Weekly-ish News - Episode 41 (March 7, 2022)

**During this episode I used the word "OEMs" a lot, that means "Original Equipment Manufacturers", which is a general term we use to refer to the companies who actually manufacture the equipment we're discussing. 

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Vehicles:

Lordstown Motors maintains that it will manage to sell 500 of its Endurance electric trucks this year.

VW has increased the range of its ID4 EV by around 20mi in the long range version for the 2022 model through efficiency increases.

Toyota will offer 1 year of free fast charging at EVGo stations for buyers of their bZ4X electric vehicle, still slated for sale mid-2022.

• The article claims that it's interesting that they chose EVGo stations since there are "only" 800 stations across the country, but I think this is much more a "who can we make this deal with" situation than some clever demographic push.

Kia is offering 1000kWh of free charging at Electrify America stations for EV6 buyers.

• This is something like 3,500mi (5,500km) or so of charging.
• This is equivalent to about $430 worth of charging, since Electrify America charging costs $0.43/kWh.

Fisker has opened reservations for a $29,900 EV we have very little information about yet, for delivery in 2024.

• It'll be called the Pear.
• Reservations are $250.
• Fisker's Ocean EV is slated to begin production in late 2022.

Uber drivers with EVs will be able to get a discounted rate for Wallbox home chargers, but the discount rate is still  unannounced.

All 36 of Tesla's  Supercharging sites in the Netherlands are officially open to all EVs.

Tesla has officially produced its millionth large-format 4680 battery cell, which is a pretty decent milestone for a battery that is apparently difficult to manufacture.

• This is enough batteries to power about 1000 Model Y's.
• Ep. 2, 12, 36 all discuss this battery type in some detail.

Nissan is ending internal combustion engine development everywhere except for in the U.S, because of course.

Nissan is investing $500m in its Canton vehicle plant in Mississippi to produce two new EV models.

The Universal Technical Institute (UTI, seriously), a school in Phoenix, is adding EV training to its Ford training program in partnership with Ford.

• This is part of the Ford Accredited Credential Training program.
• Ford is plug-in hybrid vehicles to each campus to be used for the training program. 

Volvo is also collaborating with Redwood Materials, the battery recycler, on a pilot project.

• This is in addition to Ford working with Redwood Materials (Episode 28).
• The goal is to prove that a circular economy is possible with EV batteries.

The U.S. Department of Energy (through Infrastructure Bill funding) has announced $2.91b in funding for battery manufacturing, research, and recycling.

Deployment:

Rhode Island Public Transit Authority has purchased 14 New Flyer electric buses and chargers for its fleet.

New York City's Transit Authority has ordered 60 New Flyer electric buses, adding to their existing 15 New Flyer electric buses.

New Jersey has ordered 8 New Flyer electric buses with the option to buy up to 75 more over the next 5 years.

Norway's Postal Service has ordered a total of 32 electric and 13 biogas trucks from Volvo to be delivered in 2022.

• *that's how you do it, USPS*
• Norway has some pretty aggressive terrain and climate, so this is a great sign for electrification.

Daimler, NextEra Energy Resources, and BlackRock Renewable Power are forming a $650m joint venture to install EV charging across the U.S. for medium and heavy duty trucking.

• The article says both battery electric and fuel cell vehicles, which is interesting, though hydrogen support will "come later".
• The stations will also be available for light-duty vehicles.
• The first chargers will come in 2023.
• The three companies will be equal partners.

Florida is getting 200 fast chargers made by ADS-TEC Energy, deployed by Smart City Capital.

• These chargers have on-site battery storage and can supply up to 320kW of charging.
• Deployments start in late 2022.
• They intend to roll out such deployments across 13 states, though we don't know which states yet.

Energy:

Duke Energy is considering offering a flat-rate "all* you can charge" program for EV owners in North Carolina.

• It would cost $20/mo.
• In exchange, Duke Energy would get to control your charging to some degree for load-side demand response.
• Duke Energy would provide 12hr notice to customers before stopping the charging, and customers could opt out a limited number of times per month.
• Duke Energy could only halt 4hr of charging, 3 times per month.
• The break-even point for the $20 cost is around 170kWh or 600mi (1000km) of driving.
• Customers charging over 800kWh in a month may be removed from the program.

A blueberry farm in Maine is testing out a solar + agriculture setup for a 4-year research pilot.

• The project is in early days, so we don't know if it's successful or not so far. 

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has begun auctioning offshore areas off the New Jersey and New York coasts for wind generation.

• The area auctioned is large enough to produce upwards of 5GW of offshore wind power.
• Over $1.5b of bids came in for the auction, which is a record apparently.

Legislation is working its way to the Florida state Senate (having passed in the House) to develop a regulatory framework for floating solar installations.

• Floating solar is super cool: