Amazon devices chief departing | Seattle aims to expand EV charging infrastructure

Seattle could get a boost in electric vehicle charging if new legislation is approved Tuesday by the City Council. The bill would give Seattle City Light the ability to lease private property to install and operate its own public EV chargers, and allow private companies to lease City Light property for EV charging infrastructure. Read more. 

• Related: A year after using an electric Mustang, father and son try a Tesla for long drive

Amazon devices chief stepping down later this year: Dave Limp is leaving Amazon after more than 13 years, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy confirmed in a message to employees made public by the company Monday afternoon. 

• Limp, senior vice president of Devices & Services, joined Amazon in 2010. He oversees the company’s Echo hardware line and its Alexa voice assistant business, among other initiatives.

• He’s the latest Amazon exec to leave the Seattle-based tech giant under Jassy.

• Although Jassy’s memo described the departure as a retirement from Amazon, Limp, 56 years old, seemed to leave the door open to the possibility of working elsewhere in his own memo to employees.

• Amazon conducted layoffs in its Devices & Services team last year as part of company-wide cuts, amid reports that the division was losing as much as $10 billion a year.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is in Seattle today. She’s scheduled to speak in the Georgetown neighborhood about the Biden administration’s climate and clean energy efforts. Harris will later attend a fundraiser event co-hosted by Microsoft President Brad Smith. The White House will live-stream Harris’ speech here. 

Seattle-based Integrate says it has raised $3.4 million and secured a $1.25 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to boost its program management software platform into a higher orbit.

Hot Links: 

• Robert Nelsen, the biotech investor with roots in Seattle, makes the case for using controversial full-body scans to detect cancer. (Axios)

• MacKenzie Scott donated $10 million to Seattle-based Homestead Community Land Trust, which builds affordable and sustainable housing. (Puget Sound Business Journal)

• Washington state Democrats are asking for $198 million in federal funds for a high-speed train between Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, and Portland. (Seattle Times)