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An oil pumpjack operates in the Inglewood Oil Field on January 28, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Mario Tama | Getty Images

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to ban new oil and gas drilling and phase out existing wells over the next two decades, a historic decision that comes after years of complaints by residents about how pollution from nearby drilling has caused them health issues.

In a 12-0 vote, the council on Friday approved an ordinance it began drafting earlier this year that will immediately ban new extraction and shut down existing operations within 20 years. The decision to ban new drilling and decommission existing wells is one of the strongest environmental policies enacted in the state, and could pave the way for other cities around the country to adopt similar measures.

Historically, environmental legislation that has originated in California has often spread to other parts of the country, such as cleaner emissions standards for cars in the 1970s. More recently, the state banned the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, and New York state soon followed suit.

There are 26 oil and gas fields and more than 5,000 active and idle wells in LA. Wells are spread out all over the city, including Wilmington, Harbor Gateway, downtown, West LA, South LA and the northwest San Fernando Valley.

The oil industry has largely opposed the city’s ban, arguing that phasing out production will make LA more dependent on foreign energy. The council said it would ensure oil companies are held accountable for adequately plugging and completing comprehensive site remediation within three to five years of shutting down production sites.

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The city is also conducting studies to determine when oil companies in LA will be able to recoup their capital investments in drilling activities. If operators can recoup those investments before the 20-year timeline, the city could require those companies to shut down production even sooner.

More than half a million people in LA live within a quarter-mile of active wells that release harmful air pollutants like benzene, hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter and formaldehyde. Nearly one third of the city’s wells are located outside of drill sites between parks, schools and houses, and communities of color are disproportionately affected by the health impacts of those sites.

People who live closer to drilling are at greater risk of preterm births, asthma, respiratory disease and cancer, research shows. Living near drilling is also linked to weakened lung function and wheezing, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Research.

Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling, or Stand LA, a coalition of environmental justice organizations, said in a statement that the decision “signals that Black, Latinx and other communities of color currently living near polluting oil wells and derricks in South LA & Wilmington will eventually breathe easier.”

Biden administration resumes sales of oil and gas drilling leases on federal lands

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Tesla (TSLA) brand damage is destroying used car value: ‘People don’t want them anymore’

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Tesla (TSLA) brand damage is destroying used car value: 'People don't want them anymore'

Tesla’s brand damage is eroding the value of used Tesla vehicles at a rapid rate, as owners rush to sell theirs.

It is breaking the used Tesla market as prices are plunging just as the broader used car market is recovering.

After a few tough years for the used car market following the pandemic, it is finally starting to recover over the last month.

Economic uncertainty and a fear of higher inflation due to Trump’s tariffs are prompting some buyers to shift from the new car market to the used car market.

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From March 2024 to March 2025, average used car prices decreased by 2.68% in the US, but the trend has finally reversed.

According to Car Guru‘s used car index, used car prices have risen an impressive 2.17% in the last 30 days alone.

However, there’s an exception: Tesla.

The price of used Tesla vehicles has been falling, like the rest of the used car market, since the pandemic; however, it is not benefiting from the reversal in the current macroeconomic situation.

While average used car prices rose more than 2% in the last 30 days, Tesla’s used car prices decreased by 1.34% in the US.

That’s due to oversupply, as many Tesla owners are selling their vehicles to distance themselves from the Tesla brand, which is associated with CEO Elon Musk and his increasingly divisive political views.

The demand to sell used Tesla vehicles is so high that many used car dealers, who had been fighting to acquire inventory just a year prior, are starting to be reticent about buying Tesla vehicles as the value decreases so rapidly.

In Quebec, Le Journal de Montréal spoke with local used car dealers and attended a car auction where many Tesla vehicles were up for sale, with some selling for half the price they were selling for just over a year ago.

Éric Piuze, owner of a used car dealership on Montreal’s South Shore, said (translated from French):

“People don’t want them anymore. The Elon Musk effect is very real in Quebec.”

The used car dealers at the auction noted that they are not confident they can sell the used Tesla quickly enough to avoid further value decreases.

Furthermore, they note that potential buyers are lowballing on Tesla vehicles because they are aware that inventory is high, creating a buyer’s market.

Dealers are also seeing higher defaults on Tesla car payments, as buyers who took on debt to purchase them just a few years ago struggle to make payments.

Piuze added (translated from French):

People paid a lot of money for Teslas. During the pandemic, we saw many people remortgaging their homes to buy a Tesla. Those days are over.

At its peak, the average used Tesla price was over $60,000 in 2022. Now, the same vehicles are worth a fraction, but their car payments are still high.

Electrek’s Take

Even with the used car market finally getting a breather from crashing prices, Tesla vehicles are not benefiting at all. This highlights a significant issue in the used Tesla market. It’s broken.

The market can’t absorb the surge in people selling their Tesla vehicles.

I wouldn’t want to be a company holding a fleet of Tesla vehicles right now. The value erosion is impressive.

I thought that maybe the Cybertruck was dragging the entire Tesla market down, with a 6.64% decrease in used value over the last 30 days. However, the Model Y alone saw a 1.67% decrease during the same period.

The good news is that the vast majority of people selling their used Tesla vehicles are purchasing other electric vehicles, thereby boosting the EV market. It’s also giving people the chance to get into Tesla vehicles for cheaper, although they should expect the value of those vehicles to decrease rapidly.

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E-quipment highlight: Sandvik QH443E electric cone plant

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E-quipment highlight: Sandvik QH443E electric cone plant

The new flagship Q-Range electric drive cone plant from the quarry experts at Sandvik is engineered to be safe, quiet, and tough enough to operate in the most hostile environments the mining and quarrying industries can put it in.

Cone crushers enhance quarrying efficiency by enabling operators to crush rock, stone, and ore down to a precise size. In ELI5 terms, big rocks go into the top of the plant. Inside, a cone-shaped mantle moves inside a larger cone in an eccentric circle that grinds up the stone and ore between the mantle and the cone’s sides, breaking them up into smaller pieces. Once the pieces are ground to a given size determined by the position of the mantle within the larger cone, they fall out into a cone-shaped pile (but that’s just a coincidence).

Basic mechanisms of cone crusher

The “how it works” version.

The cone crusher is part of a broader “train” of machines on a quarry that work together to turn a massive rock face into a fine sand and/or anything in between. With the launch of the QH443E electric cone plant, Sandvik now offers mine operators a fully electric driven train – one that includes the UJ443E fully electric jaw crusher launched in 2023, the QE342e hybrid scalper, and the QA452e hybrid triple-deck Doublescreen launched in 2022 (if you want to know more about how those work, let us know in the comments).

The new QH443E features a new heavy-duty feeder design equipped with electrically driven components, which can be powered by batteries, or a connection to grid power. An on-board diesel generator capable of running on 100% HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil), providing a number of more sustainable fuel choices and effectively reducing the mine’s operating costs.

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Sandvik claims the electric delivers a 25% fuel savings on generator (and, obviously, 100% on grid or battery power), as well as a 78% reduction in oil usage compared to previous generations.

The new crusher bridges the gap between tracked mobile, wheeled portable, and stationary cone plants by combining electric drives and track mobility on a single platform. The QH443E uses Optik intuitive automation system and My Fleet remote monitoring software hooked to a suite of sensors that provide 24/7 telematics, geo-fencing, and remote-operator support that’s designed to ensure continuous crushing and optimal performance.

Those sensors also help drive innovations in safety, as well. “Safety is paramount in the design of the QH443E,” said Sandvik, in a statement. “The unit includes remote camera viewing of the crushing chamber, 270 degree access around the crusher for easy maintenance and mandatory audible and visual warnings for safe operation. Our extensive global distributor and sales support network ensures that you receive the best support for your operations.”

The QH443E is available in the EU now through Sandvik Mobile’s global dealer network, and will be available everywhere by Q4 of 2025.

Electrek’s Take

Sandvik QH443E portable cone plant rounds out the company’s electric train offering; via Sandvik.

While there are a lot of people outside the drilling and mining space who may scoff at environmental concerns, the quest for improved efficiency and cost reduction among commercial fleet managers knows no political ideology. Simply put: If it’s better or cheaper, they’ll buy it. If it’s better and cheaper, they’ll buy two — and battery power is proving to be consistently better, in a broader scope of use cases, than diesel.

SOURCE | PHOTOS: Sandvik; via Global Highways, Pit & Quarry.

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Past classic that deserves the electric restomod treatment: Ford Taurus

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Past classic that deserves the electric restomod treatment: Ford Taurus

The current EV era is ripe with revered classic car designs and nameplates that are being reborn as battery-powered rides – and the success of cars the Renault 5 proves it can be a winning formula. Today, I’m suggesting another classic that deserves a modern electric update: the OG Ford Taurus.

It might seem old and dated now, but when the original Ford Taurus made its debut in 1985, it was so fresh, so different, so futuristic that it was included, almost unchanged, in Robocop’s sci-fi vision of a dystopian Detroit. Really.

I’d buy that for a dollar

From the movie poster for Robocop; MGM Studios.

The aerodynamic design of the Ford Taurus wasn’t just futuristic, it was successful – and, from 1992 through 1996, the OG Taurus was not just Ford’s best-selling car, but the best selling car in North America.

The sedan market is very different forty years on – so different, in fact, that Ford doesn’t actually sell any sedans in North America. With the exception of the 2-door ICE Mustang, the Blue Oval brand doesn’t even sell any cars, and operates almost entirely as a truck and SUV brand.

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Now, imagine Ford decides to get back into the sedan game. It’s 2025 now, and the Tesla Model 3 has proven that there’s enough demand for at least one successful electric sedan in the US. And, crucially, it seems like most of those buyers won’t be trading their Tesla back in for another one.

If there was ever a time to do it, that time is now – and Ford is perfectly positioned to fast-track a new-age Taurus.

The VW connection

Chinese-market Volkswagen ID.7 Vizzion; via VW.

Yes, I know that’s a Volkswagen – but hear me out. Ford and VW have a strong, existing relationship when it comes to EVs, having co-developed the MEB electric skateboard platform that underpins both the high-riding Ford Capri (itself a modern take on a classic Ford) and the Volkswagen ID.7 shown, above.

The ID.7 is an interesting piece, because it was always Volkswagen’s original intention to bring the car to the US, but slowing sedan demand and a dealer body that would rather sell Scout-branded SUVs and pickups than near/entry-luxe sedans killed the car’s chances before before the first one made it over. Now, it’s not coming to the US at all.

That might have been a mistake, since the the midsized ID.7 sedan is currently the best-selling EV in Germany, with sales continuing to accelerate throughout Europe in the wake of Tesla’s catastrophic, politically-fueled decline.

So, VW dealers don’t want a perfectly capable, Ford-developed, aerodynamic midsized sedan to sell in the US? No problem. Ramp up the BlueOval SK battery plant, set off a hiring frenzy at BlueOval City, start building an oval-badged ID.7-based Ford Taurus in the US, and slap a Tesla conquest rebate on the thing to help overcome Tesla buyer’s increasingly negative equity.

It even looks good in 90s Ford Taurus green.

Original content from Electrek; featured image by ChatGPT.

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