Biden may cave to pressures from automakers and Trump on EV ambitions

Published

11 months ago

February 19, 2024

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US President Joe Biden, whose administration has put electric vehicles front and center of an ambitious policy to dramatically curb emissions, may walk back his proposal on yearly EV requirements through 2030 due to political pressures and pushback from automakers and the UAW.

Both automakers and United Auto Workers have urged the government to slow down the EV ramp-up, saying the technology is too expensive for the mainstream US consumer and that the country needs more time to adapt and develop charging infrastructure.

In January, the UAW said it would endorse Biden for his pro-labor stance – but it is worried too that EVs require fewer workers to build than ICE vehicles and that EV plants are being built in states with few unions, the New York Times writes.

In the other corner, there is the looming political threat that is Republican Donald Trump, who claims that EVs “don’t work” and that Biden’s plan threatens jobs and is “lunacy,” and that he would slash the plan immediately upon his return to the White House, the New York Times reports.

Last spring, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a strict limit on tailpipe emissions, putting pressure on automakers to sell more and more EVs to comply. The proposed regulations require 67% of new cars and light-duty trucks to be all-electric by 2030, up from 7.6% in 2023.

This is still the goal, but sources have told Reuters that administration officials are tweaking the plan, effectively weakening it to slow the pace of the EV requirements so that it’d be more gradual through 2030, but then it would sharply rise again after that.

Of course, this would come at a huge cost to the climate, as we’re facing one of the hottest years in recorded history.

Still, the UAW strongly backs a revised requirement that slows EV targets, arguing that the requirements need to increase “more gradually” and occur over a “greater period of time,” Reuters reports.

Last year, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI), a trade group for GM, Ford, Stellantis, Toyota, and Volkswagen, to name a few, had called the original EPA proposal “neither reasonable nor achievable.”

Last year, EVs accounted for about 8% of sales in the US, according to Reuters. Still, the government says that EV sales have quadrupled in the US since Biden took office, with the number of publicly available charging ports rising by nearly 70%. Today, more than 4 million EVs are on US roadways.

Still, not everyone is on board. “Give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up, maintain a customer’s ability to choose, let more public charging come online, let the industrial credits and Inflation Reduction Act do their thing and impact the industrial shift,” AAI CEO John Bozzella told reporters on Sunday.

The AAI met with the White House and the EPA last week to talk about revising the proposal, while Tesla officials had their own meeting with the White House to discuss earlier this month.

Reuters also reported that automakers are also pushing back on an EPA proposal to cut particulate matter from ICE vehicles because they argue it would require gasoline particulate filters on every ICE vehicle. They also object to the EPA plan to cut back on the use of “enrichment,” a strategy to boost performance and curb engine damage from exhaust gases. Automakers say that they would be unable to use some engines in this case.

Automakers also don’t like the Energy Department’s proposal to revise how it tallies the petroleum-equivalent fuel economy rating, or CAFE requirements, for EVs, stressing that it bumps up fines for not complying.

Biden now has a final draft of the proposal from the Energy Department, and the Transportation Department’s separate proposal to boost CAFE requirements is expected later this spring.

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Environment

Texans can now join a VPP and get 2 sonnen batteries at no upfront cost

Published

5 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Texans can now join a VPP and get 2 sonnen batteries at no upfront cost

A groundbreaking new Virtual Power Plant Power Purchase Agreement (VPA) provides Texans with solar panels and two 20 kWh sonnen batteries at no upfront cost.

A new sonnen storage + solar VPP for Texans

SOLRITE Energy, which finances solar and battery storage, and global battery storage manufacturer sonnen today announced the launch of their new VPA in Texas’s ERCOT market. This program offers solar and battery storage for homeowners at an affordable monthly rate, making backup power accessible for many Texans.

Here’s how it works: SOLRITE installs solar panels and sonnen batteries at eligible customer households with no upfront cost. (I’ve asked the sonnen spokesperson what the eligibility criteria are and will update this post when I hear back.) Homeowners then pay a lower-than-average rate for the solar energy they produce each month, saving them money compared to typical electricity rates in Texas.

Texans participating in the SOLRITE program pay a leading rate of 12¢ per kWh for solar energy, significantly lower than the 19-20¢ per kWh rate commonly seen in the state.

The sonnen batteries provide backup power for each home at no charge and enable Texan homeowners to join a larger virtual power plant (VPP) network. The VPP supports the Texas grid, reducing reliance on polluting power plants during times of high demand. SOLRITE and sonnen generate revenue from the energy stored in these batteries, which helps cover the cost of the equipment, and that’s what allows homeowners to use the battery systems at no cost.

Each day, the sonnen batteries in the VPP help balance the Texas grid by directing power where it’s needed most and when it’s most valuable. This reduces energy costs for everyone, whether they’re in the VPP or not, and strengthens the grid’s efficiency and resilience.

The VPP also differs from traditional solar buyback programs that send extra energy to the grid whenever it’s sunny. Instead, the sonnen battery network strategically controls when and how energy is shared with the ERCOT grid, making solar energy a more reliable power source.

Since September 2024, SOLRITE says it’s already committed over 40 megawatt-hours of residential battery power to the Texas market through this program, working with solar installers statewide.

Blake Richetta, chairman and CEO of sonnen Inc. USA said:

The bold and inventive SOLRITE introduction in the Texas market represents the most successful early-stage launch of the sonnenConnect VPP in the world.

sonnen is proud to dispatch authentic VPPs across the United States and Australia, as well as the largest behind-the-meter residential battery based VPP in the European Union – with nerve centers in Germany, Italy and Belgium, amongst other countries.

And in all of these markets, we have never seen anything like the SOLRITE Texas launch. We are so proud of the SOLRITE invention, and we are passionate to build a SOLRITE-Future for Texas.

Electrek’s Take

I belong to a virtual power plant in Vermont and have two Tesla Powerwalls, and I love being part of this program. I lease my Powerwalls for $55 a month and had to pay a couple thousand dollars to have them installed, so what sonnen and SOLRITE are offering to Texans is a really good deal.

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Environment

As Biden heads out, $43.7M goes to 25 EV charging accelerator projects

Published

7 hours ago

January 16, 2025

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As Biden heads out, .7M goes to 25 EV charging accelerator projects

The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation’s Communities Taking Charge Accelerator has awarded $43.7 million to 25 innovative EV charging projects across the US.

The Communities Taking Charge Accelerator was launched on April 16, 2024, and the funding comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The three main goals of the funding are to expand access to electrified mobility options for folks who don’t have access to home charging, accelerate opportunities for fleet electrification, and improve and advance managed charging systems to mitigate impacts and optimize usage of the grid.

On January 15, 25 project awardees were announced that impact 23 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Challenges that the projects will address include:

Solving for no-home charging. Not everyone has a driveway or garage to charge their EVs, e-bikes, or scooters. Projects are testing creative solutions like curbside chargers, multifamily charging setups, and shared community micromobility hubs. They also look at everything from rate design to building multimodal charging hubs, making it easier for people in apartments or urban areas to power up.

In this project, for example, Voltpost will install lamppost EV chargers in San Francisco using existing infrastructure.

Electrifying fleets for people and goods. Think of shared rides, carpool services, and last-mile delivery trucks. Electrifying these types of light- and medium-duty fleets could have a huge impact on reducing emissions. These projects aim to figure out how to charge fleets more efficiently, whether they’re transporting people or goods. It’s all about improving community access to clean transportation options while keeping operations smooth for fleet operators.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s project allows Metro Bike Share to increase access to electric bikes by implementing electrified stations with in-dock charging.

Managed charging for clean reliable energy. Managed charging is about coordinating when and how EVs charge to avoid grid strain and use renewable energy whenever possible. Projects in this area are working on open-source tools and standards to make managed charging tech accessible and easy to integrate into today’s energy systems.

The University of Alabama is running a project to develop and implement an end-to-end multi-stakeholder EV charging management framework to enhance grid reliability.

Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office, said, “This investment aims to expand transportation and energy infrastructure to meet the current and anticipated demands – from how people charge and use shared vehicle fleets including e-bikes around transit hubs to a new model for more affordable multifamily housing charging – advancing a more holistic energy and transportation ecosystem.”

Electrek’s Take

The Biden administration has been rapidly doling out funds to clean energy and EV projects, and it’s great to see the Communities Taking Charge Accelerator funds reach its recipients at the 11th hour. There are some great projects, which you can check out here.

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. –trusted affiliate partner

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Environment

Tesla says a new way to clean cameras are coming

Published

8 hours ago

January 16, 2025

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Tesla says a new way to clean cameras are coming

Tesla announced on X that it is working on a new way to keep the cameras clean on the Cybertruck.

Hopefully, it will make its way to other Tesla vehicles because it is a common problem with the performance of its advanced driver assist systems (ADAS).

When driving using Tesla’s Autopilot or Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite of driver-assist features, you will often get an alert that the system might not work properly because “one or more cameras are obstructed” due to dirt or snow coming off the road and into the lenses.

For Cybertruck, that’s an even problem because the rear-view camera is the only way to look behind the vehicle when the tonneau cover is up.

It led to some owners complaining that they need to remember to clean the camera at the back of the truck almost every time they use it, especially in the winter.

Tesla responded to some of those comments through its ‘Tesla AI’ account on X. One owner specifically asked if Tesla is planning a solution for when it achieves “unsupervised self-driving” because it then can’t expect someone to always be able to clean the cameras and Tesla responded:

On a more serious note, a more comprehensive cleaning solution is being worked on.

Tesla didn’t elaborate on the solution or when it would be available.

Back in 2019, we reported on Tesla applying for a patent on technology “to use laser beams to clean debris off its cars automatically.” It mused that it could be used to clean cameras, but nothing came out of the patent application.

Tesla says that it plans to achieve unsupervised self-driving capability in California and Texas around Q2 2025, but the latest data makes this sound extremely unlikely, to say the least.

Electrek’s Take

I doubt that it will be lasers, though it would be cool, but there’s undoubtedly a need for a solution.

In my own experience with FSD in the Quebec winter, I get alerts of obstructed cameras literally every other drive.

Tesla has already implemented heaters, which help some, but other than the front-facing cameras, which benefit from the windshield wipers, there’s a need for more.

What’s interesting here is Tesla basically admits that for unsupervised self-driving, which was part of the question it answered, it needs to add extra hardware to make it work.

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