Electric Vehicles

OSHAWA, ON, July 29, 2021 /CNW/ – The Government of Canada is making it easier for Canadians to drive electric — transforming the way Canadians get to where they need to go.

Today, as part of #EVWeekinCanada, Ryan Turnbull, Member of Parliament for Whitby, on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, announced a $50,000 investment to Oshawa Power to support a dynamic zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) virtual showroom to raise public awareness about ZEVs and their role in the transition to a clean energy future.

The project, which supports the Durham Community Energy Plan and the Electric Vehicle Joint Venture, will include the activation of Plug’n Drive‘s Mobile EV Education Trailer (MEET), ZEV testimonials from EV Society volunteers, and information booths from the municipalities and electric utilities of Durham Region to encourage ZEV awareness, education and uptake.

Federal funding for this initiative is provided through Natural Resources Canada’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Awareness Initiative.

Since 2015, Canada has made a historic investment of over $1 billion so far to make EVs more affordable and charging infrastructure more locally accessible. These investments are building a coast-to-coast network of fast chargers and installing chargers in local areas where Canadians live, work and play. The government also provides incentives of up to $5,000 to help Canadians buy EVs and full tax write-offs for businesses purchasing them.

These investments support Canada’s new mandatory target of 100-percent zero-emission light-duty vehicle sales by 2035. Driving down transportation emissions is critical to achieving Canada’s ambitious climate change targets and requires a combination of investments and regulations to support Canadians and industry in this transition.

The government supports green infrastructure projects that create good, middle-class jobs and get us to net-zero emissions by 2050.

Story continues

Quotes

“We’re giving Canadians the greener options they want to get to where they need to go. We’re building a coast-to-coast network of electric vehicle charging stations from St. John’s to Victoria, and now we’re raising ZEV awareness right here in Oshawa. This is how we get to net-zero by 2050.”

The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr.
Minister of Natural Resources

“We know the transition to a clean energy future can’t wait. It’s time to shift our consumption patterns and lifestyles to reflect our commitment to a sustainable society. The Government of Canada is committed to making these responsible and green lifestyle choices easier for Canadians. To make this happen we are investing in Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, manufacturing, advanced battery cell technology and offering federal incentives for EV purchasing. An integral part of a clean energy future is raising awareness around EVs and the many benefits they provide, and that’s why I’m excited by this local investment in the EV Showroom here in Durham Region.”

Ryan Turnbull
Member of Parliament for Whitby

Quick Facts

• Transportation accounts for 25 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

• There are over 6,000 publically accessible charging stations across Canada, compared with approximately 12,000 gas stations.

• Investments in charging infrastructure made so far will result in more than 17,000 new charging stations available to Canadians.

• There are more than 50 models of zero-emission vehicles Canadians can choose from to make greener transportation choices.

Related Links

Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan)

SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2021/29/c5764.html

LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) – Lloyd’s of London plans to develop insurance products for electric vehicles and hydrogen as part of its efforts to fight climate change, the specialist insurance market said on Thursday.

Lloyd’s published a climate action road map to speed the move to a net zero world through its leadership of an insurance task force launched last month with Britain’s Prince Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI). read more

“There is an ever-more pressing need for a coordinated global effort across industries to effect the monumental transformation needed to address the climate challenge,” Bruce Carnegie-Brown, chair of Lloyd’s and of the SMI Insurance Task Force said in a statement.

Lloyd’s and other insurers were aiming to “drive action towards a more sustainable world”, Carnegie-Brown added.

Lloyd’s will design insurance for electric vehicles which will cover a breakdown in internet connections, and look at ways to insure hydrogen transportation, it said in a report.

Lloyd’s, which has around 100 syndicate members, issued its first environmental, social and governance strategy last year, scaling back its exposure to coal and tar sands. read more

Reporting by Carolyn Cohn
Editing by Alistair Bell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON – The nation’s aging power grid and burgeoning clean energy sector are set to get major boosts under a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure deal reached by the Senate and the White House.

Although details of what’s in the deal are still scarce, the agreement includes $73 billion to expand clean sources of energy and the ability to move it from place to place, in what the White House calls the “single largest investment in clean energy transmission in American history.” It includes an additional $7.5 billion to build out electric vehicle charging stations across the U.S. as the nation seeks to wean itself from gas-guzzling cars and trucks.

At the same time, the deal will clear away major impediments to adopting clean energy and work to cut red tape that has complicated efforts to build sorely needed new power lines, according to a White House description of the agreement.

It’s a far cry from the eye-popping numbers President Joe Biden initially proposed in March in his American Jobs Plan, which included $100 billion for the power grid, $174 billion for electric vehicles and $46 billion for clean energy manufacturing. But Democrats are expected to shoehorn much of the spending left out of the bipartisan deal into their separate, $3.5 billion spending bill they plan to pass without Republican support.

A look at the clean energy provisions in the bipartisan deal:

Two of the biggest energy challenges – resilience and emissions – both depend on a common factor: the energy grid.

The more reliably interconnected the electricity network is, the better any region can handle disruptions that affect local own power-generating abilities. This year’s electricity crisis in Texas illustrated how the state’s isolation from other power sources has left it with insufficient backup if things go wrong.

Transmission lines are also critical to widespread adoption of renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal. Fossil fuel plants like coal and natural gas can generally be built close to where the electricity will be used. But clean energy often must be transported long distances to communities from parts of the country where, for example, it’s windy or sunny.

That requires new high-voltage transmission lines – and the White House says the $73 billion investment will include building “thousands of miles of new, resilient transmission lines” to help expand renewable energy.

Another huge obstacle to construction new power lines is the endless red tape and finding sites where you can get permissions to build, power industry analysts say.

Unlike with interstate oil or gas pipelines, there’s no single, federal authority you can apply to for permission to build power lines. Long-distance, high-voltage lines cross multiple states, municipalities and other jurisdictions that all may require different permits – or not grant them at all.

The bipartisan deal will create a new federal entity, called a Grid Deployment Authority, to “finance and encourage the development of high-voltage transmission lines,” the White House says. Housed within the Energy Department, the authority will make use of existing public property –highways, roads and railways – to secure rights-of-way for new power lines.

The $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charger stations is the first such investment by the federal government, the Biden administration says. But it’s less than 5 percent of the amount Biden initially said was needed to meet his goal of erecting a half-million charger stations across the country.

Consumers regularly cite “range anxiety” – the fear that an electric vehicle will run out of charge before they can recharge it – as a key reason they’ve waited to go electric. The White House says the funding will be focused on deploying chargers along highways, within communities and in places that are “rural, disadvantaged and hard-to-reach.”

The infrastructure deal also seeks to speed up development of smart grids, advanced transmission and “next-generation technologies,” although it’s not immediately clear exactly how much funding will be dedicated to those priorities or how it will be spent.

Notably, the White House singled out several technologies that would be prioritized that are generally considered “clean,” but not “renewable.” That means they produce less or no greenhouse gas emissions, but still use up a fuel that doesn’t exist in endless amounts, like the sun and wind.

Among them: Advanced nuclear reactors, as well as carbon capture, an emerging but expensive technology that seeks to capture carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal or natural gas and store it before it can enter the atmosphere. The administration also said the deal includes “clean hydrogen,” in which renewable electricity is used to create hydrogen gas that can then be burned with almost no emissions.

Longmont on Sunday will resume its $1 hourly fee for people charging their electric vehicles at municipal charging stations.

Resumption of the charge at city-owned stations follows two years of free service at those stations, Longmont Power and Communications officials said in a Wednesday news release.

Revenue from the fee will cover maintenance and operations costs for the five city-owned stations and allow Longmont to gradually invest in further electric vehicle infrastructure over time. Last year’s usage, which typically ran between 300 and 400 charging sessions per month would have generated $12,000 in fees.

Longmont Power and Communications PC first waived the charging fee in August 2019 after replacing its EV stations with newer ChargePoint sites.

Longmont Power and Communications Executive Director Dave Hornbacher said in Wednesday’s news release that the intent was to introduce Longmont to the new stations and encourage their use.

“We’ve been pleased to see our residents take advantage of these stations, which is another step towards reducing Longmont’s overall greenhouse gas production and creating a more sustainable community,” Hornbacher said. “This nominal fee will help ensure we can continue to offer this service and even expand it.”

Longmont City Council members unanimously declared their support during an April 20 study session for resuming collecting the $1 hourly fee.

Longmont now operates five city-owned charging stations, the most recent of which opened in September 2020.

City staff told the council in April that in 2020, 342 unique users used the five stations, with 3,714 individual charging sessions. More than 43,000 kilowatt hours of electricity were used to charge EVs at those stations. The average length of charging time at a city public EV station was three to four hours, and staff said a total of 17.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent was saved by having EVs charge at the stations.

The  charging stations can be found at:

• The parking lot west of Kimbark Street between Third and Fourth avenues, outside the Development Services Center. .
• The Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road.
• The Longmont Library garage on the west side of the 400 block of Emery Street.
• The Longmont Service Center, 1100 S. Sherman St.
• The St. Vrain Memorial Building, 700 Longs Peak Ave.

More information about the chargers can be found online by going to longmontcolorado.gov/lpc and selecting “Electric Service” and “Electric Vehicle Charging Stations.”

Electric-vehicle charging is going through “hyperbolic growth” as a combination of government policy and market forces accelerates EV adoption, and one public company may lead the way in that infrastructure buildout.

That’s from Chris McNally at Evercore ISI, who started coverage of EVgo Inc.
EVGO,
+7.46%
with the equivalent of a buy rating and a price target of $18, representing a 56% upside from Wednesday prices.

DETROIT, July 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Current Dealers, a company that provides solutions for electric vehicle charging and solar power is starting off on the right foot in showing its commitment to sustainability. This week, owners Will McCoy and Sal Estrada purchased their first fleet vehicle, a Chevrolet Bolt EUV from Heidebreicht Chevrolet in Romeo, Michigan. “Sustainability and e-mobility are two very important agendas to us. We are making our first company car and EV, the Chevrolet Bolt EUV.”, relates McCoy. Organizations like Current Dealers are taking big leaps in demonstrating social responsibility when it comes to the environment. Let’s explore some advantages to companies who decide to purchase fleet EVs.

Reduced Fleet Cost
With gas prices showing no sign of going down anytime soon, the cost to fuel a fleet vehicle is a significant expense to companies. According to Car and Driver who did a direct comparison of a Mini Cooper EV (Electric Vehicle) versus a Mini Cooper ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), the cost to fuel both vehicles to 45,000 miles is as follows Mini EV: $1,939 and Mini ICE: $4,478.

Typically, fleet vehicles are driven more often than the average personal vehicle. This means there will be maintenance needed over the life of the vehicle. In the same study completed by Car and Driver maintenance on the Mini EV was $2,970 and the Mini ICE was $3,839 over the course of 45,000 miles. Although there are manufacturer warranties on both vehicles, it is still important to get a cost analysis as if it were not. This is because if you were to keep the vehicle past the warranty period, this cost could greatly affect profits.

There are also tax benefits to companies who purchase EVs. These may include both federal and state credits that can offset the price of an electric vehicle by 20% or more in some cases.

Increased Brand Image
Sustainability and the initiatives surrounding it are popular with both the public and private sectors. Companies such as Novartis are teaming up with EV charging manufacturers like Enel X’s Juicebox to transition their entire fleet of vehicles into Hybrids and EVs. “This project, which has been made possible by our partnership with Enel X, represents a further strengthening of Novartis’s commitment to sustainability,” said Pasquale Frega, Country President and Managing Director of Novartis in Italy.

Organizations like Current Dealers and Novartis understand that making a pledge to sustainability and e-mobility is good for the environment and demonstrates a commitment to an all-electric future. This in turn increases their brand image in the minds of consumers and partners. With the increased brand image, also comes employee loyalty to the organization. According to PR Daily, ‘83% of Millennials want to work for brands that align with their values.’ By clear actions toward e-mobility and sustainability companies tell their employees, that they care about their future. In turn, the staff feels inclined to act as brand ambassadors for the organization.

Clearly, companies Current Dealers who invest in e-mobility and sustainability are on the right path.

Media contact:
Eloi Fulclan
[email protected] 
313-998-3033

SOURCE Current Dealers

July 28 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) showed signs this week of divergent strategies in the world’s two biggest automotive markets, raising prices to boost profit margins in the United States while keeping prices steady in China and hoping to grow sales there.

Tesla raised prices for the most affordable versions of Model 3 and Model Y about a dozen times this year in the United States, according data tracked by Reuters. At the same time, Tesla recently introduced an affordable Model Y version in China, where it refrained from price cuts. read more

Tesla posted record vehicle deliveries in the second quarter, and the price increases in North America boosted quarterly profits to a record. read more

But in China, the world’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) market, Tesla faces fierce competition from local rivals and problems that include product recalls, high-profile protests by consumers and pressure from regulators.

Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said introduction of the lower-priced Model Y in China “may make sustained margin improvement difficult” for Tesla and raises questions about “the health of Chinese demand.”

A study by Bernstein analysts found Tesla owners in China were less enthusiastic and had lower repurchase intentions than owners in the United States and Europe.

Tesla raised prices for Model Y Long Range at least six times in the United States this year, bumping by $5,500 to $53,990. In China, the world’s most valuable carmaker raised prices of the Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan only once this year.

The Model Y version a price tag of 276,000 yuan ($42,393.71). The company also has launched promotional campaigns in China such as loan offers.

“I think Tesla is looking to be as competitive as it can be in China. Lower prices will be a part of that aggressive market positioning,” Roth Capital Partners analyst Craig Irwin said. “There is a very large difference in battery prices in the U.S. and China, as well as local vehicle manufacturing costs.”

Tesla started production at its Shanghai factory in late 2019. It has boosted sourcing of cheaper local components, including batteries from China’s CATL (300750.SZ) and LG’s (051910.KS) Chinese factory.

“It wasn’t so long ago that the group was trimming prices in the U.S. to gain scale and maximize profitability, and it feels like we’re now seeing that in China too,” Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nicholas Hyett said.

The low cost of producing local EVs in China would have a lasting effect for Tesla, said Gene Munster at Loup Ventures.

“Teslas are on average 3x the cost of a typical EV made in China. So they have to be priced less than the US to compete,” Munster said. “Prices of Teslas in China will be below rest of the world for the next decade.”

Tesla also cut costs and boosted margins in the U.S. market by getting rid of some parts like a radar sensor and lumbar support. read more

CHINA MARKET SHARE SLIPS

In China, Tesla’s share slipped to 11% in the battery electric vehicle market, which excludes plug-in hybrid cars, in the second quarter from 18% a year earlier, according to GLJ research. But data from Morgan Stanley showed Tesla still held a U.S. battery electric market share of nearly 70% as of February, although that was down from 81% a year earlier.

China accounts for 44% of the global EV market, a much bigger share than the 17% held by the United States.

In China, Tesla faces competition from electric vehicle makers like Nio Inc (NIO.N) and Xpeng Inc (9868.HK). In the United States, Tesla’s brand is stronger and its main rivals are legacy automakers like Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N), which generate only a fraction of their sales from EVs.

GLOBAL CHIP SHORTAGE

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reiterated that the company’s mission is to make electric cars affordable, and has blamed vehicle price increases on a shortage of chips and raw materials.

Tesla is coping with the chip shortage by using alternative chips and rewriting software, Musk said.

He provided a cautious outlook for chip shortage. “It does seem like it’s getting better,” he said on the second-quarter earnings call, but added: “it’s hard to predict.”

($1 = 6.5104 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Reporting by Eva Mathews, Subrat Patnaik and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley, California; Editing by Peter Henderson, David Gregorio and Gerry Doyle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Regulatory News:

TotalEnergies (Paris:TTE) (LSE:TTE) (NYSE:TTE) has signed with Bolloré Group for the acquisition of ‘Blue Charge’. Upon the approval of the relevant authorities, TotalEnergies will manage and operate the largest electric vehicle charging network in Singapore, with more than 1,500 charge points installed in the city-state.

 
This urban charging network represents around 85% of the charge points currently under operation in Singapore, accessible to electric vehicles’ owners as well as to the carsharing solution BlueSG.
 
This network has been developed with the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA) and with other partners from both public and private sectors. Local growth perspectives for electric mobility are powered by the ambition of Singapore to massively develop the charging infrastructure as part of its Green Plan 2030, which includes a target to reach 60,000 charge points by the end of the decade.
 
“With this acquisition, TotalEnergies is pursuing its transformation and adds a new name on the list of global cities, such as Paris, Amsterdam, London and Brussels, where the Company is already developing its EV charge points installing and operating activities. We are committed to provide the customer experience and services in line with our future users’ expectations.” declared Alexis Vovk, President Marketing & Services at TotalEnergies. “This urban charging network is also a key initiative for TotalEnergies in Asia-Pacific, a region where the development of electric mobility is a major challenge, deeply linked to the energy transition. We will do our intended best to make it a showcase of our expertise in this field.”
 
Commenting on the announcement, Ting Wee Liang, President of TotalEnergies Asia Pacific & Middle East – Marketing & Services, based in Singapore, added: “TotalEnergies is excited to enter the Singapore market to contribute towards the development of cleaner and reliable mobility solutions in the country. Today’s announcement also signals our ambition to actively participate in the Singapore Green Plan, to forge key partnerships and to accelerate developments in the region, using Singapore as a strategic launchpad.”
 
____
 
About TotalEnergies in Singapore
 
Present in Singapore for almost 40 years with around 600 staff, TotalEnergies has activities ranging from regional headquarters, manufacturing, and research & development. Business divisions represented include Exploration & Production, Gas Renewables & Power, Marketing & Services (including the Company’s largest lubricants plant and the global headquarters of TotalEnergies Marine Fuels, located in Singapore) and Trading & Shipping. Singapore also houses a Research & Development centre of Hutchinson and Saft batteries’ activities.
 
About TotalEnergies
 
TotalEnergies is a broad energy company that produces and markets energies on a global scale: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our 105,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, clean, reliable and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people.
 
Cautionary Note
 
This press release, from which no legal consequences may be drawn, is for information purposes only. The entities in which TotalEnergies SE directly or indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. TotalEnergies SE has no liability for their acts or omissions. The terms “Company” or “TotalEnergies company” refer collectively to the company TotalEnergies SE and the companies it controls directly or indirectly. Such terms are used solely for the sake of convenience for purposes of the present communication. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” may also be used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. This document may contain forward-looking information and statements that are based on a number of economic data and assumptions made in a given economic, competitive and regulatory environment. They may prove to be inaccurate in the future and are subject to a number of risk factors. Neither TotalEnergies SE nor any of its subsidiaries assumes any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information or statement, objectives or trends contained in this document whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
 
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210727006250/en/
CONTACT:
TotalEnergies Contacts
Media Relations: +33 1 47 44 46 99 l presse@totalenergies.com l
@TotalEnergiesPR
Investor Relations: +44 (0)207 719 7962 l ir@totalenergies.com
SOURCE: TOTALENERGIES SE Copyright Business Wire 2021