It’s common for companies to espouse green policies in public, while privately pursuing opposite goals—but Toyota turns this familiar equation on its head. Other automakers tout their enthusiasm for EVs to the media, while pushing gas-guzzling SUVs to their customers. Toyota’s leaders speak against EVs in public, and the company actively lobbies against government support… Read more »
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Even as automakers push EVs, they continue lobbying against climate action
Automakers are continuing to improve their electric vehicles, expanding the selection of models, and (finally!) running some substantial ad campaigns for their EV offerings. Some of them are talking huge games for the future, making headlines with plans to introduce dozens of new EVs, and even to phase out gas-burners. However (surprise, surprise), most of… Read more »
Toyota actively lobbies against support for EVs
Toyota has earned a place in the history of transport electrification. The Japanese automaker’s introduction of the Prius hybrid in 1997 was a milestone. Since then, the company has sold some 15 million hybrids worldwide, and has gradually added hybrid powertrains to more of its offerings—a majority of Toyota and Lexus models are now available… Read more »
New VW boss seems lukewarm on EVs, wants to bet on synthetic fuels
Former Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess was a hero to pro-EV activists. He was less popular with certain factions within the company, including the powerful Works Council (to say nothing of the stock market), and in 2022, he was forced out, to be replaced by Oliver Blume. At the time, we wondered whether Diess’s departure… Read more »
Tesla lobbies to increase penalties for automakers who don’t meet fuel economy standards
In the arcane world of federal fuel economy standards, automakers that fail to comply with the US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements can buy emissions credits from an automaker that has excess credits to sell. This has turned into a lucrative side business for Tesla, the only company that has sold substantial amounts of… Read more »
Parsing the latest proposal to revamp the federal EV tax credit
The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have released proposals to revamp the federal EV tax credit program. The two proposals will be reconciled, and the final version is expected to be included in the pending reconciliation package. The Zero Emission Transportation Association has published a detailed description of the two,… Read more »
Who’s behind the current wave of hype about hydrogen?
Hydrogen fuel cells are controversial—several automakers, including Daimler, Honda, GM and Volkswagen, have abandoned the technology, while Toyota continues to pursue it. Hydrogen opponents cite its inefficiency relative to batteries, and question the wisdom of building a complex and costly new infrastructure. On the other hand, many believe that hydrogen may have a role to… Read more »
Government of Canada launches Hydrogen Strategy
Most automakers may have rejected hydrogen as an energy storage medium for passenger vehicles (Toyota is the notable exception), but the technology may yet find applications for industrial processes, and in other forms of transportation such as aviation and shipping. Some envision the lightest element as a medium to store energy from intermittent renewable sources,… Read more »
Tesla’s success is “a combination of thousands of heroic feats that no one knows about” (book excerpt)
A new excerpt from Tesla: How Elon Musk and Company Made Electric Cars Cool, and Remade the Automotive and Energy Industries, Edition 4.1. An inside look at the early days David Havasi was a car guy from birth. He grew up near Auburn Hills, and his dad worked in the auto industry. “My childhood was… Read more »
Trump administration guts air pollution standards
As expected, the Trump administration has announced a rollback of federal fuel economy regulations, a move that some estimate will increase annual US carbon emissions by as much as 25 percent, as well as increasing fuel costs for consumers and putting the US auto industry at a competitive disadvantage. The administration says weakening the standards… Read more »