Nearly 20 states and jurisdictions have signed on to an action plan striving for 100% electric medium and heavy-duty vehicle sales by 2050.
The plan includes policy recommendations for local lawmakers to consider when crafting legislation aimed at boosting adoption of electric trucks and buses. A coalition of 17 states plus Washington, D.C., and the Canadian province of Quebec helped develop the plan, facilitated by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management.
Convenience stores, truck stops and other retailers are sounding the alarm on certain electric vehicle charging policies they say will stymie investment in a network of charging stations, just as the federal government prepares to provide billions in incentives for a national rollout.
In particular, demand charges and the ability of regulated utilities to own charging facilities in some states will keep private investment sidelined, according to Doug Kantor, general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores.
Volvo Trucks will build a charging corridor in California for medium and heavy-duty electric trucks, with publicly accessible stations across the state, the company announced earlier this month.
Construction for the project will begin this year, with five new stations online by the end of 2023, the company said in a news release.
With the establishment of the corridor, Volvo hopes to urge longer electric trucking routes.
The Massachusetts legislature on Thursday passed a climate bill widely supported by environmental and clean energy advocates.
The “landmark bill,” as dubbed by the state office of the Sierra Club, offers several transportation electrification incentives. It would:
Mandate all new passenger vehicle sales in the state to be zero-emission by 2035;
Ensure off-peak rates for charging vehicles are available, requiring time-of-use rate proposals from distribution companies; and
Provide up to $5,000 in rebates for electric vehicle purchases, with an additional $1,500 for low-income individuals, and additional rates for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
Three crucial players on the highway — a truck-stop chain, an automaker and a charging company — plan to fabricate a nationwide network of electric vehicle chargers, creating a template for scale in the EV age.
While other cooperative charging webs have been struck between EV equipment builders and automakers, or between the builders and fossil fuel stations, this is the first to involve all three. That suggests that a widening slice of American businesses expect to eventually make money from EV fueling.
Governor Kathy Hochul last week announced that the State Public Service Commission approved New York’s investor-owned utilities, electric vehicle active and passive-managed to charge programs, a key element in further developing New York’s electric vehicle infrastructure. The PSC decision is an integral part of the initiative known as the EV Make-Ready program which directed the utilities to develop managed charging programs that will provide customers with an alternative to the whole home Time-of-Use rates that are already in place. Managed charging programs and TOU rates incentivize charging at the most beneficial times for the grid, which has the potential to extend the estimated societal benefits of EV deployments to more than $5 billion through 2030.
Auto CEOs warned for years about effects a costly transition to electric vehicles would have on their margins. But ahead of its landmark potential listing, Porsche is telling investors it can become more profitable focusing on battery power.
Amazon is beginning wide-scale deliveries Thursday with its Rivian-designed electric cargo van, a next-generation logistics vehicle years in the making.
Significantly electrifying Amazon's delivery van fleet could help the company meet its ambitious target of hitting net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Commercial fleets will probably go electric at significant scale before everyday car buyers — meaning companies like Amazon, FedEx and so on are poised to drive the electrification revolution.
On July 9 at 7:35 p.m., California’s power grid hit an all-time peak for battery storage.
But that record is just the first of many. All-time peaks—like the 2,519 megawatts on that evening—are going to be happening with regularity as more battery storage systems come online. What’s more interesting is the development of the projects that are helping to set those records, and the implications for transforming the grid into one that doesn’t need fossil fuels.
The big kahuna in California’s battery fleet is Moss Landing Energy Storage, with 400 megawatts of capacity and the ability to run at that level for up to four hours, discharging 1,600 megawatt-hours before needing to be recharged.
The U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday significantly boosted its commitment to replace its aging delivery fleet with more electric vehicles.
The agency faced a massive backlash from lawmakers, environmental groups and others after announcing in March that it would spend nearly $3 billion on an initial order for 50,000 new mail trucks from Oshkosh Defense — 90% of which would be gasoline-powered.
Ford Motor Co. unveiled a bunch of deals and agreements the auto giant says will ensure it has the batteries and raw materials to support rapid growth of electric vehicle production, Ben writes.
As automakers and policymakers plan for the EV transition and boost investments, the ability to source supplies is becoming an intense geopolitical competition — and a logistical knot.
Ford said its battery chemistry and contracting will enable enough batteries for an annualized production rate of 600,000 EVs by late 2023 and 70% of what's needed for 2 million-plus by 2026.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has already announced recipients of nearly $84 billion in grant funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a daylong hearing Tuesday of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The hearing was held to review the implementation of the IIJA, the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
Amtrak and high-speed rail programs, the rollout of electric vehicles and the future of the Highway Trust Fund were major areas of questioning for Buttigieg, who was the hearing’s only witness.
Three FirstEnergy utilities have filed a four-year, $626 million grid modernization plan with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio that includes installation of 700,000 smart meters and equipment to reduce the duration and frequency of power outages, the utility company announced Monday.
The filing covers Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison, and builds on a previous grid modernization plan regulators approved in 2019. Approximately 704,000 smart meters were rolled out in that first modernization effort, the utility said.
Global demand for electricity is slowing sharply this year due to sluggish economic growth and runaway energy prices and the trend will likely continue next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday (20 July).
“Electricity demand growth is slowing significantly in 2022,” the IEA wrote in its new Electricity Market Report.
“After global electricity demand grew by a strong 6% in 2021, propelled by rapid economic recovery as COVID-19 lockdowns eased, we expect growth to slow to 2.4% in 2022 – about the same as the average from 2015 to 2019,” it continued.
Europe’s oil and gas giants, flush with cash from soaring prices, are considering whether to turbo-charge their transition to clean energy with multibillion-dollar acquisitions of major renewable energy producers.
Shell Plc, TotalEnergies SE and Equinor ASA are among the companies that have evaluated the suitability of European utilities for takeovers, according to people familiar with the matter.
President Biden is considering declaring a national climate emergency as soon as this week as he seeks to salvage his environmental agenda in the wake of stalled talks on Capitol Hill, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.
If an emergency is invoked, it could empower the Biden administration in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and foster cleaner energy.
Two of the individuals with knowledge of the discussions said also they expect the president to announce a slew of additional actions aimed at curbing planet-warming emissions. The exact scope and timing of any announcements remain in flux.
The Aug. 1 deadline is looming for state departments of transportation to submit EV infrastructure deployment plans to access funds available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program for the upcoming year.
The NEVI program, created by the bipartisan infrastructure law, provides $5 billion to states over five years to establish electric vehicle charging stations, with first priority given to the Alternative Fuel Corridors, mainly along the Interstate Highway System.
US Foods will add 30 electric trucks to its fleet as part of its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions 32.5% by 2032.
The company said it will add the EVs by 2023, though didn’t specify which company would supply the trucks. US Foods will continue to expand its EV fleet to reduce its Scope 1 emissions, it said.
Lithium batteries are the new oil, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and the domestic auto industry is looking to get a bigger piece of that market share.
That starts with building lithium ion batteries—the kind that power electric vehicles—in the U.S.
Right now, most of the batteries are made in Asia. China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., which is better known as CATL, makes about 30% of the world’s EV batteries, according to Ford Motor (F) CEO Jim Farley.
The funding, announced as the government’s kickoff to EV Week in Canada, will provide buyers of eligible vehicles as much as $200,000 in federal rebates, with potential for more provincial rebate savings
It’s EV Week in Canada and the federal government is using the opportunity to kickoff a new zero-emission purchase and leasing incentive program aimed at the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) sector.
The Georgia Department of Transportation will partner with real estate giant JLL on a plan to expand electric vehicle charging stations across the state and obtain federal funding to help do it.
The plan will help GDOT apply for funds from a $5 billion electric vehicle infrastructure grant program established in the 2021 federal bipartisan infrastructure law, according to a news release this week. The initiative came alongside an additional $2.5 billion grant program designed to fund charging installations in rural areas, lower-income areas and communities with a low ratio of private parking spaces, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, pulled the plug on Thursday on negotiations to salvage key pieces of President Biden’s agenda, informing his party’s leaders that he would not support funding for climate or energy programs or raising taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations.
The decision by Mr. Manchin, a conservative-leaning Democrat whose opposition has effectively stalled Mr. Biden’s economic package in the evenly divided Senate, dealt a devastating blow to his party’s efforts to enact a broad social safety net, climate and tax package.
General Motors announced a “coast-to-coast” network of fast electric vehicle chargers installed at Pilot and Flying J truck stops and managed by EV charging company EVgo. The announcement is the latest sign that legacy automakers will need to spend their own money to shore up the US’ fractured EV charging infrastructure in order to build customer demand for new plug-in vehicles.
GM and Pilot Company say the new network will include 2,000 DC fast chargers installed at up to 500 truck stops and travel centers, capable of offering speeds of up to 350kW. The charging stalls will be built along US highways with the expressed purpose of meeting the needs of long-haul trucking and road-trippers.
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The number of battery-electric vehicles sold in the U.S. set a new record in the second quarter of this year, according to data released Wednesday by Cox Automotive, a global company that owns Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book among other brands. Sales rose more than 66% over the same period last year to 196,788 vehicles. For the first half of 2022, buyers snapped up 370,726 EVs.
Major utilities, solar companies, storage developers and others have called on U.S. lawmakers to pass a reconciliation package that includes tax credits for wind, solar, and batteries, expanded efficiency incentives and support for clean transportation.
Exelon Corp., Pacific Gas & Electric Corp., Public Service Enterprise Group and other companies are working to decarbonize but “corporate action alone is insufficient to meet the scope and scale of the climate crisis,” they said in a July 11 letter to Congressional leadership. Separately, more than 400 solar and storage companies organized by the Solar Energy Industries Association, known as SEIA, also advocated for a reconciliation package.
Texas electricity retailer Octopus Energy has launched an electric vehicle leasing business to help residential customers acquire an EV and enroll it in a smart charging plan, the company announced Wednesday.
Reduced electricity rates are available to customers who enroll their EV and a smart thermostat in the company’s integrated demand response program called Intelligent Octopus.
Global battery prices for electric vehicles and storage are expected to rise slightly this year, to an average of $135/kWh, due to supply chain issues and the rising cost of metals like lithium, cobalt and nickel, according to a July 5 report from BloombergNEF.
The higher prices could slow the adoption of EVs globally, said Kwasi Ampofo, BNEF head of metals and mining and a co-author of the report. “Our EV adoption model relies heavily on electric vehicles becoming cheaper than internal combustion engines,” Ampofo said. The firm now expects price parity between the two types of vehicles to be reached in 2026, rather than 2023.
Electric vehicle manufacturing is a major battleground as states vie for leadership in rebuilding the U.S. supply chain.
Southern states including Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky have won major plants with Ford, Rivian, Hyundai, and Volkswagen by offering huge incentives.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for states and municipalities to track and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) makes available more than $27 billion in federal funding to help State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) meet their declining GHG targets. The new rule would take two important steps to combat climate change:
1. Establish a national framework for tracking state-by-state progress by adding a new GHG performance management measure to the existing FHWA national performance measures to help states track performance and make more informed investment decisions.
2. Create a flexible system under which State DOTs and MPOs would set their own declining targets for on-road greenhouse gas emissions from roadway travel on the National Highway System.
Massachusetts utility National Grid has launched a new initiative to give drivers rebates for charging their electric vehicles during off-peak hours, but some advocates worry the incentives aren’t high enough to propel meaningful change.
The new program rewards customers who charge their vehicles between 9 p.m. and 1 p.m., when demand on the grid is lower and the power flowing into the system is generally cleaner and less expensive. The goal of the program is to ease the burden on the grid, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and motivate more drivers to consider switching from gasoline-fueled cars.
Many states are working on regulatory reforms focused on utility performance, but some compromise approaches may be self-defeating, performance-based regulation, or PBR, consultants said.
“A future power system that is affordable and optimally integrates clean energy requires changing the current incentives that reward utilities for spending,” said Strategen Consulting Managing Director, U.S. Consulting, Matt McDonnell, who helped lead Hawaii to the U.S.’s only full PBR implementation to date. “Recognition is emerging even in the utility industry of PBR as a solution to that spending bias.”
Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) has partnered with Navistar to integrate the companies’ platforms and expand data services, the fleet management software startup announced Wednesday.
The two companies will integrate Navistar’s remote diagnostic platform with Motive’s Automated Operations Platform to give users greater visibility into safety and maintenance issues, according to Motive.
The total cost of ownership of electric trucks is declining and in some instances may already be cheaper than gas or diesel options, but federal policies and incentives are still required to encourage a “wholesale shift,” public policy think tank Third Way said in a June 28 memo.
The trucking industry is wary that electric versions are “not cheap enough,” Third Way concluded. If additional upfront costs can be recouped within five years, companies that buy trucks will make the switch more quickly, the group said.
With fuel costs breaking the bank, you might be considering buying an electric vehicle. For those worried about traveling long distances between charges, range anxiety could be a deterrent. But scientists are trying to address that.
Inside the accelerated pavement testing facility at Purdue University, engineers are applying pressure on a segment of concrete and asphalt.
“What we're exploring first is toward heavy-duty vehicles. So, class eight and class nine, large-scale trucks,” said Steve Pekarek, an electrical and computer engineering professor at Purdue University.
California lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill that establishes a new certification process for solar, wind and other non-fossil fuel power plants that are larger than 50 MW, as the state works to build out the renewable projects it needs to ensure grid reliability.
The bill also creates a strategic electricity reliability reserve fund, authorizing funding for resources that can help keep the lights on. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, allocated $5.2 billion in his May revised budget proposal to create such a reserve, an up to 5,000 MW pool of resources.
