Wednesday, February 3, 2021

GM may have Made Joe Biden's Life Easier


 Photo from Curbed

President Joe Biden has signed an Executive Order that aims to transform the Federal Governments' fleet of motor vehicles to all-electric fueling engines.

The President also wants to increase tax incentives and rebates for customers to buy electric vehicles.

He has talked about building more than half a million electric vehicle charging stations across the country.

Mr. Biden envisions that his clean energy initiatives producing electric cars will produce about a million jobs in the auto industry.

The People at Electric Car Vehicle Companies like Tesla are probably salivating right now.

General Motors (GM) may have made President Biden's clean energy agenda and life easier by announcing that they will produce only electric charging vehicles by 2035.

Reacting to (what else) market forces like the rise of Tesla, auto competitors deciding to follow California fuel standards, and the Chinese commitment to sell only electric cars by (wait for it) 2035, GM may have just sounded the death knell for the internal combustion engine and fully ushered in the Clean Energy Revolution.

Creating the infrastructure to accommodate this transition to all-electric vehicles will necessitate the job creating investments to modernize the transportation sector and the electric grid.

Commenting on GM's momentous shift in auto production, Arizona Corporation Commissioner (and former Mayor of Tolleson) Anna Tovar relayed:

] Arizona Corporation Commissioner Anna Tovar; Photo from Arizona List[/caption]

“General Motors’ decision to transition to all-electric vehicles by 2035 will have a tremendous impact on our utilities. Experts project that the adoption of electric vehicles could increase our generation needs by 25-38% by 2050. Once generated, we will also need to efficiently move that electricity to our urban centers, growth areas, and rural regions of the State. Powerlines and generation don’t just materialize overnight. Getting our grid-ready requires significant upfront investment in infrastructure and long-term planning."

"We also need to think about how we structure electric rates to ensure grid stability. You want to design rates so people are not likely to charge their vehicles during the peak demand--like dinner time in July when everyone is cranking up their air conditioning. Planning for the transition to electric vehicles starts now and should be a consideration in every rate case moving forward.”

GM's decision may also spill over to investments in other clean energy sectors like President Biden's plans to modernize buildings or increased funding of solar and wind energy resources.

The decision by General Motors represents a turning point in automotive technology and the catalyst for the continuing clean energy revolution in this country and around the world.

The planet may have become a lot safer and cleaner with what they have announced.

And President Joe Biden's job to secure job-creating clean energy infrastructure legislation for his Build Back Better American Rebuild Program may have become easier.

P.S.

The fight between electric-powered and gasoline-fueled cars has gone on for over a century. One book I would recommend to study the subject is Edwin Black's Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives.

It is a shame that the solution to clean cars was available well before World War One but avarice and short-sightedness delayed consistent mass production of clean energy cars for over 100 years.

Hopefully, the delay is over.

Hopefully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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