By Vanessa Stark
Toronto, Ontario — July 10, 2018 — The electric revolution is just around the bend, even if the engine is quiet.
U.K. enters 46-step program to recover from fossil fuel addiction
According to reports the United Kingdom has put out a 46-step plan to go completely electric by 2040.
The plan was released by Chris Grayling, MP Secretary of State for Transport, on July 9 and is being called “The Road to Zero” in reference to the zero emissions goal.
The plan details all 46 steps including: increasing supplies of low carbon fuels through a legally binding strategy, investing £4.5 million in the On-Street Residential ChargePoint Scheme until 2020, and launching an electric vehicle ChargePoint design competition.
Ford’s new fleet: batteries included
Not only is Ford now moving away from car productions, they are in fact also moving towards and electric new adventure.
While Ford has announced it will no longer be producing cars, with the exception of the classic and popular Mustang, in favour of SUVs and trucks, they are promising to introduce 40 new vehicles worldwide by 2022, all of which will be electrified.
Tesla on Top
According to resent research the Tesla Model 3 is the number one selling electric car in the U.S. with approximately 4,000 in sales in June of this year.
Following closely behind are the Tesla Model S and Model X both selling over 2,500 last month. The only other car to compete was the Toyota Prius Prime with just over 2,200.
While reports that sales were likely to drop precipitously after it emerged that the Chinese government’s tit-for-tat tariffs would force the company to sell their vehicles for US $20,000 more in China, Tesla has again pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. Today, it was announced that the company had reached a deal to open a new US $5 billion factory in the country, likely circumventing import duties on American vehicles.
Fickle Nickel
Currently, stainless steel production accounts the use of more than 65 percent of mined nickel, keeping the price stable – even when compared to other industrial metals. This week, however, market observer Standard & Poor raised their official expectations for the cost of the metal in 2020 from US $12,700-per-tonne to $13,600. Just three percent of the mined ore is used in electric vehicle batteries, but the expected arrival of more than 100 different electric car models in the 2020 model year looks set to shift this balance, a large part of the reasoning behind the predicted price-rise of the not-yet-precious metal.
