High Cleantech Tales to Begin 2024!

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The vacation season is over and we’ve already logged greater than per week in January. Wanting again on the first 9 days of January and the previous few days of December, listed here are some high tales that deserve additional love and a spotlight.

By way of solar energy costs, it was uplifting to search out out in December that photo voltaic module costs have been down 20–30% in 2023 internationally, with US costs down a extra modest 15% because of tariffs on Chinese language photo voltaic modules.

Taking a look at photo voltaic & wind penetration within the US, it’s nice however not shocking to see the 2 renewable vitality sources combining for 71% of latest energy capability within the nation in October and 64% of latest energy capability by the primary 10 months of 2023. Wind and solar energy now present extra electrical energy (era, not capability) than coal! And a whole bunch of gigawatts of latest solar energy capability are anticipated within the subsequent 3 years whereas 21 gigawatts of coal are anticipated to retire.

By way of electrical automobile gross sales, initially, it was superb and uplifting to see that the high promoting automobile, truck, or SUV of any variety internationally was the Tesla Mannequin Y. True — we don’t have official, closing stats on that but, however it was clear in December that the Mannequin Yw as taking residence the prize. General, Tesla had one other file quarter within the 4th quarter, and the Mannequin Y additionally surpassed the Mannequin 3 as the highest promoting EV in historical past. Nevertheless, regardless of that stellar efficiency, BYD handed up Tesla within the 4th quarter to turn into the highest vendor of BEVs worldwide (within the quarter, however not the yr). BYD additionally turn into the primary automaker to promote greater than 3 million plugin automobiles in a yr.

Going previous Tesla and BYD and taking a look at a number of the greatest among the many relaxation, XPeng gross sales grew 171% within the 4th quarter, whereas NIO grew 31% throughout the yr as an entire. What’s fairly eye-catching is how a lot XPeng and NIO gross sales have rhymed over the previous 4 years. Within the US, GM simply inched out Ford in 2023 BEV gross sales.

Taking a look at EV market share in several markets, Norway continues to impress, with 73.5% of auto gross sales now BEV gross sales. China is at 27% BEV share, the most effective amongst large markets, whereas Europe is at 17% BEV share. The world as an entire is at 13% BEV share (with Tesla and BYD dominant).

By way of new-ish EV tech, electrical automobiles with sodium-ion batteries have joined the Chinese language market, and BYD has begun development on a 30 GWh sodium-ion battery manufacturing facility. Additionally, on the upper finish of the market, NIO rolled out the ET9, which might definitely be a Automotive of the 12 months contender when it will definitely arrives — it appears superb.

Relating to EV hurdles, one clear one we’ve been discussing is challenges with Tesla and different EV leases. There appear to be some clear methods to repair a few of these issues (reminiscent of higher introductions to the automobiles and EV charging for purchasers in addition to extra affordable pricing), however there’s additionally no signal rental automobile firms need to implement them.

Modifications with the US EV tax credit score are an enormous matter, with insurance policies pushing for the reshoring of blue collar jobs — significantly within the battery sector — quickly taking the $7,500 tax credit score away from a number of EVs. Nevertheless, it additionally offers a point-of-sale rebate choice for individuals who can’t profit from a $7,500 tax credit score. One oddity coming from these adjustments is the Mannequin 3 Efficiency is now cheaper than the Mannequin 3 Lengthy Vary within the USA! You may also get a Tesla Mannequin Y for cheaper than a Tesla Mannequin 3!

As a closing enjoyable and massive story, Flemish transport firm De Lijn has ordered 92 electrical buses from BYD, it’s already acquired 114 electrical buses, and could stand up to 500 electrical buses by 2030.

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