Month: October 2024

CARB hearing coming up for LCFS revisions: Californians are facing a big challenge coming up right after the election. What will come of the California Air Resources Board public hearing on Nov. 8 on its plan to amend the Low Carbon Fuel Standard? It’s guided by a state program that gets progressively cleaner, at a time when concerns have been raised about it pushing gasoline prices even higher. Republican members of the legislature want to see the meeting delayed to avoid rising gas prices. About 100 members of the public have submitted comments protesting these amendments going through and the potential for gas and diesel prices going up even more. There’s debate floating around about seeking an accurate forecast on where fuel prices would be under stricter LCFS standards; and there’s been review of whether bringing in more biofuels will be the needed solution.

The LCFS’s credit trading system has produced about $2 billion since it was implemented in 2011, which has supported several clean transportation vehicle and infrastructure acquisitions for fleets operating in the state. Much of the agency’s actions so far have focused on highly technical disputes between oil companies, dairy farms, biofuel producers and other lower-carbon fuel companies. There’s also been challenges set by environmental justice advocates who say the program maintains polluting industries.

Global EV sales: Global sales of battery electric, and plug-in hybrid, electric vehicles increased by 30.5% in September, a year-over-year gain, according to Reuters. The U.S. has been seeing slow and steady growth; the surge come from China surpassing sales records since August and Europe going back to seeing growth, as reported Reuters by market research firm Rho Motion. The uncertainty of the U.S. elections seems to be affecting U.S. sales, data manager Charles Lester told Reuters.

California ports win big grants: Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced seven California ports are receiving more than $1 billion in grants to build zero-emission infrastructure and implement plans to clean up air quality, according to the office of Governor Gavin Newsom. The Port of Los Angeles is getting $411.69 million, helping the port move forward on zero-emission (ZE) operations. That will come through significantly reducing air pollution in and around the port, deploying ZE cargo handling equipment (CHE), and enhancing electric vehicle charging infrastructure. It’s the largest largest clean ports grant from the EPA. The Port of Oakland will be receiving $322.17 million. Its project will support transitioning over to ZE alternatives for drayage trucks and cargo handling equipment.  

In related news, the U.S. Department of Energy yesterday announced the granting of $18.6 million for 15 projects that will drive innovation in equitable clean transportation and provide first responders with the tools they need to properly respond to calls involving zero emission vehicles. The largest grant was for $2.5 million to the National Association of State Energy Officials based in Arlington, VA. Its objective is to build a safe and resilient clean transportation sector that is supporting states and communities with training on zero emission vehicle technologies for emergency responders.

Fleet EVs — Myths vs. Facts: Take a look at ACT News for a detailed look at the misinformation that can be typical for fleets when considering bringing electric trucks into operation. The speed of battery charging is a deciding factor for making that acquisition of EVs and infrastructure, with faster always being better. How could you balance Level 2, more affordable charging units, with how your fleet typically runs? Correctly sizing that architecture will be an important element of making the right decisions for your fleet.

Tesla performance, plus Elon Musk on what AI looks like: Tesla stock performance jumped and stayed up last week with announcement of its third quarter performance. Revenue increased 8% in the quarter from $23.35 billion a year earlier. Net income rose to about $2.17 billion, or 62 cents a share, from $1.85 billion, or 53 cents a share, a year ago, the company reported.

While it’s still confusing for many of us why Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk would have invested $44B in Twitter/X, it is a good idea to follow what else he’s been investing in and working on — and what he thinks about the future of technology……
“I think by 2040, there will probably be more humanoid robots than there are people,” Musk said Tuesday during an appearance at the Future Investment Initiative, an event run by the institute of the same name as reported by Quartz.

As for how to get there through AI, Musk-led company xAI is now in talks raise a new funding round to get it valued at $40 billion. Discussions are still in the early states, the Wall Street Journal says. During the conference, Musk said that that he plans to double the size of xAI, but did not give additional details on how he would do so.

ID. Buzz recognized: Volkswagen of America just announced that its all-new ID. Buzz has been named to TIME’s 2024 list of the Best Inventions, which features 200 extraordinary innovations changing our lives. TIME editors solicited nominations to its online application process focused on growing fields such as healthcare, AI, and green energy.

RNG plant opening: Vanguard Renewables, a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of BlackRock, a week ago held a ceremony for its newest renewable natural gas project at The Moyer Family’s Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Amelia Court House, Va. The farm, owned by Larkin Moyer, a fourth-generation dairyman, along with his sons Brandon and Jeremy and is the oldest continuously operating family dairy in the Commonwealth, according to Vanguard Renewables. The BlackRock division is expanding across the U.S. and currently has seven operational facilities, three under construction, and plans to begin construction on multiple additional sites by the end of the year.

Polestar hurt by China ban: Polestar said on Monday that a proposed Biden administration rule to bar the use of Chinese vehicle hardware and software would “effectively prohibit” the automaker from selling vehicles in the U.S. including cars made in the U.S. The Swedish automaker, a brand of Volvo Cars that is majority-owned by China’s Geely, filed these comments with the Commerce Department that the proposed rule would bar the sale of vehicles that Polestar is building in South Carolina as well as those produced in China.

Hydrogen fuel cells market forecast: The hydrogen fuel cells market was valued at $5 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $34.65 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.0% from 2024 to 2032. That report comes from SNS Insider, a global market research and consulting firm. Ever-increasing environmental concerns and clean energy adoption should trigger growth, the study says. The growth is driven by technological and infrastructure developments that make it possible to be used on a large scale in transportation, utility and portable power applications, the study says.

How come Tesla isn’t rolling out Cybercabs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Phoenix as an autonomous robotaxi service?

Is getting sued over alleged artificial intelligence-fueled copyright infringement of images from the film ‘Blade Runner 2049’ enough to stop Tesla from competing in the burgeoning robotaxi market? Probably not. That company had moved away from its long-promised entry into the robotaxi space a few months ago — which has become more obvious since the Cybercab launch event.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Tesla corporation, and Warner Brothers Discovery were sued by Alcon Entertainment because the sued parties had asked for permission to use an image from the film for the Oct. 10 event launching the Cybercab at Warner Brothers Discovery’s studio lot in Burbank, California. That request was denied by Alcon. That went awry when, during the Cybercab event, an edited version of a scene from the film was shown on a presentation slide on a live stream for 11 seconds as Musk spoke.

Back in July prior to the first scheduled Cybercab media event (that got moved to Oct. 10), CEO Elon Musk kept talking about his company launching its long-awaited robotaxi service next year. That didn’t come up at the long-awaited media event on Oct. 10 at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif.

The audience heard all about CyberCabs having a pricetag less than $30,000 and that it will come out before 2027; and about a ‘Robovan’ that can carry up to 20 people and that will follow the CyberCab. The company also said autonomous driving will be added to its Model 3 and Model Y cars in California and Texas by next year. Attendees at the ‘We, Robot’ event also got to hear about the Optimus robot that’s still in development, and that could be available for $20,000–$30,000 and is capable of performing various tasks.

As for robotaxis in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, it looks like Alphabet’s Waymo company is taking the lead there. All-electric Jaguar I-PACEs is the fleet vehicle for Waymo One in these cities.

General Motor’s Cruise division has temporarily paused autonomous vehicle service in all markets while the company evaluates how to best serve its riders and the communities where they operate. In October 2023, the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday shut down its operations, describing it as an “unreasonable risk to the public” and that the company misrepresented how safe they are — after a series bad incidents in the city.

Amazon-owned Zoox held an open house in Foster City, Calif., last month to showcase its boxy-shaped autonomous vehicle. Seats face inward, as if you were riding in a carriage with doors that open on both sides. It could be more like a trolley ride than just getting space for one-or-two riders.

The startup says it will be launching autonomous rides in San Francisco in the near future; and the company has put in more than 700,000 autonomous testing miles in California and Nevada. The vehicle can go as fast as 45 mph, and it has no steering wheel and can drive in either direction. Zoox hasn’t said when it expects to rise to commercial levels with its robotaxi fleet.

There’s expectation that Uber and Lyft will play a vital role in robotaxis being rolled out to riders. Waymo recently announced that it was expanding its partnership with Uber to offer robot taxi rides in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta by 2025.

One major hurdle has been safety. The Uber test driver behind the wheel of one of the company’s self-driving cars when it hit and killed a pedestrian in 2018, got sentenced pleaded guilty to endangerment and was sentenced to three years of supervised probation last year. In April, a self-driving Tesla carrying a passenger for Uber rammed into an SUV in Las Vegas. No one was hurt seriously from the collision in a suburban neighborhood, but it raised concerns again about whether robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles are ready yet to go beyond test runs and limited rides in a small number of markets.

How EVs are doing in Europe: European Alternative Fuels Observatory (EAFO) just released it Europe market report on the EU-27 alternative fuel vehicle market. In August, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) reached a 14.48% market share in the passenger car segment, the highest in 2024 so far. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) also maintained a notable market presence with a 7.18% market share. The European market is now seeing nearly 800,000 chargers. As of September EAFO reports that it breaks out into 673,455 AC regular chargers and 118,844 DC fast chargers. That means AC is regular charging and DC is fast charging.

On Oct. 4, EU member states voted in favor of giving the European Commission the green light to put in place definitive tariffs on BEV imports from China. That can go up 35.3% placed on top of the already existing 10% tariff that had already been placed on Chinese imports to the EU. That will come into effect on Nov. 1 for a period of five years.

Funding ZEV drayage trucks: Since November 2023, the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and the Port of Long Beach (POLB) have partnered with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to rapidly increase deployments of zero-emission drayage trucks. California’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) has funded nearly 800 drayage trucks through this state program. An initial $60 million in HVIP-stacked incentives have been fully subscribed; HVIP funds are still available, and additional Port funds may be announced later this year.​​ For ongoing updates about available HVIP drayage funds and other types of HVIP incentives, visit californiahvip.org/funding.

Robotaxi launch: Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk will be revealing the Cybercab, its robotaxi, at Warner Bros. Hollywood Studio this evening. This has been years in the making, and many questions are expected to be asked. Musk hopes that the event will help keep Tesla’s stock at a higher level. The company will discuss the autonomous Tesla ride-hailing platform. Tesla is sticking with its plan to encourage owners to to make income by purchasing more then Cybercab and to place them on a ride-hailing network of robotaxis. Teslerati thinks the the EV maker will do more than just reveal the Cybercab tonight. It might include a $25,000 mass-market EV, a Robovan, and even the Roadster, according to the rumor mill. Tesla has said that the Cybercab and the $25,000 electric car will be built on the same platform, according to The Tesla Space.

GM’s LFP cells: General Motors on Tuesday said it plans to use cost-cutting lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells for future EV models. GM executives had said at an investor conference that LFP cells would combine with other changes to packaging and manufacturing to cut $6,000 from the cost of making EVs, compared to current models. The new Chevy Bolt EV is expected to arrive in 2025 as a 2026 model, although it’s unclear if the LFP-powered version will be available at launch.

Separately, GM President Mark Reuss said the next-gen 2026 Bolt EV will be priced ‘only slightly higher than the 2023 Bolt,’ which started at $27,495 with shipping, and it will be part of a ‘vehicle family.’

SEMA and NTEA oppose CARB rules: The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and NTEA – The Work Truck Association filed suit in the US District Court’s Eastern District of California against the California Air Resources Board (CARB), seeking immediate declaratory and injunctive relief to stop electric vehicle mandates CARB intends to implement through its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulations. The two organizations say it far exceeds the state’s constitutional and state authority, and it will have a dire effect on an industry that has historically made major moves to bring newer, cleaner versions of trucks and other commercial vehicles to market.

Lessons learned at IAA: NACFE says that IAA 2024 in Hannover, Germany, was quite an interesting show. On the exhibit floor were a variety of alternative-fueled vehicles from a host of countries, including China, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, and more. Several countries are working on decarbonizing their transportation industries. Though the technology and regulations may differ, NACFE found it valuable to learn more about what’s going on in that area.

DTNA working with J.B. Hunt: Daimler Truck North America is integrating a battery electric Freightliner eCascadia into its aftermarket operations with long-time associate J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. It will be part of J.B. Hunt’s fleet and deliver aftermarket parts from DTNA’s parts distribution center (PDC) in Phoenix to multiple dealers along a dedicated route, covering approximately 100 miles daily. DTNA says its first all-electric route in the DTNA aftermarket parts distribution network; and it fits well in its targets for reducing carbon emissions and setting a precedent for sustainable outbound logistics operations.

248 DC fast chargers: ChargePoint has received awards through its partners of more than $19 million to deploy 248 DC fast-charging ports at 45 sites along California highways. The awards were approved recently by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Department of Transportation as part of the state’s first tranche of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program funds.

Understanding battery cells: Here’s an Intertek resource on understanding battery cell design, manufacturing quality, and degradation. Check out the Top-12 FAQ sheet on Battery Cell Teardown (also known as Battery Cell Autopsy or Disassembly). It’s a way to help identify manufacturing defects, assess material composition, and uncover aging and degradation mechanisms, Intertek says.

Nuclear energy for data centers: While nuclear power as a clean energy source continues to lack support from certain stakeholders, it’s being taken very seriously by some major players. Amazon and Microsoft each inked major deals this year with nuclear power plants in the U.S. to power their energy-intensive data centers. It has something to do with new AI data centers that need a lot of energy to run.

Mobility market growth: The shared mobility service market, which was valued at $380.2 billion in 2023, its expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.6% during 2025-2030, according to a ResearchAndMarkets.com study. That’s expected to come from technological advancements, urbanization, and changing consumer preferences. Choices are expanding too for ride-sharing, car-sharing, bike-sharing, and scooter-sharing. Companies profiled in the study include Car2Go, Didi Chuxing, Grab, Lyft, Docomo Bike Share, Meitetsu Kyosho, Orix, Ola, BlaBlaCar, and Uber.

CA bill on renewable hydrogen: Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1420 (Anna Caballero, D-Merced), a California Renewable Transportation Alliance-supported measure to streamline permitting for renewable hydrogen production facilities. It facilitates centralized permitting and expedited review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Confessions of a Numbers Nerd: As mentioned in the last issue, I’ve started a Substack column tied into my new book, which has been published. It goes back to how I got into data analytics as an editor covering fleet management, car rental, and used vehicle market trends. More recently, it might be about looking at how it’s going between Tesla and BYD for global market leadership.