President Biden

According to research teams and engineers at multiple US energy laboratories, the acceleration of EV adoption will not reach any sort of “tipping” point in which charging EVs will overwhelm the electrical grid. In fact, experts state that the entire industry is well aware of this imminent electrical load coming to the US grid and is adapting daily to support a future dominated by EVs.

President Joe Biden will today authorize the use of Title III of the Korean War-era Defense Production Act (DPA) to rapidly step up US production of minerals for electric vehicle and storage batteries.

Environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben wrote about an innovative idea that would help curb Europe’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels, and the Biden administration might actually implement the plan.

President Biden and the US Department of Energy have issued multiple notices of intent to allocate $2.91 billion in support of EV battery manufacturing as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The DOE shared plans to use the funds to further battery materials refining, production plants, and battery cell manufacturing facilities in addition to battery recycling.

In new comments about US manufacturing, President Biden finally acknowledged Tesla as “America’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer,” calming Elon Musk fans who have been raising a big stink for months about the administration overlooking Tesla.

DC fast charging hardware and software manufacturer Tritium outlined plans for a new manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Tennessee this morning. Furthermore, all chargers produced at the new facility are expected to comply with Buy America Act provisions. As a result, Tritium CEO Jane Hunter will meet President Biden at the White House today to discuss US EV infrastructure.

During a congressional sprint to pass legislation before holiday recess, the US Senate is reportedly planning to put a pin in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Build Back Better bill to focus on other acts it hopes to pass before 2021’s end. Unfortunately, any delays to the Build Back Better bill means a delay in the proposed revisions to federal tax credits for EV automakers and moreover, US consumers.

The Biden administration announced an executive order today focused on reestablishing the US federal government as a leader in sustainability. The sections within the executive order tackle major global issues like climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and net-zero carbon electricity production. Furthermore, the President has set a 2027 deadline to make all light-duty government fleets zero emissions.

The US House of Representatives passed the $1.9 trillion “Build Back Better” legislation early this morning, following a lengthy session that included a record-setting speech from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The Build Back Better bill, which includes robust changes to federal tax credits for EVs, will now face the Senate, where two vital Democrats have already shared that they are undecided on their vote.

The COP26, aka the United Nations Climate Change Conference UK 2021, has officially finished in Glasgow. But the final agreement has not yet been put in place, and that will likely come over the weekend. Here’s Electrek‘s daily roundup of the key happenings at the world’s most important summit ever.

US President Joe Biden has spent weeks battling opposition to his sweeping Build Back Better spending bill from Just Say No Republicans, and even some self-promoting sellouts in his own party. Now he’s also getting blowback to proposed rebates on US- and union-built EVs from foreign ambassadors and several domestic automakers.

US President Joe Biden is making the case for his electric vehicle plan today during a visit to a Ford Motor electric vehicle plant in Dearborn, Michigan, this afternoon. It’s ahead of Ford’s big reveal on Wednesday of the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck. He is also likely to make note of the fact that United Auto Workers will build the F-150 Lightning.

This week, Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation that would invest $25 billion to convert the entire US fleet of ICE school buses to electric vehicles. The bill would authorize federal grant money over the course of 10 years, and 40% of the funds would be specifically devoted to replacing school buses operating in mostly nonwhite, poorer communities.

The Biden administration has published its $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which is called The American Jobs Plan, on the White House website. He’ll discuss the plan today in a speech in Pittsburgh.

It’s extremely comprehensive – and that’s an understatement – so we pulled out the clean energy overview in a quick roundup here.

In an unconfirmed letter to the Commander in Chief, two US Senators from California urged the administration to follow their state’s lead in establishing a phase out date for gas-powered vehicles. Furthermore, President Biden and his team are maneuvering how to reimplement vehicle emissions rules eased by the previous administration.

The Postmaster General for the United States Postal Service (USPS) recently committed to 10% of its new fleet going full-electric. The upgrade was announced this past week and will replace 50,000-165,000 vehicles over the next 10 years. The USPS’ current ICE lineup of LLV’s (long-life vehicles) is near 30 years old.

Maryland’s Montgomery County plans to switch the entire public school bus fleet to fully electric from diesel engines. The transition is one of the largest in the US to date, and is expected to take 12 years. The green plan will completely replace all 1,400 current ICE buses. What’s most interesting about the deal is that it comes with virtually no additional cost to Montgomery County’s public school districts.

As the world enters 2021 with a cautious optimism, its global markets are still feeling many of the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic that have yet to be eradicated. Many people have pivoted toward remote work. This has increased smartphone and laptop demand, leading to shortages of essential components like semiconductors. One industry that is beginning to experience the impact of these shortages is automakers. If semiconductor manufacturers can’t catch up, it could spell more delays for several major automotive companies.

All automakers have dropped support for a lawsuit that threatened California’s long-held legal ability to set its own emissions rules, as reported by Reuters.

President Joe Biden has just announced that he will replace the entire US federal fleet with electric vehicles made in the US.