It’s March. Time to start some Spring cleaning. Right?
Speaking of cleaning, we cleaned up our website where we’ll be posting daily articles. We’re still making tweaks, but we’re getting there.
Let’s get into the news!
“I wanna be married and have 100 kids so I can have 100 friends and no one can say ‘no’ to being my friend.”
-Michael Scott
Quiz
What % of EV buyers are women?
- 17.5%
- 35.5%
- 40.0%
- 28.5%
EV Headlines
During Tesla’s Investor Day, Tom Zhu, Tesla's manufacturing leader, proudly declared that the company had produced a whopping 4 million cars in total, with a fascinating disparity in the time taken for each million produced: 12 years for the first million, 18 months for the second million, and a mere 11 months for the third million and less than 7 months fourth million. Zhu attributes this remarkable operational efficiency to the company's well-planned manufacturing changes, as Tesla continues to plan new car and battery cell factories, while also ramping up production at its existing factories.
Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla's charging leader, revealed that the company provided 9 terawatt hours of charging in 2022, using a variety of methods, including over 40,000 Superchargers installed for home charging, and noted that half of the company's Superchargers in the EU are open to non-Tesla vehicles, with 10 new Superchargers recently opened in the US for the same purpose.
Tesla's powertrain VP, Colin Campbell, provided some intriguing insights, including the company's plans for a new type of drive unit that would be compatible with any battery cell type, and the development of a motor that doesn't require rare earth metals, as well as announcing that Tesla's next powertrain factory would be 50% smaller than the one in Austin, Texas, but with the same capacity. If that’s not enough, Tesla is also planning on building a factory in Monterrey, Mexico. Pheeewwww!
In Other EV News
- The USPS has awarded contracts to purchase 9,250 Ford E-Transit Battery Electric Vehicles and over 14,000 charging stations. The move is consistent with USPS's vehicle electrification strategy, which aims to acquire a 75% electric fleet of Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs) over the next five years and a 100% electric fleet after 2026.
- Stellantis has announced a $155 million investment in three Kokomo, Indiana plants to produce new electric drive modules (EDM) that will power future electric vehicles assembled in North America. The EDM will be integrated into vehicles designed on the STLA Large and STLA Frame platforms and will consist of three main components - the electric motor, power electronics, and transmission.
- On Monday, Fisker declared it had spent less money than anticipated in 2022. Moreover, it announced that it is still on track to begin deliveries of its Ocean SUV in the upcoming spring and to manufacture more than 40,000 vehicles in 2023.
- There is good news for low-income households looking to purchase electric vehicles, with more federal and state money available than ever before. In California, government incentives for some buyers can reach $27,000.
- Audi is considering building an EV factory in the US, following the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) last August, which encourages domestic EV production. Audi CEO Markus Duesmann stated that the IRA has made building a US plant for electric cars "very attractive," adding that if Audi does build EVs in the US, it would probably be at a joint plant with the Volkswagen Group.
Ned’s Corner
The difference in size and structure between the two charging options here (1st pic) is striking. Did you even see the plug-in DC charging stations at first glance?
Obviously the panto-down tower has the big huge advantage of eliminating the step to plug-in, which is necessary for on-route charging and does keep cords and dispensers off the floor. It's a good option for many situations. I think it will remain a complement to plug-in charging (for buses/trucks) and not a replacement.
About Ned
Ned is an EV professional with experience with chargers from 1 to 500kW and EVs ranging from unicycles to buses and class 8 trucks. An EV owner since 2014, he is currently a Technical Solutions Manager with Electrada. He develops and refines charging solutions for fleets using his engineering experience to drive for high uptime, reliability, and efficiency.
Autonomous Snapshots
Waymo, Alphabet Inc.'s multibillion-dollar venture into self-driving vehicles, is taking the human safety drivers out of its robotaxi test fleet in Los Angeles as it strives to launch a commercial ride service in the second-biggest U.S. city. The Mountain View, California-based company began its testing in the sprawling city last October, deploying electric Jaguar I-Pace crossovers equipped with cameras, lidar, and other sensors. Eventually, Waymo will roll out a paid ride service, but can’t do so until the state's Department of Motor Vehicles issues a permit. No timeline has been provided for the issuance of a permit for the paid service in LA.
In Other AV News
- Tesla has put a pause on new installations of its FSD beta software in the US and Canada following a safety recall by the NHTSA. The recall affects nearly 363,000 Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y vehicles that are equipped with FSD.
- Darwin Innovation Group has entered into a strategic partnership with global IT services company Cognizant to expand the autonomous vehicle market by introducing vehicle management tools and reliable connectivity using both 5G and satellite communications.
- Aurrigo International has partnered with Changi Airport Group (CAG) in Singapore to develop autonomous, electric baggage vehicles Auto-Dolly and Auto-DollyTug, and its airport simulation software platform Auto-Sim.
Answer
Millennial and Gen X men with higher incomes are leading the way in purchasing EVs, with Gen X now overtaking Baby Boomers as the second-largest group of EV buyers in the US. The EV segment is also leaning more towards male buyers compared to 2019, with only 28.5% of EV buyers being women.