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Lenoir City, Tennessee, Electrical transmission equipment at the Fort Loudoun Dam, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Jim West | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Alphabet’s Google and Kairos Power will deploy an advanced nuclear plant connected to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s electric grid by 2030, the companies announced Monday.

TVA has agreed to purchase up to 50 megawatts of power from Kairos’ Hermes 2 reactor. It is the first utility in the U.S. to sign a power purchase agreement with an advanced reactor like Hermes 2, according to the companies.

Hermes 2 is the first deployment under an agreement that Google and Kairos signed last year to launch the startup’s nuclear technology at a commercial scale. The reactor’s output is the equivalent of the consumption of about 36,000 homes. The electricity will help power Google’s data centers in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama.

Google, Kairos and TVA said their collaboration will move the U.S. a step closer to deploying advanced nuclear reactors by making sure consumers are not on the hook for the cost of building the plant.

Kairos and Google will bear the financial risk associated with building the first-of-a-kind project, the companies said. TVA, meanwhile, is providing the revenue stream the plant will need to operate through the power purchase agreement.

“We think this solves the problem of making sure that consumers don’t carry that first-of-a-kind cost and risk,” TVA CEO Don Moul told CNBC. “But it also allows innovators like Kairos Power and thought leaders like Google to bring this to market.”

Hermes 2 is expected to start operating at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 2030. Kairos received a construction permit for the reactor from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November 2024. It will need to apply for an operating license with the NRC before the plant can start operations.

TVA declined to disclose how much it will pay for electricity from Hermes 2 when asked by CNBC. Kairos declined to disclose the estimated cost of the plant.

Building nuclear again

The U.S. has basically stopped building nuclear plants due to the huge cost overruns and delays that plague the industry. The last two reactors built in the U.S. at Plant Vogtle in Georgia cost $18 billion more than expected and started operations seven years behind schedule in 2023 and 2024. The project’s problems contributed to the bankruptcy of industry stalwart Westinghouse.

Startups like Kairos believe their smaller plants will prove to be faster and more affordable to build than large reactors like those at Vogtle, helping to usher in a new era of nuclear construction in the U.S. Despite these promises, utilities have been reluctant to commit to small advanced reactors over concerns about the initial price tag.

Technology companies like Google, meanwhile, are investing in advanced nuclear because they want reliable, carbon-free power to meet the demand from artificial intelligence while adhering to their environmental goals. Google has placed orders with Kairos for reactors totaling 500 megawatts of power that are targeted to come online through 2035.

Rebar is placed at the Kairos Power Hermes foundation.

Courtesy: Kairos Power

“We specifically want to help commercialize,” Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of data center energy, told CNBC. “We want to see how can we take this from something small to something bigger that we can deploy at scale. That’s really what the Hermes 2 project is doing.”

One of Kairos’ goals with Hermes 2 is to create a standardized reactor design which will help cut the cost of future deployments, CEO Mike Laufer told CNBC. Kairos will also develop the supply and manufacturing infrastructure needed to launch at scale through the construction of Hermes 2, he said.

“We’d be ready to deploy multiple reactors in series at the same sites in a very cost-efficient way to deliver that power at affordable rates in the not too distant future,” Laufer said. Kairos and Google are exploring options on where future plants will be deployed, he said.

Oak Ridge, TVA nuke hub

Kairos’ technology is different than the reactors currently operating in the U.S. Its reactor design uses liquid salt as the coolant rather than light water, which allows the plant to operate at near atmospheric pressure. This means Kairos can use thinner and less expensive materials because the reactor is not under high pressure. Operating at low pressure also has safety advantages.

The 50-megawatt plant is also much smaller than the reactors in the current U.S. fleet that average 1,000 megawatts in output, which is enough to power an entire city. The Kairos reactor will increase its output to 75 megawatts when it launches on a commercial scale, Laufer said.

Hermes 2 will be deployed near Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has a long history in nuclear science dating back to the Manhattan Project during World War II. TVA was established by Congress during the Great Depression as a public corporation to electrify the region. The utility remains owned by the federal government.

“This kind of sets the stage for east Tennessee to really be what we see as a regional hub for innovation for nuclear construction and operation, and that’s going to be valuable for the nation as well,” Laufer said.

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At $28,000 off, is the Jeep Wagoneer S the best EV deal going? [update]

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At $28,000 off, is the Jeep Wagoneer S the best EV deal going? [update]

Like a 90s “gifted” kid that was supposed to be a lot of things, the electric Jeep Wagoneer S never really found its place — but when dealers started discounting the Jeep brands forward-looking flagship by nearly $25,000 back in June, I wrote that it might be time to give the go-fast Wagoneer S a second look.

This month, the discounts are even better.

UPDATE 23AUG25: I found you some even better EV deals!


Whether we’re talking about Mercedes-Benz, Cerberus, Fiat, or even Enzo Ferrari, outsiders have labeled Jeep as a potentially premium brand that could, “if managed properly,” command luxury-level prices all over the globe. That hasn’t happened, and Stellantis is just the latest in a long line of companies to sink massive capital into the brand only to realize that people will not, in fact, spend Mercedes money on a Jeep.

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That said, the Jeep Wagoneer S is not a bad car (and neither is its totally different, hideously massive, ICE-powered Wagoneer sibling, frankly). Built on the same Stellantis STLA Large vehicle platform that underpins the sporty Charger Daytona EVs, the confusingly-named Wagoneer S packs dual electric motors putting out almost 600 hp. That’s good enough to scoot the ‘ute 0 to 60 mph in a stomach-turning 3.5 seconds and enough, on paper, to convince Stellantis executives that they had developed a real, market-ready alternative to the Tesla Model Y.

With the wrong name and a sky-high starting price of $66,995 (not including the $1,795 destination fee), however, that demand didn’t materialize, leaving the Wagoneer S languishing on dealer lots across the country.

That could be about to change, however, thanks to big discounts on Wagoneer S being reported at CDJR dealers in several states:

  • Jeff Belzer’s in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $39,758 ($28,032 off)
  • Troncalli CDJR in Georgia has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,590 MSRP for $42,697 ($24,893 off)
  • Whitewater CDJR in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $43,846 ($23,944 off)
  • Antioch CDJR in Illinois has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $44,540 ($23,250 off)

“Stellantis bet big on electric versions of iconic American brands like Jeep and Dodge, but consumers aren’t buying the premise,” writes CDG’s Marcus Amick. “(Stellantis’ dealer body) is now stuck with expensive EVs that need huge discounts to move, eating into already thin margins while competitors focus on [more] profitable gas-powered vehicles.”

All of which is to say: if you’ve found yourself drawn to the Jeep Wagoneer S, but couldn’t quite stomach the $70,000+ window stickers, you might want to check in with your local Jeep dealer and see how you feel about it at a JCPenneys-like 30% off!


Original content from Electrek; images via Stellantis.


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New 50-ton SANY reach stacker brings Formula 1 tech to the job site

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New 50-ton SANY reach stacker brings Formula 1 tech to the job site

Multinational equipment brand SANY just launched a clever new 50-ton reach stacker that pairs gravity and an F1-style KERS system to generate electricity, improve operating efficiency, and reduce costs. The best part: they’re putting that smart tech to work by helping clean up (and shore up) the grid.

Short for Kinetic Energy Recovery System, KERS was a staple of Formula 1 in the late aught and 2010s. Essentially an advanced form of regenerative braking, KERS captured the kinetic energy of a car at speed that would normally be lost as heat when the brake pads pressed against the brake discs. Instead of heat, KERS converted that energy into electricity (storing it in a battery or flywheel), to be deployed later.

Sebastian Vettel explains KERS


4x WDC Sebastian Vettel explains KERS.

In practice, KERS gave drivers an extra boost of horsepower at the push of a button, enabling them to attack or defend their position on track and adding a fresh strategic element to the sport. In SANY’s case, that stored power is fed back into the reach stacker’s electric hydraulic system, reducing pressure loss across the high-pressure setup by 50%, and lowering the machine’s overall energy consumption by more than 60%.

Energy recovery is a key feature. The potential energy of the boom, lifting gear and energy storage cabinets during the boom’s descent can be recovered efficiently with an overall recovery efficiency of over 65%. That means every 1 kWh of consumption in lifting can be recovered by 0.4 kWh during descent.

SANY

The 50t reach stacker is available with a 512 kWh swappable battery pack that’s compatible with other SANY heavy equipment assets, and supports both DC fast charging when swapping isn’t practical or (for whatever reason) desirable.

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On a single charge and backed by the onboard KERS, that’s good enough for the machine can lift and move containers for more than 7 continuous hours, which SANY claims significantly reducing downtime for charging compared to other, similar equipment assets.

The new SANY reach stacker can stack six 50-ton containers, greatly enhancing a site’s container and battery storage density within a limited space. The first units will reach unnamed customers building out a utility-scale energy storage project by the end of this month.

Electrek’s Take


50 tonne electric reach stacker; via SANY.

All the great stuff I was saying about the new 65-tonne XCMG still holds true for the SANY (especially when they take the wraps off their own 65t BESS-specific unit later this year), but the SANY adds smart battery swap tech and what seems to be more efficient operations, too.

Regardless of which one you choose, it seems like the available options for reach stacker operators are just getting better and better!

SOURCE | IMAGES: SANY.


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Want EV charging at your apartment, as an owner or a renter? Click here

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Want EV charging at your apartment, as an owner or a renter? Click here

EVs are great, and can unlock more transportation convenience with the ease of charging at home. But for apartment-dwellers, this can be a complicated conversation. So a nonprofit called Forth is here to help, through its Charge at Home program.

One of the main benefits of an electric vehicle is in the convenience of owning and charging the car in the place it spends most of its time. Instead of having to go out of your way to fuel it, you just park it at home, in the same place it spends at least 8 hours a day, and you leave the house every day with a full charge.

But this benefit only applies to those with a consistent parking space which they can easily install charging at. When talking about owners who live in apartment buildings, it can sometimes get more complicated.

While certain states have passed “right to charge” laws to give apartment-dwellers a solution for home charging, apartment charging is nevertheless a bit of a patchwork solution so far.

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And as a result of this, EV ownership among apartment renters lags behind that of single-family homeowners. It’s clear that apartments are holding back people from buying EVs, and that’s bad – lots of people live in apartments, and the gas those cars use pollutes the air just as much as any other.

Certain areas where EVs have hit a point of critical mass (namely, the large California cities) have pretty good EV ownership among renters, but it could still be better. And residents are clamoring more and more for easy EV charging in apartment communities.

So, Forth, a nonprofit advocating for equitable access to clean transportation, set up a program called Charge at Home, which is meant to connect renters, apartment building owners or other decisionmakers with resources to help install chargers at multifamily properties.

The site lets you select your situation – a resident or a decisionmaker for a new or existing multifamily development – and then gives you access to tools for your specific situation, whether you be a resident and developer.

The site houses links to help design a multifamily project, find electricians, inform you about right to charge laws or available incentives, and provide case studies, among others.

Charge at Home also hosts roundtable webinars periodically, and includes a library of past webinars with the information you need.

There are a lot of considerations for each of these projects, so it can be helpful to have someone with experience to help you go over it all. Personally, when talking to friends about getting an EV, charging considerations are usually the thing that takes up the bulk of the conversation.

So if the toolkits are still too daunting for you, Charge at Home is offering free charging consultations for multifamily developers, owners, property managers and HOAs.

The charging consultations have been made possible by funding from the Department of Energy, though that funding only runs through the end of September – so get your requests in soon. Forth may still offer consultations afterwards, but is still uncertain about funding so doesn’t want to promise anything – but the website will remain up for people to submit questions and find information, whether or not free consultations stick around.

But at the very least, as Forth points out, whether a multifamily development is interested in having EV charging at this moment or not, any developer should think about having the infrastructure, conduit and capacity ready to go for future install of EV chargers, and should consider the needs of current residents who are likely already considering EVs today.

It’s going to be necessary to install this capacity at some point, and doing so earlier can help save money down the line, make your development more attractive to renters today, and allow more renters to make the switch to cleaner transportation which helps air quality and to reduce climate change, both of which harm everyone on the planet.

Electrek’s Take

I’ve long said that the only real problem with EVs is the problem of access to consistent charging for people who don’t have their own garage. Whether this be apartment-dwellers, street-parkers or the like, the electric car charging experience is often less-than-ideal outside of single family homes, at least in North America.

There are workarounds available, like charging at work, or using Superchargers in “third places” where you often spend time, but these still aren’t optimal. The best thing is just to charge your car wherever it spends most of its time, which is your home. When you do that, EVs outshine everything in convenience.

We’ve highlighted some projects before which showed how reasonable it can be to install charging for developments. Every project is going to have its complexities, but when you see projects like this condo complex that managed to install chargers for just $405 per parking spot, all of a sudden it becomes a no-brainer not to have EV charging.

But the fact is, there just aren’t enough apartment complexes out there which have EV charging. So if Forth’s program can help residents or landlords with that, it can go a long way towards solving the only real problem with EVs.


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

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