Wishing you all a Happy Holiday! These pictures are of members of the SWFL EV Owners who were in a Christmas Parade. Parades (MLK, St. Patrick's Day, 4th of July) are a great way to share all the fun electric models we drive with EV-drivers-to-be. Next year, consider getting your EV friends together to show off your rides! We will be taking a holiday break so this will be the last Roundup of 2018. We'll be back in 2019 to continue your weekly digest of top EV stories in the new year!
Electric Vehicles
Hyundai is offering 258-mile range Kona for under $37K! There was some push-back on Facebook this week that $37K is not a 'low price tag'. However, if you subtract the $7,500 federal tax credit, factor zero oil changes and a fraction of the gas price over the life of the vehicle, the EV model is at parody with the traditional Kona. A more important concern, perhaps, is whether there will be enough made to meet demand. Hyundai says yes in this related article.
Daimler, the maker of Mercedes Benz, announced serious expenditures by 2030 to grow their EV efforts. The company plans on building 130 models including electric and hybrid vehicles by 2022 in addition to making electric vans, buses and trucks.
Infrastructure
The ultra-fast prototype can repower at a rate of 62 miles in 3 minutes! While some feel the title is unnecessarily snarky, the fact that charging times are getting close to traditional re-fueling times is newsworthy. Advancements that help reduce barriers (perceived or real) to driving electric are exciting.
Increasing access to charging is one other way to reduce barriers and increase EV drivers. Thirty more charging stations are coming to northeast Florida as the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization expands to phase 2 of their plan to bring more charging to the greater Jacksonville area.
Policy
Big news! California has released a new plan to transition all of their transit fleet buses to zero-emissions by 2040. The full implementation of this plan will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 19 million metric tons from 2020 to 2050. That is the equivalent of taking 4 million passenger cars off the road!
In a unanimous decision, Minnesota's Public Utilities Commission delivers a directive to electric utilities to clearly articulate how they will help increase electric vehicle adoption in the state.
No real surprise here. The oil industry is secretly working to roll back fuel efficiency standards and stop progress on electric vehicles, all in the name of corporate greed. Read more in this NYT exposé.