Maple Grove Report

Maple Grove Report

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get our latest articles delivered straight to your inbox. No spam, we promise.



This weekend’s movie picks on Prime Video include a low-budget sci-fi that turns a dinner party into an existential nightmare, a Swedish dramedy that will have you crying before you realise what hit you, and one of Adam Driver’s quietly devastating performances in a film about a man who writes poems and drives a bus for a living.

We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best free movies, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.

Coherence (2013)

  • Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller
  • IMDB rating: 7.2/10
  • Rotten Tomatoes (critics): 89%

Eight friends gather for a dinner party on the night a comet passes overhead. The power goes out, and phones stop working. Then things get genuinely strange. Turns out, the comet has fractured reality, and stepping outside means risking getting trapped in a maze of parallel universes where identical versions of themselves already exist.

Made for just $50,000 with no script, no lighting equipment, and actors who were given their character backstories but had no idea what would happen next, Coherence is one of the most underrated low-budget sci-fi movies ever made. What makes it stick is how it uses quantum mechanics not as a gimmick but as a way to ask uncomfortable questions about identity and the choices we pretend we would never make.

You can watch Coherence on Prime Video.

A Man Called Ove (2015)

  • Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy
  • IMDB rating: 7.7/10
  • Rotten Tomatoes (critics): 90%

Ove is a 59-year-old widower in Sweden who has decided he is done with life. He has rules, principles, a short fuse, and absolutely no interest in the loud young family that has just moved in next door and flattened his mailbox.

Based on Fredrik Backman’s internationally bestselling novel, A Man Called Ove is a film that earns its warmth the hard way, by making you sit with real grief before it lets any light in. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film. I love how the movie never asks you to find Ove charming before it has given you a reason to.

You can watch A Man Called Ove on Prime Video.

Paterson (2016)

  • Genre: Drama
  • IMDB rating: 7.3/10
  • Rotten Tomatoes (critics): 96%

Paterson is a bus driver in New Jersey. He wakes up at the same time every day, drives the same route, eats lunch by the same waterfall, and writes poetry in a secret notebook. Nothing dramatic happens, and that’s entirely the point.

This quiet, hypnotic film is about the beauty of ordinary routine and what it means to find meaning in a life that looks unremarkable from the outside. Adam Driver gives one of his most restrained and deeply felt performances here, and the movie has a warmth that sneaks up on you without ever announcing itself.

You can watch Paterson on Prime Video.



Source link



TL;DR

ChargePoint and Powers Parts have partnered to sell charging hardware, software, and fleet telematics to transit agencies running PhoenixEV electric buses. The deal targets operators struggling with service gaps after Proterra’s 2023 bankruptcy, routing ChargePoint’s platform through Powers Parts’ existing distribution network.

ChargePoint and Powers Parts, a national distributor of electric vehicle components and fleet replacement parts, have announced a partnership to sell ChargePoint charging hardware, software, and fleet management services directly to transit agencies across North America. The deal targets operators running E2 and ZX5 electric buses built by PhoenixEV, the company that acquired Proterra’s transit bus assets out of bankruptcy in early 2024 for $3.5 million.

The partnership addresses a specific problem. Many transit agencies that bought Proterra’s E2 and ZX5 electric buses before the company’s 2023 bankruptcy are now operating those vehicles without adequate service, charging support, or fleet management tools. Powers Parts built its business around supplying replacement components to exactly these operators. Adding ChargePoint’s DC fast charging infrastructure and telematics platform to that distribution channel gives transit agencies a single procurement path for both parts and charging.

What the deal includes

Through the partnership, transit operators can purchase ChargePoint’s charging stations, fleet management software, and telematics services through Powers Parts’ existing distribution network. ChargePoint’s telematics platform integrates with all vehicle types and charging stations regardless of manufacturer, providing real-time visibility into battery health, route efficiency, and total cost of ownership. The software is OCPP compliant, meaning it can manage third-party charging hardware as well as ChargePoint’s own stations.

The telematics system also works with mixed-fuel fleets, which matters because most transit agencies are electrifying gradually rather than replacing entire fleets at once. An agency running a mix of diesel, compressed natural gas, and electric buses can manage all three through a single interface.

The Proterra aftermath

Proterra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2023 after years of losses despite being one of the most prominent US electric bus manufacturers. Its transit bus division was sold to Phoenix Motorcars, now PhoenixEV, for just $3.5 million. Volvo acquired Proterra’s battery and powertrain division for approximately $223 million. The charging infrastructure business was sold separately.

The bankruptcy left transit agencies that had invested in Proterra buses in a difficult position. Replacement parts, software updates, and charging infrastructure support, previously handled by a single integrated provider, were suddenly fragmented across multiple companies or simply unavailable. PhoenixEV inherited the bus platform and manufacturing rights, but the broader service ecosystem had to be rebuilt from scratch.

Transit electrification under pressure

The partnership arrives at a difficult moment for US transit electrification. The Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Program has allocated $5.6 billion over five years from 2022 to 2026, driving hundreds of agencies to order electric buses. But the transition has exposed real operational challenges, including shorter-than-advertised battery range in extreme weather, lengthy charging times that disrupt scheduling, and a thin aftermarket parts supply chain.

California, which leads the country in electric bus adoption, has already delayed some of its zero-emission transit mandates to give the market time to stabilise. Agencies in colder climates have reported range reductions of 30% or more in winter, requiring more buses to cover the same routes.

ChargePoint’s fleet play

For ChargePoint, the partnership extends a push into fleet and transit charging that complements its larger consumer and commercial business. The company reported full fiscal year 2026 revenue of $411 million and operates more than 1.37 million public and private charging ports worldwide. Electric buses represent a growing share of that network, as transit agencies electrify under federal mandates and funding incentives.

CEO Rick Wilmer described transit as “critical to the broader electrification of transportation” and said the Powers Parts partnership expands ChargePoint’s reach across the transit ecosystem. The deal is a distribution agreement, not a technology breakthrough, but for agencies struggling with the aftermath of Proterra’s collapse, having a single channel for parts, charging, and fleet software is a practical improvement over the current patchwork.



Source link

Recent Reviews