Free Republic

The cars that were going to save our world from the scourge of carbon-based global warming are, says one media outlet, “​​piling up on dealer lots” because they can’t be sold. Maybe we’re finally at the point where most if not all of those who are desperate to demonstrate their green cred already have an EV and don’t need another battery-powered adult toy. Even though “the auto industry is beginning to crank out more electric vehicles (EVs) to challenge Tesla,” Axios reported Monday, “there’s one big problem: not enough buyers.” Two days later, Market Watch said that as “EV sales...

Two firefighters were killed battling a blaze that began when cars caught fire deep inside a cargo ship carrying 5,000 cars at a New Jersey port, Newark's fire chief said Thursday. Five other firefighters were injured but were expected to recover. Responding firefighters found five to seven vehicles already on fire when they reached the 10th floor of the cargo ship at Port Newark around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night. The blaze quickly extended to the 11th and 12th floors, and as firefighters were pushed back by the intense heat, two of them were lost, Fire Chief Rufus Jackson said at...

RIO RANCHO — New Mexico would require automakers to deliver more zero-emission vehicles for sale in the state under a rule proposed Monday by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The proposal would require that 43% of the 2027 model year cars and trucks sent to New Mexico for sale meet strict clean car standards, officials said. The percentage would climb to 82% for 2032 vehicles, with the changes phased in over a half dozen years. Under the proposal, automakers would also have the option of buying credits from other companies to help meet the 43% requirement for 2027 electric vehicles. Electric...

The U.S. military is in decline and now faces a peer competitor, China, that vastly outmatches the United States in terms of military–industrial capacity. And in research, China has a “stunning lead” over the United States in 37 out of 44 critical and emerging technologies, many of which are directly defense related. Yet our military is spending an increasing percentage of its time, money, and mindshare on so-called green initiatives. One of the latest of these initiatives is the Army’s plan to run a series of field tests on a multi-ton, wheeled battery pack as part of its efforts to...

"As fuel taxes plummet, states weigh charging by the mile instead of the tank.” That was the headline of a recent AP story, which should scare freedom-loving citizens everywhere. And you can place the blame squarely on government-subsidized EVs for this terrible new development. The background is that state and federal gasoline taxes aren’t raising “enough” money these days to pay for roadway construction and maintenance. And a big reason for the growing shortfall is the increase in electric vehicles. EVs get massive tax subsidies to convince people to buy them, but their owners don’t pay gasoline taxes, for the...

Electric Vehicle maker Lordstown Motors Corp. (LMC) announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday despite receiving millions in taxpayer funding through tax breaks and grants. LMC received $4.5 million from JobsOhio, a private nonprofit that collects funds through a government-mandated monopoly on spirituous liquor sales, according to Cleveland.com, and $20 million in tax credits to be paid out over 15 years by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, according to Business Journal Daily. LMC also received a $40 million loan from the previous owner of the plant, General Motors, who received $60 million in subsidies from the state of...

In the world of all things wonderful and green, the biggest push has been to hasten the demise of the internal combustion engine and the chirpiest assessments have been how EVs will save the planet. From California to New York state to the federal government and internationally, the powers that be have been on a tear to declare the ICE deadly and obsolete, while the EV in all its incarnations is the future. Perhaps the bloom is coming off of that overly optimistic and premature rose. Some EV business models aren’t motoring along as well as previously anticipated, even with...

U.S. electric truck manufacturer Lordstown Motors (RIDE.O) filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday and put itself up for sale after failing to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan's Foxconn (2354.TW). Shares of Lordstown tumbled 35% in trading on the Nasdaq. The company's bankruptcy is not the first among the crop of EV startups that went public during the pandemic-era SPAC boom. But Lordstown was a high-profile member of that class because it was challenging the core of the legacy Detroit automakers' business of high-margin pickup trucks, and because of its location. "The bankruptcy of Lordstown signals that...

In the past year, lithium-ion battery fires in electric vehicles have led to blazing wrecks along highways that take firefighters hours to extinguish and buildings that go up like a torch from fires that cannot be swiftly brought under control. And now, a plant that uses lithium to make components for batteries for electric vehicles has gone up in flames. A plant belonging to the Livent Corp. was on fire early Monday in the North Carolina town of Bessemer City, according to WCNC-TV in Charlotte. The company said there were no reports of injuries and that all employees were accounted...

This needs more attention, China keeps telling lies and no one ever calls them out, everyone just goes with it and keeps investing! VIDEO AT LINK......................... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SEfwoqKRU8&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwattsupwiththat.com%2F&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Xcel Energy’s new $1.7 billion Power Pathway Project to build 550 miles of new 345-kilovolt power lines and at least four new substations in eastern and southeastern Colorado will add to the cost of renewable energy. Xcel customers will be paying for the power lines to help meet Gov. Jared Polis’ Greenhouse Gas Reduction Roadmap goals for carbon reduction. ... for nearly full electrification of buildings and transportation, Net-Zero America co-principal investigator Jesse Jenkins, an assistant professor and energy systems engineer at Princeton, told The Denver Gazette in an email that the U.S. would have to increase transmission capacity by...

OAKLAND, Calif. - Vandals sliced through thick cables at an Oakland electric vehicle charging station, leaving drivers powerless. Nearly a dozen charging cables are missing from the EVgo charging station at 409 Washington Street near Jack London Square. The chargers have been out of commission for at least a week.

Ron DeSantis has signed a law banning automakers from selling cars direct to consumers in Florida – but it contains a carve-out that will benefit his political backer Elon Musk and his Tesla company.House Bill 637 requires most automakers to sell to Floridians through third-party car dealers, who sometimes add exorbitant markups to vehicles’ sales tags.Drafted by lobbyists for dealers, who have made substantial donations to DeSantis, the law could have been a big blow to Tesla owner Elon Musk, who hosted his glitchy presidential campaign launch on Twitter.Tesla cuts out the middleman by operating its own dealerships. Forcing it...

Tesla got a carve-out. It’s a good day for auto dealers in the Sunshine State, and not so great for motorists who’d prefer a more direct route for buying a new coupe, sedan or SUV. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure (HB 637) banning most direct-to-consumer vehicle sales, solidifying the future viability of car-selling operations across the Sunshine State. The measure, championed and authored by lobbyists representing the Florida Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), prohibits automakers from selling vehicles directly to buyers.That restriction, which goes into effect July 1, was considered a direct threat to the business model of Tesla, an...

Why is it that greens want everyone to drive electric cars but don’t want people to have electricity? Or, it seems, the cars ... Fossil and nuclear plants are being taken offline (bye, Indian Point!) while their replacement with “renewables” like wind and solar lags and often fails to produce power when it’s most needed. Nothing has improved on that front. But the thing about electric cars is that they don’t just need electricity, they also need batteries to store it in. And electric motors. That’s awkward because those cars and batteries require lots of copper and other metals, plus...

Some people love electric vehicles (EVs). They drive them relatively short distances to work, charge them overnight in their garages and never stop for gas. Others, due to cost, convenience and climate, prefer gasoline-powered vehicles. Thankfully, Americans today still have that choice. But if the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest proposed rule on car emissions is finalized as written, they won’t for much longer. The new rule would require 60 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. to be battery-powered electric by 2030 and 67 percent by 2032, compared to just 6 percent today. This would effectively eliminate the choice...

Consumer advocate: New Biden regulations mean ‘Everyday things that people want are going to get more expensive or disappear' ... A pledge by the Biden administration in December 2022 to take “more than 100 actions” to impose significantly tighter environmental standards on consumer goods is now becoming reality, and consumer groups are predicting a future in which Americans pay more for products that do less, while manufacturers warn of shortages and supply chain breakdowns. “You’re seeing, just in the last few months, new rules from the Biden administration about clothes washers, dishwashers, and other kinds of kitchen appliances, and in...

As the global economic intelligentsia debates how to “decouple” or “de-risk” from China, Elon Musk clearly didn’t get the memo. The Tesla founder was feted like a returning king in Beijing this week. From the moment his private jet arrived on Tuesday, Musk is reportedly being called “Brother Ma,” putting him in rarified league with Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma. There are many takeaways from Musk’s first China visit in three years. One is that not everyone is decoupling from China, least of all the globe’s most influential electric-vehicle (EV) evangelist and owner of Twitter. Another: the future of EV production...

DETROIT (AP) — Owners of new Ford vehicles will be able to tune in to AM radio in their cars, trucks and SUVs after all. CEO Jim Farley wrote in social media postings Tuesday that the company is reversing a decision to scrub the band after speaking with government policy leaders who are concerned about keeping emergency alerts that often are sounded on AM stations. “We’ve decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles,” Farley wrote on Twitter. “For any owners of Ford’s EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software update” to restore it, Farley...

Opposition to new Environmental Protection Agency tailpipe regulations is growing after the federal agency projected the regulation would put more than half of American drivers out of gas cars and into electric vehicles.As The Center Square previously reported, the EPA has projected that the proposed changes would mean that fully electric vehicles make up two thirds of all new "light duty" and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales by 2032. That would include most regular consumer vehicles, even SUVs and many pickup trucks. Currently, electric vehicles make up less than 5% of the market.A group of 151 House Republicans rallied...