Almost All Electric Vehicles Would Qualify for the US EV Tax Credit with New Congress Bill
A new bill called the Affordable Electric Vehicles for America Act would allow essentially all EVs in the US to qualify for the $7,500 tax credit, if passed.
The bill would establish a phase-in period for the battery sourcing and manufacturing requirements included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in August.
Foreign leaders from South Korea, Japan, and the EU have lobbied for provision changes, expressing concerns over unfair competitive advantages. According to reports, Hyundai and other automakers are looking for a delay for the battery sourcing and manufacturing provisions kicking in at the end of the year to give them time to build and scale production.
Cox Automotive: October Fleet Sales Up Nearly 49% Year Over Year
Sales into large fleets, not including sales into dealer and manufacturer fleets, increased 21% month over month in October to 148,721 units, according to an early estimate from Cox Automotive.
Combined sales into large rental, commercial, and government fleets were up nearly 49% year over year in October. Sales into rental and commercial were both up 58% year over year, while sales into government fleets were down just slightly at 0.3%.
“In October, we saw a slight uptick in fleet share month over month,” said Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist, Cox Automotive. “It’s too soon to tell, but this could be the beginning of some manufacturers leveraging the fleet ‘relief valve’ by shifting more of their sales to fleet as they see retail sales soften a bit due to consumers facing economic uncertainly and affordability concerns.”
Watch Out While Driving: You’re More Likely to Hit a Deer This Week
A new study found that the week after the annual shift back to standard time sees a 16 percent increase in deer-vehicle collisions each year.
On average, around 2.1 million deer-vehicle collisions happen in the U.S. each year. These incidents are responsible for over $10 billion in economic losses as well as 59,000 human injuries and 440 human deaths.
The researchers found that deer-vehicle collisions are 14 times more frequent in the two hours after sunset than before sunset. Animals, of course, stick to their pattern no matter what human clocks say, going about their lives even as traffic patterns shift to an hour "earlier" and causing more driving at dusk.
Solar-Powered Cars Poised to Replace Electric Ones?
There’s a big demand for sustainable vehicles these days, and electric cars have another contender in the quest to produce the most environmentally friendly ride.
Solar-powered cars use technology that converts sunlight into usable energy. This free power source is a clear advantage for people who live in regions where electric vehicle charging infrastructure is underdeveloped.
Solar-powered cars are defined as electric vehicles that are powered fully or partly by direct solar energy. The batteries in EVs can store solar power which is obtained through a variety of photovoltaic cells that convert solar radiation into usable electric power. These cells get their name from sunlight (photons) and electricity (voltage) and are grouped into panels to produce small or large amounts of energy.
Electric Cars Remove Tailpipe Emissions and May Even Strengthen the Power Grid
Energy and transportation experts say that with some planning, utilities are fully capable of handling more clean cars plugging in. Better yet, electric SUVs, trucks, and buses can strengthen the grid if deployed smartly.
Someday, millions of vehicles could use special bidirectional chargers to absorb energy when it's plentiful and release it back to the grid as needed, helping utilities manage heatwaves and other spikes in demand. This vision rests on something called vehicle-to-grid technology, or V2G.
If much of the US fleet goes electric, the amount of battery storage available is enormous: The National Resources Defense Council estimates that the 14 million EVs expected to be on California's roads by 2035 could power all the state's homes for three days.
