Clean Car Standards

EPA Lab Closure Hits Vehicle Testing, Enforcement. According to E&E News, “Auto emissions testing has stopped, a clean trucks rulemaking has been delayed, and enforcement cases potentially have been slowed as a key EPA vehicles laboratory remains closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., has been closed since late March, an EPA spokesperson confirmed in an email to E&E News. The facility ‘was closed at the end of March consistent with public health plans in Southeast Michigan and has now begun a phased reopening process as part of EPA’s overall reopening strategy,’ the spokesperson said. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a July 31 email obtained by E&E News that the Ann Arbor office was moving to phase one of reopening (Greenwire, July 31). The vehicles lab is a division of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. It was established in 1971, shortly after President Nixon signed the executive order that created EPA. For nearly 50 years, the lab has been responsible for testing vehicles and engines to certify that they meet the latest emissions and fuel economy standards. The lab only has the resources to test about 20% to 25% of all new vehicles, relying on automakers to test the rest.” [E&E News, 8/14/20 (=)]

Proposed Car Mandates A Concern For MADA, Minnesotans. According to the Fergus Falls Daily Journal, “State drivers could soon face car mandates that originated in California. On Wednesday, Aug. 12, the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA), in collaboration with the Center of the American Experiment, shared details from Gov. Tim Walz’s administration’s proposed car standards, referred to as Clean Cars Minnesota with Fergus Falls and area residents. Clean Cars Minnesota, or the California car mandates, is the abdication of responsibility for Minnesota’s air quality by handing the decision-making over to the state of California, complying entirely to whatever decisions they make for their state and applying them to this state, no questions asked and no considerations made. Once in effect, Minnesota is tied to the decisions California makes regarding car mandates both now and in the future, no matter how dramatic those mandates may seem. With a claim that the California car mandates will save Minnesotans money and improve air quality, Walz bypassed the Legislature and went directly to environmental agencies to begin drafting rules for abdication. In opposition to Walz’s claims is the MADA and the Center of the American Experiment, who provided insight into the realities of Minnesota in comparison to those of California, where air quality issues are extreme in nature. ‘Minnesota air is clean and has gotten cleaner over time,’ MADA president, Scott Lambert shared, clarifying that California plans to clean up their air quality issue by increasing the use of electronic vehicles and potentially controlling the types of vehicles its residents may purchase and drive within the state. ‘California rules do not fit the demands of the lifestyle of Minnesotans.” [Fergus Falls Daily Journal, 8/13/20 (-)]

State Policy Outpaces Feds On Car Emissions Cuts — Analysis. According to E&E News, “States are leading the way on cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector at the end of President Trump’s first term, a new analysis contends. The findings by the Rhodium Group, an economic consulting firm, centered on two recent state-level initiatives to slash pollution from cars and trucks. The efforts come after the Trump administration rolled back clean car standards, the most significant climate rules established by former President Obama. The first initiative involves five car companies and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the main air pollution regulator in the Golden State. The five automakers — Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Volkswagen AG, BMW of North America LLC and Volvo — agreed to follow more stringent tailpipe emissions standards than those proposed by the Trump administration in its Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule (Greenwire, July 25, 2019). The analysis found that the deals with the five automakers would result in a much greater reduction in emissions than if the automakers simply followed the SAFE rule. Rhodium estimated that the CARB agreements would lead to an additional reduction of 136 million to 148 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2035.” [E&E News, 8/17/20 (=)]

Op-Ed: California Car Mandates Not Right For Minnesota. According to an op-ed by Isaac Orr in the Duluth News Tribune, “This week, the Center of the American Experiment crisscrossed the state of Minnesota to help educate residents about the Walz administration’s attempt to impose California’s car mandates on Minnesotans. These California car regulations would increase the cost of driving for Minnesotans up to $2,500 per vehicle while having zero measurable environmental benefit. The regulations would be all pain and no gain. They would put California — specifically the unelected bureaucrats on the California Air Resources Board, or CARB — in charge of deciding which cars Minnesotans can drive. The regulations would allow CARB to set fuel mileage standards for all Minnesota vehicles and force our auto dealers to stock unpopular and unprofitable electric vehicles on their lots. Minnesota is obviously a much different place than California. It gets much colder here, which reduces electric-vehicle range by up to 40%. In addition, 82% of new vehicles sold in Minnesota are large. In contrast, California enjoys balmy weather, and only 54% of Californians recently bought pickup trucks, SUVs, crossovers, or minivans, according to the Auto Alliance. Despite these important differences, Minnesotans would have zero ability to adapt the rules to help them better suit the needs of drivers here. The rules imposed on Minnesota drivers would be the same rules applied to California drivers. Supporters of the California mandates claim they will increase vehicle choices for consumers, save Minnesotans money, and help save the planet. These claims are easily refuted.” [Duluth News Tribune, 8/14/20 (-)]

States

States Can Require All New Vehicles Sold Within Borders To Be Electric. According to WWJ-TV, “Recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent has opened the door for states to enact laws requiring all new cars sold in the state to be electric as of a certain date, according to a law journal article by the nonprofit Coltura published today in the University of Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law. The article finds that state vehicle electrification mandates can withstand legal challenges based on federal preemption if they are based solely on reasons for transitioning to electric vehicles that are within the state’s authority. Such reasons include advantages to the electrical grid such as load balancing and energy storage, increased jobs and economic development, reduced stormwater pollution and consumer savings. States should avoid basing electrification mandates on vehicle emissions reduction and fuel economy — grounds exclusively within federal control under the federal Clean Air Act and Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The article points to the 2019 Supreme Court case of Virginia Uranium v Warren, which limited the ability of courts to scrutinize state motives in enacting statutes. ‘The Supreme Court has signaled openness to allowing states to go their own way on environmental matters,’ said Matthew Metz, lead author of the article and founder of Coltura, a nonprofit seeking to move the country beyond gasoline. ‘This is how our federal system should work, with states as laboratories of democracy.’” [WWJ-TV, 8/14/20 (=)]

New Jersey’s New Electric Vehicle Rebate Draws 1,800 Applications, Despite COVID Economy Woes. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “New Jersey has received 1,800 applications for its new electric vehicle rebate program even amid a slow rollout and car sales that crashed for months because of COVID-19, according to the state Board of Public Utilities. More than 1,000 applications have been approved for a total of about $5.8 million. The BPU runs the program and is reviewing the remaining applications. It expects that most will receive approval. The program has been underway in earnest for about two months. Philly mixed recycling in with trash to deal with backup, but city says it will catch up Jim Appleton, president of NJ Car, a coalition of auto dealers, called the number a positive step, considering that the state’s dealerships saw an 85% sales plunge in March, when shutdown orders were in effect and manufacturing was rocked. Now, he said, dealerships are recovering. ‘Nobody’s blown away by 1,800 vehicle sales,’ Appleton said. ‘New Jersey is a half a million-vehicle-per-year market. So 1,800 ... is not breaking any land-speed records, but in the midst of a pandemic, it’s a silver lining.’ Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation in January that environmental groups believed could propel the state into national leadership on electric vehicle sales with a $5,000 rebate, combined with an existing sales-tax exemption. Though dealers could initiate the rebate on behalf of a buyer, they were forced to close showrooms in March, and it wasn’t even until late May that the BPU had an online application to allow buyers to apply directly. The agency is now working toward having $5,000 come off the sticker price of an electric car at the point of sale without additional paperwork.” [Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/13/20 (=)]

Op-Ed: A Plan To Expand Access To Electric Vehicles. According to CALmatters, “Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, Democrat from Torrence, and Sen. Ben Allen, Democrat from Santa Monica, are championing Assembly Bill 326, which would establish a framework for ‘Electric Vehicle Memberships’ and provide easy access to EVs by allowing manufacturers to offer short-term memberships to consumers. The memberships will include registration, maintenance, charging and an insurance option, and provide a more affordable alternative to buying, leasing, or renting an electric vehicle – with no long-term financial commitment. This legislation will also help overcome the car dealers’ near-total monopoly on sales of new vehicles – with the sole exception of Tesla – and provide California consumers, businesses and government agencies greater freedom of choice for accessing zero-emissions vehicles while also helping to ensure that this new, innovative EV membership model is regulated appropriately. The EV industry has already created more than 275,000 jobs in California, and AB 326 will help preserve and grow jobs in that industry.” [CALmatters, 8/16/20 (+)]

Courts and Legal

Daimler To Settle U.S. Emissions Charges For $2.2 Billion. According to the New York Times, “The German automaker Daimler said Thursday that it had agreed to pay $2.2 billion to settle accusations that Mercedes-Benz cars and vans sold in the United States were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. The sum, which covers federal fines and a class-action suit brought by owners of Mercedes vehicles, is a substantial financial hit to the company as it deals with plunging sales because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is also humbling for a company that has been a symbol of German luxury automaking. The penalty is only a fraction of the more than $20 billion that Volkswagen paid in the United States to settle criminal charges and civil suits by owners and state governments after it was caught using software to dupe regulators. The Volkswagen settlement involved about 600,000 diesel passenger cars, while the Daimler settlement covers about 250,000 passenger cars and vans. Daimler may have received more lenient treatment because it cooperated with the authorities after questions were raised about its emissions systems. Volkswagen misled American investigators for more than a year before it admitted that diesel vehicles sold in the United States were programmed to illegally cloak high emissions. The federal government and the State of California will receive $1.5 billion from the settlement, while owners in a federal class-action suit will receive $700 million, Daimler said. The agreement between the company and car owners and several government agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, still requires approval by U.S. courts.” [New York Times, 8/13/20 (=)]

Daimler To Pay $2.2 Billion To Settle U.S. Diesel Issues. According to Bloomberg, “Daimler AG will pay about $2.2 billion to settle U.S. diesel-emissions issues in the latest fallout from years of closer regulatory scrutiny on vehicle pollution. An agreement in principle with authorities including the U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency will cost the German automaker roughly 1.27 billion euros ($1.5 billion), according to a statement. The Stuttgart-based company will pay another 592 million euros to settle class-action litigation brought by consumers. ‘While this hopefully resolves this issue and allows the company to focus on other pressing challenges, it is a reminder that other stakeholders are likely to receive the majority of Daimler’s cash flow in the period 2020-23 irrespective of underlying performance,’ Citigroup Inc. analyst Angus Tweedie said in a note. Daimler shares fell 1.2% to 41.91 euros as of 9:55 a.m. in Frankfurt, in line with the Stoxx 600 Autos & Parts index. The shares are down 15% for the year. The pacts resolve issues that arose when U.S. regulators stepped up their examination of diesel emissions after Volkswagen AG’s cheating scandal emerged in 2015. The Justice Department asked Daimler to investigate its vehicle-certification process the following year. Although the costs add to Daimler’s financial headwinds triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the amounts are relatively small compared with the larger-scale emissions violations that have cost VW more than 30 billion euros. Daimler says it fully cooperated with U.S. authorities, whereas VW officials lied to EPA and California regulators before admitting the company created devices to defeat emissions tests.” [Bloomberg, 8/13/20 (=)]

Automakers, Chamber Warn Of ‘Regulatory Chaos’ From VW Air Ruling. According to Inside EPA, “Automakers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are joining Volkswagen’s (VW) push to overturn a federal appeals court ruling that they claim will spawn ‘regulatory chaos’ by allowing states and localities to enforce measures against vehicle emissions control tampering, creating a ‘hopelessly unmanageable patchwork’ of different standards. In an amicus brief filed Aug. 10 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a group representing automakers that make virtually all vehicles sold in the country, and also the Chamber seek panel rehearing or rehearing by the full court en banc of its unanimous June 1 ruling in In Re: Volkswagen ‘Clean Diesel’ Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation. VW is seeking rehearing of the ruling, which held that the Clean Air Act does not preempt counties from regulating post-sale manufacturing conduct that they may construe as unlawful under the air law’s prohibition on tampering with auto emissions controls. The auto industry strongly opposes this holding, which overturns EPA’s traditional sole authority to regulate post-sale manufacturer changes. While states and localities have been able to enforce against tampering with emissions controls on individual vehicles, they have until now been preempted from doing so with respect to fleet-wide software changes made by manufacturers to fix problems once vehicles are in service.” [Inside EPA, 8/13/20 (=)]

Daimler Agrees To $2.2B Settlement Over Diesel Emissions. According to Politico, “Daimler, the German maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, announced on Thursday that it will pay $2.2 billion to U.S. authorities to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations it sought to evade diesel emissions rules. Background: U.S. and European authorities have increased scrutiny of diesel vehicle emissions in the wake of 2015’s Volkswagen ‘Dieselgate’ cheating scandal. Daimler allegedly installed software ‘defeat devices’ on its vehicles that can detect when a vehicle’s emissions are being tested in a lab but turn the pollution controls off in real-world driving conditions. The company was already hit with hefty fines in 2018 in Germany and was forced to recall more than 750,000 vehicles there. The details: Under a tentative deal struck with federal and California authorities, Daimler will pay $1.5 billion to settle emissions allegations related to 250,000 diesel cars and vans sold in the U.S. It will pay another $700 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought in federal court in New Jersey. And the company said it expects to spend another ‘mid three-digit-million’ euros to comply with the settlements. In a statement, the company called the settlement ‘an important step towards legal certainty with respect to various diesel proceedings in the United States.’ It is not clear if the settlement fully resolves a previously disclosed Justice Department investigation. What’s next: Consent decrees are expected to be lodged in September and will be subject to judicial approval.” [Politico, 8/13/20 (=)]

Auto Manufacturers

Tesla Hints At New Car Model Made In China In New Job Openings. According to Electrek, “Tesla is hinting at working on a new car model made in China with new job openings in the country. Earlier this year, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla will design an electric car in China for the global market. In June, Tesla started taking design submissions from the public for the new car. It was the first indication that Tesla was moving forward with the new vehicle program following the CEO’s comment back in January. Now Tesla is posting some new job openings that have to do with car designing in China: Design Manager Creative Manager Senior Car designer CMF Manager CMF Mastering Specialist Design Quality Specialist Content Manager Copy Writer Videographer Video Editor Graphic Designer Here’s the job listing post that Tesla shared on its official Weibo account in China this week: All those jobs are related to designing a car locally, hinting at Tesla taking a bigger step toward building a new car program in China. When first talking about the car, Tesla released this car drawing: Based on Musk’s comments, the entire car would be designed and engineered in China, and produced locally, but it will be sold globally. Earlier this year, Tesla started Model 3 production in China at Gigafactory Shanghai, but the vehicles are only meant to supply the local Chinese demand.” [Electrek, 8/13/20 (=)]

Fewer China-Built Teslas Registered As Competition Builds. According to Bloomberg, “Registrations of locally made Tesla Inc. vehicles in China fell in July from the previous month as competition intensified in the world’s largest electric-car market. In July, 11,456 China-built Teslas were registered in the country, according to data from state-backed China Automotive Information Net. That’s a 24% decrease from June. Tesla doesn’t report monthly sales numbers for China. The world’s most-valuable carmaker is ramping up output after starting deliveries from its multibillion-dollar Shanghai plant around the beginning of the year. China is a crucial part of Elon Musk’s plan to expand beyond the U.S., and long-term success will require keeping local contenders such as NIO Inc. and global giants BMW AG and Volkswagen AG at bay.” [Bloomberg, 8/17/20 (=)]

Tesla Battery Researchers Mention Enabling Electric Aircraft With New Batteries. According to Electrek, “Tesla battery researchers are pointing to enabling electric aircraft with new next-generation battery cells. Yesterday, we reported on Tesla’s battery research team led by Jeff Dahn publishing a new research paper about progress made on their anode-free lithium-metal battery cell. The new battery cell offers breakthrough improvement in energy density. One important comment that we overlooked is that the battery researchers mentioned this new battery could even enable ‘electrified urban aviation’: ‘Such high energy density can increase the range of electric vehicles by approximately 280 km or even enable electrified urban aviation.’ They are specifically talking about ‘urban’ aviation, which likely refers to those electric air taxi services that several companies, like Uber, are working on. These services are based on electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that can generally carry a few passengers over short distances. The current anode-free lithium-metal battery cells tested by Tesla’s battery research team in Canada under Jeff Dahn’s lab are achieving a ~360 Wh/kg energy density and volumetric energy density of 1000 Wh/L. It could result in higher capacity eVTOL aircraft, but it is also getting really close to enabling commercial electric planes. Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously revealed that he had a design for a commercial electric VTOL aircraft and estimated that Li-Ion batteries would need to achieve a 400 Wh/kg energy density in order for batteries to beat kerosene and his electric aircraft to be viable. Last year, Musk said that he believes this is about five years away. The anode-free lithium-metal battery cells only need roughly 10% increase in energy density to get there.” [Electrek, 8/13/20 (=)]

8 Things You Should Know About The All-Electric Cadillac Lyriq. According to TNW, “We may not see the production version for more than a year, but Cadillac just took up the gauntlet in luxury electric crossovers that have been laid down by Tesla, Jaguar, Audi, and Mercedes, introducing the Lyriq. While presented as a concept, the model appeared ready for production, promising a variety of new benchmarks for General Motors’ luxury brand: It’s almost two years away, but the Lyriq is designed to make luxury EV buyers want to wait Lyriq will herald the future design of Cadillac according to Andrew Smith, executive director of global Cadillac design. Range for the vehicle is expected to be more than 300 miles on a single charge. Lyriq will be the first GM vehicle to take advantage of the new modular EV architecture and Ultium batteries. A 33-inch (diagonal) advanced LED display presents a new approach to presenting vehicle information and infotainment options. Lyriq will feature the latest version of Super Cruise, GM’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that will allow some hand-off driving, automated lane-changing, and remote parking. It will come in rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions Lyriq will be capable of fast-charging at rates up to 150 kilowatts. It will feature an augmented reality-enhanced head-up display In a virtual introduction, Cadillac presented the first product that will use both its flexible new EV platform and the Ultium batteries being produced in a partnership with LG Chem. It appears to be a midsize crossover coupe in the vein of the Jaguar I-Pace and Audi E-tron Sportback with a sloping roof and blacked-out B-pillar and high beltline to give it a sporty profile.” [TNW, 8/13/20 (=)]

Electric Corvette? GM Files For ‘E-Ray’ Trademark. According to Electrek, “General Motors has filed a trademark for a vehicle called ‘E-Ray’ — hinting at a possible electric Corvette. Over the last year, GM has already announced a lineup of 12 new electric vehicles across all its brands. With supercars going electric at a fast rate, you would think that the automaker would have launched an electric program for the Chevy Corvette, but it is nowhere to be seen in GM’s official electric lineup. But now we might get an early indication that it could still be in the plans. GM has filed a trademark application for the mark ‘E-Ray’ in the ‘motor land vehicle’ category: ‘E-Ray’ might a be a play on ‘Stingray’ — nameplate of several versions of Chevy’s flagship sports car. While GM is taking its time bringing an electric version of the Corvette to market, another company is beating it to the punch. Genovation has been working on its own electric Corvette since 2016 and recently, it broke the electric top speed record at 211.8 mph (340.85 km/h) with a prototype. Talk of Electric Corvettes exploded with US Democratic Presidential nominee and former VP Joe Biden saying ‘they’re telling me that they are making an electric Corvette that can go 200mph’. earlier this week. Electrek’s Take I am a giant fan of the design of late 60s and early 70s Corvettes. It is a dream of mine to eventually convert one to electric, but that’s for another time. The designs of the following decades weren’t really attractive to me up until the latest generation of the Stingray (pictured above). I think they hit the mark and caught up to the times with that one. Hopefully, they now do the same with the powertrain technology and finally go electric.” [Electrek, 8/13/20 (=)]

Electric Vehicle Company Lucid Plans SUV, Maybe A Pickup, To Follow Sedan. According to Driving, “California-based electric vehicle company Lucid is planning an SUV to go along with its upcoming Air sedan, and beyond that, a pickup truck isn’t out of the question. Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson also told Green Car Reports that while he expects to eventually offer a full lineup of plug-in vehicles, he has no plans to manufacture them for other companies to market as their own. The company initially planned to debut the Lucid Air at the New York Auto Show in April, but that event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The wraps will now come off in a global online reveal in September. Development briefly ceased due to the pandemic, but in June, Lucid reported its 1,000-plus employees were returning to work in stages, as local and state regulations allowed. Lucid was founded in 2007 as Atieva and initially focused on battery technology, but changed its name in 2016 and announced its intention to build cars. Two years later, it received more than US$1 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment fund. The company is building a factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, which it said is the only facility in the U.S. purpose-built for electric vehicle production. Rawlinson said the factory is being built in the record time of eight months from ‘a piece of dirt’ to a pilot production line that will be installed this month. The first Lucid Air models are planned for delivery in the spring of 2021. The company recently announced the Air’s range will be 832 kilometres on a single charge, topping the longest-range Tesla Model S or Porsche Taycan by more than 160 kilometres. Rawlinson, who was promoted to CEO in 2019, had been chief engineer on the Model S.” [Driving, 8/13/20 (=)]

Volkswagen Expanding Chattanooga Plant To Engineer Electric Vehicle Cells, Battery Packs. According to WRCB-TV, “Volkswagen announced an expansion of the Chattanooga plant to engineer battery cells and packs for electric vehicles. The company said the Chattanooga plant will soon feature a lab for developing and testing electric vehicle cells and battery packs for upcoming models assembled in the United States. ‘There are two ways that auto companies approach the development of electric vehicle batteries,’ Wolfgang Maluche, VP of Engineering at Volkswagen of America, said. ‘A lot of them will farm out the development and testing of batteries to another company, and some will actually do the work of developing and testing in-house. We are doing the latter.’ Construction on the lab is expected to start soon, with the goal of being fully-functional by spring 2021.” [WRCB-TV, 8/16/20 (=)]

VW Is Going To Develop Battery Cells For Electric Cars In The US. According to Electrek, “Volkswagen announced plans to add electric vehicle engineering at its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The German automaker mentioned plans to develop cells and battery packs at the US plant. The German automaker has been hard at work developing its next-generation electric cars based on its MEB platform. Much of the work happened in Germany, where VW already converted a factory to electric vehicle production. By 2022, they plan to bring their MEB electric vehicles to the US and produce them there. Now they are also building a new electric vehicle factory next to their existing plant in Chattanooga. The German company is now announcing that it will also engineer EVs in the country. Volkswagen announced a new Engineering and Planning Center in Chattanooga that will ‘develop and test electric vehicle cells and battery packs’: To power those efforts, Volkswagen’s Engineering and Planning Center in Chattanooga will soon feature a unique, state-of-the-art high-voltage laboratory designed to develop and test electric vehicle cells and battery packs for upcoming models assembled in the United States. Wolfgang Maluche, vice president of engineering at Volkswagen of America, said: There are two ways that auto companies approach the development of electric vehicle batteries. A lot of them will farm out the development and testing of batteries to another company, and some will actually do the work of developing and testing in-house. We are doing the latter. VW said that they will break ground ‘soon,’ and that the new lab will be ‘fully operational by spring 2021.’ It is being built alongside VW’s electric vehicle factory at the site.” [Electrek, 8/13/20 (=)]

Electric Vehicles

Xcel Energy Unveils Plan To Serve 1.5M EVs By 2030. According to Utility Dive, “Xcel is planning to deliver 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050, and says its cleaner mix of generation paired with expanded EV adoption will result in significant customer savings and carbon reductions. By 2030, the utility expects customers will pay $700 less per year to drive an EV than to fuel a gas-powered car. ‘Electric vehicles are the next frontier in the clean energy transition,’ Xcel Chairman and CEO Ben Fowke said in a statement. ‘We have substantial plans in place in the states we serve, and we can expand on this with partnership and support from policymakers, regulators, customers, automakers and our communities.’ The plan will result in $1 billion in annual customer fuel savings, through a mix of residential charging, increased access to public electric transportation and charging, and faster fleet electrification, according to the utility. Xcel anticipates 1.5 million EVs to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 5 million tons annually in the next decade — about three tons of carbon reduction per vehicle. The company says EVs charged on its system will have 80% lower carbon emissions than gas-powered cars by 2030. Along with enabling greater EV use by its customers, Xcel plans to make changes in its own operations: the utility will electrify all of its sedans by 2023 and light-duty vehicles by 2030, and 30% of its medium- and heavy-duty vehicles will be electrified by 2030. While sales of electric vehicles have slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still optimism for the long-term outlook. Global EV sales are expected to drop 43% this year, according to Wood Mackenzie.” [Utility Dive, 8/13/20 (=)]

CATL Hints At Cell-To-Chassis EV Batteries For 500+ Miles Of Range. According to Inside EVs, “The Chinese lithium-ion battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) announced that is working on a new approach to further increase the energy density of battery systems and as a result, the range of electric vehicles will go beyond 800 km (500 miles). The initial approach was to produce battery cells, combine multiple cells into modules, and multiple modules into packs. Some bigger EVs may have multiple packs as well, but in electric cars there is usually a single battery pack. The newer Cell-To-Pack (CTP) approach (already used by CATL and BYD for LFP chemistry) was to make a specific type of cells, to skip the module stage, and make packs directly from the cells. It saves space, and also weight. BYD Blade Batteries have about 50% higher volumetric energy density compared to a conventional LFP. The next step may be the integration of the battery with the vehicle on a deeper level in a Cell-To-Chassis (CTC) approach, which skips not only modules but also the independent pack unit. As we understand, the cells to be directly integrated within the vehicle chassis/frame. The obvious advantage should be higher energy density and maybe also cost, although there may be some drawbacks, as it will be difficult to service the battery (no option to replace faulty modules). To use CTC, the vehicle manufacturer will have to design a modified version of the chassis/frame, in which the cells would be inserted and integrated with BMS and thermal management system. We look forward to hearing whether there are automakers interested in the CTC.” [Inside EVs, 8/13/20 (=)]

4 Remarkable Elements Of The All-Electric Polestar 2. According to Forbes, “Polestar may be a young brand, but its direction is clear: be the ‘guiding star’ for the Volvo and Geely Car Groups when it comes to technology, performance, and sustainability. Just last year, its debut car, the hybrid-electric two-door Polestar 1, began its initial production run to satisfy approximately 150 pre-orders. Deliveries are now underway, but Polestar - naturally - is already sailing forth towards its next phase, the all-electric five-door fastback Polestar 2. This car brings Polestar’s future into sharper focus, eschewing any further need for internal combustion elements and presenting an evolving design aesthetic that distinguishes itself from sibling brand Volvo, yet still clearly retaining the dominant family traits. I recently had some time with the car and here are four things about the Polestar 2 that stand out. The Interior Possibly the most intriguing element of the Polestar 2 is the interior cabin. True to the brand’s overall minimalist aesthetic, the Polestar 2’s cockpit is very understated, eliminating buttons for functions that could be placed in a touch-screen menu, and leaving only the bare essentials. Other car cabin fixtures like stereo system speakers are hidden away within panels and even the central HVAC vents have been tucked out of view. What buttons remain are either on the steering wheel or just above the drive select shift knob, while the rest live within the 11.15-inch tablet on the center console. The streamlined interior also benefits from seats and surfaces swathed in WeaveTech fabric, a durable material that’s usually used for outdoor gear.” [Forbes, 8/13/20 (=)]

California Startup Aims To Tackle Battery Degradation In Electric Cars. According to Reuters, “Lithium-ion batteries are essential to electric vehicles, but they have drawbacks: They are hard to make and degrade over time. A San Leandro, California-based start-up on Thursday said it had raised $4 million in funding and is working with German chemical giant BASF SE on a new technology to tackle those problems, aiming one day to reduce the cost of lithium ion batteries while boosting their capacities and extending their lifetimes. Coreshell Technologies makes a coating that would go directly onto the surface of the electrodes in lithium-ion batteries. To produce power, lithium ions move back and forth between electrodes inside the battery. But as they pass through layers, some of the lithium gets stuck, both depleting it and making it harder for remaining ions to move back and forth. Coreshell said its coating allows the lithium to pass through more easily and without getting stuck, which speeds up the break-in process during battery manufacturing, allows less lithium to be used and could mean longer battery life. But the key advance, the company’s founders said, was figuring out how to apply the coating in a liquid form as the electrode layers are manufactured on ‘roll-to-roll’ machinery that resembles a newspaper printing press. ‘It has to fit into that style of processing’ to be economically feasible, said Jonathan Tan, the company’s CEO and co-founder. ‘And that’s not something that anyone has been able to do before with these coatings.’ Coreshell is working with BASF, a major supplier of high energy density cathode active materials in batteries, to test its coatings with BASF materials. A BASF spokeswoman said Coreshell’s coatings have demonstrated performance improvements over standard materials.” [Reuters, 8/14/20 (=)]

Xcel Aims For 20% Electric Vehicles By 2030. According to WXOW, “Xcel Energy is working to get 1.5 million electric vehicles on the road in the next 10 years, helping both the environment and your wallet. Xcel announced its new electric vehicle vision Wednesday to have 20% of vehicles in the communities it serves be electric by 2030. Xcel officials said by going electric, carbon emissions can be reduced up to five million tons per year by 2030, an 80% drop in emissions for each vehicle. They said you could also see $700 dollars in fuel savings every year. ‘Customers save a lot of money by reducing their overall cost for gasoline,’ said Brian Elwood, general manager of customer and community service. ‘We see it as a real savings for customers, particularly customers who can benefit from some of the advantages of owning an electric vehicle.’ Elwood said by charging up at certain times of the day, you could power an electric vehicle at a cost equivalent to 70 cents per gallon of gasoline. Xcel officials hope to invest $300 million to encourage people to make the switch, by increasing access to charging, and through special programs and partnerships. For instance, Elwood said the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin plans to roll out a program this year to significantly reduce the cost of installing vehicle charging stations for homes and businesses.” [WXOW, 8/13/20 (=)]

International

Daimler Reaches Deals To Settle U.S. Diesel Emissions Claims. According to E&E News, “Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, says it has reached agreements in principle to settle U.S. claims over emissions from its diesel vehicles for over $2.2 billion. The Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker said late Thursday that the agreements with various U.S. authorities concern civil and environmental claims involving about 250,000 diesel cars and vans. The company said the civil cases related to a consumer class action lawsuit pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Daimler said in a statement that the settlement with governments will result in costs of about $1.5 billion, while the civil settlement will bring a one-off charge of about $700 million. It estimated that ‘further expenses of a mid three-digit-million’ euros would be required to fulfill requirements of the settlements. The deal with the U.S. governments apparently will settle probes by the Justice Department, EPA, Customs and Border Protection, and the California attorney general and Air Resources Board. The government agreement will be detailed in consent decrees, which will be filed with a U.S. district court in the coming weeks, Daimler’s statement said. EPA deferred comment to the Justice Department, where a message was left Thursday. CARB said it can’t give more details until the consent decrees are filed in mid-September.” [E&E News, 8/17/20 (=)]

Europe Electric-Car Subsidies Have Market Exceeding China Sales. According to Bloomberg, “Western Europe’s electric-vehicle sales pulled ahead of China’s last month after countries including Germany and France boosted government subsidies to stimulate demand that had been decimated by the pandemic. The roughly 500,000 plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles registered in Europe during the first seven months of the year exceeded China’s sales by about 14,000 units, according to a report from Matthias Schmidt, an independent auto analyst in Berlin. In addition to helping automakers recover from the coronavirus, government incentives are assisting manufacturers’ efforts to meet tougher emissions standards. Europe probably will exceed 1 million sales of plug-in hybrid and electric-vehicles this year, Schmidt said, as Tesla Inc. makes more cars available in the region and Volkswagen AG ramps up deliveries of its battery-powered ID.3. Read more: Europe Gains Ground in Global Race to Sell Electric Cars While China’s auto market has been recovering, the government is reducing subsidies that have supported new-energy vehicle sales to encourage automakers to compete on their own.” [Bloomberg, 8/13/20 (=)]

Opinion Pieces

Analysis: America’s Clean Energy Transition Demands A Mining Boom. According to Jude Clemente in Forbes, “‘The COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed attention to the fact that our nation is heavily dependent on imports for a wide array of goods and technologies that are essential to our health, economy, and security. We need to reverse our damaging dependence on China and other nations and rebuild domestic supply chains for everything from personal protective equipment to clean energy technologies,’ U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), sponsor of the American Mineral Security Act, July 27, 2020 In what should be America’s biggest ‘it’s time to wake up’ moment for 2020: ‘DHS report: China hid coronavirus’ severity in order to hoard medical supplies,’ NBC News, May 4, 2020 Specifically, this relates to the ongoing transition to a far less carbonized energy complex. As America stands today, we are unwisely laying the foundation for another huge energy problem: over relying on outsiders for the essential components of the energy world of tomorrow. This would be our growing need to import the various rare earth minerals and other materials that are essential to the development of cleaner sources of energy. These vital natural resources are used to manufacture windmills, solar panels, and electric car batteries, not to mention many of them are used in oil and gas technologies, medical equipment, computers, cellphones, and even military and national defense systems. After an Executive Order by President Trump in 2018, the Interior Department released a list of 35 minerals the administration considers to be ‘critical.’ The U.S. is fully dependent on imports for 14 of them, and imports 75% of its supplies of another 10 or more. As stated by the great Mark P. Mills: ‘As recently as 1990, the U.S. was the world’s number-one producer of minerals. Today, it is in seventh place.’” [Forbes, 8/13/20 (=)]