On March 17, the CMC celebrated its first year with an impressive showcase of about 20 mobility and cleantech companies to which it is connected.  The hit of the show was the unveiling of the big 4WD work truck built by Zeus Electric Chassis, Inc., for SMUD, the first of five it will deliver.  This was a 10,000-pound staked-bed truck with front and back axles powered by separate electric motors and 2,000 pounds of batteries.  It is part of Zeus’ effort to create a family of configurable designs for Class 4-6 work trucks.  In the design, there is no connection between the front and back axles, so the trucks can be stretched or squeezed as much as needed.  It is built on a ladder frame that can be fit to purpose and is very utilitarian.  

Also at the show were displays of remote-controlled electric tractors for vegetable farms, Neptune e- scooters, Arcimotor 3-wheeled, 2-passenger freeway-ready EVs with a $17,900 price tag, Terzo Power’s latest hydraulic innovations, GridMatrix with its software for optimizing use of roadways, engineering company PEM Motion (one of the CMC founders), a Rivian truck (first one I actually have seen) and a selection of well-known EVs to ogle.  

We chatted with Mike Terzo about the progress of his company, and it is a great story.  They are well into contract manufacturing their efficient hydraulic devices for customers in the trucking industry—a bit of a surprise since they though ag harvesting machines would be the first customers.  But with shipments of over a thousand of his products he has clearly found his market.  

We were there with our new expo trailer—one you can also see up close at our MeetUp on March 24 .  This is intended to be used at events to stimulate interest in taking cleantech ideas to market and learning how to do that, but can be used for a number of purposes.  It is a “display booth in a box”.

You can also learn more about what PEM Motion is doing in Sacramento at our Perspectives event with them at 9 am also on March 24 .

The CMC is emerging as a good connection point for many things—workforce development, new vehicle prototyping, vehicle testing, and company development—all centered on mobility.  It is a great addition to the cleantech ecosystem growing in our region.