In a first, the world agrees to the ‘beginning of the end’ of the fossil fuel era
In a historic agreement, the world has agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels at the COP28 climate summit. Is this a success? Depends on who you talk to.
More than 100 countries lobbied for an agreement to “phase out fossil fuels” at the United Nations Climate Change Conference but, of course, were met with opposition from the OPEC countries.
The deal struck in Dubai by nearly 200 countries calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels [italics mine] in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”
It’s the first time that fossil fuels have been named as responsible for global warming in an official COP outcome.
The UN stated that the agreement “signals the ‘beginning of the end’ of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.”
Governments have agreed to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030, double efficiency, accelerate the reduction of coal use, implement sustainable cooling, and accelerate technologies such as carbon capture and storage, among other things. Operationalizing the newly created (yet underfunded) Loss and Damage Fund – financial support for developing countries experiencing climate change destruction caused by developed polluting countries – will also now be implemented.
The Alliance of Small Island States, which represents 39 vulnerable countries, said it had not been in the room when the deal was adopted, but its spokesperson, Anne Rasmussen from Samoa, said that the alliance would not formally object to the agreement. But she told the assembly that the “process has failed us.”
John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate, said, “While nobody here will see their views completely reflected, the fact is that this document sends a very strong signal to the world.”
China’s vice environment minister Zhao Yingmin said after the agreement was made that “developed countries have unshirkable historical responsibilities for climate change.”
The COP28 agreement isn’t legally binding, and it contains a lot of loopholes. Former US Vice President Al Gore said:
The decision at COP28 to finally recognize that the climate crisis is, at its heart, a fossil fuel crisis is an important milestone. But it is also the bare minimum we need and is long overdue. The influence of petrostates is still evident in the half measures and loopholes included in the final agreement.
Whether this is a turning point that truly marks the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era depends on the actions that come next and the mobilization of finance required to achieve them.
Tara Clee, ESG analyst at UK financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown, said in an emailed statement to Electrek that “this presents a golden opportunity for investors to step up and accelerate the transition.”
UN Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen stated, “The reality, as outlined in UNEP’s Emissions Gap report released ahead of the COP, is that we are not on track to deliver a resilient, low-carbon, and just world. This reality has not changed yet. Now the hard work of decarbonization must begin.”
UN Secretary General António Guterres summed up the outcome in a tweet:
Read more: OPEC tells members to reject COP28 deals that target fossil fuels
Photo: Kiara Worth/UN Climate Change
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The cheapest Volvo EV so far was officially launched in China over the weekend. Volvo launched the EX30 in China with a low starting price of $27,800 (200,800 yuan) as the automaker takes on BYD head-on in its home market.
In the first quarter of the year, “thousands of customers across Europe got behind the wheel of an EX30,” as Volvo gears up to begin deliveries in key markets, including the US, China, and South Korea.
Volvo is preparing to launch its low-cost EV in over 90 countries by the end of 2024. Although the EX30 is already living up to its promise as a profitable growth driver, Volvo expects even more.
EX30 production began last fall in Zhangjiakou, China, as Volvo prepares to launch an EV offensive. To meet the growing demand for affordable EVs in Europe, Volvo announced it would build the EX30 at its Ghent Plant in Belgium from 2025.
Volvo’s EX30 led to a new global sales record in Q1, but the automaker expects even bigger results as its low-cost EV hits the world’s largest electric car market.
Volvo EX30 price revealed in China starting at $27,800
Volvo officially launched the EX30 in China on Sunday with a starting price of 200,800 yuan ($27,800).
The base RWD core model features up to 410 km (255 miles range). It’s available in four trims: RWD Core, RWD Long Range Plus, RWD Long Range Ultra, and a high-performance AWD Ultra model.
| Volvo EX30 trim | Range (CLTC) |
Starting Price |
| RWD Core | 255 mi (410 km) | $27,800 (200,800 yuan) |
| RWD Long Range Plus | 366 mi (590 km) | $30,300 (219,800 yuan) |
| RWD Long Range Ultra | 366 mi (590 km) | $32,100 (232,800 yuan) |
| AWD High-Performance Ultra | 335 mi (540 km) | $35,400 (255,800 yuan) |
Powered by either a 49 kWh lithium-ion (RWD Core) or 66 kWh ternary lithium battery, the EX30’s fastest recharge time (10% to 80%) is 26 minutes.
You can see Volvo included new signature design elements like Thor Hammer LED headlights and a closed grille.
The China-made EX30’s rear features the logo “Volvo Asia Pacific,” which indicates where it was built.
Inside, you will find a modern, simplistic layout. Included is a 12.3″ vertical infotainment with hidden air conditioning units. The three-spoke steering wheel includes touch controls for key features. In addition, Volvo used environmentally friendly recycled materials like flax fiber and denim.
At 4,233 mm long, 1,838 mm wide, and 1,555 mm tall, the EX30 will rival BYD’s best-selling Atto 3 SUV (4,455mm X 1,875 mm X 1,615 mm) and Dolphin (4,290 mm X 1,570 mm X 1,770 mm) electric hatch in China.
Electrek’s Take
BYD was the best-selling car brand in China last year after overtaking Volkswagen. After slashing prices and declaring a “liberation battle” against ICE vehicles, BYD hit a new weekly sales record in China earlier this month.
Through May 12, BYD had over 101,300 registrations in China, outpacing rivals Tesla, Li Auto, NIO, and XPeng.
Its cheapest EV, the Seagull Honor Edition, now starts at just $9,700 (69,800 yuan). Perhaps, more importantly, BYD is expanding into new segments like luxury and mid-size SUVs.
BYD launched the Sea Lion 07, its first “mid-size urban smart electric SUV,” this month, undercutting Tesla’s Model Y with starting prices of $26,250 (189,800 yuan).
Volvo is also gearing up for an EV offensive, with its EX30 rolling out into new markets. The EX30 will start at $34,950 (plus a $1,295 delivery fee) in the US, and deliveries are expected to begin this summer.
The company is also launching its first three-row electric SUV, the EX90. In China, Volvo began production of its first luxury electric minivan, the EM90.
Volvo’s lineup will include the EX30, EX40, EC40, EM90, and EX90. With the launch of new EVs, Volvo expects demand to “remain robust” over the next few quarters.
Can Volvo’s new EX30 help it keep up with EV leaders like BYD in China starting under $28,000? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: CarNewsChina, Volvo
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Tesla has started pushing its new Full Self-Driving (FSD) v12.4 update, and it confirmed the removal of the “steering wheel nag”, but it improved camera-based driver monitoring, including shutting down the sunglasses loophole.
As usual, Elon Musk has been hyping up the next Tesla FSD update as “mind-blowing”, but this time, he went beyond the superlatives and released a few verifiable details about the update.
Musk said that v12.4 should result in a 5 to 10x improvement in miles per intervention. It’s going to be hard to verify because Tesla never released that data for previous versions of the software, but we do have some crowdsourced data that we could compare it to.
The CEO also said that v12.4 would remove what most people call “steering wheel nag.”
“Steering wheel nag” is what Tesla drivers call the alerts the vehicle sends to remind drivers to apply pressure on the steering wheel. Tesla doesn’t have a way to detect hands on the steering wheel, so it can “confirm” drivers keep their hands on it – by detecting torque being applied on the wheel.
Tesla has started to push the update to its internal fleet this weekend and now we have more details about the changes in driver monitoring.
The automaker wrote in the release notes of the update (via Not a Tesla App):
When Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is enabled, the driver monitoring system now primarily relies on the cabin camera to determine driver attentiveness. This enhancement is available on vehicles equipped with a cabin camera and only when the cabin camera has clear and continuous visibility of the driver’s eyes (e.g., the camera is not occluded, there is sufficient cabin illumination, and the driver is looking forward at the road ahead and not wearing sunglasses, a hat with a low brim, or other objects covering the eyes).
Tesla warns that there will still be some steering wheel nag if outside of the circumstances listed above:
Outside of these circumstances, the driver monitoring system will continue to rely on a combination of torque-based (steering wheel) and vision-based monitoring to detect driver attentiveness.
The automaker also commented on how the camera-based driver monitoring is going to work:
If the camera detects the driver to be inattentive, a warning will appear. The warning can be dismissed by the driver immediately reverting their attention back to the road ahead. Warnings will escalate depending on the nature and frequency of detected inattentiveness, with continuous inattention leading to a Strikeout.
While we have yet to see this in practice, it does sound like Tesla might be relaxing the frequency of alerts on that front, too, as long as the driver is paying attention.
Tesla is trying to reassure everyone that the camera data from the cabin doesn’t leave the vehicle:
Cabin camera images do not leave the vehicle itself, which means the system cannot save or transmit information unless you enable data sharing.
Tesla is expected to start pushing the v12.4 update to the wider fleet this week.
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi looks on during a TV interview, in Tehran, Iran May 7, 2024.
Iran’s Presidency | WANA | Via Reuters
Crude oil futures were little changed Monday after Iran’s president and foreign minister died in a helicopter crash.
President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian perished in the crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province in poor weather.
Here are today’s energy prices:
- West Texas Intermediate June contract: $79.78 a barrel, down 28 cents, or 0.35%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is up 11.3%.
- Brent July contract: $83.77 a barrel, down 21 cents, or 0.25%. Year to date, the global benchmark is up 8.8%.
- RBOB gasoline June contract: $2.56 a gallon, down 0.54%. Year to date, gasoline futures have gained 21.7%.
- Natural gas June contract: $2.65 per thousand cubic feet, up 1%. Year to date, gas is up 5.8%.
Policy in OPEC’s third-largest producer is not expected to change, with Vice President Mohammad Mokhber taking over as interim president as the country prepares for new elections within 50 days.
WTI vs. Brent
In Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, King Salman is undergoing treatment for a lung infection.
U.S. crude oil and Brent booked modest gains last week, but remain stuck in a narrow range as traders look for a catalyst that could lift prices out of the doldrums.
OPEC and its allies, led by Russia, will hold a meeting on June 1 to review production policy. A coalition of OPEC+ members are voluntarily cutting output by 2.2 million barrels per day to support prices.
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