AOC can’t find a union-made EV to trade for her Tesla: That’s a problem.
In the midst of the United Auto Workers’ strike, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked on Face The Nation whether she plans to trade in her Tesla Model 3 for a union-built EV.
However, there really aren’t many EVs she could pick from, and that’s a problem for the Big Three, the UAW, the American auto industry, and US workers in general. And also for AOC.
The UAW started striking two weeks ago, beginning with shutting down one plant at each of the Big Three auto companies. Only one plug-in car was affected initially, the Jeep 4xe.
Since then, the strike has expanded to several more GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers, but the strike against Ford has not expanded as the UAW says talks are progressing better there.
With only one plug-in car currently affected by the strike, it may seem like EVs lucked out, or that the unions perhaps decided not to stop EV production. But in actuality, the reason that union-made EVs haven’t been affected by the partial shutdowns is because, well, there just aren’t very many of them.
What choices does AOC have?
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has spoken out repeatedly supporting unions. She’s stood on picket lines in her district and generally supports strikes and labor unions.
Last year, she stated that she wanted to trade in her Tesla Model 3 and get a union-made EV instead. And this weekend, with the UAW striking, she was asked the same question again.
In her answer she mentioned that she purchased her car during the pandemic, looking for safe and efficient travel to DC from her district in Queens, New York. At the time, the Model 3 was the best choice for this – and, frankly, it probably still is, based on fast charging capability, price, range, and general vehicle quality.
But it’s also not union-built, and in addition, Tesla CEO Elon Musk often interferes with unionization efforts and talks down on unions (he even did so yesterday) and routinely acts publicly creepy towards AOC, which is likely a contributing factor to her desire to rinse her hands of the brand.
At the time, the only union-built EV made in the US was the Chevy Bolt. There are more union-built EVs today than there were in 2020 when AOC bought her Tesla, but the choices are still limited.
In the last few years, we’ve seen the Ford F-150 Lightning, the Hummer EV, and the Cadillac Lyriq all go into production here in the US with union manufacturing. But none of those would really be great choices for AOC. Nor would the E-Transit, which is mainly for commercial use, though it paints an amusing #Vanlife image for the congresswoman.
The Lightning and Hummer are far too large for a city dweller, and likely too way much vehicle for her purposes. And the Lyriq, despite being really dang nice, is probably not the right statement for an everyman representative like her – although its $57k base price is almost identical to the $58k MSRP that Long Range Model 3s were fetching at their peak price at the end of last year.
At least, those are some union-made EVs that are built in the United States. If we expand elsewhere, we can find plenty of examples of EVs built by union labor. While foreign automakers typically run non-union shops in the US, they are unionized in their own countries (so, no ID.4 then unless she picks a used, early run model before they switched to Tennessee models). European auto-worker unions are strong (especially in Germany), and Asian automakers are typically unionized domestically even if their unions are not as strong as in Germany. Mexican auto assembly plants are also often unionized, including the one that builds the Mustang Mach E.
But, as a US rep, she is probably looking for a US-made vehicle (and to be fair, she does have the most American-made vehicle already in her Tesla). So even the Mach E from our neighbors to the South is out of the running.
That leaves us the same choice she would have had in 2020: the unassuming but awesome Chevy Bolt. We at Electrek think this is a great choice, having given it our Vehicle of the Year award, and it remains a screaming deal given its low MSRP and availability of credits and incentives to drive that price down further (if you can find one anyway – you can check local dealer inventory here).
A Bolt EUV (due to Super Cruise availability, for that long trip down to DC) is going to be our official recommendation.
But it’s still not ideal for her circumstances, since the Bolt has a slow 54kW DC charge rate. Since Queens and DC are about 240 miles apart, the Bolt’s 247 mile range will likely need a little top-up for safety along the way, and slow DC charge rate and lack of access to Tesla’s superior Supercharger network (though that’s changing soon) will make that experience less than optimal.
Her choices could be getting better soon, with the upcoming Chevy Blazer and Equinox EVs, but those aren’t out yet (though they’re due to hit the road this coming quarter). And her choices will get a little worse at the end of the year as well, since the excellent Chevy Bolt is due to end production in December (though it is slated to come back).
So it’s no wonder she hasn’t been able to trade in her car yet – and that’s kind of a problem.
Electrek’s Take
It’s a problem because it shows that the companies that have formed the industrial backbone of the US for so long are simply not building enough EVs. Everyone understands that EVs are the future of the auto industry – though we at Electrek would argue that they are also the present of the auto industry, not just the future.
Tesla currently has around 5x the combined market cap of Ford, GM, and Stellantis, despite that those three companies combined sell about 10x as many vehicles as Tesla currently. This is obviously a quite… optimistic valuation, but it also shows, among other things, that the market values growth and sees where the industry is going. And it’s clear that investors, as a collective, have more confidence in Tesla’s ability to prepare for the future of the industry than they do in the Big Three combined.
Some, including business media and leadership from the Big Three in the last week or two, blame this on the UAW themselves. The argument goes that unionized labor asks for too much or stands in the way of progress, and that this cripples the Big Three with labor costs and keeps them from being competitive as vehicles evolve, particularly given that EVs will require fewer assembly hours than gas cars.
But as mentioned above, other countries’ automakers have strong auto unions and yet are not similarly “shackled.” And when questioned about whether they might oppose the industry’s green transition due to this drop in assembly hours, UAW leadership has never taken the bait and has merely insisted it be a “just transition.”
Meanwhile, analyses have shown that countries and automakers that don’t fully participate in this green transition aren’t going to do well. We covered a report suggesting Japan’s GDP could drop a full 14% due to its failure to move on EVs. And a year later, we’ve already seen Mitsubishi and Toyota reduce their presence in China due to failure on EVs, and the same goes for other foreign automakers who have underestimated EV demand there. Then there’s the matter that Tesla is outselling Toyota in California and has the world’s best-selling car, the first EV to gain that title.
So everybody knows that we need to go in the right direction, but American automakers have still been slow to offer a wide variety of EV models – despite GM’s promises to the contrary.
The US government has tried to stimulate more production here, via the Inflation Reduction Act, which gives tax credits to domestically-produced EVs. The proposed law originally included an additional union-made credit, but it was struck by the efforts of all 50 republicans and Joe Manchin.
The law has been successful in onshoring production of EVs, as manufacturers have announced investments in domestic EV production totaling in the hundreds of billions of dollars. But it has been less successful in creating union jobs, as many of those announcements are non-union (though we did see the first battery plant unionize late last year and win a pay raise last month).
As I stated in the last article about this, personally, I’m pro-union. And I think that everyone should be – it only makes sense that people should have their interests collectively represented, and that people should be able to join together to support each other and exercise their power collectively, instead of individually.
This is precisely what companies do with industry organizations, lobby organizations, chambers of commerce, and so on. And it’s what people do when sorting themselves into local, state, or national governments. So naturally, workers should do the same. It only makes sense.
Unions are important not just for AOC’s car choices, but for American labor as a whole. The US economy and US workers tend to do better when unionization rates are high, and the auto industry is one of the bulwarks of organized labor in the US and has been central to US manufacturing prowess for decades. This is why AOC supports them, and why President Biden, who joined UAW workers on the picket line yesterday, does as well.
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Capable of delivering up to 1,200 kW of power to get electric commercial trucks back on the road in minutes, the new ABB MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System is part of an ecosystem of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) that ABB’s bringing to this year’s ACT Expo.
ABB E-mobility is using the annual clean trucking conference to showcase the expansion of its EVSE portfolio with three all-new charger families: the field-upgradable A200/300 All-in-One chargers, the MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System for heavy-duty vehicles shown (above), and the ChargeDock Dispenser for flexible depot charging.
The company said its new product platform was built by applying a computer system-style domain separation to charger design, fundamentally improving subsystem development and creating a clear path forward for site and system expansion. In other words, ABB is selling a system with both future-proofing and enhanced dependability baked in.
“We have built a system by logically separating a charger into four distinct subsystems … each functioning as an independent subsystem,” explains Michael Halbherr, CEO of ABB E-mobility. “Unlike conventional chargers, where a user interface failure can disable the entire system, our architecture ensures charging continues even if the screen or payment system encounters issues. Moreover, we can improve each subsystem at its own pace without having to change the entire system.”
The parts of ABB’s new EVSE portfolio that have been made public so far have already been recognized for design excellence, with the A400 winning the iF Gold Award and both the A400 and C50 receiving Red Dot Design Awards.
New ABB chargers seem pretty, good
ABB says the systemic separation of its EVSE enhances both reliability and quality, while making deployed chargers easier to diagnose and repair, in less time. Each of the chargers’ subsystems can be tested, diagnosed, and replaced independently, allowing for quick on-site repairs and update cycles tailored to the speed of each systems’ innovation. The result is 99% uptime and a more future-proof product.
“The EV charging landscape is evolving beyond point products for specific use cases,” continued Halbherr. “By implementing this modular approach with the majority of our R&D focused on modular platforms rather than one-off products … it reduces supply chain risks, while accelerating development cycles and enabling deeper collaboration with critical suppliers.”
Key markets ABB is chasing
- PUBLIC CHARGING – with the award winning A400 being the optimal fit for high power charging from highway corridors to urban locations, the latest additions to the A-Series All-in-One chargers offer a field-upgradable architecture allowing operators to start with the A200 (200kW) with the option to upgrade to 300kW or 400kW as demand grows. This approach offers scalability and protects customer investment, leading to Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings over 10 years.
- PUBLIC TRANSIT AND FLEET – the new Charge Dock Dispenser – in combination with the already in market available HVC 360 – simplifies depot charging with a versatile solution that supports pantograph-, roof-, and pedestal charging options with up to 360kW of shared power and 150m/490 ft installation flexibility between cabinet and dispensers. The dispenser maintains up to 500A output.
- HEAVY TRUCKS – building the matching charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles and fleets represents a critical innovation frontier on our journey to electrify transportation. Following extensive collaboration with industry-leading truck OEMs, the MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System delivers up to 1,200kW of continuous power — 20% more energy transfer than 1MW systems — providing heavy-duty vehicles with purpose-built single-outlet design for the energy they need during mandatory driver breaks. To support other use cases, such as CCS truck charging, a dual CCS and MCS option will also be available.
- RETAIL – the award winning C50 Compact Charger complements the family as the slimmest charger in its category at just 9.3 inches depth, optimized for convenient charging during typical one-hour retail experiences. With its large touch display, the C50 takes the award-winning A400 experience even further — setting a new standard for consumer experience and very neatly echoing our own take on that “Goldilocks” timing zone for commercial charging.
ABB says that the result of its new approach are chargers that offer 99% plus uptime — a crucial statistic for commercial charging operations and a key factor to ensuring customer satisfaction. The new ABB E-mobility EVSE product family will be on display for the first time at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo (ACT Expo) in Anaheim, California next week, then again at Power2Drive in Munich, Germany, from May 7-9.
Electrek’s Take
The ACT Expo is one of – if not the most important sustainable trucking event in North America, featuring all the big names in heavy trucks, construction equipment, material handling, infrastructure – even Tier 1 suppliers. Mostly, though, it’s many fleet buyers’ only chance to test drive these zero emission trucks before writing a big PO (which just makes it even more important).
Electrek will be there again this year, and we’ll be bringing you all the latest news from press events and product reveals as it happens.
SOURCE | IMAGES: ABB E-mobility.
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Along with Tennessee Tech, Tennessee-based ultralight aircraft company Whisper Aero has secured a $500,000 grant to help advance the company’s innovative electric jet motor concept off the drawing board and onto the testing phase.
Earlier this month, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) announced plans to award $500,000 to Tennessee Tech and Whisper Aero through the Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) initiative.
“We look forward to using these award dollars to place students in internships working directly with Whisper Aero leaders,” said Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham. “By learning from an electric propulsion innovator like Whisper Aero, our students will gain invaluable perspective and can take what they have learned in the classroom and apply it right here in Tennessee.”
The grant will see a Whisper Aero glider fitted with a pair of the company’s eQ250 electric-powered jet “propulsors” for UltraQuiet flight. Tennessee Tech faculty and students will carry out copper-bird ground testing to ensure the safe integration of engines, batteries, and controllers, and kickstart Tennessee Tech’s new Crossville Mobility Incubator.
Those propulsors, by the way, are super cool.
Whisper Aero’s main claim to fame is its innovative UltraQuiet WhisperDrive (above). It’s effectively an electrically spun ducted fan jet engine that uses a large number of stiff composite fan blades inside a lightweight, acoustically treated duct. With so many blades, the Whisper Aero propulsor can push more air than a conventional prop while spinning much more slowly. As such, the “blade passage frequency” moves up to more than 16,000 Hz – outside the range of most human hearing but not, supposedly, high enough to freak out the beagles.
The Whisper Aero ultralight is effectively an Aériane Swift3 glider fitted with a pair of Whisper’s eQ250 propulsors, each capable of up to 80 lbs. of thrust. The Ultralight has a wingspan of over 40 ft with a maximum L/D of 35:1 and can be stressed to a design loading of +6/-4g, making it capable of some pretty impressive acrobatic feats.
The Swift3 glider is designed for a low speed, low power cruising speed of 45–55 knots with “just” 6.5 hp. Power-off glides from a few hundred feet showed a low sink rate, and a climb rate of 1,250 ft/min with full self-launching power (in other words: the Whisper glider doesn’t have to be towed by a launch vehicle, like a conventional ultralight glider).
Quiet cool
Range under full power is about 109 miles with current battery tech, but it’s expected that range under the latest EPiC 2.0 energy batteries would rise to nearly 170 miles.
Nathan Millecam, CEO of Electric Power System, said, “EPiC 2.0’s leap in energy density and thermal performance has enabled a significant increase in range, a clear validation of our next-gen cell technology. We are impressed by what the Whisper team continues to achieve in advancing electric aviation.”
The press release concludes explaining that flight tests are expected to show that the Whisper Aero glider can be flown, “a few hundred feet away from neighborhoods without any disturbances, while carrying a 220 lbs. payload with full range,” which is all kind of ominous in today’s political climate, but still pretty neat from a purely tech perspective.
The TNGO grant follows a separate grant from NASA awarded last year, though that grant aims to develop the eQ250s – not as a propulsion system, but as a key component in future spacecraft ventilation systems.
Tennessee Tech announces TNGO grant
With support from TNECD’s Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) initiative, Tennessee Tech University and Whisper Aero are partnering to advance next-generation propulsion technology in the aerospace industry. This collaboration will enhance aerospace research and workforce development, ensuring Tennessee remains a leader in cutting-edge mobility solutions.
SOURCE | IMAGES: TNECD; via eVTOL Insights, New Atlas.
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A Tesla Cybertruck owner believed Elon Musk’s claims that the Cybertruck would be able to “act as a boat” and “cross rivers”, and he got his $100,000 stuck because of it.
Elon Musk has often made claims about how Tesla vehicles could float and briefly serve as a boat in the past.
We have never been taken too seriously because Tesla’s warranty states something different about taking the vehicle into water.
However, the CEO doubled down on the claim specifically for the Cybertruck.
Ahead of launching the production version of the Cybertruck, Musk claimed the vehicle would be “waterproof enough” to serve as a boat and cross rivers:
Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes and even seas that aren’t too choppy.
The CEO added that the goal is for a Cybertruck to be able to cross the water between SpaceX’s Starbase and South Padre Island in Texas, which is about 360 meters (1,100 feet).
We have been taking the Cybertruck more seriously with water because we learned that Tesla built a ‘wade mode’ for the truck to be able to go into the water. Tesla says the mode increases the ride height to the max and temporarily “pressurizes the battery pack.”
The problem is that it is activated through the off-roading mode, which is not covered under Tesla’s warranty – so we are taking everything with a grain of salt.
Whenever Tesla’s warranty contradicts what Musk says, it is better to follow to the warranty.
A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Truckee, California, appears not to have received this sage advice since they activated the wade mode and attempted to get into the water.
The Cybertruck owner quickly got stuck. The local California Highway Patrol (CHP) shared some pictures of the aftermath (via Facebook):
CHP Truckee helped with the recovery and commented on the incident:
Cybertruck activated “Wade Mode”… and waded a bit too far… We’re all for testing boundaries… but maybe not the waterline. Remember folks, “Wade Mode” isn’t “Submarine Mode.” If your plans include exploring the great outdoors, make sure to know your limits and the terrain.
There’s no detail on the damage to the Cybertruck, if any.
As we recently reported, repair costs for the stainless steel electric pickup truck can increase rapidly.
This Cybertruck owner is also not the first one to get stuck in water. We previously reported on a Tesla Cybertruck sinking into the water when launching a jet ski.
Electrek’s Take
At the risk of stating the obvious, this is clearly more of a user error than a Cybertruck problem.
I think the verdict is clear: Cybertruck is far from the best electric pickup truck for off-roading.
However, in general, you shouldn’t expect a truck to get out of water on a muddy bank.
I think a lot of Cybertruck owners are new to trucking and off-roading, and they are making the truck look worse than it is at off-roading.
If you want to take your Cybertruck off-road, I recommend to first go with an off-roading guide that can help avoid some simple mistakes like this.
Also, in general, don’t take Elon Musk’s claims at face value when he says that Tesla vehicles can do something that sounds like an exaggeration. It probably is an exaggeration.
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