Tag: EVs

China Strategically Manipulating Strategic Mineral Markets and Disadvantaging the West, Expert Says

Just the News
Mining

During a visit to Portugal, a senior U.S. official claimed that China is flooding the market in lithium as a “predatory” tactic to drive down global prices and beat back competition. If prices are low, the theory goes, it’s hard to attract investors and make mine development in the West economically attractive. 

Reuters reported Jose Fernandez, undersecretary for economic growth, energy and the environment at the U.S. Department of State said at a briefing earlier this month that China was looking at the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which provides government funding for the development of critical minerals and domestic manufacturing, and responding to the competition it may create. 

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House Votes to Ban Chinese-Based Company’s EV Batteries from Homeland Security

The Center Square

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would prohibit electric-vehicle batteries from Gotion and several other foreign companies from being used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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Commentary: Electrification Without the Infrastructure

RealClearWire
Electrical Grids

As state and federal policies mandate the electrification of virtually all end uses to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels. For example, 18 states have adopted California’s Advanced Clear Car II rules requiring increasing percentages of new vehicle sales to be EVs, reaching 100% for the 2035 model year. In 2019, New York City enacted Local Law 97, which requires all residential buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to convert to electricity by 2035. Other states, such as New Jersey seek to convert all residential heating to electricity.

Together, mandates for electric vehicles (EVs) and electrification of space and water heat will likely double electricity consumption and peak demand. Coupled with policies that mandate supplying the nation’s electricity with zero-emissions resources, notably intermittent wind and solar power, not only will electricity prices continue to increase but the ability to meet consumers’ increased demand will become more problematic.

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Ford Drops Certain Equipment Requirements for EVs as Sales Continue to Struggle

South Carolina Sun Staff
Electric Mustang

Ford Motor Company told dealers on Thursday that it was dropping certain equipment requirements to boost the sales of its struggling electric vehicle (EV) line, according to Bloomberg.

Dealers had previously needed to invest up to $1.2 million in certain equipment like chargers in order to be eligible to sell Ford’s EV line, with the change allowing all 2,800 dealerships with contracts to the company to sell EVs, according to Bloomberg. The changes to the program are intended to boost struggling sales of Ford’s EV models, which has contributed to the automaker taking a $1.3 billion loss on its EV production in just the first quarter of 2024 after selling only 10,000 vehicles.

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Commentary: The Biden EV Plan Needs American Mining

RealClearWire
Mining Work

The Biden administration has just supercharged the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. With its finalized tailpipe emissions rule, the administration expects that by 2032 70% of new U.S. car sales will be electric.

This lightning-fast transformation of the nation’s car fleet faces myriad challenges but perhaps none are greater than sourcing the minerals needed for millions of EVs and addressing the nation’s alarming reliance on Chinese-controlled mineral supply chains.  

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Biden EPA Projects Americans Wasting Billions of Dollars’ Worth of Time Charging Up EVs

South Carolina Sun Staff
EVs Charging

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is projecting that Americans could waste billions of dollars’ worth of time juicing up their electric vehicles (EVs).

As part of the Biden administration’s broader EV agenda, the EPA finalized aggressive tailpipe emissions standards on Wednesday that are designed to force manufacturers to massively increase the proportion of EVs they produce and sell. The regulatory impact analysis for that rule features estimates for costs of time spent refueling EVs over the coming decades, and the EPA is expecting that Americans will have wasted approximately $1.7 billion worth of time charging their EVs by 2055.

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Report: US EV Manufacturing Faces ‘Extinction-Level Event’

The Center Square
Electric Vehicle Factory

An Alliance for American Manufacturing report called for tariffs to protect the U.S. electric vehicle market from an “extinction-level event” caused by Chinese competitors.

The report follows Chinese EV maker BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, releasing a $14,000 EV in February that could “demolish” domestic EVs, often $40,000 more expensive.

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Mercedes-Benz Walks Back on Huge Electric Vehicle Commitment amid Slowing Demand

South Carolina Sun Staff
MB Evs

Mercedes-Benz on Thursday walked back plans to have an all-electric line-up by 2030 as consumers decline to adopt electric vehicles (EV) at the rate automakers expected.

The company has changed its expectations to have only 50% of its sales be EVs by 2030, announcing that it will be updating its current line-up featuring the internal combustion engine into the next decade, according to Mercedes-Benz in its fourth quarter report. EV sales grew 21% year-over-year in 2023, but total car sales remained relatively the same, bucking hopes that EVs would fuel growth as the automaker pushes electric models.

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Rare Earth Mineral Mines Shutter as Demand for Electric Vehicles Plummet

South Carolina Sun Staff
Ablemarle Corporation mining site

A slowdown in the growth of electric vehicle (EV) demand has led to entire mines being shut down as the supply of rare earth minerals essential for EV components exceeds demand, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Ford Lost Billions on EVs in 2023

South Carolina Sun Staff
Ford EVs

Ford lost billions of dollars on its electric vehicle (EV) product lines last year, according to corporate documents.

The company lost $4.7 billion on EVs in 2023, a greater loss than the $4.5 billion the company expected it would lose in 2023 at mid-year, according to a summary of the company’s annual earnings. The company pointed to “an extremely competitive pricing environment” as a key reason for the losses.

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