Cars Clips: December 2, 2024
Trump Administration |
In the Desert With an EV Entrepreneur Who Insists Trump Will Be Good for Business — “JB Straubel, one of the founders of Tesla, is driving through acres of desert outside of Reno that are filled with stacks of old electric-car batteries he plans to recycle. There’s a storm on the horizon—literally and figuratively. It isn’t clear where the EV industry is going with electric-car sales failing to excite investors as they once did, and President-elect Donald Trump criticizing incentives aimed at boosting sales. Even so, Straubel brims with optimism for the electric-vehicle market he helped create and his plans for again disrupting another industry: mining.” [Wall Street Journal, 11/30/24 (=)]
Chris Wright and Sean Duffy hold the keys to Trump’s EV plans. How far will they go? — “If confirmed by the Senate, the two will have significant — but not absolute — authority to roll back Biden administration programs intended to foster a growing EV industry. At risk are billions of dollars in loan guarantees and grants to battery and material manufacturers, efforts to establish a nationwide charging network and regulations that push the auto industry to transition to lower-emission vehicles. But it remains to be seen how much appetite Republicans have to actually scale back President Joe Biden’s EV agenda, especially considering how much of it benefits Republican districts.” [E&E News, 11/2/24 (=)]
How China Became the World’s Largest Car Exporter — “Just two decades ago, China had little capacity to make cars, and owning one was considered novel. Today, China produces and exports more cars than any other country in the world. President-elect Donald J. Trump has promised to impose new tariffs on China. Many countries, including the United States, already levy extra tariffs on China’s electric vehicles. But with all of the advantages China wields in automaking, this pushback is unlikely to undercut China’s dominance. China’s home market for car sales is the world’s largest — almost as big as the American and European markets combined.” [New York Times, 11/29/24 (=)]
Department of Transportation (DOT) |
Biden is racing to boost EV charging networks before Trump takes office — “The Biden administration is racing to approve funding for the US EV charging network before Trump takes office. The government announced it would invest $7.5 billion toward charging infrastructure in 2021, with the aim of building 500,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030. The money is distributed through two programs: the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which apportions $5 billion out to individual states over five years to deploy EV chargers initially on highways, and the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) grant program.” [Business Insider, 12/2/24 (=)]
Vehicle & Engine Manufacturers |
Leaked BYD email signals China EV price war is set to intensify — “BYD has asked suppliers to accept price cuts next year in a signal the Chinese electric vehicle maker is preparing for the brutal price war in the world’s biggest auto market to intensify. A screenshot of an email purportedly from the Shenzhen-based auto giant was circulating on social media Wednesday, demanding 10 percent price cuts from an unnamed supplier from January.” [E&E News, 12/2/24 (=)]
Jeep and Fiat Maker Stellantis' CEO Quits Early Over Strategy Dispute — “Stellantis NV Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares, known for his cost-cutting drive, stepped down from the automaker following a dispute with the board over how to arrest weakening sales and a stock slump. Tavares will hand over leadership of the maker of Jeep SUVs and Fiat cars to an interim committee headed by Chairman John Elkann, the company said in a statement confirming a Bloomberg News report of Tavares’s resignation earlier Sunday. A new CEO will be named in the first half of 2025, the company said.” [Bloomberg, 12/1/24 (=)]
Tesla, BYD Ramp Up China Incentives in End-of-Year Sales Push — “Electric car makers including Tesla Inc. and BYD Co. have unleashed further discounts and incentives in China in a final push to meet annual sales targets. Tesla is offering five-year 0% loans and a 10,000 yuan ($1,380) discount on its Model Y sport utility vehicle until the end of December, according to a post on the company’s Weibo account. BYD is offering between 1,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan off some models, auto consultant Sun Shaojun wrote on Weibo on Sunday.” [Bloomberg, 12/2/24 (=)]
Volkswagen workers hold 2-hour strikes to push back against proposed pay cuts and plant closures — “Volkswagen workers launched rolling two-hour strikes Monday at nine plants across Germany to underscore their resistance to pay cuts and factory closures the company says are necessary to cope with a slack European auto market. The work stoppages included the company's base plant at Wolfsburg, where workers rallied against a cost-cutting drive by the automaker’s management in which they face the threat of the company’s first plant closures in its home country.” [Detroit News, 12/2/24 (=)]
Volkswagen to Exit China’s Xinjiang Region After 12 Years — “Volkswagen said on Wednesday that it was disposing of its ownership stakes in facilities in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region, exiting an area now known for the country’s crackdown on predominantly Muslim ethnic groups there. Volkswagen had a joint venture assembly plant in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, as well as two test tracks in the region, maintaining the largest and most visible presence in Xinjiang of any multinational company. That drew condemnation from human rights groups. The United States and a growing number of European countries bar imports from Xinjiang because of evidence of forced labor there.” [New York Times, 11/27/24 (=)]
Electric Vehicles |
Edmunds: The longest-range EVs you can buy for under $50,000 — “Electric vehicles are growing in popularity but still make up a small percentage of total car sales. More than two decades of vehicle and infrastructure development have yielded only a 6.8% market share for EVs in the United States. Part of the problem is range anxiety — owners’ fear that they won’t be able to get where they need to go on a full charge. But as charging stations proliferate and EV range increases, that fear should fade. To help, Edmunds’ experts have compiled a list of five of the highest-range electric vehicles available for less than $50,000. The vehicles on this list are specific trims and configurations that offer the most range for the least money.” [AP, 11/27/24 (=)]
This Is What the World’s First All-EV Car Market Looks Like — “In Norway, Toyota Motor Corp. is going from one electric-powered model to five to better compete with Tesla Inc., fuel stations are ripping out pumps to make space for chargers, and even nursing homes in the rural interior have switched to battery-powered cars despite months of arctic cold. All are signs of the dramatic shift that has put the Nordic country on the cusp of becoming the first market in the world to all but eliminate sales of new combustion-powered cars.” [Bloomberg, 11/28/24 (+)]
EVs Help Vehicle Emissions Drop To Historic Low In The U.S. — “Fully electric and hybrid vehicles are helping America reduce greenhouse gas emissions to record levels, the Environmental Protection Agency said in a newly published report this week. EVs are not only helping bring down harmful carbon dioxide emissions but are also increasing fleetwide fuel economy rates to record highs. Transportation accounts for the highest share of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Fifty-seven percent of the transportation sector’s emissions come from light-duty vehicles, as per the EPA. Tailpipe emissions have been labeled as public health hazards and are directly linked to respiratory illnesses and lung diseases.” [Inside EVs, 12/1/24 (+)]
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States & Local |
California Reaches 2 Million Electric Car Sales, 26.4% Market Share — “California just passed a major milestone. In the third quarter, it reached 2 million cumulative electric vehicle sales. By the end of the quarter, it had gotten to 2,113,135 EV sales. That’s also 39% of USA’s 5,466,139 cumulative EV sales. California is a huge state, and would be the 4th largest economy in the world if it was its own country, but it has been performing well above its weight in the EV sector. Data from the California Energy Commission (CEC) indicate 115,897 electric cars were registered in the state in the 3rd quarter. EV market share almost rose to a new record. At 26.4% share of the California new auto market, it was the second best quarter in history in that regard.” [Clean Technica, 11/28/24 (=)]
State’s first EV-charging roadway planned for UCLA ahead of Olympics — “The state’s first electric-vehicle-charging roadway is expected to debut by the 2028 Olympics after a multimillion-dollar grant to UCLA — the site of Los Angeles’s Olympic Village. Nearly $20 million will go to electrify the university’s BruinBus fleet and install underground charging for shuttles and buses along a route that stretches for less than a mile in Westwood. The grant will also fund a new transit hub between the UCLA bus depot and a planned UCLA/Westwood Metro station that would connect to the future D Line light rail extension.” [LA Times, 11/29/24 (=)]
Ohio powers up holiday travel with 7 new EV charging stations on interstates — “In light of the holiday season causing for heavy travels, the Ohio Department of Transportation has opened seven new Electric Vehicle charging stations along the Ohio interstates, bringing the state's total to 13. Six more locations are under construction and are intended to be available for use at the end of the year.” [WKEF-TV, 11/29/24 (=)]
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