On the precipice of an all-out trade war with the European Union, China is panicking and dangling perks for German carmakers to try to bring things back from the brink.
The world’s second-biggest economy proposed lowering its existing 15% tariff on imported large engine vehicles from EU countries in an effort to convince Germany to get the EU to scrap tariffs announced last week of up to 38.1% on Chinese EVs, Bloombergreported, citing people familiar with the discussions.
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reportedly proposed the agreement in a meeting with German counterpart Robert Habeck in Beijing over the weekend, according to one of the people cited by Bloomberg. It’s unclear whether the incentive, which would greatly benefit German automakers, will change the EU’s position, but it could convince Germany to use its leverage as the bloc’s biggest economy to possibly change the terms before the tariffs are set to take effect on July 4.
China’s incentive approach is a stark contrast from its knee-jerk reaction following the announcement of the EU tariffs last week. After the EU voted to impose tariffs of up to 38.1% on Chinese-made cars produced by some of the country’s biggest automakers, China announced an anti-dumping probe on pork imports from the EU. More than half of all pork imports to China, the world’s largest pork consumer, came from the EU last year, according to Chinese customs data. China has also threatened to raise tariffs on large engine vehicles to as high as 25%, which would directly affect German carmakers.
Whether with incentives or threats, China is desperate to scrap the EU tariffs. From January to April, 37% of Chinese EVs were exported to EU member states. Chinese automakers are already facing 102.5% tariffs instituted by President Joe Biden last month and Canada said Monday it was considering levying its own tariffs on Chinese EVs as well.
The incentive of lowering tariffs on vehicles imported to China is also tempting for German automakers. Sales to China made up about one-third of all German car sales last year, but once-dominant German carmakers are increasingly facing pressure from cutthroat Chinese car companies.
Last year Volkswagenwas replaced as the top-selling car brand in China by domestic player BYD. For cars above $34,500, German brands’ market share fell to an estimated 45% in 2023, compared to 60% in 2020, the Wall Street Journalreported, citing data from Bernstein.
Lower tariffs could help provide a boost to German automakers battling against competitive Chinese players. The German Association of the Automotive Industry has already come out with a statement to make it clear the new tariffs could do more harm than good.
“The potential damage that could be caused by the measures now announced may be greater than the potential benefits for the European - and in particular the German - automotive industry,” the association said in a statement.
Despite the harsh rhetoric between the EU and China, there may still be hope the two can avoid an all out trade war. Brussels and Beijing will begin talks over the EV tariffs this week, according to a statement from China’s Commerce Ministry.
In the meeting over the weekend with Germany’s Habeck, China Commerce Minister Wang said China was open to negotiations but also warned that it was not afraid to retaliate.
"If the EU is sincere, China hopes to start negotiations as soon as possible; if the EU insists on its own way, China will take all necessary actions to defend its own interests,” Wang said, according to Chinese state media.
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June 26, 2024 at 05:03AM
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China goes into panic mode over EU tariffs on electric cars, offers perks for German carmakers if they drop restrictions - Yahoo Finance
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mivo.indah.link Everrati is removing old petrol engines and mechanical drivetrains and replacing them with batteries
A company is converting classic Land Rovers and Porsches to electric power to make more sustainable vehicles.
Older cars increasingly cannot drive in city centre low-emission zones, but Everrati, based in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, is removing petrol engines and mechanical drivetrains built more than half a century ago and replacing them with batteries.
"Creating a brand new car uses up to 20 tonnes of CO2," founder and chief executive Justin Lunny told me.
"A car made 60 years ago is hugely sustainable," he added.
One in six new cars is now powered by batteries.
Everrati's latest prototype is a 1964 Mercedes Pagoda, an iconic two-seat sports car of the type once owned by John Lennon, John Travolta and, more recently, Harry Styles.
The car has been developed in a discreet workshop out of sight on a former US Air Force base.
Justin Linny admits the process is "very expensive" but "will hopefully last a lifetime"
Each car is built to order and does not come cheap. A good Pagoda sells for about £200,000 at classic car auctions. A customer pays Everrati about £330,000 to replace the engine with a battery, and restore every part of the vehicle to as-new showroom condition.
Everrati built its first car three years ago. It has 20 on the road, and 12 more are being built in Oxfordshire and at a site in California.
"It's not for everybody," Mr Lunny admitted. "It's very expensive. But we're creating something that will hopefully last a lifetime.
"We have people creating these with - and for - their children, because they want that legacy."
Chief engineer Tony Fong demonstrated the controls on the Mercedes Pagoda for our reporter
He is now building six Land Rovers for a client in Dubai. Another is in the Hamptons outside New York.
"Buyers are usually wealthy people who love the idea of something that is now fully sustainable and reusable," he explained.
"It's the ultimate upcycling."
Chief engineer Tony Fong demonstrated the controls on the Pagoda for me.
"The gearstick has been modified," he said.
"Pull towards you for drive, push away for reverse. The gauge for the fuel tank now shows battery capacity. When this was built there were no hazard lights. We are engineering those in."
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What is it like to drive? On the former airfield's perimeter road, it is much noisier than newer electric cars. It is a work in progress, full of quirky character.
I've driven a lot of classic cars, and this feels very different.
Because it is battery-powered, it has more performance now than when the original petrol car was built. It has a smaller range than a modern mass-produced car, and it charges more slowly too.
There are no seatbelts, no airbags or traction control. But it will be fitted with air conditioning to suit today's clients. Such luxury was not available 60 years ago.
The car is no motorway mile-muncher. It is more likely to be seen in Instagram poses outside fashionable restaurants or summer parties than on a touring holiday.
With a total price tag above £500,000, this is a niche market. Most will be sold in North America and the Middle East.
Mr Lunny believes he could build 100 cars a year with his 20 staff. Beyond that, the ambition is to sell his bespoke battery and drivetrain technology to other carmakers.
Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk.
As it turns out, these AI search results require around ten times the energy to power them as a traditional Google search. According to research firm Digiconomist, adding AI-generated answers to all Google searches could approach the energy usage of the entire country of Ireland. Each search requires three watt-hours of electricity, which doesn’t sound like much at first glance. That’s more or less the same electricity used by an LED lightbulb in your home, if you left it on for an hour.
The problem arrives when you consider just how many Google searches are run in a day. According to Statista, Google averaged 8.5 billion searches per day in 2023, or 98,379 searches per second. If each AI-generated search requires 3 watt-hours of electricity, that’s a usage rate of 295,138.88 watt-hours, or 295.14 kilowatt-hours. The average electric vehicle sold in 2023 had a 40 kilowatt-hour battery onboard, meaning the electricity used by AI search for a single second could have been used to power about seven and a half average electric cars.
If your brain wants a bigger number, that’s 442.7 EV charges per minute, 26,562.5 EV charges per hour, or 637,500 EV charges per day. And, it is worth mentioning, these numbers only account for Google’s electricity use related to AI-generated search results. AI and Large Language Models are energy intensive and have been used for assloads of dumb fucking shit so far this decade.
Thank god we’re all turning down our air conditioning, biking or walking instead of driving, and buying high-efficiency appliances so our energy use is low enough that Google’s awful search robots can use it instead.
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Google AI Uses Enough Electricity In 1 Second To Charge 7 Electric Cars - Jalopnik
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Michigan’s first electric school buses had a bumpy start. What went wrong? - MLive.com
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As demand for electric vehicles grows across Australia, so does the need for those motorists to find somewhere to charge up their cars. But with limited bays for charging, EV owners are quick to express their frustration when a vehicle uses the sought-after space for other purposes.
EV owner Kim told Yahoo News Australia he was in Parramatta in Sydney’s west on Monday when he spotted two out of three vehicles doing the wrong thing at a row of charging bays – with one disgruntled Aussie going as far as to put notes on the two cars.
“Don’t park here unless you are charging your car,” exclaimed one written message on an EV parked in a bay but not charging. The second note, spotted on a petrol car, known as ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) vehicles, which was also parked in a charging bay.
Despite being plugged in, the electric vehicle was not charging, prompting a passerby to write a note on the car. Source: Facebook
Motorists caught out in 'lazy' move
Kim said "parking was not an issue" with ample space elsewhere, telling Yahoo News Australia, “My view is that those two drivers are just lazy with no regard for the venue and their fellow drivers. I often park there and it's a regular occurrence.”
While unsure who wrote the notes, Kim argues the solution to the problem is “a change in behaviours” from motorists. “Do the right thing,” he told Yahoo. “Support our fellow drivers and venues regardless of your stance on EVs.
“It's that simple. There's simply no need to park in a spot that's not designated for ICE or a non-charging EV unless the sign says otherwise."
What is good EV charging station etiquette?
According to guidelines set out by NRMA, “camping” at a charging station, like the electric vehicle has allegedly done, is frowned upon.
“At the top of any list of lapses in EV charging etiquette would have to be drivers who leave their EV unattended on charge for longer than they need to,” the NRMA website states.
“This is sometimes referred to as ‘camping’ and is a source of great frustration for other EV drivers waiting to use the charger."
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Angry note at charging bay highlights 'lazy' electric car gripe - Yahoo News Australia
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Hyundai will introduce its new affordable EV, the Casper Electric, next week. In Europe, it will be called the Inster EV as Hyundai looks to meet the growing demand for low-cost EVs. Ahead of its official debut, Hyundai is giving us a closer look at the model in its latest video. Check it out below.
Hyundai teased the Casper Electric for the first time last week in Korea, calling it the “new standard for popularizing electric vehicles.”
Based on the gas-powered Casper sold in Korea, Hyundai’s new EV features the brand’s new design theme. Elements like Hyundai’s signature DRL headlights and pixelated turn signals give it a futuristic feel, similar to Hyundai’s IONIQ models.
The Casper Electric features up to 315 km (196 miles) driving range in Korea. In Europe, it will get up to 355 km (221 miles) WLTP range.
Hyundai teased the Casper Electric as the Inster EV for Europe for the first time last week. According to Hyundai, the Inster will “set new standards” in range, tech, and safety.
Although official prices have yet to be revealed, the EV is expected to start at under $27,000 (25,000 euro) in Europe. In Korea, the gas model starts at around $15,000.
Hyundai INSTER EV teaser image (Source: Hyundai Motor)
Hyundai teases affordable Casper Electric in new video
Hyundai Europe CEO Michael Cole confirmed that the Inster EV will roll out in Europe, followed by another IONIQ model that will be revealed later this year.
Ahead of its official debut at the Busan International Mobility Show on June 27, Hyundai is giving us a closer look at what to expect in its latest teaser video.
Hyundai Casper Electric teaser video (Source: Hyundai)
The vehicle’s outline is much clearer than before, revealing much of the body. As you can see, it looks very much like the gas-powered Casper, updated for the electric era.
You can also see the updated headlights, taillights, and pixelated turn signals, which are on par with Hyundai’s new design theme.
Check back for more, as Hyundai’s new affordable EV will make its official debut next week.
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June 22, 2024 at 01:57AM
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Hyundai previews the Casper Electric, its new affordable EV [Video] - Electrek.co
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The electric grid and the utilities managing it have an important role to play in the next industrial revolution that’s being driven by AI and accelerated computing, said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), an association of U.S. and international utilities.
“The future of digital intelligence is quite bright, and so the future of the energy sector is bright, too,” said Huang in a conversation before an audience of more than a thousand utility and energy industry executives.
Like other companies, utilities will apply AI to increase employee productivity, but “the greatest impact and return is in applying AI in the delivery of energy over the grid,” said Huang, in conversation with Pedro Pizarro, the chair of EEI and president and CEO of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities.
For example, Huang described how grids will use AI-powered smart meters to let customers sell their excess electricity to neighbors.
“You will connect resources and users, just like Google, so your power grid becomes a smart network with a digital layer like an app store for energy,” he said.
“My sense is, like previous industrial revolutions, [AI] will drive productivity to levels that we’ve never seen,” he added.
A video of the talk will be available here soon.
AI Lights Up Electric Grids
Today, electric grids are mainly one-way systems that link a few big power plants to many users. They’ll increasingly become two-way, flexible and distributed networks with solar and wind farms connecting homes and buildings that sport solar panels, batteries and electric vehicle chargers.
It’s a big job that requires autonomous control systems that process and analyze in real time a massive amount of data — work well suited to AI and accelerated computing.
AI is being applied to use cases across electric grids, thanks to a wide ecosystem of companies using NVIDIA’s technologies.
In a recent GTC session, utility vendor Hubbell and startup Utilidata, a member of the NVIDIA Inception program, described a new generation of smart meters using the NVIDIA Jetson platform that utilities will deploy to process and analyze real-time grid data using AI models at the edge. Deloitte announced today its support for the effort.
Siemens Energy detailed in a separate GTC session its work with AI and NVIDIA Omniverse creating digital twins of transformers in substations to improve predictive maintenance, boosting grid resilience. And a video reports on how Siemens Gamesa used Omniverse and accelerated computing to optimize turbine placements for a large wind farm.
“Deploying AI and advanced computing technologies developed by NVIDIA enables faster and better grid modernization and we, in turn, can deliver for our customers,” said Maria Pope, CEO of Portland General Electric in Oregon.
NVIDIA Delivers 45,000x Gain in Energy Efficiency
The advances come as NVIDIA drives down the costs and energy needed to deploy AI.
Over the last eight years, NVIDIA increased energy efficiency of running AI inference on state-of-the-art large language models a whopping 45,000x, Huang said in his recent keynote at COMPUTEX.
NVIDIA Blackwell architecture GPUs will provide 20x greater energy efficiency than CPUs for AI and high-performance computing. If all CPU servers for these jobs transitioned to GPUs, users would save 37 terawatt-hours a year, the equivalent of 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and the electricity use of 5 million homes.
That’s why NVIDIA-powered systems swept the top six spots and took seven of the top 10 in the latest ranking of the Green500, a list of the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputers.
In addition, a recent report calls for governments to accelerate adoption of AI as a significant new tool to drive energy efficiency across many industries. It cited examples of utilities adopting AI to make the electric grid more efficient.
Learn more about how utilities are deploying AI and accelerated computing to improve operations, saving cost and energy.
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Light Bulb Moment: NVIDIA CEO Sees Bright Future for AI-Powered Electric Grid - NVIDIA Blog
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EU electric car sales drop in May as German demand slumps, industry says - Reuters
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EU electric car sales drop in May as German demand slumps, industry says - Reuters
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TAMPA — They came from homes where air conditioners sat silent, relief from the heat a luxury they can no longer afford. They came between shifts — cleaning houses, installing floors, pouring drinks — earning wages that no longer stretch as far as they need. They came exasperated, after shelling out for solar panels only to still feel the pinch of energy costs.
For hours in three different counties last week, Tampa Bay residents implored state utility regulators to say no to higher rates in their electric bills. These local, in-person hearings are so rare they haven’t happened for Duke Energy and Tampa Electric customers in more than a decade. Additional virtual hearings wrapped up Tuesday.
The Public Service Commission meetings offered a raw glimpse into a region where an affordable housing crisis, inflation and high electric costs collide. Dozens of residents told a governor-appointed commission how their families’ finances teetered. Higher electric bills, some warned, would mean skipping meals. One less birthday gift for their kids. More anxiety around insulin that must be kept cold.
Both Duke Energy and Tampa Electric Co. are seeking higher base rates — a major component of electric bills. The companies say the hikes, which would start next year, are needed to cover the costs of running their businesses, including adding more solar capacity. Together, the requests stand to impact more than 2.5 million Floridians.
Last year, the average Tampa Electric bill was the third highest in the nation compared to other utilities with more than 100,000 customers, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of federal data. The average bill for Duke Energy customers in Florida ranked fifth.
Both utilities are also seeking rates of profit that are higher than the national average. Lawyers for the Office of Public Counsel, which represents utility customers, called these potential margins “excessive” and “not reasonable.” The requested shareholder profit rates are also higher than what Duke Energy receives in other states, and higher than what another utility owned by Tampa Electric’s parent company receives in Canada, according to lawyers representing groups that oppose the hikes.
The Florida Public Service Commission listens to Jean Nagle, a housecleaner from Pinellas Park, during a hearing for Duke Energy Florida customers to weigh in on the utility's request to raise base rates on June 12 in Largo. [ LUIS SANTANA | Times ]
Marjorie Guevara, 29, brought a chemistry textbook to a hearing so she could cram in some studying while she waited her turn to address the commission. She finds minutes when she can, trying to prepare for the Medical College Admission Test between her two jobs that help support her working parents in Tampa.
She keeps pushing her test date back.
“I want to apply to medical school and the reason that I haven’t been able to is because I’m helping my parents pay their electric bill right now. I’m helping my parents pay their mortgage,” she told the commissioners. “We don’t deserve this as a community.”
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At the Largo hearing, retired nurse Cindy Scheuermann listened to her neighbors rail against their Duke bills, feeling confused. She received a notice in her bill about the hearing, the first she’d heard of the Florida Public Service Commission.
Who were these five commissioners, and why were they qualified to impact the budgets of her entire neighborhood? After being told the commission couldn’t answer questions during the meeting, Scheuermann left — thinking about ways she might have to cut costs. Her thermostat is already set to 82. Dropping her property insurance could be next.
Despite its role determining how high electric rates should go, the utility commission remains obscure to most Floridians. (One meeting attendee thought he was addressing the Tampa City Council.) Rate cases are typically decided in Tallahassee by the commission, after the utilities and others file a mountain of paperwork filled with legal and technical jargon.
Duke Energy is asking for about $820 million more from its customers, while Tampa Electric is seeking a $468 million increase. Both would take place over the next three years. That means a residential Duke customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours would pay over $230 more per year when the hikes take full effect, according to a commission handout. Tampa Electric bills would rise more than $340.
Cindy Scheuermann, a retired nurse, tries to ask questions of the Florida Public Service Commission during a public hearing for Duke Energy Florida customers on June 12 in Largo. [ LUIS SANTANA | Times ]
Ana Gibbs, a spokesperson for Duke, said that even with the request to raise the base rates of the bills of its customers, the company expects overall bills to decrease next year. That’s because previously approved charges for things like storm recovery will expire.
“(Duke) works hard to provide the best possible price for our customers,” Gibbs said in an email. “These steps include delivering a diverse fuel mix, including solar for power generation, and managing fuel and generation resources in the most cost-effective manner for our customers.”
Cherie Jacobs, a spokesperson for Tampa Electric, said the company is ready to help customers who qualify for financial assistance.
“We know that for some of our customers, even a small change in their electric bills can be a hardship,” she said. “We work with our customers to provide payment arrangements, and we have more free programs to help them save energy than any other Florida utility. … The rates we are proposing will support long-term affordability, make our system more resilient and reliable, and ensure we meet the demands of our rapidly growing population.”
As the price of natural gas falls worldwide, both Duke and Tampa Electric have passed those savings on to customers. The companies are prohibited from profiting off the fuel, which they burn in power plants to create electricity. That’s brought some relief from historic highs a few years ago, when cost of the fuel spiked to historic levels.
Zayne Smith, director of advocacy for AARP, a nonprofit that serves Americans 50 and older and opposes the rate hikes, said the complexity of these cases leaves consumers at a disadvantage. The group has worked to educate people about how they could be impacted — and more than 15,000 have signed its petitions asking the commission to reject the companies’ requests.
As for the utilities’ arguments, there’s no guarantee fuel costs will stay low in this “volatile market,” Smith said.
And while some Duke charges will expire, both Duke and Tampa Electric are seeking increases in the minimum fees that customers pay regardless of how much energy they use. Smith said those hikes will mean Duke customers would pay a few dollars more each month over the next three years to reach about $45, while Tampa Electric customers would see their monthly minimum fees go to about $33 next year.
“If you’re trying to keep your bill below a certain number, you can reduce power in your home or get more efficient appliances,” she said. “When there’s a fixed customer charge, you can’t battle that.”
Florida Public Service Commission staff hand out information to members of the community who sign up to speak at a customer service hearing at Hillsborough Community College on June 13 in Tampa. [ DYLAN TOWNSEND | Times ]
Diverse voices in agreement
Across spectrums of politics, incomes and housing types, the residents who spoke at the seven hearings were bound by common fears — and anger at what they saw as corporate greed.
Maria Miranda, who works at a plant nursery in Apopka, said in Spanish that she worries whether her $400 weekly wages could cover higher bills. Stephen Kauffman, a Lutheran pastor in Tampa, said his faith compelled him to speak for lower-income people. He attended a small protest before one of the hearings, holding a white sign that matched his clerical collar. David Harbeitner, a St. Petersburg investment adviser, rattled off financial figures to the commission showing why he believes Duke’s profits are too high.
Many were involved in local groups supporting seniors, labor rights or environmental causes.
Lutheran pastor Stephen Kauffman, center in the front row, listens as Walter L. Smith II, right, speaks during a rally at Hillsborough Community College before a Florida Public Service Commission hearing for Tampa Electric customers on June 13. [ DYLAN TOWNSEND | Times ]
In the Citrus County fairgrounds auditorium in Inverness, a nervous 16-year-old stepped to the microphone sporting an environmental advocacy Sierra Club T-shirt. When deciding Duke Energy’s future, Noa Adera wanted commissioners to remember the company’s power plant in Crystal River, where she attended school. It still burns coal.
“If we keep doing things that will negatively affect our environment, there won’t be anything left to protect it,” she said. Many residents asked the commission to force the utilities to transition to solar energy faster to mitigate climate change and save them money long term.
Almost everyone who spoke at the hearings opposed the rate hikes, though there were a few exceptions. One was William Davis of Plant City, who said he’d been “a TECO customer my entire adult life” and believed their “quality of service is excellent.”
Then an opposing lawyer had a question.
“Are you currently employed as the manager of ethics and compliance for TECO?” asked Bradley Marshall.
“I am not,” Davis replied. “I retired in January of ‘23.”
Duke Energy customers attend a public meeting hosted by the Florida Public Service Commission to weigh in on the utility's request to raise base rates starting next year on June 12 in Largo. [ LUIS SANTANA | Times ]
The Public Service Commission is expected to make final decisions in the Duke and Tampa Electric cases late this year, when it will issue a written final order in both cases.
Arlene Washington may not stick around that long. Even with her Section 8 housing voucher, the costs of her Tampa senior living apartment are more than she can bear. The 79-year-old doesn’t use her air conditioning at all, making sleep difficult. Still, Washington said her bill has gone up the past two years.
She retired to Florida after a career of working with special-needs students in Massachusetts. She’s planning to move to a cheaper state.
“I had to save a couple years to get here,” Washington said, “and then I get here, and I’m disappointed.”
Times staff writer Teghan Simonton contributed to this report.
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Across Florida, residents fear impact of higher Duke, Tampa Electric rates - Tampa Bay Times
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Fisker, a US electric vehicle startup, said Tuesday it had filed for bankruptcy.
The company had already warned it was in trouble. When it published quarterly earnings in February, it said it might not have enough money to survive another year. Fisker added then that it was in discussions with an existing investor about possibly putting more money into the company.
On Tuesday, a Fisker spokesperson said in a statement: “Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently.”
While growth in global EV sales is slowing, Fisker has also grappled with its own problems.
Its sole product is the Fisker Ocean electric SUV. Last year, around 10,000 of the SUVs were made but only about half had been delivered to customers, the company said in its earnings report in February.
The Ocean was also the subject of a review that month by American YouTuber Marques Brownlee titled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”
“Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description. The video, which sent Fisker’s stock plunging after its release, has racked up 5.7 million views so far.
In a recent interview with Automotive News, the company’s founder and CEO Henrik Fisker admitted that the Ocean had quality problems. He blamed the issues on software from different suppliers that worked poorly together and said they were being addressed through updates.
Besides its own troubles, Fisker has had to deal with a jump in competition from established automakers since the company was established in 2016. Now, besides Tesla, heavyweights like Hyundai, Kia, Ford and General Motors offer electric SUVs that are similar to the Ocean but without the risks of dealing with an unknown startup. And China’s BYD has soared to challenge Tesla as the global market leader in EVs.
Still, Fisker’s bankruptcy is another sign of the broader headwinds and speed bumps facing the burgeoning EV industry. Worldwide sales of plug-in vehicles could rise 21% this year, according to recent forecasts by the International Energy Agency. While significant, that’s a smaller rise than the 35% increase in 2023.
In the United States and Europe, one barrier to faster adoption of electric cars is their higher average price compared with new conventional cars. Another is a lack of public charging infrastructure.
Fisker filed for bankruptcy Monday, choosing the common Chapter 11 route, which allows companies to try to resolve their financial problems through reorganization. The startup said Tuesday that it was in “advanced discussions with financial stakeholders” about the sale of its assets.
Fisker had also previously said it was in rescue talks with a major established automaker but that those talks had fallen apart without a deal.
If you haven't noticed, there's a lot of fear, uncertainty, and doubt being thrown about when it comes to the adoption of electric vehicles. It’s gaining a disturbing amount of traction, despite EV sales booming pretty much across the board. Some of these fears are well-founded. Others... less so. But as America races toward another record-hot summer, more than a few critics worry that a rise in electric cars will further strain an already taxed and outdated electric grid. So how true is that, really?
Welcome to part two in our ongoing series, EV Myths Discharged, in which we run head-on at some bit of anti-EV rhetoric we've seen spreading around in the news and on social media. This month's topic is the belief that a rise in EV adoption will inevitably destroy the electrical grid that's been precariously woven across our nation like a web spun by an overly caffeinated spider. The belief is that the increased EV ownership will result in more demand than our nation's tired, aging networks can supply, particularly during times of peak demand in the summer.
Hyundai Ioniq 6 at an Electrify America fast charging station
It's easy to see where this belief could come from, with stories every year about grids struggling under increased loads whenever temperatures spike for extended periods. Adding more EVs to the streets will just make these summer-month issues even worse, right?
The truth, as it turns out, is quite different. Not only do EVs stand poised to help solve this problem, but there's also the potential that EV owners could profit from increased grid demand.
Local Needs, Global Trends
Before we dig in, I want to clarify that it's virtually impossible to do a comprehensive look at every trend impacting every grid across North America. "Similar to how all politics is local, all grid capacity is local," Chanel Parson told me. She's the Director of Clean Energy and Demand Response at Southern California Edison, the utility covering much of southern California.
When ensuring the reliability of the grid, a significant portion comes down to demand forecasting, a hugely complicated science of predicting who needs how much juice and when, while factoring in wildcards like temperature swings and extreme weather.
2023 Kia EV6 GT at Electrify America station
This is hugely variable, but to try and give a broad spectrum, I chose two states on opposite coasts: California and New York. Both, states have very different climates but are burdened with aggressive goals related to reduced carbon emissions.
So, the data and perspectives you'll read here are largely focused on these two areas, but the trends certainly apply across the rest of the country.
Increasing Demand
Regardless of where you live, there's no doubt that an increase in the use of electric vehicles will place significantly more demand on the grid. However, you might be surprised to learn that the EVs showing up on your local dealers' lots are less of a concern than other trends around electric use.
Data centers are an increasing challenge for grids to deal with, and in New York State, at least, an influx of semiconductor chip fabricators is likewise spiking demand. A single proposed facility in Clay, New York, would consume 480 megawatts of power, or enough for 400,000 homes. Across the country, you also have other novel electricity demand issues caused by things like the growth of commercial and residential areas, cryptocurrency mining, increased air conditioner use as temperatures get hotter, and so on.
Photo: Lerone Peters/Unsplash
Transportation is indeed a major source of increased demand, but light-duty vehicles— the kinds that you or I drive for work or play—are a relatively small piece of the puzzle.
"Your everyday light-duty passenger vehicle has very minimal impact on the grid and grid capacity," Parson said. "Where we're really seeing the large demand come, and we're welcoming it, is the medium-duty, heavy-duty vehicle charging depots, and that is where we're seeing requests for 10, 15, 20 megawatts of power in one spot."
In other words, your next EV is a drop in the bucket compared to plans for emissions-free trucking and hauling. To recharge those giant trucks, we’ll need far more electricity than your garden variety Ioniq 5 is going to use, even on a road trip.
It’s also worth noting that this isn’t even a summer-specific problem. A dramatic increase in the use of electric heating will put significant new demands on the grids during winter.
Heat pumps are highly efficient in a wide range of temperatures but struggle when temperatures drop well below freezing, switching to inefficient resistive heating. That's not an issue in much of California. However, in New York State, it's a significant concern.
But as any EV owner in a cold climate will tell you, heat pumps aren't the only thing losing efficiency in the cold. All EVs struggle to some degree in frigid conditions, delivering less driving efficiency while wasting more energy keeping the occupants warm. That likewise means more demand.
The net result? Our demand curves are about to change in a big way.
Shifting Curves
What's the number one reason why you shouldn't worry about the summer grid demand in an EV-filled future? Because in the future, grids will actually see peak demand in the winter. Check out this chart put together by the NY Independent System Operator's 2023-2032 Comprehensive Reliability Plan:
Credit: NYISO
That shift in demand means that the historic summer spikes will be far outclassed by newfound winter needs. More heat pumps plus lowered efficiency from EVs will mean every grid operator in a cold climate will be wishing they could burn their old forecasts for heat.
Even California, with an average January temperature of 43 degrees Fahrenheit compared to New York's 20, will see this shift.
"Even though it doesn't get as cold in California as in New York, we still turn our heaters on," Parson said. "We have our customers transitioning to electric, which is what we think is going to be cleaner, more efficient, more affordable. We will see a different demand curve. And so, similar to New York, we will have a winter morning peak."
Photo: Jason Mavrommatis/Unsplash
But regardless of timing, the overall annual demand will be massively bigger than what we see today. According to the NYISO reports, which project demand out 30 years, New York State will see total annual energy usage by EVs rise from 1,124 gigawatt-hours this year to 42,092 GWh in 2054. That's a nearly forty-times increase.
But context is important. In the same period, overall, New York state energy usage will climb from about 150,000 GWh to somewhere between 210,000 and 340,000 GWh by 2054.
California will also see massive growth, with Edison predicting an 80 percent increase by 2045, which the state has targeted to be carbon-neutral.
Meeting that demand will require a far more capable grid system than we have today, but that won't do us any good if we don't have the generation to match it.
Increasing Production
Meeting an unprecedented spike in electrical demand is going to require far more electrons shoved into the grid than ever before. Increasing production in a renewable way is a massive challenge, but the states are preparing.
The New York grid is particularly challenged by initiatives to reduce the reliance on peaking power plants, or peakers, which are on-demand, local providers of electricity that can be fired up on short notice when needed. They're quick and handy but terribly inefficient.
So, New York State is working to reduce their use dramatically. That just makes the challenge ahead even steeper, but there are plans. A major one is the Champlain Hudson Power Express, or CHPE, an underground, high-voltage DC line running from Quebec down along the Hudson.
As it happens, it runs right past my house, which sadly doesn't do me any good as every electron it carries is destined for use exclusively in New York City.
When completed in 2026, this energy pipeline will bring 1,250 megawatts of renewable Canadian wind and hydropower to NYC.
"It's not providing anything yet, but once it does connect, that's going to be a significant addition. There's megawatts to get injected directly into New York City and help make up for the gap that the peaker retirements have caused," Kevin Lanahan told me. He's VP of External Affairs and Corporate Communications for New York State's Independent System Operator, which operates and ensures the reliability of the NY grid.
This will go a long way towards meeting future goals, but we'll need more, with plans to be met using massively increased wind and solar generation.
The problem with many of these renewable sources is their unreliable nature, exacerbated by the retirement of peakers. Solar systems produce the most juice when it's sunny. Wind farms really crank out the gigawatts when it's windy. What about the lulls in between?
Battery Power
A grid's health isn't measured just by its peak capacity but by its ability to provide steady, reliable power. An increasing reliance on unpredictable sources calls for buffering, and increasingly that means batteries.
Lithium-Ion Battery Assembly
"Utility-scale battery storage is something that in the last four years has exponentially grown, and we seek to put more utility-scale battery storage on the system that will support some of these peaks," SCE's Parson said.
These types of installations are not only more environmentally friendly, but also more economically viable (read: cheaper) than peakers for handling extreme loads.
But there'll need to be more, and this is where EVs actually could become part of the solution. One way is with managed charging, which would ensure that EVs only top themselves up when there's grid capacity.
Volkswagen debuts bidirectional charging in Europe on select ID models
And with bidirectional charging, EVs could actually help to balance the load. While few EVs currently offer the ability to power entire homes or put energy into the grid—and those that do require expensive equipment to do the job—that feature is quickly catching on. It could one day turn any EV into a kind of mobile battery that can support the grid as needed, while all of a gas car’s potential energy just sits in the tank until it’s time to go.
"Passenger vehicles, they sit for much longer of the day than they are driving. They really are only driven one to two hours a day, and they're sitting for the rest of the time. And so that gives you 22 to 23 hours a day of flexible load, where the batteries can charge flexibly and discharge flexibly," Parson said.
F-150 Lightning Bidirectional Charging
The idea is that you'd dedicate some percentage of your battery to the grid, allowing your car to help out in those peak situations. And it wouldn't be a charity.
"We recently sent a proposal to our regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, for a vehicle grid integration rate that will provide some structure and allow our customers to be paid to support grid resiliency with their vehicle battery," Parson said.
So, just like solar panels on the roof can earn money on a sunny day, an EV with a big battery in your garage might just offset your lease payment.
Increasing Capability
While generation is a vital part of the puzzle, it's no good without a far more advanced grid to bring that electricity where it's needed.
It's easy to think of the grid as just a mesh of dumb wires that ruin the view, but a considerable, and increasing, amount of intelligence is found between those cables.
It wasn't that long ago that the grid basically worked in one direction. Power went from big producers through big wires, eventually filtering out to smaller consumers. Now, with things like residential solar and distributed generation from wind and solar farms, there's a lot more give and take.
And a lot more energy flowing, too. Some technologies enable our existing grid to carry more current more efficiently, like dynamic line rating, which pushes more current through old wires when the weather is right.
Believe it or not, wind speed has a significant impact on the resistance of a given strand of overhead wire, and today's more advanced weather models account for that.
Chris Briggs/Unsplash
But no amount of science is going to make our old grid meet tomorrow's demands. A recent study from the University of California, Davis modeled California vehicle usage patterns and applied them to the state's aggressive emissions-free goals. It determined that the grid would require substantial increases to avoid the kind of doom and gloom failures that many people predict. According to the study's authors, California's grid operators must put somewhere between $6 and $20 billion into the grid to meet that need.
On the surface, that seems like a huge amount, the kind of thing that will dramatically spike taxes for every Californian regardless of what they're driving. But, again, perspective is everything.
Tesla Model Y home charging
In the past decade, utilities have invested billions into critical energy infrastructure, SCE's Parson said. "This is the past decade and utilities as a whole, and in 2023 alone, investing nearly $168 billion to make the grid stronger, smarter, cleaner, more dynamic, and more secure."
In fact, that UC Davis study showed that overall utility costs in California would decrease by between $0.01 and $0.06 per kWh by 2045. In other words, charging up your Hummer EV at home could cost $12 less than it does today.
The study does indicate that people's overall electrical bills will be higher than they were before because of their increased reliance, but there's an upside to that, too: "The cost should be offset by a reduction in gasoline spending, energy efficiency increase, and emission reduction, etc.," Yanning Li told me. She's a Ph.D. candidate at UC Davis and one of the study's authors.
Should You Be Worried?
So policymakers and utility providers alike realize that our energy needs are changing, and America’s grid must change with it.
Over the next few decades, the grid will undergo the most significant transformation since Thomas Edison started stringing wires around lower Manhattan in the 1880s. The increase in demand seems impossibly huge, but the most important thing to know about all this is that the companies that operate and power these grids have not been sitting idle. They've been preparing.
In 2019, SCE published a white paper called "Pathway 2045" that covered everything California needs to do to meet its 2045 carbon neutrality goals. This included 90 percent of all light- and medium-duty vehicles moving to electric, along with 80 percent of buses, and 54 percent of heavy-duty vehicles.
Countdown 2045
These numbers, in part, led to the projected 80 percent increase in usage figure mentioned above. "In order to meet that 80 percent demand in electricity, the California electric grid is going to need some upgrades, and it's going to need those upgrades at an unprecedented rate than we've done before," Parson said.
But she's not worried. "At Southern California Edison, we are very focused on making sure the grid is ready, reliable, and resilient for all of the electrification. It is something that we feel very strongly about, and we've done data and analysis that shows that this is the most efficient, effective, and affordable way to get to our clean energy future. So we are all in on it," Parson said.
Li, one of the UC Davis study authors, is also untroubled. "I personally think that the targets sound quite realistic. According to our study, the grid can accommodate the increase in EV adoption as long as they make the right estimations, enable charging management, and get the upgrades ready."
Tesla Supercharger
"Everybody should be excited about the transition and the transformation. There's a great amount of opportunity and possibility here," NYISO's Lanahan added. He warned that there's an unprecedented amount of "new challenges" ahead, but he says that they're on it. "That's part of our role. That's what we think about first every day when we work: reliability of the system."
So, if the people with their fingers on the pulse of our electrical grid aren't worried, maybe you shouldn't be either.
Tim Stevens is a veteran editor, analyst, and expert in the tech and automotive industries. He helmed CNET's automotive coverage for nine years and acted as Vice President of Content. Prior to that, Tim served as Editor-in-Chief at Engadget and even led a previous life as an Enterprise Software Architect. Follow Tim on Twitter at @tim_stevens and catch his Substack.
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