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The US utility-scale clean energy sector has announced more than $150 billion in capital investment since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law last August – the American Clean Power Association breaks it down in a new report.

US clean energy boom

The American Clean Power Association’s new Clean Energy Investing in America study reports the statistical breakdown of where all this capital investment is going. The association is a federation of renewable energy companies that want to make clean energy the “dominant power source in America.”

Highlights of US clean energy growth in just the last nine months include, according to the American Clean Power Association’s summary:

  • 46 announcements of new, expanded, or reopened utility-scale manufacturing facilities:
    • 26 solar manufacturing facilities
    • 10 battery storage manufacturing facilities
    • 8 wind manufacturing facilities
    • 2 offshore wind manufacturing facilities
  • 18,000 new American manufacturing jobs
  • Nearly 96,000 MW of announced clean energy capacity
  • $4.4 billion in announced consumer savings
    • 24 million Americans served by utilities that announced consumer savings
  • States that will see new or expanded factories include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, while other locations remain undetermined.

But the report warns that in order for the anticipated clean energy buildout to happen in a timely manner, it’s going to need an expedited and streamlined permitting process. The American Clean Power Association asserts that failure to do so will put “100 GW of clean energy at risk of significant delay.”

Jason Grumet, CEO of American Clean Power, said:

The clean energy transition is racing ahead. American companies are making massive investments that are increasing American competitiveness and revitalizing the manufacturing sector.

But we cannot build a strong, modern, and resilient economy absent dramatic improvement in the permitting of new energy infrastructure.

The American private sector has the technology, resources, and workforce to build a clean energy economy and deliver affordable, reliable, clean power to American families and businesses.

Now we need Congress to create a permitting system that is equal to the challenge and designed to succeed.

Electrek’s Take

This is good news and is the type of momentum we at Electrek knew would come from the Inflation Reduction Act’s passage because it’s groundbreaking legislation. We know the American Clean Power Association has an agenda, and it’s an agenda we align with. We want everyone to electrify and move to clean power as quickly as possible.

The report is right to raise the issue of a potential permitting backlog. It notes that “the average timeline for a clean energy project to obtain necessary National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews is 4.5 years.”

That’s too long for these clean energy projects to have to wait. Congress needs to reform the permitting process in a way that strikes a balance between timeliness and thoroughness of environmental reviews.

Read more: Global wind energy will exceed 1 TW by the end of 2023

Photo: First Solar Desert Sunlight Solar Farm/US Department of the Interior


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Tesla (TSLA) brand damage is destroying used car value: ‘People don’t want them anymore’

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Tesla (TSLA) brand damage is destroying used car value: 'People don't want them anymore'

Tesla’s brand damage is eroding the value of used Tesla vehicles at a rapid rate, as owners rush to sell theirs.

It is breaking the used Tesla market as prices are plunging just as the broader used car market is recovering.

After a few tough years for the used car market following the pandemic, it is finally starting to recover over the last month.

Economic uncertainty and a fear of higher inflation due to Trump’s tariffs are prompting some buyers to shift from the new car market to the used car market.

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From March 2024 to March 2025, average used car prices decreased by 2.68% in the US, but the trend has finally reversed.

According to Car Guru‘s used car index, used car prices have risen an impressive 2.17% in the last 30 days alone.

However, there’s an exception: Tesla.

The price of used Tesla vehicles has been falling, like the rest of the used car market, since the pandemic; however, it is not benefiting from the reversal in the current macroeconomic situation.

While average used car prices rose more than 2% in the last 30 days, Tesla’s used car prices decreased by 1.34% in the US.

That’s due to oversupply, as many Tesla owners are selling their vehicles to distance themselves from the Tesla brand, which is associated with CEO Elon Musk and his increasingly divisive political views.

The demand to sell used Tesla vehicles is so high that many used car dealers, who had been fighting to acquire inventory just a year prior, are starting to be reticent about buying Tesla vehicles as the value decreases so rapidly.

In Quebec, Le Journal de Montréal spoke with local used car dealers and attended a car auction where many Tesla vehicles were up for sale, with some selling for half the price they were selling for just over a year ago.

Éric Piuze, owner of a used car dealership on Montreal’s South Shore, said (translated from French):

“People don’t want them anymore. The Elon Musk effect is very real in Quebec.”

The used car dealers at the auction noted that they are not confident they can sell the used Tesla quickly enough to avoid further value decreases.

Furthermore, they note that potential buyers are lowballing on Tesla vehicles because they are aware that inventory is high, creating a buyer’s market.

Dealers are also seeing higher defaults on Tesla car payments, as buyers who took on debt to purchase them just a few years ago struggle to make payments.

Piuze added (translated from French):

People paid a lot of money for Teslas. During the pandemic, we saw many people remortgaging their homes to buy a Tesla. Those days are over.

At its peak, the average used Tesla price was over $60,000 in 2022. Now, the same vehicles are worth a fraction, but their car payments are still high.

Electrek’s Take

Even with the used car market finally getting a breather from crashing prices, Tesla vehicles are not benefiting at all. This highlights a significant issue in the used Tesla market. It’s broken.

The market can’t absorb the surge in people selling their Tesla vehicles.

I wouldn’t want to be a company holding a fleet of Tesla vehicles right now. The value erosion is impressive.

I thought that maybe the Cybertruck was dragging the entire Tesla market down, with a 6.64% decrease in used value over the last 30 days. However, the Model Y alone saw a 1.67% decrease during the same period.

The good news is that the vast majority of people selling their used Tesla vehicles are purchasing other electric vehicles, thereby boosting the EV market. It’s also giving people the chance to get into Tesla vehicles for cheaper, although they should expect the value of those vehicles to decrease rapidly.

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E-quipment highlight: Sandvik QH443E electric cone plant

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E-quipment highlight: Sandvik QH443E electric cone plant

The new flagship Q-Range electric drive cone plant from the quarry experts at Sandvik is engineered to be safe, quiet, and tough enough to operate in the most hostile environments the mining and quarrying industries can put it in.

Cone crushers enhance quarrying efficiency by enabling operators to crush rock, stone, and ore down to a precise size. In ELI5 terms, big rocks go into the top of the plant. Inside, a cone-shaped mantle moves inside a larger cone in an eccentric circle that grinds up the stone and ore between the mantle and the cone’s sides, breaking them up into smaller pieces. Once the pieces are ground to a given size determined by the position of the mantle within the larger cone, they fall out into a cone-shaped pile (but that’s just a coincidence).

Basic mechanisms of cone crusher

The “how it works” version.

The cone crusher is part of a broader “train” of machines on a quarry that work together to turn a massive rock face into a fine sand and/or anything in between. With the launch of the QH443E electric cone plant, Sandvik now offers mine operators a fully electric driven train – one that includes the UJ443E fully electric jaw crusher launched in 2023, the QE342e hybrid scalper, and the QA452e hybrid triple-deck Doublescreen launched in 2022 (if you want to know more about how those work, let us know in the comments).

The new QH443E features a new heavy-duty feeder design equipped with electrically driven components, which can be powered by batteries, or a connection to grid power. An on-board diesel generator capable of running on 100% HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil), providing a number of more sustainable fuel choices and effectively reducing the mine’s operating costs.

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Sandvik claims the electric delivers a 25% fuel savings on generator (and, obviously, 100% on grid or battery power), as well as a 78% reduction in oil usage compared to previous generations.

The new crusher bridges the gap between tracked mobile, wheeled portable, and stationary cone plants by combining electric drives and track mobility on a single platform. The QH443E uses Optik intuitive automation system and My Fleet remote monitoring software hooked to a suite of sensors that provide 24/7 telematics, geo-fencing, and remote-operator support that’s designed to ensure continuous crushing and optimal performance.

Those sensors also help drive innovations in safety, as well. “Safety is paramount in the design of the QH443E,” said Sandvik, in a statement. “The unit includes remote camera viewing of the crushing chamber, 270 degree access around the crusher for easy maintenance and mandatory audible and visual warnings for safe operation. Our extensive global distributor and sales support network ensures that you receive the best support for your operations.”

The QH443E is available in the EU now through Sandvik Mobile’s global dealer network, and will be available everywhere by Q4 of 2025.

Electrek’s Take

Sandvik QH443E portable cone plant rounds out the company’s electric train offering; via Sandvik.

While there are a lot of people outside the drilling and mining space who may scoff at environmental concerns, the quest for improved efficiency and cost reduction among commercial fleet managers knows no political ideology. Simply put: If it’s better or cheaper, they’ll buy it. If it’s better and cheaper, they’ll buy two — and battery power is proving to be consistently better, in a broader scope of use cases, than diesel.

SOURCE | PHOTOS: Sandvik; via Global Highways, Pit & Quarry.

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Past classic that deserves the electric restomod treatment: Ford Taurus

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Past classic that deserves the electric restomod treatment: Ford Taurus

The current EV era is ripe with revered classic car designs and nameplates that are being reborn as battery-powered rides – and the success of cars the Renault 5 proves it can be a winning formula. Today, I’m suggesting another classic that deserves a modern electric update: the OG Ford Taurus.

It might seem old and dated now, but when the original Ford Taurus made its debut in 1985, it was so fresh, so different, so futuristic that it was included, almost unchanged, in Robocop’s sci-fi vision of a dystopian Detroit. Really.

I’d buy that for a dollar

From the movie poster for Robocop; MGM Studios.

The aerodynamic design of the Ford Taurus wasn’t just futuristic, it was successful – and, from 1992 through 1996, the OG Taurus was not just Ford’s best-selling car, but the best selling car in North America.

The sedan market is very different forty years on – so different, in fact, that Ford doesn’t actually sell any sedans in North America. With the exception of the 2-door ICE Mustang, the Blue Oval brand doesn’t even sell any cars, and operates almost entirely as a truck and SUV brand.

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Now, imagine Ford decides to get back into the sedan game. It’s 2025 now, and the Tesla Model 3 has proven that there’s enough demand for at least one successful electric sedan in the US. And, crucially, it seems like most of those buyers won’t be trading their Tesla back in for another one.

If there was ever a time to do it, that time is now – and Ford is perfectly positioned to fast-track a new-age Taurus.

The VW connection

Chinese-market Volkswagen ID.7 Vizzion; via VW.

Yes, I know that’s a Volkswagen – but hear me out. Ford and VW have a strong, existing relationship when it comes to EVs, having co-developed the MEB electric skateboard platform that underpins both the high-riding Ford Capri (itself a modern take on a classic Ford) and the Volkswagen ID.7 shown, above.

The ID.7 is an interesting piece, because it was always Volkswagen’s original intention to bring the car to the US, but slowing sedan demand and a dealer body that would rather sell Scout-branded SUVs and pickups than near/entry-luxe sedans killed the car’s chances before before the first one made it over. Now, it’s not coming to the US at all.

That might have been a mistake, since the the midsized ID.7 sedan is currently the best-selling EV in Germany, with sales continuing to accelerate throughout Europe in the wake of Tesla’s catastrophic, politically-fueled decline.

So, VW dealers don’t want a perfectly capable, Ford-developed, aerodynamic midsized sedan to sell in the US? No problem. Ramp up the BlueOval SK battery plant, set off a hiring frenzy at BlueOval City, start building an oval-badged ID.7-based Ford Taurus in the US, and slap a Tesla conquest rebate on the thing to help overcome Tesla buyer’s increasingly negative equity.

It even looks good in 90s Ford Taurus green.

Original content from Electrek; featured image by ChatGPT.

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