Today I Learned – August 2025

NACFE does most of its work in the field at industry events and staff members hear a lot of interesting things each month. Here are some things we learned recently. Contact us if you want to ask questions about where and how we learned what we share here.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has blocked Edison Motors from building hybrid trucks.

— Andrew Halonen, Lightweighting Consultant

In May, China installed 93 GW of solar capacity and 26 GW of wind power capacity, for a total of 119 GW. That’s an average of 1 GW (the capacity of a nuclear power plant) every 6 hours and 15 minutes.

— Rob Graff, Senior Technical Advisor

Apple announced a $500 million multi-year partnership with MP Materials to source American-made rare earth magnets for its devices, marking a significant move to localize its supply chain.

— Dean Bushey, Director of Programs

California has 48% more EV chargers than gasoline nozzles.

— Ken North, Emerging Technologies Consultant

Penske Truck Leasing is using its Fleet Insight system, powered by AI, to collect and analyze 300 million real-time data points daily from telematics devices across its 433,000 trucks, revolutionizing fleet maintenance.

— Dean Bushey, Director of Programs

Nevoya has placed a $60 million order with Windrose to purchase several hundred battery-electric heavy-duty trucks.

— Kim Ehrenhaft, Design Director

Despite all the bad news of late, Tesla still is worth more than every other car company put together. The Big 3 are now Tesla, Toyota and BYD.

— Andrew Halonen, Lightweighting Consultant

With copper prices soaring, the trucking industry faces an uptick in cargo thefts, with criminals increasingly targeting copper shipments, exploiting load boards to identify high-value targets.

— Dean Bushey, Director of Programs

According to Tim Haynes, VP of Digital and Customer Data, Penske Transportation Solutions, fleet adoption of AI technology has increased from 17% in 2024 to 70% in 2025. Key uses of AI for fleets include optimization of routes, loads and vehicle specs, along with best practice modeling.

— Mike McHorse, Director of Industry Engagement