Bloomberg (November 14)
The language of COP26 “crystallizes the more important reality that’s emerging away from the conference halls in power stations, industrial facilities and government offices around the world. In its modest way, it also helps edge that process along.” Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, electric cars have taken off beyond expectations and renewables are now “undercutting” fossil fuels for power generation: “one reason we’ve seen the likes of Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland and South Korea sign up to end the coal-fired electricity that they’ve been dependent on.”
Tags: 2015, COP26, EVs, Government, Indonesia, Industrial facilities, Paris Agreement, Poland, Power stations, Renewables, South Korea, Vietnam
Houston Chronicle (July 15)
“The $3.5 trillion budget proposed by top Democrats represents the biggest move yet by President Joe Biden to attack climate change, including provisions such as clean energy standards for power grids, fees on methane emissions from oil and gas drilling, and increased incentives for electric cars.” If enacted, the legislation, “would set in motion a historic shift from fossil fuels and deliver a blow to the oil and gas producing regions across Texas, which have powered the nation’s economy for a century.”
Tags: $3.5 trillion, Biden, Clean energy, Climate change, Democrats, Drilling, Emissions, EVs, Fees, Fossil fuels, Gas, Historic, Methane, Oil, Power grids, Shift, Texas
The Economist (January 23)
“Today about a trillion chips are made a year, or 128 for every person on the planet.” With uses burgeoning in applications from EVs to AI, “demand will soar further,” especially as IoT connects machines and other things. In contrast, the industry is experiencing profound consolidation. As chip generations become more challenging and costly, “the number of manufacturers at the industry’s cutting-edge has fallen from over 25 in 2000 to three.” The “grueling 60-year struggle for supremacy is nearing its end.”
Tags: AI, Applications, Burgeoning, Challenging, Chips, Consolidation, Costly, Cutting edge, Demand, EVs, Generations, Grueling, IoT, Manufacturers, Struggle, Supremacy
Investment Week (September 14)
The “Next Generation EU” deal provides ESG investors with much to watch. The €550bn “centerpiece of the stimulus” focuses on fighting climate change through “expenditures earmarked for promoting energy efficiency and developing renewable energy resources, emission-free vehicles, and sustainable transport, alongside other measures of environmental protection designed to help meet Europe’s 2050 climate neutrality pledge.”
Tags: 2050, Climate change, Climate neutrality, Efficiency, ESG, EVs, Investors, Next Generation EU, Renewable energy, Stimulus, Transport
MarketWatch (March 8)
“Car makers are facing a perfect storm of trade tariffs, slumping demand in the crucial Chinese market, and a backlash against diesel, which are together having a seismic effect on businesses. A shift toward electric and autonomous vehicles has not helped. They require vast investment and a different way of thinking.” Instead of the usual “corporate grins” at the Geneva Motor Show, there is “a collective grimace.”
Tags: Backlash, Car makers, China, Diesel, EVs, Geneva Motor Show, Grimace, Investment, Perfect storm, Slumping demand, Trade tariffs
MarketWatch (November 27)
The plan to close plants and slash workforce “is good for GM—and it could shake up things at Tesla and Ford too.” Despite coming under political fire, GM’s “newly announced cost-cutting plan has drawn praise on Wall Street, with analysts applauding the car maker for sharpening its focus on higher-growth areas such as driverless and electric vehicles and forestalling a slowdown in its business.”
Tags: Analysts, Cost cutting, Driverless, EVs, Ford, GM, Plants, Slowdown, Tesla, Wall Street, Workforce
The Drive (May 20)
Germany “is turning its back on traditionally powered cars and looking towards electric for its future. Data provided by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority…shows a surprisingly sharp upwards trend in EV purchases compared to 2017.” The data also shows diesel sales are “withering” and reveals an unexpected surprise: “Kia’s Soul EV topped the charts by selling 721 units in April, followed by the BMW i3 with 491 cars.”
Automotive News (April 16)
“With multiple electric vehicles coming, buyers need a strong charging network to alleviate range anxiety” and so Porsche now “plans to have at least 500 fast chargers available at dealership and highway locations across the U.S. by the end of 2019.” Porsche expects to have one electric vehicle (EV) on sale by that time and another “is planned for deliveries in 2020.” In addition, the car maker is considering “EV variants of established models such as the Macan, Panamera and Cayenne.”
Tags: Cayenne, Charging network, Dealerships, EVs, Macan, Panamera, Porsche, Range anxiety, U.S.
The Economist (April 7)
“America’s leading manufacturer of electric vehicles is under pressure. Mr Musk is fighting battles on many fronts and they all exacerbate his main threat: a financial squeeze that could eventually push Tesla over the edge…. Rising interest rates, a wobbly share price and a continued inability to meet its own production goals would all conspire to make it harder for the firm to find capital. It does not help that General Motors, Volkswagen and other big rivals are making massive investments in EVs.”
Tags: Capital, EVs, GM, Interest rates, Manufacturer, Musk, Production goals, Share price, Tesla, U.S., Volkswagen
Wall Street Journal (March 18)
“The batteries that power our modern world—from phones to drones to electric cars—will soon experience something not heard of in years: Their capacity to store electricity will jump by double-digit percentages, according to researchers, developers and manufacturers.”
Tags: Batteries, Capacity, Drones, Electricity, EVs, Manufacturers, Phones, Power
