Cars Clips: February 12, 2020
Clean
Car Standards
Analysis:
‘We Knew They Had Cooked The Books’. According
to Robinson Meyer in The Atlantic, “On a drizzly day in January 2018, Jeff Alson, an engineer at the Environmental Protection Agency’s motor-vehicles office, gathered with his colleagues to make a video call to Washington, D.C. They had made the same call
dozens of times before. For nearly a decade, the EPA team had worked closely with another group of engineers in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, pronounced nits-uh) to write the federal tailpipe-pollution standards, one of the most
consequential climate protections in American history. The two teams had done virtually all the technical research—testing engines in a lab, interviewing scientists and automakers, and overseeing complex economic simulations—underpinning the rules, which have
applied to every new car and light truck, including SUVs and vans, sold in the United States since 2012. Their collaboration was historic. Even as SUVs, crossovers, and pickups have gobbled up the new-car market, the rules have pushed the average fuel economy—the
distance a vehicle can travel per gallon of gas—to record highs. They have saved Americans $500 billion at the pump, according to the nonpartisan Consumer Federation of America, and kept hundreds of millions of tons of carbon pollution out of the air. So as
the call connected, Alson and the other EPA engineers thought it was time to get back to work. Donald Trump had recently ordered a review of the rules. Speaking from Washington, James Tamm, the NHTSA fuel-economy chief, greeted the EPA team, then put a spreadsheet
on-screen. It showed an analysis of the tailpipe rules’ estimated costs and benefits. Alson had worked on this kind of study so many times that he could recall some of the key numbers ‘by heart,’ he later told me.” [The Atlantic,
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White
House Drops Investigation Of California’s Emissions Agreement With Automakers.
According
to Consumer Affairs, “If you point your ear towards Washington, D.C. today and hear nary a peep, it may be because the Trump administration has discretely dropped its antitrust investigation of the State of California’s agreement with four major automakers
in regards to clean emissions standards. However, 2,722 miles away in Sacramento, California, Governor Gavin Newman is having a good laugh. ‘These trumped up charges were always a sham -- a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to prevent more automakers
from joining California and agreeing to stronger emissions standards,’ he said. The White House originally launched its probe after California signed a milestone deal with BMW, Ford, Honda, and Volkswagen to expand the circle of California’s strict emissions
standards to include any vehicles those automakers sell nationwide. At the time, it was seen as a dare to the Trump administration, which was trying its best to reverse Obama-era fuel efficiency minimums. ‘This is a big loss for the president and his weaponization
of federal agencies -- and a victory for anyone who cares about the rule of law and clean air,’ Newsom said. In the Courthouse News Service’s coverage of the situation, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that the U.S. Justice Department should
spend its time and resources focusing on ‘real anticompetitive behavior’ rather than going after automakers willing to combat pollution.” [Consumer Affairs,
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California
Preemption Fight Goes First To D.C. Circuit. According
to Politico, “The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will get to settle a venue fight over lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s revocation of California’s waiver allowing it to enforce stronger vehicle emissions rules. California filed parallel challenges
in the federal district court in D.C. as well as the superior D.C. Circuit to cover all their legal bases. But in a brief order last night, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson essentially washed her hands of the venue fight, pausing the challenges in the lower court
until the D.C. Circuit rules on the venue issue, which may not happen until next year.” [Politico,
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States
Electric
Vehicles Can Help California Hit 2030 Emissions Reduction Target. According
to Clean Technica, “Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan energy and climate policy firm, recently released research showing the state of California may not meet its 2030 climate emissions reduction target. In order to remedy this situation, the organization recommended
six policies, which are: Reform the state’s cap-and-trade program to tie carbon prices to the pace of emissions reductions Increase 2030 clean energy standards for statewide power supply Increase the state’s 2030 zero-emission vehicles target to 7.5 million
electric vehicles Accelerate building electrification to reach at least 50% of residential appliance sales Create a zero-emission heat performance standard for the industry sector Create an emission performance standard for cement and concrete production Implementing
these policies could result in the creation of $7 billion in direct economic benefits, the organization’s analysis also found. Because many CleanTechnica readers are very interested in electric vehicles, it seemed appropriate to focus on what could be done
to help hit the emissions reduction target from the EV standpoint. Chris Busch, Energy Innovation’s Research Director, answered some questions about the EV side of the equation. How can the state’s zero emission vehicles goal increase to 7.5 million vehicles
by 2030, up from the current objective of 5 million? A goal of 7.5 million zero emission vehicles on the road by 2030 could be set by executive order, in the same way the current goal of 5 million was set. It could also be enunciated through inclusion in the
next Scoping Plan, the state’s long run climate policy planning process, due by 2022.” [Clean Technica,
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N.J.
Launches $5,000 Rebate For Electric Vehicles Purchases. According
to WHYY, “New Jersey drivers who have purchased or leased an electric car on or since Jan. 17 can get up to $5,000 back, Gov. Phil Murphy announced this week. The rebate is part of a push to increase plug-in vehicles on the state’s roads tenfold by 2025. The
offer now makes the Garden State one of the most favorable places in the nation to buy or lease an electric vehicle. Some of the cheapest models now have a sticker price of $30,000 to $40,000. ‘This is New Jersey really getting out in front of other states
in the region,’ said Daniel Gatti, a transportation analyst at the nonpartisan Union for Concerned Scientists. ‘New Jersey’s rebate is about two-and-a half-times larger than either Pennsylvania or New York.’ The state already waives its 6.625% sales tax for
such purchases, and the federal government offers an income tax credit of up to $7,500 based on battery capacity and model. To ease ‘range anxiety,’ New Jersey has also launched a program to install hundreds more charging stations throughout the state, doubling
the number of places motorists can go to recharge their vehicles. Separately, the state may soon offer up to $500 back to people who install charging equipment in their home. ‘That’s enough to offset most of the cost of installing a home charger,’ Gatti said.
The new rebate is funded by about $30 million annually from an existing ‘societal benefits charge’ that appears on ratepayers’ utility bills and proceeds from New Jersey’s membership in a regional cap-and-trade program.” [WHYY,
2/11/20
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INternational
China
And Tesla: Here’s What’s Hot In The ETF Space Right Now. According
to CNBC, “China and Tesla. Those two themes have attracted meaningful inflows to the exchange-traded fund space in recent weeks, buoyed by tentative optimism around China’s ability to stem the spread of the coronavirus and Tesla’s rip-roaring run year to date.
Industry leaders from both sides of the bullishness — Armando Senra, head of iShares Americas at BlackRock, and Jay Jacobs, head of research and strategy at Global X ETFs — saw more room for growth in their respective funds. Senra, whose firm runs the world’s
largest China ETF by assets — iShares’ MSCI China ETF (MCHI) — said MCHI’s recent success has been fueled by investors ‘buying the dip,’ or capitalizing on what they see as the nadir of the Chinese market’s coronavirus-related weakness. The fund has climbed
nearly 8% so far this month. ‘Interestingly, people [are] buying the dip. You’re beginning to see flow from emerging markets into China,’ Senra said Monday on CNBC’s ‘ETF Edge.’ It’s not just MCHI, either, the iShares chief said. The iShares MSCI China A ETF
(CNYA), which gives U.S. investors access to China’s domestic A-share market, has also climbed this month, with a 9% gain. Largely, the action is ‘ETFs showing you how they provide liquidity and price discovery during times of volatility,’ Senra said, adding
that ‘we continue to ... have a pro-risk stance for this year’ for emerging markets as economic growth abroad recovers.” [CNBC,
2/11/20
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UK
Could Ban Sale Of Petrol And Diesel Cars In 12 Years, Says Shapps. According
to The Guardian, “The government could ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars in 2032, three years earlier than suggested last week, the transport secretary has said. A consultation launched last week suggested all cars with internal combustion engines could
be banned from 2035, but Grant Shapps told BBC radio on Wednesday the ban could come within 12 years. The ban would happen by 2035 – or even 2032, subject to consultation, he said. The comments will add to the concerns of the car industry, which has criticised
the government for ‘moving the goalposts’ with its earlier announcement that the limits could come by 2035, from an initial expectation of a 2040 ban. Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said it was a ‘date
without a plan’. Previous proposals also excluded some hybrid cars, which combine internal combustion engines with battery electric power. Hybrids are seen by carmakers as a key way of reducing the carbon footprint of their vehicles, and multiple companies
such as Toyota and Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler have bet heavily on hybrids to avoid steep EU fines. Shapps and Andrea Leadsom, the business secretary, will meet the SMMT on Thursday, with the lobby group hoping to persuade the government that the industry
will need more help to achieve the targets.
Among the main concerns for carmakers are incentives such as grants for electric cars, as well as building national infrastructure capable of charging millions of vehicles.” [The Guardian,
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Auto
Manufacturers
Tesla
Pulls Up Lithium Producer Stocks Despite Glut. According
to the Wall Street Journal, “Tesla’s surge has helped lift shares of lithium producers to double-digit gains in 2020, powered by investors’ bets that demand for the electric-car battery component will outpace a recent supply glut. Shares of Livent Corp., LTHM
1.52% which has a lithium-extraction site in Argentina, have moved up 17% this year, while the stock for Albemarle Corp., ALB 1.75% a major producer with facilities in Chile and elsewhere, is up about 16%. American depositary receipts for Chile-based Sociedad
Química y Minera de Chile SA, SQM 3.84% or SQM, have risen more than 13%. The increases show how investors’ enthusiasm for Tesla has spread to companies and industries tied to the electric-vehicle market. Tesla’s stock is up around 85% so far in 2020, fueled
in part by many investors’ belief that the company and Chief Executive Elon Musk stand poised to upend the automotive industry. ‘I think whenever you have something like that going on, generating renewed excitement around electric vehicles and around batteries,
you have people looking around and saying, ‘Who else could benefit from this?’’ Seaport Global Securities analyst Michael Harrison said. Lithium prices, weighed down by excess supply, have fallen 22 consecutive months through January, according to an index
maintained by research firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. While the metal has industrial applications and other uses, producers have pitched the link to electric vehicles explicitly, saying the projected adoption of such cars and trucks will support long-term
growth.” [Wall Street Journal, 2/11/20
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Hyundai
Will Build Electric Vehicles With EV Startup Canoo. According
to The Verge, “Hyundai and Kia will build new electric vehicles based on the technological platform developed by California EV startup Canoo, the companies announced Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Canoo and Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai and
Kia’s parent company, will develop a new electric vehicle platform that’s based on the one that powers Canoo’s own vehicle, which was unveiled last year. This EV platform will power small, ‘cost-competitive’ electric vehicles, as well as ‘purpose built vehicles,’
which would more closely resemble shuttles or even autonomous people-movers. (Hyundai previously showed off a purpose-built vehicle concept at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.) Hyundai and Kia each currently sell an electric SUV based off the same platform,
and the larger Hyundai Motor Group has promised 23 electric vehicles by 2025. The deal is a significant victory for Canoo, which has only existed for about two years and employs around 300 people. While pretty much every electric vehicle startup has talked
about wanting to license out their technology or partner with legacy automakers, almost none have landed a deal. Some of the only exceptions to date have been Michigan-based startup Rivian, which is working with Amazon and Ford, and Chinese startup Byton,
which has a deal with Chinese state-owned automaker First Auto Works. Canoo now joins that small list despite only coming into existence at the end of 2017, when its founders started the company (then called Evelozcity) after an acrimonious split with famously
troubled EV startup Faraday Future.” [The Verge, 2/11/20
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Hyundai
Will Use Canoo’s EV Skateboard For Small Electric Cars. According
to Electrek, “Hyundai kicked off 2020 by announcing an $87 billion effort to develop dedicated electric vehicles. Today the company announced that part of this EV expansion will include a collaboration with electric start-up Canoo to co-develop an architecture
for compact and sub-compact EVs. Hyundai is promising 11 new dedicated EVs by 2025. The company expects the new platform using Canoo’s skateboard architecture to simplify the EV development process and lower costs. A Hyundai spokesperson told Electrek that
the company is not yet announcing specific timelines for the partnership. But the company told us that the Canoo skateboard platform will be ‘tailored to meet Hyundai and Kia specifications.’ Hyundai in an email explained: ‘Hyundai Motor Group’s partnership
with Canoo will be focused on the development of an electric vehicle platform for smaller sized (A- and B-segment) passenger vehicles. Various options will be explored as the partnership progresses.’ ‘Our current scope of work is for an electric vehicle platform,
and we will share more if there are further developments. Hyundai Motor Group plans to decide target models based on thorough research and feasibility studies.’ An example of a current B-segment car is the Hyundai i20. A-segment examples include the Hyundai
i10 and Kia Picanto. In June 2019, Business Korea reported that Hyundai Motor started production of an all-electric compact SUV using an ‘Electric-Global Modular Platform.’” [Electrek,
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Electric Vehicles
Going Electric Could Be Good For Your Love Life.
According to Mashable, “Love is in the air. Or maybe it’s just the electric charge from that EV plugged in for the night. Whatever it is, electric vehicles may help those on the prowl
... or at least make you look like a more conscientious, forward-thinking human that someone would potentially like to date. That’s according to a newly released Ford survey of 1,000 U.S. adults. Ford found three in four people are more likely to date someone
if they own an EV. Almost 65 percent of respondents said they’d drive an EV to make a good first impression. Ford, by the way, is making an all-electric Mustang Mach-E compact SUV. Mashable did our own very scientific poll and found that there might be something
to all this with nearly 65 percent of 255 random Twitter respondents agreeing they’d be more into someone who has an electric vehicle. From the Twitter poll, some fair points were made about EVs and attraction. One colleague noted, ‘I can see how a gas car
can now be considered a turn-off.’ EVs might not make you swoon, but a gas-guzzler might make you second-guess a second date. For others, they don’t care what their romantic partner drives. Or they care that even if it’s an EV it’s still a vehicle and not
a bicycle or e-bike. Others want to know what type of energy (like solar) powers the electric battery before giving someone bonus points for driving electric. Even so, this Valentine’s Day, your best bet is to go electric.” [Mashable,
2/11/20 (=)]
2020 Starts With A Bang For Italy’s EV Market — January Sales Up 587%!
According to Clean Technica, “January sales are out for the Italian car market, and electric cars are up by nearly 600%(!) over the same month last year. 1943 fully electric vehicles
(BEVs) were sold in the country, an epic surge over last year’s 283 units during the same period. Surprised? The EV community was awaiting 2020 with great anticipation, with many new electric models entering the market and stricter emission regulations by
the European Union forcing automakers to sell cleaner cars. A surge in popularity for EVs was expected, but the first month of the new year goes beyond expectations. There are some aspects in the early data that should be taken into account before analysing
further — and jumping to wild annual predictions. As we saw in a recent article, last year saw triple-digit growth for full electric mobility over the previous twelve months, but it was also a slow start. EV incentives in Italy didn’t kick in until March 2019,
which all but paused the market during winter months. Further, with EU emissions regulations only now coming into force, many automakers waited for the new year before pushing existing and new electric models to customers. All this certainly explains such
an exuberant start of the year, in an otherwise slowing car market: BEVs this month accounted for a whole 1.2% of all car sales — a new record in Italy — while the overall market was down 5.8% year over year, to just over 156,000 cars sold in the month compared
to almost 166,000 in January 2019. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) sold well at 1341 units (0.9% market share), up from 355 a year ago, but they are not receiving the love car companies would hope for.” [Clean Technica,
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Electric Vehicles: Solid-State Batteries Could Be Game-Changing.
According to Yale Climate Connections, “More and more people are buying electric vehicles. But some still hesitate because they worry the car will run out of power in the middle of
a drive. Sam Jaffe is with Cairn ERA, a research firm that specializes in energy storage. He says electric vehicle batteries are improving every year. ‘When the Nissan Leaf first came out it was 100 miles range,’ he says. The new S-Plus model can go roughly
twice as far, and higher-end cars can travel even farther. ‘The recent Tesla Model 3 is over 300 miles range,’ Jaffe says. But he says fully reducing people’s range anxiety may require a new type of battery technology. ‘I think the leapfrog technology is solid
state batteries – a battery with no liquid material inside,’ he says. ‘So everything is a solid material, which means that it’s safer, but also it can be more energy dense.’ So an electric vehicle battery could store more electricity and travel more miles
on a single charge. Several companies are developing solid state batteries. But Jaffe says it will be years before solid state batteries are affordable and durable enough to be widely used. ‘It’s going to take another 10 years, but they are definitely coming,’
he says. And when they do, range anxiety could become a worry of the past.” [Yale Climate Connections,
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Coronavirus Outbreak Impacts Production Of Electric Vehicles.
According to Michigan Public Radio, “The coronavirus outbreak in China is expected to have an impact on the auto industry in the United States. That’s according to a new analysis
from the Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group. ‘It’s a very bad situation,’ says Patrick Anderson, Principal and CEO of the group. ‘I think it’s going to cascade out into the United States in terms of certain parts and certain models fairly quickly.’ Millions
of people in China have been quarantined because of the virus outbreak. Many factories closed, though some - like Tesla’s assembly plant in Shanghai - have started to reopen. Anderson says the economic impacts for carmakers will mostly be felt within China,
but he says companies may have to substitute parts in North America to continue production of certain vehicles. He says the hardest hit part of the industry will be electric vehicles, because China makes many of the batteries that go into the vehicles, and
those batteries can’t be quickly sourced from elsewhere. ‘I think the effect of this is partially going to identify for people how fragile the supply chain is for battery-electric vehicles,’ Anderson says. Production could also be delayed because of the materials
that go into making the batteries, materials including cobalt. ‘China is a world leader when it comes to refining cobalt,’ AEG’s analysis notes, ‘and if processing facilities are affected by the coronavirus – a strong likelihood – it will directly impact both
lithium battery prices and those of the resulting electric vehicles.’” [Michigan Public Radio, 2/11/20 (=)]
Issues Of The Environment: The Search For Tax Parity For Electric Vehicles.
According to WEMU, “By all accounts, electric vehicles are the future. Right now, EV’s comprise a small percentage of the automotive marketplace. A new study from the Ecology Center
in Ann Arbor shows the electric vehicles owners are paying far more in taxes and fees and that can serve as a disincentive to purchase. The center’s Charles Griffith joined WEMU’s David Fair for this week’s ‘Issues of the Environment’ to share the study’s
findings and discuss the need to create policy that will create tax parity for EV vehicles. Michigan’s 2015 transportation funding legislation sought to address the state’s road funding woes by raising fuel taxes, vehicle registration fees, and making transfers
from the general fund. In January 2020, Ann Arbor’s Ecology Center released a new study that shows EVs are paying significantly more fees than comparable gas-powered vehicles. For plug-in electric vehicle drivers, the law also introduced new annual surcharges
on registration fees at $30 for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and $100 for all-electric EVs. An additional fee is charged to these drivers based on an escalating formula tied to each increase of one cent in the state gas tax above its original $0.19
level. As of 2017, this means that PHEV drivers pay an additional fee of $47.50 and EV drivers pay an additional $135. When combined with the value based (ad valorem) fee that every owner pays when registering their vehicles, plug-in vehicle drivers are now
paying between $300 and $390 in up-front fees.” [WEMU,
2/11/20 (=)]
Budget
Trump Budget Targets Loan Program That Could Help Lordstown.
According to the Associated Press, “The Trump administration’s budget proposal scraps a loan program that could help an upstart electric vehicle company’s plans to reuse the now-closed
General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio. In a summary of the budget for the coming fiscal year, the administration said Monday it wants to eliminate the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program, which was created in 2007 to foster development
of fuel-efficient vehicles. Lordstown Motors Corp., a new venture that’s trying to reopen the former Lordstown GM factory east of Cleveland to build electric trucks, is considering asking for a $200 million from the loan fund. It’s also getting a $40 million
loan from GM. But it’s not clear just yet whether the loan program’s demise would cut off money for Lordstown Motors. There are still just over seven months left in the current budget year, and the program still has more than $17 billion available to loan,
according to the Department of Energy, which runs the program. Lordstown Motors said Monday that is has not yet applied for the loan and that it is just one of several financing options under review. ‘We will factor this new information into our decision-making
process, but our business model stands on its own without it,’ the company said in a statement. Lordstown Motors could still apply for a loan during the current budget year, the Energy Department said.” [Associated Press,
2/11/20 (=)]
Congress
Congress Looks To Revive Self-Driving Car Legislation.
According to E&E News, “Members from both sides of the aisle agreed yesterday Congress should work to revive its stalled effort to pass self-driving car legislation. The legislation
has the potential to save thousands of lives by increasing the safety of the nation’s roads, lawmakers said during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. ‘Congress must act to provide America with safer vehicles so that we can better prevent accidents
and loss of life on our roads,’ Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) told the E&C Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. ‘Self-driving cars are the way of the future and will revolutionize our nation’s highways,’ said Latta, a leading proponent of autonomous
vehicles on Capitol Hill. The hearing came after Latta and other AV advocates failed to pass a bill during the last Congress that would have established the first-ever federal framework for the technology. H.R. 3388, the ‘Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment
and Research in Vehicle Evolution (SELF DRIVE) Act,’ sought to establish new guidelines for the safe testing and deployment of AVs across the country. But the bill ran into opposition from consumer advocates and some Democrats, who said it failed to address
their concerns about safety, privacy and cybersecurity. While the measure passed the House in September 2017, a related bill from Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) ultimately failed to clear the Senate. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) lamented
yesterday that the bill never made it over the finish line, despite its bipartisan backing in her chamber.” [E&E News,
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Chad Ellwood
Climate Action Campaign
202.448.2877 ext. 119