EDITOR'S PICK

6 Ways to Make Electric Vehicles Affordable for the Rest of Us

31 May 2022 | Synopsis

Author Tamara Sheldon's research has shown that most of [US gov't] tax credits, as well as state subsidies, are paid out to consumers who would have bought the EV even without the extra benefit. And often, they go to people who treat them as additional cars rather than replacements for gas guzzlers, or who don't drive them often enough to make the gas savings outweigh the environmental cost of making the car in the first place.

"This is a waste of government money."

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The Next Generation of Small Nuclear Reactors Will Be Big on Producing Radioactive Waste

31 May 2022 | Synopsis

"...according to Lindsay Krall, a lot of important information is omitted in discussions around SMR waste streams...Krall’s project revealed that SMRs could produce up to 30 times the volume of radioactive waste as traditional reactors.

The UK "Office for Nuclear Regulation to begin the approval process for SMRs designed by Rolls Royce. SMRs are currently licensed or being built in Argentina, Canada, China, Russia, South Korea and the US. In May 2020, a floating nuclear power plant in Russia became the first to put SMRs into commercial operation."

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Great Scott! The All-Electric DeLorean DMC Is Here, and It's Beautiful

30 May 2022 | Synopsis

"Powered by a 100kWh battery pack, the Alpha5 will allegedly sport a range of more than 300 miles, which would nudge it slightly ahead of the comparable Porsche Taycan 4S and Audi e-tron GT in the endurance department.

"Company CEO Joost de Vries recently told Autocar(opens in new tab) that the Alpha5 will be sold in a limited run of 88 -- a reference to the speed required to time-travel in Robert Zemeckis' 1985 sci-fi classic - and be suitable for track use exclusively."

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Small Electric Cars Ready to Take Market by Storm

30 May 2022 | Synopsis

"The Rinco Aria has a lithium iron phosphate battery that is fixed under the car. When fully charged it does 200km in the economy or ‘eco mode’ where it won’t move at over 60km an hour, which is ideal for our city roads, and around 130km in the 'sports mode' at a higher speed.

"...importer of Rinco Aria, Razi Nayyer told Dawn that he had initially imported 20 vehicles to test the market here. Now with all those having been sold rather quickly, he has ordered 80 more."

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Bhutan Is Using Taxis to Jump-Start Its Transition to Electric Vehicles

30 May 2022 | Synopsis

"After a bumpy start in 2019, with COVID-19 lockdowns delaying car imports from countries like China, Japan and India, Bhutan's [ $3-million project] electric taxi rollout is finally kicking into gear...

"The 300 taxis will be the ambassadors...We expect them to showcase (the electric cars) and build a level of confidence and trust in EVs. Then we expect the rest to follow."

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Fiat to Stop Selling Non-Electrified Vehicles in the UK from July

30 May 2022 | Synopsis

"New Fiat 500 is the first fully-electric Fiat designed from the ground up. The car provides a raft of best-in-class features such as Level 2 Autonomous Driving technologies, a variety of battery options (24kWh or 42kWH) and a substantial driving range of up to 199 miles..."

"The line up also includes hybrid versions of the second-generation 500 and the Panda. Both see their basic 1.2-litre engines replaced by an all-new electrified 1.0-litre unit."

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Weaning Ourselves off Fossil Fuels Is Going to Hurt

30 May 2022 | Synopsis

"The researchers estimated that existing oil and gas projects worth $1.4 trillion would lose their value if the world moved decisively to cut carbon emissions and limit global heating to 2C. By tracking many thousands of projects through 1.8 million companies to their ultimate owners, the team found most of the losses would be borne by individual people through their pensions, investment funds, and shareholdings."

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Mercedes-Benz EQG to Use Energy-Dense Silicon Battery

29 May 2022 | Synopsis

"...The battery, made by start-up Sila Nanotechnologies, uses silicon-based anodes and is 20-40% more energy dense than comparable cells currently available...

"Sila, founded by an ex-Tesla engineer, raised an additional $590 million last year, boosting its valuation to an estimated $3.3 billion."

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Tell Your Friends About EVs: Study Suggests Automakers Still Aren't Getting the Word Out

29 May 2022 | Synopsis

"The firm, in the study released Thursday, found that among those who had no personal experience with EVs, just 11% said they were 'very likely' to consider one. For those who had merely been a passenger in an EV, the portion 'very likely' doubled to 24%; and for those who had driven an EV, it rose to 34%.

"Across the survey, the 'very likely' portion of shoppers rose to 24%, up from 20% a year ago."

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The Total Cost of Owning an Electric Car Is Its Secret Weapon

29 May 2022 | Synopsis

"...electric cars are famously less expensive in terms of energy cost and maintenance costs -- they lack many of the systems that require maintenance on conventional cars -- and through government financial incentives that can bring down their effective sale price...

"Consumer Reports recently compared popular plug-in cars to their conventional counterparts and estimated that owners of full battery and plug-in hybrid cars incur only half the repair and maintenance costs of a conventional car and that those driving pure electric cars enjoy 60% savings in energy costs."

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TransOceanic Wind Transport Uses Sailboats to Sustainably Transport Products Overseas

29 May 2022 | Synopsis

"TOWT's current sailboats can only carry 35 tons, while the new cargo sailboat will hold 1,100 tonnes. By comparison, conventional container ships can handle loads of over 38,000 tonnes.

"Belco Coffee, one of TOWT's main clients, plans to transport at least 50% of its total coffee volume via sailboat by 2025."

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Gas Prices Are Rising. So Where Are the Electric Cars?

29 May 2022 | Synopsis

"...a tipping point is approaching when the average household will soon start paying more than 3 percent of their disposable income on gasoline purchases... That's the point when drivers will probably start seriously looking at cutting miles, carpooling and canceling vacations, and what had been an annoyance for many becomes a widespread economic problem."

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