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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

New Delhi: The adoption of <keyword id="20643295" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Electric-two-wheeler" source="keywords">electric two-wheeler</keyword> vehicles in <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword> is on a gradual rise and it is expected that their share will rise to upwards of 13 per cent by 2026-27, investment banking company <keyword id="19905137" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jefferies" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Jefferies" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Jefferies">Jefferies</keyword> asserted in a report. In the financial year that ended in March 2024, the share of electric two-wheelers was at 5 per cent. Share of EVs in two-wheeler sales rose from just 0.4 per cent in 2020-21 to 5.4 per cent by early 2023, led by rising subsidies and new launches. However, Jefferies claimed that a subsequent reduction in incentives has resulted in the share remaining in the 4-7 per cent range for most of the past 24 months, despite the introduction of lower-priced vehicles by manufacturers. "We currently assume share of E2Ws rising from 5 per cent (0.9mn units) in FY24 to 7 per cent/10 per cent/13 per cent (1.4mn/2.3mn/3.4mn units) in FY25E/FY26E/FY27E, although we now see a downside risk to these estimates in the context of the new scheme targeting just 2.5mn E2Ws over two years," Jefferies said in its report released earlier this week. <keyword id="19897349" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola-Electric" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Ola Electric" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Ola Electric">Ola Electric</keyword>, which has recently become a publicly listed company, has emerged as the dominant manufacturer in India's electric two-wheelers market, said Jefferies, noting that its market share rose from 21 per cent in 2022-23 to 35 per cent in 2023-24 and further to 49 per cent in 1Q-2024-25. However, as per the Jefferies report, Ola's market share has subsequently fallen to 31 per cent in August and just 29 per cent in September (month-to-date). Bajaj, TVS and Ather, on the other hand, have gained 5-9 percentage points each since June quarter, it said. This week, the Union Cabinet has approved a scheme for the promotion of electric mobility in the country. The scheme has an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore over two years. The Cabinet's approval for the 'PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme' was based on a proposal from the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Among others, subsidies or demand incentives worth Rs 3,679 crore would be provided to incentivise e-2Ws, e-3Ws, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging EVs. The scheme will support 24.79 lakh e-2Ws, 3.16 lakh e-3Ws, and 14,028 e-buses, a release said. The Ministry of Heavy Industries is also introducing e-vouchers for EV buyers to avail of demand incentives under the scheme.

Electric two-wheeler adoption in India rising, 13% share expected by 2026-27: Jefferies

<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>Renewables can offer cheaper energy than fossil fuels, but the grid isn't designed to handle them.</li><li>We explore the places in the US making progress on this front. </li></ul>Think about the last time your <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackouts-power-outages-more-common-climate-change-electric-grid-infrastructure-2023-3">power went out</a>.Maybe a car hit an electricity-distribution pole or a falling branch took down a power line <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-from-texas-power-outage-ercot-energy-grid-winter-storm-2023-12">during a storm</a>. It probably took at least a few minutes, maybe hours, before your power turned back on.Most likely, that's because workers at your local utility first had to assess how to restore your power. Then dispatchers had to drive to the nearby switches that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-winter-storm-power-cuts-white-house-emergency-declaration-2021-2">control the flow of energy</a> and manually flip them until everyone's lights were back on.Not in Chattanooga, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-tennessee-pros-cons-nashville-memphis-chattanooga-2023-2">Tennessee</a>. Instead, software automatically sends commands to smart switches throughout the system, rerouting the flow of electricity to restore power in seconds.The electric utility in Chattanooga, EPB, has invested $280 million in creating one of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/power-smart-grid-electric-investment-save-money-prevent-blackouts-2024-4">smartest power grids</a> in the country. It has this self-healing system and manages energy more efficiently than traditional grids, reduces carbon emissions, and saves customers money on their electricity bills."They are an example of people who are looking forward to say: We see technology coming," Kevin Schneider, the chief engineer studying power systems at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, told Business Insider. "It is a challenge. It will be expensive, but we view it as less expensive and less challenging than doing nothing for the next 10 years and then trying to catch up."Nationwide, our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/power-grid-strain-home-vehicle-electrification-ai-startups-2024-3">power systems are in trouble</a>. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-laws-us-infrastructure-invest-funding-2024-3">infrastructure is aging and outdated</a>, costing consumers billions a year in higher energy bills. Moreover, the aging grid is not ready for the barrage of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-migration-where-moved-escape-natural-disasters-extreme-weather">increasingly severe weather</a> that the climate crisis is bringing, nor the incoming surge of renewable energy and battery storage as the US moves toward the Biden-Harris administration's goal to achieve a carbon-pollution-free grid by 2035."Much of our grid infrastructure is 40, 50, 60-plus years old," Joe Rand, an energy policy researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, told BI. "And so it is in need of upgrading and maintenance."Smarter grids, like Chattanooga's, are just part of what it will take to modernize the American grid in the coming decades. They can deliver electricity in a "cleaner, more efficient, faster way," Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist studying smart grids at the University of Texas at Austin, told BI.However, getting that electricity in the first place from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-green-power-energy-america-economy-wind-oil-solar-prices-2023-11">wind, solar, and other renewables</a> is where the challenge begins.<h2 id="69b81dd9-e41b-4840-b480-f88f0bf2481c">A troubled transition to renewable energy</h2><div type="image" title="giant wind turbines standing in water" height="1414" width="2121" msid="110091236" hostid="261" sizebytes="187698"></div>Last year was record-breaking for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-renewable-energy-transition-solar-electric-vehicles-hit-records-2024-2">clean energy in the US</a>. Renewables, including wind, solar, and hydropower, represented about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wri.org/insights/clean-energy-progress-united-states">25% of the electricity generated</a> in the US in the first half of 2023.And this year is off to a solid start. South Fork Wind — New York's first offshore wind farm — began powering homes in March. And the Edwards &amp; Sanborn project, the US's largest solar energy and energy storage project in California, came online in January.Renewable energy is not only cleaner than fossil fuels but also often less expensive."In many parts of the United States, wind and or solar are basically the cheapest ways that we can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-panel-industry-electricity-generation-us-eia-tariff-prices-trade-2024-2">generate electricity</a>," Rand said.But we have a long way to go to reach 100% clean electricity by 2035. Renewables are intermittent energy sources. Unlike fossil fuels, the amount of energy they generate fluctuates. But <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-funds-betting-electricity-power-grid-congestion-trading-2024-3">our grid system wasn't designed</a> to handle that variation.Plugging intermittent energy sources into this outdated grid network can cause problems, such as energy imbalances that exceed capacity and trigger outages, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.stevens.edu/profile/podonkor">Philip Odonkor</a>, an assistant professor in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology, told BI.So what's happened is a bottleneck: Renewable projects are generating energy but with limited ways of getting it to towns and cities. At the end of 2023, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/Queued%20Up%E2%80%A6But%20in%20Need%20of%20Transmission.pdf">930 gigawatts</a> of power — enough to power <a target="_blank" href="https://www.seia.org/solar-industry-research-data">roughly</a> 171 million homes — were waiting to connect to the grid.To achieve zero-emissions electricity by 2035, the US needs to revamp the grid with up to 10,100 miles of new transmission lines that can transport renewable energy from point A to point B. The Midwest grid operator, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, has approved the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/toba-pearlman/midwest-grid-operators-inching-forward-miles-go-0">country's largest transmission investment</a> to date, totaling $10.3 billion, to improve how it delivers electricity to 45 million people across the Midwest.But in general, construction on new high-voltage transmission has slowed to a trickle over the past decade, Rand said. In 2013, the US <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-05/dec-energy-infrastructure_3.pdf">completed</a> over 3,000 miles of transmission projects. Last year, it <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-december-2023">completed</a> 251 miles.It's not economic or technology barriers holding these projects back, Rand said: "It's institutional, regulatory, and social issues."<h2 id="ed839077-604c-48e7-a55c-f3e216767d9a">Breaking down barriers</h2><div type="image" title="A man walks through a power station" height="1937" width="3000" msid="110091239" hostid="261" sizebytes="1045202"></div>When South Fork Wind began operations in March, it was a major milestone but also years behind schedule. Economic headwinds struck in 2020 with the Trump administration's moratorium on offshore wind, which stalled progress for two years."The clearest delay for South Fork was losing those years of progress," said <a target="_blank" href="https://wrisenergy.org/about-wrise/leadership/board/">Julia Bovey</a>, the director of external affairs for offshore wind at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eversource.com/content/residential">Eversource Energy</a>, which co-owns South Fork Wind with <a target="_blank" href="https://us.orsted.com/?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwir2xBhC_ARIsAMTXk84wQN2zsVWYlPKJurVNpM-v2sPcNdUtPeJL5HMpCMOYQ9fYAfdwwnwaAu_mEALw_wcB">Ørsted</a>.Other obstacles stand in the way of clean energy — the biggest being the lengthy permitting process and interconnection queue delays. The permitting process for renewable-energy projects involves massive amounts of paperwork and can take <a target="_blank" href="https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2024/04/dinapoli-renewable-energy-projects-taking-years-become-operational-nys#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20the%20permit%20application,permit%20process%20is%20not%20improved">three or more years to finish</a>.In the end, about <a target="_blank" href="https://emp.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/Queued%20Up%202024%20Edition_1.pdf">80%</a> don't make it to completion, and those that do can get stuck in the clogged interconnection queue for as long as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2024/03/01/the-energy-sector-and-ai-unplugging-the-interconnection-queue-backlog/?sh=4932ad4162f4">five more years</a>. By the end of 2023, almost <a target="_blank" href="https://emp.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/Queued%20Up%202024%20Edition_1.pdf">12,000 projects</a> were in the queue, waiting to be connected to the grid."It's a seriously complex process with so many stakeholders," Bovey said.South Fork Wind was the first utility-scale offshore-wind project in the US to make it through this process. In doing so, it revealed a lot of issues that could be fixed through standardization and better agency coordination, Bovey said. But it also proved that bringing offshore wind online was possible."Every hope is that this has paved the way for future projects to be cheaper, bigger, faster, and just as responsible — just as well sited," Bovey said.On the whole, Paul Denholm, a principal analyst and senior research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is more skeptical of the country's prospects. We'll be closer to a 50% renewable-power grid by 2035 with the way things are going, he told BI.Right now, we lack the federal policy necessary to solve regulatory and permitting delays, clear the interconnection queue, and drive rapid infrastructure upgrades and technology implementation, Denholm said.For example, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator's transmission investment, while noteworthy, took 11 years to get approval, and its next series of approvals have been delayed."So from that standpoint, it's pretty clear that we're not on a path to get to 100%," Denholm said.<h2 id="a55db279-156b-40fd-940e-ba037839bbdf">There's no going back</h2><div type="image" title="An electric vehicle charges in California" height="683" width="1024" msid="110091241" hostid="261" sizebytes="41490"></div>Regardless of how quickly the US gets there, we're headed for a clean-energy revolution. The federal government has invested nearly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/infrastructure/clean-energy-infrastructure-funding-projects-and-programs">$100 billion</a> in clean energy through its Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.Old infrastructure must be modernized across the country because the production and use of energy are going to get much more complicated.Nationwide, the grid draws power from about 12,000 power plants. Over the next 20 years or so, it will have to balloon to incorporate millions of small, distributed energy-generation resources, from hydropower dams to offshore wind farms to rooftop solar panels.Then there will be the batteries, which store wind and solar energy until a rainy day. Meanwhile, newly electrified cars and heating systems will increase energy demand.Eventually, home appliances may tap into data from the grid — how much people are drawing energy from it, how much carbon it's emitting, and how much electricity costs at any given hour — to help you make smart decisions about when to wash your dishes or heat your house."Historically it was meant to go one way," Schneider said of the grid. "Now we've got solar that pushes power back in. We've got EVs. We've got new loads like heat pumps. So the edge is getting so much more complicated with a lot more stakeholders in there."Smart grids are essential for integrating all that new stuff. The rollout of smart-grid technologies, renewable projects, and new transmission lines will happen piecemeal across the country, at different paces in different places, depending on policies, utility finances, and the economy — high up-front costs can be a major deterrent. However, the return on investment can be even greater.Take Chattanooga. EPB spent $280 million to refurbish its power system with smart technologies. In its first 10 years, the project generated $2.7 billion worth of economic value by creating jobs, attracting businesses, and reducing customers' electricity bills, an EPB-funded <a target="_blank" href="https://assets.epb.com/media/Lobo%20-%20Ten%20Years%20of%20Fiber%20Infrastructure%20in%20Hamilton%20County%20TN_Published.pdf">study</a> found.MISO foresees a similar return on its $10.3 billion investment. It estimates that investment will bring <a target="_blank" href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/sam-gomberg/midwest-transmission-system-investments-will-be-a-game-changer-for-a-clean-energy-future/">$37.3 billion of value</a> for customers by transporting cheaper, more reliable power. So the benefits can outweigh the cost."As we move forward, things are becoming more complex," Schneider said. "And we need to find ways to work together collaboratively. Because no one group or organization has all the answers, it's going to be a lot of different things coming together."

What it will take to modernize the American grid and usher in the clean-energy revolution

<ul class="summary-list"><li>AI is driving a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-data-energy-centers-water-energy-land-2023-10">massive demand for electricity</a>.</li><li>Despite earlier commitments, some executives now say clean energy may not meet AI's growing needs.</li></ul>AI is driving a dramatic new need for electricity, and while tech execs have long trumpeted their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-ceo-altman-says-davos-future-ai-depends-energy-breakthrough-2024-01-16/">commitment to a green energy future</a>, the urgency of that need presents them with a difficult path forward.Questions about fueling the AI boom took center stage earlier this month at the CERAWeek by S&amp;P Global, The Wall Street Journal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/big-techs-latest-obsession-is-finding-enough-energy-f00055b2">reported</a>. The annual energy conference draws thousands of executives to Houston to discuss topics ranging from geopolitics to the energy transition.No one knows how much electricity will be needed to power the AI boom. AI requires massive computing power and energy loads and has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/data-centers-ai-artificial-intelligence-farmland-power-2023-7">triggered an explosion of data centers</a>. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-fabulous-life-of-bill-gates-2014-9">Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates</a> said at the conference that the amount of power AI is bound to consume is mind-blowing."You go, 'Oh, my God, this is going to be incredible,'" Gates reportedly said. ChatGPT alone uses <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-uses-17-thousand-times-more-electricity-than-us-household-2024-3">more than 17,000 times more electricity</a> than the average US household daily.The concern among tech execs is that the energy demands of AI will surpass the capacities of clean sources. Wind and solar power aren't reliable because they're subject to changes in weather. While nuclear facilities take years to build, so they aren't a viable option when companies need power immediately."Tech is not going to wait 7 to 10 years to get this infrastructure built," Toby Rice, the CEO of natural gas producer EQT, said in an interview with the Journal. "That leaves you with natural gas." At the conference, Rice said he was repeatedly asked two questions: "How fast can you guys move? How much gas can we get?"The problem is all the more pressing given the Biden administration's goals for lowering carbon emissions — a byproduct of burning coal and natural gas that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hidden-carbon-dioxide-soil-will-worsen-climate-change2016-11">exacerbate the climate crisis</a>. Last April, Biden set an ambitious <a target="_blank" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/20/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-catalyze-global-climate-action-through-the-major-economies-forum-on-energy-and-climate/#:~:text=Putting%20the%20Power%20Sector%20on%20a%20Path%20to%20Net%20Zero%20Emissions&amp;text=President%20Biden%20has%20set%20an,by%20no%20later%20than%202050.">target</a> for the power sector to be carbon-neutral by 2035 and for the US economy to be net-zero by 2050.Some executives were adamant that the dramatic growth in AI wouldn't impede the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-renewable-energy-transition-solar-electric-vehicles-hit-records-2024-2">clean energy transition</a>. "We're going to be net-zero by 2050. We still absolutely believe that," said Robert Blue, the CEO of Dominion Energy, the Journal reported. "But the demand growth now makes that more complicated." Blue said his company was building at least one new natural gas plant to meet demand for data centers.

AI execs who urgently need more energy to power their tech revolution are turning to fossil fuels

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The EV revolution is stalling in the US amid concerns over affordability and charging times.</li><li>Experts think battery swapping, which charges EVs in as little as five minutes, could be a solution.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-ev-sales-prices-problem-transportation-2024-1">America's EV revolution is stalling</a> — and the time it takes to charge an electric car is at the heart of the issue.Right now, charging your EV can take anywhere from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-charging-stations-explained-levels-plugs-tesla-supercharger-2022-12">20 minutes to 50 hours</a> depending on how you do it, and anxieties over range and charging are putting many drivers off going electric.Battery swapping, which sees dead EV batteries replaced with fully charged ones in a process that can take less than five minutes, might provide a solution — and it's an approach being used by one of Tesla's biggest Chinese rivals.<h2>The Tesla rival pioneering battery-swapping</h2>Founded by entrepreneur William Li — sometimes referred to as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-answer-elon-musk-explains-company-take-tesla-2018-5">"China's Elon Musk"</a> — in 2014, Nio has built a network of more than <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nio-has-developed-ev-battery-with-a-1-000km-range-2023-12">2,000 battery swap stations in China</a>.The company allows customers to buy their cars without paying for the full cost of the battery, and then charges them <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nio-china-tesla-rival-lease-batteries-separate-from-car-sales-2020-8">a monthly subscription fee</a> to simply swap out their dead batteries whenever they run out of charge.Aside from lowering the upfront cost of an electric car, Nio's battery-swapping system also has other benefits, its senior vice-president Fei Shen told Business Insider.<div type="image" title="William Li" height="1667" width="2500" msid="107385986" hostid="261" sizebytes="196144"></div>"In areas of China where battery swap stations are fairly widespread, users can upgrade their battery from 75 kilowatt hours to 100 kilowatt hours for only 50 yuan ($7) per day," he said."What we find, is that more users will buy or lease cars with the 75 kilowatt hours battery instead of this 100 kilowatt hours battery because the price is lower. When they go on long-distance journeys, like going back to their hometown, they can upgrade to a long-distance battery in one of our swap stations," he added.Nio's battery-swapping strategy has picked up traction in the fiercely competitive Chinese EV market in recent months, with the company signing deals with fellow electric vehicle makers <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nio.com/news/Geely-Holding-and-NIO-Sign-Strategic-Partnership-Agreement-on-Battery-Swapping-Technology">Geely</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nio-announces-three-strategic-partnerships-battery-swap-nio-jubdc/">JAC, and Chery</a> to jointly develop battery-swapping tech.However, it remains far more expensive than regular charging, with Shen telling BI that only around 20% of Nio's "swap stations" are breaking even, and the company has <a target="_blank" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Long-road-to-profit-for-China-s-Nio-underscores-EV-challenges">yet to make a profit</a>.Despite this, Nio is planning to significantly expand its operations, including outside China. The company has set up <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/ev-manufacturer-nio-opens-30th-battery-swap-station-in-europe">30 battery swap stations in Europe</a>, and is planning to launch <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nio-tesla-electric-car-suv-es7-stock-china-2022-6">a new range of affordable EVs</a> in an attempt to boost sales in the continent.<h2>US challenges</h2>Nio's battery swap stations — around the size of a small car wash — are unlikely to appear on US roads anytime soon, with Chinese automakers largely shut out from the US market <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-administration-considers-hiking-tariffs-on-chinese-evs-us-market-2023-12">thanks to high tariffs</a>.That's a blow for American consumers, who have begun to turn their backs on EVs <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electrc-vehicle-demand-problem-affordability-expense-price-cost-2023-10">amid a dearth of affordable options</a> and concerns over charging and range.Experts told BI that battery swapping offers a solution to many of those concerns — in theory."From a purely technological point of view, it is the panacea. It solves all of the big problems people have with EVs," said Dylan Khoo, an analyst at ABI Research.<div type="image" title="Nio battery swapping" height="1406" width="2500" msid="107385987" hostid="261" sizebytes="272696"></div>He pointed out that the most powerful plug-in battery chargers still take <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-charging-stations-explained-levels-plugs-tesla-supercharger-2022-12">20 minutes to charge an EV up to 80%</a>, with many battery swap stations able to swap in a fully charged battery under five.John Helveston, a professor of engineering at George Washington University, agreed, telling BI that a nationwide network of battery-swapping stations would effectively eradicate range anxiety and make charging an EV as simple as filling up with gas.However, he said that battery swapping faces a more challenging outlook in the US than in China, with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-wants-to-use-electric-vehicles-to-power-grid-electricity-2024-1">the sheer number of EVs being sold in China</a> meaning that automakers can build their own swapping networks without depending on striking deals with their rivals."China has such a higher scale in terms of the volumes of EVs being sold, that any one automaker making a particular vehicle, they can actually design their car to be swappable and they don't necessarily have to have a battery that works with other competitors," he said.Helveston added that China's efficient urban transport links mean there's less need for EVs to have massive range-boosting batteries than in the more scattered US, something which makes battery swapping far easier."Nobody needs to drive 300 miles in a car in China. That's sort of an insane idea. And that means you can buy a much smaller battery, which is much easier to swap," he said.<h2>Share to succeed</h2>Khoo told BI that establishing a battery-swapping network in the US would require intense collaboration between US automakers, who would have to agree to use batteries with a similar size and design."A lot of the automakers in the West are a bit more protective and defensive. They want to have a lot more ownership and they wouldn't necessarily be as comfortable with sharing this big network because the battery is really the key defining component of EVs," he said.<div type="image" title="One of Ample's white battery-swapping stations sits in a warehouse with a small black car parked inside." height="1080" width="1920" msid="107385988" hostid="261" sizebytes="121718"></div>Even Nio, which has pioneered the technology and persuaded many of its rivals to jump on board, acknowledges that it is a big leap for many automakers."Battery swapping is not a light innovation. It's a heavy innovation because battery swap is closely connected with the vehicle design and the sales model," said Dr Shen."Even in China where we have cooperated with other automakers, it's not easy for them to make the decision to work with Nio on battery swapping," he added.<h2>Potential solution</h2>One US company that says it has a solution to this problem is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-charging-electric-car-charging-network-ample-startup-fast-as-gas-2021-3">Californian startup Ample</a>.The San Francisco-based firm has developed battery swap stations that can swap in a fully charged battery in <a target="_blank" href="https://ample.com/">five minutes</a>, which the company says can be adjusted to work with any EV, regardless of battery type."If you go to an automaker and say, look, the way you work with us is to rebuild all your cars, that's a tall order," said Ample cofounder John De Souza.Ample, which in the future plans to charge users a battery subscription fee to use its swap stations, has battery swap stations operating in Spain, Japan, and California, where it has worked mainly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackstone-is-betting-50-million-on-ev-battery-swapping-2021-11">with fleet providers such as Uber</a>.The firm's approach to battery swapping is beginning to win over major automakers, with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/7/23991923/stellantis-ample-ev-battery-swap-deal-fiat-500e-spain">Stellantis striking a deal with Ample</a> to power a fleet of its Fiat 500e vehicles in Spain as part of a car-sharing service.If the partnership is successful, it could expand to the US in the future, with the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.autoweek.com/news/a46011583/2024-fiat-500e-price-features-reveal/">Fiat 500e set to launch stateside this year</a> and De Souza confirmed that the two companies are looking into extending the partnership to other markets, including the US.Ample believes this technology could help save consumers time and hassle spent at the charging pumps while also bringing the upfront cost of an EV down.That's something De Souza believes will be essential if EVs are ever going to replace gas cars in the US."The only way you're going to have this mass transition from gas to electric is if you could go through and make charging as convenient and as cheap as gas," he said.

Battery swapping is taking off in China — and it could help rescue the EV revolution in the US

<ul class="summary-list"><li>EVs are hitting the American mainstream thanks to billions of dollars of investments and incentives. </li><li>But now comes the hard part: winning over customers and beating Tesla at its own game.</li></ul>Douglas Lauw of Spring, Texas, currently drives a Tesla. Eager to continue driving electric, when he decided to make another car purchase, he sought out the next generation of electric vehicles and put down a reservation for a Rivian R1T truck. That was four years ago, and he's still without a new car. His saga, verified by Insider, is just one example of how <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-automakers-double-spending-evs-batteries-12-trillion-by-2030-2022-10-21/#:~:text=Oct%2021%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20The,projections%20released%20by%20those%20companies." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Detroit and Silicon Valley's well-funded push</a> into electric vehicles is facing more speed bumps than ever — despite dozens of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-buying-tips-electric-vehicles-pricing-americans-pickups-trucks-suvs-2023-2">new models</a> on the market, lucrative tax incentives, and massive investments in the nation's charging network.Instead, a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/toyota-electric-cars-ceo-hybrids-plug-in-silent-majority-resistance-2022-12">reality check</a> is setting in. In the United States, automakers face major headwinds as they look to establish an all-new EV supply chain, catch Tesla, and win over skeptical buyers — all on top of an increasingly negative <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-2023-indicators-unemployment-economist-who-called-2008-shepherdson-2023-4">economic backdrop</a>. "Everybody is ramping up for higher production at their plants," Sam Fiorani, forecasting VP at AutoForecast Solutions, told Insider. "But the fear of a potential recession, and the continued growth of Tesla in volume, keeps putting the squeeze on everybody."<div type="image" title="Lithium extraction" height="2382" width="3177" msid="99444229" hostid="261"></div><h2>Breaking up with China is the hard part</h2>At least $137 billion has been <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/12/30/1145844885/2022-ev-battery-plants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invested in new EV factories across the US</a> over the past five years. But not all of it has been enough to meet the stringent requirements for cars to be eligible for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to boost EV adoption and bring this new manufacturing home. "The risk is that you're not competitive if you don't comply," Caspar Rawles, the chief data officer at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said. "It still remains particularly challenging and daunting." Now, the industry's deep dependence on China in its supply chain — including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-united-states-electric-vehicle-market-share-auto-brands-pricing-2023-1">at least 70% of EV battery production</a> — and just how hard it is to break those ties, is coming to light."The epicenter of where minerals reside, where processing resides, where EV production resides, all are outside of the US," Douglas Kent, EVP of corporate and strategic alliances at the Association for Supply Chain Management, said.Try as it might, the law won't magically reduce the necessary years of construction, manufacturing, and, eventually, recycling to get enough lithium to the US. "This is a shift that doesn't move that easily," Kent added.<div type="image" title="Elon Musk speaks at the opening of a new Tesla factory." height="4480" width="5973" msid="99444232" hostid="261"></div><h2>There's still the elephant in the room: Tesla</h2>While the market leader has been losing some ground (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-market-share-car-buyers-brand-loyalty-advantages-automakers-2023-2">down to 65.4% in 2022 from 79.4% in 2020</a>) as new competitors hit the market, Tesla still has major advantages. By the time other automakers got serious about EVs, Tesla was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-10-years-ahead-of-competition-manufacturing-expert-sandy-munro-2020-10">long past its biggest manufacturing snafus</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-profitable-all-quarters-future-elon-musk-earnings-2019-1">profitability challenges</a>. Like Tesla in its infancy, other manufacturers are now experiencing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-buying-supply-chain-inventory-pricing-dealerships-auto-companies-2023-2">production shutdowns</a> (like with the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ford-extends-f-150-ev-production-halt-through-least-next-week-2023-02-15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ford Lightning</a>), many of their first EVs are being <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/automakers-ev-surge-is-everything-everywhere-all-once-2023-01-26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recalled</a>, and they're losing a lot of money (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-losing-billions-on-electric-vehicles-evs-2023-3">Ford will lose $3 billion</a> on them this year). But unlike Tesla, today's players are simultaneously fighting each other for the same supply, racing to gain market share amid increasingly viable competition and navigating a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teslas-price-cuts-discounts-serious-surge-in-buyer-interest-2023-1">newfound price war instigated by Elon Musk</a> himself. Lauw, meanwhile, tried to buy something other than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ruined-tesla-technology-ford-gm-car-companies-evs-2023-2">Tesla</a>. But, "If I see a Cybertruck is available, I'm just going to jump the ship," he said. "You can only wait so long."Other automakers' success depends on if they "can offer something different and whether they can scale quickly enough to close the gap on Tesla," Martin French, managing director at consultancy Berylls, said. "To close that gap and also remain profitable," French said, "in the next couple of years, I can't see it."<div type="image" title="A silver 2023 Toyota bZ4X AWD Limited at a charging station, from the rear." height="1334" width="1778" msid="99444234" hostid="261"></div><h2>There's no success without finding buyers </h2>Two big consumer concerns have been addressed — the types of EVs being built and availability — as more EV models and inventory hit showrooms. But <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-cars-american-buyers-still-arent-sold-charging-range-anxiety-2023-2#:~:text=The%20US%20has%20lagged%20behind,2022%2C%20growing%20substantially%20over%202021.">adoption has a long way to go</a>."You still have a consumer attitude that's not favorable to the electric vehicle," said Bill Russo, CEO of advisory firm Automobility. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-ev-tax-credit-inflation-reduction-build-back-better-tesla-2022-8">Few EVs get incentives</a> right now, and basic <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/automakers-rising-electric-vehicle-battery-costs-lithium-affordability-2022-12">supply-and-demand and economies of scale</a> mean making them isn't very cheap — forcing automakers to focus on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicles-prices-expensive-cheaper-automakers-batteries-lithium-supply-demand-2022-12">higher-margin, luxury EVs</a> for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/used-electric-car-vehicle-prices-car-buyers-incentives-2023-1">largely affluent buyers</a>. The cars went for an average price of <a href="https://mediaroom.kbb.com/2023-04-11-After-Nearly-Two-Years,-New-Vehicle-Transaction-Prices-Fall-Below-Sticker-Price-in-March-2023,-According-to-New-Data-from-Kelley-Blue-Book" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$58,940 in March</a> — and that's barely budging, despite automaker efforts to churn out more $25,000 EVs.Meanwhile, as adoption does creep up, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-charging-availability-cost-automakers-tesla-supercharger-advantage-2023-2">it's becoming clear just how bad public charging is</a> and how much automakers have kicked the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicles-charging-stations-where-to-plug-in-2030-2023-1">infrastructure</a> can down the road — resulting in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-charging-reliability-broken-stations-ev-2022-5">unreliability</a> and little money made from the venture. Like with pricing, there are solutions, like educating drivers to be comfortable with home charging and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-buying-tips-electric-vehicle-range-how-to-charge-cost-2023-2">reasonable, 300-mile-range batteries</a>.<div type="image" title="Rivian manufacturing" height="1617" width="2157" msid="99444235" hostid="261"></div><h2>The big picture</h2>The industry can't turn back now, but the shift isn't happening at full speed."The claims that the American market would be transformed by the end of the decade were built on conjecture, hype, and wishful thinking as much as on real plans," Patrick Anderson, CEO of Anderson Economic Group, said. For now, there's a lot of juggling — of supply chains, competition, and consumer demand."That's where I think the US is in a quandary: They've got to solve all those problems at the same time," Russo said. "I wouldn't say hopelessly, but we're significantly far behind."

The EV revolution has never felt farther away

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In the EV revolution, tires remain largely unchanged, posing environmental and safety issues.</li><li>A variety of startups and established firms are innovating to make tires better, cleaner, and safer.</li></ul>As auto manufacturing undergoes an EV revolution, one part of cars remains basically unchanged: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-shopping-for-ev-electric-vehicle-inspect-look-tires-2023-8">the tires.</a>That's a problem, because tires are troublesome. Drivers must keep track of their condition because driving on old, bald tires is a disaster waiting to happen.As tires wear down, they spew microparticles into the air, meaning even EVs with no tailpipe emissions are polluting as the rubber meets the road. And disposing of or recycling millions of old tires around the world is a dirty business in dire need of new solutions.We don't need to reinvent the wheel, but innovators do need to take a serious look at the tire. A variety of startups and established firms are doing just that, racing to make tires better, cleaner, and safer while improving life for drivers. Here are seven key players to watch.<h2>The Smart Tire Company</h2>Location: Los Angeles, California.Robots roving the surface of Mars need something more resilient than a typical car tire, since different planets have different atmospheres, and you can't fix a flat millions of miles from home. That's why scientists at NASA's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/glenn/2020/the-little-tires-that-could-go-to-mars">Glenn Research Center</a> are working on non-pneumatic tires that don't need to be filled with air. Their "spring tire" design uses a shape memory alloy that can deform when it drives over an obstacle like a sharp rock and then regain its shape.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.smarttirecompany.com/team">The Smart Tire Company</a> is a startup that has licensed NASA research in the hopes of developing it for commercial applications such as bicycle or automotive tires. The company was created in 2020 as part of the FedTech NASA Startup Program, and has secured a partnership with Hyundai and Kia to investigate the car tire of the future.<h2>The Tyre Collective</h2>Location: London, UKThe British company won a James Dyson award in 2020 for its clever idea to reduce pollution from tires: It would install a copper plate near the tires that is electrostatically charged by the car's battery. Tiny pieces of rubber flying off the tires are positively charged because of the friction between the rubber and the road, the company says. The plate would attract and capture most of those particles.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetyrecollective.com/">The Tyre Collective</a> wants to turn this capture process into a closed loop by using the recovered plastic to make new tires or in technologies such as 3D printing. It's supported by venture firms like the Planet Fund and partners such as Imperial College London, where the trio of founders were in school when they came up with their idea.<h2>Tyromer</h2>Location: Ontario, CanadaThere are billions of car tires rolling down the world's roads, and with tires wearing down to unsafe levels after five years or so, that's a lot of rubber to be recycled. Unfortunately, the process of vulcanizing rubber, in which it is treated with sulfur at high temperatures to create hard and tough tire rubber, is difficult to undo.<a target="_blank" href="https://tyromer.com/product/">Tyromer</a> uses an energy-efficient chemical process invented by its cofounder at the University of Waterloo in Canada to achieve the rapid devulcanization of rubber so it can be quickly returned into a reusable state the company calls Tire-Derived Polymer (TDP). Tyromer says TDP can be used in new tires or in applications such as conveyors.<h2>Robotire</h2>Location: Plymouth, MichiganRobotic arms have taken on much of the work of building cars, so why not change their tires? That was the idea behind Michigan's Robotire, which launched an automated tire changing service. A pair of mechanical arms, one on either side of the car, can scan the vehicle's VIN to access all the necessary information about how to service it, then complete the entire tire change and balance in about 25 minutes, freeing up an auto shop's human workers for other tasks.Robotire, which launched in 2019, has now installed the system at two <a target="_blank" href="https://robotire.com/robotire-launches-tire-changing-system-in-second-discount-tire-location/">Discount Tire locations</a> in Texas.<h2>Treads</h2>Location: Park City, UtahEvery industry seemingly has a monthly subscription service, and tires are no exception. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.treads.app/">Treads</a> charges a monthly fee starting at $30, delivering to its customers new tires when they need them plus a variety of other services including tire rotations, repair, and roadside assistance. For eco-minded users, Treads promises to recycle all your old tires and donate a percentage of profits to atmospheric carbon removal.Helpfully, the app tracks the time and mileage statistics for a set of tires so users don't have to remember whether their rubber quartet is due for rotation or replacement.<h2>TyreFlow</h2>Location: Lancaster, PennsylvaniaAccording to Pennsylvania-based <a target="_blank" href="https://tyreflow.com/">TyreFlow</a>, only about 30 percent of U.S. tires are recycled — the rest are burned for fuel or thrown into landfills. The company aims to change that by integrating the entire process of recycling old tires, from sourcing them from auto repair shops to processing them into materials that can be easily reused by industry.For example, TyreFlow says it can process tire rubber into <a target="_blank" href="https://recovered-carbon-black.com/en/">carbon black</a> — a material used to make new car tires and also in a variety of other applications, such as a pigment for black electronic devices —while creating far fewer carbon emissions compared to creating virgin carbon black.<h2>Sailun</h2>Location: ChinaSailun is not a startup, but an established Chinese tire company. However, it is one of the first tire providers to sell a product made specifically with electric vehicles in mind. Sailun says the rubber compound in its <a target="_blank" href="https://erangetires.com/en/?rdt_cid=3811437342093162855">ERange</a> electric vehicle tires has a lower rolling resistance compared to ordinary tires. That means less wasted energy as the car rolls down the road, which extends an EV's range. The company also claims to have achieved better load-bearing capacity in the ERange line to account for the fact that EVs, because of their large batteries, tend to be heavy.Andrew Moseman is a freelance writer for Insider.

EVs need new and improved tires. These 7 companies are reinventing them for the electric era.

<keyword id="6354671" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="foxconn" source="Orion">Foxconn</keyword> will integrate <keyword id="113675" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nvidia" source="Orion">Nvidia</keyword> technology to develop a new class of data centers powering a wide range of applications - including digitalisation of manufacturing and inspection workflows, development of <keyword id="6355999" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI" source="Orion">AI</keyword>-powered electric vehicle and robotics platforms, and a growing number of language-based generative AI services. "Most importantly, Nvidia and Foxconn are building these factories together. We will be helping the whole industry move much faster into the new AI era," said Foxconn Chairman and CEO, <keyword id="1699278" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="young-liu" source="Orion">Young Liu</keyword>. Huang said that a new type of manufacturing has emerged - the production of intelligence. "And the data centres that produce it are AI factories. Foxconn, the world's largest manufacturer, has the expertise and scale to build AI factories globally. We are delighted to expand our decade-long partnership with Foxconn to accelerate the AI industrial revolution," he added at the fourth annual Hon Hai Tech Day in Taiwan. Working closely with Nvidia, Foxconn is expected to build a large number of systems based on Nvidia CPUs, GPUs and networking for its global customer base, which is looking to create and operate their own AI factories, optimised with Nvidia AI Enterprise software. An AI factory with these Nvidia platforms can give Foxconn the ability to accomplish AI training and inference, enhance factory workflows and run simulations in the virtual world before deployment in the physical world. Simulating the entire robotics and automation pipeline from end to end provides Foxconn with a path to operational efficiency gains, saving time and costs. Huang joined Liu to also unveil the latest in their ongoing partnership to develop the next wave of intelligent electric vehicle (EV) platforms for the global automotive market. This latest move will help Foxconn realise its EV vision with a range of Nvidia DRIVE solutions. In addition, Foxconn will be a contract manufacturer of highly automated and autonomous, AI-rich EVs featuring the upcoming Nvidia DRIVE Hyperion 9 platform, which includes DRIVE Thor and a state-of-the-art sensor architecture.

Foxconn will build AI factories with Nvidia chips, software

<ul class="summary-list"><li>There's been a lot of chatter about buyer appetite for electric vehicles winding down. </li><li>Ford and GM have both cut back spending on their ambitious EV projects. </li></ul>Particularly for longtime EV skeptics, it'd be easy to interpret all the recent talk of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/automakers-over-estimated-electric-vehicle-demand-early-adopters-2023-10">slowing demand for electric cars</a> as a scathing indictment of the technology.But EVs don't have a demand problem. They have an affordability problem.Surveys show there are plenty of people out there who are curious — enthusiastic, even — about going electric. But enthusiasm only gets you so far when snapping up a new EV costs over $50,000 on average. Affordability is only becoming more crucial amid a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-electric-car-sales-plateau-early-adopters-competition-2023-8">dwindling supply of early adopters</a> willing to pay up to participate in the EV revolution.Mike Austin, an EV-industry analyst at Guidehouse Insights, told Insider the market has hit a "trough" in the adoption curve that lies between fanatical early adopters and mainstream customers."There's a sort of gap in between before a product really takes off," he said. "We're running out of people that want to spend $60,000-plus on a car or are willing to stretch to get it."Likewise, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-sales-getting-tougher-car-dealers-say-2023-10">dealers say the buyer demographics for EVs have shifted lately</a> — from die-hard fans dead-set on electric propulsion to everyday customers who are weighing their options between EVs, hybrids, and gasoline cars. Lots of those people can't justify the extra upfront cost of going fully electric, the dealers said.That all makes sense. There's a limited number of people interested in taking a gamble on an emerging technology. Even fewer people are willing to pay extra for the privilege. And right now, that's the offer on the table.<h2>Carmakers are pumping the brakes on EVs</h2>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/auto-executives-coming-clean-evs-arent-working-2023-10">shift in tone and strategy</a> from some of the automakers most bullish about an electric future has been swift and sharp.Ford is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-delays-ev-manufacturing-investment-cars-too-expensive-2023-10">pumping the brakes on $12 billion in planned EV investments</a>, including a battery factory. General Motors nixed its target of building 400,000 EVs by the middle of 2024 and delayed the opening of a revamped factory that will produce electric GMC and Chevrolet trucks.Both said they were responding to slower-than-expected growth in EV demand.It's true that EV demand has shown signs of a slowdown. Although US sales of electric cars have exploded in recent years, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/q3-2023-ev-sales/">increasing for 13 quarters straight</a>, the rate of that growth has tapered slightly. That's pushed some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dealers-turning-away-evs-velectric-cars-demand-cools-inventory-2023-8">dealers to turn away some EV allocations </a>and forced automakers to pile on incentives to keep vehicles selling.<h2>The EV affordability issue</h2>Still, it's important to remember that the EV segment is a budding market with few options that mostly skew higher-end. A large portion of battery-powered models available in the US are sold by luxury brands like Audi, Porsche, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mercedes-benz-eqe-electric-suv-review-tesla-model-x-2023-9">Mercedes-Benz</a>.Meanwhile, EVs from mainstream brands aren't as affordable as their gasoline equivalents. A moderately optioned Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV costs at least $50,000, while an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-f150-lightning-platinum-electric-pickup-truck-review-photos-2023-10">electric F-150 pickup</a> with the larger battery pack (which you probably want) costs $70,000. Toyota's lone electric model, the $42,000 bZ4X SUV, will run you some $14,000 more than a trusty RAV4.Variety is lacking, too. For example, there isn't a single full-size electric SUV with three rows on offer from a mainstream brand.<div type="image" title="A blue Ford F-150 Lightning on a multi-lane street." height="1901" width="3048" msid="104867404" hostid="261" sizebytes="493140"></div>As automakers work through the immense costs of scaling up new production lines and developing new products, Americans have been left with scant electric options in the sub-$40,000 range and fewer that one could consider genuinely affordable. (Tesla's aggressive markdowns over the last year have helped, but the average price paid for an EV in September remained out of reach of most consumers at $50,683, per <a target="_blank" href="https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/kbb-atp-september-2023/#:~:text=Electric%20Vehicle%20Prices%20Continue%20to%20Decline&amp;text=In%20September%2C%20the%20average%20price,%25%20of%20ATP%2C%20or%20%244%2C991.">Kelley Blue Book</a>.)On top of it all, inflated interest rates are driving monthly loan payments to eye-watering levels. In short, there may be plenty of demand for EVs from people who simply can't afford one they like — or don't like any they can afford. Indeed, surveys of potential car buyers show that while <a target="_blank" href="https://escalent.co/news/connected-vehicle-technology-is-becoming-key-selling-point-for-battery-electric-vehicle-adoption/">roughly a quarter of Americans say they are very likely to buy an EV</a> as their next car, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-divided-electric-cars-jd-power-study-2023-5">lack of affordability</a> remains a major deterrent.Ford acknowledged as much, saying that "many North America customers interested in buying EVs are unwilling to pay premiums for them over gas or hybrid vehicles."<div type="image" title="The Volvo EX30, which has been parked in an exhibition space marked with a white line." height="1667" width="2500" msid="104867405" hostid="261" sizebytes="96920"></div>And yet, there isn't exactly a rush to provide buyers with cheaper options. GM and Honda recently ditched a $5 billion plan to co-develop low-priced EVs. Ford's solution to the demand issue was to announce a new, $70,000 version of the F-150 Lightning pickup. Tesla said it's slowing its roll on a new factory in Mexico that's set to produce its cheaper-to-build, next-generation vehicles."At the same time as they decry a lack of demand, OEMs are scrapping or delaying plans for lower priced, budget EVs, making this effectively a self-fulfilling prophecy," Liz Najman, a researcher at Recurrent, which tracks the used EV market and provides battery-health reports, told Insider in an email.To be sure, there are some bright spots.GM is proceeding with a new version of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chevy-bolt-ev-euv-cheapest-electric-car-discontinued-dead-2023-4">economical and popular Chevy Bolt</a> after announcing plans to discontinue the model earlier this year. Hyundai, owner of the Kia and Genesis brands, said it won't delay future EVs. Volvo said it plans to expand production of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/volvo-ex30-electric-suv-tesla-rival-photos-2023-7">EX30, a small $35,000 SUV</a> that's coming to the US in 2024.

You Searched For "PM Electric Drive Revolution" and got 10 results

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