Having followed the development in Zambia since I attended elementary school in the country from 1981 to 1982, there is finally some good news that resonates with me in the context of the global EV revolution and the world’s transition to sustainable energy generation and consumption.
Zambia’s new President-elect, 59-year-old Hakainde Hichilema, is determined to push Zambia forward as a key player in the new low carbon world order, the secret weapon being copper. Zambia is the second largest producer of copper in Africa, and has substantial quantities of cobalt too.
Who Is Hakainde Hichilema?
I heard about Hakainde Hichilema the first time in 2016 when he got arrested during the general elections, and I lost hope for any significant development in the country short term.
It was a case of sixth time lucky for Hakainde Hichilema, who has finally become president of Zambia after five unsuccessful attempts.
Mr Hichilema defeated his main rival, the outgoing President Edgar Lungu, by more than a million votes. Mr Hichilema, 59, has described himself as an ordinary “cattle boy”, who herded his family’s livestock in his youth before going on to become one of Zambia’s richest men.
The president-elect and leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND) is widely referred to as HH. He was born into humble beginnings before managing to get a scholarship to the University of Zambia, and later graduated with an MBA degree from the University of Birmingham in the UK.
He went on to make a fortune in finance, property, ranching, healthcare and tourism.
Mr Hichilema has shown resilience in his political career. Along with his five electoral losses, he often reminds people that he has been arrested 15 times since getting into politics.
In 2016, he was charged with treason for allegedly failing to give way to the presidential motorcade. He spent four months in a maximum-security jail before the charges were dropped.
What Will Zambia Do Now?
I have a few friends in Zambia, of all ages, and they collectively just want to work and make decent living. From what I hear, the labor market has not been fair for a long time, with nepotism and corruption affecting all layers. It’s difficult to explain, but let me set the scene with an example: In 2019 I was fortunate enough to teach grade 9 at my old school for just one hour. I had brought a small solar cell, a small battery, and a small toy electric car. While explaining and demonstrating how all this worked, the 40-some students were dead silent paying attention, and when the class was over, their teacher asked them who would now like to be an engineer? In a split second all hands rose high!
So how will the election of HH change anything? From The Times UK:
In his acceptance speech on Monday, he [Hakainde Hichilema] pledged major structural and policy changes in all sectors but particularly mining.
Africa’s second-largest copper-producer — the metal accounts for more than 70% of the country’s export earnings — had witnessed a noticeable deterioration in its mining investment climate during Lungu’s second term in office, “damaging relations between miners and the government beyond repair”, the CEO of Africa-focused strategic advisory firm Africa Practice, Marcus Courage, told S&P Global Platts.
“This also resulted in lower levels of investment, lower copper production and reduced receipts for the government, in spite of a rebound in global copper prices,” Courage said.
Hichilema’s pledge to create jobs and restore Zambia’s economy now hinges on his ability to restore confidence among investors and see stalled mining investments resume once more, Courage said.
“If he can get this right, then the Zambian Copperbelt can be competitive once more, and can become a hive of global mining activity, creating jobs.”
Infrastructure Is Key
Zambia is an immensely resourceful country, both in terms of natural resources and human resources. My old school is finally getting access to electricity, but it has taken more than 4 decades to hook it up to the main lines from the road right next to the school grounds! And as is clear from my visit there the last time, all these rural schools are rife with young people ready to make a difference (on my last visit in 2019 I visited 5 rural schools, all with the same sentiment).
The Chibwe school library building ready to get connected to the grid in 2019. Photo credit: Jesper Berggreen.
Despite the former President’s questionable priorities, solar plants have been and are being deployed on a large scale in the country, but the key is infrastructure, and more specifically, last mile infrastructure. Connecting rural communities with the main grid of transportation and energy has been so slow that you would be hard pressed to notice any difference from decade to decade. In contrast, cellular communication infrastructure is very good.
Here is a concrete visual example I filmed in 2019: This truck is the main mode of transporting people and goods on a 30-mile stretch off of a main road in the southern province. On this pitiful excuse of a road are located 7 villages, each with their government elementary school. The truck has the same average speed as a goat.
Of a population of 10 million, at least 60% is struggling with the lack of effective infrastructure. Zambia has the potential to be a very strong economy in Africa based on its unique position in terms of natural resources, young and ambitious population, and last but not least, being a multi-ethnic society itself with 73 tribes and 7 main native languages, its long history of peaceful cooperation with its 8 neighboring countries!
What About China?
China has a strong presence in Africa, and Zambia is no exception. The country has contracts in mining, hydro, and solar power, and some would argue the Chinese practice ruthless business strategies. I am no expert on Chinese matters, so I can only hope Zambia’s new government will be able to strike deals with any foreign partner that is of the primary interest of the peoples of Zambia.
Myself and friends checking out a Chinese-deployed 10 kW solar hammer mill in Zambia 2019. Photo credit: Jesper Berggreen.
I have personally been waiting for this breakthrough for 40 years. Nothing would make me more proud than for Zambia to step in as an open, conscientious, and fair global business partner in the worlds transition away from the aftermath of the fossil fuel era.
The battery pack in my local Zambia-manufactured toy wire car in 1981 may only power the on board radio, but it’s a BEV nonetheless! Photo credit: Birgit Berggreen.
I can’t wait to one day drive up to my old Chibwe school in a full size solar charged electric vehicle and give another lecture on the subject.
Tesla (TSLA) has introduced a new direct discount for the Model Y in China as the latest of a series of incentives to boost demand during this critical end-of-quarter push.
The automaker regularly offers discounts at the end of every quarter, but the incentives to boost demand have been the most wide-ranging ever this quarter.
Over the last month, we have been documenting the many sale incentives and discounts that Tesla has put in place to ensure it creates the demand for a record quarter.
Tesla aims to deliver a record number of more than 515,000 vehicles in Q4 in order for its sales not to be down for the whole year. That’s ~30,000 more vehicles than Tesla’s last record quarter, which was Q4 2023.
And everywhere, Tesla is heavily subsidizing loans with lower interest rates. That has been the main incentive in China, Tesla’s biggest market, until now.
Tesla’s New Discount in China
Today, Tesla announced that it is offering a ¥10,000, the equivalent of $1,380 USD, discount on the final payment for new Model Y vehicles:
The new discount can be combined with Tesla’s subsidized 0% interest financing, which has been Tesla’s main incentive in China all year.
Electrek’s Take
Based on insurance data, Tesla is tracking ahead of last year’s deliveries in China, but it is going to need to beat its last record by a significant margin to make sure not to be down for the whole year.
Model Y is Tesla’s most popular vehicle, but Tesla is also going against the expectation of the design refresh coming early next year, which can negatively affect demand.
This discount is likely to combat that and maintain Tesla’s current good momentum in China.
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We now have more details on the massive recall, which just keeps growing. Hyundai and now Kia are recalling more than 208,000 electric vehicles in Canada and the US to fix a problem with the loss of driving power, which can increase the risk of a crash.
For the second time this year, the automakers are recalling huge swathes of EVs and other “electrified” vehicles in North America, citing concerns about a loss of driving power, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday.
In the US, Hyundai is recalling 145,235 EVs, including the 2022 through 2024 Ioniq 5, the 2023 through 2025 Ioniq 6, GV60 and GV70, and the 2023 and 2024 G80. In Canada, Hyundai is recalling 34,529 vehicles that were produced between March and November of this year, according to Automotive News Canada.
As for Kia, the recall includes close to 63,000 Kia EV 6 vehicles from 2022 through 2024 in the US, but the company has yet to offer details on its Canada recall.
It looks like the issue stems from “the integrated charging control units in these vehicles, which may become damaged and fail to charge the 12-volt battery. This malfunction could lead to a complete loss of drive power, posing safety risks for drivers,” the NHTSA stated.
Back in March, Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis issued a similar recall for 147,110 electric vehicles – that recall centered, again, around damaged integrated charging control units failing to charge the battery.
The South Korea automaker has said that all owners of affected vehicles will be notified by letter mail on the next steps to take. This will involve bringing your vehicle to one of the company’s dealers to inspect and replace the charging unit and its fuse if necessary, along with performing a software update for the charging units.
Importantly, no crashes, injuries, fatalities, or fires due to this issue have been reported in the US or Canada, Hyundai reported.
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A group of Tesla vehicles spotted under covers at the automaker’s test track at the Fremont factory is raising some questions.
Tesla has a very small test track on the ground of its first factory, Tesla Fremont, in California.
Now and again, people fly drones over the factory and catch glimpses of new cars being tested. Youtuber ‘Met God in Wilderness’ is one of those drone pilots who regularly fly over the factory and while he didn’t catch vehicle being tested, he did catch some curious vehicles under covers next to the track:
The vehicles are all covered, and therefore, it’s hard to tell exactly what they are, but the different shapes are intriguing and raise some questions.
It looks like three, maybe four, different kinds of vehicles:
We know that Tesla is working on three new specific vehicles: a Model Y design refresh, and two new cheaper models based on Model 3 and Model Y.
All three vehicles are expected to be unveiled early next year.
Electrek’s Take
At the risk of stating the obvious, getting much information from vehicles hidden under cover can be hard. It’s even possible that some of those have shape camouflage, which is sometimes used by automakers – although I don’t remember Tesla ever using that.
So here are my best guesses. Take them for what they are: guesses.
The most interesting ones to me are the first two on the left in the picture above. The last vehicle on the left looks like it could be a smaller Model 3.: