Electric Vehicles

Just back from a 1,000+ mile road trip from Bellingham Washington through southern BC. We have a 2025 Kia EV9 Wind with a range of about 300 or so miles. Our first charger stop in Merritt BC and it was our only wait. We spent the time chatting with all the other people there because it was everyone's first EV road trip and we got to see the VW Buzz up close. 

The charging system in that region is excellent. Flo, BC Hydro, Electrify Canada, and a convenience store system - we used them all. Several required a different app, which was the only hassle. A few of the chargers are a bit slow but the timing generally worked out for us to have lunch or dinner near the charger for an hour. There was never anyone waiting for us. There are even chargers (albeit slow ones) at some of the rest stops. 

My husband LOVES road trips and I have a touchy back so I never wanted to go very far in our old ICE cars. But this was a really pleasant trip in a super comfortable car. We had some anxiety before we left about range/charging but we found plenty of chargers, even in more remote areas such as Arrow Lakes and south of Golden.

Source

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35814201

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Years were spent on agreeing rules to hold companies accountable for their environmental and social impacts, including the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and more. The European Commission's ‘simplification’ agenda was supposed to streamline rules and reduce the administrative burden on companies. Instead the numerous Omnibus proposals have gone beyond this, weakening sustainability rules instead.

The rules are good for all the reasons associated with protecting human rights and combating climate change. But they also give European companies a distinct advantage over rivals. Car makers have been at the forefront of this and are set to be the big winners. Many have invested in complying with the rules requiring them to identify and mitigate negative impacts on human rights and the environment within their operations and their supply chains. Mercedes and Volkswagen are good examples as the only two companies that currently publish stand alone raw materials reports, with detailed and disaggregated information on the tracing and due diligence conducted into a wide range of raw materials to ensure standards are met.

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Chinese manufacturers are ramping up sales in the EU market - until now mostly through imports, and increasingly via local production in Hungary, Spain and beyond. Yet many of these companies are falling short of EU sustainability requirements. This poses not just a regulatory challenge, but a competitive one: under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, companies face consequences for non-compliance - including potential fines of at least 5% of annual turnover. If these rules are now weakened, we risk letting in lower-standard competition through the front door while failing to reward those who have played by the rules.

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A survey by We Are Europe shows business leaders see the EU regulations on disclosure and transparency as a potential geopolitical asset for Europe with 90% endorsing it. The European Central Bank has also pushed back against the Omnibus bill, warning it would cut disclosure for 80% of companies and increase financial and greenwashing risks by allowing smaller firms to report selectively.

Despite these warnings, mistaken beliefs persist - including from Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron - that Europe needs to scrap its sustainability regulation in order to be competitive. This is a short-sighted view that makes no sense in the current environment where countries, most notably the US, are also moving to protect their industry.

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If Europe really wants to boost competition it should accelerate company guidance on how to interpret the rules, so those that have a competitive transparency advantage can use it quickly. Creating a central handbook to help companies comply with supply chain rules - like the Batteries and Deforestation Regulations - is a smart move. But simplifying reporting must not be used as an excuse to reopen and weaken the rules we've already agreed on.

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We've seen a bunch curbside chargers that enable apartment dwellers to join the electric revolution without having to always top up away from home, but the one from Rheinmetall AG is about the least obtrusive. The street-level charger replaces concrete curbs with a Level 2 charge point.

Full translation:

By 2030, all SAP company cars are to be electric. The fleet manager of the German software company told Handelsblatt about the experiences gained so far during the transition.

According to the report, the German fleet currently consists of around 19,000 cars, of which just under 5,000 are purely electric. Steffen Krautwasser reported that the selection and availability have improved significantly recently. However, there is still a lack of more affordable family cars on offer.

Electric car industry leader Tesla is not represented in the SAP fleet – ‘not for political reasons, but because the residual values are difficult to calculate given the brand's erratic pricing policy and because the workshop network is still too patchy for SAP's requirements,’ writes Handelsblatt.

In addition to the still high prices, range is considered one of the biggest obstacles for electric cars. However, Krautwasser does not see the latter as a general problem. Concerns among employees that they would no longer be able to get to customers quickly and safely have not materialised. ‘Well over 95 percent of our current electric car users want another purely electric vehicle as their next car,’ he reported.

For acceptance, it is ‘extremely important’ that charging at work runs as smoothly as possible. To this end, SAP is now expanding the infrastructure for supplying electricity to electric cars at its locations. There are currently 1,750 SAP charging points at 14 German locations. In the medium term, the network is expected to grow to 3,700 charging points.

‘We have found that you don't need a charging station at the location for every car,’ said the SAP fleet manager. Employees work from home or at customer sites, charge on the road or drive routes where charging once a week is usually sufficient. The company itself prefers charging to take place in the employee car park: This is because electricity for large customers on site is usually cheaper than on the road or at employees' homes. Employees are explicitly made aware of this.

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Ralf Brandstätter [VW's CEO in China] explained that customers in Europe tend to favor "tactile controls, long-term durability, and driving dynamics." It’s a different story in China, where buyers prioritize “AI-first, connected vehicles, with seamless voice control and smart cockpits.”

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He pointed out that the average age of an electric car buyer in Europe is 56, whereas in China it’s under 35. [He] addresses the question of why cars developed by the VW Group in China aren’t sold in Europe. It all comes down to differing regulations, costs, and customer preferences.

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In similar reports he was cited saying, “Honestly, it’s a car. It’s not a phone.”

The German automaker’s sentiments have been echoed by others, including Hyundai, whose executives have said on several occasions that it would revert to physical controls for vital vehicle functions. Now, we just have to wait to see if any of this actually happens.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35577330

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Brazilian prosecutors [...] they are suing Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD and two of its contractors over allegations of using workers in slave-like labor conditions and engaging in international human trafficking.

The labor prosecutors’ office in Bahia state [in Brazil] said in a statement that they are seeking 257 million Brazilian reais ($50 million) in damages from BYD, China JinJiang Construction Brazil and Tecmonta Equipamentos Inteligentes.

The lawsuit stems from an investigation that led to the rescue last year of 220 Chinese workers from the construction site of BYD’s new factory in the city of Camaçari. Prosecutors said the workers were brought to Brazil under false pretenses and with visas that did not match their jobs.

The prosecutors’ office said:

“Working conditions were extremely degrading. Five settlements were kept by BYD, JinJiang and Tecmonta. Some workers slept on beds without mattresses and had their personal belongings alongside with their food. There were few bathrooms, which were not gender-assigned. In one of the settlements, there was one toilet for 31 people, forcing workers to wake up at 4 a.m. for their personal hygiene before their work.”

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