn Army Terminal, an industrial campus where it's located — will provide green-economy startups with space to conduct research and development and will include workforce training and job placement programming for New Yorkers, according to a press release from New York City Economic Development Corporation, which is part of the consortium. BATWorks is 'cutting edge,' said Andrew Kimball, NYCEDC president and CEO, in a statement. The innovation hub 'will unlock new opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs, advance new innovative climate solutions, fuel job growth and strengthen Brooklyn's working waterfront,' he said. BATWorks will join several cleantech incubators that have opened throughout the country over the past decade. Nonprofit Greentown Labs has opened workspace to environmental and energy sector startups in Houston; and Somerville, Massachusetts. The University of Tennessee launched the Spark Innovation Center in Knoxville. And this year, the Seattle Climate Innovation Hub launched through a collaboration involving the city of Seattle and the University of Washington. NYCEDC announced its BATWorks partnership with Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator on May 22. LACI, which has taken a leading role in providing space and support for cleantech startups since it was founded by the city of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power in 2011, launched the National Coalition of Clean Energy Incubators in 2020. Tech and science coworking space company Cambridge Innovation Center will also lead the BATWorks consortium. LACI will advise climate programming for the new hub and lead a pilot program that allows emergency climate technology companies to test products in a live built environment — part of its Climate Innovation Challenge, which provides funding and assistance to companies testing out their innovations, the NYCEDC press release stated. BATWorks is also part of New York Mayor Eric Adams' development plans for the city's waterfront and its Green Economy Action Plan, which lays out the city's goals for addressing climate change and creating 400,000 green economy jobs by 2040, the press release stated. NYCEDC, which invested $100 million into the new hub, says it expects BATWorks will create more than 600 jobs, service 150 startups over 10 years and generate $2.6 billion in economic impact for New York City. The new facility will provide companies with space to build products, quickly prototype new technology and carry out research and development, the press release stated. It will also provide green-economy job workforce training to people living in the city. Construction will begin on the hub this year, and it is expected to open in 2028, said Chelsea Sudaley, an NYCEDC spokesperson. Recommended Reading How Washington, D.C.'s first climate week came together Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alstom opens new passenger rail car manufacturing plant in New York
This story was originally published on Smart Cities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Smart Cities Dive newsletter. Alstom, a global supplier of rail vehicles, locomotives and related infrastructure, opened a $75 million manufacturing facility Monday in Hornell, New York, adding to its existing production site. The 135,000 square foot plant will begin producing 200 multilevel commuter rail cars for Metra, Chicago's commuter rail system. The fourth plant on the site will manufacture stainless steel car body shells for passenger rail vehicles, bringing production back from Brazil. Buoyed by growth in its Americas region, Alstom's plant expansion enables it to reshore production of car body shells to the U.S. That could be essential for the company to win contracts that must comply with the Buy America Act, which requires that at least 70% of each rail car be made in the U.S. and that final assembly must take place in the U.S. Some of Alstom's current projects include multilevel rail cars for New Jersey Transit, an automated people mover system at Los Angeles International Airport and Amtrak's new Acela train sets for the Northeast Corridor. The new facility will create 258 jobs and retain 390 existing jobs, Alstom said in a news release. 'These are generational, family-sustaining union careers that benefit the entire community,' International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers President Brian Bryant said in a statement. Alstom benefitted from federal, state and local grants, job and tax credit programs toward the new plant. 'I was proud to secure $3.4 million in federal funding to put Alstom on the fast track to expand and house this new manufacturing facility,' Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. The high-tech facility includes automated welding robots to make precision welds for assemblies up to 80 feet long. Alstom says that will improve quality and lower costs for transit authority customers. 'When we invest in American manufacturing, we create good jobs that have a ripple effect across the entire region,' Michael Keroullé, president of Alstom Americas, said in a statement. 'Plant 4 upholds our long-standing commitment to making trains in America.' Recommended Reading FTA awards $631M to 3 transit agencies for new rail cars Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
