Congress

 

Field Trip. According to Politico, “The House Science Research and Technology Subcommittee is heading to Pontiac, Mich., today for a field hearing on creating an electric vehicle workforce. They’ll hear from representatives from labor, local government and academia to hear about what kind of skills are in demand in the sector, education and training needs, and challenges to transitioning from traditional car manufacturing.” [Politico, 5/20/22 (=)]

 

Emissions Standards

 

Twenty-One Democratic AGs File Motion To Intervene In California Emissions Lawsuit. According to The Hill, “Democratic attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia on Thursday filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit from Republican attorneys general against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over California’s vehicle emissions standards. The Democrats, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, filed the motion in defense of the state’s standards, which are stricter than federal standards. The Trump administration had in 2019 revoked a 2013 waiver allowing the state to impose more stringent standards than the federal government, but EPA Administrator Michael Regan reversed the revocation in March after announcing in 2021 that the EPA would review the decision. ‘California’s standards are some of the best tools we have to reduce emissions, fight climate change, and protect public health. But unfortunately, there are some who continue to ignore these benefits, choosing inexplicably to defend outdated, pollution-generating vehicles even as technologies enabling emissions reductions and cost savings continue to advance,’ Bonta said in a statement Thursday. ‘My office has defended California’s authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards from an onslaught of attacks in recent years, and we’re not going to back down now,’ he said. Bonta filed the motion Thursday afternoon in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was joined by the attorneys general for Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia and the cities of New York and Los Angeles.” [The Hill, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Manufacturers & Fleets

 

Geely

 

Volvo Cars Turns App Into One-Stop-Shop For EV Drivers. According to Electrive, “As it moves toward becoming a fully electric car maker by 2030, Volvo Cars is turning its app into a ‘one-stop-shop’ for drivers of Volvo Recharge vehicles. The new version integrates charging functions and payment options that Volvo has added through recent partnerships. According to the Geely-owned manufacturer, the Volvo Cars app now includes ‘hundreds of thousands of public charging stations around the globe’ from a range of charging operators. Drivers also receive real-time information on charger availability and pay for their charging session through one single interface. ‘Charging a pure electric Volvo car has never been easier,’ so the company. ‘Many of us are familiar with the frustration of having to navigate multiple apps and carrying multiple cards for different charging operators,’ said Olivier Loedel, head of Electrification Ecosystem at Volvo Cars. Their goal then was ‘to remove one of the major barriers’ to going for electric cars and ‘create one digital charging platform,’ he said. The platform integrates Volvo’s various partnerships. In China, for example, Volvo Cars recently signed agreements with the country’s three leading charging point operators Star Charge, State Grid and TELD. According to Volvo, they cover more than 75 per cent of all public charging points in China. Customers can now find a station and start charging by scanning a QR code and paying directly in the Volvo Cars app. Payment is powered by leading payment services, including WeChat Pay and Alipay and V Point.” [Electrive, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Polestar Decreases 2022 Delivery Plan By 15,000 Citing Chinese Lockdowns. According to Inside EVs, “Polestar had a good 2021 and a great start to 2022, reporting impressive sales in the first quarter of the year. Through April of this year, the manufacturer delivered some 13,600 vehicles and added 23,000 new orders, the latter being three times more than during the same time frame in 2021, when the entire world was more affected by the pandemic. However, China is still severely affected by the pandemic and its drastic lockdowns are affecting businesses that operate in the country. And even though Polestar is doing quite well and is on the upswing, the manufacturer recently adjusted its delivery plan for 2022, cutting some 15,000 units, now expecting to deliver 50,000 by the end of the year. In a recent press release detailing its strong sales start in 2022, as well as its continued growth and expansion, but also that its production outlook for the year would be affected by the Chinese lockdown situation. Polestar manufacturers all its vehicles in China, so it will be more affected than other brands that also have operations outside the People’s Republic.” [Inside EVs, 5/20/22 (=)]

 

Polestar Lowers EV Production Targets For 2022. According to Electrive, “Polestar reported a new sales record for the first four months of this year. At the same time, the electric car brand is reducing its planned number of vehicle sales to customers for 2022 from 65,000 to around 50,000 units. This is said to be the result of the ongoing government COVID lockdowns in China in the first half of 2022. Nevertheless, this would be a significant increase from 2021, when the target was 29,000 vehicles worldwide, which was also achieved. While the company said its strong order intake showed its ability to meet its 2022 target of 65,000 vehicles sold, it faces supply chain constraints that continue to challenge the entire automotive industry. However, it does not refer to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. ‘The reduction for 2022 is 100% attributable to the lockdowns in China,’ Polestar wrote. By implementing a response plan that includes an immediate introduction of a second production shift at the plant, Polestar hopes to make up for some of the lost production it has suffered over the course of the year. In the first four months of the year, Polestar’s e-car sales more than doubled to around 13,600 compared to the same period in 2021, while the company’s order intake more than tripled to almost 23,000 vehicles.” [Electrive, 5/20/22 (=)]

 

General Motor Corp.

 

After Decades Of EV Trials, GM Thinks Having Full Portfolio Is Key To Success. According to Automotive News, “General Motors believes having a full portfolio of electric vehicles on sale at the same time will allow each of them to succeed more than previous, singular efforts have. After selling the EV1 by itself in the late 1990s, followed by the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid in 2010 and the Chevy Bolt in 2016, ‘we have learned a lot from ourselves,’ GM President Mark Reuss said Wednesday at the Automotive News Congress in Nashville. In each case, having no other electrified offerings in the lineup made it hard for the automaker to promote that one model at the expense of its profitable, gasoline-powered vehicles. ‘The company, at that time when we launched the original Bolt, was afraid and didn’t really get behind it,’ Reuss said. ‘We would have liked to have had a portfolio of electric vehicles to go to market with. It’s hard to put one car in market and have anybody get behind it in a sales network.’” [Automotive News, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Hyundai Motor Co.

 

Kia To Make Purpose Built EVs At New Korea Plant From 2025. According to Inside EVs, “Kia announced it will set up its first factory dedicated to electric Purpose Built Vehicles (PBVs) in Korea, as part of its goal to become a global leader in sustainable mobility solutions. The all-new, high-tech smart manufacturing facility will be located within Kia’s existing Hwaseong site in Korea. The company plans to begin construction in the first half of 2023 and kick off commercial production in the second half of 2025. The factory will initially have an annual capacity of 100,000 PBVs, with room to increase production to 150,000 units annually should the growth of the PBV market require it. According to Kia, the facility will feature Kia’s E-FOREST smart manufacturing ecosystem, driven by data, connectivity, and robotics technologies. Judging by the language in the press release, by PBVs Kia understands vehicles that will be developed for and sold to companies, not private customers. ‘This dedicated PBV facility is one of the major pillars of our Plan S strategy as Kia seeks to claim the top position in the global PBV market. We will initially explore new markets with derivative PBV models, then gradually expand our presence in global markets with dedicated PBV models featuring autonomous driving technologies.’ Ho Sung Song, President and CEO of Kia Corporation” [Inside EVs, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Mercedes-Benz AG

 

Sila Silicon Anode Batteries To Power Mercedes G Class EV. According to Clean Technica, “Mercedes says a version of its battery-electric G Class will use cells from Sila. It was just a few weeks ago that we reported on Sila, a little known battery startup founded by Gene Berdichevsky. He was Tesla’s seventh employee and the person who first installed lithium-ion laptop batteries into a Lotus sports car. The company has been working for the past 10 years on replacing the conventional graphite anodes in today’s lithium-ion batteries with silicon alternatives. Theoretically, the silicon substitutes provide greater energy density and faster charging at lower cost — at least in the lab. But in practice, they become brittle and lose their effectiveness after multiple charge and discharge cycles. Sila thinks it has solved that problem and announced recently it is converting an existing facility in Moses Lake, Washington, to start producing the new battery cells, with the first of them to start rolling of the production line in 2024. That date is fortuitous, because Mercedes announced this week that an extended range version of its battery-electric G Class — which is due out in 2025 — will be powered by battery cells supplied by Sila. Batteries with higher energy density will be crucial for a truck-like vehicle that has the aerodynamics of shipping container. Mercedes made a significant investment in Sila in 2019, an investment that may pay off by allowing the company to offer electric vehicles with longer range than those manufactured by its competitors. The Sila factory will be able to build 10 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of silicon anode batteries annually at first — enough for 100,000 to 500,000 cars, depending on how its customers elect to use them. Berdichevsky tells TechCrunch the factory in Washington can be expanded to produce 150 GWh of batteries, but it will cost up to $2 billion to reach that mark.” [Clean Technica, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

 

Nissan Soon To Announce US Battery Supplier For Next-Gen EVs. According to Inside EVs, “Nissan is expected to announce a new US battery supplier for its next-generation electric vehicles, which will be introduced later this decade. The news comes from Nissan Americas’s chief Jérémie Papin (via Automotive News), who said at the Automotive News Congress that the name of the supplier will be announced ‘in a few weeks.’ It’s very interesting, as currently, Nissan uses lithium-ion batteries from Envision AESC, which recently announced a plan to build a $2 billion gigafactory in Kentucky. Envision AESC is a former Nissan joint venture with NEC, acquired a few years ago by Envision Group, but Nissan still holds a minority stake. In the case of the US, Envision AESC is producing batteries for the Nissan LEAF at the Smyrna, Tennessee plant (at the Nissan vehicle factory). Other battery plants are located in Japan, the UK, and China. We believe that Envision AESC will remain the sole/main battery supplier for the upcoming Nissan Ariya. On top of the relation with Envision AESC, Nissan is also in an advanced stage of development of all-solid-state battery (ASSB) cells. Jérémie Papin said: ‘There is a need to have a very close connection between the battery supplier and the car manufacturer. The knowledge that is being shared between the two is very much at the heart of a battery-electric vehicle.’ The question is then whether Nissan intends to add another battery supplier to Envision AESC and how it might be related to ASSB.” [Inside EVs, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Rivian Automotive Inc.

 

Rivian Deal A Political Wedge Near Future Plant. According to Atlanta Journal Constitution, “Going into 2022, many voters in rural Walton and Morgan counties expected zoning and spending issues to dominate local government races. Then came the December announcement of Rivian’s $5 billion electric vehicle plant that has shaken the political landscape around the farms and pine forests an hour east of Atlanta that dot the area around the future factory. Rivian has its fans, and Gov. Brian Kemp and state leaders of both parties have hailed the project and its 7,500 promised jobs as transformational for Georgia. But as Tuesday’s primaries loom, the factory has become a wedge issue in local and state races for many voters near the future plant. Opponents say they fear the plant threatens the area’s environment and rural character. The $1.5 billion in tax breaks and other incentives state and local officials offered Rivian have also become political lightning rods. ‘I don’t like the amount of money the state and the taxpayers are having to foot to bring the business here,’ said Gail Wilson, a Rutledge resident who lives five miles from the nearly 2,000-acre site. ‘I don’t care how many jobs they’re saying they’ll bring.’ Count Madison business owner Mike Conrads in the opposite corner. Conrads said he shares traffic and environmental concerns, but thinks local leaders can manage future growth. ‘I’m vested in the community, and I want it to have growth, but do it well,’ he said.” [Atlanta Journal Constitution, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Tesla Inc.

 

Musk Says 'Tesla Is On My Mind 24/7' Amid Concerns About Twitter Distraction. According to Reuters, “Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that ‘Tesla is on my mind 24/7,’ trying to soothe investor worries about him being distracted by a Twitter (TWTR.N) deal that has depressed stocks at the electric car company. Posting a picture showing a woman (Tesla) who is upset by her boyfriend (Elon) checking out another woman (Twitter), he said, ‘So may seem like below, but not true.’ ‘To be clear, I’m spending <5% (but actually) of my time on the Twitter acquisition. It ain’t rocket science!’ he tweeted. ‘Yesterday was Giga Texas, today is Starbase. Tesla is on my mind 24/7.’ Tesla this year opened its new car factory in Texas, and Musk’s rocket company SpaceX has a launch site known as Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Tesla shares have lost one third of their value since the billionaire disclosed his stake in Twitter in early April and sold $8.5 billion worth of Tesla stocks in a move seen to help finance his $44-billion Twitter deal. Further hurting stocks are China lockdown measures that dampened Tesla’s production and an exclusion of Tesla from a widely-followed S&P sustainability index. read more” [Reuters, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Elon Musk’s Next Target. According to The New York Times, “Elon Musk is the latest prominent figure to push back on one of the hottest trends on Wall Street and in corporate America: E.S.G., the idea of valuing companies based on how they follow environmental, social and governance principles, rather than just chasing profits. Musk called E.S.G. a ‘scam’ after S&P Global, the manager of a popular E.S.G. index, publicized that it had kicked Musk’s electric car company Tesla out of the index, The Times’s Jack Ewing and DealBook’s Stephen Gandel report. Musk complained on Twitter that S&P gave high marks to Exxon Mobil, one of the world’s largest producers of fossil fuels, ‘while Tesla didn’t make the list!’ He added: ‘E.S.G. is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors.’ E.S.G. has been facing a growing backlash. Earlier this month, former Vice President Mike Pence, a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender, said he wanted to rein in E.S.G., claiming it elevated left-wing goals over the interests of businesses and their employees. BlackRock, an outspoken leader in sustainable investing, has said it would support fewer shareholder proposals on climate issues because many are too ‘prescriptive.’ And earlier this year, the private equity executive Steve Schwarzman, among others, blamed E.S.G. for creating a credit crunch for energy companies, which he said was a contributor to the soaring price of oil. Part of the problem is that E.S.G. is not well defined. Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, two Citigroup stock analysts argued that weapons manufacturers and defense contractors should qualify as E.S.G. investments, because their products helped defend democracy and preserve peace. Others called that absurd.” [The New York Times, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Tesla Expands Supercharger Access For Other Electric Cars In Europe. According to Electrive, “Tesla has expanded the opening of Superchargers to Non-Tesla cars in Europe and has become ‘the largest 150kW+ CPO instantly,’ according to Jeroen van Tilburg, Head of Supercharging EMEA. Drivers of EVs other than Tesla may now use the company’s formerly proprietary fast-charging network in Austria, Belgium, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The new openings of select hubs follow existing (pilot) sites in the Netherlands, which Tesla had opened to third-party users in November 2021 (NL). Supercharger sites in Norway and France were next as reported in January of this year. Except in the Netherlands, some sites are open, but not all, since Tesla is only gradually expanding the pilot to monitor the impact of onboarding non-Tesla EVs on the network. Which stations are open can be seen on the Tesla app. Eventually, Tesla wants to open the entire network in Europe and reap the revenue. Drivers of non-Tesla cars can only start and end charging processes manually via the Tesla app. The kWh prices vary depending on the location; various posts indicate that Tesla charges around 0.57 euros/kWh. The running costs can be reduced with a monthly membership. Blocking fees apply equally to Tesla and third-party brand vehicles.” [Electrive, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Tesla Considers Building BEV & Battery Factory In Indonesia. According to Electrive, “Indonesia’s investment minister, Bahlil Lahadalia, is confident that Tesla will make investments in the country. According to media reports, Elon Musk has agreed to build a plant in the industrial complex in Central Java province after meeting with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo. While a concrete agreement has not yet been signed, the investment minister hinted that the project could begin this year. No details were disclosed about the amount of potential investment. Musk and Widodo met during a visit by the Indonesian president to the SpaceX Starbase in the US state of Texas. There they reportedly discussed the investments, but also technology and innovation in general. After the meeting, the president reportedly instructed the coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investments, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, to follow up on the discussion of the meeting. Musk had agreed to communicate intensively with the Indonesian team, Lahadalia said. He expects an agreement to be reached soon, he said. ‘The team is negotiating, but rest assured that the president has a special move to woo Elon Musk,’ Lahadalia said later, according to the Jakarta Globe. ‘We are discussing how much the investment is worth and when to start. We just have to wait for the right time.’” [Electrive, 5/20/22 (=)]

 

Tesla Model X Buyers Are Apparently Waiting Two Years For Delivery. According to Inside EVs, “Tesla kicked off deliveries for the refreshed Model X in late October, 2021 and it has been delivering vehicles to customers since, but it is not building them quickly enough. Since the opening of the order books, some customers have reported that their estimated delivery window has changed at least eight times. According to Teslarati, this has affected customers who ordered their refreshed Model X throughout 2021. Today, some order holders saw the window change again, this time from July 2022 to December 2022 - April 2023, making it a two-year wait for some. There may be a problem with the production ramp-up for both the Model X and Model S, since if you order the latter today, the estimated delivery span is November 2022 - February 2023. If you want to take delivery sooner, though, you can order the Plaid version of either - the Model S would come in June - August 2022 and the Model X in August - October 2022. Tesla says the reason for the delayed deliveries is mostly supplier-related. Implementing the production changes needed to build the updated models also took longer than expected and was more difficult than initially predicted. This also partly explains why the revised Model X was introduced and put into production a few months later than the Model S.” [Inside EVs, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Uber Technologies Inc.

 

Uber Issues Incentives To Spur EV Adoption. According to Politico, “ber Technologies Inc. has announced new incentives for its drivers who switch to electric vehicles, including discounts on new cars from General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. The ride-hailing giant set an ambitious goal in 2020 to electrify its fleet by decade’s end. The move could have large climate and health benefits, as ride-hailing services are estimated to emit more than traditional modes of travel. During a press conference this week, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced new incentives including a platform called the ‘EV Hub.’ The hub offers drivers information about discounts on vehicles and chargers. It also includes a map that shows where the nearest EV charger is located. Uber drivers who opt to purchase EVs will gain access to exclusive discounts from GM and Nissan, as well as deals from local certified dealers on new and used electric cars. The majority of drivers in the U.S. buy previously owned vehicles. Uber drivers will also have access to rental and leasing deals through Avis, Hertz Corp. and other companies. Other benefits include a $1 per-trip incentive that can add up to $4,000 cash back over a year, along with discounts on home chargers. Data suggests that electrifying ride-hailing vehicles could pay climate dividends. Transportation is the single-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country.” [Politico, 5/20/22 (=)]

 

Electric Vehicles

 

Samsung Says It Will Build $17B Chip Factory In Texas. According to Associated Press, “Samsung said it plans to build a $17 billion semiconductor factory outside of Austin, Texas, amid a global shortage of chips used in phones, cars and other electronic devices. ‘This is the largest foreign direct investment in the state of Texas, ever,’ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in announcing the project Tuesday. Samsung said it will start building the Texas plant next year and hopes to begin operations in the second half of 2024. The South Korean electronics giant chose the site based on a number of factors, including government incentives and the ‘readiness and stability’ of local infrastructure, said Samsung Vice Chairman Kinam Kim, speaking alongside the Republican governor. The chip shortage has emerged as both a business obstacle and a serious U.S. national-security concern. Short supplies of semiconductors kicked off by COVID-era shutdowns have hampered production of new vehicles and electronic devices for more than a year. New questions of economic and national security are also at stake since many U.S. companies are dependent on chips produced overseas, particularly in Taiwan, which China has long claimed as its own territory. ‘It’s a concentration risk, a geopolitical risk’ to be so reliant on Taiwan for much of the world’s chip production, said Nina Turner, a research analyst at IDC. She said the current shortages will likely subside but there will be a long-term demand for chips as more and more everyday products rely on them.” [Associated Press, 5/19/22 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Recycling Critical Minerals Is An Underappreciated National Security Tool. According to an op-ed by Adina Renee Adler in The Hill, “The United States is facing a critical mineral crisis that is threatening our national security. As numerous studies have demonstrated, the United States relies almost entirely on foreign entities for a range of critical minerals — including lithium, cobalt and nickel — that form the technological foundation of a wide array of consumer and military technologies, ranging from electric vehicle batteries to advanced weapon systems. Despite the importance of these minerals to both civilian and military technologies, the U.S produces only a fraction of its minerals supply here in the United States, leaving it open to major disruptions caused by natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts or supply chain failures. Luckily, a bipartisan effort to secure the United States’ supply of critical materials is underway in Washington. In the past year, Congress has passed or introduced a number of bills to secure the United States’ supply of these critical minerals by boosting our nation’s capacity to acquire and extract them domestically. Although Congress should be applauded for its recent efforts, the truth is the United States won’t be able to produce or stockpile its way out of the current critical mineral crisis.” [The Hill, 5/19/22 (+)]

 

States & Local

 

Georgia: EV Capital? According to Politico, “Hyundai Motor Group is expected to announce today that Georgia will be home to its new electric vehicle manufacturing plant, further elevating the state’s profile in the rapidly evolving transportation sector. The Hyundai facility would join a list of EV industry wins for Georgia in recent months, including the single largest economic development project in the state — a $5 billion factory from Rivian Automotive Inc. (Energywire, May 4). ‘It looks like EVs are going to be the wave of the future, and Georgia may be on the crest of that wave,’ said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia. EV manufacturing is taking hold in the battleground state during a heated primary season. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has promoted EV investments while facing criticism for incentives offered to Rivian. The electric trend also fits with a Biden administration goal of cutting U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030 on the way to becoming a net-zero country by 2050. At the same time, electrifying transportation could mean big bucks for major electric companies such as Southern Co.’s Georgia Power. Many utilities have said more infrastructure is needed to support increased demand on the power grid from EVs. That type of capital investment and higher electricity sales could boost their profits. More than 50 U.S. power companies, including Atlanta-based Southern, have formed a nationwide coalition to have fast-charging stations along major corridors by the end of 2023 (Energywire, Dec. 7, 2021).” [Politico, 5/20/22 (=)]

 

 

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