Tag Archives: EV

Books

Fight Climate Emergency by Nationalizing US Fossil Fuel Industry, Says Top Economist

“If we are finally going to start taking the IPCC’s findings seriously, it follows that we must begin advancing far more aggressive climate stabilization solutions than anything that has been undertaken thus far,” writes Robert Pollin.

In the wake of a United Nations report that activists said showed the “bleak and brutal truth” about the climate emergency, a leading economist on Friday highlighted a step that supporters argue could be incredibly effective at combating the global crisis: nationalizing the U.S. fossil fuel industry.

“With at least ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips under public control, the necessary phaseout of fossil fuels as an energy source could advance in an orderly fashion.”

Writing for The American Prospect, Robert Pollin, an economics professor and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, noted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and high gas prices exacerbated by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“If we are finally going to start taking the IPCC’s findings seriously,” Pollin wrote, “it follows that we must begin advancing far more aggressive climate stabilization solutions than anything that has been undertaken thus far, both within the U.S. and globally. Within the U.S., such measures should include at least putting on the table the idea of nationalizing the U.S. fossil fuel industry.”

“With at least ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips under public control, the necessary phaseout of fossil fuels as an energy source could advance in an orderly fashion”

Asserting that “at least in the U.S., the private oil companies stand as the single greatest obstacle to successfully implementing” a viable climate stabilization program, Pollin made the case that fossil fuel giants should not make any more money from wrecking the planet, nationalization would not be an unprecedented move in the United States, and doing so could help build clean energy infrastructure at the pace that scientists warn is necessary.

The expert proposed starting with “the federal government purchasing controlling ownership of at least the three dominant U.S. oil and gas corporations: ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips.”

“They are far larger and more powerful than all the U.S. coal companies combined, as well as all of the smaller U.S. oil and gas companies,” he wrote. “The cost to the government to purchase majority ownership of these three oil giants would be about $420 billion at current stock market prices.

Emphasizing that the aim of private firms “is precisely to make profits from selling oil, coal, and natural gas, no matter the consequences for the planet and regardless of how the companies may present themselves in various high-gloss, soft-focus PR campaigns,” Pollin posited that “with at least ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips under public control, the necessary phaseout of fossil fuels as an energy source could advance in an orderly fashion.”

“The government could determine fossil fuel energy production levels and prices to reflect both the needs of consumers and the requirements of the clean-energy transition,” he explained. “This transition could also be structured to provide maximum support for the workers and communities that are presently dependent on fossil fuel companies for their well-being.”

Pollin pointed out that some members of Congress are pushing for a windfall profits tax on Big Oil companies using various global crises—from Russia’s war to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic—to price gouge working people at the gas pump. The proposal, he wrote, “raises a more basic question: Should the fossil fuel companies be permitted to profit at all through selling products that we know are destroying the planet? The logical answer has to be no. That is exactly why nationalizing at least the largest U.S. oil companies is the most appropriate action we can take now, in light of the climate emergency.”

The economist highlighted the long history of nationalizing in the United States, pointing out that “it was only 13 years ago, in the depths of the 2007–09 financial crisis and Great Recession, that the Obama administration nationalized two of the three U.S. auto companies.”

In addition to enabling the government to put the nationalized firms’ profits toward a just transition to renewables, Pollin wrote, “with nationalization, the political obstacles that fossil fuel companies now throw up against public financing for clean energy investments would be eliminated.”

Nationalization “is not a panacea,” Pollin acknowledged. Noting that “publicly owned companies already control approximately 90% of the world’s fossil fuel reserves,” he cautioned against assuming such a move in the U.S. “will provide favorable conditions for fighting climate change, any more than public ownership has done so already in Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, or Iran,” without an administration dedicated to tackling the global crisis.

Pollin is far from alone in proposing nationalization. Writing for Jacobin last month, People’s Policy Project founder Matt Bruenig argued that “an industry that is absolutely essential to maintain in the short term and absolutely essential to eliminate in the long term is an industry that really should be managed publicly.”

“Private owners and investors are not in the business of temporarily propping up dying industries, which means that they will either work to keep the industry from dying, which is bad for the climate, or that they will refuse to temporarily prop it up, which will cause economic chaos,” he wrote. “A public owner is best positioned to pursue managed decline in a responsible way.”

In a piece for The New Republic published in the early stage of the pandemic a few years ago, climate journalist Kate Aronoff—like Pollin on Friday—pointed out that nationalization “has a long and proud tradition of navigating America through times of crisis, from World War II to 9/11.”

As Aronoff—who interviewed New College of Florida economist Mark Paul—reported in March 2020:

In a way, nationalization would merely involve the government correcting for nearly a century of its own market intervention. All manner of government hands on the scales have kept money flowing into fossil fuels, including the roughly $26 billion worth of state and federal subsidies handed out to them each year. A holistic transition toward a low-carbon economy would reorient that array of market signals away from failing sectors and toward growing ones that can put millions to work right away retrofitting existing buildings to be energy efficient and building out a fleet of electric vehicles, for instance, including in the places that might otherwise be worst impacted by a fossil fuel bust and recession. Renewables have taken a serious hit amid the Covid-19 slowdown, too, as factories shut down in China. So besides direct government investments in green technology, additional policy directives from the federal level, Paul added, would be key to providing certainty for investors that renewables are worth their while: for example, low-hanging fruit like the extension of the renewable tax credits, now on track to be phased out by 2022.

While Pollin, Bruenig, and Aronoff’s writing focused on the United States, campaigners are also making similar cases around the world.

In a June 2021 opinion piece for The Guardian, Johanna Bozuwa, co-manager of the Climate & Energy Program at the Democracy Collaborative, and Georgetown University philosophy professor Olúfẹ́mi O Táíwò took aim at Royal Dutch Shell on the heels of a historic court ruling, declaring that “like all private oil companies, Shell should not exist.”

“Governments like the Netherlands could better follow through on mandates to reduce emissions if they held control over oil companies themselves,” the pair added. “It is time to nationalize Big Oil.”

JESSICA CORBETT April 8, 2022

Climate Solutions, News, Observation, Politics

Rising authoritarianism and worsening climate change share a fossil-fueled secret

Around the world, many countries are becoming less democratic. This backsliding on democracy and “creeping authoritarianism,” as the U.S. State Department puts it, is often supported by the same industries that are escalating climate change.

In my new book, “Global Burning: Rising Antidemocracy and the Climate Crisis,” I lay out connections between these industries and the politicians who are both stalling action on climate change and diminishing democracy.

It’s a dangerous shift, both for representative government and for the future climate.

Corporate capture of environmental politics

In democratic systems, elected leaders are expected to protect the public’s interests, including from exploitation by corporations. They do this primarily through policies designed to secure public goods, such as clean air and unpolluted water, or to protect human welfare, such as good working conditions and minimum wages. But in recent decades, this core democratic principle that prioritizes citizens over corporate profits has been aggressively undermined.

Today, it’s easy to find political leaders – on both the political right and left – working on behalf of corporations in energy, finance, agribusiness, technology, military and pharmaceutical sectors, and not always in the public interest. These multinational companies help fund their political careers and election campaigns to keep them in office.

In the U.S., this relationship was cemented by the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United. The decision allowed almost unlimited spending by corporations and wealthy donors to support the political candidates who best serve their interests. Data shows that candidates with the most outside funding usually win. This has led to increasing corporate influence on politicians and party policies.

When it comes to the political parties, it’s easy to find examples of campaign finance fueling political agendas.

In 1988, when NASA scientist James Hansen testified before a U.S. Senate committee about the greenhouse effect, both the Republican and Democratic parties took climate change seriously. But this attitude quickly diverged. Since the 1990s, the energy sector has heavily financed conservative candidates who have pushed its interests and helped to reduce regulations on the fossil fuel industry. This has enabled the expansion of fossil fuel production and escalated CO2 emissions to dangerous levels.

The industry’s power in shaping policy plays out in examples like the coalition of 19 Republican state attorneys general and coal companies suing to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

At the same time that the energy sector has sought to influence policies on climate change, it has also worked to undermine the public’s understanding of climate science. For instance, records show ExxonMobil participated in a widespread climate-science denial campaign for years, spending more than US$30 million on lobbyists, think tanks and researchers to promote climate-science skepticism. These efforts continue today. A 2019 report found the five largest oil companies had spent over $1 billion on misleading climate-related lobbying and branding campaigns over the previous three years.

The energy industry has in effect captured the democratic political process and prevented enactment of effective climate policies.

Corporate interests have also fueled a surge in well-financed antidemocratic leaders who are willing to stall and even dismantle existing climate policies and regulations. These political leaders’ tactics have escalated public health crises, and in some cases, human rights abuses.

Brazil, Australia and the US

Many deeply antidemocratic governments are tied to oil, gas and other extractive industries that are driving climate change, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and China.

In “Global Burning,” I explore how three leaders of traditionally democratic countries – Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Scott Morrison of Australia and Donald Trump in the U.S. – came to power on anti-environment and nationalist platforms appealing to an extreme-right populist base and extractive corporations that are driving climate change. While the political landscape of each country is different, the three leaders have important commonalities.

Bolsonaro, Morrison and Trump all depend on extractive corporations to fund electoral campaigns and keep them in office or, in the case of Trump, get reelected.

For instance, Bolsonaro’s power depends on support from a powerful right-wing association of landowners and farmers called the União Democrática Ruralista, or UDR. This association reflects the interests of foreign investors and specifically the multibillion-dollar mining and agribusiness sectors. Bolsonaro promised that if elected in 2019, he would dismantle environmental protections and open, in the name of economic progress, industrial-scale soybean production and cattle grazing in the Amazon rainforest. Both contribute to climate change and deforestation in a fragile region considered crucial for keeping carbon out of the atmosphere.

Bolsonaro, Morrison and Trump are all openly skeptical of climate science. Not surprisingly, all have ignored, weakened or dismantled environmental protection regulations. In Brazil, that led to accelerated deforestation and large swaths of Amazon rainforest burning.

In Australia, Morrison’s government ignored widespread public and scientific opposition and opened the controversial Adani Carmichael mine, one of the largest coal mines in the world. The mine will impact public health and the climate and threatens the Great Barrier Reef as temperatures rise and ports are expanded along the coast.

Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement – a move opposed by a majority of Americans – rolled back over 100 laws meant to protect the environment and opened national parks to fossil fuel drilling and mining.

Notably, all three leaders have worked, sometimes together, against international efforts to stop climate change. At the United Nations climate talks in Spain in 2019, Costa Rica’s minister for environment and energy at the time, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, blamed Brazil, Australia and the U.S. for blocking efforts to tackle climate injustice linked to global warming.

Brazil, Australia and the U.S. are not unique in these responses to climate change. Around the world, there have been similar convergences of antidemocratic leaders who are financed by extractive corporations and who implement anti-environment laws and policies that defend corporate profits. New to the current moment is that these leaders openly use state power against their own citizens to secure corporate land grabs to build dams, lay pipelines, dig mines and log forests.

For example, Trump supported the deployment of the National Guard to disperse Native Americans and environmental activists protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, a project that he had personally been invested in. His administration also proposed harsher penalties for pipeline protesters that echoed legislation promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, whose members include lawmakers and lobbyists for the oil industry. Several Republican-led states enacted similar anti-protest laws.

Under Bolsonaro, Brazil has changed laws in ways that embolden land grabbers to push small farmers and Indigenous people off their land in the rainforest.

What can people do about it?

Fortunately, there is a lot that people can do to protect democracy and the climate.

Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy and reducing the destruction of forests can cut greenhouse gas emissions. The biggest obstacles, a recent U.N. climate report noted, are national leaders who are unwilling to regulate fossil fuel corporations, reduce greenhouse gas emissions or plan for renewable energy production.

The path forward, as I see it, involves voters pushing back on the global trend toward authoritarianism, as Slovenia did in April 2022, and pushing forward on replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. People can reclaim their democratic rights and vote out anti-environment governments whose power depends on prioritizing extractive capitalism over the best interests of their citizens and our collective humanity.

Eve Darian-Smith, Professor of Global and International Studies, University of California, Irvine

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Cutting Edge

Mercedes teases Vision EQXX: new EV with 750 mile range with hope to catch Tesla

Promise of Virtually Double Max Range shows intent to Get in the Game

During the most recent company update from Dailmer AG, Mercedes-Benz teased a new breakthrough in electric car innovation. The automotive manufacturer talked about its plans for developing the Vision EQXX, an EV with more range than ever before.

To be exact, the Vision EQXX aims to have a battery that can go 750 miles off of a single charge; that is the distance from Beijing to Shanghai, in the automakers’ words. Right now the longest range of any EV is just 373 miles, which Tesla only achieved recently with the Model S Long Range. 

In order attain this audacious goal, Mercedes insists on not just packing the EQXX with an oversized battery, but developing new technology that offers unprecedented efficiency. Research is already being done at the Mercedes factory in Stuttgart and the Mercedes-Benz F1 HPP group in the UK.

“This is a serious project, chasing next generation technologies. We intend to incorporate the learning into the next generation of series production cars.”

Markus Schafer / head of Mercedes-Benz R&D

The project is still in its earliest stages, though. Right now, there is no word about when Mercedes might release a prototype or even any design concepts for the EQXX. We don’t know if it will run on the same kind of Electric Vehicle Architecture as Mercedes’ previous EVs—all EQE sedans and SUVs still in development—or if it will have an entirely different infrastructure.

50% by 2030 if Ambitious but will need to Be Minimum is Planet to Survive

Regardless, Mercedes reportedly hopes EVs will account for 50 percent of sales by the end of the decade. If it achieves the 750-mile range goal, then the EQXX will be a huge leap for technology as well as business. 

Likewise, it will drive the market in a capitalist society. Car manufacturer Lucid is already trying to surpass Tesla with a 500 mile range EV. If Mercedes then ups the ante even further, it will cause all the competition to play catch up and optimistically lead to even more innovations.

At the end of the day, the growing EV market is dependent on innovation. While SpaceX once had dominance over EVs with Tesla, traditional car companies from Mercedes to Ford to Volkswagen are now joining the party. In order to stand out, these automakers will need to think big and get creative.

And in the process, it will make for a cleaner planet. 

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Business, Climate Solutions, Cutting Edge, Earth and Ecology, Economics, Tech

Battery Day Bombshell: Tesla and Elon Musk to Announce EV Breakthrough in June, details leaked to Reuters

https://www.tesla.com/sites/tesla/files/curatedmedia/hero.mp4

”Holy Grail” believed to be impossible before at least 2025 might now be on the way thanks to battery design improvements

Tesla has proven already that a well designed and engineered EV has many superior qualities compared to an equivalent ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle. Teslas have shown that they can last up to one million miles with far less maintenance.

Read More: See all our Tesla Coverage

While doing that they also have other features; silence, speed and acceleration, an on board computer with eventual over-the-air upgrades to full self-driving capabilities. Although the cars themselves, with no internal combustion engine parts to replace and no oil change every five thousand miles, are already able to run for a million miles, the battery, which is currently very expensive to replace, can not, as yet, last that long. The current lifespan for a Tesla Model 3 battery is 300,000 to 500,000 miles.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/tesla/files/curatedmedia/accessories-hero-desktop.mp4

While the initial cost for EV batteries has gone down a lot – from $1100 per kilowatt hour in 2010 to $156 per kWh in 2019 which is 87% less. In spite of this amazing drop – the elusive cost parity with ICE vehicles has been said to only be achievable when batteries reach $100 per kWh, the so-called Holy Grail of EVs.

Based on information gathered by Reuters from “people familiar with the matter” that is all about to be a quest of the past with the reality of an $80 per kWh “million mile battery” already being developed.

Battery will be the product of a 3-way Joint Venture with contributors from Tesla, Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (China) and Jeff Dahn based at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia

The new low-cost long life battery will first be used for the Model 3 version manufactured for the Chinese market. The plan, according to sources that spoke anonymously to Reuters, is for an initial roll-out in China and later for the low cost Model 3 to be introduced into other markets, such as North America, for example.

The “million mile” moniker is an illustration of the long lasting life span of the battery design. Less obvious, however, are the potentially ground breaking application as a resource that can be used via Tesla Energy in energy storage products. With highly reliable battery packs lasting potentially up to three decades it will be possible for small for homeowners to have a backup source during outages, or a hybrid solution with solar panels combining with power from the grid as needed.

Battery stored solar generated energy can reduce costs or even be an income source when excess is sold back to public utilities. And, of course a complete off grid, solar and wind powered, fully sustainable system could be employed in large and small settings. A massive version of such a system is already in place at the Nevada gigafactory itself.

Read More: Books on EVs and Sustainable Energy

Power grid sized installations, such as a recent Hornsdale Power Reserve installation in Australia point toward the industrial solutions of the breakthrough technology.

These twin benefits of significant cost reduction and longer life, along with possible “re-purposing” for use in backs-up for the electric power grid are a combination that points toward a transformation of Tesla’s business model into that of a sustainable power company first and car company second.

Such a leap forward would put the company into the position of an energy provider such as PGE, with eventual added benefits to the planet once sustainable sources are ramped up.

As if all of this is not enough, the upcoming Starlink internet service, power via satellites being launched by Elon Musk’s “other” venture SpaceX, could provide internet connectivity at such an off-grid compound. Once these options are available, a highly functioning sustainable powered, globally connected living compound could be built virtually anywhere in the world.

The many features of such an independent energy and satellite communications option could create a truly decentralized dwelling system, further reducing survival and luxury costs.

Challenges remain yet the upcoming announcement nevertheless changes the outlook considerably

This highly ambitious project and these blockbuster potentials require many desperate elements to come together for this dream to be realized. One is the new, groundbreaking battery design which is the bombshell news being hinted at by Reuter’s unnamed sources.

Based on low-cobalt and cobalt-free battery chemistries, and the use of chemical additives, materials and coatings, the new design is projected to enable batteries to store more energy for longer periods, sources said. Additionally, nano-engineered materials are said to be a contributing factor in creating more bruise resistant and less damage prone due to rapid charging stresses. These improvements are said to make the “million mile” claim for the replacement cycle a reality.

Read More: Elon Musk and Tesla vs. The World

Ramping up battery production methods will be necessary, both for reducing the costs via economies of scale and to keep up with the virtually unlimited demand for a Tesla EV with a million mile lifespan before the cost of battery replacement at a price point on par with or even below current ICE vehicles.

https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/roadster_videos/roadster-loop-imperial.mp4?20180329

According to “hints” leaked by Musk in April, this will be achieved through new truly massive, highly automated “terafactories”. Based on the “gigafactory” concept which already has three in operation, in Nevada, New York State and Shanghai, China, with a fourth in Berlin, Germany, being built, the new battery manufacturing locations are planned to be thirty times larger than the current gigafactory in Nevada, which, at completion, was the largest factory ever built by square footage and second by volume.

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Business, Climate Solutions, Tech

Ford is All-in with Tesla for All-Electric Version of the Transit Van: Thank You Elon Musk!

Photo Collage / Lynxotic Staff

The Ford Transit is going Digital ASAP

Ford announced that the company will be adding an all-electric model of its best selling cargo van the Transit. The electric cargovan is scheduled to be released in the U.S. and Canada by 2022. Ford is already in the works for its European launch of the electric Transit for 2021.

Currently, Ford does not have any fully electric vehicles on the market. With the Transit – that now makes at least 3 electric vehicles in Ford’s lineup, including the Mustang Mach-E crossover unveiled last November and the electric pickup truck F-150.

Sales for Ford’s US trucks and vans have risen 33% since 2015 with the expectation for that number to grow as e-commerce continues to increase.  

With the insurgence of EV popularity amongst consumers, there is a clear tipping point for many big name auto makers taking steps to transition towards more clean energy and sustainable transportation options. Ford is following suit, as the company has recently invested $11.5 billion towards electrification and going digital.

“As leaders in this space, we are accelerating our plans to create solutions that help businesses run better, starting with our all-electric Transit and F-150. This Ford Transit isn’t just about creating an electric drivetrain, it’s about designing and developing a digital product that propels fleets forward. “

– jim farley / chief Operating Officer for Ford Motor Company

Global Director, Ted Cannis made the announcement of the electric Transit during a work truck show on March 3rd, 2020.

The Electric Transit will be Optimized for Maximum fleet performance

Teaser Image of the All-Electric Transit Courtesy of Ford

Consumers will have the options for varying configurations including: cargo van, cutaway, chassis cab and three different roof and body lengths. 

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The all-electric Transit will  offer cutting edge smart technology including high-speed data, equipped with a FordPass modem with 4G Wi-Fi hotspot, cloud-base services and tools like GPS tracking, geofencing and diagnostics, all to best optimize fleet performance.

Driver-assist technology will include:  Pre-Collision Assist, Automatic Emergency Braking, Pedestrian Detection, Forward Collision Warning, Post-Collision Braking, Lane-Keeping System and auto high-beam headlamps.

There is no additional information on pricing, images or other details on the Transit have been made available yet but will surely be provided closer to release date. 

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Tech

Tesla Model Y Deliveries are Coming Soon: Here’s a Peek Inside

Video
https://www.tesla.com/sites/tesla/files/curatedmedia/Range_Desktop.mp4
tesla / model y

Y is going live As 3 is Flying High

Originally set for production in late fall of 2020, during a call regarding Tesla’s recent third quarter (Q3) report, it was revealed to investors that they now plan to start Model Y production much earlier, and deliveries could be in full swing by Summer 2020. Elon Musk commented on the new schedule, “There may be some room for improvement there, but we’re confident about summer 2020”.

According to recent news, the arrival date for Model Y is rapidly approaching. However, the specs and relevant prices for the Standard Range, Long Range, and Performance versions should remain unchanged. Prices will range from the Rear-Wheel Drive Long Range version for $48,690 and Performance Range at $56,690. Those prices include include potential incentives and gas savings of $4,300.

The reason for this change in schedule as reported from the Q3 presentation comes from the “learnings and efficiencies gained from our Gigafactory in Shanghai, China” while producing Model 3. 

Model Y is built on the same third-generation platform as Model 3 and shares many of the same components, which will most likely aid in the overall production process and keep the accelerated date for deliveries. Tesla has planned to extend their production operations and have already begun installing equipment for Model Y in their Fremont, California factory as well as the Gigafactories in Nevada, Shanghai and eventually in Europe. 

The Model 3 is the by far the most popular EV sedan in the market.  Bloomberg reported over 500k car registrations for the model, while other competition comes nowhere near Tesla in EV sales. 

Tesla’s other models are all mainly based on sedan body styles (aside from Model X) and the shift to a different body style will be a pivotal move for the company as compliments the current buying trends for larger cars. “It’s the body style of choice,” said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst with Cox Automotive.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/tesla/files/curatedmedia/utility_desktop.mp4
tesla / utility feature of model y

Mainstream Variant Sibling of the Model X

Model X is SUV-sized but more luxury priced, whereas the Model Y will be Tesla’s first midsize crossover, which allows consumers a more affordable alternative. Musk tweeted prior to the March 2019 review that Model Y is approximately 10% larger than Model 3 and will have normal doors rather than the falcon wings found on the Model X. Another unique feature with be the all-glass roof, giving drivers an unobstructed view of the sky. The Model Y can seat up to 7 passengers with an optional third row, with more seating and storage versatility; the second row seats can be easily folded for increased storage needs. Additionally, the Model Y’s lift gate will have a low trunk, making it easy to load and unload.

The more affordable Standard Range version is not yet on the site, but it’s expected to be priced at $39,000. The Standard Range version has a later production date and is anticipated for early 2021. Ahead of its official release, Model Y is available for order in North America, China and parts of Europe for a deposit of $2,500. 

https://www.tesla.com/sites/tesla/files/curatedmedia/the_future_of_autopilot.mp4
tesla / full self-driving capability

Shared Tech and Eminent Heritage Inside

All new Tesla cars have standard advanced hardware capabilities with software updates to continuously improve a driver’s experience over time. The Model Y will have Autopilot, Smart Summon, and Full Self-Driving Capability. Autopilot features that have been designed to enable the vehicle to help with navigation, and as well as steer, accelerate and break within its lane automatically, which does require the driver to pay attention through supervision.

There are eight cameras that allow 360 visibility, twelve sensors to detect objects in the road and a forward facing radar to allow for optimal safety and aid in emergency braking, collision warning, and blind-spots. Smart Summon is another feature that will allow your car to come find you in a parking lot. Eventually, Full Self-Driving Capabilities will be fully introduced with software updates available in the future, with pending regulatory approval. 

The specs for the official Model Y lineup are as follows:

Standard Range

  • Range: 230 miles
  • Top Speed: 120 mph
  • 0-60 mph: 5.9s
  • Price: $39,000
  • Deliveries: Early 2021

Long Range – Rear-Wheel Drive

  • Range: 300 miles
  • Top Speed: 130 mph
  • 0-60 mph: 5.5s
  • Price: $48,000
  • Deliveries: Summer 2020

Long Range – Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive

  • Range: 280 miles
  • Top Speed: 135 mph
  • 0-60 mph: 4.8s
  • Price: $52,000
  • Deliveries: Summer 2020

Performance – Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive

  • Range: 280 miles
  • Top Speed: 150 mph
  • 0-60 mph: 3.5s
  • Price: $61,000
  • Deliveries: Summer 2020
Tesla Model Y

Tesla EV-brand Upper Hand with Crossover Competition 

Crossover cars, which function a lot like family-sized SUVs, have long been produced by gas-engine automakers, and these same companies have also attempted to sell electrical versions of these vehicles.

Some current EV crossovers are already in the marketplace (I- Pace from Jaguar, Niro EV from Kia, e-Tron from Audi, Leaf S Plus from Nissan, Bolt by Chevy, and Kona Electric from Hyundai). Ford with a “Mustang-inspired” EV crossover SUV. However, because they are primarily known as internal combustion engine (ICE) makers, their EV sales tank compared to their ICE vehicle sales.

Tesla can and most likely will take advantage of perfecting the missteps and limitations of their competitors.  The standout between Tesla and other EV crossovers is that Tesla is still the only company solely focused on electric versus other gas-powered or ICE counterparts. Thus, Tesla has an advantage as they enter the crossover arena with Model Y because of their notoriety for producing all-electric vehicles.

Arguably, Tesla’s price range was one of the biggest obstacles in its way in regards to selling EVs to the general public. This predicted affordability touted by a brand name for prestige EV production is going to make going ‘all-electric,’ an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuel, all the more possible for everyone.

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Observation, Tech

Tesla Cybertruck Pre-Orders pass Quarter Mil, a.k.a. Any Press is Good Press

Memes and Ridicule are spreading the word: There’s a New Truck in Town…

It’s been quite a week in Tesla news since the Cybertruck was unveiled near the SpaceX headquarters on November 21st. There’s been a rollercoaster of love and mocking, most of which has been entertaining. Once the initial barrage of silly memes hit like an avalanche on Twitter, auto insiders piled on, in a nice way with tongue in cheek, and all seemed to combine to take an already massive press event to an even higher level.

While pre-orders for the Model 3 peaked around half-a-million, and as all would know by now, that model is a huge success story, 250k in pre-orders in less than a week for Cybertruck is not a bad start. Yes, the pre-orders for the Cybertruck are only $100, more a token of appreciation than a hard reservation, and are fully refundable at that, but for a truck that was roundly derided and even scornfully laughed at, this cannot be considered an insignificant number.

There has been much speculation, as the pre-order tally kept growing, that this could all be a ruse and that the publicity would spur on accelerated development at other automakers, which does appear to be the case. However, amid all the noise and squawking, the name, the image, the logo and the concept are splashing across the world like a tsunami of retro-nostalgic-futurism gone wild.

And, deep deep below the surface of that wave, there is something more. Much more. As is often the case with Elon Musk led projects, an attempt was clearly made to break the mold when it comes to the engineering and feature-set capability, not just the aesthetic ethos.

“So, normally the way that a truck is designed, you have a body on frame, you have a bed on frame and the body and the bed don’t do anything useful. They’re carried like cargo, like a sack of potatoes. It was the way that aircraft used to be designed, when they had biplanes, basically. The key to creating an effective monoplane was a stressed skin design. You move the stress to the outside skin.”

– Elon Musk at the Tesla Cybertruck Unveil Event

As can be seen by looking online at the stats, or reading some good Teslarati articles that go further into the deeply practical innovations, there’s a lot more here than meets the eye.

2019 has been a Watershed Year for Tesla and Elon Musk and 2020 will see more Massive Changes

The 250k pre-orders represent, at the very least, a massive world-wide focus group on the idea of the Cybertruck, if not the truck itself. This focus group is very, very enthusiastic about the idea. How much of this is celebrity love? How much is tree-hugger-meets-mad-max eco-rescue lovers? How many are tired of the macho-hillbilly-redneck pro-gas-guzzling Marlboro-Man image of “Made-Ford-Tough”? A lot, clearly.

“So if you think about a truck, you want a truck that’s tough. You want a truck that’s really tough, not fake tough.”

– ELON MUSK AT THE TESLA CYBERTRUCK UNVEIL EVENT

And what if it is just a lot of people with a C-note to spare that would like to vote for an overthrow of the old guard and see the transition to a sustainable energy transportation infrastructure at least get off its ass?

In Southern California you get on the freeway anytime, anywhere and you will see old guard 19mpg, 40 gallon per tank monsters with fat, stupid oversized clown wheels as far as the eye can see. What if they were mixed with Tesla Cybertrucks, in addition to the Model S and Model 3s that are already a California freeway mainstay. Would that be “Blade-Runner-esque? And what of it? At lease a new day will look new and be different.

Haven’t we seen enough of the Status Quo? Haven’t the Dinosaurs had their day? Change can be refreshing, even while retro in a cyberpunk kind of way, and in the end, Saving the Planet and Having Fun Doing It is a much better way than the way we had.

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Business, Observation, Tech

Cybertruck Turnaround tells us a Boatload about Tesla, Elon Musk and the Future

Video
https://www.tesla.com/xNVh4yUEc3B9/11_Desktop_Video.mp4

More than 200k in pre-orders and Future buyers posting Proof Online as a Badge of Honor

The Cybertruck unveiling at the SpaceX adjacent Tesla Design Center on November 21st was one for the the ages. The initial reaction by the throngs of invited press (invitations were required and very hard to come by for the ultra-anticipated event) was to run with the obvious: smash proof window failure and wild twitter responses to the extreme throw-back-style design.

Elon Musk even pre-revealed what the general look the truck would be before the event, as if he was concerned that people needed a preview to reduce the shock of seeing the radical concept without a prior hint of what was to come.

And then, within 24 hours of the unveiling, literally 100s of online media outlets pumped out articles, perhaps with a ratio of two or three to one ridiculing the design, or the issues with the on-stage window demonstration vs. the minority actually digging deeper into the truck itself and how it might actually fare in the real world. One outlet even speculated that the whole concept was 100% fake and that there was no chance that any truck, at least not similar to this one, would ever be produced.

In the run-up to the epic unveiling, Musk hinted that the truck would possibly be influenced by the “Blade Runner” aesthetic and cyberpunk ethos and might be like “an armored personnel carrier from the future”. And how spot on those hints turned out to be!

Once the pre-orders started to flood in, something changed, big time.

Within 72 hours Elon had tweeted milestones for the $100 fully refundable pre-orders. First that approximately 160k and then more than 200k orders had been taken. Not quite at the level of the Model 3 pre-orders, and at a much lower cost (Model 3 was a $1000 deposit) but, for an unveiling that was considered by the press, generally, to be a failure and even worthy of mocking and derision, this was an abrupt, if not surprising turn-around.

Not surprising because this type of press-vs-the public behavior is commonplace in all areas of commerce and entertainment. Just last summer, Disney’s Lion King was almost universally panned by critics, then went on, predictably, to be one of the biggest financial successes in movie history. Cybertruck is unlikely to be that extreme as it bounces back from the initial negativity coming from the press, but what the bounce back says about Tesla, climate change and the future is an even more fascinating story, to observe and speculate on, than that cute and cuddly digital cat.

[gdgallery_gallery id_gallery=”30″]

Tesla’s Support and Status as a Hero in the Fight against the Fossil Fuel Industrial Complex and ICE automakers runs deep and strong

The speculation on why Elon Musk chose to design and offer this vehicle at this time has obviously run rampant. There are many theories, most of them pretty silly, and, short of a detailed announcement from the man himself, there can be no definitive statement.

However, now that the pre-orders are proving to be robust and the company’s stock has rebounded (probably unrelated but, that’s another story), the possibility of a “crazy like a fox” story behind it all begins to make more sense.

One interesting development is the tweets of the deposit receipts as a badge of honor among the faithful. This could just be folks who love everything about the truck and it’s radical design and features.

It could also, however, be something larger in play. Once the truck concept vs. the EV concept is taken into account the process of observing social and commercial trends in this case becomes very interesting.

Factoid 1: Incidents involving Tesla charging stations being blocked and vandalized have generally been perpetrated by strange rogue Pick-up truck owners and there has been an exaggerated hate and pride in driving a gas guzzling anti-Tesla. It’s bizarre to think that Tesla in this case could be creating a kind of counter force to these oddly “pro-gasoline” wackos who seems to see Tesla as some sort of flashpoint for their retro-oil-fetish. And, the Cybertruck is bulletproof (!?).

Factoid 2: While it has been well documented that Tesla stands virtually alone against the power structure of the entire world in its crusade to rid the world of ICE vehicles ASAP, the degree to which the general public has a strong desire and motive to support the company and its products, above and beyond a love for the products themselves or its leader, is as yet an unknown quantity.

In the press at large (many who are beholden to the ICE power structure) Tesla is often seen as just another carmaker selling wares, while customers may have a deeper connection as they search for ways to support solutions to the climate crisis as individuals. This could be a major and growing force in the days and months ahead, and can be a powerful resource to help to keep Tesla afloat even when Elon Musk decides to tackle challenging and even outlandish ventures.

Factoid 3: Perhaps more fantasy based than fact supported, the connection between the climate crisis as a motivation to buy and EV truck may go even deeper and wider than just the battery power. As a virtual disaster survival vehicle with various features that would be potentially life saving in a post-catastrophe situation – such as being employed as a bug-out vehicle to escape a flooded urban area. Various features seem to be conceived in response to a potential dystopian fantasy, but could be extremely valuable in a real emergency. The almost tank like durability, the shatterproof windows (as long as a sledgehammer doesn’t hit the door first), the battery powered cooking facilities in the camping-mode version, even the optional ATV come to mind.

“an armored personnel carrier from the future.”

– Elon Musk

Taking this thought experiment to its furthest possible conclusion its not hard to imagine a future (the Cybertruck could be on streets by perhaps 2021-2022) where the factions who support ICE trucks and the anti-fossil fuel “warriors”, each become radicalized and clash in some crazy mad max survival contest on US highways.

A more Optimistic stroke of Genius could also have played a role

Another very interesting possibility is that Elon Musk, known for being a master playing in marketing ventures, as well as being dedicated to sharing the EV market gladly with “competitors”, who he sees more as partners, once they take up the mantel of helping to accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy transportation.

It is no coincidence that GM, Ford, and many others have announced EV truck projects and details in the wake of the Cybertruck unveiling. It is a given that they will be watching very closely as Tesla ventures in to the traditional automakers most lucrative market segment.

“Trucks have been the same for a very long time like 100 years, we wanted to try something different,”

– Elon musk

For Musk and Tesla, however, it is clearly a win-win if you understand the higher purpose and motivation that infuses all activities within the company and yet is often misunderstood by others.

If the Cybertruck does not command a large market share and somehow ends up like the DeLorean that it resembles, it will have, nevertheless, been a huge success in forcing the hand of the legacy automakers toward offering more EV options asap.

The legacy ICE carmakers cannot afford to wait while hoping that Tesla will fail. That phase of the battle over sustainable vs fossil-fuel transportation is over. Tesla is a force to be reckoned with and the Cybertruck, along with its on-going army of supporters who’ve ponied up C-notes, are making themselves seen and heard and stand as a warning that it’s not only the climate that’s changing on this planet.

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Business, Climate Solutions, Cutting Edge, Tech

Bring It On: Elon Musk & Tesla and the EV Explosion of New Models across the Auto Industry

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https://video-lynxotic.akamaized.net/What-is-Mach.mp4
Ford MUSTANG Mach-E SUV Scheduled Announcement for Nov. 17

Ford Announcement is Harbinger of Avalanche of New EV Models are on the Horizon from virtually every Major Automaker

With today’s scheduled announcement of a new Ford Mustang EV and a slew of other companies rushing into the fray, the transition into more sustainable automotive transportation has gone into hyperdrive.

Since it’s founding in 2003, Tesla has been about two things: all electric zero emission electric cars and making them fun, fast and sexy.

The genius of this cannot be overstated. In retrospect, it can even be said that the auto industry intentionally tried to make EV’s, to the extent that they were developed at all, an experience like eating broccoli while everyone else at the table feasted on a cornucopia of delights. The idea appeared to be to intentionally fail and thereby take away the need for EV’s to be produced at all (and ICE vehicle production to continue uninterrupted)

Elon Musk and Tesla put a stop to all that. Facing incredible resistance and negative press bordering on sabotage, nevertheless the company persisted and stuck to the concept: EVs must be not only have a long range and be powerful but also be fast and fun like hell to drive.

Also, could it be that all the boring, staid productions and designs were built specifically to fail? That the fossil fuel industrial complex wanted to perpetuate itself (automakers included) and stop or at least slow down the transition to EVs?

For years, there was not much more than a trickle of projects at other manufacturers trying to follow suit. No more. Not only are there huge and growing numbers of new models either in production or soon to be produced, but longer term commitments and infrastructure investments, particularly by the top German automakers are being announced virtually by the day.

https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/roadster_videos/roadster-loop-imperial.mp4?20180329
Tesla Roadster

Theses commitments follow not only close attention to the sales numbers and successes of Tesla’s Roadster, Model 3, S and X, but, with a high likelihood, huge companies are seeing that the tide is turning in awareness of the need for sustainable energy infrastructure among the general public.

Although there is plenty of debate as to whether battery based individual cars can be powered by primarily sustainable energy sources (Solar, wind, etc), it is clear that reducing CO2 emissions by phasing out, and eventually eliminating, ICE vehicles is a positive step forward.

Photo / Tesla

The Future can’t wait, and thankfully, Elon and Tesla Survived and Brought us All to this Moment

But the genius and power, seldom singled out for praise of any kind (even among Tesla fanatics), in finding “sexy” ways to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and of waging war against the capitalist world that itself created the problem of Global Warming, is mind-bendingly fantastic.

While this sounds almost insane at first blush, Elon Musk and Tesla are proving that, by focusing on making products that are not only environmentally progressive but also attractive to consumers, (using a marketing style straight out of Apple and Steve Jobs playbook) the “free market” can bring extreme pressure to bear on polluting fossil fuel behemoths and force them to change.

The brilliance of this is deep and formidable. In the end, it is “the people” that must stand up and act to change the ways that we travel and use transportation. It has been clear for half a century that a “top-down” approach where a kind of energy austerity is forced on the public is not possible and would bring great hardship. And voluntary change by the power structure went virtually nowhere in the last 50 years.

Why not find ways to make sustainable energy solutions and products that improve the transportation systems into aspirational objects of desire and status? Why not make green more than just politically correct but also cutting edge and satisfying to the lifestyles of the affluent and mobile in the G7 member countries?

Tesla Store in Hamburg, Germany

One Step Forward is better than Excuses not to Act, which has been the Stance of Government and Industry until now

And so what if battery factories are not yet able to run on 100% sustainable energy sources? Isn’t it better to start now and accelerate the transition to a better way? Tesla is also a solar company and a battery manufacturing company and is doing everything possible to upgrade all available technology to make its entire operation more completely sustainable and “green”.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic to see the rest of the auto industry (and indeed other industries and companies) to follow this path of prioritizing sustainable energy production and use?

Now, today, we see that a miracle has happened. Using great technology and product designs and marketing them with emphasis on the driving pleasure, speed and sexy fun, just as much as the environmental benefits Tesla has pulled and prodded the rest of the auto industry toward the future, and forced them to abandon all efforts to delay or impede the transition to sustainable energy in automotive transport.

In a war with a single company / entity against almost literally the entire world infrastructure, the war was won by the underdog, hands down.

Perhaps this is a lesson for the future: that winning the hearts, minds and the wallets of the general public, by creating products people love, can be an even better catalyst for positive change, than preaching suffering and guilt while clinging to the obsolete structures of the past.

You can watch the live unveiling of the Mustang Mach-E at 5:15 PM (PST) Nov. 17, 2019 below:

https://youtu.be/o0F9Uktpgtk

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News

This Week: Stories from the Climate Crisis, Tech, Tesla, Apple and more

Video

Just in case you missed our recent coverage on the intersections of the Climate Crisis, Tech and Entertainment, we’ve compiled a list of articles for you to check out:

Graphic Collage / Lynxotic

Greta Thunberg: Climate Activist focused on Change now, not hopes for an Uncertain Future

Greta Thunberg is a sixteen-year-old Swedish girl who is rapidly becoming a flash point for those in the movement to raise awareness of the global emergency of global warming and climate change.

Photo / Adobe Stock

The Potential of Self-Driving Cars in Entertainment Media: First Foray

While it might be easy to imagine people in self-driving cars perpetually staring at their smart phones or laptops, there is the possibility that entertainment companies could collaborate with vehicle manufacturers to change the very design of vehicles and make car-riding a transmedia experience.

Photo / Apple

iOS 13 Tips: How to Use and Manage the new Share Menu for iPhone and iPadOS

The share menu can vary from app to app, many use it most often from within Safari or the Mail app, however, for this video, we chose the Apple News app as the operations are essentially the same.

Photo / Global Citizen / Ethan Judelson

Leonardo DiCaprio headlines Global Citizens Festival, continues fight to raise awareness of Climate Crisis

Leonardo DiCaprio had made several stances against climate change over the years. The actor spearheaded the issue in his 2016 documentary “Before The Flood” and even used the stage during his long-awaited Oscar acceptance speech to talk about the importance of preserving our natural world. Evidently, the man is a passionate environmentalist.

Graphic Collage / Lynxotic

Tesla and Elon Musk are Smiling: Gas Pumps Out, Charging Stations In

The news here, however is that these are stations that have decided to abandon gas, oil and, presumably, gasoline-based auto maintenance for EV charging and convenience. This is a trend that, hopefully, will accelerate.

Photo / Magnolia Pictures

‘Scandalous’: National Inquirer sets the Standard for Questionable News Coverage

If one even notices the title of the film printed in smaller letters in enormous tagline’s shadows, one might expect that “Scandalous” isa movie about conspiracy theories or some great national collusion that ties all of these pop-culture headlines in some absurd way. However, beneath the title on the poster, seemingly hidden, is the film’s subtitle. It reads “The Untold Story Of The National Enquirer.“

Photo / Disney

5 New Trailers just Released: Check out the future fare from Sony, Disney and more

This week had a gaggle of new trailers hitting the street so we decided to choose five to showcase and feature in this post.

Photo / Warner Bros.

Eight Movies Out Now you might have missed

Just in case you missed our coverage of recent films, out now in theaters, we’ve compiled a graphic tour of a few noteworthy (or at least to be considered) titles among them.

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Climate Solutions, Earth and Ecology, Tech

Tesla and Elon Musk are Smiling: Gas Pumps Out, Charging Stations In –

Is this a Canary in the Coal Mine moment?

Say what you want about radical engineer Elon Musk, but his companies have certainly produced some very innovative products over the years. None are perhaps as revolutionary as Tesla’s line-up of wildly popular and stylish electric vehicles that require no gasoline.

This past weekend, a beacon of progressive light shone through the clouds as two gas stations on different sides of the world got rid of all their fuel pumps and transitioned entirely to EV charging stations. One of the gas stations is in Norway and it is a branch of the global Circle K convenience store company. The other is a local gas station in Takoma Park, Maryland called RS Automotives. 

This is significant, not due to the world adding two more charging stations, there are many already and Tesla’s network of stations is truly remarkable. The news here, however, is that these are stations that have decided to abandon gas, oil and, presumably, gasoline-based auto maintenance for EV charging and convenience. This is a trend that, hopefully, will accelerate.

In the wake of the UN 2019 Climate Action Summit, these initiatives are but small victories in the fight for environmental reformation. Nonetheless, we can take these updates as signs of individual improvement and solace. Either they are money-driven transformations reflective of more people turning to electric vehicles, or they are examples of non-money driven actions that we may need businesses to make in order to shift consumers in the superior, ecologically sensitive direction.

While gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles have been around for a while with popular older models such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight, Tesla stands as the first widely popular electric car that runs on zero fluids excluding the windshield-wiper fluid (or tiny amounts for cooling batteries). Instead of filling it up with gas, you charge it up like a phone.

Admittedly, charging up a Tesla can, in some situations, take a while— close to an hour if fully discharged and topped off (Tesla suggests 80% maximum at any time to promote battery health and longevity). Although over half a million Teslas have been sold since their first all-electric Model-S debuted in 2012, some people still assume that the time it takes to charge one up is Tesla’s greatest weakness.

The “Range Anxiety” debate is not new, and not entirely real

This “weakness” is part propaganda, part wishful thinking and part scare tactic. The reality is, pumping gas also takes time and if you add in a bathroom break and a short stop to grab a drink to go, a supercharger can approximate, with ease, the turn-around time. Not to mention the peace of mind that comes with using a fill-up (charge up) as a break from driving rather than a hurried gas smelling pit-stop.

Charging stations have been popping up more frequently across the country and the world in the last few years. Tesla, Volkswagon and some venture capital-based start-ups have made initiatives to put up tens of thousands more EV charging stations along highways and roads.

This trend can be seen as a canary in the coal mine moment for the demise of fossil fuel based transportation and, ultimately, the fossil fuel based economic model. The looming climate crisis, breaking out virtually every day into the news, is but one reason to cheer this development. There are many more and many CitCM moments to come.

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