U.S. Steps Closer To New $12,500 EV Tax Credit | 27 May 2021

Show #1095.
 

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Thursday 27th May. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

 

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"The US Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday approved a bill to increase the tax credit for electric vehicles assembled by union workers in the US up to $12,500. This would apply to electric vehicles up to a price of $80,000." reports Chris Randall at Electrive: "The new law would remove this existing cap, but a different, future limit is included in the proposal: For example, the tax credit would be phased out over a three-year period once 50 per cent of car sales in the US are electric cars. Now for the proposed increase in the credit up to $12,500: The proponents of the bill, led by Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, propose to increase the $7,500 tax credit by $2,500 for vehicles assembled in the US and by another $2,500 for vehicles manufactured in plants whose employees are members of or represented by a union."

 

Yahoo! News points out: “That would mean smaller credits to automakers such as Tesla, Volkswagen and others who do not have U.S. union workers, and companies building EVs outside the United States. The EV incentives are estimated to cost $31.6 billion through 2031, according to a congressional estimate. The bill must still be approved by the full Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. The bill also includes a 30% tax credit for manufacturers to retool or build new facilities to produce advanced energy technologies including batteries and new incentives to purchase commercial electric vehicles."

 

 

 

"Rivian said that deliveries of the R1T Launch Edition, the limited edition release of its first series of “electric adventure vehicles,” will be delayed by a month, according to an update on its website." reports Tech Crunch: "Customers who preordered can now expect to start receiving their pickup trucks in July instead of June, with Launch Edition deliveries to be completed by Spring 2022. The change was first spotted by the Rivian Forum. The one-month delay was due to a combination of small issues, including delays on shipping containers, the ongoing chip shortage as well as ensuring the servicing piece is properly set up, a Rivian spokesperson said."

 

 

"Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric-vehicle startup backed by Amazon.com Inc., has hired a former finance chief from Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving arm Waymo LLC. Gerard Dwyer, who was Waymo’s chief financial officer, joined Rivian this week as vice president of business finance, according to a post on LinkedIn." says Bloomber: "Waymo, long viewed as the leader among autonomous-driving startups, is seeking to raise as much as $4 billion from outside investors and also considering an IPO, Bloomberg reported last week, citing people familiar with the plans."

 

 

"For the past few years, Google has equipped its mapping vehicles with air pollution sensors. Google worked with Jaguar Land Rover on the first all-electric Street View car that will be tasked with measuring air quality in Dublin, Ireland." says 9to5Mac: "A Jaguar I-Pace is being used for this effort, and it will see a roof mounting for the tall Street View camera, as well as a new rear-window glass for wiring and redesigned interior switchgear for sensor controls. The visual system was last updated in 2017 to provide higher-resolution images while being less bulky. The vehicle will also be equipped with Aclima mobile air sensors that record nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as well as fine particles (PM2.5). Meanwhile, Google is partnering with the Dublin City Council on the Environmental Insights Explorer tool that provides local data on air quality."

 

 

 

"The ride was comfortable, and while the Air makes the low-speed pedestrian noises all EVs are required to make, nothing is piped into the cabin. That means riding in an Air is a mostly calm and serene experience, at least until the driver floors the throttle. After my first encounter back in 2017, I was impressed with how well-built the Air was. Despite being an alpha prototype, everything I poked or prodded worked, including the three screens and their UI. But the car I rode in this past weekend felt like a huge step beyond that earlier experience in every regard." writes ArsTechnica: "Lucid is currently building a batch of 70 preproduction cars, with another run of 100 that, among other things, will be used for PR and marketing. And I can't tell you how curious I am to drive one of them."

 

 

"Although Hyundai hasn’t yet announced a base price or price range for the 2022 Ioniq 5 electric vehicle, it’s already suggested that a new subscription plan will be one of the ways you can get behind the wheel of this very intriguing EV.  Hyundai Motor America on Monday said that in their research they found that what it terms “mobility pioneers”—people more eager to try electric vehicles—were used to using subscription services in many parts of their life." according to Green Car Reports: "This is Hyundai’s second try offering an electric car under a subscription plan. In 2017 and 2018 it offered the Ioniq Electric with an “Ioniq Unlimited” program—focused toward cost-conscious Millennials—that folded charging costs, scheduled maintenance, and even replacement costs of wear items into a single monthly payment. Although Hyundai won’t detail the program until later in the year, there are already two key differences. This time, it’s intended for intervals as short as one to three months, and it’s aimed at a more affluent crowd—just those who want to try before they buy."

 

 

"Newer Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles will no longer be labeled as having some advanced safety features after the automaker said it was removing radar sensors to transition to a camera-based Autopilot system, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Wednesday." reports Automotive NEws: "The U.S. agency confirmed it updated its website to show that Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles produced on or after April 27 "do not have NHTSA's check mark for recommended safety technologies: forward collision warning, lane departure warning, crash imminent braking and dynamic brake support." The agency said it "only includes check marks for the model production range for the vehicles tested." The NHTSA's five-star crash ratings website includes check marks for up to four recommended advanced safety technologies."

 

 

"Public fast-charging network EVgo has announced a new program called EVgo Reservations that gives drivers the freedom to claim their spot at a charger ahead of time. The initial rollout consists of 17 locations across California and the Seattle area in a pilot program that has already expanded." says electrek: "In a recent press release, EVgo announced 17 locations that now feature the new EVgo Reservations program. The company’s software team developed this new feature by integrating various makes and. models of EV fast chargers with its own back-end software system. As a result, drivers can now make a reservation at a charger of their choice while en route, or up to two weeks in advance"

 

 

"Audi’s finalised plans for the all-new A4 include an electric-only four-wheel-drive performance RS model and a hybrid RS4" says Autocar: "Set to challenge the Tesla Model 3 and newly unveiled BMW i4, it is based around the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture that has been developed in a joint engineering programme between Audi and Volkswagen Group sibling company Porsche. The PPE platform used by the A4 E-tron will be shared with the upcoming Audi Q6 E-tron, as well as an electric version of the second generation Macan currently under development at Porsche. The line-up will be crowned by an electric RS performance model from the Audi Sport division, packing up to 469bhp"

 

 

 

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