Tesla Opens Nevada Semi Factory, Begins Customer Deliveries

Daimler Truck laid out what it says Europe needs to move battery-electric and hydrogen trucks from early adopters into mainstream fleets, including public megawatt chargers, truck-ready hydrogen stations and road tolls that reward zero-emission vehicles, with CEO Karin Rådström making the case at the company's Media Night in Hanover, Germany, ahead of IAA Transportation 2026. Mercedes-Benz Trucks held about 38% of Europe's market for locally CO2-free medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the first half of 2026, and customers have driven the eActros 600 more than 160 million kilometers since series production began at the end of 2024. Heavy-duty battery-electric trucks took 2% of Europe's market in 2025, and Daimler Truck estimates about 35% of new trucks would need to run on batteries or hydrogen by 2030 to meet EU CO2 targets. Europe has fewer than 2,000 public truck charge points today, most of them standard CCS chargers, and Rådström said it needs 35,000 megawatt charging points by 2030, along with 1,000 hydrogen stations, up from around 187 today, most of which supply only 350 bar. On cost, she pointed to CO2-based road tolls, saying the toll difference between a diesel truck and an electric truck in Germany comes out to about 33 to 35 cents per kilometer, but only 13 of the EU's 27 member states have adopted CO2-based tolls. Dachser chief development officer Stefan Hohm said the German logistics provider has 25 emission-free delivery areas in Europe and more than 200 battery-electric trucks on the road, including more than 160 Mercedes-Benz Actros models, out of a fleet of more than 15,000, and called grid access and capacity the main pain point. The eActros Lowliner opened for orders Sept. 15, with series production at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth, Germany, set for the second quarter of 2027, and a small series of 100 Mercedes-Benz NextGenH2 fuel-cell trucks enters customer operations from the end of 2026 with Dachser as the first customer. Daimler Truck is asking the EU for an early review of its heavy-duty CO2 regulation, whose 2030 target calls for a 43% cut in CO2 emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles compared with 2019, and puts the cost of falling short at about €120 million in penalties for each percentage point Mercedes-Benz Trucks misses.

Chatpol Sriprathum, Chief Executive Officer of Energy Absolute Public Company Limited, or EA, disclosed that the company targets sales of 100 million baht from its palm oil extract business, BIO-PCM, within the next three years, after continuously rising demand from its main customers in the construction materials business in South Korea and Japan. The company began recognising revenue from PCM products last year. The PCM business still accounts for a relatively small share of sales compared with its energy business group, which generates revenue in the billions of baht. Meanwhile, the company's core business structure remains roughly 60-70% power plants, followed by the electric vehicle, or EV, business. As for the earnings outlook, it is expected to grow by leaps and bounds over the next three years, as new projects become clearer from 2027, spanning the power plant business, the biodiesel plant, and EV car sales to the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, or BMTA, which will begin delivering vehicles from the first quarter of 2027. The Maha Sarakham 1 and Khon Kaen wind power plant projects will gradually begin commercial operation in 2028-2029, while the waste-to-energy plant in Phuket, with a generating capacity of 8 MW, will be completed in the second to third quarter of 2027. In addition, the company is interested in joining the auction under the new PDP plan, focusing on wind power plants and solar farms, and is also interested in joining the auction for community power plant and community solar projects.

ATP30 Public Company Limited, or ATP30, a provider of employee shuttle services in the industrial estates of eastern and central Thailand, said it has adjusted its route plans and fleet management to maintain continuity of service to customers after flooding forced the temporary closure of some routes in Prachin Buri and Rayong provinces, which fall within its service areas. The company assessed the impact as short-term only and said it would not significantly affect overall operations, noting it can switch from electric buses to diesel buses on routes limited by water levels. Chief Executive Officer Piya Techakul said the company continues to prioritise risk management alongside creating business opportunities. In addition, on 18 September 2026, an extraordinary shareholders' meeting approved an expansion of the company's business objectives to formally accommodate the sale of electricity from its commercial Solar Roof & Smart Charger charging stations, building on the infrastructure the company has invested in and uses to support ATP30's own EV fleet. The company plans to open its first commercial charging service in Nakhon Nayok province in October 2026, with a power output of 120 kilowatts across two chargers, before expanding charging stations to other potential areas such as Saraburi, Lopburi, Chonburi and Rayong provinces within 2027, in order to improve asset utilisation and create opportunities for additional revenue.