Free Republic

Congressional Republicans are making a last-ditch effort to gut the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) green energy subsidies via President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” The House Ways and Means Committee unveiled a draft bill Monday afternoon to repeal several IRA subsidies including those for electric vehicles and so-called clean hydrogen while preserving tax credits for carbon sequestration, biofuels and advanced manufacturing, which primarily benefit solar and battery storage projects. Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma’s Energy Freedom Act would take an even more aggressive approach by proposing a...

California and 16 other states are suing the Trump administration for halting federal money slated to build more electric vehicle chargers. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta accused the Trump administration of unlawfully withholding funding approved by Congress in the lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program had dedicated $5 billion to expand clean car charging across the country, including more than $300 million for projects in California.

The pack will be installed in a demonstration fleet of the Dodge Charger Daytona in 2026. * Stellantis and Factorial Energy have validated a semi-solid state battery cell. * The milestone brings the tech one step closer to commercialization. * Factorial's cells bring significant advantages in terms of range, charging speeds and weight reduction compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. ****************************************************************** Massachusetts-based battery startup Factorial is having a moment. After putting a Mercedes-Benz EQS with its solid-state tech on the road for testing, it’s now teamed up with Stellantis to announce a major milestone: successful validation of automotive-grade semi-solid-state battery cells....

We have been strong supporters of this Congressional Review Act effort because the automobile market is clearly interstate commerce. And Biden let Calfiornia take the lead to eventually ban internal combustion vehicles nationally.Banning gas cars is wildly unpopular. This may explain why every House Republican and 35 House Democrats – the biggest bipartisan vote on a green issue in recent memory – voted to let Americans drive the car of their choice.These are the 35 Democrats who voted yes, including two from California and six from New York:Next up is the Senate. Maybe.The Senate Parliamentarian is reportedly taking the puzzling...

A Jeep Wrangler EV parked at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View burst into flames Thursday before spreading to three other nearby vehicles, according to the Mountain View Fire Department. Firefighters responded at 4:53 p.m. to the report of smoke coming from a parking lot charging station in the 1300 block of Shorebird Way. Arriving crews found an active fire involving the Jeep EV along with two Teslas and a Honda. Using a preconnected hose line, firefighters got the flames under control and prevented the spread to additional vehicles in the area, MVFD said. No injuries were reported in the fire....

Carroll Shelby is gone – thank God. He is thus spared the indignity of knowing his name has been affixed to a device that’s neither a Shelby nor a Mustang. It is a device that pretends to be both. More finely, a device that trades on both those names in what is arguably the most embarrassing-ever attempt to do just that. ELVIS impersonator VIDEO AT LINK................. Let’s begin by talking about the device in question. It is not a bad device – as devices go. But it is as much a “Mustang” as an Elvis impersonator is Elvis. It’s worse,...

“We built it, you make it.”That’s the motto for Slate, a new American electric vehicle company, which just revealed its launch model and is backed by ex-Amazon (AMZN) executives, including, reportedly, Jeff Bezos’s family officeSlate said its EV pickup, a bare-bones truck with a footprint smaller than a Ford (F) Maverick, will cost somewhere in the mid-$20K range, and it will come in any color you want — as long as it’s slate gray, that is. The option-challenged vehicle offers a choice of two battery sizes for the rear-wheel-drive truck: a 52.7-kWh battery pack targeting 150 miles of range and...

Slate Auto’s new vehicle is designed to make EVs more accessible by making most features optional add-ons. The company says it will start delivering vehicles in 2026. *************************************************************** A new auto startup is launching with a made-in-America EV that with federal tax credits will cost just $20,000. Backed by Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt, Slate Auto says that affordable price is possible because of its pared-down, basic model that can then be customized—and even transformed from a truck into an SUV. Slate Auto has been in stealth for almost three years, says CEO Chris Barman, who worked as a Chrysler...

It could take up to five years to develop a domestic supply chain to supplant China’s global monopoly in processing rare earths into materials needed to produce everything from iPhones to F-35 fighter jets. While the United States has most of the 17 rare earth elements and 50 critical minerals underground, it has no industrial capacity to refine them into processed metals and magnets, according to Melissa “Mel” Sanderson, American Rare Earths board member and Critical Minerals Institute co-chair. “Currently in the United States, we have zero magnet manufacturers,” Sanderson told The Epoch Times. She said that’s why China imposed...

Beijing instructed South Korea to halt rare material products such as transformers, EVs, aerospace and medical equipment.. Beijing has asked South Korean companies to cease exporting products containing Chinese-originated heavy rare earth metals to U.S. defense firms, warning that Seoul could face sanctions. China’s Ministry of Commerce sent official notices to at least two South Korean companies recently, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Tuesday, citing sources in the South Korean transformer industry. The outlet said the letters did not specify what type of penalties South Korean companies could face if the industry continues to export equipment to the U.S....

Great Wall Motor, a China’s firm, aims for long-distance travel with its next-gen Haval Xiaolong Max hybrid EV. GWM's Haval Xiaolong Max PHEV SUV. credit: GWM China’s Great Wall Motor (GWM) has introduced the second-generation Haval Xiaolong Max plug-in hybrid SUV, featuring updated exterior styling and the company’s in-house Coffee Pilot Plus driver assistance system. The new model promises to offer more range, power, and smart features. Haval Xiaolong Max blends modern styling with practical features The latest Haval Xiaolong Max follows the brand’s “rhythmic natural aesthetics” design language with a refreshed exterior that gives the SUV a more modern...

Tariffs of up to 45 per cent on Chinese-made electric cars imported into the European Union may be replaced with a new ‘minimum pricing’ system after previously stalled discussions between the two trading partners were re-started. A ‘minimum pricing’ arrangement – also referred to as ‘price floors’ or ‘price undertakings’ – between the European Union (EU) and China would see tariffs abolished and set minimum prices agreed upon. According to Reuters, European trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic has said any new policy would have to be as effective as tariffs, given the approach has previously only been applied on ‘homogenous commodities’....

The Chinese EV giant delivered 1 million+ cars in Q1 and continues to pull ahead on some pretty huge metrics.In its preliminary earnings for the first quarter on Tuesday, electric automaker BYD revealed that net income could jump as much as 119% in the first 3 months of the year to 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), after delivering more than 1 million EVs across Q1 — up almost 60% on the same period last year. Easy rideWhile Trump’s tariffs have been a major bump in the road for other automakers, BYD — which had no plans to sell cars in...

Tesla’s sales in the United States fell almost 9 percent in the first three months of the year even as the overall market for electric vehicles grew, according to data compiled by a research firm. Car buyers are moving away from Teslas and toward models like General Motors’ Chevrolet Equinox electric vehicle, which starts at around $35,000 and can travel more than 300 miles on a charge, Cox Automotive, the research firm, said in a report. Sales of all-electric vehicles in the United States rose 11 percent during the first quarter to about 300,000 cars and light trucks, Cox said,...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Tesla officially launched in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, marking a new chapter in the company’s global expansion after Elon Musk ’s troubled relationship with the kingdom — but the Middle East country’s extreme heat could pose a challenge for its electric vehicle performance and battery efficiency. Musk and Saudi Arabia have had a complicated history. Back in 2018, the Tesla CEO claimed he had secured funding from the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund to take the company private. That deal never happened, leading to lingering tensions. With the launch of its first showroom and service center...

In three years, the project has managed to deliver 93 out of 55,000 vehicles. Return to sender. That's the message two Republican lawmakers have regarding the Biden's administration's $3 billon contract for 55,000 electric postal trucks. That's enough to replace a quarter of the USPS fleet. So far, the Wisconsin-based defense contractor Oshkosh has delivered a whopping 93 vehicles. At at that rate, they should be done by the time we open the first post office on Mars. Par for the course for any government EV initiative. As are the reported cost overruns. Fortunately, we've entered the DOGE age. And...

The Skoltech team tested six plasma compositions on the capacitance of carbon nanowalls. Plasma treatment introduced foreign atoms into supercapacitor electrodes to enhance performance. Skoltech ********************************************************************* Scientists at Russia’s Skoltech have achieved a refined understanding of how plasma treatment can significantly improve the capacitance of supercapacitors. Their latest findings reveal that a specific mixture of nitrogen and argon plasma can double the areal capacitance of carbon nanowall electrodes. This could lead to the development of supercapacitors with greater energy storage capabilities and broader applications. “These are energy storage devices that complement batteries in electric cars, trains, port cranes, and elsewhere,”...

US Experience The US has seen two eras in e-bike injury—an early era with the majority of deaths in older patients who have the financial resources to purchase earlier generation and more expensive e-bikes but were less skilled riding a bicycle. During the pandemic, sales of all bikes increased, and the closure of gyms and social distancing led some to purchase e-bikes as a safe option for outdoor exercise. In the second era, e-bike prices fell significantly and became more affordable, leading to a dramatic increase in pediatric use and injury. [snip] For decades, MarinHealth Medical Center has been the...

"How many deaths are we prepared to accept in order to rush through an EV transition that nobody wants?"

Here are two examples of how Democrats stole tens of billions of dollars from taxpayers.This is why they hate DOGE so much.Original: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/03/28/ev-charging-stations-slow-rollout/Archive: https://archive.ph/k6JkEBiden’s $7.5 billion investment in EV charging has only produced 7 stations in two yearsMarch 29, 2024President Biden has long vowed to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the United States by 2030. Those stations, the White House said, would help Americans feel confident purchasing and driving electric cars, and help the country cut carbon pollution.But now, more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging...