International law firm Simmons & Simmons advised ING Corporate Investments, the co-investment branch of ING Bank, on their investment in Ebusco B.V., a Dutch company which develops, markets and sells full electric (public transport) buses in the European market. The transaction was structured as a share issuance that resulted in a minority stake in Ebusco for ING CI. The Dutch Government of Economic Affaires supplies financial support to Ebusco.
Dr. Herbert Diess, Chairman of the VW board, says: “The Volkswagen brand’s big electric offensive begins in the year 2020 with a completely new vehicle architecture. That is when we will be launching an entirely new generation of fully connected, all-electric vehicles to the market. By 2025 we want to be selling one million of these vehicles annually. We are making electric mobility the new trademark of Volkswagen.”
Alexander Dennis Inc (ADI), art of the British Alexander Dennis Ltd, has increased its North American footprint with a multi-million dollar investment in a manufacturing hub in Nappanee, Indiana. The business had engaged with a contract manufacturer to produce double deck buses in Nappanee since September 2014 but from 29 December 2016, ownership of assets and the facility lease wholly transitioned to ADI who take over the entire operation.
An MoU in this regard was signed between Volvo Group India and IISc earlier this month that will allow IISc scientists and Volvo engineers to look at developing such a sophisticated communication system as well as video analytics. This will be facilitated through a scientifically elaborate method of vehicle movement on state and national highways, called ‘platooning’.
In a new paper in the journal Nature Materials (in an edition focused on materials for sustainable energy), a team from Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has reviewed milestones in the progress of solid-state photoelectrocatalytic technologies toward delivering solar fuels and chemistry.