Friday EVwatch

Property

Property 1

EV Chargers Add Value to Homes

With the growing adoption of electric vehicles, more homes are having EV chargers installed or coming as a standard furnishing when the homes are built. Makeuseof.com has the details on why more homes are having EV chargers added.

MY TAKE-The cheap way, that adds no value is to use an existing 120V outlet. This may be good for topping up a battery, but at 5 miles per hour of charge, it won’t keep the owner from needing to find a supercharger. Adding a Level 2 charger, which requires a 240V power set up changes the game and adds value to the home. How much? Well as the MakeUseof article reports”

“homes with an L2 charger sell for approximately 13% more than the average house price in the area. Furthermore, out of the 1,000 homes they looked at, 76% showed an increase in value when they featured an L2 charger as part of their infrastructure, compared to the other homes in the area.”

Now this was in a region of the UK, so the percentages may vary, but as the article points out, for those residing in areas where charging stations aren’t as widely available, it makes all the difference in the world, and “future proofs” the value of a home.

TESLA has its Own Border Crossing Lane

The Drive picks up some news from Bloomberg’s HyperDrive about Tesla establishing a border crossing lane in Mexico.

MY TAKE-You have to give TESLA a lot of credit for being innovative at problem solving. They do push the envelope and are clearly agents of change. This is ingenious, as it speeds up cross border traffic for TESLA’s suppliers bringing needed parts to Texas where TESLA assembles cars. It also means TESLA owners coming across the border get back to the USA faster.

Formula E-Where Innovation Happens

Fast Company offers up a nice read about Formula E and how the electric car racing division of Formula One is all about innovation. NASCAR is also rumored to have an EV division planned.

MY TAKE-Innovation has always been a part of the racing world. F1, Nascar and even NHRA drag racing have all provided manufacturers with an idea test lab for making improvements to automobiles that eventually find their way to what the public drives. Part of the reason is competition breeds the need to do things better and differently. But the idea of a racing circuit aimed at EV’s that’s now over ten years in its life has provided the various car companies with a place to push things to the limits of what’s possible today, and what will be included in the cars of tomorrow.

Real Hands Free Driving

Baidu out of China is a giant company. As big as Google. That’s big. And they have an autonomous driving unit that has just sneak-peeked the concept of a totally self driving robotaxi reports the Greensboro News and Record.

MY TAKE-More space in the cabin, true autonomous driving. This is a dream for companies like UBER, Bolt, Lyft and other ride hailing services. For taxi license holders it means allowing their car to run all the time, other than when it’s being charged up, so the licensee can literally be making money when they’re sleeping. It’s a bold step and likely a few years away from being permitted in the USA, EU or UK, but the idea of autonomous driving isn’t far fetched, and is already in various stages of experimentation so like so much that’s futuristic, we need to say that “the future is here” and expect to see it happen in this lifetime.

Amazon Commits To Rivian

The New York Times is reporting that Amazon has decided to buy 100,000 electric delivery vans from startup Rivian. How long delivery will be is reportedly years. AXIOS has more to say as well.

MY TAKE-Rivian has a big opportunity but the order is of the magnitude where it may be too much, too soon due to a loss of faith by one of their investors, The Ford Motor Company. The threat of layoffs are looming, and delays in the production process due to supply line shortages all are creating a perfect storm. And that’s sad as the future for a Rivian like delivery van builder is very bright. They just need to survive the next two to three years and can likely make something happen. On a related note, the US Postal Service is saying that half of its trucks will be electric.

Chevy Equinox EV Spotted

Car and Driver has spotted yet another photo angle of the higher end Chevrolet EV, the Equinox, on the Chevy website. This one is a side view. Previously Chevy teased the market with other “reveal” images of the SUV that will sell in the $30,000 range according to the magazine.

MY TAKE-This is a “show them forward progress” strategy and keep the buying public interested.