ComEd announces $90M in EV funding at Chicago Drives Electric [part 1]

Published

1 month ago

October 3, 2024

admin

Chicago Drives Electric | ComEd Press Conference

Illinois utility ComEd kicked off the Chicago Drives Electric event with a $90 million bang, featuring a new Point of Purchase initiative to deliver instant discounts to qualifying business and public sector customers who make the switch to electric vehicles.

Chicago Drives Electric kicked off this morning with a media and industry day event sponsored by industry analysts CDK Global and the local electric utility, ComEd. The event is open all weekend long, and enables Chicago area car buyers to experience the hottest new EVs on the market without necessitating a high-pressure trip to a car dealer.

Now in its second year, Chicago Drives Electric has grown significantly — but that $90 million ComEd rebate program is the day’s big news. The utility’s Beneficial Electrification initiative is designed to provide more certainty around the total costs of converting commercial fleets to battery electric power, and is backed by a growing collaboration of more than 30 Illinois car and truck dealers, OEMs, and other local EV and auto industry stakeholders.

“Making the switch to electric vehicles shouldn’t be a challenge, which is why ComEd is committed to offering resources, tools and programs to remove barriers to EV adoption,” said Melissa Washington, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations at ComEd (at top). “… we launched our EV rebate program to help make it easier for customers to make the switch to electric vehicles. The new Point of Purchase EV rebate initiative, and the ability to provide instant rebates to fleet customers, is a necessary continuation of our original offering to make widespread fleet electrification more achievable.”

The Point of Purchase is the latest initiative by ComEd to help make the transition to EVs easier across northern Illinois — and not just easier, but more equitable, too.

That commitment to environmental equity means that half of ComEd’s nearly $90 million in available rebate funds will go to EIEC and low income communities, and in higher amounts.

Recognizing that upfront purchase cost is still a significant barrier to EV adoption, the Point of Purchase initiative will help more commercial customers – including businesses of all sizes, and public sector customers — to qualify for fleet vehicle purchase rebates ranging from $5,000 to $180,000 per vehicle at the time of purchase (rebate amounts depend on vehicle type, with Class 1 and 2 vehicles qualifying for a base rebate of $5,000, and rebates climbing up to medium-duty box trucks up through Class 8 electric semi trucks and on to transit and school buses > 35‘).

“ComEd’s commitment to advancing transportation electrification and supporting customers through every step of their fleet electrification journey is reinforced by this new initiative. At this juncture in electrification efforts, affordability is crucial, and this program makes it easier for businesses to electrify their fleets,” said Brian Robb, Director of Government Relations at Lion Electric. “As a member of the ComEd Point of Purchase network, (Lion is) looking forward to further increasing widespread EV adoption in northern Illinois.”

To obtain an instant rebate through the ComEd Point of Purchase initiative, fleet vehicle operators must coordinate the purchase of an EV through one of the approved dealerships or manufacturers in the ComEd Point of Purchase network (here’s a list of those). The dealership will then submit the necessary rebate voucher application, enabling the customer to purchase their new electric vehicle at a reduced rate.

And, yes: buyers can stack the ComEd rebate along with other federal and state rebates, covering up to 100% of the cost of a new EV.

Chicago Drives Electric runs all weekend long, and is part of the Chicago Auto Trade Association’s celebration of national Drive Electric Week.

Electrek’s Take

The higher initial cost of EVs is often cited as the number one barrier to adoption, but the same could be said of a Rolex wristwatch. That is to say, higher prices don’t make things less appealing, just harder to buy — and programs like ComEd’s, which are lowering that barrier to entry to fleets that want to electrify, are big enough to move the needle.

Here’s hoping every bus and truck fleet in the region takes them up on their offer.

SOURCE | IMAGES: ComEd; images by the author.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Environment

Cybertruck backlog runs out, Model S gets stuck, GM hits a sales milestone

Published

3 hours ago

November 5, 2024

admin

Cybertruck backlog runs out, Model S gets stuck, GM hits a sales milestone

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, Tesla’s Cybertruck is now available in Canada – and, like in the US, there’s no waiting! Plus, we’ve got an “actually” smart summon Tesla that’s actually stuck, GM reaches a sales milestone, and we get a brand-new title sponsor!

Today’s episode is the first with our new title sponsor, BLUETTI – a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems.

Source Links

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonusLucid proves than an EV company can keep its promises while Xiaomi teams up with Chevrolet and Honda to prove – at least conceptually – that records are made to be broken. audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Environment

This ‘supercharger on wheels’ brings fast charging to you [update]

Published

5 hours ago

November 4, 2024

admin

This 'supercharger on wheels' brings fast charging to you [update]

Mobile car care company Yoshi Mobility launched a DC fast charging EV mobile unit that it likens to “a supercharger on wheels.”

November 4, 2024 update: Yoshi Mobility will only be charging EVs on the side of the road now – it announced today that it’s selling its fleet fueling operation to EZFill Holdings (Nasdaq: EZFL).

It was originally founded as a direct-to-consumer, mobile fueling business in 2016, but now it’s going to focus on mobile EV charging, virtual vehicle inspections for partners like Uber and Turo, and onsite preventative maintenance.

Bryan Frist, Yoshi Mobility’s CEO & cofounder, said, “By spinning off our fuel business and focusing all of our energy on solving hair-on-fire problems that fleet owners face, we are meeting the changing needs of enterprise customers while making the future of transportation safer, cleaner, and more sustainable.”

May 22, 2024: Yoshi Mobility saw that its existing customers needed mobile EV charging in places where infrastructure has yet to be installed, so the Nashville-based company decided to bring the mountain to Moses.

“We recognized a demand among our customers for convenient daily charging, reliable private charging networks, and proper charging infrastructure to support their fleet vehicles as they transition to electric,” said Dan Hunter, Yoshi Mobility’s chief EV officer and cofounder.

The company says its 240 kW mobile DC fast charger, which can turn “any EV” into a mobile charging unit, is the first fully electric mobile charger available. It can provide multiple charges in a single trip but doesn’t detail how they charge the DC fast charger or who manufactured it. (I asked for more details, and they replied that they won’t disclose client names or the manufacturer of its DC fast charger yet.)

Yoshi is launching its mobile charger on two GM BrightDrop Zevo 600s and will introduce additional vehicles throughout 2024. It aims for full commercialization by Q1 2025. (I wonder if the Zevo 600 ever charges itself? Yes, I asked that too.)

Yoshi Mobility says it’s already deployed its EV charging solutions to service “major OEMs, autonomous vehicle companies, and rideshare operators” across the US. Its initial customers are made up of large EV operators managing “hundreds” of light-duty vehicles requiring up to 1 megawatt of energy per day that don’t yet have grid-connected EV chargers. I’ve asked Yoshi for details of who it’s working with, and will update if they share that info.

The company says pricing is based on location and enterprise charging needs. Once under contract for service, the service will be deployed to US-based customers within 10 days.

To date, Yoshi Mobility has raised more than $60 million, with investments from GM Ventures, Bridgestone, ExxonMobil, and Y-Combinator in Silicon Valley.

If you’re an electric vehicle owner, charge up your car at home with rooftop solar panels. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing on solar, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –ad*

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Environment

Marqeta shares plunge more than 30% on big forecast miss

Published

5 hours ago

November 4, 2024

admin

Marqeta shares plunge more than 30% on big forecast miss

Marqeta celebrates its initial public offering at the Nasdaq on June 9, 2021.

Source: The Nasdaq

Marqeta shares tumbled more than 30% in extended trading on Monday after the company issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the fourth quarter.

Here’s how the company did compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Loss per share: 6 cents adjusted vs. a loss of 5 cents expected
Revenue: $128 million vs. $128.1 million expected

While third-quarter results showed a slight disappointment on the top and bottom lines, Marqeta’s forecast for the current period was more concerning.

The payment processing firm said revenue in the fourth quarter will increase 10% to 12% from a year earlier. Analysts were looking for growth of more than 17%, according to LSEG.

Marqeta, which primarily functions as a card-issuing platform, attributed the guidance miss to “heightened scrutiny of the banking environment and specific customer program changes.” The company has been struggling for a while, and its stock is now down more than 80% from its peak in 2021, the year it went public. The stock was down 15% for the year prior to the report.

Total processing volume of $74 billion was up more than 30% from a year earlier. Net revenue and gross profit were up 18% and 24%, respectively.

Marqeta’s digital commerce business sells payment technology designed to detect potential fraud and ensure that money is properly routed. It also issues customized physical cards that look like a credit or debit card that can be used for point-of-sale purchases.

The company has been trying to break into the buy now, pay later business with a recently launched product called Marqeta Flex. The service brings BNPL from lenders such as Affirm or Klarna to any credit card wherever Mastercard and Visa are accepted.

“It’s an orchestration layer, but it’s tied to issuing and processing and disputes and chargebacks,” CEO Simon Khalaf told CNBC at Money2020 in Las Vegas last week. “So it is not actually a Wild West in BNPL. It is actually very well established. And there is a reason why a lot of people are jumping to it.”