Charged Up: The EV Market Continues to Draw Attention

Tesla may be stirring up excitement by teasing its electric-powered “Cybertruck,” but the momentum building around the electric vehicle (EV) market is much larger than that. If you recall, we previously wrote a blog about the growing EV manufacturing movement. If you haven't read it yet, get “It’s Electric!” here. But with its increasing popularity, there is always more to cover. In this post, we take a look at recently announced federal plans and other emerging areas in the rise of EVs.

Biden Administration Introduces new Rules to Speed Up EV Adoption

To begin, let’s journey back to around three-ish weeks ago. Under the Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency released plans outlining a new goal - take measures so that “two-thirds of new passenger cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the United States are all-electric by 2032,” as described by Coral Davenport and Neal E. Boudette at the New York Times. This is a big deal! At this moment, the percentage of all-electric vehicles is only somewhere around 5.8 percent.

But, as we’ve mentioned, the transition has already been kickstarted. That same New York Times piece points out that General Motors aims to shift away from internal combustion vehicles by 2035, and Ford has allocated $50 billion to invest in EVs. Plus, large-scale car rental companies like Hertz have been adding EVs to their customer options.

Of course, this all doesn’t come without concern. Despite the initiatives already being taken, one worry is simply - can the auto industry meet such a high mark? Alan Jenn, who studies the EV industry, argues that it can. As Jenn highlights in an article for The Conversation and re-shared by PBS News Hour, “When California began requiring that car companies sell a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles, its initial target translated to about 15 percent of all new car sales by 2025. Automakers quickly exceeded that goal.”

What’s Next on the Road Toward More EV Manufacturing

A hurdle that automakers will definitely need to eventually overcome is cost. While the EV goal does lower emissions, it also comes with a higher price tag for consumers. However, Jenn notes that reducing price is achievable too with the “more entry-level EVs” coming out.

That’s not the only speed bump though. Aside from making adoption accessible with more mainstream cost, the other task on the docket for the future of EV manufacturing is producing enough batteries to back the market. “What happens next? Where are these batteries produced? Does the U.S. have enough production capacity to support widespread EV adoption? And once the batteries are made and put into cars, how do we know whether we have enough charging stations, in the right places, to keep them running?” These are all questions that the Department of Energy (DoE) acknowledges at CleanTechnica

The answers may still be in the works, but the team at the DoE’s Argonne National Laboratory is addressing them. In a report published in November 2022, Argonne projected that the “domestic EV battery manufacturing capacity will increase by almost 20-fold between 2021 and 2030.”

Regardless of pushback to auto regulations, accessibility, and the need for significant battery creation, there’s no doubt that we’re at the precipice of a much larger EV presence. And that’s not just here in the U.S. According to Reuters, Mexico is also throwing its hat in the ring. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told the outlet in February that the country is preparing to establish manufacturing hubs for electric vehicles. They may need some help with tech solutions. We’re looking at you, AtomTech Mexico.

Sources

    “Tesla Has a New Rival Producing Electric Vehicles in US” - Kirk O’Neil, The Street
https://www.thestreet.com/electric-vehicles/tesla-new-rival-honda-producing-electric-vehicles-in-us

    “Biden Plans an Electric Vehicle Revolution. Now, the Hard Part.” - Coral Davenport and Neal E. Boudette, The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/climate/electric-vehicles-biden-epa.html

    “Analysis: Boosting EV market share to 67% of new sales is a huge leap, but automakers can rise to the challenge” - Alan Jenn, The Conversation/ PBS News Hour
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/analysis-boosting-ev-market-share-to-67-of-new-sales-is-a-huge-leap-but-automakers-can-rise-to-the-challenge

    “A New Look At The EV Supply Chain As Battery-Powered Cars Hit The Roads En Masse” - U.S. Department of Energy, CleanTechnica
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/05/05/a-new-look-at-the-ev-supply-chain-as-battery-powered-cars-hit-the-roads-en-masse/

    “Mexico in talks with top carmakers to make electric vehicles, foreign minister says” - Stefanie Eschenbacher, Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/mexico-talks-with-top-carmakers-make-electric-vehicles-foreign-minister-says-2023-02-03/

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