Walmart announced a new pilot program that will test autonomous grocery delivery in the Houston market starting next year. The retailer is partnering with autonomous vehicle company  Nuro,  a robotics company that uses driverless technology to deliver goods to customers. Nuro’s vehicles in this case will delivery Walmart online grocery orders to a select group of customers who opt into the service in Houston.

The autonomous delivery service will involve R2, Nuro’s custom-built delivery vehicle that carries products only with no on-board drivers or passengers, as well as autonomous Toyota Priuses that deliver groceries. The program’s goal is to learn more about how autonomous grocery delivery could work and how such a service can be improved to better serve Walmart’s shoppers.

Nuro’s focus to date has been developing a self-driving stack and combining it with a custom unmanned vehicle designed for last-mile delivery of local goods and services. The vehicle has two compartments that can fit up to six grocery bags each.

The company has raised more than $1 billion from partners, including SoftBank, Greylock Partners and Gaorong Capital. In March, the company announced  it had raised $940 million in financing from Softbank Vision Fund.

Nuro is known for its pursuit of autonomous delivery. But it also licensed its self-driving vehicle technology to Ike, the autonomous trucking startup. Nuro’s partnership with Walmart is hardly its first. The company partnered with Kroger (Fry’s) in 2018 to test autonomous Prius vehicles and its custom-built robot, R1. The R1 autonomous vehicle was operating as a driverless service without a safety driver on board in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. In March 2019, Nuro moved the service with Kroger to Houston, beginning with autonomous Priuses. In 2020, Nuro will test its second-generation robot, R2, with Kroger, Domino’s as well as Walmart.

The Nuro partnership isn’t Walmart’s first autonomous delivery pilot, either.The retailer earlier this year  tapped the startup Udelv to test autonomous grocery deliveries in Arizona . This summer, it  kicked off a test with Gatik A.I. , an autonomous vehicle startup to test grocery delivery from Walmart’s main warehouse in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart also  launched a pilot with self-driving company Waymo  in 2018 to test rides to Walmart for grocery pickup, as well as  a test with Ford and Postmates for autonomous grocery delivery .

“Our unparalleled size and scale has allowed us to steer grocery delivery to the front doors of millions of families – and design a road map for the future of the industry,” said Tom Ward, Walmart’s SVP of digital operations, in a statement. “Along the way, we’ve been test driving a number of different options for getting groceries from our stores to our customers’ front doors through self-driving technology. We believe this technology is a natural extension of our Grocery Pickup and Delivery service, and our goal of making every day a little easier for customers,” he added.

The retailer’s investments in its online grocery business helped boost sales and benefited consumers by offering an affordable competitor to Amazon, Target’s Shipt, Instacart, and others. In Q3, Walmart’s grocery business helped online sales grow 41%, ahead of the 35% gain expected.

Walmart says its pilot program will Nuro will kick off in 2020.

Looking to buy a used car? Why not consider a used electric vehicle (EV)? With more used battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles permeating the market than ever before, consumers have amazing opportunities to purchase a clean vehicle at a very reasonable price. The potential to save money on fuel and maintenance is a strong draw for people everywhere. However, buying a used electric vehicle is not exactly the same as buying a used internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

To help make your purchase of a used EV easier, Plug In America recently released the Used EV Buyer’s Guide (PDF). The guide instructs the consumer on what to look for with a used EV. The biggest concern will be the health of the battery. However, even with a decreased battery capacity in a used EV, a battery range of 75 miles may still be plenty for drivers with access to either home or workplace charging. Just like buying an internal combustion engine car, research is key. There are pros and cons to buying a used EV from either a certified pre-owned dealer or from a private seller, so consumers should carefully assess all of their options.

The guide also includes information on available incentives for a used EV purchase. Plug In America will continue to update these incentives as they change. Many utilities around the country offer a rebate for the purchase of a used EV.

One helpful tip from Lynn W, a used EV buyer, is to spend time calculating your weekly driving habits, including commute, errands, and weekend fun. Your need for a battery with extended range and Level 2 charging may not be as great as you think!

To share your experience with a used EV, please contact info@pluginamerica.org.

UPS continues to bank on alternative fuels being the future of its fleets, announcing plans to purchase more than 6,000 natural gas-powered trucks between 2020 and 2022.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) said Monday the three-year commitment represents a $450 million investment in expanding the company’s alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicle fleet, as well as supporting infrastructure.

As part of the move, UPS said it entered into an exclusive agreement with Agility Fuel Systems, a subsidiary of Norway-based Hexagon Composites, to purchase compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel systems for a combination of heavy- and medium-duty trucks and terminal tractors.

UPS said the deal builds on previous CNG investments: $130 million in 2018, $90 million in 2017 and $100 million in 2016. It also complements the Atlanta-based logistic giant’s May 2019 commitment to purchase 170 million-gallon equivalents of renewable natural gas (RNG) from Clean Energy Fuels Corp through 2025.

Vehicles equipped with CNG fuel systems can interchangeably use RNG and conventional natural gas. RNG is produced from landfills, dairy farms and other bio sources, yielding up to a 90% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional diesel, according to UPS.

Over the past decade, UPS says it’s invested more than $1 billion in alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles and fueling stations to help meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 12% across its global ground operations by 2025.

Since 2016, Agility Fuel Solutions provided natural gas fuel storage and delivery systems to more than 1,700 UPS trucks. Under the new agreement, Agility builds end-to-end natural gas systems for heavy-duty gas trucks, terminal tractors and medium-duty walk-in vans, which are UPS’s familiar brown delivery trucks.

UPS said it will deploy the new vehicles on routes utilizing its partnership with TruStar Energy, which is designing, manufacturing and installing five CNG fueling stations in California, Texas and Ohio. UPS said that by the end of 2019 it will be operating 61 natural gas fueling stations strategically located across the U.S., and outside the U.S. in Vancouver, Canada, and Tamworth, United Kingdom.

UPS says it deploys more than 10,000 low-emission vehicles that can vary from all-electric, hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, ethanol, CNG, liquefied natural gas and propane.

WASHINGTON (September 30, 2019) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of approximately $10 million in rebates to public school bus fleet owners to help them replace older school buses. Upgrading buses with older engines reduces diesel emissions and improves air quality. Tomorrow marks the start of Children’s Health Month, and today’s announcement is an important part of the agency’s commitment to protecting children’s health and their future.

“Children’s health is a top priority for EPA, and these grants will help provide cleaner air and a safer, more reliable ride to and from school for America’s children,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This DERA funding reflects our broader children’s health agenda and commitment to ensure all children can live, learn, and play in healthy and clean environments.”

EPA standards for new diesel engines can make them more than 90% cleaner than older ones, but many older diesel engines still in operation predate these standards. Older diesel engines emit large quantities of pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which have been linked to serious health problems such as aggravated asthma and lung damage.

EPA will accept applications from Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, to Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019.

This is the seventh rebate program to fund cleaner school buses offered under Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) appropriations. Nearly 30,000 buses across the country have already been made cleaner as a result of DERA funding.

To learn more about the rebate program, applicant eligibility, selection process and informational webinar dates, visit: www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-rebates.

Questions about applying may be directed to: CleanDiesel@epa.gov.