Car buyers are getting behind the wheel of an electric vehicle (EV) in ever greater numbers. No wonder, for they are exciting and easy to drive, compared with internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalents. As battery costs tumble, prices are falling. But the shift to EVs means much more than driving pleasure. Transport is responsible for around a quarter of the world’s carbon emissions and road vehicles account for around three-quarters of that share. If there is to be any chance of reaching net-zero by 2050, EVs will need to take over, and soon.
The 6m pioneers who opt for EVs this year will still represent only 8% of all car purchasers. That figure will need to increase to around two-thirds by 2030 and to 100% by 2050 in order to meet net-zero goals. Many an investor is operating on the assumption that this will all happen as smoothly as a Tesla shifts gears. The huge market values of Elon Musk’s company, and of other newcomers such as Rivian with its electric pickup trucks, as well as pricey Chinese EV firms, attest to sky-high confidence. Electric battery-makers, too, are booming and their shares are soaring.
Yet look beyond the glamorous, shiny vehicles stuffed with the latest technology that are the obvious embodiment of the EV revolution, and you can see a merciless bottleneck ready to foul things up. Not even those eyeing an EV purchase are sufficiently aware of it. Governments are only waking up to the problem around now. Put simply: how will all these EVs get charged?
Day: December 6, 2021 (Page 1 of 2)
Jenny Leonard and Jorge Valero / Bloomberg »
The European Union warned U.S. congressional leaders and members of President Joe Biden’s administration that the aggressive use of electric-vehicle credits in the pending Build Back Better Act could run afoul of international trade rules and create “friction” in the transatlantic relationship.
The EU’s trade chief, Valdis Dombrovskis, sent a letter dated Dec. 3 to officials including Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that the government subsidies would discriminate against European car manufacturers, according to a copy of the letter seen by Bloomberg.
The American plan would offer an additional $4,500 in tax credits to consumers who buy cars made by U.S. manufacturers with union-represented workers, beyond an initial $7,500 that at first will apply to vehicles regardless of where they are made and five years later will apply only to those made in the U.S. Canada has spoken out against the subsidies and Mexico has threatened to retaliate.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge »
Toyota will build a $1.29 billion battery factory in North Carolina in an effort to bring some of its electric vehicle supply chain to the US. The news comes on the heels of Toyota’s announcement that it will invest around $13.6 billion in battery tech over the next decade, including a $9 billion investment in production, as it attempts to electrify its vehicle lineup.
Toyota plans on spreading the $1.29 billion for the new factory over the next decade, but production at the facility is scheduled to begin in 2025, said Chris Reynolds, chief administrative officer for Toyota Motor North America. In the first year, Toyota plans on producing 1.2 million battery packs for its upcoming lineup of electric vehicles, Reynolds said.
“This investment, which I believe is so far the largest private capital investment in North Carolina history… will create at least 1,750 new jobs and help us develop and localize automotive battery production,” Reynolds said during a press conference, “which will pave the way for battery electric vehicles built here in the United States of America.”
Elsewhere » SeekingAlpha / Wall Street Journal / Green Car Reports / Reuters
Lexus ROV Concept
Toyota continues to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles over BEV, pointing out the internal combustion engine produce instant throttle response and a ‘pleasing engine note’.
John Redfern / Motoring Research »
Lexus has revealed the ROV Concept, the company’s first hydrogen-powered vehicle.
Choosing to build an ROV (recreational off-highway vehicle) may seem a strange move for a luxury car brand. However, Lexus says it wants to bring a premium experience to the off-road domain.
More significantly, the ROV Concept demonstrates an all-new hydrogen-burning combustion engine.
Elsewhere » The Detroit Bureau / Electric Cars Report / Green Car Congress
Porsche Vision Gran Turismo Concept for the Gran Turismo video game
While the Porsche Vision Gran Turismo is a concept and not real, it provides a peak of future EVs Porsche envisions. And it’s exciting. Inspiring. Not boring.
Video below ⤵️
t would be easy to dismiss Porsche’s new virtual concept as a plaything with no real implications for the future of some of our favourite sports cars, but it took the company a total of two and a half years to complete – not much quicker than many series-production cars – and manufacturers simply don’t spend that amount of time and cash on flights of fancy.
Ignore the canopy opening, transparent gauges and trick movable flaps at the rear and, save for the conspicuous absence of certain comfort and safety features, the Vision Gran Turismo is so remarkably complete that it feels, contrary to what its designers say, more like a production-previewing concept.
Porsche has revealed its first virtual concept car.
The Porsche Vision Gran Turismo is the latest in a long line of digital concepts for the Gran Turismo racing game, and points to where Porsche plans to take its design language in the electric era.
Although it’s not real, the Vision GT is rooted in Porsche’s current design reality. The low-set headlights have the same four-point LED running light signature, and the lack of grilles or superfluous add-ons is in keeping with the rest of the current range.
Like the chips, most battery cells are made abroad. But as U.S. automakers go electric, they want to develop a reliable domestic supply.
“We’re very focused on bringing the supply chain here, but bringing it here in a sustainable way, and also at a competitive cost,” says Michael Maten, a senior strategist for EV and energy policy at General Motors.
GM intends to make all its new cars emissions-free by 2035. To support that goal, the company plans to build four battery cell factories in the U.S.