10 Coolest Cleantech Tales of the Week

As this new week begins, let’s look again as soon as extra on the coolest cleantech tales of the previous week — and one very not cool story.

I’ve received to begin with some large EV quick charging information from throughout the globe.

To start with, Japan is rolling out some genuinely good and helpful wi-fi EV quick charging infrastructure at sure intersections. This looks like an unique and wild potential charging resolution proper now, however I’ve the sense it must be a core EV charging technique of the longer term, and I’m impressed at how far the know-how has superior. Simply with present wi-fi charging tech within the floor, sitting at a site visitors gentle might add 6 km of vary in a minute, or 60 km in 10 minutes. What extra might be wanted? The max charging energy capability utilizing this wi-fi tech is 150 kW, primarily the identical as Tesla’s unique Superchargers!

From the identical article, however a very totally different story, we’ve received Li Auto’s latest street big, the Li Mega (which Jo Borras and I feel seems a bit like a hypothetical Tesla Cybervan). The Li Mega an insane max charging capability, and all types of insane charging stats. The Mega can cost as much as 552 kW. That’s bonkers. In accordance with the corporate, even when the battery is at an 80% state of cost, it might pull in 315 kW of energy! And at max charging, the Li Mega takes solely 11 minutes to go from 6% to 80%. That’s loopy.

Talking of quick charging, bp pulse is shopping for about $100 million price of Tesla Superchargers. Jennifer Sensiba presents her views on why bp pulse is shopping for these Tesla Superchargers.

Talking of Tesla, the corporate is now hiring for gross sales and managerial jobs in Chile. That signifies to me that the Silicon Valley big is spreading its wings into new realms geographically because it tries to proceed increasing its annual gross sales progress (and, particularly, as the corporate strived to achieve the 50% CAGR Elon Musk lengthy forecasted for this decade).

One other Silicon Valley firm spreading its electrical wings is Uber. This can be a information story that was an even bigger shock to me. Uber is including 10,000 BYD electrical vehicles to its Uber and Uber Eats fleets in Australia.

Additionally, throughout the globe, Uber is main the best way ahead in one other manner by partnering with Waymo to supply autonomous electrical rides within the Phoenix space.

However in the event you actually need to get your neck hairs tingling with some autonomous electrical information, that’s information from China that the EHang EH216-S has been accredited for autonomous electrical air taxi service — industrial service. Autonomous electrical air taxis are arriving eventually. (Properly, in China a minimum of.)

It might be far more old fashioned, however I used to be equally thrilled by a brand new high-speed rail line in Indonesia. You need to take a look at the video footage of that line, too — gorgeous. The unhappy factor, in fact, is that right here within the US, we will’t even dream of such a prepare.

Again to the US and electrical vehicles, Ford is reportedly planning to provide an electrical automobile rather than the favored Ford Escape at its plant in Kentucky in 2025. Notably, producing a brand new EV at this manufacturing unit was one of many concessions Ford made with union contractors not too long ago — union employees clearly suppose a strategy to safe their jobs in Kentucky is to get Ford producing extra EVs there. As a result of EVs are the longer term, and the longer term should be deliberate for proper now.

Final however not least among the many coolest CleanTechnica tales of the week is my interview with two cofounders of Iontra. They’re dramatically bettering battery efficiency and longevity with their progressive cost controller options. Keep watch over this firm. And be sure you hearken to the podcast, or a minimum of learn the article about it. The corporate is making large enchancment in an space that we by no means even discuss.

We did have one massive downer story. Hertz, after taking such an enormous EV lead, particularly with its dedication to buy 100,000 Teslas by the top of 2022, has missed that concentrate on and scaled again its EV ambitions. The rental automobile firm has confronted quite a few challenges with its Teslas, together with larger than anticipated upkeep and restore prices in addition to larger than anticipated depreciation. The corporate at the moment has about 35,000 Teslas and 50,000 BEVs total in its fleet. A doubtlessly greater concern I’ve observed is that Hertz isn’t giving EV renters sufficient data and assist for his or her forays into electrical automobile driving. It’s one factor to hire an EV to an EV proprietor, however when renting electrical vehicles to individuals who haven’t pushed them earlier than and who don’t have any actual data of EV charging networks (or playing cards to cost at these stations), Hertz might be doing extra hurt than good to the EV revolution, particularly on the subject of non-Tesla electrical vehicles.

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