Category: clean transportation

STTN launches comprehensive resources for travel and transportation companies to hit sustainability targets and build strong networks

Sustainable Travel & Transportation Network was launched on April 24, offering a community-based marketplace that provides a platform for users to meet carbon emissions targets and find travel partners committed to sustainable operations and services. STTN provides comprehensive resources for companies to create sustainable travel supply chains. The company provides training, resources, and opportunities for participating members to build greater efficiencies, better-managed procurement processes, and the ability to integrate sustainability as a core business value and goal in the travel, transportation, and tourism sectors. STTN works from a comprehensive vision of what sustainability means for network members — environmental, social, and economic factors that are expected to be reached by stakeholders including customers, board members, shareholders, and governing bodies.

The company’s co-founders are Sara Richardson, previously the founder and president of non-profit business development association RAS International; and Patricia Charla, previous co-founder for environmental certification and consultancy Tech360. Faculty for training programs include sustainable travel consultancy TravelHorst founder Horst Bayer and IGManagement managing director Bernard Harrop; sustainability software GreenFeet founder Lisa McKelvey is also part of the company’s leadership team.

STTN is designed for corporate travel managers, travel management companies and travel agencies, accommodation and destination service providers, sustainability officers, transportation service providers, and other service providers and supporters, to meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals through efficient, achievable, and durable practices. Participating members will be guided and supported in how to achieve STTN certification, which complies with carbon offsets that must be measurable, monitored over time, and validated by an independent third party, the United Nations (UN), or a government body. For more information, visit the website at www.sttnetwork.com.

Details on the new EPA proposed vehicle emissions standards: What’s distinct about the new proposed set of emissions guidelines for passenger and commercial vehicles announced this month by EPA administrator Michael Regan? By 2032 about two-thirds of new passenger vehicles will have to be zero emissions — which mean battery- and fuel cell-powered vehicles. Internal analysis found that with nearly 70 percent EVs sold by 2032 and about 40 percent in medium-duity vehicles would be a pathway for successfully complying, Medum-duty breaks out to vehicles in the 8,501 to 14,000 pound range. It can also be heavy-duty vehicles such as semi trucks, tractors, buses, cherry pickers, and delivery vans. The end goal is to reduce close to 10 billion metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions.

There are currently loopholes in the EPA first draft that favor SUVs and crossovers, which have been very popular in US new vehicles sales — up there with pickup trucks. Overall, the federal government and lawmakers face that age-old question: If you build it, will they come? Will car shoppers be buying them? EVs tend to be more expensive than their gasoline-powered equivalents, and with interest rates going up, it’s getting more costly to borrow money to buy a new car or truck.

Climate Investments: For those interested in tapping into California’s vast financial resources supporting clean transportation, you might want to attend California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) virtual public workshop on funding guidelines for agencies that administer California Climate Investments. California Climate Investments implemented nearly 19,500 new projects through $1.3 billion in funding in 2022 alone, with $933 million directly benefiting disadvantaged communities and low‑income communities and households, according to the state. This workshop takes place May 8, 2023, at 2:00 pm PST.

Renewable NG tax credit introduced: Rep. Linda T. Sánchez, D-Calif., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., earlier this month introduced the Renewable Natural Gas Incentive Act, which would provide a tax credit for renewable natural gas that is used in heavy-duty vehicles in order to immediately reduce greenhouse gas and particulate emissions while further supporting clean and efficient transportation across the country.   “This tax credit will allow transit agencies, school districts, freight haulers and package delivery companies to replace aging fleets with sustainable alternatives, all without slowing production or increasing costs,” Sánchez said.

ACT Expo just around the corner: John O’Leary, president and CEO of Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) will be the opening keynote speaker at the 12th annual ACT Expo, May 1-4, 2023, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California. DTNA is North America’s largest manufacturer of Class 5-8 commercial vehicles and aims to offer an exclusively CO2-neutral new vehicle product line by 2039.
O’Leary’s keynote on Monday, May 1, will be followed by the debut of the 2023 State of Sustainable Fleets market brief report, which will highlight key trends and the ever-increasing clean vehicle adoption plans of fleets across the nation. Learn more about media events to hear about breaking industry news and to witness new product reveals and vehicle unveilings.

Transitional Technologies: Renewables seeing greater potential from integration in fuel and energy sources

Renewable energy and fuels are seeing broader support globally for decarbonization, much of it through integration of sources that were not typical years ago. A clear example this year is “green hydrogen,” where emissions can be eliminated by using renewable energy to power the electrolysis of water.

Here’s a look at what aspects of renewables are gaining the most traction………….

Green hydrogen:  Support for hydrogen has been taking a wider base recently with concern over the cost of extracting hydrogen — and where it comes from — improving substantially. Most of it had been coming from natural gas, but that’s starting to change. For natural gas, much of the hydrogen has come from steam methane reforming (SMR), which causes the methane found in natural gas to react with steam, which then produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide. One method to clean it up has been called blue hydrogen, where the emissions are curtailed using carbon capture and storage.

Green hydrogen is even cleaner as it can almost completely eliminate emissions by using renewable energy for powering electrolysis of water that’s needed in producing hydrogen. It’s still costly, with electrolyzers still in short supply, and tapping into plentiful sources of renewable energy still coming in at a high price. Hydrogen supporters see this cost coming down as demand for the fuel grows in generating electricity, power, and heat.

A proposed plant in Lancaster, Calif., just north of Los Angeles, could produce the greenest hydrogen on the market. It will use plastics and recycled paper as a feedstock — waste that would otherwise go to a landfill. It will be gasified at temperature high enough to be transformed into hydrogen. If adopted, it would be run by SGH2 Energy Global, which is part of the Solena Group. The company says that its technology reduces carbon emissions two-to-three times more than green-hydrogen produced using electrolysis and renewable energy — and its technology is five-to-seven times cheaper, the company said.

Another major development came up on July 8 when the European Commission launched its EU Hydrogen Strategy and its Energy Systems Integration Strategy. That same day, a Clean Hydrogen Alliance between industry, hydrogen companies, and governments was also launched and tied to the strategies. It defines clean hydrogen as renewable hydrogen coming from hydrogen production through water electrolysis. The power will come primarily through wind and solar energy. For short term goals, the alliance will support the installation of at least 6 gigawatts of renewable hydrogen electrolyzers in the EU, and the production of up to one million tons of renewable hydrogen. That will go up to 40 gigawatts of renewable hydrogen electrolyzers, and the production of up to ten million tons of renewable hydrogen in the EU.

Renewable energy:  Hydropower doesn’t get nearly as much attention as wind and solar in the reporting of renewable energy sources generating electricity — even though its clearly the largest source of renewable energy in the world. It’s making up about 18 percent of the world’s total installed power generation capacity and more than 54 percent of the global renewable power generation capacity. Most of it comes from construction of dams on rivers and releasing water from reservoirs to power turbines. Another source is pumped-storage type plants to generate hydro power. China has the world’s largest hydro power generation capacity, and has the world’s largest hydropower plant at the Three Gorges — which generates 22.5 GW.

But wind and solar will still see high growth rates, with costs continuing to drop. Energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie expects that solar PV system costs in the US are falling faster than previously forecasted. Sarah Golden, senior energy analyst at GreenBiz Group, says that the cost of producing energy from wind has fallen by as much as 70 percent since 2009. International Renewable Energy Agency recently reported that wind, along with solar, beat the cheapest coal in cost for power generation.

Waste-to-energy, and Waste-to-fuel:  This has been getting a lot of support in recent years from major disposal companies like Waste Management, Inc. This year, an unexpected growth segment has come up through COVID-19. New priorities have been tied to sustainable disposal of medical waste, and dealing with growth in unrecyclable plastics, and an increase in the use of face masks and other personal protective gear.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory released a report concluding that converting solid waste into hydrogen is a key technology that can greatly reduce emissions. Adding carbon capture and storage can support developing advanced waste-to-hydrogen technology with negative emissions. It can assist national mandates to reach net zero-carbon.

Another bright spot has been researchers finding that next-generation thermochemical processes convert solid waste – including plastics, medical waste, municipal solid waste, and wastewater sludge – into hydrogen without incinerating the waste. Carbon dioxide produced during the process can be efficiently captured and stored to make new products using technology that is commercially available today. The costs that are continuing to fall, making it even more viable.

Renewable fuels:  Biogas is becoming even more practical and clean as landfill gas (LFG) grows in usage. The digestion process takes place in the ground rather than in an anaerobic digester commonly used to produce renewable fuels. As of June 2020, there were about 564 operational LFG projects in the US, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. As for now, most of these projects use biogas to produce electricity rather than to power natural gas vehicles.

Making renewable natural gas (RNG) for natural gas vehicles requires a higher content of methane than biogas. It also requires the removal of water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and other trace elements to produce RNG. But RNG continues to gain support among fleet managers and stakeholders in NGVs. A recent commentary by S&P Global Platts made the point that while hydrogen has been grabbing headlines through large-scale national plans being scheduled, RNG deserves more attention as “an emerging tool for decarbonization.”

One advantage explained in the commentary is that RNG can be appealing to US energy companies looking to diversify. An example would be Southern California Gas Company (SoCal) releasing an agreement between SoCal, the San Diego Gas & Electric Co., consumer advocate groups, various industry groups, such as RNG Coalition, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). It came about with the goal of facilitating increased volumes of RNG to California customers.

And in other news……..
Fisker finds needed capital:  Fisker Inc. reached a deal to go public last Monday by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Apollo Global Management. Founder Henrik Fisker was able to raise more than $1 billion to help bring the Fisker Ocean electric SUV to market by late 2022. Proceeds from the transaction were valued at $2.9 billion. The business model is different than Tesla and other automakers, and was compared to the role Apple has played — cool technology, but production has been farmed out to others, cutting down the huge capital outlay needed to become a carmaker. Fisker is in talks with Volkswagen to use its modular EV platform and to assemble its vehicles at a VW plant in Europe. Its retail store model will be closer to Tesla’s — with customers able to place customized orders online and also to visit “brand experience centers” in key US and European markets.

 

Transitional Technologies: Connectivity as the stepping stone to cars of the future

Connected cars, aka connectivity, is thought to have been the very first of the next-generation technologies serving as game changers for the auto industry, personal mobility, and ground transportation. The ideal will be to someday have automated, electric vehicles tied together through a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication network — and connected to everything else through the next version, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X). The hope is that traffic could be controlled, collisions avoided, and energy use made more efficient.

And it will be connected to everything else, such as your home. It’s becoming quite common to see intelligent mobile devices able to manage what’s going on in your house — security system, heating, lighting, recording a sporting event, etc. Why not tie you car into all of it for electric vehicle charging, checking diagnostics, energy consumption, and getting it ready to take you to work in the morning?

Connectivity goes back to General Motors and Motorola introducing OnStar in 1996, eventually offering subscribers security, emergency services, hands-free calling, navigation, and remote diagnostics. Once smart phones started showing up in the late 2000s, connectivity began tying phones to a car’s dashboard control panel for these types of convenience features; plus what became known as “infotainment” that could include hearing your favorite music artist or the Howard Stern show on SiriusXM Radio. It eventually shifted over to voice commands to keep eyes on the road and the process more automated and easy to use.

These days, three tech developments tend to come up when connected cars are being discussed — 5G, V2V/V2X, and IoT.

For 5G, debate continues over which region will win the race to bring the leading-edge technology and clear the hurdles for adoption — North America, Europe, or Asia? Having a mobile device with 5G means higher capacity and increased bandwidth compared to 4G. It has the potential to clean up the problems on 4G as everything you can think of switches over to intensive, sophisticated software and data transfer needing a lot more bandwidth.

But the revolution will take much longer than planned. Last year, AT&T and Verizon went live with their 5G networks in a small, targeted set of cities. T-Mobile promised to clear its acquisition of Sprint and integrate their networks into the largest 5G network out there. The legal hurdle was cleared on April 1, but its presence in 5G is at the beginning phase. Handset makers have been rolling out a number of new models compatible to the new standard. However mobile device users aren’t seeing any real improvements yet in the existing cellular networks out there from AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint/T-Mobile.

But the technology does have its champions in telecommunications and mobility. The GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) said that by the end of 2019, 61 operators in 34 countries had launched one or more 3GPP-compliant 5G services. Of those, 49 operators had launched 5G mobile services, while 34 had launched FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) or home broadband services. The group sees the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as fundamental for producing standardized reports and specifications for 3GPP technologies. Seven telecommunications organizations came together to create the 3GPP standards to support the development of 5G.

It does have its enemies — particularly those spreading concern that 5G will be dangerous to human health. Some experts see it as another conspiracy theory, and say that there’s no evidence that there’s anything to worry about.

V2V/V2X:  V2X is that latest standard to emerge from what was originally named V2V when the University of Michigan’s Mcity Test Facility gave it that badge. V2X is a vehicle communication system that integrates other more specialized types of communication such as V2I, V2N, V2V, V2P, V2D and V2G. Cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) is another development getting a lot of attention lately, and is expected to serve as the foundation for vehicles to communicate with each other and everything around them.

Automakers, tech companies, mobile phone networks, and auto suppliers, are waiting for 3GPP Release 16, which is expected to be finalized sometime this year. It covers all the bases on 5G coming out. One section includes specifications for C-V2X, that wold address issues such as platooning, extended sensors, automated, and remote driving.

The US Department of Transportation has been heavily involved with what technology will take the lead in 5G, and where V2X communications will go next. For V2X, DOT released a standard for review in February supporting the agency’s 5.9 GHz “Safety Band” spectrum testing. The devices will be used to evaluate the safety performance and capabilities of the devices through both small- and large-scale testing, including scalability and congestion, interoperability, and complex transportation scenarios.

Internet of Things — In 2010 when it first emerged in tech media, IoT at first seemed like the latest techie expression for the interconnectedness of devices, laptops, networks, mainframes, cell towers, and satellites; but it quickly became much larger than that.

What does it mean lately? IoT platforms are geared to analyze performance and share predictive and preventive maintenance, and other operational maneuvers to keep the participating organizations productive and efficient. It’s thought to bring together three factors: the ubiquitous internet, low-cost connected devices, and growth in data analytics solutions.

Smart appliances are tapping into the IoT mindset to allow end users to do everything in just a few commands. That might include planning out meals and getting reports on the nutrients and health implications of their planned meal. The IoT platform also enables more efficient use of energy as equipment makes intelligent adjustments to energy consumption. It helps reduce operational costs through enhanced predictive and preventive maintenance.

There’s also the revenue generating side that can help resolve one of the toughest questions of the day — finding additional revenue steams and offset some of the costs coming from development of the new technology. There are creative methods being explored that sell services to support connected products, rather than the products themselves. Many companies are bringing in specialists to tap into the developing technology. That could be through a tech consultant with IoT expertise, or through hiring new staff with a title like Business Development Manager, Internet of Things.

So when looking at 5G networks, V2X communication systems, and new IoT solutions, you can get a closer look at the elements shaping the contributions connected cars will make to the vehicle technology revolution.

And in other news……..

Tesla beats Toyota on stock market:  Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), which last month took its 10 year anniversary on the stock market, now has the largest market value among automakers — surpassing Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and taking the lead. This morning, Tesla share prices have hovered right under $1,300 per share and a market cap at $240.96 billion. Toyota has been trading around $127 per share with its market cap at $206.1 billion. Tesla is weathering the COVID-19 storm well and has a loyal following in market analysts and shareholders. Expanding into China and Europe, and continuing to launch new products such as the Model Y, though investors are keeping the pressure on CEO Elon Musk and team to improve quarterly earnings.

Net-zero for America:  House Democrats last Tuesday released a bill that calls for the US to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, primarily through decarbonizing the electric and transportation sectors. It doesn’t remove natural gas fracking or coal-powered plants. Power plants would need to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040; with an economy-wide reduction expected by 2050 through building, transportation and industrial electrification.

Republicans on the select committee were frustrated the policy package did not go through the full committee process, meaning it will inevitably look different once it does get a full House vote. The sweeping plan for climate action embraces many of the goals of the Green New Deal that was released in February 2019, but wasn’t able to move forward in the House.

Diesel pumps changing:  Is it just me, or does it seem like more gas stations are adding diesel fuel pumps, and integrating them into all of the other fuel dispensers? According to Diesel Technology Forum, 55 percent of retail fuel stations in North America offer diesel fuel. It’s been gradually integrated into the main dispensers rather than setting up a solo dispenser for diesel. The organization says that diesel cars have the advantage of getting 20-to-40 percent more miles per gallon than gasoline-powered vehicles. They have less need to stop at the gas stations.

GAM editor on workplace struggles:  Do Amazon, Tesla, and other tech firms treat employees nearly as well as their customers? Those of us who drive a Tesla electric car, or belong to Amazon Prime, or take Uber and Lyft rides all over town, have an idea that while its fun to be a customer, you probably wouldn’t want to work for them. Read more in my LinkedIn Pulse commentary.

Countries with Highest CO2 Emissions
From Fuel Combustion

 

 

Energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 2.1% in 2017
and by 1.9% in 2018. Almost all countries contributed
to the rise except Europe and Latin America.
Study comes from Enerdata’s Global Energy
Statistical Yearbook 2019.

Transitional Technologies: Recovering from COVID-19 — Where do clean transportation and sustainability stand in importance?

How does one build the case for backing clean transportation and sustainability initiatives during a time like this? The US is facing increasing COVID-19 infection and fatality rates, outrage over racial profiling and use of force by police, depressing economic indicators, and gasoline prices staying quite cheap.

Electric car sales have been hit by the unexpected impact of COVID-19 — but at a much slower decline than overall new vehicles sales in the US. Converting vehicle owners — whether consumers, fleets, or trucking companies — over to clean vehicles, and the necessary charging and refueling infrastructure, is a much harder sell this year.

Events have been cancelled such as the popular ACT Expo in May, and many other conferences and exhibit halls. Some are being carried forward through online events — see news section below for news on one of these upcoming events.

Concerns over air pollution and climate change have been down on the scale lately. But its also an opportunity for stakeholders to reach out and practice social responsibility, according to a sustainability expert.

During a LinkedIn discussion group last week, that question was raised. Leaders in disease prevention, healthcare, social justice, and economic recovery, must be engaged and listened to with empathy, according to a prominent sustainability consultant. That could take place during a Zoom meeting or through other useful communication tools. They can’t be brushed off, he said.

That’s been reinforced by a recent Bain & Company report, as the impact of COVID-19 has been serving as something of a dress rehearsal for corporations preparing for the next disasters through climate change. Telework and virtual meetings have been reducing travel and forcing other alternatives on company operations. Satellite images have been reporting a steep decline in air pollution — showing the dramatic impact of taking away fossil fuel emissions. Another positive trend has been seeing corporations working closely with government agencies on accurate reporting of Coronavirus symptoms, testing, and how to practice social distancing and other safe practices.

Supporting disadvantaged communities
For those working in clean transportation and sustainability, the resources are there in government funding and incentives — and in investment funds in sustainability, social responsibility and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). And there’s another opportunity to rejuvenate — tapping into government programs and alliances supporting clean transportation in disadvantaged communities.

California legislators winning over votes in Sacramento have emphasized the health risks for those living close to ports, cargo transport hubs, streets, and highways packed with diesel-powered commercial vehicles. Environmental justice is emphasized by legislators and community groups making the case for clean vehicles and fuels to displace traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

The Greelining Institute, based in Oakland, Calif., sees economic barriers faced by communities of color as interconnected to several issues affecting quality of life. Vehicle exhaust makes tens of thousands of Californians sick and costs billions in avoidable health costs, with the worst effects often felt in low-income communities of color, the organization says.

The organization sees a clear correlation between economic opportunity — through job creation, support services, education, and other resources — and overcoming racial inequality. Breathing cleaner air is also part of tapping into government and business support for improving quality of life and leveling out the playing field.

“Race must never be a barrier to opportunity,” according to Greenlining.

Other states are including economic disadvantages in their framework for regions needing more electric vehicles and charging infrastructure to improve quality of life and address health concerns. Some of these states outside California with laws and funded programs in effect, or being considered by legislators, include Washington, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

Demand for disaster preparedness
In the fall of 2012, Hurricane Sandy’s impact was devastating, causing about $65 billion in damage. It eventually reached New Jersey and New York City, flooding streets, parking lots, tunnels and subway lines, and cutting power in and around the city. Now-defunct Fisker Automotive reported that 320 Fisker Karmas were destroyed at a New Jersey port by Hurricane Sandy.

In the immediate years that followed, the impact of climate change spread far beyond scientists and environmental groups. It became common to hear it referred to as “climate disruption” as a series of severe weather disasters on both ends of the spectrum were unleashed — from blizzards to heatwaves, brushfires, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, and earthquakes. The impact has been devastating in lives lost, property destruction, and disruptive weather conditions outside what we’d been used to.

There’s been a growing need in finding skilled and experienced professionals who can protect public safety and restore damaged infrastructure. Engineering and consulting firms are being hired to address disaster mitigation, infrastructure protection, and bringing resilience back to impacted communities. COVID-19, and social upheaval across the country, have brought up even greater challenges.

Fleet professionals that I know have engaged me and many others in conversations on challenges they’ve been through such as flooding and power outage. Their stories have been sad — with millions of dollars on loss due to vehicles being unsalvageable due to flooding that had not been seen in previous years. Opportunities have also come through it — with fleet professionals gaining experience and technical know-how in utilizing electric vehicle battery packs for energy storage.

And in other news……..
California adopting clean truck rules:  On Friday, the California Air Resources Board passed a unanimous vote for the Advanced Clean Trucks Regulation, which will require truck manufacturers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emission trucks in the state starting in 2024. It will see a gradual annual increase in adding more electric trucks to fleets, with the goal of putting 300,000 electric trucks on California’s roads by 2035 and phasing out diesel trucks by 2045. Heavy-duty trucks are considered to be responsible for a third of California’s smog-causing nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution and a fifth of its greenhouse gases.

Virtual clean transportation conference coming up:  AltWheels 2020 will be hosting its first ever virtual event on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. The Boston conference started 17 years ago and became fleet-focused 14 years ago. The event organizers want to make sure that fleets and other stakeholders will be able to continue attending and sharing information on making clean transportation work. Green Auto Market will serve as one of the co-hosts of the conference, and will be covering the event throughout the year.

Fleet Day at AltWheels 2020 will include speakers and a breakout session, exhibits, along with leading alternative vehicles of all sizes and the latest options for fleet managers. Last year’s event featured 30 expert speakers, 31 exhibits, and 20 on-site vehicles for display. More than 200 fleet managers from corporate, municipal, and state organizations from across New England and New York were in attendance last year. It provides attendees an opportunity to gain the latest updates in fleet transportation technologies, alternative fuels, and fleet management practices. Further information on AltWheels Fleet Day including photos and videos of last year’s sessions is available online at this website.

Resources to Tap Into:
—Research Determines Financial Benefit from Driving Electric Vehicles
Over a 15-Year Life, EVs Can Save Thousands of Dollars in Fuel Costs Compared to Gasoline Vehicles
Click here for analysis conducted by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

—How to Leverage LCFS to Increase EV Sales: OEMs and Dealers Toolkit
Click here for a study from GNA and ACT News.

Connecting the Dots
Market data to follow

 

AAA reports that the national average for regular gasoline as of June 28 was at $2.178, and  diesel came in at $2.441. Natural gas continues to have stable and competitive gallon gas equivalent (GGE) pricing compared to gasoline and diesel. Ethanol is even more competitive, with most of it consumed through E-10 blends. US Energy Information Administration reports that there are about 3,625 public E85 fueling stations are located around the country. Most of that takes place in the Midwest.

Transitional Technologies: Honda getting hacked shows urgency of facing cyber security

Historic breakthroughs in clean, automated, shared, and safe mobility are expected to arrive relatively soon. Flying cars, autonomous rides taking us anywhere, unlimited wireless charging, renewables becoming cheap and abundant, and regular flights to the moon and Mars — we’re seeing what used to look like sci-fi lately achieving tangible, real-world achievements and gaining support.

Then there’s the horrific scenario of hackers taking over cars, raising red flags for those concerned about transitioning over to fully autonomous vehicles. For now, hackers are more likely to take over internal computer networks and temporarily shut down operations — as Honda just experienced. Another concern: hackers figuring out how to manipulate the electric vehicle charging infrastructure and its connection to the power grid.

Analysts have been expecting 2030 to be the turning point for historic transformation, though it’s likely to take a few more years to reach mass-market scale. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the works, and will probably extend that period of real change. There’s also gaining broad support for the new technologies in the regulatory structure, insurance and risk management, capital sources, and end users willing to purchase the vehicles.

Safety and protecting data must be resolved first — which usually fall under the category of Cyber Security. In future Green Auto Market commentaries, other concerns will be explored shaping transitional technologies: recovering from the impact of COVID-19, connectivity, automation, renewables, and next-gen batteries.

What happened to Honda?
Why did the Honda Automobile Customer Service’s Twitter page announce that both customer service and financial services networks were “experiencing technical difficulties and are unavailable” on June 8? Honda’s factories in countries around the world were temporarily stopped after the company sustained a ransomware attack beginning on Sunday, according to the BBC. The ransomware is known as SNAKE.

Honda has said very little about the incident. A spokesman told Popular Mechanics that “there is no current evidence of loss of personally identifiable information. We have resumed production in most plants and are currently working toward the return to production of our auto and engine plants in Ohio.”

The company did confirm later to BBC that “a cyber-attack has taken place on the Honda network.” In another interview with The Verge, Honda wanted to reassure readers that there’s been no evidence that “personally identifiable information” has been leaked to the public.

Hackers could use EVs to break down the grid
Researchers are concerned that the integration of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) taking shape in powerful chargers, along with the electricity grid, could be ripe for hackers. “You do reach a tipping point where you’ve got so much load on the grid provided by these chargers, that if you could control it and manipulate them in aggregate, you would start to see power system problems,” said Jay Johnson, principal manager of technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories.

Hackers could take over enough chargers to theoretically cause a grid blackout. With EVs taking off in sales and charging networks in the US and other countries, a few cybersecurity researchers and industry groups are looking into weak points in the charging infrastructure that could exploited to wreak havoc.

The Sandia National Laboratories team is exploring ways to prevent such a grid attack. “EV charging is right there at the intersection of two U.S. critical infrastructures, the transportation sector and the energy sector. But we need to understand that it also intersects with a lot of other critical infrastructure in the United States,” Johnson said.

Why the general public is alarmed by hackers
Privacy and protection of personal and financial information is a major concern for many Americans. Having all of that data stolen, and possibly used in a scam or another costly criminal undertaking, has raised hackles and commitments from automakers, banks, credit card companies, and others, to protect private information. Surveys continue to show that consumers are angry and annoyed that all of their personal information can be exposed to anyone wanting to research it; and that their back accounts and identities could be wiped out by hackers and other criminals.

An IT manager I know has warned me and others about the huge implications and threats of hackers taking over corporate networks, personal devices and laptops, digital streaming services, and social media. The notorious incidents affecting major companies and millions of people have been spreading over to the average person more recently; or at least they’re being sent spambots, viruses, and malware. I’ve asked my IT friend, and read interviews with experts on the subject, on why hackers are doing it. Some hackers have political causes they believe in, and there could be millions of dollars stolen. But the main motivation seems to be that they love disrupting institutions — hacking the system and getting it to stop, at least temporarily.

I had this warning illustrated last week while using a popular grocery shopping mobile app. During the shopping trip, I thought that the shopper doing my batch over at Costco had completely lost it — by sending me jarring and pornographic images and messages. It turned out that the shopper assumed I was the perpetrator, and minutes later responded to my texts stating that assumption. It turns out that a third party had hacked their way into my personal account and took it over for that shopping trip. What did they get out of it? No money was stolen, and no one’s identities seem to be hurt. The hacker seemed to get a rush out of disrupting our lives for several minutes.

Not long before that debacle, Green Auto Market’s distribution list was taken over by a hacker. I was contacted by email marketing service Mailchimp that something fishy was going on with my email distribution list for the newsletter. I soon found out that a spambot had been let loose that created about 450 fake subscribers to the newsletter over about three weeks. I figured it out with all the new subscribers who had jumbled names and emails that didn’t seem real. After talking to someone with experience in computer networks about it, I realized that the hacker wasn’t doing what I thought might be going on — such as sending my readers a bunch of spam, or selling them phony get-rich-quick schemes. Nope, he or she was just hacking.

Where it all started in a big way
The current wave of hacking — which can include identity theft, electronic banking fraud, breaching of high-security computers, wiping out computers with a virus or malware, and crashing a network — started hitting major targets about 2012. State-held oil giant Saudi Aramco was hit by the Shamoon virus in 2012, which wiped out computer disks held by targeted government agencies and private companies. It was brought back in 2017 as Shamoon 2, thought to be sent by a group named “Cutting Sword of Justice” which claimed responsibility.

Companies hit hard by hackers in recent years have included Adobe, eBay, Equifax, Sony, LinkedIn, Marriott International, and Yahoo. Another big one happened last year when a software engineer in Seattle hacked into a server holding customer information for Capital One and obtained the personal data of over 100 million people.

If US consumers are going to buy into autonomous vehicles and flying cars in any significant way, the issue of vehicle safety and freedom from takeovers will have to be resolved. This applies to services such as Amazon Prime Air delivering packages in 30 minutes or less using small drones.

The US military has been testing out unmanned combat aerial vehicles for several years, along with unmanned ground vehicles. These vehicles and their collected data have been tapped into by autonomous vehicle research centers at universities like Carnegie Mellon, vehicle manufacturers, and AV technology supplier partners.

Tesla’s Berlin plant speeding up faster than China, AD publisher looking for Fixes and Solutions to everything

Tesla speeding up European plant:  Rumors are floating that Tesla may be able to beat the timing on its second plant opening in China with its Berlin vehicle manufacturing facility. Some of those working on the German plant are bragging they are three months ahead of where the Chinese plant was at this time last year. You can also view a video on the plant’s construction, with the nickname of GiGA4Berlin. Tesla continues to work quickly through the COVID-19 crisis and inner turmoil over management turnovers. One theory is that CEO Elon Musk and team are learning big lessons from crafting two vehicle plants and one battery factory to produce four models to production scale (with the fifth, the Model Y, slowed down for now with some production issues). That lesson would be how to standardize building the production plants and speeding everything up. Tesla is on its way to become a true global automaker serving the biggest markets: North America, China, and Europe.

Automotive Digest going away, welcoming new media platform:  Automotive Digest will soon be closed down for good, sad to say. But Chuck Parker will be staying in the game, having recently launched his Fixes and Solutions new media content platform. His new title describes it well: Editor, Publisher, Strategist, & Fixer. The focus here is on identifying and exploring the problems, issues, and obstacles along with possible fixes and solutions that are shaping the country, society, and the world — and not just the automotive industry. It’s also a good space for experts/analysts to voice their concerns, as editorial contributions are being accepted.

What does that look like? A few topics featured in its published articles tell the story…….. How robotics startup Starship Technologies is making its way through COVID-19 and building up its fleet of autonomous sidewalk delivery vehicles……… Federal courts are starting to protect laws that the Trump administration has been dismantling over fossil fuels’ impact on the climate…………. Can leaders from the US and Europe seize the moment to take on the challenges of stopping pandemics, solving climate change, and dealing with inequities of race and economies?…….. How online therapy app, Talkspace, has given counselors, therapists, and medical professionals a new functional means to delivering therapy without being in the same room or office with the client……. and much more.

China investing heavily in coal power:  China is in the process of undercutting all the capital and resources invested in clean energy and electric vehicles. The country permitted more new coal-fired power plants in March than it did in all of 2019. It comes right after a surge in coal plant construction last year. China already consumes more than half of the world’s coal. The country has almost as much new coal generation in planning or construction (206 gigawatts) as the US has in operation (235 GW at the end of 2019). It came from the economic turmoil the country started experiencing a decade ago, with the government putting investing huge sums through state-owned enterprises, with much of it going into coal-fired power.

Zobel heading hydrogen council:  The California Hydrogen Business Council (CHBC) has named Bill Zobel, a prominent figure in natural gas vehicles, as the executive director of the organization. Zobel joins CHBC after over ten years at Trillium, where he served as vice president of business development and marketing. During those years, Zobel helped to diversify the company’s alternative fuel portfolio to include hydrogen refueling in order to meet changing market conditions, customer needs, and company goals. He also worked to secure two premier hydrogen projects in the transit sector with the Orange County Transportation Authority and Champagne-Urbana Mass Transit District.

Clean Transportation group looking for active members:  If you’re a LinkedIn member, come by the Clean Transportation group. I’d started it a few years ago, but let it go dormant. Like other LinkedIn groups, it’s a good platform for telling the story on projects you’re working on, and critical issues facing the future of clean transportation, alternative fuels, and the future of transportation. Another one to check out is Sustainability Working Group, which delves into how sustainability is embedded in organizations and the impact this has on environmental stewardship, stakeholder well-being, community development and shared value. And one more thing, check out my article published in LinkedIn, “What’s the state of the economy as the ‘new normal’ drags on?”

Hyundai and Kia tapping into heat pump EV efficiency:  Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation released details of their innovative heat pump system, deployed in Hyundai and Kia’s global electric vehicle (EV) line-up to maximize their all-electric driving range in low temperatures. It’s extending per-charge driving range by tapping into waste heat to warm the cabin for passengers traveling through cold weather. It was first tied out in the first-generation Kia Soul EV, which used its compressor, evaporator, and condenser, so that the heat pump was able to capture waste heat given off by the vehicle’s electrical components, recycling this energy to heat the cabin more efficiently.

Hydrogen seeing breakthroughs at fuel pumps, Offerings in consulting and research services

Hydrogen seeing competitive fuel stations:  French fuel company Air Liquide just released a new product in the US that can make hydrogen competitive with the average gasoline and diesel fuel station. Its high capacity of 1,000 kg and dual filling positions are capable of fueling 250 vehicles per day. That will make it quite competitive with gas stations that can fuel up to 1,000 cars a day. A hydrogen station with four-to-six of these new pumps can be quite competitive with gas stations. Hydrogen stations in California are already going this route, thanks in part to the new capacity credit in the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. First Element/True Zero now offers a 25 percent emissions reduction at its new Oakland station compared to the company’s other stations. Of hydrogen stations opening up in the near future, three will offer two fueling positions with a dispensing capacity of 800 kg, and many will offer three or four fueling positions at 1,200 kg stations, according to California Fuel Cell Partnership. Hydrogen is continuing its trajectory as a commercially viable clean fuel — meeting stringent zero emission vehicle and LCFS in California and other states, and finding growth in Japan, South Korea, and European fueling stations.

Need some consulting and research support?  For those of you interested in finding consulting and research support services, see my LinkedIn page for details on my offerings. Stakeholders in clean transportation, fuels and energy, advanced vehicle technologies, sustainability, and market intelligence, are looking forward to the chaos coming from COVID-19 and social upheaval in many of our cities starting to stabilize. They’re beginning to see signs of a the “new normal” emerging, meaning that consulting and research projects for clients in corporations, government agencies, universities, and the like, are starting to show signs of coming back. I’m putting out the word on my availability to provide services to support your team getting back on track — from a work history and skillset in editorial, market research, and business analysis and consulting.

SpaceX breakthrough and Musk’s reputation:  While rioting and the Minneapolis incident that caused it, and the toll of Covid-19, have been depressing, there was one bright spot over the weekend. On Saturday, SpaceX became the first private company to send humans into space. A day later, the two NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, docked at the International Space Station on board SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. Good news for the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, who also runs Tesla — and can be the center of criticism coming from his fiery personality and management tactics. On the other hand, both companies can benefit from Musk’s presence — such as Tesla seeing its stock price go back up after SpaceX’s success. “Elon Musk is every bit as identified with the creation and ambition of SpaceX as he is with Tesla,” wrote Adam Jonas, an automotive analyst for Morgan Stanley, after the launch. “As such, we believe the success of SpaceX in achieving some of the most sophisticated challenges in science has a direct bearing on public, investor and government perception of his ability to lead and execute.”

Then there’s the dark side. ”Musk is very much more directly involved in the day-to-day management of the company than he is at SpaceX,” said Sam Abuelsamid, an auto analyst for consultancy Guidehouse LLP. “And I think that shows in the execution, which tends to be shoddy and half-assed.”

Nikola gets the backing it needs:  VectoIQ Acquisition announced yesterday that its much-anticipated merger with hydrogen-powered heavy-duty truck maker Nikola Motor has closed, a day after its shareholders voted to approve the transaction.  The deal provides Nikola with more than $700 million in new cash, much of it from a related “PIPE” (private investment in public equity) transaction where investors bought shares of the combined company at a discounted price. One part of Nikola’s appeal has has been offering buyers their choice of big rigs powered by a proprietary high-energy-density battery or a hydrogen fuel cell. Nikola reports that it has over 14,000 pre-order reservations for the trucks, representing more than $10 billion in potential sales.

Subaru takes sustainability award:  Subaru of America, along with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), announced they have been awarded the 2020 Silver Halo Award in the ‘Best Sustainability Initiative’ category by Engage for Good. The automaker and NPCA were recognized for the Don’t Feed the Landfills initiative, an environmentally focused campaign aimed at preserving national parks. Since 2015, Subaru of America has worked with NPCA and the National Park Foundation (NPF) toward a shared goal of reducing landfill waste in America’s national parks. That’s led to achievements such as the pilot parks nearly doubling their recycling and composting capabilities, keeping more than 16 million pounds of waste out of landfills, which is equivalent to the weight of 40,000 grizzly bears.

Sprinter van 25 year anniversary:  The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter commercial van is celebrating its 25 year anniversary. The van built in Germany made its way to the US in 2001 offering a state-of-the art van built for cargo movement in increasingly congested urban markets. As part of the 1998 merger with Daimler, Chrysler began offering the Dodge Sprinter. In 2014, that platform changes with the Ram ProMaster coming from Chrysler and Daimler keeping the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter alive and well in the US and other markets. Today, both manufacturers serve commercial clients like Amazon in its 30,000 unit delivery van fleet. That will be changing in the near future when Amazon adds 100,000 Rivian electric vans.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill 10-year anniversary sends out reminders on safety and avoiding eco-disasters

Two days before the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank. The explosion and subsequent fire on April 20, 2010, caused the sinking of BP’s oil rig, the deaths of 11 workers, injuries to 17 other workers, and the spilling of four million barrels of oil over an 87-day period. The catastrophe in the Guif of Mexico, approximately 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, led to British oil major BP, the Swiss drilling contractor Transocean, and oil field services company Halliburton, struggling to bring the damage under control.

The spill cost BP over $65 billion in criminal penalties, civil claims, and clean-up costs. More than 47,000 people worked on the response effort in the summer of 2010. It became the biggest oil disaster ever in the US. Scientists estimated 184 million gallons were spilled — 18 times the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Tourism was hit hard, along with the prime fishing grounds in Louisiana. For the oil industry, the Deepwater Horizon explosion represented the largest public relations crisis in its history. As the company said in a statement: “The accident and spill forever changed BP.”

What about the environmental and safety impact? Endangering marine wildlife and throwing local ecosystems out of balance came from it. For anyone viewing news coverage of the disaster, oil soaked birds and beaches slick with crude were typical to see.

PAH, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, was found up to eight miles from the Deepwater Horizon and was later found to be causing cardiac arrest in fish. Pockets of methane led to oxygen-starved zones, which caused marine life to smother. Large numbers of fish kills in the area were reported; and utero infections, fetal issues, and late-term pregnancy failures in dolphins. The Audubon Society reported that more than one million birds died as a result of the disaster.

The oil spill’s most lasting effects have been in deep-water zones, wetlands, and in the the population of larger marine animals like turtles, whales, and dolphins with long lifespans, according to Donald Boesch, a professor of marine science at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Boesch was appointed to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling by President Barack Obama. Taking a look at a photo gallery from NPR will show you what it looked like and how the impact is still being felt.

The US is far from enacting fail-safes against a disaster like the Deepwater Horizon happening again; though the Obama administration did enforce rules coming from oversight agencies after the BP disaster. But it’s far from over. An even larger oil spill took place gradually over several years. The US Coast Guard was finally able to contain the Taylor Energy oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico last May that had gone on for more than 14 years. It started in 2004 after Hurricane Ivan triggered an underground mudslide that caused Taylor Energy’s oil platform to topple and sink. The leak is thought to have topped the 2010 BP disaster by more than 241 million gallons, potentially making it one of the largest – and slowest – oil disasters ever recorded.

The Trump administration has been supporting offshore oil drilling. The Department of the Interior will be allowing offshore exploratory drilling in about 90 percent of the outer continental shelf (OCS) acreage, under the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024. The oil and gas sector in the region is expected to open up new opportunities to the market once challenges have been addressed and the program is belatedly approved and enacted.

Two other energy and environmental disasters had their share of impact over the past decade. Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011; and the Volkswagen emissions scandal, also known as Dieselgate, that kicked off in September 2015, eventually overshadowed the Deepwater Horizon oil crisis. While Covid-19 has taken over this year, once its contained and vaccines become common, attention will inevitably go back to climate change, air pollution, and avoiding future energy disasters that bring heavy costs to human, marine, and animal life, the global economy, and clean transportation.

And in other news……….
Speaking of Earth Day, now it’s time for the 50th anniversary on April 22. An anniversary event started on Sunday, April 19 to kick off Earth Week with a virtual stage of high-profile speakers, including public officials, activists, scientists, and performers. Event participants include Al Gore, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Bill Nye (the Science Guy), NRDC president and CEO, and former EPA administrator, Gina McCarthy, and actors such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt. During April 22-24, millions of people around the world are going online for a three-day mobilization to stop the climate emergency.

How will clean car rules be affected by the Covid-19?  Climatewire’s feature (subscription required) doesn’t offer any real surprises. Global auto sales are gone for now, including electric vehicles. Tesla stock is doing alright with its China plant now open and running, and the Model Y coming out soon. Another interesting fact is that zero emission vehicles now make up 10 percent of new vehicle sales in Los Angeles County. Mayor Eric Garcetti wants to see that go up to 30 percent by 2028, by the the summer Olympics come back to the city. Overall, one quote in the article says it all on the state’s ZEV program: “California is aiming for 100 percent electrification of light-duty vehicles and most heavy-duty vehicles,” said Dan Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. “So this current lapse in the market is of great concern.”

Making improvements to EV battery supply chain:  Questions always come up about where electric vehicles are getting their batteries — and the environmental and economic costs of making it happen. UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) and the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) are conducting a stakeholder-led research initiative focused on identifying strategies to improve sustainability and governance across the EV battery supply chain. The massive global EV deployment has been raising concerns over the sustainability of the battery supply chain, from mining impacts to vehicle carbon emissions. CLEE and NRGI have prepared a background brief to address key questions.

Market analyst gives auto industry forecast during crisis:  Trucks.com conducted an interview with Adam Jonas, the transportation industry analyst at Morgan Stanley Research, on the state of the auto industry and transportation since the Covid-19 pandemic became a global crisis. A few of the interesting findings include:

  • The “work from home” mindset that several employers have been attempting to develop for years is starting to work. The duration and global scale is having an impact that could push auto sales down, as private vehicle ownership accounts for an 86 percent market share of commutes to work.
  • A scrappage plan similar to the “cash-for-clunkers” program a decade ago could stimulate auto sales and bring in newer, cleaner and safer vehicles cars and trucks in operation on our roads.
  • Car rental may see a permanent change with air travel being hit heavily, and the likelihood of travel patterns changing going forward.
  • Heavy-duty truck manufacturing looks like it will fall by more than half this year. Low oil and gasoline prices will continue to make trucks and vans more appealing for buyers.
  • Americans are now becoming more dependent on online retailers, digital logistics operations, and e-commerce players such as Amazon, Instacart, and Fresh Direct for food and household goods. It could a massive shift sparking the need for even more regional, local, and last-mile services. Drone delivery may have to be pushed forward, Jonas said.
  • Vehicle maker consolidation will continue, and economic uncertainly will keep the pressure on that trend.
  • Jonas thinks that Tesla’s retailing model will have to be used by more dealers. Leading dealer chain AutoNation has been showing signs of the chaos facing dealers, with 7,000 of its workers laid off this month due to sales dropping 50 percent.

Telling your story on how you got here, Trump admin rolls back clean car standards

For those of us homebound during the Covid-19 outbreak, what’s the best way to avoid cabin fever and bleak news saturation?

A few good ones I’ve heard or experienced have been: catching up on a good TV show like Westworld, finally getting around to using an exercise machine, cooking healthy meals at home, playing board games with co-residents, chatting with friends and family on Zoom, and writing (or attempting to write) the Great American Novel.

And there’s always telling a good story. One of the best work experiences I’ve had in recent years has been asking stakeholders in advanced, clean transportation how they got here in the first place. How did they get so passionate about the subject matter?

That might have happened during a video interview for Automotive Digest; or a phone interview for an article; or during a luncheon at ACT Expo; or by exchanging emails after connecting on LinkedIn; or watching them give a presentation on the vehicle, fuel, or technology they’ve been championing for years; or talking with them during monthly calls of Green Auto Market’s editorial advisory board.

I’ve had a few more good questions to ask them, or that I got asked. These might include:

 

  • What do you really think it will take for clean vehicles to reach 10 percent (or 25 percent, 50 percent, etc.) of US new vehicle sales?
  • What are the most compelling points to make about switching over from gasoline and diesel to electric vehicles; or hybrids; or hydrogen; or natural gas; or propane autogas; or biogas; or renewable fuel?
  • What comes first — the chicken or the egg? The vehicle or the charging/fueling infrastructure? Or, are they equally important?
  • How did you pick this field of endeavor over something more established and safe?

Readers of Green Auto Market have told me quite a few fascinating stories. Their passion for the subject matter and staying informed might have started years ago when they took over fleet acquisitions for a city directed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; or they’ve been obsessed with electric vehicles ever since they made their first do-it-yourself low speed, short range EV from a kit — and years later bought a Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, or Tesla Model S; or they’ve worked for a government agency promoting adoption of alternative fuel vehicles; or they’ve worked in one or more startups breaking into the world of EVs and charging; or for a major automaker setting up a division in EVs, autonomous vehicles, or mobility services; or they just love to read and talk about the latest in cars, fuels, and vehicle tech.

For those of you interested in sharing your stories about getting hooked on clean transportation — and about what you’d like to see happen in the near future — in Green Auto Market, please email at jlesage378@gmail.com. It would be best to include your name and affiliation (employer, organization, area of interest, etc.); or you can remain confidential about your name and affiliation, if need be.

Speaking of which, here’s my story………

I started following the subject matter in the 1990s while serving as an editor at Automotive Fleet. I spent time talking to fleet managers who were testing out vehicle conversions to natural gas and propane autogas; they started receiving funding grants from Air Quality Management Districts in California (and other agencies around the country) to convert vehicles over to compressed natural gas fueling systems and to have a fueling dispenser placed at their base location.

During that time, I might also have been interviewing someone involved in testing out other alternative fuels such as ethanol and methanol. Support for methanol didn’t last very long after engine corrosion became a major concern. I’d also heard about limited test projects being done — electric vehicles (one of them later becoming General Motors’ EV1), a self-driving truck by the military, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that picked up more support from automakers and government agencies by the early 2000s.

For the most part, interest in clean transportation faded away by the second half of the 1990s. Cheap gasoline and diesel prices; attractive fleet incentives for full-size cars, trucks, and vans; and domestic manufacturer truck and van models that could be customized and equipped for utility fleets, construction, and maintenance operations, took away much of the interest in alternative fuel vehicles by the late 1990s.

The turning point for me was in 2007. As I’ve shared with some of you, on Aug. 12 of that year, I was struck with encephalitis — an inflammation of the brain caused by a previous infection activated again. That one had been herpes simplex that started when I was a child with chicken pox. It was reactivated in 2007 primarily by stress; though it was largely unknown at the time, and it wasn’t diagnosed correctly at first. On that day, my heart stopped twice and I had to be revived — or I wouldn’t have lived through it.

I was hospitalized for about two months, with the encephalitis swell blocking my memory (front, left cortex of the brain) for most of that time period. I wasn’t able to return to my office for work until after the first of the year. During that time after getting out of the hospital and staying home, I found myself going on the internet to research and read about subject matter I’d been digging into earlier — such as while attending the Alternative Fuels & Vehicles Conference in Anaheim earlier that year. Topics that grabbed my interest included concern over global warming; cleantech startups being a hot commodity, with capital available for EV startups and solar and wind power companies; and reading about corporate sustainability policies.

My interest transitioned over to fascination during 2008 — from the gasoline and diesel price spike and volatility, and doing features for LCT Magazine on chauffeured transportation fleets starting to try out alternative fuels. During that year, I profiled the Econation startup company— which was bringing in Priuses, hybrid SUVs, and CNG-powered Lincoln Town Cars to its fleet for corporate trips in Los Angeles.

I was blessed with support for my interest and fascination in these cars, fuels, and technologies while working with Automotive Digest and its team (led by Publisher Chuck Parker). Green Automotive Digest started up in 2010, which gave me an excellent channel for meeting and interviewing several stakeholders in the field.

During all of this time period, I became most fascinated with two key themes — clean transportation offering pragmatic solutions; and the absolute necessity of transportation in our economy and lifestyles. I would end up talking about, and writing about, these topics quite a few times — at least as a backstory to a news item or feature I was digging into.

Here’s a question for you to consider. What if you could help clean the air, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, and support technology innovation? Would you consider that intelligent, practical, and inspiring? That’s been a key piece of the formula when a new vehicle technology is introduced to the public. A piece of the press release might state something like: “This fuel will reduce carbon emissions by 1.2 million tons this year compared to diesel fuel.”

As for the role of transportation in our cultural and economic development, I think it’s been as important as power, communications, lighting, medical care, and distributing water. The essential value and role that ground transportation has played in human history for 200 years started with rail, and later with internal combustion engines and crank-up starters, the first electric vehicles, and bringing steam-engines over from trains to cars. With it came the eventual domination of petroleum and serious threats to air quality and sustainability of the world we live in.

I have to admit that I do love fast cars that can guzzle a lot of gasoline — with the 1968 Pontiac GTO being my favorite. That wasn’t the second car in the legendary car chase scene in the 1968 movie Bullitt — that was another of my favorites, the Dodge Charger, taking on the classic Ford Mustang. I believe we have the right to own and retain these cars, but they’re certainly not practical for daily commuting.

I would gladly ride to work in a shared, automated, electric SUV or bus. Why stay stuck in traffic, resenting other drivers and feeling bored and restless when you could be chatting with ridemates, playing a video game, watching something really good on a screen, reading your favorite humor columnist, texting comments to friends and family, and more?

I have appreciated researching and writing about the subject matter for previously mentioned publications. I’ve also appreciated my freelance writing with Autoblog Green, Hybridcars.com, and Oilprice.com. I had some good years conducting market intelligence studies on car rental, business travel, and travel management for Abrams Travel Data Services. I’ve also valued participating in speaker panels at AltCar Expo. I do look forward to what’s next, and expect that Covid-19 will be overcome and we’ll get back the business of green cars, fuels, and technologies.

And in other news:

White House finalizes clean car rules:  Last week, the Trump administration announced its rollback of Obama-era fuel-economy regulations from 2012, which aimed to require automakers to up the average fuel economy in their fleets to 54.5 mpg within the next few years. The administration finalized the second part of the rollback, which is formally known as the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule. The second part of the SAFE rule would require automakers to increase the fuel economy of passenger cars by 1.5 percent each year. That’s far less stringent than the standards set by the Obama administration, which mandated a 5 percent annual increase in fuel economy. But it’s less dramatic than the Trump administration’s original plan, which was to freeze the standards at 2020 levels through model year 2026. Court challenges are expected to be filed once again. President Trump posted tweets similar to comments he’d made last year: ”My proposal to the politically correct Automobile Companies would lower the average price of a car to consumers by more than $3500, while at the same time making the cars substantially safer,” he tweeted. “Engines would run smoother. Positive impact on the environment! Foolish executives!”

Automakers close plants, making ventilators:  Here’s a list of US auto factory shutdowns and scheduled dates of reopening in 14 states across the US. Several of the plants will be opening up again this month, between April 13 to 20. Ford and General Motors announced in late March that they’ll be building thousands of ventilators to fight Covid-19. These are taking place in plants that had been shut down from car production. Tesla is showing a new video posted on the company’s YouTube channel, where its engineers show off two versions of a ventilator, a prototype model with its components laid out across a desk, as well as a packaged model that shows how it might look when used by a hospital. CEO Elon Musk made a commitment to build the ventilators last month after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio asked for the company’s help.

BYD wants to improve EV battery safety:  BYD last week unveiled its Blade Battery, designed to resolve concerns about battery safety in electric vehicles. At an online launch event, Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s chairman and president, said that the Blade Battery reflects BYD’s determination to resolve issues in battery safety while also redefining safety standards for the entire industry. The Blade Battery has been developed by BYD over the past several years. Due to its optimized battery pack structure, the space utilization of the battery pack is increased by over 50 percent compared to conventional lithium iron phosphate block batteries. While undergoing nail penetration tests, the Blade Battery emitted neither smoke nor fire after being penetrated, and its surface temperature only reached 30 C (86 F) to 60 C (140 F). It would be far less susceptible to catching fire – even when they are severely damaged — than other batteries on the market.

China extending EV sales incentives:  China agreed to extend tax breaks and subsidies on electric-vehicle purchases for two years to provide relief for the struggling industry in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The government will keep waiving the 10 percent sales tax on EVs, a benefit that began in 2014 and was due to expire at the end of this year, through 2022, according to a media report. The state council overseeing the program also agreed to prolong subsidies for EV purchases for two years. The sales tax waiver and subsidies apply to battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Emissions drop during pandemic:  The coronavirus pandemic is offering one advantage: shutting down industrial activity and temporarily slashing air pollution levels around the world, satellite imagery from the European Space Agency shows according to Wired. Readings from ESA’s Sentinel-5P satellite show that over the past six weeks, levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over cities and industrial clusters in Asia and Europe were markedly lower than in the same period last year. Nitrogen dioxide produced from car engines, power plants, and other industrial processes, is thought to exacerbate respiratory illnesses such as asthma.
(Editor’s Note: Look for the April issue of Wired to read a special section on climate change, entitled, “We Have One Earth — And The Technology To Save It. Go!”)

The state of automotive and transportation as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds

There are several unknowns shrouding a new virus identified three months ago in China and now seeing fear spread worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported as of March 15, that there have been 153,517 confirmed cases and 5,735 deaths worldwide of COVID-19 — with 81,048 confirmed and 3,204 deaths in China. It crossed a pivotal point over the past week with the WHO declaring on Wednesday that the coronavirus is now officially a global pandemic. That announcement was followed on Friday with President Donald Trump declaring it a national emergency.

What is appearing to become the largest global development in years will continue to remain shrouded in mystery for the unforeseen future. It will take quite a while until the public can rest assured that healthcare professionals can stop the spread and bring a cure — or at least arrest worsening of symptoms — for those infected with the contagious respiratory disease. It’s been causing panic among those crowding supermarkets to purchase bottled water, toilet paper, sanitary wipes, and in the past few days, nutritional basics such as canned soup, pasta, and bread. Governments around the world are placing severe restrictions on travel and public gatherings in attempts to quell panic and spreading of the infection and disease.

The global automotive and transportation sectors are starting the feel the impact first witnessed in China — and now spreading to every continent except for Antartica. The long-term impact is expected to be severe for governments pumping expenditures into testing for the infection, researching the virus in labs, and quarantining people who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 to their homes or to government-run facilities. Automakers and many other corporations are starting to take hits in stock market value, and many companies are expected to take huge financial losses. Some of that will come from revenue and profit loss as more and more events are being canceled if they have attendance of more than 50 people (or even less) — starting with sporting events being postponed and many other announcements such as Louisiana opting to postpone its April primary election; and schools telling students that classrooms will be closed for now and that universities will finish their semesters and quarters with online classes. Businesses around the country also have been shutting down over the past week.

There are many questions that will need to be answered in the weeks and months ahead…… Will people want to travel and take road trips, and will there be too many restrictions in place for it to work? Will their concerns for climate change and air pollution be anywhere near their fear of coronavirus spreading? As the economy is hit hard and job losses potentially get underway, will consumers be able to go check out new cars (including electric vehicles) and slap down their down payments? How will service-based sectors be impacted, such as auto sales and vehicle maintenance, public transit, and ride services, as the public will want less contact with others for fear of contagion? What will the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia — intensified by the coronavirus news — mean long-term?

Here’s an overview of how the coronavirus is beginning to impact the automative and transportation sectors………….

Impact on China car sales:  Retail sales of new vehicles in China, the world’s largest auto market, plunged 80 percent in February, according to the China Passenger Car Association. BYD’s electric vehicle sales dropped 79.5 percent year over year during that month. BAIC BluePark, the EV division of BAIC Group, dropped about 65 percent. Volkswagen’s EV partner JAC saw its sales drop by 63.4 percent. Coronavirus also forced temporary closures of Tesla’s new Shanghai car plant and stores throughout the country.

EV battery supply tightening:   Many automakers are struggling to find adequate supplies of electric vehicle batteries. One of the factors is China being a major global leader in refining cobalt, a major ingredient in lithium batteries. The pandemic is expected to affect cobalt processing plants and EV costs. Prices are expected to be rise for automakers such as from Chinese lithium producer Ganfeng Lithium, which supplies Tesla and Volkswagen; although that cost increase has been by less than 10 percent so far.

What will oil price war mean?:  Saudi Arabia declared a price war on Russia’s oil industry on March 8. Russian President Vladimir Putin had refused to cut back oil production in the face of depressed prices caused by an unprecedented 3.5 million barrels per day fall in demand that was thought to be caused mainly by the coronavirus crisis. The Saudis are now flooding the oil market and unilaterally slashed their own prices enough to drive down prices on Monday, March 9, by 25 percent. That overall trend was being felt over time. Brent oil plunged from $68.44 per barrel on December 30 to $34.36 on March 9. WTI went from $61.68 to $31.13 during that time. Analysts fear a serious negative impact on the US shale industry. Stock analysts assign the oil price plunge as a factor in Tesla’s share prices failing over the past week. Overall, analysts expect that the oil supply will continue increasing. Oilprice.com just reported that “the oil market is heading for the largest ever crude glut in the first half of 2020, which could be two to nearly four times bigger than the biggest surplus recorded so far.”

What about the economy?:  The Federal Reserve decided yesterday to drop its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point to near zero, and promised to boost its bond holdings by at least $700 billion. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told press by phone that the virus’s disruption meant second quarter growth would probably be weak and it was hard to know how long the pain would last. That’s why the Fed is advocating a clear role for fiscal policy to help cushion the blow. Stocks are still way down from recent highs on fears of coronavirus, an oil price war and travel bans, and the automakers have been hit particularly hard as supply-chain problems mount across the globe. The Dow Jones Transportation Average is down 11 percent as a flood of store, restaurant and event closings send shockwaves. Major publicly traded companies in trucking, airlines, auto, freight/logistics, and railroads, are down about 10 percent to 22 percent today.

Musk downplays risk of coronavirus:  Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Friday sent a company-wide email to SpaceX employees stating that evidence he had seen about COVID-19 “suggests that this is *not* within the top 100 health risks in the United States.” They have a higher risk of being killed in a car crash, he said. Days earlier, he’d tweeted that “the coronavirus panic is dumb,” which was liked by about a million of his Twitter followers. President Trump had taken a similar approach not long ago, stating that more people are likely to die from influenza than coronavirus. Trump has had to back off such comments, and has taken a few steps in the opposite direction since then including declaring the national emergency.

First US auto plant employee tests positive:  The first-known employee of a Detroit automaker to be diagnosed with the coronavirus in the US works at a Fiat Chrysler Automobile plant near Indianapolis, which was confirmed on Thursday. The unnamed male employee at the Kokomo Transmission Plant, located about 50 miles north of Indianapolis, was quarantined and received medical care, according to Fiat Chrysler and the United Auto Workers union. An undisclosed number of other people who may have come into direct contact with the person diagnosed with coronavirus also have been quarantined, according to the automaker. Production at the plant continued as normal, but was later idled out of fear spreading among workers.

Air travel hit hard by restrictions:  Major airlines have been particularly hit hard by the global pandemic, with the president’s new travel ban with Europe worsening it. The prospect of losing spring and summer bookings is another part of expected losses. British Airways’ chief Alex Cruz, told 45,000 staff on Friday, for airlines this is already bigger than the SARS epidemic, the aftermath of 9/11, or the 2008 financial crisis.

Delivery services still up and running:  Amazon says its Prime delivery service is experiencing delays, and it’s running out of stock on some household staples due to the coronavirus outbreak, CNBC reported. Food and grocery delivery services such as DoorDash, Postmates, Grubhub, Uber Eats, and Instacart are seeing a lot business. There is currently no evidence that COVID-19 can be transmitted through food or food packaging, according to the CDC and the FDA. A larger concern is possibly transmitting the coronavirus from delivery person to customer, or vice versa, through coughing, vaporized air particles, or other direct contact. Companies are urging drivers and shoppers to take extreme caution.

BYD becomes largest face-mask supplier:  BYD is becoming a major supplier of products that are now in extreme demand — face masks and disinfectants. Its new Shenzhen, China-based plant is able to product five million face masks and 300,000 bottles of disinfectants per day. It’s been done in response to severe shortages at hospitals and agencies across China since the COVID-19 outbreak. It started production on February 9, and now hundreds of employees are working day and night to fulfill orders.

Customers dwindling at dealer showrooms:  Auto dealers are hearing worrisome news such as automakers shuttering plants in Asia and Europe, and schools closing and major events shutting down in the US. Some dealers are reporting dwindling visitors and sales. John Luciano, managing partner with Street Volkswagen in Amarillo, Texas, and chairman of Volkswagen’s national dealer council, says that sales are definitely falling and that conditions are changing a little bit more every day; a sentiment echoed by several other dealers. Cox Automotive, which owns Kelley Blue Book, Autotrader, and Manheim, sees negative U.S. economic growth in the second quarter and has withdrawn its forecast for 16.6 million new-vehicle sales in the US this year. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas would like the Trump administration to consider rolling out another “Cash for Clunkers” program, which was a $3 billion federal program in 2009 that incentivized consumers to swap aging gas-guzzlers for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Editor’s note: The Colorado house of representative just passed a measure that would allow electric vehicle-exclusive manufacturers such as Tesla to sell directly to consumers if the automaker has no franchised dealers in the state. It still has a ways to go to be cleared and become a new law in Colorado.

Trucking feeling the squeeze:  West coast ports are starting to see a decline in cargo ships full of containers enter their ports, with the Port of Seattle seeing a recent decline akin to what usually happens over an entire years. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, collectively the nation’s largest port, is seeing a drop in ships entering the port and cargo containers being unloaded for truck transport. Much of that has been originating in China, where plants have been closed down for several weeks after the coronavirus outbreak became pervasive.

Automaker response to crisis:  Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) have told non-factory employees to work remotely in order to avoid contracting and spreading the coronavirus. Factory workers at plants in the US, however, are being told to remain in place — despite the United Auto Workers union announcing Thursday that a Fiat Chrysler employee at the company’s Kokomo Transmission Plant in Indiana tested positive for COVID-19. Other automakers operating in the US are notifying employees with warnings. Nissan, which operates factories in Tennessee and Mississippi, said that employees who feel symptoms should notify their health care provider and not come to work. In Europe, FCA, Peugeot, Volkswagen, and Audi stopped much of their production plant work today as they grapple with the coronavirus crisis and plunging demand.

South Korea and China recovering, not so for Europe and the US:  South Korea reported more recoveries from the coronavirus than new infections on Friday for the first time since its outbreak emerged in January. It’s raised hopes that Asia’s biggest epidemic outside China may be slowing. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 110 new coronavirus cases on Friday compared with 114 a day earlier, taking the national total to 7,979 on that day. The death toll rose by five to 72 as of late Friday. China has seen a drastic drop in infections — from hundreds of cases per day in February, to less than 50 each day last week. The rate of resumption of work at its factories and provinces is slowly opening up. China had shut down most provinces in a bid to contain the outbreak, and roads, transportation networks as well as factories had been closed. Europe and the US are seeing their numbers continue to go up. Nearly 170 million people were under orders to remain in their homes this weekend as France and Spain joined Italy in placing strict quarantine rules on their entire populations amid alarming rises in coronavirus cases and deaths.

Facts about Coronavirus:   For those wondering about some of the terminology and what’s expected to come next…………

  • It’s now typically being called “novel coronavirus.” Why is that? Simply that it’s a new form of the coronavirus. As for coronavirus, the name covers a family of seven known viruses that can infect people, including the common cold and other respiratory infections.
  • The 2019 novel (new) coronavirus has been named SARS-CoV-2, and the disease it causes is called coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines the symptoms that may appear two-to-14 days after exposure as: fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
  • The CDC recommends that you immediate get medical attention if you have any of these emergency warning signs:
    —Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
    —Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
    —New confusion or inability to arouse
    —Bluish lips or face
  • CDC recommends taking the following steps to protect yourself:
    —Clean your hands often
    —Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
    —You can also use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.
    —Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
    —Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
    —Be particularly careful if COVID-19 is spreading in your community.

While some people dispel vaccine as a solution, there has been a lot of interest in when we’ll be seeing a vaccine available at medical offices, similar to the flu shots our doctors and nurses have been recommending in recent years. However, it won’t be showing up anytime soon for the novel coronavirus.

“A vaccine that you make and start testing in a year is not a vaccine that’s deployable,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last week. The earliest it would be deployable, he said, is “in a year to a year and a half, no matter how fast you go.”