ChargePoint and Tesla lead the way: Charging has always been the “chicken or the egg” dilemma for EV advocates — and now both the vehicles and infrastructure are taking off. The numbers in this table don’t include the entire U.S. market, with other suppliers also serving EV drivers, but it’s a good look at how far all of it has gone and which companies have contributed quite a lot. Special thanks to data-driven analysis and forecast firm EVAdoption for making such valuable information available to all of us. ChargePoint has kept a steady pace deploying significant large installations of charging stations. The company accounts for 42.8% of all US public charging ports and 42.9% of all charging locations, according to EVAdoption. Kudos to Tesla for opening up its Supercharger network to any electric car. Open sourcing has been pushed by Greenlots and other fast-charging advocates, and while Tesla isn’t going down the open-source technology lane, in spirit much of the same will be happening by opening up its fast chargers to other brands.
As for me……
As I’d mentioned about a year ago, I’m working on my master’s degree. I just had the opportunity of attending a weekend course on campus — the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, the oldest J school in the nation; and the best, according to graduate members of the “Mizzou Mafia.” I will be finished in December 2023, and I look forward to teaching college courses in journalism (and related — media and communications being part of it). I’ve also been honored to become a freelance reporter for the Beachcomber News in Long Beach, Calif. I cover the economic trends in the city — companies setting up shop to build aerospace of the future (such as Virgin Galactic and SpaceX), the role Amazon is playing at the port and the city, and creation of a task force to deal with a major social dilemma — absuse of the elderly. But I will continue to put out Green Auto Market; and I am available for expert/consulting time on the business of green vehicles, fuels, and technologies. As I’d done before, I’ll also have a subscriber section and reports on the market data and stratgic issues shaping the future of clean transportation. I’ll get the word on that section in the near future. Any questions, you can always contact me at jlesage378@gmail.com.
And in other news………….
Califiornia Climate Investments: California’s cap-and-trade funds continue being spent on good causes. A California Air Resources Board (CARB) mid-year report said that California Climate Investments implemented over $1 billion from December 2021 through the end of May 2022, bringing the cumulative total to just over $11.4 billion. Of that total, $5.4 billion of all implemented funds have gone to California’s priority populations, which include disadvantaged and low-income communities. Overall, 567,143 California Climate Investments projects are expected to reduce an estimated 78.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in addition to 102 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in expected reductions attributable to the High-Speed Rail project.
BMW’s Plug&Charge feature: From mid-2023, a Plug&Charge function will be available in the first BMW models, enabling customers to charge electricity at public charging points without having to use a charging card or app. It will all happen through a data exchange between the vehicle and the charging station. BMW Charging will also be expanding its charging with this feature provided by Digital Charging Solutions GmbH (DCS). The new functionality allows Plug&Charge access to the IONITY charging network initiated by BMW.
Mercedes and Rivian: Mercedes-Benz Vans and Rivian have initiated a strategic partnership to jointly produce electric vans. A new joint venture company will be established to create a manufacturing plant in Europe that will build large electric vans for both the Mercedes-Benz and Rivian brands. It will be coming from a new EV plant next to an existing M-B plant in Central/Eastern Europe. At least two vans architectures will be built from there — VAN.EA, the electric-only platform used in M-B vans; and a second-generation electric-van, built on the Rivian Light Van platform. Future models will also be explored.
