Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday.
Maersk Says Zero Emissions Trucks NOW! (Or In 12 Years)
Environmental groups and certain political parties have been pushing for a reduction in greenhouse gases through various means, including bans on emissions-producing cars. While not entirely ignored, commercial trucks haven’t been included in most of these bans. It’s therefore interesting that a large group of companies doing business in Europe have, through the non-profit The Climate Group, published a letter asking for a ban on ICE trucks by 2035. That would put big trucks on the same timetable as regular passenger vehicles (with a notable exception for construction, logging, and mining vehicles). Here’s what the letter says: The letter also goes on to say the goal of reducing CO2 by 30% by the end of the decade should be raised to a 65% reduction. The technologies to decarbonise trucking and tackle harmful air pollution are already here. A 2035 zero-emissions target for new freight trucks would provide investment certainty for vehicle manufacturers, and ensure the replacement of fossil-powered truck fleet in time for the EU to reach climate neutrality by 2050. The alliance of progressive industry stakeholders advocates for:
All new freight trucks should be zero emission from 2035 The 2030 CO2 reduction target needs to be significantly increased to 65% Fuel credits should not be included in the HDV CO2 standards The scope of the regulation should be extended to cover all heavy-duty vehicles
Some of the signatories shouldn’t surprise you. Volta Trucks, which is building EV commercial vehicles and stands to benefit greatly from the increased subsidies implied if this happens, is on the list. This is the equivalent of my daughter writing a letter stating that bedtime should be rolled back to 9:30 pm and getting all her friends to sign it. Pepsi, which ordered a bunch of Tesla Semis, is also on the list. What’s the most conspicuous name on this list? Maersk, which is typically the largest shipping company in the world, put its name to the letter. If I’m being optimistic this is because Maersk believes in saving our environment. If I’m being pessimistic, it’s because maritime shipping accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than the airlines. [Editor’s Note: The amount of energy in a gallon of diesel is truly incredible, and especially when payload matters, going EV for long distance over-the-road truck applications becomes very difficult. To get the range you need, you end up with a giant and expensive battery, which eats into cargo capacity and cranks up charging time. For around-town hauling, I think EV works; for long-distance hauling? I’m not seeing it working out by 2035, but I also recognize the value of ambitious deadlines. On a smaller passenger vehicle, it’s easier to replace the function of ICEs given current technology, but with big trucks it’s just a much taller ask. Personally, I’m a big fan of Siemens’s E-Highway idea. -DT].
It’s The Economy, Stupid
Cox Automotive, the consumer/B2B automotive data company behind Kelly Blue Book, does this quarterly survey of dealers in the United States to determine where the market is going. The latest report is out and it shows that the average dealer is more concerned about the economy than it’s been during any point during the pandemic: I don’t want to spill any trade secrets here, but if you’re in the car-selling business it’s usually helpful to have cars to sell. A lack of inventory has plagued dealers for the last two years and it would be absolutely crap timing to suddenly have vehicles in stock and then get hit with high interest rates and slowing demand. Concerns over inflation led the Federal Reserve to dramatically raise interest rates to try and slow the economy, which has sort of worked. The two biggest purchases most regular people make are housing and transportation, which means interest rates going up end up putting downward pressure on both. This pattern is clear in new housing starts. If you can pay in cash then it might be a good time to buy a car (or house) soon as prices should stabilize or go down, especially if this ends up putting us into a recession. I’m personally not convinced that a recession next year is a definite outcome and I’d prefer if the Fed didn’t hike rates again as it’s basically the equivalent of trying to slow down the skateboard you’re on by dragging your knuckles along the ground; effective and painful.
Volkswagen Calls Supply Chain ‘Flat Out Chaos’
Dealers may be less concerned about inventory, but Volkswagen is still sweating the supply chain. The company’s famed Wolfsburg plant is only producing about 400,000 cars a year, which is less than half of its full capacity. According to Automotive News, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schaefer told local reporters yesterday that the supply chain was “flat out chaos.” First of all, “Flat Out Chaos” is an excellent album name. Foo Fighters, maybe? Second of all, Super Beetles need few, if any, microchips. I’m just saying. “It’s a catastrophe for the business,” Schaefer said. “These are absurd sums,” he added, speaking of chip prices on the open market. Rather than try and restart urBeetle production, Volkswagen is reportedly considering making larger direct purchase agreements as opposed to trying to save money by buying on the open market.
Musk May Use Tesla Stock As Collateral For Twitter Loans: Report
Fun times in Elon Musk-land as the Tesla/Twitter/SpaceX/Pluckers Wing Bar/Solar City Boss is reportedly working with his bankers to maybe find a way to deal with the super high interest rates on his Twitter purchase. Bloomberg had the scoop first and, yet, I shall link to the Reuters story since it’s easier to read: Of course, Tesla stock ain’t what it used to be and it’s not likely that this move is going to help. [Editor’s Note: There are few things I want to discuss less than Tesla stock. Commenters, please resist! -DT]
The Flush
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Apple Delays The ‘Apple Car,’ Admits It Must Have Steering Wheel And Pedals Hertz To Pay Millions After Allegedly Having People Arrested For Legally Renting Cars These Are The 20 Most Durable Cars On The Road According To A New Study British Car Insurers Busted For Undervaluing Crashed Cars, Like Cheapskates The 2023 Toyota Prius Is Way Faster, Way Sportier, And Way Better Looking
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sympathy for them That was your first mistake Consumers: slow down on buying cars The fed: dude we’re not letting folks with 650 credit scores finance $70,000 Tellurides Dealers: INFLATION IS SCREWING US WAHHHHHHHHH That said Hydrogen as a substitute for Diesel for long-range freight railroads looks more promising than expecting the US rail monopolies to invest in their tracks. Hydrogen costs a fortune to produce, and embrittles the hardware it comes in contact with. It’s simply not suitable for use as a cost-effective fuel. I doubt it ever will be.
Especially not in the shipping industry, where low fuel costs and long service life are two of the most critical factors to consider. And that doesn’t even consider that a huge portion of any stored hydrogen dissipates from any container it is stored in within a month. How does that even work in the shipping industry, when month-long sea voyages are not uncommon? For the upcoming 37th Cup, the competitors have agreed that they will each build 2 hydrogen-powered chase boats. I’m sure it’s green-washing, but the stated intent is to help advance the technology. Here’s one of the first boats, built by the people who know more about hydrofoils than anyone on the planet. It’s cool. https://emirates-team-new-zealand.americascup.com/en/news/549_EMIRATES-TEAM-NEW-ZEALAND-TAKE-FLIGHT-IN-HYDROGEN-POWERED-FOILING-CHASE-BOAT.html I don’t think anyone with a serious outlook on the world really believes that diesel trucks won’t be sold after 2035 though. If that really comes to pass, I predict a sharp uptick in the number of “construction”, “mining”, and “logging” businesses. But in fact, Maersk mostly believes in making money. Especially if they can make somebody else pay for it. Forcing switchyard operators to switch to EVs is not a bad thing. It will (possibly) reduce emissions, it’s an application where EVs make a great deal of sense, and the servicing costs and downtime should be lower. (Again, the caveat of ‘where the fuck are you getting all these gigawatts of electricity’ applies. Oh goodie, more coal burning shitshows!) These are obviously good things. The COST on the other hand? Yeah, no. The per-unit purchase costs something more than double. And it does nothing to address the fact that the overwhelming amount of truly damaging emissions come from the ships themselves. But hey! Greenwashing for the win! (To be clear: I’m not against electric switchyard trucks. I think this is a good thing! But I’m old, and I’ve seen this too many times. Maersk is just another company greenwashing their stuff on someone else’s pocketbooks here. And I’m tired of being the one to pay for the intransigence of these mega corporations.) “Concerns over inflation led the Federal Reserve to dramatically raise interest rates to try and slow the economy, which has sort of worked.” Where by ‘sort of worked’ we mean ‘has completely fucked everyone who is not a billionaire over.’ People who were doing okay are now struggling to eat. But hey yeah, let’s turn the screws on that and do our utmost to depress wages. That’s totally going to fix things. “According to Automotive News, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schaefer told local reporters yesterday that the supply chain was “flat out chaos.”” Putting on my cars-and-computers hat for a bit: Mr. Schaefer is, in classic Germanic fashion, truly underselling it. All the amateurs in computers are all “IT’S FIXED, WE CAN GET GPUS!” Don’t I fucking wish. Smart power stages are finally in good stock, mostly. Some of my niche parts are expected in January. But PI7C9X2G912GPBNJEX, lead time 39 weeks, and that’s best case. I’ve been told expect 1+ year there. Panasonic aluminum electrolytics are still completely fucked – Mouser has a whole 84 of the 1000uFs, with their next shipment anticipated on February 13th. OF 2024!! No chance of getting them sooner. Microchip’s RGMII’s transcievers are 107 weeks leadtime. That’s over 2 years. It’s beyond chaos. Guessing which components I can get is literally throwing darts. Alternate suppliers is the same, as orders are getting sold out from under people left right and center. Prices? Roll the dice. “[Editor’s Note: There are few things I want to discuss less than Tesla stock. Commenters, please resist! -DT]” Sorry, can’t. Elon should have brought a different kind of porcelain, because that’s where his antics have put TSLA. Down another 2% today. Down nearly 13% since Monday. Down 57.4% from January. He’s lucky the interest rates aren’t My First Visa level. I don’t have a huge question here, just a request to please read this post and support us! DO IT. Even if you can only afford Vinyl, it’s cool. Even if all you do is constructively comment, it’s cool. The Autopian lives and dies by you, the noble reader-slash-commenter. You think your COTD candidate isn’t helping? It is! Advertisers see that engagement, and that can help the team negotiate a higher rate, because “look! They really do love us!” And if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m kinda tired of the Optima banner. Help the crew get some fresh faces! I don’t know how we’re still dealing with the ripple effect of Covid shutdowns two-and-a-half years later. https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/30/ibm_and_maersk_tradelens_shutdown/ The infrastructure will be fine… as will the sources where the electricity is generated. There are all sorts of options when it comes to electricity generation. Fast charge locations will increase over time… but as I said, most won’t need to rely on them all the time. ” Replacing all ICE vehicles with electric will probably at least double our electrical needs” Not necessarily. ICE vehicles have their own infrastructure that consume plenty of electricity in the form of gas stations, pipeline infrastructure, fuel refining infrastructure and other stuff. And another thing to consider… even if 100% of all new vehicles sold starting tomorrow, it would still take 10 years or so for the number of BEVs in use to hit 50%. But the fact is, it’s gonna take longer than that. So there is plenty of time to upgrade infrastructure as needed. The situation isn’t as dire or urgent as some make it out to be. Beyond the emissions reductions it would be a blessing to everyone living there in terms of both local smog and noise pollution. Twitter is in a death spiral and I think the board at Tesla would be absolutely insane to not try to oust Musk at this point. Even though we enthusiasts and folks with basic Googling ability have known he’s a fraud for years the Twitter fiasco has brought everything so front and center that everyone other than his most hardcore cultists have finally realized what a jackwagon he is…and Tesla is already on shaky ground due to the competition finally catching up and the fact that Musk et al refuse to update their cars. At this point I’m just glad that he can’t run for president because I think it would be the logical next step in his megalomaniacal buffoonery. I remember my friends arguing with me when I said Musk was tech Trump back in 2019 or so…but now people have finally come to realize that the god emperor of EVs and stale memes never had any clothes to begin with. You love to see it. That somebody has every right to be salty about a trivia game where they won’t recognize that there are “four ghosts” in A Christmas Carol. Their office mates were jerks not to let that one be over-ridden.
