Category: Alternative Subsidy

We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars

Stellantis CEO Says Rush to Affordable EVs Will End in Disaster

Stellantis NV’s Carlos Tavares is gearing up for an era of auto-industry consolidation, predicting the rush to offer more affordable electric vehicles will end in a “bloodbath.” He’s paid particularly close attention to one company he perceives as vulnerable: Renault SA.

The 65-year-old chief executive isn’t taking formal steps to pursue Renault, which is virtually off-limits due to the French state’s ownership and influence over the two manufacturers. What he has done is upstage his archrival at every turn, and ready his company to capitalize on any setbacks.

Financial Times: Renault cancels planned IPO of EV unit Ampere

Renault has cancelled plans to list shares in its new electric vehicle and software business, a pivotal part of chief executive Luca de Meo’s turnaround plans for the French carmaker.

The company had planned to hold an initial public offering of its new Ampere business, which combines its EV skills and software into a new unit. The aborted flotation is the latest casualty of slowing growth in EV sales worldwide, as mainstream car buyers balk at higher prices of battery-powered cars.

De Meo had described the unit as a European rival to “Tesla and the Chinese”, and told the Financial Times last year it should be worth “up to €10bn”.

But on Monday, Renault said that “market conditions” and the rising profitability of the wider company meant it would cancel the plans to float shares.

De Meo added that the Europe-wide slowdown in EV growth was “one of the elements” behind the decision, but stressed that the electric market was still going to be “dominant” in Europe because of the region’s decarbonisation regulations.

“EV is a train that has already left the station. Ampere will be one of the drivers of Renault to be one of the champions of decarbonisation,” he said.

But the decision may mean that alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi may now not invest in the unit, finance chief Thierry Piéton said. Both Japanese carmakers still have the option to invest, but “whether they come in or not is something we need to discuss”, Piéton said on Monday evening.

Universal Basic Insolvency

If our experience with pandemic “emergency benefits” is any guide, when you pay people not to work, then lo and behold they are unlikely to…work. It will be no different if the magical non-concept of Universal Basic Income ever sees the light of day.

As for the notion that under UBI people will be free to become “care givers” to loved ones, I can foresee a whole lot of youngsters becoming “care givers” to their PlayStation instead.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer produced an analysis in 2021 that concluded that a national guaranteed basic income using parameters of Ontario’s 2017 pilot project could cut Canada’s poverty rate by half in just one year, but at a hefty cost of $91 billion in 2024–25 and $93 billion in 2025–26. That’s nearly double what Ottawa spends, for example, on health transfers to the provinces.

We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Fans

Judge Orders Wind Farm Dismantled In Win For Tribal Sovereignty

By ordering the scuttling of 84 turbines spread over 8,400 acres of land, along with the removal of underground lines, overhead transmission lines, and meteorological towers, U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves essentially ruled that the renewable energy project, known as Osage Wind, should never have been constructed in the first place because the developers – Osage Wind LLC, Enel Kansas LLC, and Enel Green Power North America – did not have the required lease from the Osage Minerals Council.

“The developers failed to acquire a mining lease during or after construction, as well as after issuance of the 10th Court of Appeals’ decision hold that a mining lease was required,” Choe-Groves ruled, according to Tulsa World (Dec. 22).

“On the record before the Court, it is clear that Defendants are actively avoiding the leasing requirement,” Choe-Groves said. “Permitting such behavior would create the prospect for further interference with the Osage Mineral Council’s authority by Defendants or others wishing to develop the minerals lease. […]

The reference to minerals is key to understanding the case. Wind turbines not only soar into the air from the surface of the land. Their construction also requires the subsurface smashing of rocks and other excavation necessary to ground the turbines. The Osage Nation and its Minerals Council have claimed for years that this subsurface excavation activity constitutes mining and is covered by the tribe’s mineral rights. And for that the developers needed a lease from the Osage Mining Council which they never sought. The developers began leasing the surface rights in 2013 but never bothered to acquire the subsurface mineral rights. In the end, that was their undoing.

Interesting angle.

Now Is The Time At SDA When We Juxtapose!

And this is a sweet one.

January 16, 2023: Trudeau snubs Moe at Saskatoon photo-op

On Monday, Trudeau and Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark toured the Vital Metals facility in Saskatoon, speaking with workers and getting an inside look at the process. […] Moe released a statement earlier in the day saying his Saskatchewan Party government was not aware of the prime minister’s visit to the facility.

January 18, 2024: Saskatoon’s Vital Metals liquidates assets amid bankruptcy

Degagne [McDougall’s Auction] said most of the equipment for auction was brand new and sold for pennies on the dollar. Successful bidders have until the end of January to claim their purchases.

Aloha, Electricity

Hello and goodbye;

On January 8, 2024, a confluence of factors forced the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) to initiate rolling blackouts that affected about 120,000 electricity customers in two dozen communities on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.

The blackouts, which lasted from about 7:50 pm until 10:30 pm, were caused by a multitude of factors that we can put into two main categories: the immediate factors that caused blackouts and the long-term factors that made Oahu’s electric grid more vulnerable to blackouts in the first place.

Long story short, the state’s so-called “energy transition” set up the dominos for the power outages, ushering in the first rolling blackouts of 2024.[…]

We Don’t Need No Frosty Sparky Cars

Recurrent analyzed the cold-weather behavior of 18 different EVs and found that these batteries performed at about 70% capacity in temperatures below freezing. Obviously, each vehicle is different, but an average of 70% means that some vehicles did much worse. The worst offenders were the Volkswagen 1D4, which lost 46% of its capacity, and the Chevy Bolt, which saw a 42% drop.

What’s the main culprit? It’s drivers and passengers trying to keep warm.

Doomberg: That which can’t go on forever usually doesn’t.

We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars

Hertz to Sell 20,000 EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. plans to sell a third of its US electric vehicle fleet and reinvest in gas-powered cars due to weak demand and high repair costs for its battery-powered options.

The sales of 20,000 EVs began last month and will continue over the course of 2024, the rental giant said Thursday in a regulatory filing

. Hertz will record a non-cash charge in its fourth-quarter results of about $245 million related to incremental net depreciation expense.

We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars

Via Bjorn Lomberg (Facebook)Just 6 months ago, the International Energy Agency predicted that rapid replacement with electric cars would mean gasoline demand peaked in 2019. Climate political correctness = bad predictions;

After fueling the 20th century automobile culture that reshaped cities and defined modern travel, gasoline was supposed to begin its long goodbye this year. It didn’t.

Sure, Tesla Inc. and its rivals sold more electric vehicles in 2023 than ever before, reducing fossil fuel demand. In the moneyed suburbs of London, New York and Beijing, EV cars are a common sight. From that narrow perspective, it looks like the world has already started ”transitioning away from fossil fuels,” as agreed at the recent COP28 climate talks. But it’s a mirage.

Well That Looks Safe

Daily Sceptic- The Strange Case of the Exploding Wind Turbine

Shocking footage showed the energy generator in Ayrshire, Scotland, wracking up speed before the blades suddenly come loose and are flung across a seemingly deserted field in opposite directions.

Loud crashes are heard as the debris lands on the ground, while bare trees surrounding the lone turbine are blown back and forth.

Video on Instagram

Video on Twitter

We Don’t Need No Blazin’ Sparky Cars

Truth About Cars;

General Motors has issued a stop-sale order for the all-electric Chevrolet Blazer. As previously reported, the model has been criticized for presenting reviewers with electrical problems. That’s not what you want to see from any vehicle and absolutely intolerable on an EV. Even worse is the fact that the Blazer EV uses the Ultium platform GM claims is about to underpin its future lineup.[…]

The Fast Lane Truck noted electrical problems with the GMC Hummer that made it un-drivable, requiring help from the dealership and a software flash. Meanwhile, both Edmunds and InsideEVs recounted similar problems with the Chevy Blazer EV.

Automotive News reported the stop-sale order was issued late on Friday, when people would be preoccupied with the holiday weekend. “We’re aware that a limited number of customers have experienced software-related quality issues with their Blazer EV. Customer satisfaction is our priority and as such, we will take a brief pause on new deliveries,” stated Global VP of Chevrolet Scott Bell.

Those “quality issues” included repeat crashing of infotainment systems and problems charging. InsideEVs said it received feedback from readers claiming that they had likewise endured issues with Ultium-based products — including the Chevrolet Blazer EV, GMC Hummer, and Cadillac Lyriq.

Related: “When you’re dealing with a family emergency, the last thing you should have to worry about is your relatively new vehicle,”

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