Engineers at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have identified cybersecurity vulnerabilities in DC fast charging EVSE.
In a laboratory, the SwRI team exploited vulnerabilities in the power line communication (PLC) layer that transmits smart-grid data between vehicles and charging equipment, gaining access to network keys and digital addresses on both the charger and the vehicle. The SwRI team developed an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) device with specialized software and a modified combined charging system interface. The device let testers intercept traffic between EVs and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) for data collection, analysis and attack. The team found unsecure key generation present on older chips when testing, which was confirmed through online research to be a known concern.
SwRI has also developed a zero-trust architecture that can address interruptions in a vehicle’s functionality or performance. It connects several embedded systems using a single cybersecurity protocol.
“Through our penetration testing, we found that the PLC layer was poorly secured and lacked encryption between the vehicle and the chargers,” said Lead Project Engineer Katherine Kozan.
Japanese electronics company TDK Electronics has extended its ERU27M series of SMD high current flat wire inductors comprising an isolated alloy powder core and flat wire helical winding.
The series of four variants is designed to meet the requirements for higher power densities and currents in automotive and industrial applications, by using an alloy powder core material that exhibits a softer saturation characteristic than the core material used previously.
Designed for rated currents from 36 A to 48 A, these surface-mountable components cover a range of inductance values from 2.3 µH to 8.5 µH. DC resistances are as low as 0.68 mΩ to 1.66 mΩ. The flat wire winding enables the components to have compact dimensions of 27.1 mm x 25.55 mm. The height ranges from 14.1 mm to 16.4 mm. The inductors are designed for operating temperatures from -40° C to 150° C.
The four new AEC-Q200-qualified energy storage chokes provide magnetic shielding and robust construction incorporating a third pin that is not electrically connected. They can be used in DC-DC converters, voltage regulator modules and point-of-load (POL) converters in the automotive sector, as well as in solar converters.
TDK Electronics can change certain production parameters to help customers optimize space and cost or provide fully customized designs.
Beleaguered EV manufacturer Fisker will not be forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy—which provides for the liquidation of a debtor’s non-exempt property and the distribution of those proceeds to creditors—a judge in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware ruled on Friday.
The court’s ruling, which was sought by owners of the troubled Fisker Ocean EV, will allow current Fisker management to remain in charge for some time as the operation winds down. This will enable the company to liquidate its assets while continuing to work with Ocean owners to keep their vehicles on the road.
“The owners strongly believe that Fisker owes them a responsibility to ensure that their vehicles are safe and operable, and that the best way for Fisker to fulfill that promise is through a Chapter 11 process,” said attorney Daniel Shamah, who represents the Fisker Owners Association. “We can be sure that employees and the advisors who are helping the company do this remain on board.”
The revised liquidation plan is subject to a vote by all unsecured creditors. It calls for the group that represents Ocean owners to have a voice in the sale of Fisker’s intellectual property, which includes the designs and computer code needed to build and operate the vehicles. The owners will also require long-term access to Fisker’s cloud software, which the automaker uses to dispatch over-the-air vehicle software updates.
In the course of the Ocean’s brief production run, there were five recalls, although only three applied to both the 2023 and 2024 models. The most recent recall was for an issue that could lead to an unexpected reduction in regenerative braking when decelerating over bumps, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said.
The automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June of this year amidst heavy losses and a struggling EV market. Fisker reported in a filing with the court that it had estimated liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million and more than 200 creditors. At the time, it listed assets with an estimated value between $500 million and $1 billion. The company will remain in Chapter 11 proceedings, the judge ruled.
Automotive aftermarket provider ZF Aftermarket, a division of German automotive systems manufacturer ZF Friedrichshafen, has introduced to the US and Canadian markets 25 new kits for performing 25 different repair tasks on electric axle drives.
Among 45 new products that the company has recently released in North America, the kits, which contain all needed spare parts and fastening elements, allow independent repair shops to perform such tasks as replacing leaking coolant connections, repairing defective parking locks, changing speed or temperature sensors, and replacing drive shafts, all without removing the electric axle drive.
“Repair shops are seeing more electric cars, and need spare parts to service them. As one of the leading producers of electric drives worldwide, ZF is now making its products available to the independent aftermarket in our region,” said Mark Cali, Head of Independent Aftermarket, USC, for ZF Aftermarket.
Electric vehicle charging station manufacturers face a number of challenges, including connectivity issues, component problems, and incompatibility. How do you know if your DC charger can handle the boundary cases it may face in the field? Well, you test. However, testing has its own challenges. Along with testing the charging process and safety mechanisms, one of the most important test items for multi-coupler EVSE products is power sharing or load management testing.
Chroma mitigates challenges with comprehensive EVSE product reliability and operability test coverage for those boundary cases that may cause product failure. Chroma’s EVSE test solution, integrated with the new PowerPro 5 software platform, is now equipped with multi-threaded testing functions and can simultaneously simulate up to four vehicles with identical or different communication protocols.
Join this webinar at the upcoming Charged Virtual Conference on EV Engineering, presented by Chroma, where you will learn how to ensure EVSE product reliability and operability are at their optimum before field issues arise.
For example, how to control the EVSE to output multiple connectors at the same time based on specified test conditions as well as simulate plugging in at different times to test the equipment’s power sharing capabilities. This test scenario provides realism and, compared to conventional single-coupler testing, reduces the overall testing time by up to 40%, significantly expanding test capacity.
Other sessions at our Fall Virtual Conference include:
New Battery Safety Materials: Preventing Fire And Heat Propagation
As the demand for electric vehicles and energy storage systems surges, so does the critical need for enhanced battery safety. Fujipoly America is at the forefront of addressing this challenge with its innovative materials designed specifically for battery manufacturers and integrators.
Join this webinar for a product demonstration where we will introduce two groundbreaking solutions: G1S20488 Anti-Thermal Propagation Material. This next-generation material acts as a barrier, effectively stopping heat from spreading between battery cells. This mitigates the risk of thermal runaway, a dangerous chain reaction where overheating in one cell triggers overheating in neighboring cells.
G1S20488 also addresses internal changes within the battery cells themselves, further preventing malfunctions that could lead to safety hazards. G1S20360 Anti-Fire Propagation Material empowers engineers to significantly reduce the risk of battery fires. G1S20360 acts as a fire retardant, hindering the initiation and spread of flames within the battery pack. This critical function provides additional protection in case of unexpected malfunctions and enhances overall battery safety. By incorporating these Fujipoly materials into their battery designs, manufacturers can ensure greater safety and reliability for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, fostering trust and confidence in this transformative technology.
Key Takeaways:
Enhance battery safety: Fujipoly’s G1S20488 and G1S20360 materials address critical thermal and fire safety challenges in battery technology.
Prevent thermal runaway: G1S20488 acts as a barrier to stop heat from spreading between battery cells, preventing dangerous chain reactions.
Suppress fire propagation: G1S20360 significantly reduces the risk of battery fires by hindering flame initiation and spread.
Broadcast live on September 16-19, 2024, the conference content will span the EV engineering supply chain and ecosystem, including motor and power electronics design and manufacturing, cell development, battery systems, testing, powertrains, thermal management, circuit protection, wire and cable, EMI/EMC and more.
Global logistics firm DSV has ordered 300 electric semi-trucks from Volvo Trucks. The deal represents one of Volvo’s largest orders to date for heavy-duty electric trucks, but it’s just a toe in the water for DSV, which operates a fleet of 20,000 trucks. (The company’s order from Volvo also includes 500 legacy fossil fuel-powered trucks.)
DSV plans to take delivery of the trucks between Q4 of 2024 and the end of 2025, and will deploy them throughout its European operations. The company aims to field 2,000 electric trucks by 2030.
“I’m very proud to deepen the partnership we have with DSV,” said Volvo Trucks President Roger Alm. “This order is proof of their trust in our company, and shows that zero-exhaust emissions transport is a viable solution here and now.”
“As a global leader in logistics, we must try to stay at the forefront of the green transition, and this agreement is a fantastic example of how new technologies can be brought to market at scale to make them more accessible for our customers,” said Søren Schmidt, CEO DSV Road.
DSV’s order will bring Volvo Trucks’ global sales of electric Class 8 trucks to around 4,000 units. The company boasts a 50% market share of electric trucks in Europe, and a 44% share of electric trucks in the US.
Lithium-ion battery producer Forge Battery, a subsidiary of materials science company Forge Nano, headquartered in Colorado, has begun shipping its first commercial product, Gen. 1.1 Supercell 21700 cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells, to existing and potential customers.
The prototype product is made from 90% US-supplied battery materials. It has received UN 38.3 and UL 1642 certifications for meeting safety requirements.
In addition to supplying existing customers—whose orders account for multiple GWh/year in confirmed offtake—the company plans to ship sample batteries to interested parties from whom it has received letters of intent for orders totaling 24 GWh/year.
The cells have a confirmed specific energy of 300 Wh/kg. They will undergo cycle life testing for the specific requirements of electric truck, off-highway vehicle, motorcycle, and aerospace and defense applications. They are composed of a lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC 811) cathode and silicon oxide (SiOx) graphite composite anode.
Forge expects its cells to outperform energy density targets set by the US Advanced Battery Consortium, with a 20% cost reduction per kWh. To prevent unwanted chemical reactions at the surface, the cell materials are treated using Forge Nano’s Atomic Armor technology to deposit an ultrathin, uniform nanocoating.
“The Forge Battery Supercell offers higher silicon content in the anode, a reduction in electrolyte and additives and the ability to cycle at higher voltages,” said Barbara Hughes, VP of Energy Storage at Forge Nano.
As EV design evolves, companies throughout the supply chain are developing components and materials specifically designed for EVs. This includes the greenhouse or glasshouse (industry terms for a vehicle’s set of windows and other glass components).
Eastman has launched a new lineup of interlayers (an interlayer is used to permanently bond two plies of glass in a laminated configuration) specifically designed for EV applications. The new Saflex Evoca interlayer platform is intended to offer enhanced vehicle design, improve cabin comfort and enable efficient energy usage.
Eastman explains that glazing design for EVs often involves trade-offs in aesthetics, occupant comfort and vehicle weight. Saflex Evoca interlayers offer solutions that specifically target these challenges, giving OEMs and glass suppliers greater design flexibility to balance these competing needs and create more efficient vehicles.
“Electric vehicles are the future. That’s why we created Saflex Evoca,” said Alan Phillips, Director, Films Application Research and Development at Eastman. “The interlayer solutions under Saflex Evoca can set a new standard in the EV industry, helping manufacturers take charge of the future.”
The DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) has announced $50 million in grants for six states with significant automotive workforces to help small- and medium-sized suppliers adapt their manufacturing facilities to serve for the EV supply chain.
The announcement on state allocations follows an April 2024 Request for Information, seeking input on state/federal partnerships that could enable federal funding to reach automotive suppliers embarking on the transition to serve the electrified vehicle supply chains. Eligible states must have a workforce at least 0.5% of which is in the automotive sector. Under these criteria, six states are eligible: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois.
States have until October 15, 2024 to submit an application.
DOE has also announced $1.5 million in selections across three teams of technical assistance providers under the Industrial Training and Assessment Center (ITAC) program. The teams from Purdue University, the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois will help create a Small Supplier EV Transition Playbook, to help ICE suppliers navigate the transition to EVs.
“Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, America’s auto communities and the workforces they support finally have the tools they need to compete and thrive in the 21st century clean energy economy,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “By helping states and manufacturers navigate the emerging EV manufacturing industry, today’s announcements will help ensure that the workforces that defined America’s auto sector for the last 100 years will have the opportunity to shape the next 100 years.”
EnergyHub, a provider of grid-edge flexibility, has integrated distributed energy resources (DERs) including EV chargers and energy storage products from energy management provider Emporia into its virtual power plant (VPP) platform.
The collaboration incorporates Emporia’s products into EnergyHub’s Edge Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), enabling grid-aware cross-DER optimization for utilities. Utility customers who use Emporia chargers already participate in several EnergyHub EV programs. EnergyHub expects to start enrolling Emporia battery customers, alongside the existing EVSE customers, in multiple programs by the end of the year.
By 2030, VPPs could reduce peak electricity demand in the US by 60GW and grow to more than 200GW by 2050, according to a recent report by the Rocky Mountain Institute. VPPs could help reduce annual power sector expenditures by $35 billion in 2030.
“The integration of Emporia’s EV chargers and energy storage products with EnergyHub’s platform expands the capabilities of VPPs for EnergyHub clients,” said Matt Johnson, VP of Business Development at EnergyHub. “The ability to dispatch multiple types of Emporia devices provides our clients with greater bulk and distribution grid benefits and allows us to deliver additional value from flexibility programs.”
Yellow machines are going electric. CASE Construction Equipment debuted its Project Zeus electric backhoe concept at CONEXPO in 2020. Since then, the company has used customer feedback to guide the development of a production electric model: the 580EV electric backhoe loader.
CASE’s next-generation EV offers a zero-emission, low-noise solution suitable for work in urban centers or other environments where noise and emissions are an issue, while delivering other EV advantages such as instant torque, lower fuel costs and less maintenance.
The new CASE 580EV electric backhoe loader offers the same dimensional loading and digging specifications and delivers the same breakout forces as the company’s 4WD, 97 hp CASE 580SN diesel model. It also offers new features, including an 8-inch color display, air conditioning and adjustable four-corner, multicolored LED strobe lights.
Powered by a 400-volt, 71 kWh battery pack that’s charged with a standard Level 2 J1772 connector, the new electric backhoe loader is designed to deliver up to eight hours of operational run time on a single charge, depending on the application. The battery platform uses a thermal management system with system-specific cooling circuits to help maintain performance in hot or cold conditions.
“Designing this machine from day one as a purpose-built EV instead of a retrofit has enabled a slew of practical innovations that will positively change the mindset for teams considering EV equipment,” said Brad Stemper, Product Management Lead, North America. “We looked at every aspect of the machine and enhanced power consumption throughout to deliver exceptional EV performance that operators will see and feel when digging, loading or moving dirt.”
The four-wheel-drive 580EV uses two independent electric motors for the PowerDrive transmission and hydraulic pumps feeding the loader, backhoe and steering systems to minimize energy consumption and improve performance in loading applications.
CASE’s electric backhoe loader will soon be followed by the commercial availability of two additional EVs: the CX25EV 2.5-metric ton mini-excavator and the CL36EV 3.6-metric ton compact wheel loader. The new models will expand CASE’s EV lineup to five models, including the previously launched CX15EV electric mini excavator and the SL22EV small articulated loader.
“These new machines set a new benchmark in electrification and sustainable construction, and they’re a testament to our customer-centered approach to practical innovation as we expand our product portfolio,” said Terry Dolan, VP, North America. “Electrification brings real-world solutions to unique jobsite demands, helping urban construction contractors, utility teams, municipal crews and other contractors further improve productivity, efficiency and their bottom line.”
Ensuring circuit survival in the challenging automotive and electric vehicle environments.
As vehicle electrification grows and adds functions, the electronic control architecture must evolve to manage operations efficiently, responsively, and safely. The architecture is shifting from a simple distributed system to a zonal control system, where zonal control units manage nearby ECUs, simplifying wiring and reducing vehicle weight. Automotive Ethernet is the main protocol for zonal control.
The zonal control unit is crucial for the entire vehicle, requiring robust protection against overcurrent, transient voltages, and ESD. Protecting Ethernet lines ensures reliable communication and data integrity. This article guides designers in selecting components to safeguard zonal controller circuits and communication lines, enhancing automotive electronics‘ reliability.
The evolution of automotive control architectures
Automotive architectures must adapt as automobile electrification grows. High-end vehicles may now have up to 150 ECUs, with features like autonomous driving adding more complexity. The rising number of ECUs strains the distributed control architecture, where each ECU communicates via a central gateway, creating bottlenecks.
Figure 1.The evolution of automotive control architectures
To ease these demands, a domain structure was developed, grouping common functions like powertrain and lighting under domain controllers. However, this can complicate wiring due to the distance between functions.
The advanced zonal control structure uses zonal control units to manage functions within specific vehicle zones, enabling more software-defined functionality. Zonal control offers several benefits:
Reduces wiring complexity and total wiring.
Enhances modularity and scalability, allowing changes without affecting the entire vehicle.
Enables faster, more efficient coordination through high-speed Ethernet.
Improves response times, energy efficiency, and safety with distributed processing power.
Zonal control units must withstand electrical hazards like overcurrent, overvoltage transients, and ESD to remain operational. Adding appropriate protection components to the circuitry ensures robust performance.
Zonal Control Unit (ZCU) Description
The ZCU interfaces with all types of devices in its zone of control. Thus, it can use many different types of communication protocols to interface with a wide range of devices. Figure 2 illustrates the circuit blocks of a ZCU. Hazards that could damage the ZCU include overcurrent conditions, transient voltages, and particularly ESD.
Figure 2.Zonal control unit block diagram
Protecting the DC/DC Converter
The DC/DC Converter down-converts the 12 V input to digital logic voltage levels. Since the DC/DC Converter is the power entrant to the ZCU, preventing damage from an overcurrent condition and keeping voltage transients out of the circuit is essential for reliable operation.
Either a one-time fuse or a resettable fuse can provide overcurrent protection. Consider a fast-acting, one-time fuse. Versions can open in less than 5 s to a 250% overload. A wide temperature range is essential for automotive applications. Fuses rated from -55° C to +150°C are available. To save space, select a surface mount fuse, which can be in a small 1206 package. Also, choose AEC-Q200-qualified components for automotive applications whenever possible.
A polymer positive temperature coefficient (PPTC) resettable fuse is an alternative to the one-time fuse. A benefit over a single-shot fuse is that PPTCs are resettable. Once the overcurrent condition has cleared, the PPTC will return to a low-resistance state and reconnect the power to the circuit. AEC-Q200 versions are available and come in space-saving surface-mount packages.
For voltage transient protection, particularly against inductive transients such as inductive energy discharges, either a metal oxide varistor (MOV) or a transient suppressor diode (TVS) can safely absorb their energy. MOVs:
Can absorb load dump energy up to 25 J as required by SAE specification J1113
Have a wide operating temperature range from -40° C to +125° C
Are AEC-Q200 compliant.
The alternative component, models of TVS diodes, offer:
ESD protection to strikes as large as 30 kV in accordance with IEC 61000-4-2
Absorption of peak power pulses up to 1500 W or surge currents up to 200 A
Response times from under 1 ps to under 1 ns
A wide operating temperature range of -65° C to + 150° C
Uni-directional or bi-directional models
Surface mount packaging
AEC-Q101 qualification.
Protecting the DC/DC Converter from overcurrent and transient voltage surges prevents these hazardous conditions from propagating to downstream circuits, ensuring the ZCU processor is shielded from damaging energy.
Protecting the ZCU interface circuits
In the high-noise, high-transient automotive environment, ZCU circuits interfacing with external devices via communication protocols or control drivers require ESD protection. Littelfuse offers a broad range of ESD diodes and polymer components tailored to different protocols, optimizing signal integrity while providing robust protection. Tables 1 and 2 recommend ESD diodes for various interfaces, with schematics showing configurations. For RF circuits, the recommended ESD diode has the lowest capacitance and leakage current, minimizing signal distortion. Example circuits illustrate TVS diode implementation for CAN and I/O interfaces.
Table 1. ESD Diodes for LIN, CAN, and FlexRay interface ESD protectionTable 2.ESD and TVS Diodes for RF, LVDS, Audio, I/O, LED, and Motor interface ESD protection
Protecting the Automotive Ethernet physical layer, the backbone of zonal architecture
Automotive Ethernet is now the main communication interface in zonal control architectures due to its high data transmission rates, reaching up to 10 Gb/s—far exceeding other automotive protocols. Current rates are typically 100 Mb/s and 1 Gb/s. Ethernet’s lightweight, two-wire twisted pair, robust error-checking, and scalability make it ideal for the harsh automotive environment and future requirements.
The push for Ethernet in zonal architecture comes from the OPEN Alliance SIG, a non-profit group of automotive and tech providers promoting Ethernet as the standard for automotive networking. The top table in Figure 3 lists various “flavors” defined by the alliance, while the lower table compares automotive Ethernet with CAN and LIN protocols.
Figure 3.Zonal communication structure and automotive Ethernet compared with other protocols
The OPEN Alliance has defined specific requirements for protecting automotive Ethernet circuitry from ESD. Figure 4 shows an Ethernet transceiver circuit with the ESD protection device’s recommended location called “1”. The adjacent table lists the OPEN Alliance’s requirements for an ESD suppression device. (The ESD protection “2” has no relation to the OPEN Alliance SIG.)
Figure 4.OPEN Alliance SIG recommendation for ESD suppression implementation
Littelfuse has developed numerous ESD suppression components for Ethernet protection, including one that specifically complies with the OPEN Alliance requirements. In addition to meeting the requirements of the OPEN Alliance for an ESD suppression device, the Littelfuse solution has low capacitance to minimize distortion of the Ethernet signals and low leakage to minimize energy consumption. Table 4 contains details on three options for Ethernet protection. The Polymer ESD suppressor has the advantage of the lowest capacitance and the lowest leakage current. The two TVS diode arrays protect two data lines in one package. All three components exceed the recommended ESD protection level called out by the OPEN Alliance SIG. They are all AEC-Q qualified; the Polymer ESD Suppressor to AEC-Q200 and the ESD Diodes to AEC-Q101. The AQ24ETH-02HTG is also certified to the OPEN Alliance specification.
Table 4.ESD protection solutions that are applicable to Automotive Ethernet.
Table 5 compares the Polymer ESD Suppressor and one of the Diode Arrays with the OPEN Alliance requirements. Both exceed the OPEN Alliance’s ESD robustness against damage level. The OPEN Alliance has approved the AQ24ETH-02HTG TVS Diode Array to protect 100Base-T1 and 1000Base-T1 transceivers from ESD strikes.
Table 5.ESD suppression components comparison with OPEN Alliance requirements (courtesy: Littelfuse)
Select optimum components for reliable and robust Zonal Control Units
The zonal control unit’s circuitry needs to withstand the electrical hazards inherent in the severe automotive environment. Designers can use the component recommendations for protecting the ZCU and all its interfaces to optimize their design process. By identifying protection components early, as well as consulting with a component manufacturer’s application engineers, designs can save development time and compliance costs. The application engineers can help with the following:
Cost-effective components selection
Compliance to the applicable safety standards
Pre-compliance testing to avoid compliance failure and save on delays and costs for multiple compliance test cycles.
All the Littelfuse components presented are AEC-Q101 and AEC-Q200 qualified. Using these recommended components will ensure reliable and robust ZCUs with ESD-resistant interfaces.
For comprehensive testing and analysis of electric vehicles and subsystems, physical parameters from numerous sensor types in both low- and high-voltage environments must be acquired and analyzed. Precise evaluation of the data is only possible through synchronized acquisition of the data – not only from sensors but also from additional sources such as the high-voltage electric system, vehicle busses, and ECU’s. The Vector CSM eMobility solution brings together the industry-leading solutions of Vector for network interfaces, data acquisition, and analysis with measurement hardware innovation from CSM.
Join this webinarat the upcoming Charged Virtual Conference on EV Engineering for an overview of this comprehensive solution, along with the eMobilty Analyzer function library for real-time analysis of power, efficiency and other variables will be presented.
Broadcast live on September 16-19, 2024, the conference content will span the EV engineering supply chain and ecosystem, including motor and power electronics design and manufacturing, cell development, battery systems, testing, powertrains, thermal management, circuit protection, wire and cable, EMI/EMC and more.
From its early days, Tesla captured the imagination of car consumers, but when it comes to the fleet market, the company’s record has been more mixed. In January, rental giant Hertz announced plans to sell thousands of the Teslas it had purchased a couple years earlier, and replace them with gas-guzzlers. Competitor Sixt faced a similar debacle in 2023. (To be fair, these mutual PR nightmares had little to do with the quality of Tesla’s vehicles, and everything to do with poor planning by the rental agencies.)
Now Tesla has secured an order worth $5 million from the city of Baltimore. The city will buy an undetermined number of Teslas—perhaps 100 or so—for the use of city employees.
Local media Baltimore Fishbowl reports that the city sent out a procurement request, and only two companies submitted proposals—the other was a Ford dealer, and the city decided that the Mustang Mach-E didn’t meet its needs.
“The cars will be used across all agencies, primarily as administrative vehicles,” said Baltimore Department of General Services Communications Manager John Riggin. “The number of vehicles purchased depends on the pricing and the models we choose. This contract allows us to purchase two of the models currently offered: the Model 3 and the Model Y. For each of these models, we can select from one of the three trim levels offered. For example, while some agencies may not require an extended Long Range battery, others might need it for efficient daily operations.”
“The Mayor set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2045,” Riggin continued. “To get there, we need to start the transition today. City Council Bill 21-0159 requires the purchase of EVs by 2030 for all light-duty administrative vehicles.”
The city is working to develop a charging deployment plan that will match charging technology with the use profile of the vehicle, Riggin added. “This could mean a dedicated Level 1 charger for a vehicle with moderate mileage per day, or a shared Level 2 charger for multiple low-mileage vehicles. DGS recently installed eight Level 2 chargers at the Central Garage, and is installing a DC fast charger to support the early adopters.”
Other good news for Tesla on the fleet front: the city of South Pasadena, California has completely electrified its police fleet with the purchase of 20 Teslas. In April, Anaheim added six Tesla police vehicles to its fleet as part of a pilot program. Over in China, the province of Jiangsu added Tesla to its list of approved vendors—the first time Tesla has earned this kind of governmental seal of approval in China.
Bad news: In Germany, Reuters reports, the Rossmann drug store chain, which currently operates 34 Teslas in its 800-vehicle fleet, says it won’t be buying any more, thanks to the bromance between Tesla’s CEO and the climate change-denying Republican presidential candidate. “Elon Musk makes no secret of his support for Donald Trump,” said Raoul Rossmann, the son of the company’s founder. “Trump has repeatedly called climate change a hoax. This stance is in stark contrast to Tesla’s mission to contribute to environmental protection through the production of electric cars.”
Industrial chemicals firm Chemours, the maker of such well-known products as Freon and Teflon, is also a player in battery technology. Now the company has opened a new laboratory facility, the Chemours Battery Innovation Center (CBIC) at its Discovery Hub in Newark, Delaware.
The CBIC will support the testing and scaling of Chemours’s next-generation EV battery technologies. There the company will work with customers and partners to scale production of more sustainable, cost-effective, energy-efficient and high-performing batteries for electrified vehicles.
“The Chemours Battery Innovation Center is a state-of-the-art lab and investment in the long-term potential of improving the sustainability footprint and performance of hybrid and electric vehicle batteries,” said Chemours CEO Denise Dignam. “We are committed to supporting the electrification of the automotive industry through collaboration and putting our team’s deep technical expertise to work.”
“Our Teflon fluoropolymer binders are vital in developing solvent-free battery electrode manufacturing, which unlocks the path for more cost-effective and energy-efficient vehicles,” said Gerardo Familiar, President of Advanced Performance Materials at Chemours. “Through the Chemours Battery Innovation Center, we can enable the adoption and scalability of this novel dry electrode coating technology.”
Commuters as well as travelers who are planning to explore the northwestern shores of Saudi Arabia will have a new and green way of getting around starting in 2025.
The operators of Neom, the massive faux-sustainable development that Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the crown prince and authoritarian leader of Saudi Arabia, is creating in Tabuk, have ordered a fleet of eight Candela P-12 100% electric hydrofoil ferries to speed up journeys and enable more frequent departures than traditional ferry boats could offer.
The P-12, which seats up to 30 passengers, is 39’ 4.1” (11.99 m) in length with a 14-foot, 8.4-inch (4.5 m) beam. It displaces 11.02 tons (10 metric tonnes); the builders did not indicate the vessel’s draught.
The ferry can be operated by a single crewmember and is driven by two proprietary podded thrusters powered by four 63 kWh batteries. The P-12 has a range of 40 nautical miles at 25 knots (almost 29 mph or 46 km/h) service speed.
A lifecycle analysis performed at the Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, or the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm titled “Electric Hydrofoil Boats Beat Diesel Boats for Climate Sustainability” suggests that a Candela P-12 will emit 97.5% less CO2 during its lifetime compared to a conventional diesel vessel of the same size.
“We’re proud to provide a vessel system designed with both passengers and the environment in mind,” said Candela CEO Gustav Hasselskog. “Short waiting times, quick connections, and a very enjoyable experience without taxing the environment with wakes, emissions and noise will revolutionize how we travel on water.”
Throughout the region, “All daily necessities and services will be just a short boat commute away,” Candela said.
The Candela P-12 is currently the fastest electric passenger vessel available, with a cruising speed of 25 knots enabled by its computer-guided hydrofoil system. It also has the longest range at two hours of operation.
The ship achieves this efficiency in part by flying above the waves on underwater wings called hydrofoils. As a result, it uses 80% less energy than conventional ships.
Another private community is installing charging stations in every unit.
The Woodland Creek Homeowners Association of East Palo Alto, California—a condominium development that was formed in 2002 and consists of single-family semi-detached residences—is in the process of installing the Pando Smart Outlet at all 90 homes and three shared-use buildings in the community, including a clubhouse and a fitness center.
The head of the Woodland Creek EV Charging Committee, Tom Herbs, said that Pando was the “clear choice” for the job and that Pando’s lower cost allowed the association to switch from having shared charging units to placing a charger in every garage. Each Pando charger will cost less than $500 installed.
The Pando Electric Smart Outlet’s universal, socket-based system is designed to keep installation costs to a minimum. Also, because drivers must use their own cables to attach their autos to the mains, the Pando system eliminates the all-too-common broken cord issue. Behind the scenes, Pando uses adaptive energy load management tools to maintain efficient operations.
While it isn’t a standards development organization per se, CharIN works with standards bodies and firms in the EV charging industry to help refine new standards, and to test vehicles and EVSE for interoperability.
CharIN’s North America Charging Interoperability Task Force, which currently has over 300 members, is working to help standardize Tesla’s NACS charging system (aka SAE J3400).
CharIN is working closely with ChargeX, SAE and a range of EVSE firms to establish a set of common error codes as a tool to improve the reliability of public charging infrastructure.
CharIN is also at the center of efforts to finalize the Megawatt Charging System, which is expected to be a game-changer for heavy-duty EV charging, and to develop standards for other up-and-coming technologies such as V2G and Plug & Charge.
Q&A with Charging Interface Initiative North America (CharIN) Executive Director Erika Myers.
To the average EV driver, charging may seem to be a mundane, even boring, matter. You plug your EV in when you get home, and when you’re ready to drive again, it’s charged. And that’s the way it should be. But there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to ensure that consumers have an uneventful charging experience, and it’s anything but boring.
Standards organizations have devoted tremendous amounts of effort over the course of years to develop standards that meet the needs of automakers, EVSE manufacturers and consumers. And the work doesn’t end with the publication of a standard. Real-world testing is required on an ongoing basis to ensure that every EV will work seamlessly with every charging station.
Furthermore, EV charging infrastructure is a rapidly developing field, and there are several potentially groundbreaking new technologies that are getting tantalizingly close to commercial implementation. Bidirectional charging, the Megawatt Charging System for heavy-duty EVs, the standardization of Tesla’s charging system, and new initiatives to improve the reliability of public chargers—all of these innovations will completely transform the charging scene for the better.
The Charging Interface Initiative North America (CharIN) is an organization that’s working diligently to bring all these new technologies, and more, to commercial reality. CharIN’s North America Charging Interoperability (NACI) Task Force is working to promote interoperability with NACS (or, as it’s now known, SAE J3400). CharIN also organizes an annual Testival where companies test the latest and greatest EV charging technologies. CharIN’s latest Testival and Conference, which took place in June, was attended by representatives of organizations across the charging industry, including automotive OEMs, EVSE hardware and software manufacturers, charge point operators, suppliers and integrators, as well as government and regulatory officials, business trade groups, standards bodies and research firms.
Charged spoke with Erika Myers, Executive Director of CharIN North America.
Refining and testing charging standards
Charged: CharIN is all about charging standards, but it isn’t officially a standards body. Is that an accurate description?
Erika Myers: We are not a standards development organization in the traditional sense. We are more of a trade group that helps create alignment within the EV industry, before, during and after standards development and publication. We work closely with the standards development organizations like SAE, IEC, IEEE and ISO via our members, but we are not actually developing standards in the traditional sense.
Charged: You also have a testing function. You have your Testivals and your interoperability task force.
Erika Myers: Exactly—testing is an important function of our organization. And we’re creating conformance tests as well to support the industry outside of our formal events. We have a conformance test that some labs internationally are using for CCS, and we’re in the process of extending the capabilities of that conformance testing into other areas, like ISO 15118.
“CharIN is a trade group that helps create alignment within the EV industry, before, during and after standards development and publication.”
Out with CCS, in with NACS?
Charged: Some months ago, I was surprised at how enthusiastically everybody jumped on the Tesla NACS bandwagon. CharIN was just about the only organization that was saying, “Wait a minute. Maybe we need to slow down and consider some things.” Now you are involved with testing interoperability for NACS. Has CharIN’s position on that evolved, or have your concerns been addressed?
Erika Myers: In the past year, CharIN has been supporting industry development of SAE J3400 with the launch of the NACI Task Force. Last December the Technical Information Report was published, which is the precursor to the SAE J3400 standard, and CharIN members have been actively involved with the SAE J3400 Committee. The NACI Task Force currently has over 300 individuals who are contributing to the development of SAE J3400 and establishing market alignment.
One challenge that we are trying to tackle is the safe use of adapters. CharIN has had a long-standing position that adapters are not an ideal solution for consumers, but recognizing that adapters will likely be used for some time, we want to get ahead of potential safety challenges of non-standardized adapters. So, CharIN released an adapter safety statement regarding J3400/J1772 adapters. The publication of the UL 2252 standard for adapters is expected soon.
Charged: I also found it unseemly that people were gleefully predicting the demise of CCS.
Erika Myers: CharIN predicts that there will be many years of co-existence between CCS-1 and J3400, and our plan is to continue to support both. CharIN has been working collaboratively with all of our members to ensure that SAE J3400 is standardized and meets consumer needs for reliable and interoperable charging.
“CharIN predicts that there will be many years of co-existence between CCS-1 and J3400, and our plan is to continue to support both.”
Charged: That leads into my next question. I happen to think that the Superchargers aren’t more reliable because they use a different connector, but because there’s one company making the cars and the chargers, and running the network, and that’s no longer the case, now that other automakers and other charging networks are getting involved. Is this transition going to result in better reliability, or are there some challenges there?
Erika Myers: Interoperability is, of course, a big part of what CharIN focuses on, which is why we introduced SAE J3400 for the first time at our 2023 Testival and again at our June 2024 Testival. Multiple manufacturers have tested their pre-production SAE J3400 equipment, and testers were pleased with the results.
CharIN’s Testival Event
The obligatory question about charger reliability
Charged: I ask everybody this question, and I get a lot of different answers. Why is it so hard to keep those doggone public chargers working?
Erika Myers: CharIN works diligently with the industry to fix problems related to interoperability and standards conformance. CharIN’s goal is to make sure that every vehicle works with every charger.
CharIN is a member of ChargeX [the National Charging Experience Consortium, a collaboration among DOE national labs, EV charging industry players and consumer advocates], which recently published common error codes research. Industry efforts to implement things like common error codes will make it easier to address and quickly fix problems in field, ideally remotely, so you don’t have to do a truck roll.
Perfecting the Megawatt Charging System
Charged: Tell me some more about MCS, the Megawatt Charging System.
Erika Myers: CharIN’s MCS Task Force initially defined the specification to support the next generation of on- and off-road DC fast charging up to 4.5 MW. CharIN members continue to support the MCS standardization activities through three parallel standardization processes.
We saw many demo models of MCS vehicles and chargers at the 2024 ACT Expo in May—especially among Class 7 and 8 trucks and charging depots servicing these vehicles. For example, Terawatt and WattEV, two CharIN members, have announced plans to incorporate MCS into their charging hubs once the standards are finalized.
We are also excited about off-road industry interest in MCS applications, including for the marine industry. We have hosted a series of workshops in Long Beach, California and Amsterdam, as well as virtual workshops to continue to raise awareness of MCS in the marine industry. We have upcoming workshops in September and November.
Everybody’s going bi
Charged: Is bidirectional charging supported through CCS, MCS, or both?
Erika Myers: CCS, through ISO 15118-20, is capable of providing bidirectional capabilities for charging equipment. There are still some technical details that need to be figured out, like integrating grid codes, but the CharIN community is interested and invested in solving some of those challenges.
Charged: What are your thoughts on V2G applications in general? Is that a game-changer, niche application, neither, or both?
Erika Myers: CharIN absolutely thinks there’s some opportunity for vehicle-to-grid integration. We have had a grid integration focus group for many years that’s addressing what might be needed in the standard.
Combining green energy with green mobility is part of CharIN’s mission and our vision, so we absolutely are invested in making sure that the electrons used by our EVs are as clean as possible, and the best way to do that is to marry it with renewable energy generation, and allow vehicles to become an alternative to stationary storage.
If we could leverage the battery that’s already in the vehicle, then that’s potentially making the vehicle a more cost-effective grid asset, because it’s already used for other purposes and therefore may be able to do the same things for less. Also, it could be used by consumers as a way to help reduce the timeline for paying off the car to actually become—especially in the case of fleets—a revenue source as opposed to a cost center. We think these are great opportunities for a win-win, both for the consumer and the energy industry.
“Combining green energy with green mobility is part of CharIN’s mission, so we are invested in making sure that the electrons used by our EVs are as clean as possible, and the best way to do that is to allow vehicles to become an alternative to stationary storage.”
Charged: Are you starting to see any commercial projects with V2G, or is everything still in the pilot stage at this point?
Erika Myers: As highlighted at CharIN North America’s 2024 conference, we’re seeing commercial-scale V2G deployments happening in Europe already, but we’re still in the demonstration phase for projects here in North America. I think there’s more opportunity with electric school buses, so that’s something that we’re watching closely. A lot of utilities have started to introduce more electric school bus programs, and almost all the electric school buses today are bidirectionally capable, and are offering that as an option to their customers. The World Resources Institute has an electric school bus initiative, and significant research is being devoted to vehicle integration, using school buses as a resiliency tool for local communities [for disaster relief, etc.].
Utilities, EVs and the grid
Charged: What else can you tell us about new initiatives on the utility front?
Erika Myers: I worked for many years with electric utilities on topics related to time-of-use rates, demand charge management, managed charging, all forms of vehicle-to-grid integration, and also distribution planning for EVs, so a lot of my background is on the utility side of things.
It’s exciting to see electric utilities exploring different opportunities with demand response and demand-side management programs for EVs, and I’ve been paying close attention to what the Peak Load Management Alliance has been doing. PLMA hosted their first managed charging conference last fall, and that, to me, is a big signal that utilities are making major investments and prioritizing this as an opportunity. Managed charging is a great precursor to more advanced versions of vehicle-to-grid integration, and being able to manage at the customer site requires quite a bit of communications and aggregation that CharIN is here to support.
Charged: There are so many utilities in the US, and some seem to be really hip to vehicle electrification, while others are behind the curve.
Erika Myers: Much of that perception has to do with where the EVs are distributed. There are 3,300 electric utilities in the United States, and EVs aren’t being sold uniformly across the country. We know that a lot of utilities are very interested in how EV sales will evolve within their consumer base, because obviously they have to get ahead of these deployments to manage power demand.
Even at a local level, we’re starting to see utilities making statements that they’re concerned about the number of pole-mounted transformers that they must replace, as certain neighborhoods have higher EV penetration. These are unexpected costs, and there are long lead times in purchasing transformers and substation equipment due to high industry demand.
Charged: What do I say to somebody that says, “EVs are going to crash the grid—there’s not enough power?”
Erika Myers: I would point to all the studies done by the Electric Power Research Institute and the Edison Electric Institute, that have shown the opposite, and that there is ample generation available. Electric utilities have consistently met the demands of customers over their 100-plus-year history. I think where we have some challenges is not just generation—it’s making sure that it’s clean generation, so when we deploy a cleaner technology, it’s being fueled by other cleaner technologies.
This is where it gets challenging from a utility perspective—you have to align those charging times with peak solar or peak wind, and maybe get the consumer to modify charging behavior accordingly. I’m part of a managed charging program with my local utility, Dominion Energy, and they give me $40 a year to modulate my charging times. I have a smart charger that can be accessed by my utility, and they can potentially turn off a charge during a peak event or align charging with peak solar or peak wind. I don’t notice any disruptions in charging, and I get paid.
“There is ample generation available to charge EVs. Electric utilities have consistently met the demands of customers over their 100-plus-year history.”
Charged: That sounds like an argument for having a smart charger instead of just a plain old non-networked charger.
Erika Myers: I think this is a great example of how the automotive industry and electric utilities could partner well together, because a lot of automakers will sell a particular charger along with the car at the point of sale, and if they were able to work with the electric utility to introduce a smart version of that charger, then it could get automatically enrolled into these kinds of programs that benefit the consumer.
We’re also starting to see some automakers address this within their own apps. If you type in your zip code, they’ll connect you automatically to a time-of-use program so you can save even more money on your utility bill. There are really creative opportunities that organizations, like CharIN, can support through communication protocols like ISO 15118. Both 15118-2 and 15118-20 offer smart charging capabilities and another way to build consumer-friendly features into the next generation of electric vehicles.
It took far too long to get here, but it may have been worth the wait. The 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV, GM’s smallest and least expensive battery-electric vehicle, is finally rolling into dealerships across the country. Now we’ve driven it, and it’s good.
You can view the electric Equinox as the anti-Tesla. Where the Silicon Valley startup’s Model Y is aggressively tech-forward, with few controls outside its central touchscreen, the Chevy is soothingly predictable, with knobs for climate control, a stalk for the turn signals and wipers, and another for the gear selector. It even has a drive selector on the column, just like a sixties Chevy with a column-shift automatic—which opens up the console to make room for two large drinks and even a slot for pens (though, oddly, the Equinox EV doesn’t offer wireless charging in any trim).
Where the Tesla’s Model Y is aggressively tech-forward, with few controls outside its central touchscreen, the Chevy is soothingly predictable.
Not visibly electric
The relatively sleek crossover shape says “small SUV” without telegraphing the electric powertrain, and the interior bears a clear family resemblance to other Chevy models—including the large horizontal touchscreen and digital instrument cluster.
Photos Courtesy of Chevrolet
Bring one home for a test drive, and your neighbors might never know you’re driving an EV—except, of course, for its humming sound below 22 mph and its smooth, silent acceleration. Chevy caters to mainstream US car shoppers, and the Equinox EV almost seems designed to reassure them: “See, look, EVs aren’t weird or strange. They’re just like, y’know, regular cars.”
Crucially, with EVs still priced above the market average and interest rates high, the Equinox EV is GM’s most affordable plug-in model. The launch versions start at $43,295 for the 2LT trim (which wraps in the required $1,395 fee for delivery). The high-end 3RS trim starts at $46,795. All-wheel drive adds $3,400. The RS trim is an appearance package for $1,500. Every Equinox EV is eligible for the federal $7,500 purchase rebate, which brings the total cost below the crucial $40,000 level.
Even better, Chevy promises an entry-level trim starting at $34,995 “later this year.” If this proves to be real, that’s a cost under $30,000 after the point-of-sale rebate—assuming the entry-level model is widely available, and not just a single loss-leader vehicle to lure in shoppers. It also assumes the dealership plays ball and doesn’t keep some or all of the rebate for itself (it has happened).
Big battery, big miles
Built on the Ultium platform that will spawn close to a dozen different crossover utility vehicles and full-size trucks and SUVs, the Equinox EV competes straight across with the Tesla Model Y—including on EPA-rated range. At the time of writing, an Equinox EV with front-wheel drive (319 miles, $43,295) slightly undercuts the Tesla Model Y Long Range RWD on price (320 miles, $44,990) with equal range. Every version of each vehicle qualifies for the $7,500 federal point-of-sale purchase rebate. However, note that Tesla changes prices and specs so often that this information may already be out of date. Confirm the ranges and prices for yourself.
Every version of the Equinox EVoffered in spring 2024 is powered by an 85 kWh battery that uses NMCA cells fabricated at one of the two joint-venture GM-LG Ultium cell plants in Ohio or Tennessee.
Chevy can provide more than 300 miles of EPA range because it uses a larger battery pack than most competitors. Beyond the Tesla Model Y, those include the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Nissan Ariya and Volkswagen ID.4. Every version of the Equinox EV offered in spring 2024 is powered by an 85 kWh battery that uses NMCA cells fabricated at one of the two joint-venture GM-LG Ultium cell plants—in Lordstown, Ohio or Spring Hill, Tennessee. (A third cell plant in Lansing, Michigan is now under construction.)
That battery sends current to a 213 hp motor powering the front wheels. All-wheel-drive versions add a second motor at the rear, giving a total combined power rating of 288 hp—at the cost of a lower range rating. EPA ranges are 319 miles for FWD, but 285 miles for AWD.
Photo Courtesy of ChevroletPhoto Courtesy of ChevroletPhoto Courtesy of ChevroletPhoto Courtesy of Chevrolet
Photo By John VoelckerPhoto By John Voelcker
Spacious, predictable, not weird
Chevrolet calls the 2024 Equinox EV a “compact” crossover, but it has the dimensions of a mid-size SUV from 20 years ago. It’s also longer, wider and heavier than the gasoline Equinox. The phenomenon of automotive bracket creep is real, and pervasive, but the electric Equinox is on the very outer edge of what you might reasonably consider “compact.” That said, the extra size goes toward excellent interior volume—not every compact crossover lets 6-foot passengers sit behind one another. The flat floor ahead of rear-seat riders adds to the sense of spaciousness.
Behind the wheel, the Equinox EV lacks the explosive acceleration provided by some of its electric competitors. Acceleration is perfectly suitable (0-60 mph in 8.0 seconds for the FWD model, Chevy says, and 6.0 seconds for AWD), but the pedal feel is progressive, meaning the driver must specifically ask for power to get it—and full-bore acceleration requires flooring the pedal. Just like a gasoline car, perhaps?
Every Equinox EV carries an onboard AC charger rated at 11.5 kW. DC fast charging at up to 150 kW comes via a CCS port.
On the road, the handling and roadholding induces confidence without being particularly memorable. Our test drive took place in and around Detroit, a monotonously flat region laid out largely with straight and rectilinear roads—meaning we had zero chance to toss it through hilly curves to see how it does outside a typical suburban driving scenario.
We also didn’t get a chance to test the charging capability. Every Equinox EV carries an onboard AC charger rated at 11.5 kW, which translates to as much as 36 miles of range added for each hour of charging. DC fast charging at up to 150 kW comes via a CCS port. Chevrolet quotes “approximately 77 miles of range in 10 minutes,” though it notes that will vary based on the battery’s state of charge, the ambient temperature, the power capability of the charging station, and further factors. Chevy told reporters bidirectional charging for V2H electric backup will be provided through an over-the-air update at some point in the future.
Photos Courtesy of Chevrolet
Photos By John Voelcker
The Ultium abyss
We would have had the Equinox EV earlier—and its big brother, the Blazer EV, much earlier—if GM hadn’t run into lengthy and embarrassing problems in getting the machinery that assembles the Ultium battery modules to run at anything approaching high-volume rates. That problem first arose in 2022, and took 12 to 18 months to address properly.
It caused GM to back away from promises of specific EV sales volumes it had made. In February 2022, the company said it expected to sell 400,000 EVs by the end of 2023. In October of that year, just eight months later, it rolled the date back to mid-2024—and then gave up altogether on the 400,000 number. Actual 2023 sales of Ultium EVs were just 13,838, mostly Cadillac Lyriqs.
Those problems now appear to be history, and Chevrolet is starting to ship Silverado EVs, Blazer EVs and Equinox EVs to its EV-certified dealerships. The company’s Q1 sales weren’t anything to write home about—only the Lyriq posted meaningful numbers—and Q2 will likely be better, but not a blowout. Watch the sales results for Q3 and Q4 to see whether GM delivers six figures’ worth of EVs in calendar 2024. Add that to a predicted 40,000 Honda Prologues and 20,000 Acura ZDXes—built on the same underpinnings, in the same plants as the Cadillac and Chevy utility vehicles—and we’ll see whether this is the year GM finally begins to sell EVs in volume after killing off the Bolt EV and EUV late last year.
As always, the big challenge is the dealers through whom any car shopper is required by law to buy any new vehicle. GM CEO Mary Barra routinely refers to the company’s network of independently owned and operated third-party franchised dealers as “valued partners,” but that status acknowledges the limits on what GM can and can’t get them to do.
A recent article in E&E News queried auto dealers who are Congressional representatives about EVs and their prospects. “The EV market is phony. It’s not real,” said Rep. Roger Williams (R-TN). He chairs the House Small Business Committee, and owns a Texas dealership selling Stellantis brands. His dealership refuses to sell EVs.
The biggest question is whether the company’s dealers will take the time to understand those new products in detail and be willing to explain them to wary but EV-curious customers.
Williams may not be typical, but the biggest question hanging over Chevrolet and GM isn’t whether it can build the EVs. It’s whether the company’s dealers will take the time to understand those new products in detail, be willing to explain them to wary but EV-curious customers, and sell them as aggressively as they do the combustion-engine Equinox. To date, most dealers haven’t done so—and far too many have misrepresented their EV products or outright lied about their capabilities, how charging is done, and the rest.
Even if much of it was supposed to happen last year, this many EV models from GM hitting the market during 2024 is bound to have an impact. Watch to see how dealers handle the deluge of new products. You could even take a stroll down to your nearby Chevrolet dealer and see for yourself.
Chevrolet provided airfare, lodging and meals to enable Charged to bring you this first-person drive report.Photo By John Voelcker
