Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla plans NE Spercharger, GM denies AI taxi claim

Japanese trading company Sumimoto will sell hydrogen fuel cells for commercial vehicles through US Hybrid. Sumimoto already builds components for fuel cells, and has developed its own low-cost, high performance materials for them. California-based US Hybrid manufactures fuel cells developed for durability, as well as electric and hybrid drive systems for commercial vehicles. Sumimoto plans to focus mostly on the Japanese market for its fuel cells, and sees a potential for adoption in commercial vehicles. Read more at Green Car Congress, or from Nikkei Asian Review.

Tesla will likely locate its first Nebraskan Superchargers at a supermarket. An August 4 filing by Tesla puts the proposed location at an address that corresponds with a parking lot for a Hy-Vee grocery store in Lincoln, Nebraska. The station would also be near a Walmart and Sam's Club, as well as a multitude of other retail businesses and restaurants. It's also not far from I-80, a major corridor across the US, which could definitely stand to benefit from the development of EV charging infrastructure, especially as Tesla plans the launch of its Model 3. Read more at Teslarati.

GM denies that it and its partner Lyft have plans to offer an autonomous taxi service as early as 2019. After learning that GM had requested permission from the FCC to test 76-GHz long-range radar in cars, with a planned "market introduction" in 2019, it was speculated that they would be used for autonomous vehicles. After IEEE published an article to that effect, GM contacted the group to clarify that the FCC filings for an experimental license to use the radar technology, in fact, "are not part of our autonomous vehicle development program. They are related to further advancement of technologies featured on our vehicles today." Read the original article, retraction not included, at IEEE Spectrum.