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Jameson Dow

Jameson is based in Southern California and has been driving electric vehicles since 2009 and writing about EVs, sustainability and policy for Electrek since 2016.

You can contact him at jamie@electrek.co, or on his bluesky account that he just set up and maybe will never use at https://blskyl.ink/jamesondow

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If you want an EV, buy now – Rivian, Fisker and others rush to lock in EV tax credits before changes

Rivian, Fisker, and other EV makers are offering binding purchase agreements to reservation holders after the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act with big EV tax credit changes. The availability of tax credits could change within the span of the next few days now that the House has passed the bill, if President Biden signs it quickly.

Major Update: The bill has been signed. It is now law. Click through for information on the new EV Tax Credit.

If you’re looking to buy an EV soon, check below to see how various manufacturers will be affected by these changes, and what you can do to try to ensure access.

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US House passes climate bill, on to President Biden

Congress Capitol Hill

The United States House of Representatives has voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the massive climate bill passed by the Senate on Sunday, in a party-line vote of 220-207, supported by Democrats and opposed by republicans.

Now it goes on to Biden’s desk – where the President is expected to sign it in the coming days – which will immediately affect the availability of EV tax credits.

Major Update: The bill has been signed. It is now law.

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Senate calls USPS bluff with $3 billion for electric trucks – will it go 100% BEV?

US-government-EVs

The US Senate has allocated $3 billion in additional funding to the US Postal Service for electrification of the nation’s delivery fleet, as part of yesterday’s massive climate bill. It’s the latest move in the long saga for postal service electrification and effectively “calls USPS’s bluff” by supplying as much funding as the USPS claimed a 100% BEV fleet would cost.

Update: USPS responded to our questions, which we’ve included at the end of the article.

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Senate improves EV tax credit in largest climate bill ever

The Senate has voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes nearly $400 billion over 10 years in funding for climate and energy related programs, and an extension and improvement of the US electric car tax credit.

Update: Since many EVs may lose access to tax credits within a week or so, we’ve posted an article to help you find out how best to navigate these changes for most affected EVs in the US.

Major Update: The bill has been signed. It is now law.

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Toyota’s bZ4X recall isn’t going great – company offers car buyback

Toyota bZ4X

Toyota has sent a letter to bZ4X owners, offering a choice between a loaner and incentive package or full repurchase of vehicles, as the company continues to struggle with (literally) keeping the wheels on their first electric car effort.

Notably, the car’s electric drive systems are not affected by the recall – the battery and drive motor are working perfectly fine.

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VW breaks ground on new battery factory, will invest €20b into “PowerCo” spinoff

volkswagen salzgitter battery factory

VW has announced another big battery investment, this time committing €20 billion to battery production through 2030 with a new battery production spinoff named “PowerCo.”

The announcement was made at the groundbreaking ceremony for its new battery factory in Salzgitter, Germany, the first of six plants in Europe as unveiled at VW’s “Power Day” event last March.

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World’s largest direct air carbon capture facility will reduce CO2 by .0001%

climeworks direct air capture plant iceland carbon

The world’s largest carbon direct air capture facility has started construction in Iceland, run by Swiss startup Climeworks AG.

When construction finishes in 18-24 months, their facility, named “Mammoth,” will be able to remove 36,000 tons of CO2 from the air per year – which is .0001% of the 36 billion tons of CO2 emitted per year by humanity.

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Watch an electric ‘fan car’ beat every car ever at Goodwood Hill Climb

mcmurtry speirling goodwood record electric fan car

A fully electric car has beaten every car ever at the Goodwood Hillclimb track at the Festival of Speed, an annual gathering and demonstration of racing vehicles in England. The McMurtry Speirling fan car driven by Indycar and ex-F1 driver Max Chilton set a record of 39.08 seconds on the 1.86km (1.16 mile) course, almost a second better than the previous record.

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Exxon CEO says no new gas cars globally by 2040, goes wolf in sheep’s clothing about CO2

darren woods exxon ceo 2040 no gas cars electric carbon capture

Every new passenger car sold in the world will be electric by 2040, according to Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods in an interview aired this weekend by CNBC.

The interview also covered the company’s climate ambitions, putting a flashy coat of paint on an organization that is the world’s fifth-largest historical polluter and has pushed climate denial at a high level for half a century.

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Automakers lobbying toward climate catastrophe, production goals won’t meet <1.5C target

Major automakers are currently on track to fail to meet necessary climate goals to keep the world under 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, according to a new report by InfluenceMap.

The report showed that while companies are largely making climate-forward public statements, these statements do not match up with their actions in terms of future production plans or their lobbying efforts.

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