FORD SCALES BACK PRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC F-150: Ford Motors said today it will slash the number of workers at its Rouge EV factory in Dearborn, Michigan, as part of its effort to reduce production of its electric F-150 and better reflect consumer demand.
Though Ford said it expects “further growth” for its EVs in 2024, including for its F-150 Lightning model, sales are expected to fall short of its earlier projections, prompting Ford to scale back its planned EV investments in recent months.
A total of 1,400 workers at Ford’s Rogue EV production facility are expected to be impacted by the decision, officials said. Roughly half of the affected employees will be transferred to other Ford plants in the state, including the Michigan Assembly Plant, to help oversee an increase in planned production for two of its gas-powered vehicles: the Bronco SUV and Ranger pickup truck.
The company previously said it would cut production of its Lightning model from 3,200 vehicles per week to 1,600 per week beginning in 2024.
Ford said in October it would reduce its spending in the EV space by $12 billion as it waits for consumer demand to meet previously bullish production targets. Still, Ford CEO Jim Farley remained upbeat about long-term sales growth for the cars, saying in a statement today that he sees a “bright future” for “specific consumers,” especially as it moves to adopt Tesla’s charging network.
“We are taking advantage of our manufacturing flexibility to offer customers choices while balancing our growth and profitability,” he added.
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BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES MILLIONS MORE FOR PUBLIC CHARGERS: The Biden administration announced millions in new federal funds aimed at easing concerns over reliability and charging infrastructure.
The actions will expand eligibility of individuals and businesses hoping to qualify for Section 30C of the Inflation Reduction Act, a provision aimed at lowering the costs of EV charging, and will funnel some $325 million to support the deployment and reliability of public EV chargers nationwide.
The expansion of the 30C tax credit will provide up to 30% of charger costs to individuals and businesses living in low-income or urban areas, which administration officials said will make it more affordable to install EV charging infrastructure and increase access to charging for drivers with limited access to chargers— such as those who rely on street parking, for example.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, senior Biden administration officials touted EV sales rates, which they said have more than quadrupled since President Joe Biden took office—in large part due to passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
As part of the effort, DOE announced a $149 million grant program aimed at repairing or replacing broken public EV chargers. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated billions in federal funding to build out a national EV charging corridor, with a target of 500,000 high-speed public chargers. But to date, just 4,500 public chargers have been built in the U.S., and many drivers have cited frustration with existing public chargers—citing compatibility issues, software glitches or completely broken equipment.
Officials said to qualify for the grant, charging stations would be required to meet minimum federal standards and interoperability requirements, and to undergo routine maintenance. Read more on the announcement here.
AZERBAIJAN LOOKS TO BETTER CLIMATE RECORD BEFORE COP29: Top executives of Socar, Azerbaijan’s government-owned oil and gas company, met with various consultants and government officials in Davos, Bloomberg reports – a sign that the company is looking to better its climate standing before the country hosts the global climate summit in November.
Socar President Rovshan Najaf tweeted that he had “productive discussions” with U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Rick Duke about climate issues.
Najaf also revealed that he met with Rich Lesser, the global chairman of the Boston Consulting Group, outlining several discussion topics that focused on green policies, such as climate change mitigation, emissions assessment, and decarbonization technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration.
Why it matters: The climate record of Azerbaijan, which relies heavily on oil production, will be critically examined as it prepares to host the next COP29 summit, as was the case for the United Arab Emirates as it hosted last year’s climate summit.
Socar signed an oil and gas decarbonization pledge at last year’s climate summit. The country has not signed the Global Methane Pledge, however – a different commitment created in 2021 by the European Union and the U.S. Read more on that here.
GAO INVESTIGATES ZOMBIE COAL MINES: The Government Accountability Office will probe into the environmental impacts of inactive “zombie” coal mines following a request from several Democratic lawmakers, The Hill reports.
If you’ll recall: Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and seven House Democrats requested the investigation in October. The mines are often considered “active” under law, but will lie around unused for years without proper maintenance – leaving the areas around the mine at risk for leaks and other environmental dangers.
But a GAO spokesperson said it will act on the request starting in March or April, in an email to The Hill. The spokesperson also mentioned that a final completion date cannot be determined as it depends on what information officials are allowed to access – but investigations such as these typically take 14 months. More on that here.
PROVE IT ACT MARK-UP: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted yesterday to approve the PROVE IT Act, which would direct the Department of Energy to publish a study measuring the emissions intensity of manufactured products produced in the United States and compare it to competitors such as China, Nancy reports.
Bill proponents argued that the information would give the U.S. a competitive edge by demonstrating that domestic products are cleaner than those produced by adversaries as countries look to reduce emissions through various mechanisms, such as carbon taxes.
While the measure was able to pass with bipartisan support, several Republicans opposed it on the grounds that it would lead to a levy on carbon emissions. The bill, introduced by Sens. Chris Coons and Kevin Cramer, moved out of committee through a 14-5 vote, with Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, Cynthia Lummis, John Boozman, and Cramer joining Democrats to move the legislation forward.
A number of Republicans had voiced opposition to the legislation. Ranking member Sen. Shelley Moore Capito argued that the bill would further expand agency jurisdiction to pressure companies to disclose their carbon emissions and that the data used could further catalyze efforts to enact a carbon tax, an approach that has been favored by Democrats and has garnered some Republican support. Capito stated that a similar situation occurred with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, in which a provision within the bill allowed for Democrats to enact a methane fee based on data collected on oil and gas operations under the Environmental Protection Agency.
Cramer pushed back, saying that the measure explicitly says it does not create authority to levy a tax based on emissions.
“You’d be hard pressed to find two states more opposed to a carbon tax than West Virginia and North Dakota, believe me,” Cramer said. “So this insinuation that I’ve been pushing a tax on any of our manufacturers and producers is laughable.” More on the bill and amendment votes here.
RUNDOWN
Wall Street Journal The multibillion-dollar clean energy bet gone wrong
Financial Times German car parts suppliers plan job cuts amid costly EV transition
