Month: May 2024

Enlarge (credit: Sundry Photography via Getty)

This June, approximately 150 motorcycles will thunder down Route 9W in Saugerties, New York, for Ryan’s Ride for Recovery. Organized by Vince Kelder and his family, the barbecue and raffle will raise money to support their sober-living facility and honor their son who tragically died from a heroin overdose in 2015 after a yearslong drug addiction.

The Kelders established Raising Your Awareness about Narcotics (RYAN) to help others struggling with substance-use disorder. For years, the organization has relied on Eventbrite, an event management and ticketing website, to arrange its events. This year, however, alongside listings for Ryan’s Ride and other addiction recovery events, Eventbrite surfaced listings peddling illegal sales of prescription drugs like Xanax, Valium, and oxycodone.

“It’s criminal,” Vince Kelder says. “They’re preying on people trying to get their lives back together.”

Enlarge / Fleets looking for a medium-duty electric truck now have a new option. (credit: Motiv)

Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles account for about 23 percent of US vehicle emissions. That's much less than the amount of greenhouse gases emitted each year by light-duty vehicles, but if anything, businesses can often have a clearer case for electrification, whether that's to save money on annual running costs or to meet ESG goals. The annual Advanced Clean Transportation Expo is currently underway in Las Vegas, and yesterday Motiv Electric Trucks revealed the production version of its new modular medium-duty EV, the Argo.

Motiv has been around since 2009 and has been selling electric powertrains for school buses, step vans, box trucks, and even trolleys. Now it's branching out with its own vehicle, the modular Argo, which is capable of carrying up to 14,000 lbs (6,350 kg) with a range of up to 200 miles (321 km).

"Overnight we've moved from a company primarily serving a narrow slice of the $20 billion medium duty truck market to one that can serve nearly that entire market," said Motiv CEO Scott Griffith. "The launch of Argo is a transformational moment for our company as we can now offer more vehicles and options to help more fleet customers meet their sustainability goals."