Rho Motion’s latest data report details record global EV sales for September, led by China
Leading research house Rho Motion has published its monthly global EV sales report, relaying that the industry saw a record amount of purchases in September. It should come as little surprise that EV powerhouse China led the world in the 1.7 million EVs sold around the world last month.
Rho Motion describes itself as a leading researcher in “actionable intelligence into electric vehicle and battery markets, associated technologies including motors and systems, charging and infrastructure, energy stationary storage, battery recycling, and the wider energy and renewables markets.”
The company was founded in 2018, but in 2024, it merged with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, one of the fastest-growing businesses at scale for lithium, critical minerals, and energy transitions. Through its research, Rho Motion publishes a number of reports pertaining to the EV industry and adjacent technologies, including battery demand outlook, EV quarterly outlooks, and monthly sales data reports.
According to a company representative, Rho Motion’s data for its reports is gathered country by country from Governments, car associations, national statistics, OEMs, and trade data, and its team scrutinizes and checks it before compiling everything together to publish to the public.
Most recently, Rho Motion shared its global EV sales report for September 2024, which saw the most sales for any month ever and demonstrated encouraging year-over-year growth for EV adoption. We’ve broken down some key figures of the report for you below.
Global EV sales reach new high and continue to grow YOY
The full global EV sales report for September, available here, shows that tallies around the world reached a record 1.7 million. That’s 150,000 more EV purchases than the previous record achieved in December 2023.
Many outlets more distant from the true pulse of EVs have painted a grim picture for EV adoption as sales in certain markets have slowed down. However, the global outlook paints a much rosier image of the future and shows that it’s not necessarily EV sales that are slowing down but rather certain models from OEMs in particular markets.
For example, China, a bona fide leader in EV innovation and adoption, contributed a massive chunk of the global EV sales for September 2024, reporting 1.1 million units sold. That’s approximately 65% of all global sales. This was another record month for China, which previously achieved 1 million EV units sold in August 2024.
Chinese OEMs have also become some of the most aggressive in global expansion, especially in Europe, and have shown no signs of backing down from new markets despite hefty tariffs implemented on Chinese-built EV imports. Those tariffs are expected to take effect in November and last five years.
Per the report, just over 300,00 EVs were sold in EU & EFTA & UK in September, combining for 2.2 million units sold in 2024 so far. BEV sales increased were up 12% year-on-year, but PHEV sales were down 12% compared to September 2023. Norway continues to stand out with extremely high EV penetration rates, although market volume is currently down by 4% year-to-date. The German market, home to major marques like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen Group, has grown 7% year-over-year, but that market’s YTD sales are still down by 20%.
Across the pond, EV markets in the US & Canada market continue to grow at a steady pace, up 10% for 2024 as of September. Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester commented on the numbers from each continent and how they hint at the progress of global EV sales going forward:
This record-breaking month of EV sales brings new hope to the industry. While the electrification of transport seems inevitable, the recent slowdown of sales in many parts of the world has sewn seeds of doubt which can now start to be swept aside. However, the regional disparities are astonishing, with China alone accounting for well over half the global total. Meanwhile, Europe’s numbers are shrinking, and the US and Canada are steadily growing.
As part of the report, Rho Motion also shared a snapshot of YTD global EV sales and compared them to the same timeframe from January to September 2023:
- Global EV sales: 11.5 million, +22%
- China: 7.2 million, +35%
- EU & EFTA & UK: 2.2 million, -4%
- USA & Canada: 1.3 million, +10%
- Rest of World: 0.9 million, +25%
So, is EV adoption slowing down, or are certain markets not delivering new models at the price and features their local consumers want? Data doesn’t lie. EV adoption continues to snowball globally, and the recent lagging sales feel more like a speed bump than a true cause for worry.
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The OpenAI app icon displayed along with other AI applications on a smartphone.
Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto via Getty Images
Technology giants are turning to nuclear energy to power the energy-intensive data centers needed to train and run the massive artificial intelligence models behind today’s generative AI applications.
Microsoft and Google are among the firms agreeing deals to purchase nuclear power from certain suppliers in the U.S. to bring additional energy capacity online for its data centers.
This week, Google said it would purchase power from Kairos Power, a developer of small modular reactors, to help “deliver on the progress of AI.”
“The grid needs these kinds of clean, reliable sources of energy that can support the build out of these technologies,” Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google, said on a call with reporters Monday.
“We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand, and helping meet our demand cleanly, in a way that’s more around the clock.”
Google said its first nuclear reactor from Kairos Power would be online by 2030, with more reactors going live through 2035.
The tech giant isn’t the only firm looking to nuclear power to realize its AI ambitions. Last month, Microsoft signed a deal with U.S. energy firm Constellation to resurrect a defunct reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, whose reactor has been dormant for five years.
The Three Mile Island plant was the location of the most serious nuclear meltdown and radiation leak in U.S. history in March 1979, when the loss of water coolant through a faulty valve caused a reactor to overheat.
Why they’re turning to nuclear
Tech companies are under pressure to find energy sources to power data centers — a key piece of infrastructure behind modern-day cloud computing and AI applications.
Many developers rent out servers equipped with GPUs (graphics processing units), which would typically be too expensive to own outright, from so-called cloud “hyperscalers” — such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google.
These tech giants have benefited from a surge of interest in generative AI applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. But that increase in demand has also led to an unintended effect: correspondingly large spikes in the amount of energy required.
Global electricity consumption from data centers, artificial intelligence and the cryptocurrency sector is expected to double from an estimated 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2022 to more than 1,000 TWh in 2026, according to a research report from the International Energy Agency.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, published a study in April last year that found ChatGPT consumes 500 milliliters of water for every 10 to 50 prompts, depending on when and where the AI model is deployed. That equates to roughly the amount of water in a standard 16-ounce bottle.
As of August, there were more than 200 million people submitting questions on OpenAI’s popular chatbot ChatGPT every week, according to OpenAI. That’s double the 100 million weekly active users OpenAI reported last November.
Environmental opposition
Nuclear energy isn’t without its controversy. Many climate activists oppose such supplies, citing their hazardous environmental and safety risks, and the fact that they do not offer a genuine source of renewable power.
“Nuclear power is incredibly expensive, hazardous and slow to build,” the climate charity Greenpeace says on its website.
“It is often referred to as ‘clean’ energy because it doesn’t produce carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases when electricity is generated but the reality is that it isn’t a plausible alternative to renewable energy sources.”
Proponents of nuclear energy, on the other hand, say that it offers a nearly carbon-free form of electricity and is more reliable than renewable sources like solar and wind.
“If it is built and securitized in the right way, I do think nuclear is the future,” Rosanne Kincaid-Smith, chief operating officer of Northern Data Group, a global data center provider, told CNBC at a tech conference in London last week.
“People are scared of nuclear because of the disasters we’ve had in the past. But what’s coming, I just don’t see traditional grids being the sustainable power that’s ongoing in the development of AI,” Kincaid-Smith added.
While Northern Data Group isn’t using nuclear energy — nor is it actively exploring plans to use nuclear as a power source for its AI data centers — the firm does want to “contribute to that conversation because it’s important for the wider ecosystem, the wider economy,” Kincaid-Smith told CNBC.
– CNBC’s Pippa Stevens contributed to this report
(L to R) Eric Trump, former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. attend a remembrance ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terror attack on the World Trade Center at Ground Zero, in New York City on September 11, 2024.
Adam Gray | Afp | Getty Images
A political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump has raised about $7.5 million in cryptocurrencies.
Contributors to the Trump 47 joint fundraising committee donated bitcoin, ether and XRP, as well as the U.S. dollar pegged stablecoins tether and USDC, to the GOP presidential nominee’s campaign, according to a Federal Election Commission filing submitted on Tuesday.
The PAC said the latest filing covered donations in the period of July 1 through Sept. 30, but numbers included cumulative contributions.
With the 2024 election just three weeks away and the contest in a virtual dead heat according to polling averages, Trump is counting on a hefty dose of funding from the crypto community. The former president positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate in this election, a reversal from his previous stance during his time in the White House. In May, he became the first major presidential candidate to accept donations in digital tokens.
Nearly half of all the corporate money flowing into the election has come from the crypto industry, according to a recent report from the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen. The sum was raised from a mix of contributors, with Coinbase, Ripple, and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz accounting for most of those business donations. The industry has raised roughly 13 times the amount it brought in during the last presidential election year.
At least 18 donors gave more than $5.5 million in bitcoin to Trump 47, the filing shows. Another seven people gave around $1.5 million in ether.
Contributors hailed from more than 15 states, including a few battlegrounds, plus the American territory of Puerto Rico. Their professions include Lockheed Martin software engineer, Duthie Power Services sales engineer, and a producer for Esperanza Entertainment.
David Bailey, CEO of media group BTC Inc., gave more than $498,000 in bitcoin. Bailey was part of a small army of bitcoin fanatics who indoctrinated Trump in all things bitcoin and helped turned him from a skeptic to an evangelist. The process culminated in Trump headlining the biggest bitcoin conference of the year in Nashville in July.
Trump said in his keynote that his campaign had raised $25 million from the crypto industry, though he didn’t specify the split between digital tokens and dollar donations.
Among the new donors is Chase Herro, one of the co-founders of the Trump family’s new crypto project World Liberty Financial. The platform, which has been described as a decentralized bank where customers will be encouraged to borrow, lend and invest in crypto, launched its token sale on Tuesday.
So far, more than $10.2 million worth of WLFI tokens have been sold, far short of the initial fundraise goal of $300 million. The launch was plagued with technical issues, including the repeated crashing of the website where the sale was taking place.
Mike Belshe, CEO of digital asset security company BitGo, has contributed almost $100,000 in bitcoin.
Brian Murray, a partner at Craft Ventures, gave $6,560 in bitcoin. Craft was founded by pro-Trump venture capitalist David Sacks.
Kresus Labs founder Trevor Traina gave over $25,000 in ether, Chainstone Labs CEO Bruce Fenton donated $60,000 in bitcoin, and Gary Cardone of Cardone Digital Ventures contributed over $840,000 in bitcoin.
Ripple legal chief Stuart Alderoty contributed $300,000 in XRP, as CNBC previously reported. Alderoty attended a Trump fundraising event hosted by Sacks in San Francisco in June.
Alderoty is at odds with Ripple’s billionaire co-founder Chris Larsen, who gave $1 million worth of XRP tokens to Future Forward, a super PAC that’s supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for the White House. Future Forward began accepting donations in crypto in September.
While Larsen shares the crypto industry’s criticism of SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the aggressive approach the Biden administration has taken towards companies in the space, the Ripple chairman said he has more confidence in Harris, in part because she’s from the Bay Area.
“She knows people who have grown up in the innovation economy her whole life,” Larsen told CNBC in an interview this week. “So I think she gets it at a fundamental level, in a way that I think the Biden folks were just not paying attention to, or maybe just didn’t make the connection between empowering workers and making sure you have American champions dominating their industries.”
In addition to Larsen, Uniswap legal chief Marvin Ammori gave money to the Harris Action Fund. Like Ripple, Uniswap is battling claims it violated U.S. securities laws.
On the pro-Trump side, billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have led the charge, with an aggregate contribution of nearly $1.1 million each. Some of that money was refunded in September because it exceeded the maximum allowed.
GM rolled out its new “Next Gen” tactical vehicle prototype at the AUSA conference this week packing electric drive motors at the front and rear axles that enable Silent Drive and Silent Watch technologies to make the trucks harder to detect on the battlefield.
Based on the off-road focused Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD ZR2 pickup frame, the GM Defense version pairs GM’s 2.8L Duramax turbo-diesel engine to a 12-module battery pack that send electrons to the “Silent Drive” electric motors powering each axle. GM says the quiet combo can help the big truck make its way through high threat zones without calling undue attention to themselves, and enable the truck to power a number of battlefield accessories.
“Our Next Gen vehicle is a game-changing mobility solution that delivers tactically significant capabilities by integrating GM’s proven commercial technologies,” said Steve duMont, president of GM Defense. “Our warfighters deserve the latest technology that industry can offer in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage over our adversaries. Our Next Gen mobility solution can be customized and fielded now.”
The GM Defense Next Gen tactical truck is currently being offered at AUSA in two-, four-, and six-seat configurations. The truck is built to support multi-mission capabilities, including command and control, launched effects, network extension, counter unmanned aerial systems anti-armor, casualty evacuation, and other critical missions.
The official press release is otherwise light on specs like kWh, armor levels, cabin filtration specs, and more – but that’s probably smart. Here are some of the features GM did share:
- Silent Drive and Silent Watch, enabling low acoustic and thermal signatures;
- Exportable power capable of charging mission systems;
- Tactically significant range with extended mission duration;
- Designed to be autonomy-ready with manned and unmanned options; and
- Add-on armor capable.
GM also presented the following “sustainment” features:
- Fuel demand reduction;
- The ability to use existing JP8 fuel infrastructure;
- Lower maintenance requirements from reduced parts and subsystems in the overall propulsion system; and
- Reduced logistics tail for fuel, batteries, and vehicle parts.
“Next Gen’s ‘wow’ factor is right behind the wheel,” said John (JD) Johnson, vice president of GM Defense’s Government Solutions and Strategy Division. “Next Gen fundamentally changes the discussion around modern mobility through the tactical benefits delivered by its propulsion system, including its ability to address the power gap in the formation … we encourage customers to test drive it so that we can get these capabilities fielded immediately.”
GM Defense is also showing its new Stable Tactical Expeditionary Electric Power solution, which delivers tactical microgrid capabilities, and its Infantry Utility Vehicle, packaged with a Silent Tactical Energy Enhanced Dismount and Squad Maneuver Equipment Transport to represent an element of the Army’s Human-Machine Integration – Formation initiative.
Electrek’s Take
The new GM Defense Next Gen tactical vehicle isn’t built on the same all-electric chassis as the GMC Hummer EV-based eMCV shown last year. That vehicle featured a 200 kWh and about 300 miles of range with no onboard ICE generator.
That vehicle is still officially in testing with the US Army. The Next Gen diesel EREV however, seems ready for sale now.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GM Defense.
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