Overview
The European Parliament and member states have reached a deal to roll out electric and hydrogen charging points across the region over the next few years. The deal states that electric charging stations will be installed every 60 km on key roads by 2026, and for trucks at 120 km intervals, half of which should be in place by 2028. The goal by 2031 is to have hydrogen refuelling stations deployed every 200 km. A lack of charging infrastructure is seen as one of the main factors holding back that transition, with drivers citing a lack of range. This should remedy that concern and help boost EV adoption.
The EU has approved the ban on new sales of ICE cars, except ones that run on e-fuels, by 2035. This has been one of the elements of the Green Deal, which has lingered on for a while. This regulation imposes a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2035. However, Germany lobbied against the decision and due to this, the ban will exempt vehicles that run exclusively on e-fuels. E-fuels are currently a nascent technology, which combines hydrogen and carbon dioxide to produce synthetic fuels. This has resulted in contrasting reactions. Proponents of e-fuels are climate-neutral, whilst detractors argue e-fuels are energy inefficient.
Synacktiv were able to hack into a Tesla 3 at the annual hacking event Pwn2Own. Synacktiv demonstrated 2 weak points in the Tesla 3’s security systems. One of the exploits involved executing a so-called TOCTTOU (time-of-check-to-time-of-use) attack on Tesla's Gateway energy management system. The second vulnerability shown was by breaking into Tesla's infotainment system by exploiting a heap overflow vulnerability and an out-of-bounds write error in a Bluetooth chipset. In doing so, they were able to gain root access to other subsystems. Tesla has been offering large prizes and its electric cars for hacking challenges such as those organized by the Pwn2Own contest, to help improve its cybersecurity.
NIO has announced it is partnering with Tibber, a Norwegian smart energy provider, to provide better charging capabilities. Tibber offers a range of services, including the Tibber App, that let customers track their energy use, find real-time energy prices, and control the charging of their electric vehicles. NIO has customers in Norway, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands who will now be able to connect their NIO vehicles to Tibber's app.
Ford has announced that its BlueOval City EV and battery manufacturing mega-campus, in West Tennessee, will build its second-generation electric truck. This will be available in the USA only and will go into production in 2025. This plant will be capable of producing 500,00 EV trucks, from 2025 onwards. Ford’s second electric truck will follow in the footsteps of Ford’s hugely successful F-150 pickup and its first electric car the Mustang Mach-E. Ford’s strategy is to leverage its most iconic brands to solidify itself as a main player in the American EV market.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced it is going to provide €40m venture debt financing to Volta Trucks. This funding will help support the rollout of Volta Trucks TaaS infrastructure between 2023-2026. From EIB’s POV, this contributes to their objective for Sustainable Transport and Climate Action and is in line with the Bank’s lending objectives and Transport Lending Policy.
BYD reported very strong Q4 22 results, with net profit increasing by more than 11-fold compared to Q4 21. Net profit for Q4 came in at 7.3bn yuan ($1.06bn) compared to 602m yuan ($91m) a year earlier. A major driver for these results was the sales growth in its new energy vehicle segment. Bolstered by its Dynasty and Ocean series of plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars, BYD appears set to overtake Volkswagen, which was the best-selling passenger car brand in China last year. BYD has continued to perform strongly in the first two months of Q1 23. In the first two months this year, BYD has surged past Tesla in Chinese EV sales, accounting for 41% of new energy car sales, compared to Tesla’s 8%.
The United States and Japan have struck a deal to cooperate on critical minerals for batteries, in a bid to lessen their reliance on Chinese supply chains. Both countries will remove export levies on the EV minerals they trade, alongside aligning their labour standards in the mining department. Japan benefits from this deal, as it makes it eligible to participate in projects that have won financing under the Inflation Reduction Act. Whilst the USA benefit by partnering with a country that has a developed industry for processing and refining critical minerals
Deals
Revolv, a provider of electric medium-to-heavy commercial fleets has raised $15m in Series A funding. This capital will be used to expand its operations across North America. Revolv is on track to deliver over 100 vehicles ranging from Class 2 through Class 8 by the end of 2023.
DeepDrive, a dual-rotor motor provider, has raised $16.1m in Series A funding, (co-)led by BMW i Ventures. The company has patented technology that increases the range of vehicles, achieves high(er) torque density, more cost-efficient to manufacture and requires fewer natural resources. DeepDrive is working with eight of the top ten OEMs and is on track to bring its technology to production by 2026.
The USA Department of Transportation has awarded $94.8 million to 59 projects on advanced technology projects to boost road safety, improve transit reliability and use drones and sensors for transportation projects.
Spotlight: Green Hydrogen
There are several types of methods to produce hydrogen and the cleanest one is Green Hydrogen and this is what all relevant sectors are striving for. Other types of hydrogen production include grey, blue, and recently, gold hydrogen. Green Hydrogen is made by using electricity from renewable sources, to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. This type of hydrogen production will play a critical role in a decarbonized future.
(Green) Hydrogen is viewed as a highly regarded solution due to its versatility. It can be used as a fuel source in several sectors and can be compressed into gas or liquefied to make it easier and cheaper to transport.
- At present, most grey hydrogen is being used in chemical plants or refineries. There is much research being conducted to see if it can be replaced with blue or green hydrogen, as it would drastically cut carbon emissions. Green hydrogen has the potential to play an important role in a decarbonized economy as a fuel, feedstock, and energy storage medium across multiple sectors.
- For example, in America, the biggest emissions reduction opportunities in the near term comes from switching the current roughly 10 MMT of annual US hydrogen demand away from conventional fossil fuel-based production to cleaner production methods.
- This demand is driven by industrial processes, such as refineries, ammonia production, and methanol production. Currently, the vast majority of all this hydrogen is produced using a method called steam methane reformation. This converts natural gas into hydrogen and emits around 100 MMT of CO2e annually or just under 2% of US net GHG emissions.
- Reducing these emissions by transitioning to clean hydrogen production can make a significant difference in the US decarbonization trajectory.
Currently, hydrogen production will require significant policy and investment support to scale up to the levels needed. However, the clean hydrogen production tax credit (PTC) included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a profound step towards securing a spot for clean hydrogen in the US economy.
- The PTC (also called the 45V tax credit) can drive down the cost of clean hydrogen to be cost-competitive with SMR-produced hydrogen. This credit is very meaningful for green hydrogen.
- If green hydrogen can demonstrate very low lifecycle GHG emissions, it can qualify for up to $3/kg in tax credits. That level of tax credit can drive meaningful deployment of electrolysers.
- However there is still no clearly defined methodology on how to calculate GHG footprint.