Toronto, Ontario – In this week’s electric and autonomous vehicle report, Ford posts impressive EV sales from the past year, Purolator deployed five new emissions-free delivery vehicles in Vancouver and a Toronto-based graphite mining company announced a deal to better position themselves in the battery development sector.
Mach-Speed Market Moves
The Ford Motor Company is proving its versatility in the auto industry in a major way; the eldest of the Detroit three has gone from seeing it’s F-150 become the most popular vehicle in Canada, to seeing its EV sales skyrocket by 74 percent over the past year.
This surge was reportedly bolstered by the impressive sales of Ford’s Mustang Mach-E and F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid vehicles, moving 6,614 and 7,176, respectively, over the past year.
“Ford’s retail sales exceeded 2020 and 2019 sales levels. Our customers are really embracing our new electrified vehicle lineup. The all-new fully electric Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid lifted Ford’s overall electrified vehicle sales to a record start in the first quarter with sales up 74 percent over a year ago. Our all-new Bronco Sport posted record monthly sales in March and helped power Ford Brand SUVs to their best start in 20 years,” said Andrew Frick, v-p of sale for Ford U.S. and Canada.
Shipping and Handling; Emissions not included
Purolator recently announced the deployment of five fully electric, 18-foot curbside delivery trucks in Vancouver showing significant progress toward the company’s $1 billion, five-year growth and innovation strategy.
The trucks are Purolator’s first full-sized, zero-emission delivery vehicles. Each is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 24 metric tons per year.
“Transforming our infrastructure and fleet is a key focus area of our growth and innovation strategy, and the cornerstone of our commitment to reduce our environmental footprint,” said John Ferguson, president and CEO of Purolator, in a release announcing the new trucks.
Gra-phiting for a Spot
Toronto-based graphite mining company, Gratomic announced that it had engaged in a partnership with Forge Nano to prepare Gratomic’s graphitic material for electric vehicle battery anode material.
“Forge Nano’s ALD coating technology for use in lithium-ion battery anode applications could result in significant gains in performance to Gratomic’s SG16 battery graphite compounds,” Gratomic said in a press release.
Forge Nano’s investment partners include Volkswagen AG and LG Technology Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of LG Group. Another division of LG Group, LG Energy Solution, is one of Tesla Inc’s battery suppliers.
