While I agree in general, the decline of gas stations started long before now. The first reports i can find about the rapidly declining number of gas stations are from the later part of the -00s. Back then it was because cars had better mileage, but it also highlights that petrol stations don’t go bust because 100% of customers disappear. They go bust because 100% of the profits disappear and if the profit margin is only a few percent, that doesn’t necessarily take much at all.

There are other factors as well. When a commodity goes from a high volume, low margin commodity to a high value necessity, prices will start to come up.

I also wonder what happens further up the production chain. It isn’t just cars that are affected, transportation is too. The big push right now is for electrified heavy road transport. And if dents are made in that sector, the real high volume fuel, effects will be seen in everything from transportation to agriculture.

As for car parts, SAAB went bust in 2008 and there are still plenty of those around. However, that was before the digital revolution, so they are easier (not easy) DIY cars. Finding dealer specific experts with required skills and software is harder for newer cars.

I see potential, but ultimately it comes down to cost, energy density and time to market.

4,2MWh in a 40 footer is more than the 2MWh we see today, but it is still not enough. A city in the 100k-region can be at the 80MW mark, so with 4,2MWh@0.01C it would take 2000 containers to be able to run that city for the 100 hours spoken about in the article.

Don’t get me wrong, it is an incredible achievement, not least geopolitically, but for it to take off costs need to be low. If they are at price parity with LFP/sodium batteries I’ll want 1 for testing. If they are at half the cost I will start looking for places to stack containers.

Refinery shut down has already started in Europe^^, and those left are trying to find alternative markets.

I’m across the border from you, but i mostly use my card to charge. It’s rare, I can think of one bigger provider requiring their own app, but it doesn’t differ one bit from the petrol companies loyalty programs: “become a member and save X cents/liter and ger your own credit card”…

That’s not limited to Hyundai, though. I’ve had similar experiences with VW. So far Volvo’s been the best, but that might have been special interest.

So they want to drop feed the new battery tech before they want to use solid state. Sorry, but the only reason Tesla still has some time is because CATL doesn’t have production capacity to export enough batteries.

I agree that we first need to reduce and reuse, but claiming that mining for lithium in and of itself upsets the benefits isn’t fair either. It’s not like oil extraction and transportation is somehow without environmental consequences, for animals and for humans. Those should not be ignored either!

Yes, we need strong protection for vital habitats, but that mean we need to use the last intrusive first, not that we shouldn’t. Because continuing using diesel in our cities will poison everyone that lives there as well as the rest of the planet!

At the end of the day the environment which was saved due to not going for the lithium might die anyway because of the extra heat in the slightly longer perspective…

That’s fine. Drive your Lincoln all 50 miles/year you drive that car:). That’s a non-issue in the grand scheme of things. Then you drive your electric to and from work and all other boring trips, or trips where you need a car you are certain not to break down. I hope you enjoy your fabulous car😊

“shouldn’t exist”? More like, “we don’t know how they are formed (yet)”.

I guess the issue would be that there shouldn’t have been enough time to form two black holes that large and have them meet by collisions. So either black holes are more common than thought, or there are other ways for them to form.

So, without the shift in fuel the emissions would be 2% higher? Why is that not a good thing?

Yes, we want total emissions lower, but without the efuel emissions would have been even higher.

I wonder what Shell has in this. Dont get me wrong, it is a good thing, but companies don’t do things out of the goodness of their heart and I don’t see the green wash as enough for this kind of commitment. Finding out may show a way forward for others.

Not a very long list, after all and most of them fantasy sports cars. I do wonder how BYD plays into Honda and Nissans decisions? And Fisker? I drove the SUV they had to offer, and while some of it was thought through, some features were gimmicky and it wasn’t at all ready to go on sale. Stepping from a similar power Tesla into the much heavier Fisker left me unimpressed.

Then again, This is with an American eye. America is about 15-16 million cars total this year. China looks at 11-12 million BEVs this year. It would be unwise to try to convince a smaller market hostile to your product over trying to win shares in a bigger market ready for change.

I hope demand will grow in the US soon. When it does, there will be plenty to choose from in the rest of the world! I also hope the American companies will be able to learn how to build EVs, otherwise they will have a hard time going forward. Unless they are bailed out again…

Yeah, and much of its value isn’t affected by car sales at all. The supercharger network is an unseen asset to the brand with a good margin and low risk. And opening the network to others will ensure future income streams.

Yeah, I know. Unfortunately Polar Night are hard to reach, which is why we’ve had to go to others to develop heat batteries.

The Chinese example was great to see, though! I wish we could get something similar going here, to be able to store energy. Extracting hydrogen is step 1, but also finding a good way to store it is crucial! There has been a lot of innovation in that regard lately, though.

In the US… Norway hit over 96% last month. China is projected at 50%+ BEV at the end of the year and markets as well as competitors is growing and emerging. It’s 6 years since Tesla 3, used Teslas can be found in most price ranges now.

Come to think of it, only non-chinese manufacturers were mentioned, some of which isn’t exactly the first on the market either.

It’s sad to see US automakers ending up behind in the market. When the rest of the world have stopped buying ICE cars, there will only be the us market left and that isn’t big enough to support all their brands.

Sure, this piece can’t tell it’s Fahrenheit from it’s kWh and God forbid anybody mentions power. It is of relevance, though, that nuclear is very sensitive as a power source and is hampered in many ways. It’s almost as if to be able to count on 1 reactor at any given time, 2 must be built.

Dont get me wrong, it is obvious that a mix is needed, because all sources have their own shortcomings. I just hope nuclear can be built fast enough. I don’t think so, but would gladly be proven wrong☹️. The last European reactor took 15 years to build. The world needs to have transitioned by then.

Yes, and that is good. Now we need to be able to do it in Europe as well and in much larger quantities, both for heating and electricity.

Oh, I’d like to add a follow up to that, given that any fossil fuel are dead animals from yesteryear. So if veganism is about non exploitation of animals, then the question has to be raised: can a car using fossil fuels be considered vegan, given that almost 80 of its carbon footprint comes from the fuel, according to an article posted the other day.

Also, I’d like to ask if veganism as depicted here, care about the exploitation of those who build the cars? I’m not saying anybody is great in the regard, but scrolling the list different manufacturers presented has a different pedigree on the issue.

The cookie options. Agree or pay to disagree

Absolutely! You are quite right. However, my interpretation of this message is not necessarily “we might reconsider our stance on troop mines”. Rather it is: “we will go to any lengths, even those we find barbaric and cruel, to defend our nation”. Although on the face of it, it is the wording of the agreement that sets the formalities.