The new year began with a barrage of negative EV headlines. But beneath the headlines lie stories of continued market growth for electric cars, trucks, and buses. While some legacy automakers are struggling to adapt to designing, manufacturing, and selling electric vehicles, and some start-up electric vehicle makers are going out of business, such turmoil is natural in a technological transition of this magnitude and should be expected, not sensational.
Still, in 2023, consumers bought over 1.4 million new passenger EVs, which averages nearly 1 out of every 10 new cars sold nationwide. Charging infrastructure deployment has been growing steadily, from around 90,000 plugs at the beginning of 2020 to over 180,000 at the end of 2023. Investments in electric vehicle manufacturing, battery production, and supply chain in the Southeast U.S. alone were up 45% in 2023, bringing the total to $70.8 billion and 70,000 anticipated jobs.
To get a true sense of how the transition to electric cars, trucks, and buses is going, pay attention to the stories of the people buying and driving EVs, long-term adoption trends, and where private sector investments and public funds are flowing. Below are a few examples.
The Cold Hard Facts: EVs in Winter Weather
Despite recent icy headlines, new data actually show that EVs outshine gasoline vehicles in extreme cold. In fact, Havre, Montana—a rural frontier community just south of the Canadian border— has been operating their electric school buses in as low as minus 44 degrees without fail, sometimes better than their diesel buses. And they’re doing so at a much lower price tag—Havre’s electric school buses cost 50%-75% less to operate than the diesel alternatives. Read more.
Photo courtesy of Havre Daily News/Patrick Johnston
On A Roll: EV Sales More Than Quadruple
EV sales continue to charge ahead, having more than quadrupled between 2020 to 2023. This period of rapid growth has seen Americans purchase 4.7 million EVs, illustrating the continued satisfaction among early EV adopters, despite a lack of model availability and reliable EV charging. I’ll wager that, as NEVI-funded fast chargers pop up every 50 miles along America’s highways, and new and used EV tax credit confusion settles, the next million EVs will be sold before the end of Q2 of this year. Read more.
Graphic courtesy of energy.gov
Swapping Yellow for Green: Electric School Bus Funding
Another $1 billion in clean school buses has been awarded with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These grants will allow 280 school districts to purchase 2,700 clean school buses, primarily electric, to replace dirty diesel buses. Clean school buses save school districts money long-term through reduced fuel and maintenance costs, improve public health, boost resilience by having the potential to provide backup power to buildings and the grid, address the climate crisis, and enhance energy security. Read more.
Photo courtesy of The Washington Post
Want to join the EV conversation? Let’s connect on LinkedIn!
SACE’s Electrify the South program leverages research, advocacy, and outreach to accelerate the equitable transition to electric transportation across the Southeast. Visit ElectrifytheSouth.org to learn more and connect with us.
The post Greening Our Roads: Talking EVs appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
It appears that this is precisely what happened to Dr. Fauci during the COVID-19 pandemic. He ran into the perfect storm of anti-science crackpots, and the far right-wing, often counterfactual media, e.g., Fox News and Newsmax.
There are still people who believe that, after 50 years of service, working under five different presidents, his statements about the disease were aimed at crippling the U.S. economy.
A reader notes: I’d like to think virtually no musician has lived a better life than Bob Weir. More than 60 years touring and doing what he loved. We should all strive for that much joy in our lives.
This rings completely true in the world of rock/blues music.
And in classical music, the situation is notable worse, as many of our heroes like Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin lived brief and/or disease-ridden lives.
There were exceptions, however.
Gioacchino Rossini (pictured), known mostly for his operas, loved fine food and drink and lived to be 76 years old.
Louie Moreau Gottschalk, the first American musical celebrity, who was, I’m told, as popular in the mid-19th Century as Elvis Presley was in the mid-20th, traveled the world, playing his intricate piano pieces, and “hanging out” (shall we say) with beautiful ladies.
Weather Guard Lightning Tech
Ørsted Loses €1.5M Daily, Equinor Sets Empire Wind Deadline
Allen covers the deepening US offshore wind crisis as Ørsted reports losing €1.5 million daily on American projects and Equinor sets a January 16 deadline to resume or cancel Empire Wind. Meanwhile, onshore wind thrives with Invenergy’s 2GW Oklahoma project and AES repowering Buffalo Gap in Texas with Vestas turbines.
Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!
Danish energy giant Ørsted said it is losing one and a half million euros on US offshore projects. Every. Single. Day. Norwegian company Equinor has drawn a line in the sand. January sixteenth. Resume construction on Empire Wind… or cancel the whole thing. 3.5 billion euros invested. Sixty percent complete. And now… a deadline. As we all know, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued stop-work orders on December twenty-second. Just before Christmas. A gift nobody wanted. Ørsted has filed complaints. First on Revolution Wind. Then Sunrise Wind. Court documents reveal the Danish company stands to lose more than 5 billion euros if forced to abandon both projects. Meanwhile… President Trump signed an executive order withdrawing America from sixty-six international organizations. Many focused on energy cooperation. On climate. Ole Rydahl Svensson of Green Power Denmark calls it a sad development. But not surprising. Ole says America is abdicating from renewable energy… in favor of energy forms of the past. The empty seats will be filled quickly, he predicts. By China. By Europe. I personally get asked every week by my European friends, is US onshore wind also under attack?? I think the answer is not yet. While offshore wind projects sit paralyzed by federal orders… Out in the Oklahoma Panhandle… something different is happening. Invenergy is planning a three hundred wind turbine wind farm. Two gigawatts of power. Enough electricity for eight hundred fifty thousand American homes. According to recent filings the turbines will be supplied by GE Vernova. Invenergy already operates wind farms in ten Oklahoma counties. They’ve already built the largest single-phase wind park in North America outside of Oklahoma City. Four billion dollars of investment. Five hundred construction jobs. Thirty permanent positions. No stop-work orders. No court battles. No international incidents. And down near Abilene Texas, AES is repowering its Buffalo Gap wind farm – the existing 282 turbines will be replaced with 117 new Vestas V150 4.5MW turbines. $94 million in tax revenue for local counties and schools over its lifetime. It will also create 300 jobs during peak construction and 17 long-term operations jobs. So while the US oceans remain off-limits… While billions evaporate in legal fees and idle vessels… The wind industry continues to move forward. And that’s the state of the wind industry for January 12, 2026. Join us for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast tomorrow.
Analysis: Coal power drops in China and India for first time in 52 years after clean-energy records
Analysis: Coal power drops in China and India for first time in 52 years after clean-energy records
Sticking with Science
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
Spanish-language misinformation on renewable energy spreads online, report shows
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Greenhouse Gases5 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
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Climate Change5 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
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Climate Change2 years ago
Spanish-language misinformation on renewable energy spreads online, report shows
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Greenhouse Gases2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
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Climate Change Videos2 years ago
The toxic gas flares fuelling Nigeria’s climate change – BBC News
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Climate Change2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
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Climate Change2 years ago
Bill Discounting Climate Change in Florida’s Energy Policy Awaits DeSantis’ Approval
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Carbon Footprint2 years agoUS SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules Spur Renewed Interest in Carbon Credits