Presidential Dis-charge?

Presidential Dis-charge?

The Donald’s Department of Transportation sent a letter to state officials earlier this week suspending the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. The Biden administration had previously allocated over five billion dollars to the program to fund the construction and expansion of EV charging infrastructure. fhwa.dot.gov, theverge.com, wired.com

I guess no one told The Donald that EV sales hit record levels last year in the US. insideevs.com

And likely, he didn’t read anywhere that EV sales globally were up 25%. reuters.com

Perhaps he didn’t notice that his good friend Elon benefited from the NEVI program. businessinsider.com

In response to the announcement, the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), whose members include Ford, GM, Stellantis, Nissan, and Shell, released a statement requesting that the funds continue to flow into NEVI. electricdrive.org

The statement said, "Investments in charging and refuelling stations are creating jobs and expanding consumers' transportation choices in every state. The NEVI program, created in bipartisan legislation, is an effective and important element of a truly strategic energy policy that promotes US innovation, domestic investment and energy security.

“We urge the Administration to quickly resume the critical work of the program and minimize uncertainty for states and their businesses, who have invested in infrastructure to serve local and national goals for advanced transportation.”

It is fair to note that NEVI wasn’t rolling out very expediently. washingtonpost.com

But The Donald may have underestimated how difficult it will be to shut the program down.

Every US state has engaged with NEVI, and the foundations for an expanded US charging network have already been laid. insideevs.com

Most of the allocated dollars now sit in state-controlled accounts. usnews.com

The New York Times explained that when “Asked to clarify whether the freeze applied to the money that has been allocated but not awarded by states to contractors, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Department wrote in an email, 'During this process, no new obligations may occur under the program, but reimbursement of existing obligations will continue in order to not disrupt current financial commitments.’“ nytimes.com

The program's legal and practical safeguards ensure its continuation even if suspended, despite what any orange-coloured man might say. nrdc.org

In the immortal words of Bryan Adams, “You can’t stop this thing we started.” youtube.com

China’s Automotive Expansion

Watch the amazing way the (BYD) Denza Z9 GT can parallel park. youtube.com

XPeng plans to invest billions in R&D in 2025. carnewschina.com

BAIC and Huawei have a new EREV. carnewschina.com

Must Know Musk News

Elon says he doesn’t wanna buy TikTok. bloomberg.com

Judge blocks Elon's DOGE from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans in Treasury Department data. bbc.com

Tesla sales in the EU have completely dropped off a cliff. Registrations in Germany fall 59%. ft.com

Tesla raises the price of the Model X in the US by $5,000. reuters.com

Ezra Klein explores what he thinks Elon actually wants in conversation with Kara Swisher. youtube.com

Rise Of The Machines

Unitree unveiled a new video of its G1 humanoid robot running. cnet.com, youtube.com

Meta wants to know how humans and robots will live and work together. techcrunch.com

A study suggests that nursing home robots help with human employee retention and better overall elder care. sciencedaily.com

Odense Robotics and the Danish Technological Institute identify the key technological trends shaping robotics in 2025. therobotreport.com

Energy

In the US, renewable energy from solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and biomass accounts for more than 90% of new energy capacity added in 2024. electrek.co

The Donald’s executive order banning offshore wind projects has stopped New Jersey’s first offshore wind project. foxnews.com

BP plans to invest over $25 billion in Iraq’s Kirkuk oil fields. reuters.com

E-fuel start-up Circularity Fuels plans to focus on lab-grown diamonds before fueling jets. techcrunch.com, circularityfuels.com 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith suggests that we need more pipelines. And unexpectedly, I agree with her. nationalpost.com

But Wait, There’s More

The VinFast Minio Green is fucking adorable. insideevs.com

If there are Tariffs, that will suck for the automotive industry. autonews.com

Ford beats expectations but expects to lose over five billion in 2025 on EVs. reuters.com

Ford CEO says, fuck it, if we’re putting in more tariffs, put them everywhere. (I might be paraphrasing here.) cnbc.com

Toyota maintains its #1 sales spot globally and plans expansion in China. wsj.com

Nissan and Honda break up before they even get together. reuters.com

Now on the market, Nissan seeks to court other suitors, including Foxconn. reuters.com

GM plans to stop making the ICE version of the Blazer. theverge.com

Cruise lays off staff while its remaining team and assets are folded into GM. theverge.com

Honda asks GM to slow down production of the Prologue in Mexico. insideevs.com

VW says it wasn’t kidding about making a sub-$20K electric vehicle. Could it be the ID.1? electrek.co

More VW dealers in the US sue VW over Scout's direct-to-consumer sales model. theverge.com

Volkswagen's SEAT division also needs to restructure. reuters.com

Volvo works with Waabi to integrate the “Waabi Driver” into its autonomous trucks. theverge.com, techcrunch.com

Porsche plans new gas-powered and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models as its EVs fail to sell. electrek.co

Hydrogen truck manufacturer Nikola dies a slow and painful death. wsj.com

Uber gets deeper into bed with Waymo. theverge.com

Bill Ackman gets deeper into bed with Uber. reuters.com

This DIY electric Lada uses fifty cordless power drills as its engine. motor1.com

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You read to the bottom. Amazing! It might be time for a nap.