Posted on 06/12/2019 4:05:33 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Northvolt, a battery startup founded by two former Tesla executives, announced a $1 billion equity capital raise for its battery gigafactory in Sweden, in addition to a planned 50/50 joint venture with Volkswagen on another gigafactory in Germany.
In a separate release, Volkswagen announced that it’s investing some €900 million ($1 billion) in joint battery activities with Northvolt. The automaker is acquiring about 20% of Northvolt’s shares, and plans involve a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies on a 16 GWh battery cell gigafactory in Lower Saxony, Germany.
(Excerpt) Read more at electrek.co ...
Stay to the side or risk being run over!
What is a giga factory? Like a thousand times bigger than a mega factory? I though democrats were against stuff that produces anything useful
Well it’s a good gig if you can get it.
...sorry...
GM, Ford, VW and of course Tesla have made huge investments into the research, design, acquisition of materials, infrastructure and production of electric vehicles. Some of the vehicles are attractive and are well engineered, the problem is the market. The majority of consumers, given a free choice prefer the reliability, range, durability, all terrain and all weather features of the internal combustion engine. So far these auto companies cannot sell enough electric vehicles to make a profit on the huge investment they have made. The result is inadequate return on committed capital or dead money. Dead money is an anchor that can drag down any business in a free market. It would seem that there will be bankruptcies, mergers and a general decline in the value of these companies stocks.
However notice some recent events. Car manufacturers recently “objected” to a relaxation of EPA regulations that they have historically resisted. Suddenly they are giving every indication that they are more than willing to have the government dictate policy. Why? Well if they are to somehow recuperate and make a profit on their huge EV investment, they have to throw their lot in with coercive policies that will force consumers to buy electric vehicles and forgo the internal combustion cars they really want. The car manufacturers will therefore support the Democrats and hope that if they achieve power, such coercions via regulations and law will come about as the Democrats disastrously implement their bizarre “green new deal”. Look to auto stocks to follow the polls in the next year. If the Democrats are legitimately seem to be leading, those stocks will rise. If not and the free market and consumer preference win out, those auto stocks will take a dive.
I have a new car, will last 10+ years. I’m comfortable knowing I’ll get 27/35 mpg city/ highway with 200+ ponies for $24,247. The premium for an attractive full electric car like I have now would be $15,000 or more. Gas will never cost me that difference since I only drive 6k miles a year. Actually it well be about half that amount. I don’t need to worry about poor quality, high Insurance costs and weeks...months wait time for repairs. If I was inclined to hug a tree and pay a premium it would be for a hybrid which you will never have range anxiety...some are 600+ in between fill ups.
What is a Giga factory?
One size smaller from a Terafactory?
“EV investment, they have to throw their lot in with coercive policies that will force consumers to buy electric vehicles and forgo the internal combustion cars they really want.”
There is a huge difference between want and need.
Every day a bazillion people buy water in a bottle!
Why?
Marketing!
That said, current EVs are $10-$15k above a similar ICE.
And a perciption of needing constant charging.
Motorists age 16 years and older drive, on average, 29.2 miles per day https://newsroom.aaa.com/2015/04/new-study-reveals-much-motorists-drive/
No disagreement, I just responded with a related answer.
US generating capacity ~ONE MILLION MW
Peak DAY TIME demand ~700MW typical ~600MW
Night time demand~400MW
And remember to use the diversity factor.
Currently over TWO MILLION EVs in the US.
Not so much as a tiny blip on demand, NOTHING.
Like baseball fields; BUILD IT, AND THEY WILL COME.
At the end of 2018, the United States had about 1,097,859 MW—or 1.1 billion kilowatts (kW)—of total utility-scale electricity generating capacity and about 20 million kW of small-scale distributed solar photovoltaic electricity generating capacity.
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=electricity_in_the_united_states#tab2
U.S. electricity demand:
https://www.eia.gov/realtime_grid/#/data/graphs?end=20180718T00&start=20180711T00
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