How to make any truck electric

A robotics startup has a solution to cut the costs of battery-powered road haulage ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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Delivering electric trucks for long-distance haulage is proving a tougher task than deploying battery-powered passenger cars, with costs still often prohibitively high. One US robotics startup thinks it may have a solution. Also today, Europe’s wildfire threat shifted as new fires erupted in the UK and Greece, scientists aim to improve understanding of one of the world’s biggest carbon sinks, and there’s a solar surprise in Florida. Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to all our coverage of climate change, clean energy and extreme weather. Making trucking electric By Akshat Rathi Trucking is big business in the US, but it relies on pricey fuel that produces a lot of planet-warming emissions. Electric trucks are an obvious answer, however their sticker price is two or more times as expensive as traditional freight trucks. Even if the cost were to fall, it would take time to replace existing rigs. Robotics startup Revoy thinks it has a solution to allow any truck to go electric for part of its journey. The San Francisco-based company has built a detachable unit with an electric motor and batteries that sits between the truck’s tractor and trailer. It has just raised $27 million in a Series A round to scale up its operations.  The Revoy plug-in device in Indio, California. Photographer: Ethan Noah Roy/Bloomberg On a full charge, Revoy’s electric dolly can lug an 80,000-pound truck for more than 200 miles. The company’s dream is to eventually build out a network of hubs along roadways, where truckers could swap in a fresh device. Revoy estimates that the unit can reduce carbon emissions by as much as 85%. “Our technology allows you to compete with diesel at cost, which is not true yet for other electric trucks in the US,” said Peter Reinhardt, chief executive officer of Revoy. Read more: Goldman Says Diesel at ‘Epicenter’ of Squeeze as Refineries Hit The cost to operate Revoy’s system would be equivalent to powering a truck with diesel, based on prices before the US war with Iran, according to Reinhardt, who is also CEO of carbon-removal company Charm Industrial Inc. The average retail price of diesel in the US remains about 40% above the pre-war level of about $3.80 per gallon. Revoy would extend the life of existing diesel freight trucks, a different proposition than the fully electric heavy-duty trucks on sale from manufacturers including Tesla Inc. and Volvo AB. Sales of those vehicles in the US in the first half of this year were lower than the same period last year despite higher diesel prices, according to BloombergNEF. Sales may increase in the second half with Tesla reporting a pipeline of 1,200 orders in May, the researcher said in a June report, citing data from a California voucher program.  The new entrants are going after a freight truck market with revenue of about $900 billion in 2024, according to the American Trucking Association. The 3 million registered heavy-duty trucks in the US together drive about 60,000 miles a year, generating roughly 300 million tons of carbon dioxide, or about 6% of US annual emissions, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Fuel makes up more than one-fifth of owners’ operating costs. Keep reading Keep on truckin’ 200 miles The distance Revoy’s electric dolly can lug an 80,000-pound truck for on a full charge. Able to compete “Our technology allows you to compete with diesel at cost, which is not true yet for other electric trucks in the US.” Peter Reinhardt Chief executive officer of Revoy. Carbon exploration By Antony Sguazzin and Laura Millan The Congo Basin is the world’s biggest tropical storehouse of carbon, its forest stretching almost across the African continent and covering an area larger than India. Yet little is known about it. Now a group of almost 200 scientists, who collectively make up the Science Panel for the Congo Basin, is trying to change that. The panel, which launched its first report in Brazzaville in the Congo Republic in May, aims to secure funding to train 1,000 PhDs over the next decade. A road runs through a dense area of primary forest in Nyanga, Gabon, in 2022. Photographer: Guillem Sartorio/Bloomberg Ramping up research is key to understanding and protecting the expanse, which dictates the weather patterns of a continent, is home to a fifth of the world’s living species and absorbs as much CO2 as Germany emits annually, experts say. The forest is at risk from slash-and-burn agriculture, where farmers set fires to make room for crops, as well as logging, mining and demand for charcoal, used by growing populations for cooking. “We need an investment in better understanding the Congo basin and in creating a generation of Congo Basin scientists who will be the ones to defend the ecosystem,” said the panel’s Special Envoy Lee White, a UK-born zoologist who has served as Gabon’s environment minister. “I’m convinced that if we lose the Congo basin, Africa is not viable.” Read more Your Zero listen Zero Prize-Winning Novel on AI Robots, Climate Damage How should we navigate a world in which anxieties about AI, climate change and capitalism collide? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Helen Phillips, author of Hum and the second-ever winner of the Climate Fiction Prize. Rathi asks Phillips how she’s transformed her anxieties into captivating prose, how her relationship to technology has changed through writing and what humanity loses out on if we rely on AI too much. Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.  Sunshine State’s solar surprise By Zahra Hirji While the residential solar market is collapsing nationwide after President Donald Trump ended a popular tax credit in December, one state is proving to be a surprising exception: Florida. A rooftop solar array on a Florida home.  Source: Brilliant Harvest, LLC A big reason why is a sweeping permitting law that took effect in the state last summer, experts said, with new rules aimed at making it both faster and cheaper to install new rooftop solar. Florida installed more than 110 megawatts of home solar in the first three months of the year and BloombergNEF recently called it the fastest-growing state for residential solar in the country. And more is coming: In the first 13 weeks of the year, Florida led the nation with approved permits for at least 450 megawatts-worth of home solar projects — a fourfold increase compared to the same period in the previous two years, according to data compiled by BloombergNEF and Construction Monitor. In other states, meanwhile, the number of applications was lower than in prior years. “We’re doing better than I had braced for and expected as an industry in Florida with the tax credit going away,” said Jacob Traverso, director of operations at the Florida-based contractor Solar Source. Read more New fires erupt in Europe By Joe Wertz and Paul Tugwell Europe’s wildfire threat is shifting as new blazes force evacuations from southeast England to the Greek island of Crete, while cooler weather helps firefighters gain ground in southwest France. The continent’s fourth major heat wave this year is moving east and is set to fade Thursday in southwestern France, where fire crews have been battling blazes that forced more than 200,000 residents and tourists to evacuate near Bordeaux. Firefighters have made progress overnight controlling the fire, which has stabilized after burning about 420 square kilometers, an area four times the size of Paris. The relief in southwest France is the latest fluctuation in a wildfire season that arrived early and accelerated quickly as successive heat waves baked vegetation into kindling across Europe. Climate change is increasing the risk of dangerous weather on the world’s fastest-warming continent, while forecasts for more hot, dry conditions in the weeks ahead raise the prospect the fire season stretching well into fall. Read more 🎥 Attention all filmmakers! Working on a short documentary about climate change? Don’t miss your chance to submit it to the Bloomberg Green Docs film competition. Grand prize: $25,000. Submissions accepted through August 14, 2026. See official rules at bloomberg.com/greendocs. More from Green Businessweek The Spread of Concrete Is Damaging the Planet. And Saving It Concrete makes up half of all human-made stuff on our planet. And its use will double, in part to battle climate threats created by the production of concrete itself. Industry can deliver cleaner versions, but how soon? The answer might lie with four Indonesians from a tiny, disappearing island. Read more Green Record-Low Danube Disrupts Nuclear Plants, Strands Cruises The Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, fell to record low levels this week as heat waves scorched large swaths of the continent, adding to a summer of extreme weather that has strained vital waterways, disrupted energy supplies and ignited deadly fires. Green Drought Declared for London and Half of England as Risks Mount Drought conditions were declared across half of England, including London, underlining the increasing threat posed by wildfires and the risks facing farmers. Green China Signals Nation Is Ready to Lead Global Climate Action China signaled it plans to take a more important role in steering the global campaign to tackle climate change, as officials offered further details on strategy to mitigate and adapt to rising temperatures. More from Bloomberg Business of Food for a weekly look at how the world feeds itself in a changing economy and climate, from farming to supply chains to consumer trends Energy Daily for a daily guide to the energy and commodities markets that power the global economy Tech In Depth for analysis and scoops about the business of technology Explore all Bloomberg newsletters. We’re improving your newsletter experience and we’d love your feedback. 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