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There she goes again. In recent years, General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra has shaped the automaker into a renewable energy influencer with an impact on the US energy landscape that extends beyond the factory walls. Apparently she was just getting started. The company has just announced a new carbon-cutting initiative that sets a 100% renewable energy goal by 2025. Yes, 2025. Not 2035, or even 2030. It’s 2025 or bust.

Coming from one of the top industrial employers in the US, the announcement validates President Biden’s ambitious climate goals even as Republicans in Congress continue to hit the kill switch on climate action.

GM Hearts Renewable Energy For Everybody

Barra doesn’t get nearly as much publicity as some other auto industry execs, so before we get into her latest renewable energy plan, let’s take a quick look back at the renewable energy theme she has established for GM.

The basic premise is pretty simple. Rather than focusing on renewable energy projects that only benefit the company’s carbon profile, GM is part of a broader corporate movement to spur renewable energy investments that provide whole-of-economy benefits and influence consumer behavior. Cutting costs for everyone while increasing access and improving reliability across the grid are the end goals.

In 2016 GM joined the global RE100 clean power collaborative and another big step occurred in 2019, when the company became a founding member of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, a US organization that leverages corporate purchasing power to accelerate economy-wide decarbonization.

The initial REBA goal was 60 gigawatts of new renewables by 2025. GM helped get the ball rolling in 2019 by putting in for the equivalent of 300,000 megawatt-hours in new wind energy through the Michigan utility DTE.

In a convo with CleanTechnica that year, Rob Threlkeld, GM’s global manager of Sustainable Energy and Supply Reliability, explained that the DTE deal reflects the tandem transformation of both the auto industry and the utility industry, and the adaptation of consumers to the new energy landscape.

Renewable Energy & Consumer Behavior

When the topic turns to the auto industry, the new energy landscape, and consumer behavior, attention naturally turns to electric vehicle charging.

GM had EV charging and consumer behavior on the top of its mind when it introduced the Chevy Volt gas-electric hybrid in 2010. The Volt enabled car buyers to dip a toe in the 100% EV experience while clinging to the safety net of a gas tank at a time when battery technology was limited and charging stations were relatively scarce.

More recently GM has begun pivoting to a 100% EV future, and that doesn’t just mean selling the cars. Providing consumers with access to both charging stations and renewable energy is a key part of GM’s plan.

In 2020, for example, GM announced a new 500,000 megawatt-hour solar energy commitment through DTE, and it hooked up with the company EVgo to install more than 2,700 public fast charging stations around the country. Earlier this year GM also inked a deal to splash digital EV advertising all over Volta charging stations in key markets, aimed at reaching 70 million potential car buyers.

More Renewable Energy For The Clean Car Of The Future

GM’s triple-whammy approach of electric cars, renewable energy, and charging stations is getting picked up by utilities that are eager to sell more kilowatts. The gigantic utility Xcel Energy, for example, has just established a new incentive program to encourage its ratepayers to buy more electric vehicles.

The problem is that Excel’s stable of power plants still runs on a heavy dose of fossil energy, and that’s where the new GM renewable energy initiative comes in.

Today’s 100% clean power announcement by GM includes a partnership with the carbon tracking and energy management firm TimberRock. The idea is to leverage energy storage and variable demand to squeeze the maximum amount of renewable energy available on the grid for GM facilities.

In addition, GM expects to expand the carbon tracking feature to its electric vehicles. That will enable the company to prioritize its renewable energy purchasing activity for maximum impact on EV charging.

EV carbon tracking is a key new element in the climate action game, because Xcel is not alone. The US grid is still very much in a transitional period, with a heavy reliance on natural gas and coal for power generation. The very success of the EV revolution could bog down decarbonization goals in a sea of juiced-up demand for kilowatts as millions of EVs hit the road and plug into charging stations.

If all goes according to plan, the TimberRock partnership will help dampen the impact of EV sales on power plant emissions by enabling GM to target its power purchases strategically, in order to help ensure that EV battery charging takes maximum advantage of renewables on the grid.

GM’s work with TimberRock dates back to 2011, when the two companies paired to build a lone solar-powered EV charging station at General Motors’ Allison Transmission Plant in Maryland. The new carbon tracking partnership takes that relationship into next-level decarbonization territory.

GM Comes Out Swinging For Renewables

As for the timing of the announcement, it follows on the heels of a salvo that GM fired off on Tuesday, apparently aimed at Republican obstructionists in Congress and the two Democratic holdouts against President Biden’s climate action plans.

“General Motors applauds those who have worked tirelessly to advance the Build Back Better Plan, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, and urges Congress and the Administration to move forward legislation that will bring critical improvements to the country,” GM wrote.

GM also gently reminded legislators that the end goal of decarbonization is to fend off catastrophic climate change.

“General Motors believes we can help create a world that is safe and sustainable, where future generations can thrive,” the company wrote, while taking note of its plans to “achieve a clean and equitable transition to an all-electric future.”

“But we can’t do it alone,” GM warned, underscoring the need for strong federal action.

Placing itself firmly in the camp of President Biden, the company concluded that “General Motors looks forward to joining the President, Congress and the American people in celebrating enactment of legislation that creates a pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-sustainability future.”

Whelp, Here’s To Going It Alone

In another interesting bit of auto industry timing, earlier this week Ford also unleashed a massive, history making new EV manufacturing and workforce training announcement that supports the President’s plan for rapid decarbonization and new green jobs. The Ford announcement includes a vast new carbon neutral campus in Tennessee, powered partly with local renewable energy.

Together, the GM and Ford announcements put more pressure on legislators to act.

That could be too little, too late. Democrats in the House of Representatives have a sufficient majority to pass legislation, but the Senate is a different story.

The likelihood of getting enough Republican Senators on board to break a filibuster is unicorn-level small. Democrats could still manage to make some progress by exercising their slim 51-vote majority through the reconciliation process, except as of this writing they can only count on 49 votes.

For those of you not following the news, the two Democratic holdouts are West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

I know, right? Well, that’s the way the Senate works. If voters in other states vote out their Republican senators and replace them with Democratic senators who support Democratic presidents, the names Manchin and Sinema would quickly fade into the dustbin of history. As things stand, they appear destined to join the climate obstruction hall of fame right alongside the usual suspects.

Meanwhile, Ford and GM seem determined to follow through on their EV and renewable energy plans no matter what Congress does, though both companies are members of the corporate organization Business Roundtable, which is reportedly lobbying against the reconciliation bill.

Go figure! If you have any thoughts about that, drop us a note in the comment thread — and stay tuned for word on Stellantis, the third member of the Big 3 legacy auto-making club.

Follow me on Twitter @TinaMCasey.

Photo: Chevy Bolt EV by Tina Casey.

 

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Alibaba delivers again with this crazy octuple (8x) suspension e-bike for $350

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Alibaba delivers again with this crazy octuple (8x) suspension e-bike for 0

I’m going to start this off by immediately begging you not to buy this ridiculous contraption you’ll see in the article below. You’ve been warned. Ok, now feast your eyes on this monstrosity! A $350 e-bike from Alibaba that comes with not just a suspension fork, not just full-suspension, but at least five more shocks than any bike should ever conceivably possess, seemingly randomly sprinkled around the bike’s frame.

Credit goes to my publisher, Seth, for finding this absolute gem. He and I play a little game where we send each other increasingly ridiculous Alibaba finds, trying to one-up the insanity of the other’s previous find. This one is definitely a contender.

Spotted on AliExpress’s platform, the site that makes it dangerously easy to procure the strangest (and sometimes coolest) things from the Far East, this is an e-bike that just keeps on giving.

First of all, check out the suspension. There’s a front suspension fork, which is theoretically standard. There’s also rear suspension, but instead of the single rear shock or occasional dual shocks (one on either side), the designers of this e-bike gave us quad shocks. Then, instead of leaving not-well-enough alone, they decided that a rear swingarm with quad shocks wasn’t enough, and then turned the entire rear half of the e-bike into another swingarm with two more shocks.

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At this point, I’m starting to get confused. Do we call the battery sprung or unsprung weight now?

This much suspension is like trying to drink from a firehose, but we’re not even finished. Because if that wasn’t enough springiness for you, there are two more springs in the saddle, technically bringing us up to 10 springs total! A guy hit a speed bump on this e-bike last week, and some say he’s still bouncing.

While I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt, my experience with the cheapest of Alibaba e-bikes tells me that they likely didn’t modify the spring rate of the shocks when they just kept copy/pasting them. That means the bike probably rides stiffer than if it had half the number of shocks (or it just has the proper pre-load for a 600 lb rider).

Unfortunately, the rest of the bike is rather par for the course in terms of cheap direct-from-China electric bicycles. We’ve got our “500 Watt” motor, a surprisingly large 48V 15Ah battery, folding handlebars, a cute little rear kid’s seat complete with grab bar (a nice touch, to be honest), a full twist throttle, fenders, and even a complete lighting package with turn signals.

The 66-lb (30 kg) bike isn’t very light, but each of those shocks adds to the poundage, not to mention all the other doodads we’ve got bolted on around the bike.

The bike still folds in half, which is surprising considering most of the frame is taken up by springs. At first glance, I didn’t even see the folding mechanism hiding there.

It’s a wild specimen, and the free shipping to the US makes the $350 price even more tempting. But please don’t buy something like this (that lead image is AI-generated… I didn’t buy or ride this!). There are some real concerns here. Who knows what kind of quality control or safety certification went into that battery, let alone the frame and other key components?

Let’s just enjoy this one on the screen like most of my Alibaba finds and appreciate that someone out there said, “let’s see how many cheap shocks we can fit on a bike,” and nobody stopped them.

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Yes, an EV really CAN power your home – if it’s one of these (*)

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Yes, an EV really CAN power your home – if it's one of these (*)

Can an EV really help power your home when the power goes out? It’s one of the biggest FAQs people have about electric cars — but the answer can be a bit confusing. It’s either a yes, with a but – or a no, with an unless. To find out which EVs can offer vehicle-to-home (V2H) tech to keep the lights on or even lower your energy bills, keep on reading.

Modern EVs have big, efficient batteries capable of storing enough energy to power home for days. That can mean backup power during a storm or the ability to use stored energy during expensive peak hours and recharge again when kilowatts are cheap.

That’s all true – but only in theory. Because, while your EV might have a big battery, that doesn’t mean it has the special hardware and software that allow electricity to safely flow back out of the car baked in. Car companies call this vehicle-to-home (V2H) or bi-directional charging, and only a handful of models currently support it. That’s that, “yes, with a but” asterisk.

Yes, an EV can power your home, but it has to be one of these.

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Ford F-150 Lightning


Ford-Lightning-V2H
F-150 Lightning powers home; via Ford.

Ford made early headlines using its F-150 Lightning as a life-saving generator during winter ice storms and hurricanes, so it should come as no surprise that it’s included in this list. The best-selling electric truck in America can send up to 9.6 kW of power from its onboard batteries back to the house. More than enough to keep the lights on and the refrigerator running during an outage.

To make it work, you’ll need to install the Charge Station Pro (formerly called Intelligent Backup Power) home charger, the Home Integration System (HIS), which includes an inverter, a transfer switch, and a small battery to switch the system on, as well Ford’s Charge Station Pro 80A bi-directional charger (which comes free with the Extended Range F-150 Lightning, but costs about $1,300 otherwise).

All-in, you’re looking at about $5,000 in hardware, plus installation, to make it work.

Kia EV9


Kia-EV9-power-home-charger
Wallbox Quasar 2 bidirectional charger; via Kia.

With up to 300 miles of range and ultra-fast charging, the seven-passenger electric SUV from Kia has been a hot seller. And back in March, the Kia EV9 unlocked yet another new feature: vehicle-to-home charging.

When paired with the Quasar 2 bidirectional charger from Wallbox (and the associated Power Recovery Unit, or PRU), a fully-charged Kia EV9 can power a standard suburban home for three days. Longer, still, if you’re keeping the energy use low. The Wallbox Quasar 2 isn’t cheap, though – pricing starts at $6,440 (again, plus installation). For that price, you the PRU plus a wall-mounted 12 kW L2 charger with 12.8 kW of with discharge power on a split-phase system.

Pretty much all the GM EVs


new-Chevy-Bolt-EV
Chevy Silverado, Equinox, and Blazer EVs at Tesla Supercharger; GM.

With the exception of the Chevy Brightdrop, GMC Hummer EV, and the hand-built, ultra-luxe Cadillac CELESTIQ, every Ultium-based GM EV can send battery power back to your home through GM Energy’s Ultium Home System – arguably the most fully integrated EV + battery backup + solar option out there outside of Tesla.

GM Energy says its new 19.2 kW Powershift Charger delivers around 6-7% more juice than a typical 11.5 kW L2 charger, delivering up to 51 miles of range per charge hour. Bi-directional charging requires the Powershift Charger to be paired up with a compatible GM EV and the GM Energy V2H Enablement Kit. The full system retails for $12,699, plus installation, and can be financed through GM Financial.

NOTE: some 2024 models might require a software update to enable V2H functionality, which can be done either at the dealer or through an OTA update.

Tesla Cybertruck


Tesla Cybertruck stuck in mud.

Tesla Cybertruck owners may have zero taste, but they have two options when it comes to powering their homes with their trucks. If they already have a Tesla Powerwall, they don’t need anything else. If they don’t, they’ll need to install a Universal Wall Connector charger, a Powershare Gateway, and a Tesla Backup Switch.

That second option will run about $3,500, plus installation.

That rounds off the list of vehicles that ship with V2H software baked in, so if you’re wondering whether or not your EV can be used to power your home, now you know the answer is yes, as long as it’s one of the ones listed above.

But you might remember that I answered the initial question by saying it was either a yes, with a but – or a no, with an unless. So if you want to use your car’s battery as a backup, but don’t have one of the EVs liksted above, that doesn’t mean you’re completely out of luck.

No, with an unless


Fred Lambert explains Sigenergy V2X system.

As some of the earliest and most enthusiastic EV adopters, Tesla fans have also been among the loudest advocates for using the energy stored their cars’ batteries to back up their homes — or even the grid itself. Unfortunately for them, the slow-selling Cybertruck is the only Tesla vehicle that officially supports bi-directional charging. If you’re one of the many Model 3 and Y owners frustrated by those delays, there’s good news: those vehicles are now capable of V2H charging thanks to an “impressive” Powerwall competitor, Sigenergy.

The good news doesn’t stop there, however. The Sigenergy V2X also works with both the popular Kia EV6 and Electrek‘s 2024 EV of the Year, the Volvo EX30 over the DIN70121 protocol, and several VW/Audi/Porsche and Mercedes-Benz EVs over the ISO15118-2 protocol.

Our own Editor-in-Chief, Fred Lambert, recently went on a Sigenergy deep dive with Sylvain Juteau, President of Roulez Electrique, and came away deeply impressed with the system. I’ve included the video, above, and you can read more about the system itself at this link.

And, of course, I look forward to learning about any V2H models or more universal battery backup systems from you, the smartest readers in the blogosphere, in the comments.

Original content from Electrek.


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Tesla changes meaning of ‘Full Self-Driving’, gives up on promise of autonomy

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Tesla changes meaning of 'Full Self-Driving', gives up on promise of autonomy

Tesla has changed the meaning of “Full Self-Driving”, also known as “FSD”, to give up on its original promise of delivering unsupervised autonomy.

Since 2016, Tesla has claimed that all its vehicles in production would be capable of achieving unsupervised self-driving capability.

CEO Elon Musk has claimed that it would happen by the end of every year since 2018.

Tesla has even sold a software package, known as “Full Self-Driving Capability” (FSD), for up to $15,000 to customers, promising that the advanced driver-assist system would become fully autonomous through over-the-air software updates.

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Almost a decade later, the promise has yet to be fulfilled, and Tesla has already confirmed that all vehicles produced between 2016 and 2023 don’t have the proper hardware to deliver unsupervised self-driving as promised.

Musk has been discussing the upgrade of the computers in these vehicles to appease owners, but there’s no concrete plan to implement it.

While there’s no doubt that Tesla has promised unsupervised self-driving capabilities to FSD buyers between 2016 and 2023, the automaker has since updated its language and now only sells “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” to customers:

The fine print mentions that it doesn’t make the vehicle “autonomous” and doesn’t promise it as a feature.

In other words, people buying FSD today are not really buying the capability of unsupervised self-driving as prior buyers did.

Furthermore, Tesla’s board has just submitted a new, unprecedented CEO compensation package for shareholders’ approval, which could give Musk up to $1 trillion in stock options pending the achievement of certain milestones.

One of these milestones is Tesla having “10 Million Active FSD Subscriptions.”

At first glance, this would be hopeful for FSD buyers since part of Musk’s compensation would be dependent on delivering on the FSD promises.

However, Tesla has changed the definition of FSD in the compensation package with an extremely vague one”

“FSD” means an advanced driving system, regardless of the marketing name used, that is capable of performing transportation tasks that provide autonomous or similar functionality under specified driving conditions.

Tesla now considers FSD only an “advanced driving system” that should be “capable of performing transportation tasks that prove autonomous or similar functionality”.

The current version of FSD, which requires constant supervising by the driver, could easily fit that description.

Therefore, FSD now doesn’t come with the inital promise of Tesla owners being able to go to sleep in their vehicles and wake up at their destination – a promise that Musk has used to sell Tesla vehicles for years.

Electrek’s Take

The way Tesla discusses autonomy with customers and investors versus how it presents it in its court filings and legally binding documents is strikingly different.

It should be worrying to anyone with an interest in this.

With this very vague description in the new CEO compensation package, Tesla could literally lower the price of FSD and even remove base Autopilot to push customers toward FSD and give Musk hundreds of billions of dollars in shares in the process.

There’s precedent for Tesla decreasing pricing on FSD. Initially, Musk said that Tesla would gradually increase the price of the FSD package as the features improved and approached unsupervised autonomy.

That was true for a while, but then Tesla started slashing FSD prices, which are now down $7,000 from their high in 2023:

The trend is quite apparent and coincidentally began when Tesla’s sales started to decline.

FSD is now a simple ADAS system without any promise of unsupervised self-driving. This might quite honestly be one of the biggest cases of false advertising or bait-and-switch ever.

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