Clean Car Standards
Feds Ask Court To Block Ford, Other Automakers
From Emissions Lawsuit. According to
Politico, “The Trump administration on Thursday asked a court to block Ford and the other automakers that struck a voluntary emissions deal with California from becoming directly involved with litigation over the SAFE Vehicles rule (Reg. 2060-AU09). Background:
Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW last week moved to join the litigation as intervenors but declined to take any side on the merits of the case. Instead, the automakers said they were only interested in being able to weigh in should the court strike down the
rule and reinstate more stringent requirements. The details: In a filing on Thursday, the Justice Department argued that California ‘bestowed regulatory largesse’ on the four automakers by agreeing to lower emissions rates than would be required of other companies
under the state’s regulatory program, which the SAFE Vehicles rule would preempt. The court should not grant Ford and the others a ‘special new form of intervention’ in which they can remain agnostic on the merits of a case when they have also struck a ‘special
side deal,’ DOJ wrote. ‘Presumably [the automakers] are worried about a vacatur that resurrects earlier federal standards—with more stringent terms—that they think are unachievable. But their motion never says that,’ DOJ wrote. Instead, DOJ suggested the companies
share their views via an amicus brief, a method that comes with much less swaying power than intervenor status.” [Politico,
7/10/20
(=)]
US Auto Industry Under Threat At Home And Abroad.
According to Forbes, “Governments with
strong policies to reduce vehicle emissions often see domestic automakers have success in the global market. Japan launched the Top Runner efficiency standard in the late 1990s. The first Toyota hybrid, the Prius, was introduced around that time and since
then, the Toyota brands have netted over 15 million hybrid sales globally. Similarly, California implemented vehicle greenhouse gas emissions efficiency regulations in 2009 and early in the following decade, Tesla TSLA +2.1% went from a niche operation to
a major disruptor. Similar successes are coming, but this time, they are likely to come from automakers in China and Europe. These examples have come at a cost for other automakers, typically those with sales concentrated in countries where emissions policies
are lax. Leading up to the Great Recession, US efficiency standards had been stagnant since the early 1990s and oil prices were high and rising. Alongside issues with US brand quality and strategic investments by Japanese brands in products for the US market,
the more fuel-efficient hybrids helped the Japanese brands increase market share in North America from 30% in 2004 to 40% in 2009. As of 2Q 2020, the underlying conditions are not dissimilar; oil prices are low but the price of carbon (monetized in real dollars
or in the minds of consumers) is high. Meanwhile, the current US administration’s proposed and disputed Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles rule is putting US policy behind those of other major automotive markets, namely China and Europe. This placement
sets the stage for Chinese and European automakers to increase share abroad—at a cost for US automakers.” [Forbes,
7/9/20
(+)]
States
Massachusetts Expands EV Rebates To Nonprofits,
Business Fleets. According to Clean Technica,
“Massachusetts took a big step forward recently by include nonprofits and business fleets in the state’s electric vehicle incentives. The move hopes to maximize the environmental impact of the program during a time where the economy has slowed statewide vehicle
sales. Along with those sales, progress toward the state’s carbon emissions goals has also slowed. Energy News Network shared the story of this state’s struggle to get residents to use EV rebates. Jordan Stutt, carbon program director at the Acadia Center,
which is a nonprofit focused on the clean energy economy, said, ‘It’s a big step forward. There’s no pathway in which we hit our climate targets without rapid electrification of vehicle fleets.’ The program, known as the Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric
Vehicles (MOR-EV), began in 2014 and has been vital with helping the state achieve its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. Since 2014, MOR-EV has issued a total of $32,773,700 in rebates for EVs and PHEVs. Another goal set forth by Governor
Baker is that the state will go completely carbon neutral by 2050. MOR-EV previously provided rebates of up to $2,500 to consumers who buy a new EV. In 2019, the rebates were lowered to $1,500 due to the budget running low, but this caused EV demand to plummet.
By mid-2019, the program wound up being completely suspended. At the end of 2019, the state revived the program for two more years with $27 million in funding to cover more than 20,000 rebates for the two-year period — 10,000 per year.” [Clean Technica,
7/10/20
(=)]
1-Seat, 3-Wheel Electric Car Now On Display At
Scottsdale Mall, Available To Order. According
to the Arizona Republic, “The first question you might ask yourself when seeing the new Solo electric vehicle, now on display at Scottsdale Fashion Square, is: ‘Where’s the back of the car?’ The second question you might ponder is: ‘Who really needs it, anyway?’
Motorists are so accustomed to having vehicles with four-plus seats and a standard trunk that they might overlook the simple reality that they often don’t use all that space — nor all the power in the drive train. ‘We commute alone, go to the gym alone and
go get coffee alone,’ said Paul Rivera, the Phoenix-based CEO of ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp., a Canadian company with Italian roots that will start producing Solos in China this year for the American market. ‘Most of the things we do, we do alone.’ The
Solo hopes to get more people thinking along those lines — that three wheels, one seat for the driver and a truncated trunk is usually enough. It’s not unreasonable to view the car as little more than a stable, enclosed motorcycle, which is how it’s registered.
In fact, drivers in a few states (though not Arizona) will be required to wear helmets and have a motorcycle driver’s license to operate one. The vehicle’s manufacturer, Zongshen Industrial Group, is a motorcycle maker. The Solo, powered by a lithium-ion battery
system, has a range of up to 100 miles, with a top speed around 80 miles per hour. It can be recharged in eight hours or less using a conventional electrical outlet, or in about half that time with charging systems designed for electric vehicles. The Solo
can go from zero to 60 mph in about 10 seconds. Battery effectiveness is likely to decline gradually over time.” [Arizona Republic,
7/9/20
(=)]
In The Western Slope, Drivers Are Charging Ahead
With Electric Vehicles. According to
Vail Daily, “Move over, Peter Fonda, and make way for EV driver. Conditions keep improving for owners of electric vehicles, with more charging stations online locally and within a short drive. A press release from Clean Energy Economy for the Region touted
a route that has not been possible for EV drivers before the recent addition of charging stations. It’s now possible to make a 340 mile-loop out of Glenwood Springs into the heart of the Western Slope and never be more than 50 miles from a public charging
station, the release said. The EV road trip makes a loop starting in Glenwood Springs, traveling south through Carbondale over McClure Pass, west to Paonia and Delta, northwest to Grand Junction and back northeast along I-70 to Glenwood. A spur can be added
over Kebler Pass to Crested Butte, and an alternate route over the Grand Mesa is possible thanks to a new charger near the summit. For the uninitiated, all chargers are by no means created equal. Level 1 chargers are the simplest, cheapest and slowest technology,
producing a ‘trickle’ charge, according to the Garfield Clean Energy website. These usually are included with the purchase of a vehicle and can plug into a standard outlet, drawing about as much power as a hair dryer. They add about four miles worth of charge
in an hour, according to the GCE website, and are therefore of no practical use for the EV road trip. Level 2 chargers are the most common form of public charging equipment, according to the GCE website, and require 240 volt electricity (like a clothes dryer).
They are capable of adding about 22 miles of range per hour, so their best use is for overnight charging or a top off for commuters.” [Vail Daily,
7/9/20
(=)]
Electric Vehicles Are Coming: An Interview With
Brian Platt. According to Jersey City
Times, “On Monday, Jersey City Times sat down with Jersey City Business Administrator Brian Platt, to discuss in detail the city’s plans for electric vehicles [EVs]. From charging stations to electric garbage trucks to electric bikes, the administration has
big plans. JCT: So, I’m sitting here with Brian Platt, Business Administrator for Jersey City, and he is heading up the effort in Jersey City to bring electric charging stations for electric vehicles to Jersey City, and I wanted to hear about what he’s been
doing. So, Brian first of all, just by way of background, you’ve been Business Administrator for how long? BP: Just over two years now, but I’ve worked for the city for seven. JCT: And when you started with the city you were… BP: I started in the mayor’s office
and moved on to helping start the city’s first office of innovation. I was the founder and original director of that office, and I became the city’s business administrator two years ago. That position is sort of like city manager or chief operating officer
for the city. JCT: Now it sounds like you’ve kind of expanded that portfolio in that you’re not just the CFO [chief financial officer], you’re working on technology and operational issues. First of all, how do you find time to do both? I mean, it sounds like
that’s a lot to work on. BP: Yeah. I would say that the main part of the job is actually finding ways to make our government operation more responsive to the needs of our residents and also more sustainable and efficient in every way possible. And that includes
not just the finances of the government—italso includes literally the motors and the mechanical tools that the city has as well.” [Jersey City Times,
7/9/20
(=)]
Auto Manufacturers
Tesla Patents New Technology For Lithium Metal/Anode-Free Battery Cells.
According to Electrek, “Tesla has applied for a patent on new electrolyte solutions for a new lithium metal or anode-free battery cell.
Over the last year, we have been reporting on Tesla’s battery research partner, Jeff Dahn and his team at Dalhousie University, unveiling the impressive results of tests on a new battery cell that could last over 1 million miles in an electric vehicle. The
team has been working for Tesla to improve energy density and longevity of battery cells while reducing costs. But Dahn, who is a pioneer of Li-Ion battery technology, and his team have also been working on next-generation battery technology — beyond improving
on current technology. Last year, we reported on the team patenting an ‘anode-free lithium-metal cell’ for Tesla that they suggested could be the next big thing in battery tech instead of solid-state batteries. They are still working on the new cells as evidenced
by a new patent application Dahn’s team for Tesla’s Canadian research group: ‘Electrolytes with Lithium Difluoro(oxalato)borate and Lithium Tetrafluoroborate Salts for Lithium-metal and Anode-Free Battery Cells’. Tesla writes about the current problems with
lithium-metal batteries in the patent application: ‘Rechargeable batteries are an integral component of energy-storage systems for electric vehicles and for grid storage (for example, for backup power during a power outage, as part of a microgrid and so forth.).
Some such rechargeable battery systems include lithium metal and anode-free lithium batteries. Lithium metal and anode-free lithium batteries have certain advantages over traditional lithium ion batteries, as they are more energy dense.” [Electrek,
7/9/20
(=)]
Volvo Cars App Tells Plug-In Drivers More About Their Driving.
According to Clean Technica, “Volvo Cars has been heavily focused on plug-in hybrids up till now, but it plans to have 50% of its sales
coming from fully electric vehicles by 2025. No traditional automaker beats that plan. One step at a time, Volvo Cars has been developing its electric side and improving the experiences of its plug-in vehicle drivers. While there is an enormous amount of room
for debate on this matter, and I can’t say I personally subscribe to the following concept, it can be argued that Volvo Cars has handled the EV transition better than any established automaker. It is the only automaker that offers a plug-in version of every
model in its lineup and it now has 25% of its European sales coming from plug-in hybrids. As battery technology has improved and production has increased, it has set the aforementioned target of 50% full EV sales by 2025, a very aggressive target by industry
standards. It will launch its first fully electric vehicle, the XC40 Recharge P8, later this year after it goes into production in Ghent, Belgium. With a heavy focus on plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), though, I assume Volvo has noticed a problem Daryl Elliott of
CleanTechnica recently highlighted in an article about why the PHEV era needs to end. Many PHEV drivers don’t plug in their cars, or seldom plug them in. One of Daryl’s core arguments was that if PHEV drivers seldom drive on electricity, they’re not helping
in the expected way and policymakers should stop incentivizing them while automakers should stop developing them. Volvo’s latest press release implies that it did notice this. Its ‘Volvo on Call’ smartphone app now includes new features for Recharge (plug-in
vehicle) drivers. The core aim of the new features is to get owners driving on electricity more.” [Clean Technica,
7/9/20
(=)]
Rivian CEO Scaringe’s Aggressive Plan To Beat Tesla And Nikola With The First All-Electric Pickup And SUV.
According to CNBC, “As shares of electric truck maker Nikola Motor Co. surged at its IPO last month and cemented 38-year-old founder
Trevor Milton as the industry’s newest billionaire, Robert ‘R.J.’ Scaringe was practicing something he calls ‘active humility.’ Scaringe, CEO and founder of Rivian, is used to other companies – from startup Nikola, Tesla and its Cybertruck, General Motors
and Ford Motor – stealing the limelight with their plans for all-electric pickups. Rivian is expected to be among the first, if not the first, to bring an all-electric pickup to market early- to mid- next year – months, potentially years, ahead of its competitors.
‘We’re focused on making sure that we deliver,’ Scaringe told CNBC during a video interview from the electric truck manufacturer’s factory in central Illinois. ‘We really value active humility and letting our actions speak louder than our words.’ Although
Rivian hasn’t received as much attention as Tesla and Scaringe’s Twitter account remains unverified, the 37-year-old has worked methodically over the past decade to grow the private company into what might be the first auto startup since Tesla to mass-produce
all-electric vehicles. The company last year raised $2.85 billion from well-known companies such as Amazon, Cox Automotive, T. Rowe Price Associates and Ford. According to Scaringe, Rivian has no plans of going public for the foreseeable future but it’s ‘open’
to additional financing to help support its ‘aggressive growth plans.’” [CNBC,
7/10/20
(=)]
Electric Vehicle Maker Fisker In Talks To Go Public.
According to Fox News, “Electric vehicle maker Fisker Inc is in talks to go public through a sale to a so-called blank-check acquisition
company, modeled after a successful deal earlier this year by peer Nikola Corp NKLA.O, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Nikola shares are up more than 60% since it went public last month through such a deal, as investors place bets on which
startup will be the next Tesla Inc (TSLA.O). Earlier this month, autonomous vehicle technology company Velodyne Lidar agreed to be bought by blank-check company Graf Industrial Corp (GRAF.N) for $1.6 billion, fuelling a rally in the latter’s shares. Spartan
Energy Acquisition Corp (SPAQ_u.N), which is backed by private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc (APO.N), is leading a bidding war among blank-check companies for Fisker, and could clinch a deal for close to $2 billion as early as next week, the sources
said. The sources requested anonymity as the deal talks are confidential. Fisker and Spartan declined to comment. Spartan’s shares rallied on the news and were up 35% at $15.25 in early afternoon trading in New York on Thursday. Henrik Fisker, a one-time Aston-Martin
designer, launched the eponymous Los Angeles-based company in 2016, and plans to begin selling the Fisker Ocean luxury electric SUV in 2022 at a starting price of $37,500. His previous automotive venture, Fisker Automotive, filed for bankruptcy in 2013 after
burning through $1.4 billion in private investments and taxpayer-funded loans. Once billed as a rival to Tesla, it ended up making fewer than 2,000 cars. Fisker Automotive was bought out of bankruptcy in 2014 by a Chinese auto parts maker and renamed Karma
Automotive.” [Fox News, 7/9/20
(=)]
Electric Car Company Fisker Considers Deal To Go Public.
According to The Street, “Electric vehicle company Fisker Inc. is reportedly in talks to go public through a sale to a so-called blank-check
company. Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp. (SPAQ) - Get Report, which is backed by the New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management, (APO) - Get Report is leading a bidding war among blank-check companies for Fisker and could clinch a deal for close
to $2 billion as early as next week, Reuters reported, citing sources. A blank-check company is a publicly traded development-stage company that has no established business plan. It may be used to gather funds as a startup, or can have intent to merge with
or acquire another business entity. Separately, Fisker said it completed $50 million in financing this week, and the company said the proceeds will support the next phase of engineering work on the Fisker Ocean luxury SUV, which is due to launch in 2022. The
$50 million Series C financing round was funded by Moore Strategic Ventures, the New York private investment vehicle of hedge-fund manager Louis Bacon.
Henrik Fisker, a one-time Aston-Martin designer, launched the Los Angeles company in 2016 and plans to begin selling the Ocean at a starting price of $37,500. His previous automotive venture, Fisker Automotive, filed for bankruptcy in 2013 after burning through
$1.4 billion in private investments and taxpayer-funded loans. Fisker Automotive was bought out of bankruptcy in 2014 by a Chinese auto parts maker and renamed Karma Automotive.” [The Street,
7/9/20
(=)]
Electric Vehicles
EV Startups Feel Squeeze From Tesla.
According to Automotive News, “Tesla Inc.’s new Shanghai plant has churned out popular Model 3 sedans for the past six months, catapulting
the company atop the electric-vehicle sales chart and piling the pressure on cash-strapped local rivals. There was another casualty last week. Byton is at least the third sizable EV upstart to throw in the towel since Elon Musk started his made-in-China offensive,
after Bordrin Motors and Jiangsu Saleen Automotive Technology Co. wound their operations down earlier this year. They fell victim to plummeting demand amid the trade war and coronavirus pandemic, and as the government scaled back the subsidies that turned
China into the world’s biggest EV market with hundreds of producers. Yet Tesla, in just half a year, grabbed a hefty slice of that shrinking pie -- and its portion keeps getting bigger. The market leader’s sales now approach a quarter of the total tally for
EVs, the China Passenger Car Association said Wednesday, as wealthier buyers are drawn to Tesla’s brand cachet. That’s making life difficult for the slew of local contenders and risks exposing the multibillion-dollar Chinese EV push as a bubble. ‘It is more
and more difficult for EV startups to raise funds,’ said Cui Dongshu, secretary general of PCA. ‘New-energy vehicles have not yet been popularized on a large scale -- so it is like the situation where there is not enough food in the temple, and some of the
monks are forced out.’ Gaining Share Tesla representatives in China didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.” [Automotive News,
7/9/20
(=)]
International Energy Agency: Electric Vehicle Battery Tech Rapidly Improving.
According to Clean Technica, “The International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook is an annual publication that reports on the current
state of electric mobility around the world. It always contains important insights about the EV market, and this year’s report is no exception. Over 2.1 million plug-in vehicles (pure electric plus plug-in hybrid) were sold globally in 2019 — a 40% year-on-year
increase over 2018, which was itself a record year. Plug-in cars accounted for about 2.6% of global car sales. Electrification has been rapid. In 2010, there were a mere 17,000 plug-in vehicles on the world’s roads. By 2019, the number had grown to some 7.2
million — about 1% of the global auto fleet. The growth has been concentrated in a few regions — 47% of the world’s plug-ins are in China — but it is gradually expanding geographically. Nine countries had more than 100,000 plug-in cars on the road in 2019,
and market share has passed 1% in at least 20 countries. The new IEA report has several interesting things to say, especially concerning electric buses and two- and three-wheeled vehicles, which are expected to be major growth segments in China and India.
It only briefly mentions the world’s most prominent electric automaker, but the impressions of Tesla’s tire-prints aren’t hard to detect in the section on projected trends in the battery field. Briefly stated, battery capacities are going up, and battery costs
are going down, and Tesla continues to be an important driver of both these trends. By 2030, the IEA expects the average EV to have a battery size of 70–80 kWh, and an average range of 217–248 miles.” [Clean Technica,
7/9/20
(=)]
Bavaria’s PM On Transition To EVs: ‘Tesla Is Not Bad, But Others Can Do It, Too’.
According to Electrek, “The German auto industry and its 800,000 jobs are threatened if it can’t transition to EVs fast enough. The
country’s politicians, and automotive executives, have a unified message. As Bavaria’s prime minister Markus Söder put it today: ‘Tesla is not bad, but others can do it too.’ The threat to German jobs from EVs was the premise of a story today from Deutsche
Welle (DW), the German broadcaster. While electric-vehicle technology reduces the number of parts to be assembled — a technological advance — it’s repeatedly characterized as the destroyer of auto jobs. The shift to better technology, improved engineering,
and automation are not strictly related to electric powertrains. Those are broad industry trends. A January report from the National Platform Future of Mobility (NPM), a research agency funded by the German government, warned that, worst case, more than 400,000
of Germany’s 830,000 auto-related jobs could be gone by 2030. The shift to zero-emissions vehicles is the main culprit — pitting the environment against jobs. The German auto industry is changing but at a relatively slow pace. Volkswagen’s Zwickau car factory,
shown above, now only produces electric models in future. It produced more than 6 million gas- and diesel-powered Volkswagen vehicles there since 1990. NPM sums up the challenge: The production of electric vehicles can be automated more easily. If there is
no improvement in the competitive position of the German industry in the area of electromobility in the next few years, and if the need for imports of battery cells and electric vehicles continues to grow in light of the launch of electromobility, employment
structures will be severely hit.” [Electrek, 7/9/20
(=)]
SDG&E Installs More Than 3,000 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations In San Diego.
According to Yale Climate Connections, “Transportation is the largest contributor to climate change in the United States. It accounts
for roughly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. ‘If we are serious about climate and pollution, focusing on transportation is absolutely critical, and getting people into electric vehicles is a key component,’ says Estela de Llanos of San Diego Gas and
Electric, or SDG&E. The utility is making it easier for people to go electric by expanding the region’s charging infrastructure. Through its Power Your Drive program, the utility has installed more than 3,000 electric vehicle charging stations at apartment
buildings, condos, and workplaces. ‘These are really important places to have charging because people tend to have their cars parked for long periods of time,’ de Llanos says. She says workplace charging also allows more people to recharge in the middle of
the day, when there is more abundant solar energy on the grid. So increasing access to charging stations is a step towards cutting carbon pollution from vehicles. ‘We’re really excited about the possibility of reimagining transportation in the region, and
I hope we can do this across the state and eventually across the country,’ she says.” [Yale Climate Connections,
7/10/20
(=)]
Research And Analysis
Climate Change: Road Plans Will Scupper CO2 Targets, Report Says.
According to BBC, “The government says vehicle emissions per mile will fall as zero-emissions cars take over Britain’s roads. But the report says the 80% of the CO2 savings from clean
cars will be negated by the £27bn planned roads programme. It adds that if ministers want a ‘green recovery’ the cash would be better spent on public transport, walking, cycling, and remote-working hubs. And they point out that the electric cars will continue
to increase local air pollution through particles eroding from brakes and tyres. The calculations have been made by an environmental consultancy, Transport for Quality of Life, using data collected by Highways England. The paper estimates that a third of the
predicted increase in emissions would come from construction - including energy for making steel, concrete and asphalt. A third would be created by increased vehicle speeds on faster roads. And a further third would be caused by extra traffic generated by
new roads stimulating more car-dependent housing, retail parks and business parks. Its authors say history shows that building roads almost always generates more traffic. The report says even with the government’s most optimistic estimate of the adoption rate
for electric vehicles, emissions from trunk roads and motorways in England are not on track to meet ‘net zero’ by 2050. A government spokesperson told BBC News the report is based on old data. ‘This assessment is wholly incorrect and doesn’t take into account
the benefits from the massive surge in electric vehicles,’ he said.” [BBC,
7/9/20 (=)]
Lyft or Uber Electric Car Cuts 3× More Pollution than Your Electric Car.
According to Clean Technica, “A study published yesterday by researchers at the University of California, Davis, reminds us all why Lyft and Uber drivers should electrify faster than
anyone, and why a Tesla app-based taxi service — robotaxis or not — would be so helpful. I’ll come back to the latter in a moment, but let’s first look at the study, just published in the scientific journal Nature Energy. There are two main reasons the researchers
found Lyft and Uber electric car drivers cut so much pollution, the first of which is well known, but the second of which is seldom considered. Firstly, Lyft/Uber/taxi drivers drive a lot. The more a person drives, the more potential they have for cutting
pollution. More carbon emissions go into producing an electric car due to the large number of batteries in them, but that is relatively quickly made up for in operation of the much more efficient car as the driver skips the gas station and charges from electricity
the wall (or the ground). The more quickly you rack up the miles you would have driven on gasoline while driving on electricity instead, the more quickly you avoid pollution you would have produced otherwise. Hence Lyft and Uber EV drivers cutting more pollution
than you (assuming you aren’t a Lyft or Uber driver, or someone who drives more than them) and me. Secondly, and perhaps much more interestingly to those of us who got bored reading the above paragraph, the study found that another reason Lyft and Uber drivers
who switch to electric cars cut more pollution than the rest of us is because they charge during the day.” [Clean Technica,
7/9/20 (=)]
UK Air Pollution Still Down Despite Return To Normal Traffic – Study.
According to The Guardian, “Air pollution has remained at lower levels in UK towns and cities despite a return to near-normal traffic levels after the easing of coronavirus restrictions,
according to research. Analysis of data from more than 100 urban roadside locations shows nitrogen dioxide pollution levels were 30% below normal at the end of June, despite HGV traffic being back at 95% of normal levels, vans at 90% and cars at 75%. Scientists
think the small reduction in traffic that remains is enough to cut congestion on the roads and that this has an outsized impact in reducing dirty air. People may be staggering their commutes to work, which would also cut congestion, they said. David Carslaw
from the University of York,d who led the analysis, said the finding could help cities improve the way they cut pollution and that this is particularly important during the pandemic, given the growing evidence that dirty air could make Covid-19 more deadly.
Nitrogen dioxide is mainly emitted by diesel vehicles and has been at illegal levels in most urban areas since 2010. It is responsible for an estimated 23,500 early deaths every year. At the height of the lockdown, NO2 levels plunged by 56%, as traffic fell
to levels last seen in 1955. ‘Things are not back to normal according to the air quality data,’ said Carslaw. ‘We think a big part of that is the effect of congestion.’ Congestion ramps up emissions because vehicles are forced to repeatedly accelerate and
brake, as well as sitting in one location in between. ‘Everyone would appreciate improved air quality and this suggests we don’t need such savage reductions in road traffic [as seen during lockdown] to achieve that. If you can reduce traffic by 10-20% and
remove a lot of the congestion, that may have a disproportionate effect on the emissions.’” [The Guardian,
7/10/20 (=)]
International
Italy Takes Electric Vehicle Step Forward & Then Gets Dizzy.
According to Clean Technica, “Italy has been slow to the electric vehicle party. Strongly influenced by Fiat, which fought and cried about the industry’s move toward electrification
(see this and this and this and this), it has long been in denial about the competitiveness of electric vehicles, the need for electric vehicles, and the straight-up fun of electric vehicles. Even this year, when Europe is approaching 10% plug-in vehicle market
share because automakers can finally get fined heavily if they keep dragging their feet and anti-selling EVs, Italy is just approaching 3% plug-in vehicle share (and this is way up from last year). It seemed things might turn around in Italy, as the government
recently proposed EV incentives to help pull itself out of the economic crisis that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic. However, Italy’s Chamber of Deputies just yesterday voted for a proposal that slipped in incentives for fossil fuel vehicles. Seriously.
At a time when everyone is going in the other direction — the right direction — Italy apparently got itself dizzy and is trying to go in two directions at once. ‘The vote in favour of the purchase of obsolete technologies such as diesel cars is a waste of
the limited public money our country has available,’ Veronica Aneris, Italy director at T&E, said. ‘It will result in new polluting cars spewing out toxic fumes in our cities for at least another 11 years, given the average life of the vehicles. Taxpayers’
money cannot be used for technologies that are harmful to our health, our planet and the livability of our cities.’ Automakers must meet a fleet emissions target of 95g/km for the vehicles they sell in Europe this year or they will have to pay steep fines.
This new subsidy would help people purchase vehicles with an emissions rating of 110g/km. It makes no sense to support the sale of such dirty vehicles.” [Clean Technica,
7/10/20 (=)]
Chad Ellwood
Senior Research Associate
Climate Action Campaign
202.448.2877 ext. 119