Michigan Governor Announces Wireless EV Charging on a Public Road
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer opened the Motor Bella auto event Tuesday by announcing the state's plan to develop wireless charging infrastructure on a public road.
The Inductive Vehicle Charging Pilot, a partnership between the Michigan Department of Transportation and the state's Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, calls for an electrified roadway system for vehicles to charge while driving.
“Michigan was home to the first mile of paved road, and now we’re paving the way for the roads of tomorrow with innovative infrastructure that will support the economy and the environment, helping us achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050,” Whitmer said in a statement.
Read the article at Detroit News
EVs Initially Cost More to Service Than Gas Models — But Only for the First Year
Battery-electric vehicles owners can expect to pay more to service their vehicles, including maintenance and repairs, at least during the first year of ownership, according to new research — but the cost quickly tumbles and, by year three, BEVs have a significant cost advantage over conventional gas-powered vehicles.
BEVs cost about 2.3 times more than gas-powered vehicles during the first three months of ownership. Most of that is in the form of repairs and recalls. But costs quickly start to decline for battery-powered cars, while rising for vehicles using internal combustion engines, or ICE.
For the first full year, service runs about 1.6 times higher. Breaking that down by category, maintenance costs an average $7 per vehicle for BEVs compared to $30 for the average gas model. But repairs ran $247, nearly double the $142 the owner of a typical gas model spent. BEVs also ran up $50 in recall costs compared to just $12.
Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.
Self-Driving Ford Vehicles Might Deliver Your Next Walmart Order
Walmart will begin offering autonomous deliveries in three U.S. cities thanks to a new partnership with Ford and self-driving tech company Argo AI.
The pilot program will kick off later this year in Austin, Miami, and Washington D.C., starting first in "defined service areas" and expanding over time. Customers will be able to place an order using Walmart's online ordering system and if the product is being sent to a home in one of the cities' service areas, an Argo-programmed Ford may be sent out for delivery.
Ford says that this collaboration will help drive industry knowledge of how autonomous vehicles can optimize delivery logistics. Walmart can evaluate how these technologies can improve consumer experiences, specifically by meeting the expectation of next-day and even same-day delivery—a step that could one day bring the retailer to Amazon's level.
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How to Meet EV Charging Demands and Maintain a Stable Electric Grid
As electric vehicles (EVs) become the new standard, charging infrastructure will become a commonplace detail blending into the landscape, available in a host of places from a range of providers: privately run charging stations, the office parking lot, home garages and government-provided locations to fill in the gaps.
We need a new energy blueprint for the United States in order to maintain a stable grid to support this national move to EV charging.
The Biden administration announced 500,000 charging stations to be installed nationally and additional energy storage to facilitate the shift to EVs. Integrating all of this new infrastructure and transitioning requires balancing the traffic on the grid and managing increased energy demand that stretches beyond power lines and storage itself.
Read the article at autoblog
J.D. Power Releases Results of 2021 APEAL Study
The J.D. Power Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, now in its 26th year, assesses the emotional attachment and excitement that new-vehicle owners feel 90 days after the big purchase.
“The APEAL Study measures owners’ emotional attachment to their new vehicle, and the product launches that took place this model year have done a really good job,” said David Amodeo, J.D. Power’s director of global automotive. “Some are all-new, and some are redesigns, but the new launches demonstrate that automakers are getting even better at hitting buyers’ emotional triggers.”
According to the 2021 APEAL Study, automakers are building new vehicles that are more appealing than ever before. At least some of the growth in overall appeal is due to the rollout of attractive new models. Indeed, many of the top-performing models in the 2021 study are all-new or redesigned: BMW 4 Series, Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Bronco Sport, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Genesis G80, Kia K5 and Toyota Sienna.
Read the article at J.D. Power.
