We’re kicking off a slightly different format this week, breaking the items into two categories. One section will include links to breaking news while another will include links to articles that offer what we think is interesting commentary or analysis. We hope you like it!
A lot of talk about prices this week. Why are EV prices going up if battery prices have gone down so much? Lucid, for instance, is raising its prices from expensive to extremely expensive. Well, one issue is that demand is outstripping supply. As in, VW is completely sold out. And then there are the supply chain issues that have driven up the cost of other key materials. Nevertheless, GM CEO Mary Barra promises that her company will change the game by delivering options for the middle class for as little as $30,000. Hardly cheap, but a lot less than a Tesla…
There are a lot of ways to reduce carbon emissions, but experts doubt that hydrogen produced using fossil fuels is one of them. But a new study suggests that electrifying heavy-duty trucks is a promising solution. And another study suggests a “cash for clunkers” program aimed at getting people to trade in gas-guzzlers for EVs would help. And if the 7 million miles that New Yorkers traveled on shared bikes last year is any indication, e-bikes may make a big difference too.
Lucid raises prices: The luxury EV brand becomes the latest automaker to hike prices, which it attributes to supply chain challenges. It’s raising the price for its lowest cost model, the Air Pure, by $10,000, to $87,400. The Air Grand Tour will go up by $15,000 –– to $154,000. But it’s not budging on the price of its most expensive model, the Air Grand Touring Performance – still available for a cool $179,000.
Meanwhile, GM bets on cheaper EVs: CEO Mary Barra says her company will be America’s most popular EV maker by the middle of this decade, overtaking Tesla by offering electric cars for as little as $30,000. Elon Musk recently walked back a prior pledge to make a Tesla for $25,000, saying that low-cost cars won’t be necessary in a future dominated by affordable robo-taxis. Well, OK, then.
New Mexico’s new EV rule: Regulators in New Mexico put in place a new rule that will require EVs and plug-in hybrids to account for 7% of all new auto sales in the Land of Enchantment, starting in 2025. That’s hardly an ambitious goal: EVs already account for 6% of new car sales nationally.
VW is out of EVs: The world’s largest automaker “has basically sold out” of EVs in Europe and North America for 2022, says CEO Herbert Diess. It sold 99,000 in the first quarter of the year, about a third as many as Tesla. It is struggling to meet the massive backorder –– 300,000 in western Europe alone –– due to supply chain challenges. Lockdows in China have hampered its goals to sell in that country and a key VW plant in Ukraine that makes wiring harnesses has been disrupted by the war there.
Aurora’s unveils fleet management system: The Pittsburgh-based autonomous trucking company announces a new platform, Aurora Beacon, offering fleet managers real-time data on the location and health of their vehicles (tire pressure, battery life etc).
Canada gives Stellantis a boost: The auto giant announces a plan to invest $2.8 billion to overhaul two Chrysler plants in Canada to make EVs. Roughly a third of the funds will come from the Canadian government and the provincial government of Ontario.
And Georgia helps out Rivian: The EV maker will get $1.5 billion in incentives from the state of Georgia to build its massive plant east of Atlanta. In return for the mix of tax credits and subsidies, the company must create at least 7,500 jobs at the factory by 2029, at an average salary of $58,000 a year.
Lyft brings back shared rides: Lyft did away with shared rides at the beginning of the pandemic but is now reintroducing the service in San Francisco, San Jose, Denver, Las Vegas and Atlanta. Uber has already returned to offering shared rides in many cities. From a consumer’s perspective, any effort to reduce fares makes sense after they’ve skyrocketed in the past two years. However, it’s a curious move given Lyft’s recent earnings report, which showed a decline in revenue-per-customer, likely due to the higher pay it’s being forced to fork over to drivers in this very tight labor market.
San Diego’s promising bus charging system: San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is installing an overhead charging system –– a Schunk SLS 301 series Depot Charging Pantograph –– that will charge up to 24 buses at a time in a few hours. The agency is touting the investment as a key step towards its goal of a zero-emissions fleet by 2040.
Remember the Apple Car? Apple’s hiring of Desi Ujkashevic, a 31-year Ford veteran who most recently served as the company’s director of global safety engineering, has reignited speculation about the tech giant’s plans to build an autonomous electric vehicle. The famously secretive company has been tight-lipped about its plans to expand into the automotive sector, but there have been plenty of indications that it is trying –– and at times struggling –– to build a car.
If battery prices are falling, why are EV prices rising? Not long ago, it was assumed that the key to making EVs affordable was the development of affordable batteries. But while battery costs have dropped 80% in the past decade, EV prices have risen by 80%. That’s mostly because the biggest EV makers have focused on making luxury vehicles for a niche market, although supply chain disruptions since the pandemic have also driven up prices. As conventional OEMs ramp up production, EVs will become affordable to a larger share of the auto market.
The e-bike’s impact on the Big Apple: Citi Bike, the exclusive bike-share operator in New York City, reports that its bikes traveled 7 million miles in 2021, up from 2.7 million the prior year. Although it’s not clear how many of those miles were ridden on electric models, it’s a fair assumption that its introduction of pedal-assist bikes has a lot to do with the skyrocketing use. The soaring popularity of bike-sharing may very well prevent transit ridership in the Big Apple from returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Unfounded fears harm EVs: A recent study found that EVs are significantly less likely to catch on fire than their gas-powered peers. The analysis by AutoInsuranceEZ determined the rate of fires for EVs to be 25 per 100,000 vehicles, compared to 1,530 for gas-powered cars and 3,474 for hybrids. And yet coverage of fires involving EVs has led many consumers to mistakenly believe that EVs are a greater safety risk.
Toyota’s all-of-the-above strategy: The Japanese auto giant is belatedly entering the EV game and continues to dedicate precious resources to ICEs and hybrids, betting against the all-EV future that other automakers have committed to.
Do we need a new Cash for Clunkers? A study by three MIT researchers finds that a government program that incentives people to replace their ICE cars with electric cars will reduce carbon emissions much more than simply subsidizing EVs.
Coal country embraces dubious hydrogen plan: West Virginia leaders are pushing for their state to become one of four hydrogen hubs funded by the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law last year by President Joe Biden. The bill set aside $8 billion for hubs aimed at increasing the industrial use of hydrogen and requires that two of them be in regions that are large producers of natural gas. However, to the chagrin of environmentalists, the legislation also mandates that one of the hubs use fossil fuels to produce hydrogen. Studies have shown that hydrogen produced by fossil fuels leads to more carbon emissions than simply burning natural gas or coal.
The trucking opportunity: An analysis by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency and Geotab finds that 65% of medium-duty trucks and 49% of heavy-duty trucks are regularly driving short enough routes that they could be replaced with electric vehicles on the market today. Although trucks only account for 10% of the vehicles on the road, they contribute 25% of vehicle emissions, so transitioning them to EVs is especially important.
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