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Electric vehicles are taking over the streets, and that means drivers are looking for more places to charge. The rapid rise in EVs is creating an opportunity for those willing to learn the tricks of the trade. See how you can invest in EV charging stations and play a role in the future of transportation.

Why Invest in EV charging stations

If you are noticing more electric vehicles on your daily commute, it’s not just you. Battery electric vehicle sales hit another record in the second quarter of 2022, rising to 196,788 as overall new vehicle sales slumped 20%.

The electric vehicle share in the US rose to 5.6% compared to 2.7% in the second quarter of 2021. Automakers are introducing new EVs to the market with more range, superior technology, and zero emissions giving drivers a reason to make the switch.

According to information from the PEW Research Center, 42% of Americans say they would consider purchasing an electric vehicle. The survey was taken before the historic climate bill passed, giving new incentives to buy an EV. What’s more interesting is the breakdown by age group.

  • 18-29: 55%
  • 30-49: 47%
  • 50-64: 34%
  • 65+: 31%

Moreover, over half of them live in urban areas. Although it is true most EV owners charge at night, a growing number of people living in cities rent. A new study from Harvard shows overall rental vacancy is at its lowest since the mid-1980s.

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Source: NMHC tabulations of 2020 American Community Survey microdata, US Census Bureau. Updated 7/2022

Younger generations are those more likely to be renters, and many apartment complexes don’t have EV charging stations installed yet. Nearly 50% of people under the age of 30 rent, while 10% of those ages 65+ do.

Where EV charging stations are located now

Electric vehicles are expected to account for the majority of vehicles on the road by 2030. However, the most common reason Americans (58%) say they would not purchase an EV is because they fear it will not give them enough range.

Although much is being done to alleviate this fear, there is an opportunity for businesses to participate while contributing to the future of transportation (and earning an extra profit).

The Biden Administration has rolled $5 billion in funding over the next five years through the NEVI program to build a national network of EV charging stations.

Electrify America, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, is working to build a fast charging network across North America.

Automakers like Tesla are also building their own Supercharging network to enable their drivers the freedom to go anywhere. Meanwhile, many of the people in the category above (younger drivers looking to purchase EVs) are looking for more convenient options on their daily routes.

For business owners, this presents an opportunity. And for those that don’t own a business but still want to get involved, there are ways for you to invest in EV charging stations.

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EV chargers at Walmart Source: Walmart

How to invest in EV charging stations

To give EV drivers more options, you can install chargers at your business. In particular, if customers stay for more extended periods of time, it may be worth considering. For example, a quick stop (under five minutes) may not be worth it, but it’s a different story for restaurants, entertainment venues, bars, clubs, malls, small businesses, and even workplaces.

Installing EV charging stations is an investment in your business. As electric vehicles continue gaining market share, having convenient charging options can help drive traffic with increased visibility.

Many popular digital map services (like Google Maps) now offer solutions to find charging stations, while others like Plugshare are specifically designed to locate them.

That being said, having electric vehicle charging options available can drive business. There are over $2 billion in utility-provided rebates and $60 million in government grants to help you get started (see what incentives are in your state here). Companies like ChargePoint make it easy with different charging options and valuable tools to help you manage data.

What about those that don’t own a business

If you don’t own a business and still want to invest in EV charging stations, you can always opt to own a piece of one of the companies listed above. For example, buying stock in companies like Tesla (TSLA) or ChargePoint (CHPT) can give you exposure to the expected massive growth in electric vehicles and its supporting factors over the next several years.

To gain exposure to the entire electric vehicle market, an ETF like KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility ETF (KARS) has holdings in companies like Tesla, ChargePoint, Nio (NIO), Albemarle (ALB), BYD, Rivian (RIVN), Lucid (LCID), Aptiv (APTV) and more.

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Electreon and Xos to deploy wireless charging for commercial EV deliveries like UPS in Michigan

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Electreon and Xos to deploy wireless charging for commercial EV deliveries like UPS in Michigan

The State of Michigan has announced a new partnership with wireless EV charging specialist Electreon and Commercial EV manufacturer Xos, Inc. Together, the companies have secured funding from the state to expand wireless charging availability for commercial vehicles, including UPS trucks in Detroit.

It’s been nearly a year since the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the City of Detroit, and Electreon ($ELWS) unveiled the first wireless EV charging roadway in the United States.

Michigan installed Electreon’s wireless inductive-charging coils (seen below) on 14th Street in Detroit between Marantette and Dalzelle streets to charge EVs equipped with Electreon receivers as they drive on the road.

At the time. MDOT and Detroit officials said the road would be used to test and perfect Electreon’s wireless EV charging technology in a real-world environment before “making it available to the public in the next few years.”

While the public will not be able to take advantage of wireless charging just yet, commercial EVs are gaining access thanks to a new partnership between Electreon, Xos ($XOS), and the State of Michigan.

  • Michigan wireless EV charging
  • Michigan wireless EV charging

Michigan progresses as US wireless EV charging leader

When Michigan announced the first wireless EV charging road in the US last year, officials shared hopes that the Great Lakes State and the city of Detroit could become leaders in the innovation and and deployment of such nascent technology.

Following a press release from Electreon, the State of Michigan confirmed details of the new partnership, which now includes commercial EV developer Xos, Inc. as well. The new commercial partnership is supported by $200,000 in funding from the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform (MMFP), building off the state’s “Make it in Michigan: economic strategy, developed by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to invest in the state’s people, places and projects. 

Through the partnership and coinciding state funding, Electreon will extend its wireless EV charging network and use cases in Michigan. Additionally, Electreon’s technology will be integrated into delivery step vans from Xos in order to “demonstrate wireless charging technological value and its potential to lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) in the electrification of commercial truck fleets.” Stefan Tongur, vice president of business development for Electreon, elaborated:

We’re excited to demonstrate how Electreon’s technology can optimize electric fleet usage and showcase the seamless integration of wireless charging into daily fleet operations, minimizing downtime and enabling charging across time and location. We’re proud to do this work in Michigan, a state fostering innovation and sustainable transportation solutions.

In addition to expanding wireless charging on Detroit’s first “electric roadway,” the Michigan project will enable the installation of stationary wireless charging at a UPS facility in Detroit. Xos co-founder and CEO Dakota Semler also spoke:

We are proud to partner with Electreon and support UPS to demonstrate the potential of wireless charging in commercial fleets. This innovative approach will revolutionize how we power our electric vehicles and drive fleet electrification forward.

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Here’s our first look at Jaguar’s new luxury electric 4-door GT [Images]

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Here's our first look at Jaguar's new luxury electric 4-door GT [Images]

The iconic British luxury automaker is undergoing a major brand overhaul. With its official debut around the corner, Jaguar’s electric 4-door GT, the first of its new series, was spotted testing on British roads. The new images give us a closer look at what we can expect from the revamped Jag brand.

Jaguar’s new electric GT makes its first appearance

After building internal combustion-powered sports cars for over 75 years, Jaguar will become an all-electric luxury brand from 2025.

The company announced earlier this year that it will start fresh with an entirely new range of EVs. After killing off the F-Type, E-Pace, XF, and soon the F-Pace SUV, we are finally getting our first look at what the new branding will look like.

Jaguar’s new electric 4-door GT was caught testing on British roads. The camouflaged prototypes reveal a radically different look than the Jag models we are accustomed to.

You can see one of the biggest changes is the low-riding, extended silhouette, as opposed to the crossover SUV and sedan models like the F-Type and I-Pace, Jaguar’s first EV.

The front and rear bumper designs also appear much more aggressive and bold than previous models.

Jaguar's-electric-GT
Jaguar electric 4-door GT prototype (Source: Jaguar Land Rover)

Jaguar’s electric GT is being put through the paces ahead of its debut. It has already completed tens of thousands of testing miles (virtual and real-world) and will soon hit public streets worldwide.

The new model will be built in Solihull, UK, where Jaguar recently ended production of its gas-powered models.

Jaguar's-electric-GT
Jaguar electric 4-door GT prototype (Source: Jaguar Land Rover)

It will be the first to ride on Jaguar’s new JAE (Jaguar Electric Architecture), which will underpin its upcoming lineup of high-end luxury EVs with prices over £100,000 ($130,000). The electric GT will have a range of over 434 miles (700 km) and upwards of 575 hp, making it Jaguar’s most powerful car of all time.

Jaguar will debut its Design Vision Concept at Miami Art Week on December 2, 2024. Next Summer, it’s expected to make its official global debut ahead of deliveries in 2026.

What do you think of Jaguar’s new design based on what’s shown? Are you excited about the brand overhaul? Let us know in the comments below.

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Tesla pushes end-to-end neural networks for highway driving, but only for newer vehicles

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Tesla pushes end-to-end neural networks for highway driving, but only for newer vehicles

Tesla has pushed a new (Supervised) Full Self-Driving update with the promised end-to-end neural networks for highway driving.

However, it’s only for newer vehicles.

“End-to-end” is what Tesla refers to as neural net-powered AI driving the vehicle from vision to controls rather than the controls being explicitly coded. It’s already the case in all widely released versions of (Supervised) Full Self-Driving (FSD) for city driving, but not for highway driving, which uses another software stack.

Tesla originally planned to deliver it for highway driving in October, but it was only delivered to a small number of vehicles.

In its latest AI roadmap, Tesla said that it would come the first week of November instead.

Now, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of self-driving and AI, said that the latest release with end-to-end highway driving (v12.5.6.3) has been widely pushed to HW4 vehicle owners:

With the latest release (v12.5.6.3), FSD is using end-to-end neural networks for driving across highways, city streets and parking lots, and has now shipped widely for AI4 vehicles. Highway driving should be smoother, more natural and even safer than the previous explicit control stack. Check out the different driving styles to set speed and lane change preferences. Enjoy and let Tesla AI know if you have any feedback.

However, there’s no word for the millions of HW3 vehicle owners.

In fact, the only thing promised to HW3 vehicles, which Tesla now called AI3, in its last roadmap is this:

Improved v12.5.x models for AI3 city driving

As we have often reported this year, Tesla has reached the limits of the HW3 computer and now needs to optimize the code with every release despite still being far from its promise of unsupervised self-driving.

Electrek’s Take

This is annoying cause I could really use end-to-end on my HW3 car. I am on v12.5.4.2 and it has been a regression from v12.5.4.1 for me, especially on highways.

Yesterday, it almost drove me off-road when taking my highway exit, which is always a bit shaky because it is a short exit and FSD often swings itself into it. It’s a bit awkward, and my girlfriend never likes it, so I disengage FSD before taking the exit when she was with me, but this time, she wasn’t, and I had the new update.

It again swung left before going right into the exit, but this time, it went way too far, and I was in the shoulder by the time I took control.

I took this exit hundreds of times with FSD and it’s the first time it did that.

I am starting to think we won’t see much more improvements to FSD with HW3 cars and there’s no retrofit computer in sight.

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