FARMINGTON HILLS–Officials of Farmington Hills-based Hercules Electric Vehicles announced it has signed a strategic agreement with Turin, Italy-based Pininfarina SpA for the design of its upcoming Alpha battery electric pickup truck, and other products currently under development. Under terms of the agreement, Pininfarina will design the Hercules Alpha pickup and other products to be announced
BELLEVUE, Wash.—Officials at the wireless carrier T-Mobile announced areas in and around the city of Bangor and the village of Decatur, both located in southwest Michigan’s Van Buren County, have access to 5G service. The Michigan towns were among 81 cities and towns across the country that received 5G service. T-Mobile said the new service
TROY—The Automation Alley Industry 4.0 Accelerator has made a $110,000 investment in Detroit-based Andonix, creators of the Safely Pass app to give organizations digital tools to monitor workplace safety and health—including daily staff screenings required for manufacturing employers during the pandemic. “Andonix is poised for growth in a variety of manufacturing environments, and this should
ANN ARBOR - NASA has awarded a $39 million contract to the University of Michigan for the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System at the University of Michigan for mission operations and closeout. A constellation of eight microsatellites, the system can view storms more frequently and in a way traditional satellites are unable to, increasing scientists’
JACKSON—Officials at Consumers Energy have announced a proposal to stop using coal as a fuel source for electricity by 2025, 15 years faster than previously planned. The plan would make the company one of the first in the nation to go coal-free and provide a 20-year blueprint to meet Michigan’s energy needs while protecting the environment for future generations. “We are proud to lead Michigan’s
DEARBORN—Officials at Ford Motor Co. announced the acquisition of Electriphi, a California-based provider of charging management and fleet monitoring software for electric vehicles. Electriphi’s team and services will be integrated into Ford Pro, a new global business within Ford committed to commercial customer productivity and to developing the most advanced charging and energy management experiences.
TROY—Officials at Electric Last Mile Inc. announced Monday that a working prototype of the Urban Utility, the company’s all-electric, medium-duty, cab-forward truck will be demonstrated at the Remote Consultant Contractor Expo July 30 and 31 in Nashville Tenn. The expo is the largest independent gathering of FedEx Ground contractors in the world. The company will
SOUTHFIELD—After taking a year off due to the pandemic, it was back to form for Lawrence Technological University at the 28th Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC), held Friday through Monday, June 4-7, at Oakland University in Rochester. LTU took first place in the Self-Drive Challenge, one of two competitions at the IGVC. LTU also won
ANN ARBOR—When COVID-19 forced Americans to stay home, many turned to streaming, taking solace in their ability to binge-watch entertainment of all shapes and sizes. But it was only a matter of time before fatigue set in. After a steady mark last year, customer satisfaction with video streaming tumbled 2.6% to a score of 74
TROY—The latest studies from the customer experience analytics firm J.D. Power found that a record 67% of retail bank customers in the United States used their bank’s mobile app during the past year, up seven percentage points from 2020, and a record 41% of bank customers are now classified as digital-only. According to a series
