Don’t Be An EV-Hole

Don’t Be An EV-Hole

It has been a decade since Martha Stewart dropped a ziplock bag of various USB charging cables and adapters on stage in front of Kara Swisher and asked why charging devices had to be so complicated. vox.com

Just as we’ve settled on USB-C as the charging port of choice for most devices, we’ve entered a new nightmare era of charge cables, ports and adapters with electric vehicles (we call it a “transition” for a reason). carscoops.com

As wonderful as it is that Tesla opened up charging at their network and the North American Charging Standard (NACS) to other OEM’s vehicles, today, only Ford and Rivian support NACS using adapters, with other brands “coming soon.” tesla.com/NACS, slashgear.com

In many cases, they just don’t fit. Other vehicles were not designed to work with Tesla’s network. The cables are too short. The parking configuration isn’t ideal. This creates a situation where even well-intentioned Ford and Rivian owners can become unintentional EV-holes. cleantechnica.com

Ford expects to start shipping EVs with NACS ports in 2025. That should help. insideevs.com

It was briefly suggested that new Lucid EVs would have both CCS and NACS ports. But Lucid quickly clarified that only one port would be available without confirming which port. teslarati.com

Rivian is moving the location of their charge ports to better support Tesla chargers. insideevs.com

In the interim, Tesla says they’re okay if you want to double park at one of their chargers. Just don’t be an EV-hole about it. insideevs.com

Runaway Train Never Going Back

Workers from Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co. were locked out on Thursday after months of negotiations over working conditions with the Teamsters union failed to result in agreements. theguardian.com, theglobeandmail.com

The Canadian federal government asked the country's industrial relations board to issue a back-to-work order. reuters.com, cbc.ca

All parties met with the CIRB on Thursday and Friday morning. Those talks didn’t go well. Teamsters took to social media mid-day on Friday to announce their intention to strike. x.com, campbellrivermirror.com, cbc.ca, teamstersrail.ca

A prolonged strike won’t be good for the Canadian, US or global economies. vancouversun.com, cnbc.com, bbc.com, reuters.com

China’s Automotive Expansion

BYD overtook Honda’s and Nissan’s sales to become the world's seventh-largest automaker in Q2. asia.nikkei.com

NIO plans to expand battery charging and swap stations to every Chinese county by the end of 2025. cnbc.com

GAC Aion's new plant expands its production capacity by 200,000 incremental vehicles. cnevpost.com

Robotaxi firm WeRide will test with passengers in California. reuters.com

China’s response to EU electric vehicle tariffs: we don’t like the smell of your cheese. ft.com

Must Know Musk News

SpaceX is set to launch the first civilian spacewalk. nbcnews.com, cbc.ca

Puff Daddy and HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud are listed among Elon’s X platform investors. finance.yahoo.com

Elon Musk called Mark Cuban a giant turd. businessinsider.com

Tesla recalls thousands of early Model Xs due to issues with roof trim adhesive. theverge.com

Tesla semi crashes and burns. theverge.com

Tesla is looking for humans to train their Optimus robots using reinforcement learning and a VR headset. teslarati.com

The EU reduced their planned tariff on Tesla EVs made in China. reuters.com

The second Neuralink patient already uses the implant to play PC shooter games. pcmag.com

Rise Of The Machines

Astroboy? Is that you? Italy built a jet-powered humanoid robot. supercarblondie.com

Giant “Ghost Shark” military submarine drone visits the US. navalnews.com, anduril.com

Energy

The world’s largest solar and extended underwater power cable project will be built in northern Australia. The project includes 12,000 hectares (29,650 acres) of solar and an 800 km (497 mile) transmission cable and will be capable of powering three million homes. interestingengineering.com

A huge Minnesota coal-fueled electric plant is being replaced with thousands of acres of solar panels. nytimes.com

A US-based oilfield services company is expanding in Russia despite the war in Ukraine. ft.com

The US military wants Canada’s cobalt. cbc.ca

Stanford University researchers found a cheaper way to extract lithium. interestingengineering.com

Alberta wants to power and build “the cloud” using natural gas. cbc.ca

But Wait, There’s More

The buzz around ID. Buzz is the price. theverge.com, driving.ca, electricautonomy.ca

Ford choo-choo-chooses to kill their 3-row “bullet-train” electric SUV before it ever gets out of the station. reuters.com, theverge.com

GM lays off a thousand salaried employees. Workers say they were “thrown onto the curb like useless trash.” theglobeandmail.com, qz.com

GMC delivers their first Sierra EVs. theverge.com

Italy gives Stellantis an ultimatum over potential battery plant. reuters.com

UAW and Stellantis get uppity with each other. autonews.com

You can lease a Lucid Air in Canada now. teslarati.com

Uber partners with GM’s Cruise to deliver more autonomous rides. theverge.com

Oakland is the first city in the US to transition to use electric school buses exclusively. electrek.co

How one electric vehicle fire in a Korean parking garage may impact all automotive and battery manufacturers. ft.com

After their ICE vehicle ban, EV sales have spiked in Ethiopia. cnn.com

Automatic Emergency Braking system issues just won’t stop. autonews.com

ICYMI

Ukrainian forces turned a Toyota Mirai into a hydrogen bomb. thedrive.com

The new Canadian Armed Forces logo sorta looks like a bear having sex with a moose. ottawacitizen.com

Kick Out The Jams

Lil Jon at the 2024 Democratic National Convention was fucking brilliant. youtube.com

Shania Twain reunited with a friend on stage after 40 years. youtube.com

Sabrina Carpenter leaves quite an impression. youtube.com

Lisa is a new woman. youtube.com

New music this week from the Pet Shop Boys. youtube.com

Creed is being Creed again (with better haircuts). Are you ready? youtube.com

Colin James needs protection. youtube.com

Amyl and The Sniffers are stuck on you, just like a chewing gum. youtube.com

I dig this HEALTH cover of the Deftones’ “Be Quiet And Drive.” youtube.com