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As the world celebrates World EV Day, <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword>'s significant progress in adopting <keyword id="19895203" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="electric-vehicles" source="keywords">electric vehicles</keyword> (EVs) across various categories is commendable, however, there is still a long way to go. The government of India's <keyword id="23096041" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vaahan-Dashboard" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Vaahan Dashboard" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Vaahan Dashboard">Vaahan Dashboard</keyword> data shows an increasing trend to shift towards green mobility solutions. The most notable trend in EV penetration has been witnessed in the three-wheeler category, where EVs have surged ahead in overall sales. According to the data, 53.61% of all new three-wheeler vehicles purchased this year (2024) were electric, making this segment the leader in <keyword id="20421629" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="EV-adoption" source="keywords">EV adoption</keyword>. The two-wheeler segment has also shown encouraging signs of EV adoption, with electric vehicles accounting for 4.97% of all two-wheeler sales so far in 2024. While the percentage is lower compared to <keyword id="20412606" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="three-wheelers" source="keywords">three-wheelers</keyword>, the two-wheeler category holds significant potential for growth, given its dominance in India's overall vehicle sales market. As more consumers seek cost-effective and <keyword id="20991927" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="environmentally-friendly" source="keywords">environmentally friendly</keyword> alternatives, the penetration of EVs in this segment is expected to grow further in the coming years. However, in the four-wheeler segment, the adoption of EVs remains relatively low, with electric cars making up just 2.14% of total car sales this year. Despite this, the increasing availability of EV models and government incentives are expected to drive further growth in this segment. Interestingly, the penetration of electric buses is higher than that of electric cars, with 3.20% of all new buses sold in 2024 being electric. This trend highlights the growing importance of sustainable public transport solutions as cities aim to reduce emissions and promote cleaner alternatives in mass transit. "Electric vehicles offer a very compelling solutions because they do not emit any tailpipe emissions so that improves their air quality that reduces their air pollution. It also reduces the carbon emission so it helps India to meet with its climate goals and generally, electric vehicles have lower operating cost as compared to the IC engine vehicles," said Samhita Shiledar, Director RMI to ANI. On a state-wise level, the Vaahan dashboard data highlighted that Goa leads the country in EV penetration, with 14.20% of all new vehicles sold this year being electric. Tripura ranks second, followed by Chandigarh in third place. Delhi also stands out with a 10.72% penetration of EVs in total vehicle sales, showcasing the capital's push towards sustainable urban mobility. On the other hand, Himachal Pradesh reported the lowest EV penetration, with only 1.09% of new vehicles sold being electric. In terms of total number of EV sales across all segments in India, the two-wheeler category dominates the electric vehicle market in India, accounting for approximately 51% of total EV sales this year. As World EV Day highlights the global commitment to cleaner mobility solutions, India's data reflects a promising shift but a long way to go towards electrification across various vehicle segments.

World EV Day: 50%+ three-wheelers, 5% of 2-wheelers, and 2% of cars purchased in 2024 are EVs.

The <keyword id="20163832" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="society-of-indian-automobile" source="keywords">Society of Indian Automobile</keyword> Manufacturers (<keyword id="108827" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="siam" source="Orion">SIAM</keyword>) and big auto players have hailed the Cabinet decision of PM e-DRIVE schemes aimed at promoting electric mobility across the country. The Rs 10,900 crore scheme will support 2,479,000 electric 2-wheelers, 316,000 electric 3-wheelers and 14,028 electric buses, along with 88,500 <keyword id="186291" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ev" source="Orion">EV</keyword> charging sites. Shailesh Chandra, President of <keyword id="108827" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="siam" source="Orion">SIAM</keyword> and Managing Director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd &amp; Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd, expressed strong support for the government's forward-thinking initiative. Chandra said, "This forward-thinking initiative reflects the Government's unwavering support for <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>'s transition to electric mobility, fostering innovation and investment within the sector. We beli<keyword id="186291" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ev" source="Orion">ev</keyword>e this scheme will not only enhance the growth of the EV ecosystem but also strengthen <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>'s leadership in the global movement towards environmental sustainability." Dr Anish Shah, Group CEO &amp; MD, Mahindra Group also commended government's efforts, specifically highlighting the comprehensive nature of the PM e-DRIVE scheme. Shah said, "We applause the government for launching the PM e-drive scheme. With continued focused support on 2Ws, 3Ws, e-buses and thoughtful addition of e-ambulances, the scheme will drive higher EV penetration in the country." M&amp;M noted that schemes like <keyword id="21028" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fame" source="Orion">FAME</keyword> and <keyword id="48070" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="emps" source="Orion">EMPS</keyword> have already driven penetration of electric three-wheelers in India. "Investments laid out for fast charging infrastructure for all segments will help in increasing consumer confidence for faster adoption of EVs. <keyword id="21028" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fame" source="Orion">FAME</keyword> and <keyword id="48070" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="emps" source="Orion">EMPS</keyword> have helped in 20 per cent e-3W penetration in the country. With PM e-drive, we foresee India becoming the first country to achieve 100 per cent electrification in this segment by 2030", he added. The Union Cabinet, on Wednesday, cleared the 'PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM e-DRIVE) Scheme,' with a total outlay of Rs 10,900 crore over two years. It includes Rs 3,679 crore in subsidies and demand incentives for e-2Ws, e-3Ws, e-ambulances, e-trucks, and other emerging electric vehicles. It is expected to support the deployment of 24.79 lakh e-2Ws, 3.16 lakh e-3Ws, and 14,028 e-buses, providing a significant push to India's EV ecosystem. A critical aspect of the scheme is the introduction of e-vouchers for EV buyers. At the time of purchase, an Aadhaar-authenticated e-voucher will be generated, which will enable buyers to avail of demand incentives. Additionally, the scheme allocates Rs 500 crore for the deployment of e-ambulances, marking a new initiative to integrate electric vehicles into essential public services. Another Rs 4,391 crore has been earmarked for the procurement of 14,028 e-buses, with a demand aggregation process led by CESL in nine major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Intercity and interstate e-buses will also be supported in consultation with states. Furthermore, Rs 500 crore has been set aside to incentivize the adoption of e-trucks, a critical move given that trucks are one of the largest contributors to air pollution. The scheme encourages those with a scrapping certificate from <keyword id="19897457" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ministry-of-road-transport" source="keywords">Ministry of Road Transport</keyword> and Highways-approved (MoRTH) vehicle scrapping centres to participate in this transition. With an allocation of Rs 2,000 crore, the scheme will support the installation of 22,100 fast chargers for four-wheelers, 1,800 fast chargers for e-buses, and 48,400 fast chargers for two- and three-wheelers. These chargers will be installed in cities with high EV penetration and along selected highways, making long-distance EV travel more viable.

Automobile industry hails PM e-DRIVE scheme to promote EVs

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Hurricane Helene caused at least 6 EV fires in Florida, according to state officials.</li><li>Saltwater can corrode lithium-ion batteries, leading to short-circuits and fires.</li></ul>Soon after Hurricane Helene barreled into northwestern Florida, local government officials <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1886706438505288&amp;ref=sharing">shared footage</a> of an electric vehicle catching fire in a flooded garage.The video, posted by Pinellas County officials on social media, came with a warning for EV owners about the risks posed by salt water, which can corrode lithium-ion batteries and cause them to short-circuit and overheat. Don't "charge, drive, or store your EV or E-bike in your home or garage,"the post said. It recommended they "move the EV or E-bike 50 feet away from any other combustible material" and "have the vehicle towed to a dealership for inspection."Florida officials said on Tuesday that they had <a target="_blank" href="https://myfloridacfo.com/news/pressreleases/press-release-details/2024/10/02/fire-safety-alert-cfo---state-fire-marshal-jimmy-patronis--lithium-ion-batteries-are-ticking-time-bombs-in-wake-of-hurricane-helene">since confirmed 16 lithium-ion-battery fires</a> related to Hurricane Helene's storm surge, six of which were in EVs. Electric golf carts, e-bikes, and other battery-powered devices are also a hazard. The fires led Florida's chief financial officer and fire marshal, Jimmy Patronis, to call on automakers to be more proactive about notifying customers about moving their EVs to higher ground ahead of a storm (as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-electric-vehicles-evs-owners-fire-risk-safety-tips-2024-10">Gov. Ron DeSantis</a> did before Helene arrived) and about what to do if an EV is flooded."It's not too late for these manufacturers to send out notifications and fire safety information directly to their consumers," Patronis said in a statement, adding that his office was coordinating with emergency responders to make residents aware of the risks.The warnings come at a critical time for the EV industry. Consumer demand for EVs has been slower than expected this year, and Republicans including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-elon-musk-tesla-electric-vehicle-tax-credit-oil-2024-7">JD Vance have attacked the industry</a> in the run-up to the presidential election in November. J.D. Power has forecast that EVs will account for 9% of the market this year — a figure the group <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jdpower.com/business/resources/jd-power-revises-ev-retail-share-forecast">revised down from 12% because of slower adoption</a>. Surveys have suggested that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-charging-range-improving-americans-still-dont-want-electric-cars-2024-9">Americans are a lot more concerned about finding chargers</a> than safety, but viral videos of EV fires could fuel skepticism.Brent Gruber, the executive director of J.D. Power's electric-vehicle practice, told Business Insider that because of the recent fires, his team planned to begin tracking consumers' concern about EV fires.Some data from the Transportation Department and Tesla suggests EVs catch fire less often than hybrid or gas-powered cars on the road or in crashes. Saltwater storm surges during Hurricanes Ida, Ian, and now Helene pose a risk to lithium-ion batteries, but it's not clear how often EV fires occur during extreme weather events.A spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its data on vehicle fires was limited to fires after fatal crashes. The agency said that since Hurricane Ian struck Florida in 2022, it has monitored reports of EV fires during coastal storms in the southeastern and northeastern US and in California. It said reports of EV fires resulting from saltwater flooding came only from Florida."More research is underway to better understand the interaction of high-voltage battery systems and saltwater immersion," the spokesperson said. They added that the agency had proposed updating some safety requirements for EV batteries to reduce the risk of these fires.Albert Gore, the executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, which represents EV makers like Tesla and Rivian, told Business Insider that manufacturers had done a lot of outreach over the past decade to local fire departments about EV-battery safety. He emphasized that the fires seemed to be limited to coastal regions where saltwater storm surge is a risk and argued that EVs in general are much less likely to catch fire than gas-powered vehicles."The most important piece of information to communicate is if you live in an area where there's a risk of hurricanes and storm surge, it's really important to move that vehicle to higher ground," Gore said.Several fire departments along Florida's coastline told Business Insider that they'd been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-fires-what-to-know-2023-11">educating their emergency responders</a> and the public about how to prevent and put out EV fires since Hurricane Ian in 2022.Kelsey Grentzer, a spokesperson for the government in Pinellas County, which covers St. Petersburg and Clearwater, said that so far during Hurricane Helene, emergency responders in the county had been called out to at least 93 vehicle fires. Grentzer said they were still analyzing the breakdown of how many were gas cars versus EVs.Heather Mazurkiewicz, a spokesperson for the North Collier Fire Control and Rescue District, which covers Naples, didn't have an exact figure for Helene but said the district had been taking the problem seriously."There's no predictability as to how or when a fire will start from the battery compartment. They're extremely volatile," Mazurkiewicz said.Even after an EV battery fire appears to be extinguished, lingering stored energy can cause what's known as a "thermal runaway," a cycle of overheating and over-pressurizing. Putting out the battery fire can require more than 10,0000 gallons of water, Mazurkiewicz added.The volatility was on display in the Pinellas County officials' viral video. The EV owners <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fox13news.com/news/electric-vehicle-catches-fire-garage-destroys-home-during-hurricane-helene">told a local Fox affiliate</a> that they narrowly escaped their home in Siesta Key as it became engulfed in flames and that they didn't know that a small amount of flooding could ignite the EV.

Viral videos of EVs catching fire after Hurricane Helene raise safety concerns in Florida

<div type="image" title="One Planet Banner Test" height="138" width="1100" msid="109509214" hostid="261" sizebytes="5076"></div>On one Upper West Side side street, you can hear the quiet hum of electric vehicles almost all day and night.Manhattan isn't known for its plentiful parking. But this street has something even rarer: two public spots reserved for EV charging. Often, vehicles linger for hours.On a recent weekday, one licensed ride-hailing driver had been charging for more than 12 hours. Another EV sat for more than five hours at the neighboring plug. For the ride-hailing driver, that's 12 hours they didn't work. For other EV owners, it's one less charger to plug in to. A Tesla slowed as it drove by in hopes the spaces weren't occupied.This snapshot in time comes as New York City aims to convert almost its entire ride-hailing industry to EVs by 2030, with the exception of wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Mayor Eric Adams' Green Rides Initiative affects the city's more than 84,000 Uber and Lyft drivers — among the largest markets in the world. It's an ambitious target, given that under 10% of rides were taken in an EV in March, according to city data.The biggest hurdle is building enough public chargers, especially in such a densely packed city with an old power grid and lengthy bureaucratic delays. For Uber and Lyft drivers, time is money, so widely accessible charging is key to the EV switch. The majority live in NYC's outer boroughs, such as Queens, and park on the street, where chargers are sparse. A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/82293.pdf">study by the US Department of Energy</a> found that 1,000 fast chargers were needed for every 20,000 EV drivers on the road. Currently, there are fewer than 200 across NYC. Plus, building thousands of new chargers requires billions of dollars of investment.City officials and ride-hailing companies told Business Insider that electrifying the sector could unlock a broader EV revolution because it could solve a crucial conundrum: Companies won't build charging stations if there aren't enough drivers, but drivers won't buy an EV if charging isn't widely accessible."This is the industry that's going to get this infrastructure off the ground because a ride-share driver is a great customer for a charging station," said Bobby Familiar, a spokesperson for Revel, an all-electric ride-hailing service that operates three public fast-charging stations in NYC. "They have to charge every single day that they do a shift. They want fast charging because every minute spent at the charger is time they could be on the road earning a fare."Electrifying the ride-hailing industry also has big returns for the environment, Michael Replogle, a former deputy commissioner for policy at NYC's Department of Transportation, said."If you can electrify Ubers, Lyfts, and taxis that drive several hundred miles a day, it will really reduce the city's carbon footprint and clean up the air," he said.Given the stakes, a lot has to go right in the coming years. The city has to strike a balance between the number of EV drivers and charging sites. Long wait times risk turning off drivers from making the switch, but if there isn't enough demand, the economics could fall apart for stations run by the government or private entities. Chargers also must be in neighborhoods with a history of underinvestment.<h2>A mad dash for EV licenses</h2>The transition is getting an early test this year now that thousands more ride-hailing drivers have licenses.In October, the Taxi &amp; Limousine Commission opened applications for this gig work for the first time in five years — but for EV drivers only. A cap had been in place since 2018 to stabilize drivers' wages and decrease traffic congestion.The TLC approved about 8,400 EV licenses. That brought the total to more than 11,000, a huge jump compared with several years ago.The program is on hold because of a lawsuit filed by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. It represents the yellow-cab industry, which isn't under the EV mandate but can voluntarily make the switch to certain models. The alliance argued that the market would become oversaturated.TLC Commissioner David Do said many of those who applied were ride-hailing drivers already and the total number of drivers in NYC was still lower than pre-pandemic levels.A lot of ride-hailing drivers are excited about the EV push because it's a pathway to owning their own car, rather than renting from fleet owners, according to Aeraj Qazi, the owner of Primetime Brokerage, which helps drivers through the TLC licensing process."Rentals are like handcuffs for drivers, so EVs provide an opportunity for drivers to own their own plates," Qazi said.Weekly rental rates average between $450 and $600, several drivers told BI. That's more than a typical monthly car payment.Qazi said he and other brokerages helped file thousands of EV applications before the court-ordered injunction took effect late last year."We didn't realize how crazy it would get. The charging infrastructure isn't there right now," Qazi said.Guillermo Fondeur, an Uber driver who bought a Tesla in 2021, charges at home. He said the switch had saved him money on gas and maintenance, and he earns some perks from Uber, including an extra $1 on every ride.But he's heard complaints from other EV owners about the lack of public charging infrastructure."It's very inconvenient to find chargers," Fondeur said. "There are one- to two-hour waits to plug in some places."He added: "Drivers want to charge on the block where they live. The city could put chargers in the parking spaces. There's also a lot of parking lots."<h2>NYC's most valuable asset</h2>Today, there are nearly 200 fast chargers in NYC and more than 1,900 Level 2 chargers. The Adams administration <a target="_blank" href="https://climate.cityofnewyork.us/subtopics/electric-vehicles/">wants to grow the network</a> this decade to 6,000 fast chargers and 40,000 Level 2 plugs."We need every space we can find," Do said.In general, EVs can get up to 30 miles of range for every hour they're plugged in to a Level 2 charger. That makes them ideal for overnight street parking, or for several hours during the day while drivers run errands or go to work. Fast chargers, such as those in Tesla's Supercharger network, can add up to 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes, helping ease range anxiety among road trippers and ride-hailing drivers who need a quick refill but don't want to lose too much time.Making progress in NYC requires coordination across the government, power utilities, and private companies. Do is part of a charging task force that brings those parties together.The TLC is sharing data on where drivers live and where and how often trips happen to help inform where chargers should be. The utility Con Edison is identifying where enough power is already available for new chargers and expanded a statewide program that subsidizes the cost of bringing electricity to chargers to $585 million. The Department of Transportation is investing in some curbside charging and fast chargers <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2023/fast-charging-hubs.shtml">in municipal parking lots</a>.The department's efforts build on a <a target="_blank" href="https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/68833">curbside-charging pilot</a> with Con Edison and a Canadian company, Flo. It created 100 Level 2 plug-ins across all five boroughs, a spokesperson for the department said, and there are plans for hundreds more.But those efforts alone won't spur enough development, Replogle, the former DOT official, said."It took us 3 ½ years to stand up that pilot," he said. "We recognized we would not be getting thousands of on-street Level 2 chargers by scaling up that model. It's going to take some competitive procurement with the private sector to make this happen."There are barriers, Replogle added. There isn't a clear path for private charging companies and real-estate owners to get regulatory approval for installing curbside plugs."Street space is one of the most valuable assets the city owns," Replogle said. "There are 3 million parking spaces, and less than 250,000 of them are priced. So there are a fair number of spaces that can produce the kind of economic return for electrification to happen."A DOT spokesperson said the department last year sent out a request for information from EV-charging companies, which will inform future partnerships.Beyond curbside, there are hurdles for companies such as Revel that are building larger fast-charging stations with dozens of plugs. These sites often need electrical-power upgrades to connect to the grid, a lengthy process with Con Edison."We're approaching every charging station like it's a new high-rise building," Familiar said. "But the timeline for getting a charging station up and running is a lot different than a building. If we have power, we can get a site done within months, not years. The power-upgrade timeline does not match that."Charging stations should go to the front of the line, he added.A spokesperson for Con Edison said the utility was evolving its grid-planning process to prepare for large EV loads."When upgrades are needed at the customer property, we are working to reduce interconnection timelines at every step in the process from early customer engagement and education through improved work coordination and collaborating closely with municipalities on permitting," the spokesperson said.<h2>The charging pipeline</h2>Despite the delays, Revel has a pipeline of 300 fast chargers over the next two years, Familiar said. That figure reflects active site leases in various phases of design and construction.Revel owns a fleet of 500 vehicles and more than 50 plugs in NYC that are open to any model.One of the new stations is set to be at LaGuardia Airport, one of the busiest areas for ride-hailing trips in the city. Installing 48 plugs would make it the largest fast-charging location at any airport nationwide. It's expected to open next year.Revel in March also struck a deal with Uber that guaranteed its drivers would use at least 250 of Revel's plugs a certain amount of the time. If Uber doesn't meet the use threshold, it's financially liable. In exchange, Uber drivers will get up to a 25% discount when they charge.The agreement could help Uber meet its own goal to have its drivers go fully electric this decade. So far, more than 6% of Uber's fleet in the US and Canada has zero emissions, and more than 17% of trips in NYC were in EVs last year. The company said it's spending $800 million by 2025 to encourage drivers to make the switch.Josh Gold, Uber's senior director of public policy, said that after the TLC lifted its cap on EV licenses, he saw longer lines at Tesla's Superchargers. And for years, many of the platform's early EV adopters were going to Manhattan to charge, often in paywalled parking garages."That's not where our drivers live," he said. "So that's been a worry, but now we're seeing the charging infrastructure develop more."Uber is sharing ride data with Revel so it can locate chargers in the most convenient places for drivers. Uber has a similar agreement with Tesla.Lyft, for its part, said it's investing $80 million through 2025 on its EV push and working with charging companies including EVgo and Electrify America to offer discounts. Nearly 17% of NYC Lyft rides were in EVs last year.The rising demand from the ride-hailing industry for EV charging could help buoy other startups. Itselectric is piloting some Level 2 curbside charging using excess power from buildings, which avoids the need for utility upgrades and therefore could speed up the build-out. In a parking garage in midtown Manhattan, Gravity in March opened what it says are the 24 fastest chargers in the country.Almost everyone BI interviewed for this story acknowledged that the city's EV's ambitions were lofty.There are some promising signs, however.Do said that the Green Rides Initiative was two years ahead of schedule. By 2025, at least 15% of ride-hailing trips were supposed to be in zero-emissions or wheelchair-accessible vehicles. That threshold was crossed in January and ticked up even higher in March to 17%. That month, more than 2 million trips were taken in an EV — a fivefold increase compared with November.Do said he wanted to boost the TLC's outreach to drivers so they could understand the perks of switching to an EV."There are so many more benefits to a green vehicle, not only for the future of our city but for kids who will breathe cleaner air, and it also might be a little cheaper," he said. "So we've laid the foundation, but now we need to convince many other drivers to convert."Juliana Kaplan contributed to this article.This article is part of "<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/the-great-transition">The Great Transition</a>," a series covering the big changes across industries that are leading to a more sustainable future. For more climate-action news, visit Insider's <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-planet">One Planet</a> hub.

NYC's EV revolution is riding on Uber and Lyft drivers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Lithium-ion batteries are the most common type of battery found in electric vehicles.</li><li>Scientists found they contain PFAS or 'forever chemicals' found in air, water, snow, soil, and sediment.</li></ul>Scientists have uncovered a new source of hazardous "forever chemical" pollution: the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries found in most electric vehicles.Some lithium-ion battery technologies use a class of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-pfas-chemicals-2018-8">PFAS chemicals</a>, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, that helps make batteries less flammable and conduct electricity. Scientists found high levels of these PFAS in air, water, snow, soil, and sediment samples near plants that make those chemicals in the US, Belgium, and France, according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49753-5">peer-reviewed study</a> in the journal Nature Communications.PFAS are known as "forever chemicals" because they <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chart-how-long-hazardous-forever-chemicals-pfas-stay-in-blood-2023-3">build up quickly</a> in the environment, people, and animals and don't break down for thousands of years. They've been linked to a host of health conditions, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp200.pdf">liver damage</a>, high <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831917/">cholesterol</a>, low <a target="_blank" href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1408837/">birth weights</a>, and chronic <a target="_blank" href="https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/174/8/893/155305">kidney disease</a>.The findings underscore how switching to cleaner cars and renewable energy is key to solving the climate crisis, but comes with its own set of trade-offs that are still emerging and understudied. While the environmental and health impacts of mining lithium and other minerals used in batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and other technology are well documented, it's only now that researchers are uncovering lithium-ion batteries as a source of PFAS pollution."Slashing [carbon dioxide] emissions with innovations like electric cars is critical, but it shouldn't come with the side effect of increasing PFAS pollution," Jennifer Guelfo, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Texas Tech University and coauthor of the study, said in a statement.It's an issue of global concern because lithium-ion batteries are used worldwide, the study said. The same class of PFAS has recently been detected at low levels in European and Chinese water, but the source of the pollution was unclear.The specific class of PFAS that Guelfo's team found is called bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonimides, or bis-FASIs. Scientists tested more than a dozen lithium-ion batteries used in EVs and consumer electronics like laptops, and found bis-FASIs at various concentrations.It's hard to know just how widespread the chemicals are in specific lithium-ion batteries because there isn't enough research yet, Lee Ferguson, associate professor of environmental engineering at Duke University and coauthor of the study, said.Guelfo said bis-FASIs is comparable to "older notorious" chemicals like PFOA, in part because they are extremely difficult to degrade and studies show the chemicals change the behavior of aquatic organisms at low concentrations. PFOA has been phased out of production in the US but <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/epa-hazardous-forever-chemicals-drinking-water-limits-2024-4">continues to pollute drinking water</a>.The study was the first "cradle-to-grave" evaluation of the environmental impacts of bis-FASI use in lithium-ion batteries. The effects of bis-FASIs in humans hasn't been studied yet.The scientists detected bis-FASIs chemicals at parts per billion levels — much higher than the limits the Environmental Protection Agency <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/epa-hazardous-forever-chemicals-drinking-water-limits-2024-4">set for PFAS in drinking water in April</a>. Strategies to get rid of PFAS in drinking water can also remove bis-FASIs, the study said, which should become more widely adopted due to EPA's regulations. However, chemical makers and some water utilities <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/06/21/nx-s1-5013957/pfas-forever-chemicals-drinking-water-rule-lawsuits">have challenged the agency in court.</a>Other routes of exposure to bis-FASIs exist. Air emissions data suggest the chemicals can travel to areas far from manufacturing sites. They can also leach into the environment from landfills, where the majority of lithium-ion batteries end up.The study said only about 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled, and by 2040, there could be some 8 million tons of lithium-ion battery waste.Guelfo said scientists, engineers, manufacturers, and policymakers need to develop battery technology and recycling solutions that don't exacerbate PFAS pollution."We need to be carefully evaluating these chemicals that are being used in sustainable energy infrastructure," Guelfo said. "We should be evaluating them now before it becomes a more widespread problem. We an opportunity to really maximize the idea of sustainability."Companies including 3M, Solvay, and Arkema either hold patents for bis-FASIs or advertise its production or use, the study said. (In December — after the research was conducted — Solvay spun off its specialty and applied chemical businesses into a new entity named Syensqo. The lithium battery business is housed there.)Scientists focused their research on areas near the companies' manufacturing plants in Minnesota, Kentucky, Antwerp, Belgium, and Salindres, France.3M has manufactured PFAS for decades and last year <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/business/3m-settlement-forever-chemicals-lawsuit.html">agreed to a $10 billion settlement</a> with US cities and towns over their claims that the company contaminated drinking water with forever chemicals. 3M said it will exit all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025.The company's settlement followed another agreement by Chemours, DuPont and Corteva to pay $1.19 billion to help resolve thousands of lawsuits.Correction: July 8, 2024 — This story was updated to clarify the name of one of the companies that make EV battery materials. After the research, Solvay spun off its lithium battery business into a new entity named Syensqo.

The most common type of EV battery is a growing source of 'forever chemical' pollution, scientists say

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Electric-vehicle drivers on road trips often don't have much to do while their cars charge.</li><li>Building charging hubs around attractions and amenities could improve the experience.</li></ul>There's a missed opportunity at most <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-charging-stations-explained-levels-plugs-tesla-supercharger-2022-12">electric-vehicle charging stations</a>.As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-misconceptions-about-the-ev-transition-market-sales-2024-5">sales of battery-electric vehicles</a> have increased in recent years, the automotive industry and federal and state governments have been racing to install more charging stations. But building a place to plug in is only the first step in changing the way people fuel their cars.While the automotive industry has done a lot to reduce the amount of time you need to spend plugging in your car on a road trip, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-dozens-of-startups-leading-the-electric-car-charging-market-2022-2">EV charging stops</a> may never match the convenience of five-minute stops to fill your gas tank.Charging stations themselves are also difficult to make money with. A solution: EV charging hubs decked out with restaurants, entertainment, shopping, and anything else that can occupy the hour or two you may need to get a full battery.That's much like how a gas station works. An ancillary business built around a charging hub could fund the owner's bottom line more reliably than the fuel itself.<h2 id="36894d1c-0ea2-4d64-a338-99862d82c945">EVs need rest stops</h2>We're not exactly reinventing the wheel here.Many turnpikes and highways in the US have rest stops or travel centers with amenities that allow drivers to stay longer on the road when they need to stretch their legs. These rest stops are usually funded by tolls or other government-backed funding, which is a more complicated issue for EV charging.Without any clear guidelines, there hasn't been much uniformity in what a charging station can — or should — look like, leading to a Wild West of different designs and locations. Without a clear way forward, there hasn't been much uniformity in what a charging station can look like.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/2024/05/23/electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-in-the-u-s/">Figures from the Department of Energy</a> indicate that at the start of 2024, there were some 61,000 public charging stations in the US, more than double the number of stations in 2020. But many of these stations are tucked away on dealership lots or in otherwise empty parking lots.These stations appear to affect EV adoption. Surveys have suggested that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/charging-logistics-top-barrier-to-electric-car-adoption-survey-2022-7">access to public charging infrastructure increases adoption</a>.But they've also suggested that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-electric-car-charging-station-need-better-amenities-bathrooms-food-2023-8">EV drivers are unsatisfied</a> with the charging experience.<h2 id="368f20ca-faec-4d34-afb7-022fdf893bc2">EV charging stations need an overhaul</h2>Tesla is experimenting with what a longer charging stop could look like.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-supercharger-diner-permit-approved/">Construction is underway</a> in Hollywood on a Supercharger station that would double as a 24-hour restaurant and drive-in movie theater.CEO Elon Musk floated the idea of a destination station like this <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/949831212326993920?lang=en">in 2018</a>, saying he wanted to build an "old school drive-in" at a Supercharger location in Los Angeles. In January, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/tesla-hollywood-supercharging-station-ith-24-hour-diner-restaurant-movie-screens/3312626/">an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles reported</a>, citing city documents, that the screens would project short films that occupy the roughly 30 minutes required to charge a Tesla.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teslas-supercharger-changes-hurt-wider-ev-industry-2024-5">Supercharger station</a> is also supposed to be an attraction of its own, designed to look like a 1950s drive-in and diner — a kitschy stop on a Hollywood road trip.The design of these charging stations shouldn't just mimic convenience stores and quick-stop establishments. Charging can take a half hour to several hours, depending on the car and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-charging-stations-explained-levels-plugs-tesla-supercharger-2022-12">type of charger</a>. That's plenty of time to browse a gift shop, grab a bite to eat, or wander around a roadside attraction.

EV chargers are too boring — and it's holding us back from electrifying the classic American road trip

<keyword id="19923700" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-power" source="keywords">Tata Power</keyword> on Saturday said it has collaborated with the <keyword id="19905539" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ayodhya-development-authority" source="keywords">Ayodhya Development Authority</keyword> (ADA) to deploy charging points in and around the city on crucial routes to accelerate the adoption of <keyword id="19895203" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="electric-vehicles" source="keywords">Electric Vehicles</keyword> (EVs). The initiative strategically links <keyword id="6354931" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ayodhya" source="Orion">Ayodhya</keyword> with major cities nearby through the establishment of EV charging points. These points are situated along routes such as Ayodhya to Lucknow via National Highway (NH) 27, Ayodhya to Raebareli via NH 330, Ayodhya to Prayagraj via NH 330, and Ayodhya to Gorakhpur via NH 27, said the company. "These stations epitomise innovation and environmental stewardship and set the pace for our nation's journey towards Net Zero emissions. Together, we're shaping a sustainable tomorrow that benefits us all," said <keyword id="20372997" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="deepesh-nanda" source="keywords">Deepesh Nanda</keyword>, CEO and Managing Director, <keyword id="20372998" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-power-renewable-energy-limited" source="keywords">Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited</keyword>. With more than 80,000 home chargers, 5,300+ public, semi-public and fleet charging points, and more than 850 bus charging stations, Tata Power said it is at the forefront of driving the transition towards environment-friendly transportation. "These charging points not only enhance our city's infrastructure but also herald a new era of eco-consciousness and progress," said Gaurav Dayal, Commissioner of Ayodhya. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-12-review/articleshow/108723955.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-12-review/articleshow/108723955.cms" target="_blank">OnePlus 12 review: A feature-packed device with promising battery back-up</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/motorola-edge-50-pro-to-launch-in-india-on-april-3-everything-we-know-so-far/articleshow/108667275.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/motorola-edge-50-pro-to-launch-in-india-on-april-3-everything-we-know-so-far/articleshow/108667275.cms" target="_blank">Motorola Edge 50 Pro to launch in India on April 3 – Everything we know so far</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/jsw-group-and-saic-motors-jv-jsw-mg-motor-india-set-to-up-production-to-3-lakh-vehicles-a-year-with-a-new-car-every-3-6-months/articleshow/108647799.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/jsw-group-and-saic-motors-jv-jsw-mg-motor-india-set-to-up-production-to-3-lakh-vehicles-a-year-with-a-new-car-every-3-6-months/articleshow/108647799.cms" target="_blank">JSW Group and SAIC Motor’s JV ‘JSW MG Motor India’ set to up production to 3 lakh vehicles a year with a new car every 3-6 months</a>

Tata Power deploys EV charging points on key routes to Ayodhya

EV startup Vidyut on Tuesday said it has raised $10 million in its Series A fundraise (a mix of equity and debt funding) led by 3one4 Capital, and will deploy new funds to scale its new offerings that include EV insurance, lifecycle management and EV resale. The round also witnessed participation from new and existing investors namely, Saison Capital, <keyword id="20657706" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zephyr-peacock" source="keywords">Zephyr Peacock</keyword>, Force Ventures, a venture debt fund Alteria Capital and CEO of Udaan, <keyword id="20483955" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sujeet-kumar" source="keywords">Sujeet Kumar</keyword>. Founded in 2021, the startup said it aims to expand its presence to 40 cities and will double its team size by the end of FY25 as it prepares to build a full stack EV ecosystem. "Our focus is not just on financing but on elevating the entire EV ownership journey for India's SMBs, who are the backbone of our economy," said <keyword id="20657704" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gaurav-srivastava" source="keywords">Gaurav Srivastava</keyword>, co-founder of Vidyut. The company already offers ownership solutions for Mahindra, Piaggio, Altigreen, Murugappa Group's Montra Electric, Euler Motors and OSM vehicles. "Vidyut's model removes EV adoption barriers, especially in the large but price sensitive driver cum owner segment. At 3one4 Capital, we are excited to back the Vidyut team in their mission to simplify EV ownership," said <keyword id="20657703" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sonal-saldanha" source="keywords">Sonal Saldanha</keyword>, Vice President, Investments, 3one4 Capital. "After hitting an inflection point, customised financing and lifecycle management solutions will play a central role in large scale EV adoption, requiring lenders to evaluate asset risk alongside borrower risk," added <keyword id="20657705" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dhairen-tohliani" source="keywords">Dhairen Tohliani</keyword>, Vice President, Alteria capital. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/google-pixel-8-pro-review/articleshow/107726935.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/google-pixel-8-pro-review/articleshow/107726935.cms" target="_blank">Pixel 8 Pro review: ‘Okay Google’ – The flagship smartphone ticks almost all boxes</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/dell-xps-17-9730-review/articleshow/107330203.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/dell-xps-17-9730-review/articleshow/107330203.cms" target="_blank">Dell XPS 17 9730 review – Feature-packed laptop but at a premium</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/viewsonic-vx3219-2k-pro-review/articleshow/106729348.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/viewsonic-vx3219-2k-pro-review/articleshow/106729348.cms" target="_blank">ViewSonic VX3219 2K PRO gaming monitor – Reliable at an affordable price</a>

EV startup Vidyut raises $10 mn to build full-stack ecosystem

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Meagan Drillinger has worked remotely from all over the world and says <keyword id="12793995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="puerto-vallarta" source="Orion">Puerto Vallarta</keyword>, <keyword id="11933000" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mexico" source="Orion">Mexico</keyword> is her top choice.</li><li>It's a beautiful, relaxed beach destination and modern international city all in one, with plenty of coworking spots.</li></ul>One of the biggest perks of <keyword id="12911493" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="freelance-work" source="Orion">freelance work</keyword> is that it can be done from anywhere, so when I left my desk job in 2014, I made it a point to pick up and work from all over the world wherever I could. I've worked from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/visit-thailand-test-and-go-program-remote-worker">Thailand</a>, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Colombia, Ireland, Italy, and, most extensively, Mexico. Of all the countries I've tried, it's Mexico that I find to be a remote worker's paradise — particularly the city of Puerto Vallarta.<h2>Puerto Vallarta blends the cosmopolitan with escapism </h2>I first started visiting the city in 2013, and it's since become a second home. I even met my now-husband there (on Tinder, believe it or not). A far-cry from the sleepy beach town it used to be, you can go so far as to call Puerto Vallarta a full-fledged city these days, thanks to all the hotels, Airbnbs, restaurants, infrastructure, shopping malls, coffee shops — you get the idea. But even though it's fully connected and modern in its own right, Puerto Vallarta is still very much a coastal Mexican town with all of the charm, history, and quirks that come with a tropical paradise. An example: After a day of work, I stroll down the Malecon (boardwalk) past an ever-changing rotation of public art toward El Solar, a cash-only beachfront bar with a relaxing soundtrack and a menu of succulent ceviche, fresh tacos, and frosty drinks. I usually go here for happy hour by myself after a long day to unwind, toes in the sand — and it sure beats my 9-to-5 desk job routine in my previous New York City life.<div type="image" title="Author Meagan Drillinger wearing sunglasses" height="477" width="636" msid="92552090" hostid="261"></div><h2>I've been able to do my job seamlessly</h2>Wifi is very fast and reliable in Puerto Vallarta, and it's free in most restaurants, bars, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbnb.com%2F" rel="nofollow sponsored">Airbnbs</a>, and hotels. Unlike other more remote parts of the world, where the wifi can drop unexpectedly, you rarely have that problem here.The city's also teeming with coffee shops and coworking spaces, most of which offer air conditioning, lockers for storage, private meeting rooms, and phone booths. Vallarta Cowork is one of the best in the area.But as a creature of habit, I prefer working from a Starbucks on the Malecon and affectionately refer to it as "my office." It has outdoor tables under a covered awning, a picture-perfect view of the Bay of Banderas, and great people-watching. The WiFi is fast (and free) and they never kick me out, even if I sit there long after the ice from my cold brew has melted, which I often do.<div type="image" title="A coffee shop's view of the beach" height="3024" width="4032" msid="92552091" hostid="261"></div>Around me is a constant rotation of people on their laptops, taking calls, or simply breezing in and out on their way to the beach. There's something about this spot that keeps me super focused and productive; I get more done in four hours at Starbucks than I do in an entire day in a beautiful Airbnb. <h2>I'm able to structure my days in a way I love </h2>Puerto Vallarta is a very easy city in which to adopt a semi-normal routine, while still feeling like you're on vacation. I'm a member of Anytime Fitness, a 24-hour gym with more than 4,000 locations around the world that costs about $50 a month (less if you buy six months at a time). The one in Puerto Vallarta is on the second floor of the Plaza Caracol mall. It's spacious, with strong AC and brand-new equipment. I go around 9 a.m. and frequently have the place to myself.The city does not lack grocery stores, either, from Walmart and Costco to more local (yet similar to Walmart) chains like Soriana or Chedraui. You can even find gourmet supermarkets like La Europea, which has high-end imports from France and Italy. I'll do a big shop at Soriana (since it's right underneath the Anytime Fitness) and will spend about $75 for two people for a week's worth of groceries.I often book an <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbnb.com%2F" rel="nofollow sponsored">Airbnb</a> so that I can cook most of my meals, but of course there are many restaurant options around the city. Prices now are a lot higher than in previous years, but you can still get a night out for four people at nice restaurant with two bottles of wine for less than $200, so it's cheaper than cities like New York City or Los Angeles.<h2>My work-life balance is never better than when I'm here</h2>What I wanted most when I went freelance for the first time was a better work-life balance, and living in Puerto Vallarta allows for that beautifully. The surrounding mountains are veined with hiking trails and picturesque waterfalls. One of my favorite things to do is to grab the bus from the Zona Romantica and head south to the small fishing village of Boca de Tomatlan. There's a mountain hike here that runs along the coastline and weaves in and out of coves and secluded beaches, opening up to one of the most beautiful restaurants in the area, Casitas Maraika.<div type="image" title="Woman on a beach at sunset" height="902" width="1200" msid="92552092" hostid="261"></div>My husband and I have also taken to driving our motorcycle up and down the coast of Nayarit, popping into the smaller beach towns that remind us of what Puerto Vallarta used to be like when we first started visiting.<h2>There are several great neighborhoods for a remote worker to live</h2>I'm staying in an area called Versailles right now, and going forward, this is where I'll always stay. It's a quiet residential neighborhood with charming cobblestone streets and a mix of historic architecture and modern condo-style apartments. Our two-bedroom, two-bathroom <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbnb.com%2F" rel="nofollow sponsored">Airbnb</a> has a rooftop pool deck, full kitchen, and washer/dryer and costs roughly $70 per night (but can change depending on the season). We've been here a month, and will likely return for another month and a half in the fall.While we're walking distance to several grocery stores and shopping malls, it would require a taxi or a bus to get to the energy of downtown or a 15-minute walk to the beach. <keyword id="11939555" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="remote-workers" source="Orion">Remote workers</keyword> who are newer to Puerto Vallarta might do better in either the 5 de Diciembre neighborhood, which is packed with restaurants, bars, and coffee shops; Centro, a busier and more historical neighborhood that can get noisy at night; or Zona Romantica, the oldest and most visually stunning neighborhood in Puerto Vallarta (that's also the main tourist section of the city, so expect prices to be a little higher). I've stayed in all three and had great experiences. <div type="image" title="Colorful streamers over a street in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico." height="3024" width="4032" msid="92552093" hostid="261"></div><h2>Of course, there are a few downsides</h2>For one, Puerto Vallarta does not have the most beautiful beaches in Mexico; to find those, you'll have to venture outside of the city along the southern Costalegre or up north into Riviera Nayarit. Second, it's a city that's teeming with both domestic and international tourists and there's no way to get around that — though it's unique to see how well the tourists and residents intermix with each other. What makes Puerto Vallarta such an appealing spot for <keyword id="11905566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="remote-work" source="Orion">remote work</keyword> is that while it's a beach destination, it has blossomed into such an international city that it can give people the best of both worlds. As long as I'm able to work remotely, I will always find a reason to come to Puerto Vallarta at least once a year. I'm not saying we are starting to look at real estate yet, but it certainly has been a conversation.

I live and work out of Airbnbs in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and it's paradise &mdash; here's how I stay productive while still feeling like I'm on vacation

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Electric vehicles is the only industry on track to meet climate goals by 2030, a new report found.</li><li>EVs accounted for 10% of new car sales globally in 2022, and needs to hit at least 75% by 2030.</li><li>The EV market is a rare bright spot. No other sector is on pace to cut emissions fast enough. </li></ul>A quick Google search for electric vehicles suggests a bump in the road. Some automakers are reporting slower-than-expected demand, and <a target="_blank" href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/33386970.5813/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnVzaW5lc3NpbnNpZGVyLmNvbS9nbS1kZWxheXMtbm9ydGgtYW1lcmljYW4tZXYtcHJvZHVjdGlvbi1nb2FsLWJhdHRlcmllcy0yMDIyLTEwP3V0bV9tZWRpdW09bmV3c2xldHRlciZlbWFpbD1jYm91ZHJlYXUlNDBpbnNpZGVyLmNvbSZ4PTgxMjhlMjllMzA3ZDhjMjYyMjg3MGM0M2QyZTgzMWEyMmNlNTAwOTI1NWExNTBkNTQ3MTcwMzVlOGNiMGQwYTY/628bdf90094963f5ad0eef3eB925ff214">General Motors</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/33386970.5813/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnVzaW5lc3NpbnNpZGVyLmNvbS9mb3JkLWRlbGF5cy1ldi1tYW51ZmFjdHVyaW5nLWludmVzdG1lbnQtY2Fycy10b28tZXhwZW5zaXZlLTIwMjMtMTA_dXRtX21lZGl1bT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJmVtYWlsPWNib3VkcmVhdSU0MGluc2lkZXIuY29tJng9ODEyOGUyOWUzMDdkOGMyNjIyODcwYzQzZDJlODMxYTIyY2U1MDA5MjU1YTE1MGQ1NDcxNzAzNWU4Y2IwZDBhNg/628bdf90094963f5ad0eef3eBed943fd1">Ford</a> are pushing back investments in production.But a <a target="_blank" href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/33386970.5813/aHR0cHM6Ly9maWxlcy53cmkub3JnL2Q4L3MzZnMtcHVibGljLzIwMjMtMTEvc3RhdGUtY2xpbWF0ZS1hY3Rpb24tMjAyMy5wZGY_VmVyc2lvbklkPXpwbHJweTZCc21mUm4yeTNrU0IwQkZkZndBYVR6WHNNJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09bmV3c2xldHRlciZlbWFpbD1jYm91ZHJlYXUlNDBpbnNpZGVyLmNvbSZ4PTgxMjhlMjllMzA3ZDhjMjYyMjg3MGM0M2QyZTgzMWEyMmNlNTAwOTI1NWExNTBkNTQ3MTcwMzVlOGNiMGQwYTY/628bdf90094963f5ad0eef3eB64c7c2b4">report published Tuesday</a> found that the EV sector is on track to meet 2030 targets aimed at averting the worst impacts of the climate crisis. There's no indication that any other industry — including power, buildings, agriculture, and finance — will curb greenhouse-gas emissions enough to meet 2030 targets. "This is the fourth time we're writing this report, and the first time ever we've had an indicator on track," Judit Hecke, the coauthor of the State of Climate Action 2023 and an analyst at NewClimate Institute, told Business Insider. The report, a joint effort by a coalition of groups known as Systems Change Lab, tracks 42 indicators of climate progress, including renewable energy, deforestation, and sustainable diets.Last year EVs accounted for 10% of new car sales, primarily in China, the European Union, and the US. That percentage needs to be at least 75% by the end of the decade, according to the report.Data suggests that EV sales <a target="_blank" href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/33386970.5813/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY294YXV0b2luYy5jb20vd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjMvMTAvUTMtMjAyMy1LZWxsZXktQmx1ZS1Cb29rLUVsZWN0cmljLVZlaGljbGUtU2FsZXMtUmVwb3J0LnBkZj91dG1fbWVkaXVtPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImZW1haWw9Y2JvdWRyZWF1JTQwaW5zaWRlci5jb20meD04MTI4ZTI5ZTMwN2Q4YzI2MjI4NzBjNDNkMmU4MzFhMjJjZTUwMDkyNTVhMTUwZDU0NzE3MDM1ZThjYjBkMGE2/628bdf90094963f5ad0eef3eB48208c87">are booming</a> globally this year. Kelley Blue Book found US customers bought nearly 50% more EVs as of the end of September compared to the same time last year. A similar trend <a target="_blank" href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/33386970.5813/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV1dGVycy5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvYXV0b3MtdHJhbnNwb3J0YXRpb24vZ2xvYmFsLWV2LXNhbGVzLXN0YXktc3Ryb25nLWNoaW5hLWhpdHMtcmVjb3JkLWRlc3BpdGUtZW5kLXN1YnNpZGllcy0yMDIzLTExLTE0Lz91dG1fbWVkaXVtPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImZW1haWw9Y2JvdWRyZWF1JTQwaW5zaWRlci5jb20meD04MTI4ZTI5ZTMwN2Q4YzI2MjI4NzBjNDNkMmU4MzFhMjJjZTUwMDkyNTVhMTUwZDU0NzE3MDM1ZThjYjBkMGE2/628bdf90094963f5ad0eef3eBd89bddda">is playing out in China and the EU.</a>The EV success story is due to several factors, Hecke said. Batteries are lighter, more affordable, and have longer ranges. Some countries, including the US, Norway, and China, also dole out subsidies such as tax breaks and parking discounts to EV buyers. Canada, Chile, and the EU are banning the sale of gas-powered cars in 2035, as are a handful of US states.Buying an EV is also one of the easier climate solutions to adopt."This doesn't require transformational change," Hecke said. "People like driving and can continue to do so, but feel a little bit better about themselves. It's easier to swallow than someone telling you that you can't eat meat."People still need to drive less and take more buses and trains to reduce emissions, Hecke added. That requires big investments in public transit. The report found that, collectively, countries would need to build the equivalent of three New York City transit systems a year until 2030 to meet climate goals. That said, the strength of the EV market is a rare bright spot in a week marked by warnings about how far off the world is from tackling the climate crisis. The UN on Tuesday said that emissions must be slashed by 43% this decade compared to 2019 levels, but <a target="_blank" href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/33386970.5813/aHR0cHM6Ly91bmZjY2MuaW50L25ld3MvbmV3LWFuYWx5c2lzLW9mLW5hdGlvbmFsLWNsaW1hdGUtcGxhbnMtaW5zdWZmaWNpZW50LXByb2dyZXNzLW1hZGUtY29wMjgtbXVzdC1zZXQtc3RhZ2UtZm9yLWltbWVkaWF0ZT91dG1fbWVkaXVtPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImZW1haWw9Y2JvdWRyZWF1JTQwaW5zaWRlci5jb20meD04MTI4ZTI5ZTMwN2Q4YzI2MjI4NzBjNDNkMmU4MzFhMjJjZTUwMDkyNTVhMTUwZDU0NzE3MDM1ZThjYjBkMGE2/628bdf90094963f5ad0eef3eB06831a76">national climate plans</a> will only amount to a 2% drop. The Biden administration chronicled how <a target="_blank" href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/33386970.5813/aHR0cHM6Ly9uY2EyMDIzLmdsb2JhbGNoYW5nZS5nb3YvP3V0bV9tZWRpdW09bmV3c2xldHRlciZlbWFpbD1jYm91ZHJlYXUlNDBpbnNpZGVyLmNvbSZ4PTgxMjhlMjllMzA3ZDhjMjYyMjg3MGM0M2QyZTgzMWEyMmNlNTAwOTI1NWExNTBkNTQ3MTcwMzVlOGNiMGQwYTY/628bdf90094963f5ad0eef3eBced7a75e">extreme weather in the US</a> is becoming more frequent and costly, with disasters that cause at least $1 billion in damage now occurring every three weeks on average, compared to once every four months during the 1980s.Hecke noted that even though the State of Climate Action offers a similar warning, there are signs that broader change is happening. Renewable energy is heading in the right direction, electric heat pumps are quickly replacing fossil fuel-powered home appliances in Europe, and there are many low-carbon steel projects underway.

The EV industry is the only sector in the world on track to meet global climate goals  

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Automakers are scrambling to react to a shift in demand for expensive battery-powered vehicles.</li><li>The EV segment has enjoyed a long period of exponential growth.</li></ul>Car companies talk a big game about the transition to electric cars. But behind the scenes, many of these automakers are scrambling to react to a change in demand for expensive battery-powered vehicles.Take the last few weeks for example: <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/ford-considers-cutting-shift-at-f-150-lightning-pickup-plant-uaw-memo-says-91075154" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ford temporarily dropped an F-150 Lightning production shift</a> (despite <a href="https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023/08/01/ford-restarts-expanded-rouge-electric-vehicle-center--f-150-ligh.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upping capacity for the electric pickup</a> just months earlier), and said it would renew its focus on hybrids. <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/17/gm-to-delay-ev-truck-production-at-michigan-plant.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">General Motors said it would postpone some of its electric truck production</a> by a year.All the while, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-startups-trouble-insiders-reveal-layoffs-production-manufacturing-2022-8">once bustling EV startup industry is shrinking by the day</a>, with former Wall Street darlings like Lordstown, Volta, and Lucid folding or missing predictions.Electric-car shoppers have more options than ever before, a turning point many in the industry hoped would draw more buyers away from gas-powered cars into the battery-powered segment. But the first real test of a fully-loaded EV market <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-revolution-hits-delays-production-sales-tesla-china-2023-4">isn't going so well</a>. Electric vehicle inventories are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dealers-turning-away-evs-velectric-cars-demand-cools-inventory-2023-8">building up on dealer lots</a> quickly. While the companies argue this bloat is normal for a new vehicle ramp-up, it's still <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-inventory-most-least-dealerships-availability-hyundai-kia-2023-6">taking dealers longer to sell these cars</a>, sending <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-incentives-at-dealerships-high-affordability-price-parity-2023-10">EV discounts to an all-time high</a>. "It's always been the 'build it and they will come' strategy," Vince Sheehy, a car dealer in the Washington, D.C. area, told Insider. "And they're just not coming."Sheehy, who sells a stable of brands including Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen, and GMC, says electric cars are the slowest sellers on his lots right now. He currently has enough electric cars to last for 100 days across all brands.Though the <a href="https://www.coxautoinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Q3-EV-share-chart.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EV share of some automakers' businesses is small</a>, the EV segment has been enjoying a long period of exponential growth. Hovering for years around under 1% of the total US market, EV sales hit a record of 300,000 last year and, through September 2023, the segment accounts for 9% of all sales, according to JD Power.But that pace of growth – easy to achieve in such a small segment – is showing clear signs of slowing. That begs the question as to whether automakers pushed their transition just a little early."It's not necessarily bad news, it's just a matter of, they over-anticipated," said Cameron Johnson, CEO of Magic City Auto Group, a Virginia dealership group selling mostly domestic brands. "The customer and the dealer started to say, 'Can you turn off the faucet or can you at least slow these things down?' Because they're coming so fast. We're not able to fill all the seats," he said. <h2>A perfect storm for EVs</h2>As tons of highly-anticipated electric models hit dealer lots, the entire auto industry was hit with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-loan-vehicle-shoppers-denied-what-to-do-2023-7">a wave of macroeconomic changes</a>. It's a perfect storm of headwinds for the plug-in market, with high interest rates, difficulty getting loans, and monthly payments at record highs making the already-expensive vehicles hard to justify for the average driver.Sheehy is seeing this play out on his lots. With the wealthy early adopters largely sated at this point, he says the profile of the average EV shopper has changed dramatically even in the last six months."People are no longer evaluating EVs as 'I'm gonna buy an EV, but which one?' It's, 'I'll buy an EV depending on the value proposition relative to a plug-in hybrid, a hybrid, or a traditional ICE vehicle," Sheehy said. "When you look at it that way, you almost invariably don't choose the electric vehicle."The industry is trying to react to this change, lathering on discounts and taking advantage of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-tax-credit">new federal programs</a> to bring the average price paid for an EV in September to $50,683, down from more than $65,000 a year ago. But even that is still a price point unobtainable for many, and, as automakers like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-price-cuts-ford-mach-e-discounts-angry-customers-different-approaches-2023-1">Ford and Tesla have found out</a>, price <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teslas-price-cuts-margins-ever-musk-not-giving-up2023-7">cuts cut deeply into the margins of already-unprofitable vehicles</a>. Price parity between EVs and gas-powered cars is getting closer in the luxury market, but the same can't be said yet for mass-market cars, which cost<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicles-pricing-mass-market-luxury-parity-2023-10"> an average of $16,000 more than their fossil-fueled counterparts</a>. "The one glaring issue," Eric Frehsée, president of the Tamaroff Group of dealerships said, "is frankly, the unrealistic timelines that are being set. I don't know if that means we need to change some of the timelines."<h2>Understanding the new EV shopper</h2>All of this is a sign that fully-electric cars – and even their hybrid counterparts – are likely to be relegated to the luxury and ultra-luxury segment for several years to come while the industry inches more slowly toward mass-market affordability.Stewart Stropp, executive director of EV intelligence at JD Power, said the firm is still forecasting significant increases in EV share moving forward, but the rate of that growth will depend on external factors like improvements to charging infrastructure and a proliferation of EVs that stack up more evenly against their gas-powered counterparts in terms of price and performance."Those are absolutely essential elements that need to be in place in order for us to shift out of the early adoption phase," Stropp said.High-spending, early adopters are harder to come by some 10 years after Tesla reshaped the segment. And without more affordable options, dealers told Insider they are running out of customers to pitch their electric cars to.One Ford dealer in the Midwest, who turned away Mustang Mach-E allocation earlier this year, said the electric options on his lot aren't matching up with what his customers are looking for – or even what they can afford. Fully-loaded Mach-Es sit on his lot for weeks and months at a time because customers can't justify the hefty price tag – especially while <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-3-model-y-less-than-average-gas-car-2023-10">Tesla keeps dropping its prices.</a>Martin French, managing director at automotive consultancy Berylls, says the transition to EVs is coming. But the inflection point is at least five years off because the industry still hasn't done enough to make an electric car an attractive alternative to a gas-powered car, he said."The future is definitely going to be EVs," French said, "but the future for EVs is 2030."

The auto industry overestimated EV demand this year. Now companies are scrambling.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Electric car shoppers are increasingly fickle, dealers told Insider.</li><li>The slowdown in EV demand might be worse than car companies think.</li></ul>Car dealers have a warning for their manufacturers: the days of early-adopter <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-revolution-hits-delays-production-sales-tesla-china-2023-4">electric vehicle sales are all but over</a>.For years, early EV adopters were generally an easy sale, three car dealers told Insider. These buyers arrived on car lots determined to drive off in a specific plug-in make and model.Now, electric car shoppers are more fickle. More and more often, they are comparison shopping EVs against hybrid and gas-powered vehicles, dealers said.That's leading dealers to use <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dealers-turning-away-evs-velectric-cars-demand-cools-inventory-2023-8">more aggressive sales tactics on plug-ins</a>. They warn this could make EV demand appear more robust than reality, and make it harder for car manufacturers to predict demand."Most dealers now are really pushing EVs off their lot, which probably distorts the reporting manufacturers are looking at," Vince Sheehy, a car dealer in the Washington, D.C. area, told Insider. "I think EV sales are even slower than they actually understand them to be."This warning bell from dealers is the latest sign that after years of exponential growth, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-electric-car-sales-plateau-early-adopters-competition-2023-8">electric car segment is facing a looming plateau</a>. Already, car companies seem to be reacting to changes in demand, after <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/automakers-over-estimated-electric-vehicle-demand-early-adopters-2023-10">overshooting their EV predictions for this year</a>.After hovering for years around 1% of the total US car market, EV sales have been on a tear since 2019. Last year, the segment hit a record of 300,000 units sold and EVs accounted for 9% of all sales through September of this year.Dealers like Sheehy say that pace is likely to slow as more sure-fire EV sales are harder to find. When compared to other segments, electric cars still have too many strikes against them, he said."No matter what claim somebody can make about the long-term ownership cost of a vehicle, if the entry point is $45,000-plus, that's still steep," Sheehy said. "EVs are limited in the segments they play in, too, so if you want something like a three-row you're looking at $60,000 plus before you really have any options."<h2>EV prices fell, but they're still too high</h2>Led by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teslas-price-cuts-discounts-serious-surge-in-buyer-interest-2023-1">Tesla's many price cuts this year</a>, the average price paid for a plug-in car has taken a nosedive in 2023.Last month the average electric car sold for $58,683, down more than $7,000 from the peak last summer, according to Kelley Blue Book. A new cadre of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-tax-credit">federal incentives</a> is also easing some of the financial pain, but dealers say their shoppers still can't quite make the math work as a perfect storm of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-loan-vehicle-shoppers-denied-what-to-do-2023-7">macroeconomic changes</a> have made buying a car more difficult.Cameron Johnson, CEO of Magic City Auto Group, a Virginia dealership group selling mostly domestic brands, said affordability issues hit the electric F-150 Lighting before Ford could really react. He sees the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/ford-considers-cutting-shift-at-f-150-lightning-pickup-plant-uaw-memo-says-91075154">latest production cuts</a> as a delayed reaction to canceled reservations for the truck."We had a hundred-plus reservations, and ultimately those were people that only committed a hundred dollar reservation," Johnson told Insider. "By the time it was their turn to order interest rates had moved quite substantially. The price on the vehicle had moved quite substantially and not as many people ultimately ordered the Lightning."Alexa St. John contributed reporting

It's getting harder for dealers to sell EVs. That's a bad sign for the industry.

Leading EV ride-hailing and charging provider <keyword id="9621652" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BluSmart-Mobility" source="Orion">BluSmart Mobility</keyword> on Thursday said it has raised $42 million in the recent round and will continue to build on its vision of decarbonising the future of transportation in the country. The latest round included an equity round of $37 million and venture debt of $5 million which saw participation from existing energy investors, with almost 50 per cent of the round being subscribed by the BluSmart founders and leadership team. With an all-electric ride-hailing fleet size of 3,500 EVs currently operating in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, BluSmart plans to have 10,000 EVs in FY24. "The electrification of public transportation is imminent but the path to electrification has its own challenges. BluSmart tackles these challenges through an integrated and full-stack approach, optimally using and maintaining the EV ride-hailing fleet at scale," said Anmol Singh Jaggi, Co-founder and CEO, BluSmart Mobility. BluSmart's monthly revenue has grown 3 times over the last three quarters and to scale further this funding round will be utilised to penetrate deeper into mega cities, expansion of fleet capacity to 10,000 over the next 1 year. BluSmart recently secured the largest EV asset financing of Rs 633 crore in India, backed by the Power Finance Corporation (PFC), which will add 5,000 EVs to BluSmart's growing fully-electric ride-hailing fleet. "We are focused on sustainability and profitability with a larger purpose to accelerate EV adoption and reverse climate change." said Tushar Garg, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, BluSmart Mobility. BluSmart has raised $109 million across rounds which includes an equity raise of $85 million. It has also received EV asset leasing of $150 million (Rs 1,200 crore) backed by Development Financial Institutions like PFC, IREDA among others. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hiring-in-it-companies-like-tcs-wipro-infosys-hcl-tech-plunges-by-66-in-fy23/articleshow/99960690.cms">Hiring in the IT sector plunges by 66% in FY23</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/titan-q4-net-profit-rises-50-to-734-crore-as-wedding-segment-makes-a-comeback/articleshow/99964029.cms">Titan Q4 net profit rises 50% to ₹734 crore as wedding segment makes a comeback</a>

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