Trucks Clips: February 13, 2025

 

 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

 

Trump nominates new NHTSA administrator. “President Donald Trump has nominated Jonathan Morrison, an Apple executive who in the past has worked with car dealerships, to be the next NHTSA administrator. Morrison will take the reins of an agency charged with ensuring vehicles are safe. That includes exercising oversight of manufacturers like Elon Musk’s Tesla, as well as novel designs such as autonomous vehicles. NHTSA under the Biden administration has initiated several probes of Tesla and provoked several recalls from the manufacturer, many of which have involved the car’s inaccurately named ’Autopilot’ or ’full self-driving’ modes. Most recently, in early January Tesla initiated a recall of 250,000 Teslas following a fresh NHTSA probe into potential problems with its rearview camera not properly displaying certain images. Morrison was chief counsel for NHTSA under the first Trump administration and had prior stints as president of Auto Advisory Services and as the director of legal and regulatory affairs for the California New Car Dealers Association, according to his LinkedIn profile. That profile states he is currently employed at Apple, though not in what capacity.” [Politico, 02/12/25 (=)]

 

Trump administration pulls NHTSA chief from Apple. “President Trump has nominated an executive from Apple to run the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Jonathan Morrison (not the great YouTuber) previously served as chief counsel for the NHTSA during the first Trump administration. He has worked at Apple since 2021. Per the Senate: Jonathan Morrison, of California, to be Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, vice Steven Scott Cliff, resigned. The nomination was received yesterday and will go through the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. While Morrison’s LinkedIn profile doesn’t give away much about what he did at Apple, it’s a reasonable guess that he worked on policy issues relating to Apple’s discontinued autonomous car project.” [9to5Mac, 02/12/25 (=)]

 

Trump picks Apple Car lawyer for highway safety role. “An Apple lawyer believed to have worked on the canceled Apple Car project has been appointed to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, by President Trump.According to his sparse LinkedIn profile Jonathan Morrison joined Apple in March 2021 following three years as Chief Counsel for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) during President Trump’s first term. There is no detail available concerning his role at Apple, but based on his prior work experience, Morrison will have been on the company’s legal team.Reuters reports that he will now serve as the NHTSA’s administrator. It means that Morrison will now lead the agency’s policy development.While it’s a presumption that he was involved with the Apple Car, that project saw Apple having to comply with vehicle regulations, and again Morrison has prior experience in the field. From 2006, he spent eight years as Director of Legal & Regulator Affairs for the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).” [appleinsider.com, 02/12/25 (=)]

 

Getting the nod. “Jonathan Morrison, a former chief counsel at NHTSA, is President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the agency during his second term. According to Morrison’s LinkedIn, he’s currently an executive at Apple in California. He’s also had stints as president of Auto Advisory Services and as the director of legal and regulatory affairs for the California New Car Dealers Association. Chris has the details.” [Politico, 02/13/25 (=)]

 

Industry likes the pick. “John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, in a Wednesday statement said Morrison has the ’right background to lead the country’s top traffic safety regulator — someone who understands the agency from the inside and has extensive experience in the automotive and technology industries.’” [Politico, 02/13/25 (=)]

 

Reuters | US taps Apple exec to serve as top auto safety regulator. “WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump has nominated an Apple employee to serve as the nation’s top auto safety regulator overseeing a number of ongoing safety probes into Tesla. Jonathan Morrison, who served as chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during the first Trump administration and had previously worked for the California New Car Dealers Association, has been nominated to serve as the agency’s administrator, according to Senate records. Last month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he would allow an ongoing government probe into Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system to continue. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a close adviser to Trump who is working on an effort to drastically slash the size of the federal government and has previously criticized numerous NHTSA actions. Two weeks before Trump took office, NHTSA opened a probe into 2.6 million Tesla vehicles over reports of crashes involving a feature that allows users to move their cars remotely.” [America Online (AOL.com), 02/12/25 (=)]

 

 

Isuzu Motors

 

Isuzu To Build New EV Truck Factory In The U.S. “Isuzu Trucks will build a new manufacturing facility in the United States that will assemble both battery-powered models and combustion vehicles. The $280 million facility in South Carolina is slated to be operational in 2027 and the company expects to employ over 800 people by 2028. The annual production capacity of the new plant will be approximately 50,000 vehicles by 2030, according to Isuzu Trucks. The Japanese company will assemble the Class 5 N-Series NRR EV truck at the new South Carolina facility, as well as the combustion-powered N-Series truck in Classes 3-5 and the F-Series Classes 5-7. The factory has will be the first in the Isuzu Group to use a production line without conveyors or pits, which should help the truck maker switch easily from ICE to EV production. Isuzu already has a manufacturing facility in Charlotte, Michigan, but after a record 44,000 sales last year in North America, the truck maker is looking to grow its local footprint by adding more production power.” [Inside EVs, 02/12/25 (=)]

 

Ndustrial

 

Ndustrial launches Nsight Fleet platform for transport electrification infrastructure management. “Ndustrial recently launched Nsight Fleet, a platform for managing industrial-scale transport electrification infrastructure. The global electric commercial vehicle market is projected to grow more than 23% annually to $250 billion by 2030. Amid that expansion, fleets will require more charging that integrates with existing routes and delivers financial benefits. Nsight Fleet enables third-party logistics sites to provide power for refrigerated trailers from multiple carriers and suppliers, accelerating the benefits of electrification across supply chains. By switching from diesel-powered TRUs to eTRUs, refrigerated fleets can reduce their on-site emissions and fuel costs by 30%. ‘Refrigerated transport is an essential part of global supply chains, keeping everything from fresh produce to vital medical supplies safe and viable,’ Manuel Aguirre, Ndustrial VP of supply chain electrification, said. ‘With Ndustrial’s fleet electrification solutions, companies across the cold supply chain can meaningfully cut costs and emissions without incurring any up-front cost.’” [FleetOwner, 02/12/25 (=)]

 

Stellantis

 

The 2025 Ram ProMaster EV Is A Lot Cheaper And Goes Further. “The EV revolution on the consumer side may sometimes appear to be in peril. However, when it comes to fleet and commercial vehicles it feels like electrification is both smooth and constant. Fleet operators see the monetary and maintenance benefits of going electric. Thus, all over the world brands are offering a bevy of electrified commercial vans and trucks. The Ram ProMaster’s EV option went on sale last year, but for 2025 the brand has made some big updates to the model line to make it appealing to more buyers. For starters, the EV RamProMaster is a lot cheaper for 2025, for two reasons. Initially, the Ram ProMaster EV was only available in the step-van delivery format, which had a sliding door and roll-style rear tailgate. The car was clearly set up to be an alternative to the Rivian EDV since it rivaled that van on payload, price and range. For 2025, there’s been a sizable price cut. This step van now starts at $71,990, down from the $79,990 of last year’s model. Both prices include the $1,995 destination fee.” [Inside EVs, 02/12/25 (+)]

 

 

California

 

After Waiver Failure, CARB In Talks To Settle Truck ZEV Fleet Rule Suit. “California Air Resources Board (CARB) lawyers are in talks with California Trucking Association (CTA) attorneys to settle the group’s lawsuit challenging the board’s zero-emission truck fleet regulation, after CARB last month withdrew its request to EPA for a waiver of federal preemption to implement and enforce the rule on private fleets. The parties ‘have conferred, and jointly state that [CARB’s] Motion to Dismiss and CTA’s Motion for Summary Judgment should be held in abeyance for 30 days, to allow for ongoing settlement discussions,’ states a Feb. 6 joint statement by the parties in CTA v. Steven S. Cliff in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. In response, Judge Troy Nunley issued a Feb. 6 order agreeing to stay the case for 30 days. ‘If the parties have not otherwise notified the Court as to the outcome of the settlement discussions before the end of the 30-day abeyance, the parties shall submit another joint statement at the end of the abeyance period, updating the Court as to the parties’ positions on further abeyance of the motions,’ it states. In addition, the judge scrapped a hearing previously scheduled for April 17 on CTA’s motion for summary judgment. ‘If it is determined a hearing is necessary, it will be scheduled at a later date.’” [Inside EPA, 02/13/25 (=)]

 

Connecticut

 

Federal funding availability, other concerns lead Plum to cancel buying electric school buses. “Uncertainty over the availability of previously promised federal funding has some local school districts rethinking their plans to buy electric buses. The unpredictability of the funding is among several reasons Plum Superintendent Rick Walsh cited for pulling the plug on the district’s plan to purchase 25 electric buses. ‘With the change in leadership with the federal government through the change in direction and some of those IRS rebates, we don’t believe they’ll be there,’ Walsh said at a school board meeting Tuesday. ‘We believe there’s a shift in direction.’ Plum was among several Pittsburgh area school districts that received funding through the Environmental Protection Agency’s clean school bus program rebate for electric buses. Plum was awarded $5 million. Other districts receiving funding were Pittsburgh Public, $6.46 million; Woodland Hills, $7.37 million; Bethel Park, $2 million; South Fayette, $1.4 million; Moon Area, $1.2 million, Baldwin-Whitehall, $800,000; Pine-Richland, $600,000; and Kiski Area, $75,000.” [community.triblive.com, 02/12/25 (-)]

 

 

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