1)Â Â Â Â Uber announces drivers in over 30 U.S. cities - including LA, Houston, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami - can now rent Teslas. To date, 15,000 drivers have taken over 5 mn Tesla trips, logging over 40 mn e-miles.Â
2)Â Â Â Â NIO planning to start installing 500 kW fast-charging stations in China and Europe this year. W/over 1000 battery swapping stations, NIO is opening 2 new stations in China each day.Â
3)    VW begins building 40 GWh battery gigafactory in Salzgitter, Germany (“SalzGiga”), to support 50,000 EVs/yr. 240 GWH planned for Europe, w/additional plants in N. America.
4)Â Â Â Â ChargeWest, an 8-state collaborative in the American West (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) to create large EV charging corridor w/focus on rural areas.
5)Â Â Â Â Maine regulators OK Central Maine Power plan to shore up T&D system w/investments in DERs and other non-wires alternatives, including utility-scale batteries. This will reduce/address peak loads that only occur during a limited number of hours.Â
6)    CT Dept. of Energy & Env’l Protection approves $708 mn, 3-yr energy efficiency plan, projected to generate $1.7 billion in benefits. Plan will focus on electric and gas customers, w/biggest overdue balances or frequent shutoffs.Â
7)    ISO-NE projects electrification of heating and transportation will more than double required capacity of grid over next 20 years. Indicates some “balancing resources” will remain necessary for reliability.Â
8)Â Â Â Â NYISO warns accelerating retirement nuclear and fossil generators in past 3 yrs, causing reserve margins to shrink, getting "Close to minimum reliability requirements" as state targets 70% renewables by 2030, and 100% carbon-free grid by 2040.
#tesla #renewables #theenergyswitch #sustainability#DERs #decarbonization #EVs #EVcharging #batteries