Clean Car Standards

Trump Got Several Things Wrong At Michigan Rally: Here's Our Fact Check. According to the Detroit Free Press, “President Donald Trump’s claims at a rally in mid-Michigan on Thursday that he has brought a lot of auto plants to the state isn’t the only thing he got wrong. He also made several claims regarding the polls, fuel economy standards and development in the suburbs that were off-base or exaggerated to say the least. On Friday, the Free Press — which a day earlier reported on Trump’s wildly inaccurate claims of having revitalized an auto industry that actually saw jobs decrease in Michigan even prior to COVID-19 hitting — went back and looked at some other claims. Here’s what we found about his claims: […] Fuel economy standards On mileage standards, Trump said his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, supported ‘outrageous fuel economy standards that have hammered the auto industry and I reversed them.’ He’s correct that Biden supported the standards. But those standards, which were first announced in 2009 and set increased mile-per-gallon targets for automakers’ fleets, were in place for seven years of consistent growth in U.S. auto sales. And while automakers, noting a trend toward higher sales of SUVs and other lower-mileage vehicles, wanted revisions by 2016 that the Obama administration declined to make, several companies have said they want higher targets to continue at some level. Ford Motor Co. and some other automakers have even agreed with California — which, along with other states, is suing the Trump administration over its attempt to weaken those rules — to voluntarily keep improving fuel standards ‘at about the same rate as the former Obama-era program.’” [Detroit Free Press, 9/11/20 (+)]

Op-Ed: Greater Clean-Car Standards Vital For Nevada. According to an op-ed by Jasmin Vazin in the Las Vegas Sun, “Nevada is on the front lines of the climate crisis with two of the fastest warming cities, Las Vegas and Reno, in the nation. Each year, extreme heat events — a series of unusually hot days — happen more frequently and for longer in our state. Heat is the single deadliest climate-related disaster in our nation, and the heat waves we’re experiencing here at home are a direct threat to the safety and security of Nevadans — now and for decades to come. The impacts of climate change are being felt right now, especially by our most vulnerable. Our neighborhoods are getting hotter and more unbearable, and a history of oppressive redlining, loan blocking, and lack of resources from local governments has left communities of color — with more pavement and less trees than white neighborhoods — hit by the urban island heat effect the hardest. If we don’t act, intertwining social and environmental crises will continue to exacerbate existing inequities and hurt Nevadans. As an organizer working around transportation and climate change in Nevada, I have been able to see the impacts of climate change on the ground. I work with parents whose children are suffering from severe asthma made worse by our current air quality crisis, public transit users who have to stand at unshaded bus stops in 115-degree heat just to get to work or buy groceries, and families who have lived through this summer’s record-breaking heat wave in Las Vegas. The impacts of climate change are happening here now, and how we rise to this occasion will dictate the future of life in Nevada. Nevadans have a choice to make. Do we want to stave off ever increasing heat waves by launching climate action?” [Las Vegas Sun, 9/12/20 (+)]

States

Madison To Receive $7.5M Grant From VW Cheating Settlement For New Diesel Buses. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, “For the second time in two years the city of Madison is planning to use money from the Volkswagen emissions cheating settlement fund to buy diesel-powered buses. The city is in line to receive $7.5 million from the state-administered fund as part of a second round of transit capital grants announced Wednesday by Gov. Tony Evers’ administration. The funds will offset the cost to replace 15 buses with an average of more than 430,000 miles on the odometer. The city will repay 75% of the funds — roughly $5.6 million — through reductions in state aid. According to the city’s application, the new ‘clean diesel’ buses will burn low-sulfur diesel and ‘virtually eliminate’ nitrogen oxide and small particle emissions that are associated with asthma, heart disease and cancer. But they will also be a source of carbon dioxide and will likely remain on the road well past 2030, the target date for slashing half the city’s carbon emissions in the city’s sustainability plan. While acknowledging the benefits of public transit, environmental advocates say the funds would be better used to promote electric vehicles, which are seen as key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. ‘Just because of the future proofing,’ said Jane McCurry, director of the electric vehicles program at Renew Wisconsin. ‘If we’re making investments today in vehicles that will still be running 15 years from now … we need to start investing in electric transportation now.’ Metro Transit spokesman Mick Rusch said the city is committed to replacing half of its 219 diesel buses with electric models by 2030, and the first three are expected to arrive later this year.” [Wisconsin State Journal, 9/14/20 (=)]

Connecticut Weighs Options For Making Electric Vehicle Rebates More Equitable. According to Connecticut Public Radio, “The new board overseeing Connecticut’s electric vehicle rebate program is grappling with how best to restructure the program to incorporate used vehicles and attract more low- to moderate-income purchasers. A proposal under consideration maintains the current point-of-sale rebates of $1,500 for new electric vehicles with a battery range of more than 200 miles, and $500 for all others. For the first time, a supplemental rebate of $1,500 to $2,000 would be available to income-eligible households. But many of the 100-plus public comments submitted last month in response to that proposal argued that the base rebate amounts are too low, especially as compared to neighboring states. ‘They’re terrible,’ said Barry Kresch, one of the leaders of the EV Club of Connecticut. Those levels have been in place since last October, when funding for the program, called the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate Program, or CHEAPR, was running low. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection decided to lower the rebates to stretch out the funding until 2020. Kresch, citing figures from the CHEAPR statistics page, said the reductions had a chilling effect on program participation. In the four months prior to the reduction, 616 rebates were issued. In the four months following, the number dropped off to 274. The $1,500 max is well below that of New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, which offer new vehicle rebates ranging from $2,000 to $5,000, according to comments submitted by the Sierra Club’s Washington, D.C., office.” [Connecticut Public Radio, 9/13/20 (=)]

NJ Electric Vehicle Rebate In Danger Because Of COVID-19 Budget Woes. According to NJ 101.5, “Because of the huge state revenue gap caused by the novel-coronavirus shutdown earlier this year, funding for a program to encourage New Jersey residents to buy electric vehicles has been slashed. This past January, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a clean energy measure that offered $5,000 rebates to people buying new zero-emission cars. But the $30 million program has been cut by $16 million. Doug O’Malley, the director of Environment New Jersey and president of ChargEVC, an electric vehicle coalition, said the most important thing that needs to happen right now ‘is for the administration to maintain the level of EV rebates going into this next fiscal year.’ He said he’s still hopeful the final budget that must be adopted by the end of September will include funding for the rebate program. ‘What we don’t want to do is we don’t want people to think there’s a rebate program, apply for it and then not be able to get it,’ he said. He said even during the difficult times created by the pandemic, ‘we need to make sure that we’re getting more electric vehicles on the road, because that’s one of the best strategies to clean up our air, because electric vehicles are the best way to reduce air pollution.’ He said right now there are about 30,000 electric vehicles on the road in Jersey, but ‘we need to be bumping up those numbers because of the Clean Cars mandate to more than 300,000 electric vehicles by 2025.’ New Jersey joined the Clean Cars program, which started in California, more than 15 years ago. Since then more than a dozen other states have signed onto it, pledging to increase the number of electric vehicles on their roadways by the 2025 target. O’Malley is convinced the electric vehicle market is evolving and on the brink of taking off.” [NJ 101.5, 9/11/20 (=)]

Congress

House Sets Vote On Bill To Encourage Federal EV Use. According to E&E News, “The House is poised to pass noncontroversial legislation meant to promote the use of electric vehicles this week. The chamber will consider H.R. 8191, the ‘Charging Helps Agencies Realize General Efficiencies (CHARGE) Act,’ under suspension of the rules. The legislation from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) would require the head of the General Services Administration to issue guidance clarifying that federal agencies may pay by charge card for the charging of federal electric vehicles. The bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by Ohio Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. Suspension of rules is a procedure that generally allows for quick passage of noncontroversial measures with no amendment and little debate. The Government Accountability Office found in a report last year that some federal agencies have been reluctant to purchase EVs because of concerns about costs and charging infrastructure (Greenwire, Aug. 27, 2019).” [E&E News, 9/14/20 (=)]

Auto Manufacturers

VW Hands Over First ID.3 Electric Car In Germany. According to Electrive, “The first VW ID.3 delivery in Germany is done as Volkswagen hands over the 1ST Edition model made in its ‘Transparent Factory’ in the city of Dresden. Volkswagen’s first electric car now handed over is a white ID.3. As all vehicles delivered so far, it is an ID.3 1ST Edition featuring a 58 kWh battery for a range of 420 kilometres, according to WLTP standard. First-time customer Oliver Nicolai described it as ‘a great feeling to be one of the first to drive this car’. The ID.3 Pro 1ST Edition starts at prices from 39,995 euros before the German environmental bonus, the two other trims available call for €45,995 (Pro 1st Plus) and €49,995 (Pro 1st Max). The regular ID.3 (the 1ST Edition is, as is generally known, only intended for pre-orderers) currently starts at around €35,600. The entry-level model Pure with the smallest battery for less than €30,000 should ‘be available for order in a few months,’ according to a statement VW made in July. On the occasion of the first hand-over, VW stated that binding contracts had already concluded for more than 25,000 of the 30,000 units of the ID.3 1ST. The brand said they’ve received over 7,000 orders from Germany and the Netherlands each, closely followed by Norway and Sweden. After the first delivery in Dresden, customers at the ‘Autostadt’ headquarters and other VW dealerships will also receive their electric vehicles on pre-order. According to Volkswagen, they scheduled 40 deliveries this weekend in Wolfsburg alone. Sales Director Jürgen Stackmann was on site, although this may be his last public appearance as VW will appoint his successor in October.” [Electrive, 9/11/20 (=)]

Elon Musk Blasted Fellow Billionaire Bill Gates, Saying He's Clueless About Electric Trucks. According to Business Insider, “Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticized his fellow billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates over his views on the viability of bigger electric vehicles. Asked by a Twitter user on Saturday what he thought of Gates’ views, Musk responded: ‘He has no clue.’ Gates outlined his thoughts on electric vehicles in an August 24 blog post, writing that ‘better and cheaper batteries ... will hopefully make EVs a realistic option for every car owner.’ But he cast doubt on whether current or even future battery tech could ramp up to power larger vehicles. Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, wrote: ‘Even with big breakthroughs in battery technology, electric vehicles will probably never be a practical solution for things like 18-wheelers, cargo ships, and passenger jets. Electricity works when you need to cover short distances, but we need a different solution for heavy, long-haul vehicles.’ Gates continued that alternative fuels such as biofuels or electrofuels could be better, greener way to power bigger vehicles like trucks. Batteries, he said, are too big and heavy for longer distances. Gates also praised several vehicle makers for producing all-electric pickup trucks, such as GM, Ford, Rivian, and Bollinger, but failed to mention Tesla, the maker of the Cybertruck pickup. Musk’s firm also happens to be working on an electric truck. The Tesla Semi was unveiled in 2017 and was slated to be shipped to customers in 2019. But the vehicle is two years behind schedule, with Tesla now expecting to get the vehicle to owners in 2021.” [Business Insider, 9/13/20 (=)]

Tesla To Export Model 3 Made-In-China Cars, Something Elon Musk Said They Wouldn’t Do. According to Electrek, “Tesla is preparing to export its made-in-China Model 3 cars to Europe and other markets, according to two new reports, despite Elon Musk saying that Tesla wasn’t going to do just that. When Tesla started building its Gigafactory in Shanghai, in an attempt to reassure people that the automaker wasn’t just shifting production capacity to China, CEO Elon Musk was adamant that it was to supply local demand in China and not to export to other markets. The optics were very important since the factory was announced amid the peak of the trade war between the US and China. At one point, the CEO was even saying that higher-end Model 3 and Model Y vehicles for the Chinese market would still be produced in the US, and the Chinese factory would only produce ‘affordable versions’ of the Model 3 and Model Y for local demand in greater China: Those plans already changed since amid the pandemic and the closure of its factory in California, Tesla started producing the higher-end version of Model 3 in China and hasn’t stopped after reopening its Fremont Factory. Now we learn that Tesla also plans to start exporting made-in-China Model 3 vehicles to other markets including in Europe. Bloomberg reports: China-built Tesla Model 3s intended for delivery outside the country will likely start mass production in the fourth quarter, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.” [Electrek, 9/11/20 (=)]

Nikola Fraud Accusations Rattle EV Truck Investors. According to E&E News, “A report accusing electric truck startup Nikola Corp. of fraud has set off a firestorm of counteraccusations, threats of legal action and wild stock price swings. Concern about how it all shakes out could spread to the wider field of aspiring electric vehicle makers, including General Motors Co. Nikola, based in Phoenix, has been considered a rising star in a newly crowded field of battery-electric and fuel cell-powered trucks. It started last week with a big splash after announcing GM had agreed to a $2 billion stake in the company, including access to GM’s engineering and manufacturing muscle (Energywire, Sept. 9). Nikola has never sold a vehicle, but it has struck deals to supply thousands of zero-emissions trucks for companies like Anheuser-Busch Cos. LLC and waste management firm Republic Services Inc. Then, in a report published Thursday, a New York-based financial research firm excoriated the company and its executive chairman, Trevor Milton, alleging they had repeatedly used elaborate staging to mislead the public, investors and company partners about the capabilities of Nikola’s prototypes. Nikola is ‘an intricate fraud built on dozens of lies,’ wrote the firm, Hindenburg Research. Hindenburg alleges Milton had falsely branded a natural gas truck as ‘zero-emissions,’ claimed the prototype of its Nikola One hydrogen-powered semitruck was ‘fully functional’ when it was not, and unveiled videos of the truck ‘in motion’ while, according to Hindenburg’s research, neglecting to mention it was simply rolling down a hill. Similar assertions were originally made by a Bloomberg News article in June.” [E&E News, 9/14/20 (=)]

Nikola's GM Honeymoon Interrupted. According to Axios, “From the life-comes-at-you-fast files: The EV startup Nikola Corp.’s stock fell Thursday after a financial research firm published a report claiming the electric and fuel cell truck startup is an ‘intricate fraud.’ Catch up quick: It comes just two days after Nikola’s shares jumped on the news that GM is taking an 11% stake in the company, is engineering and building its Badger pickup, and will supply key battery and fuel cell tech. Driving the news: Hindenburg Research alleges Nikola has made a series of deceptive statements. They include falsely claiming to possess proprietary tech, and releasing deceptive video of the Nikola One semitruck in operation. ‘Nikola had the truck towed to the top of a hill on a remote stretch of road and simply filmed it rolling down the hill,’ the report states. CNET has much more on Hindenburg’s allegations here. Of note: Hindenburg is short Nikola — that is, they make money when the share price falls. Threat level: If some of the claims prove true, it could slow the rush of capital into unproven EV startups, especially via deals to take them public via mergers with special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. These SPAC deals are all the rage lately. It’s how Nikola went public in June, and EV startups Canoo, Lordstown Motors and Fisker have all announced SPAC deals in recent weeks. Quick take: Axios chief financial correspondent Felix Salmon says the Nikola flap could cast a pall over SPAC deals more broadly. ‘SPACs have historically been viewed as a bit shady,’ he says, pointing to a reputation they have recently been shedding.” [Axios, 9/11/20 (=)]

Electric Vehicles

Electric Cars Grow In Popularity, But Obstacles Remain For Electric Trucks. According to Yale Climate Connections, “Seeing an electric car is no longer unusual. But trucks – from tractor-trailers to delivery vehicles – are another story. ‘Electric trucks are not widespread at all,’ says consultant David Gardiner, whose firm is part of a joint initiative that’s assessing the market for electric trucks. He says there are obstacles to widespread use. Despite the falling price of batteries, electric trucks cost more up front. And they have to be recharged often, which can be a barrier to using them for long hauls. ‘Now the good news is that 80% of trucking in the United States is less than 250 miles,’ Gardiner says. ‘There’s a lot more trucking that happens that’s, frankly, pretty short range, which is good news for the potential for electric vehicles.’ And he says companies are eager to go electric to meet climate goals and save money on fuel. ‘You should also have lower maintenance costs because there are just simply fewer moving parts in an electric engine,’ Gardiner says. So he says offering government incentives to reduce the up-front costs and adding charging stations could help get more electric trucks on the road. ‘If we do some smart things in the course of the next couple of years, there’s a big opportunity for carbon reductions here,’ he says. ‘And that’s an exciting opportunity.’” [Yale Climate Connections, 9/14/20 (=)]

U.S. Automakers Ready For A Quick Pivot To Electric Vehicles. According to Triple Pundit, “The trend toward electric vehicles (EVs) has been a slow one, partly because the new technology poses a major challenge to the Big Three U.S. automakers. Unlike Tesla and other new startups, these legacy manufacturers have to reshape and retool existing assets in order pivot to zero-emission mobility. Intuitively, this reality puts them at a disadvantage - or maybe not, based on recent developments. Fiat figures on cracking the U.S. electric vehicles market A hint of things to come occurred back in 2009, when Ford, Chrysler and General Motors were buckling under the weight of the 2008 financial crisis. As part of the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, Fiat began acquiring shares in Chrysler. Fiat also began integrating its sustainability culture within Chrysler as well. Somewhat ironically, Chrysler had previously manufactured a few dozen electric minivans back in the 1990’s, but that effort soon fell flat. By the time Fiat began buying up shares, Chrysler had long abandoned the idea of electric vehicles. That changed after 2014, when Fiat achieved majority shareholder status. As Fiat Chrysler, the company redoubled its focus on sustainability. That includes a renewed push for electric vehicles. Just last week, Fiat Chrysler introduced a hybrid version of its iconic Jeep Wrangler for the U.S. market, with plans to reintroduce the brand, in addition to more plans for electrification to come. Ford explores a partnership with Rivian for all-electric pickup trucks Ford has also reached outside of its own in-house operations to accelerate its electric vehicles profile. The company had previously focused its electrification strategy on sedans and hybrids.” [Triple Pundit, 9/14/20 (=)]

Lewis Hamilton Is Driving The Transition To Electric Cars. According to Clean Technica, “Lewis Hamilton may go down in history as the greatest racing driver of all time. He has eclipsed every other driver except Michael Schumacher in terms of the number of world driving championships won, races won, pole positions achieved, podium appearances, and (probably) the most money ever earned by a racing driver. By the time the current season is over in December, any records left for Hamilton to break will probably be in his rear view mirror. A man with that much cash in the bank can afford to own any car in the world and Hamilton owns quite a few. According to Autoblog, his garages is stuffed full of exotic cars like a Ferrari LaFerrari, a Pagani Zonda, a McLaren P1, and an original Shelby Cobra from the 1960s. But he tells Autoblog, ‘I don’t drive any of the cars that I own anymore. I only drive my (electric Mercedes) EQC.’ Hamilton has made a big commitment to the EV revolution. He owns a team that will compete in the Extreme E off-road racing series for electric cars, which will hold its first events next year. He says he was impressed by Extreme E’s aims and goals, with include each team having at least one female driver. The races will be held in remote and often harsh environments including the Brazilian rain forest, Greenland, Saudi Arabian deserts and mountains of Nepal to highlight global warming. There will be no spectators allowed along the routes but the races will be broadcast on TV and social media. The cars with all their support staff will be transported around the world on a boat that doubles as a floating paddock. According to the Extreme E website, the bespoke vehicle for its events will be the Odyssey 21, a battery electric vehicle boasting 400 kW (550 hp) of power and capable of sprinting to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds and climbing 130% grades.” [Clean Technica, 9/13/20 (=)]

Tesla Bug Allows Other Electric Cars To Charge For Free At New Superchargers. According to Electrek, “Non-Tesla electric car owners were surprised to find out that they can charge, technically for free, at new V3 Superchargers in Europe, where Tesla now uses the common CCS standard. It appears to be a bug and not a feature, though. With the launch of the Model 3 and its Supercharger V3 in Europe, Tesla switched its main charging standard to CCS. While most other electric cars on the road use the same standard and connector, it didn’t mean that other EVs were able to use Tesla’s extensive Supercharger network. Tesla vehicles still have to do a software ‘handshake’ with the Supercharger before it can start charging. This handshake also handles the cost of charging to be linked to the driver’s Tesla account. However, several reports are currently coming out showing that virtually any other electric vehicle with CCS can charge on Tesla’s new CCS V3 Supercharger in Europe. Electric vehicle rental company Nextmove tested it out with several other EVs: They managed to test it with a long list of electric vehicles, including with the ID.3, and it seems to work with all of them: VW e-Golf VW ID.3 BMW i3 Opel Ampera-e (Chevy Bolt EV) Hyundai Kona Electric Hyundai IONIQ Electric Renault Zoe Porsche Taycan. This is most likely a bug and not a feature since without a link to a Tesla account, Tesla is delivering those charges for free right now. At this point, the leading theory is that there’s a bug in Tesla’s V3 handshake that releases the charge even if it doesn’t detect the vehicle as a Tesla car.” [Electrek, 9/12/20 (=)]

Pandemic Idles America's Public Chargers — Report. According to E&E News, “The stay-at-home world of the coronavirus has led most electric vehicle drivers to sharply curtail their use of public charging stations, according to a new study. Researchers at PlugShare, a company best known for its app that locates charging stations on the road, found that 53% of drivers are charging less at public chargers than they did before the pandemic, based on a poll of 927 EV drivers conducted over Labor Day weekend. Of those who reported relying less on public chargers, the majority of respondents said their usage was down by a startling 67%. The survey results, however, were disputed by the experience of one major charging network, EVgo, which claims it has seen usage rebound almost to pre-COVID-19 levels. Idled chargers don’t mean that new ones aren’t being built. Industry sources said that deals to construct new charging infrastructure — necessary to fuel a coming wave of new EV models and to combat climate change — are brisk despite the pandemic. The idling of chargers mostly seems to be a result of less driving. Almost three-quarters of drivers, 74%, said they were behind the wheel less overall, PlugShare found, and the number who drive to work daily has dived from 60% to 30%. The decline mirrors the drop in the use of gasoline, which is a crucial benchmark for the economy since so many more people drive gas-powered cars. Gasoline retail sales have risen only slightly since the depth of the coronavirus shutdowns in spring. After hitting an all-time low of just over 12 million gallons a day in April, the number stood at just over 19 million gallons a day in June, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.” [E&E News, 9/14/20 (=)]

Research and Analysis

Volkswagen To Slash Shipping Emissions. Electrify America Debuts Home Charging Portal. According to Clean Technica, “As part of its commitment to building zero emissions cars, Volkswagen is working to cut emissions from its manufacturing and distribution activities. It plans to be carbon neutral in all its operations worldwide by 2050, which includes using more renewable energy at its manufacturing facilities and slashing carbon emission in the transportation network it uses to get its cars and trucks to market. Recently, it completed the first shipment of cars to North America aboard a ship that uses compressed natural gas for fuel instead of oil. Volkswagen has placed two of those vessels into service to ferry its cars to market. The LNG powered vessels have 25% lower carbon emissions, 30% less nitrogen oxide emissions, 60% fewer fine particulates, and no sulfur oxide emissions. In Europe, Volkswagen relies on trains to bring raw materials to its factories and to distribute finished vehicles to its customers. On average, 38 long distance and 157 local trains a day deliver materials to its factories and transport finished vehicles to 40 interim storage facilities, distribution centers and ports. Volkswagen Group announced this week all trains operated for the company by Deutsche Bahn within Germany will use only renewable electricity as of January, 2021. This will eliminate 26,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year compared to the conventional electricity mix. In addition, Volkswagen will increase vehicle transportation by train from 53% today to 60% by 2022.” [Clean Technica, 9/13/20 (=)]

Resurrecting A Vintage Electric Vehicle Is Hard. According to The Drive, “If there’s one sign of how far electric vehicles have come over the past few decade, it’s Duff Beer Racing’s resurrection of a classic 1980s Jet Electrica 007 EV. It’s a Dodge Omni, except Jet provided its state-of-the-oil-crisis electric motors and batteries to power it. Early electric vehicles were mostly meant to be city cars with relatively short ranges and low speeds. The point in the seventies and eighties was more to be efficient transportation in the aftermath of an unstable oil market, not to dominate the drag strip or wow people with range. So, of course the Duff Beer Racing crew made their early eighties EV into a road-legal endurance race car—and they’re not afraid to take long trips with it, even if those turn into a scenic tour of public charging stations. Tesla won’t be the first electric vehicle company to set up shop in Austin. Before them, there was Jet Industries, which decided to branch out from its usual electric work vans into street cars. According the 24 Hours of Lemons, Jet based its roadgoing EVs off of complete Ford Escorts and Dodge Omni 024s/Plymouth Horizon TC3s (hooray badge engineering!) purchased sans engines. In went stiffer rear suspensions, a series of batteries, an EV1 controller and a 23-horsepower electric forklift motor, but it kept the transmission, which in the Omni-based Electricas was a Volkswagen four-speed transaxle. The top speed? Roughly 55 mph. Naturally, Duff Beer’s weird mishmash of Austin-hippie electro-dreams and general dodginess found its home in the 24 Hours of Lemons, a series that encourages people to enter cars that never belonged on a race track into amateur endurance races.” [The Drive, 9/12/20 (=)]

Opinion Pieces

Analysis: To Save The Planet, We’ll Have To Plug More Things In. According to Jeremy Hodges in the Washington Post, “Dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be hard enough, but to do it without hooking many more things up to batteries or electrical cords would be just about impossible. Almost all the scenarios for moving from fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives rest on using electricity in more parts of the economy. In Europe, which has the most ambitious plans in this area, widespread electrification combined with moving generation to renewable sources could slash emissions by 60% by 2050, according to a BloombergNEF analysis. But doing so will require a major overhaul of millions of systems that currently run cheaply and reliably, bringing with it immense upheaval. 1. What’s the situation now? Oil, natural gas and coal currently are the source of 85% of the world’s energy, with nuclear, hydropower and renewables making up the remaining 15%, according to data from BP Plc. Fossil fuels now feed about 60% of electrical power generation, but that share is slowly falling, as the cost of generating power from solar and wind farms has made the case for electrification -- also known as ‘sector coupling’ -- even more compelling. Norway has made great strides with electric vehicles, which accoun for almost 60%of new cars on the road. 2. What all could be electrified? In theory, many of the things that use polluting fuels, beyond generating electricity, could run on electricity instead. Some changes would be relatively straightforward, if not easy to implement: Dozens of new electric car models are coming to market in the next few years, replacing vehicles that use gasoline and diesel. Gas boilers and oil furnaces could be replaced by geothermal heat pumps, systems dug under a building that tap into the natural warmth of the earth to heat homes and offices.” [Washington Post, 9/13/20 (=)]

Op-Ed: Electric Vehicles Will Provide Healthy Reduction In NJ Air Pollution. According to an op-ed by Dr. Shelley Francis and Stanislav Jaracz in the Asbury Park Press, “This past January, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation initiating one of the largest rebates for electric vehicle purchasers in the country — up to $5,000 per vehicle over the next 10 years. The bill also provides funding to build rapid charging stations along major highway corridors and in communities where residents don’t have private driveways — commonly the case in low-income neighborhoods. The move presaged the COVID-19 epidemic, which has depressed driving and auto sales, but once the economy begins to recover, the rebate program plus investments in charging infrastructure will help New Jersey emerge from the crisis a cleaner and healthier state. And that’s good news, given how much COVID-19 underscores the links between air pollution from cars and trucks and the health and well-being of our families and communities. Consider the following three trends, which paint a very clear picture about the relationship between air pollution from gas-powered cars and trucks, COVID-mortality and historic inequities: If you live in an area with high air pollution, you are far more likely to die from the virus than if you live in a community with cleaner air. A recent study from the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that tiny, dangerous particles known as particulate matter (PM 2.5) are associated with higher death rates from COVID-19. The study results indicate that small increases in long-term exposure to air pollution increases one’s chances of experiencing the most severe and worst COVID-19 outcomes. In the Northeast, our air is the cleanest it's been in over a decade, according to NASA data. With businesses shuttered and people stuck at home for months, our streets are largely empty.” [Asbury Park Press, 9/12/20 (+)]

Chad Ellwood

Senior Research Associate

Climate Action Campaign

cellwood@cacampaign.com

202.448.2877 ext. 119