Electric Vehicles NEWS

Every new passenger car sold in the world will be electric by 2040, according to Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods in an interview aired this weekend by CNBC. The interview also covered the company’s climate ambitions, putting a flashy coat of paint on an organization that is the world’s fifth-largest historical polluter and has pushed climate denial at a high level for half a century. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods sat down with CNBC’s David Faber for a long interview about climate change. The full interview is 35 minutes long (on top of a previous hour-long interview) and mostly discusses climate change and Exxon’s carbon capture and storage desires.

LG Electronics said on Sunday it has acquired a domestic EV charging maker to advance into the EV charging solutions business amid a global electrification push. LG Electronics recently acquired a 60 percent stake in AppleMango for an unspecified amount, with GS Energy and GS Neotek taking over 34 percent and 6 percent stakes in the company, respectively, to secure a new growth engine, the company said in a statement. LG said it plans to establish an EV charging production line at the LG Digital Park in Pyeongtaek, some 60 km south of Seoul, within this year, reports Yonhap news agency.

The two firms will first set up a substantial charging infrastructure at BPCL's existing petrol pumps and may subsequently broaden the collaboration to develop more synergies within the EV ecosystem and adjacent business verticals.

"It is being done on case-to-case basis keeping in mind the relatively higher prices of electric vehicles as compared to conventional vehicles," said a senior Delhi Government officer.

With the global energy transition in full swing, few clean energy sectors, if any, are expanding faster than the electric car market. A decade ago, a grand total of 130,000 EVs were sold globally; fast forward to the present, and nearly a similar number are sold in just a week. To use a cliché, the EV sector has truly been playing chess while everyone else plays checkers

On average, a person spends about 90 minutes inside a shopping mall on each visit and that time can easily be utilised for quick charging of an electric vehicle.

The next commodity supercycle could start and end with Chinese graphite, the single most important battery material right now in terms of supply and demand. And one of the world’s top producers is a North American company with processing facilities set up in China right next to one of the world’s largest graphite mines.

Fuel retailer Or has partnered with EVLomo to deploy 150kW DC Super-Fast charging stations at around 100 PTT stations in Thailand's Eastern Economic corridor. PTT, formerly Petroleum Authority of Thailand, is an oil and gas company that owns Or. The corridor is an economic zone that includes the provinces of Chachoengsao, Chonburi and Rayong Provinces in eastern Thailand.

One of the country's leading electric vehicle manufacturer has also shown interest in this new technology and is ready to develop a full-fledged commecial product that can be applied to existing electric vehicles, the team claimed without naming the company.

Kevala, the startup that collects and analyzes energy grid infrastructure data for utility companies, renewable energy providers, EV charging companies, regulators and other energy industry stakeholders, has raised $21 million in a Series A round. The company says it will use the funds to grow its team from 60 employees to around 100 by the end of 2021 and increase the deployment of its grid analytics tools. Kevala’s Assessor Platform, its interactive cloud-based grid analytics toolbox, allows a range of energy industry stakeholders to leverage massive quantities of data the company has collected from public sources, as well as from its clients.

The renewable energy industry is booming as wind and solar power plants are built around the world at costs that compete with fossil fuels, even without subsidies. And there are technologies that could drive another phase of growth as energy storage, fuel cells, electric vehicles, and smart homes emerge in the market. With as much growth as there's been, renewable energy stocks have had a hard time gaining traction over the past decade.

Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey has called on the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to open an investigation into the future of the natural gas industry as Massachusetts transitions away from fossil fuels and toward a clean renewable energy future by 2050. Massachusetts could become the third state to launch a regulatory proceeding to proactively manage the state’s transition away from natural gas.

Energy major Chevron Corp. has taken a big step towards the electric car business. It will be offering electric car charging ports at some of its gasoline stations in California. Back in November, Chevron invested in ChargePoint Inc. which is one of the biggest electric vehicle charging network. GM of Chevron said, "We are always exploring how to evolve our offering, helping improve the consumer experience".

Every new technology has to qualify well for successful execution. Enough buzz has been created around electric vehicles. Reportedly, Indian government officials have refused to use electric vehicles developed by Tata Motors and Mahindra owing to poor mileage and performance. Though e-Mobility is on the agenda by 2030, huge concerns remain in the background. Certainly, sustainable future is the larger goal but oil is here to stay.