NEWSNOTES | January 3, 2024
News Notes

The new year brings new IRS rules for electric vehicle (EV) tax credits. While fewer vehicles are eligible for the maximum $7,500 credit, there are still many models that are still eligible for at least a portion of the full tax credit. Buyers can also have the tax credit applied to the purchase price when they buy the vehicle. 

CARSCOOPS provides a rundown of the new, as well as improved, electric cars, trucks and SUVs that will be coming to the market this year. There are over 60 new vehicles including from Audi, Ford, Tesla, General Motors and Hyundai. Hyundai’s also in the news today for applying all-solid-state batteries to its major EV models in 2030. All-solid-state batteries have higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries currently in use. 

There’s discussion around forklifts paving a pathway for fuel station networks that could support hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Last week Amazon announced another addition to its zero emission fuel cell electric forklifts. Amazon’s most recent news, though, is that Plug Power completed work on an electrolyzer at their fulfillment center in Aurora, CO which can produce enough hydrogen from water to supply more than 225 fuel cell forklifts. 

Tesla has its eye on producing a wireless home charging station. With an inductive charging solution, you drive over an inductive pad into the garage floor. No plugs required. The school district of the City of Pontiac, Michigan hopes, through continued Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding, to increase their number of electric buses to 40 which they say would make them the first district in the nation to have a fully electric bus fleet. The district has been working with BorgWarner to access sequential charging allowing them to charge five buses from a single DC fast charging solution. 

Pontiac isn’t the only district adding school buses to their fleet. The World Resources Institute reports that the electric school bus market has grown from 598 in March of 2022 to 1,285 by June of 2023. As of June, of last year forty-nine states had electric school bus commitments as of last June. 

Cirba Solutions is a battery recycling materials and management company and they are working with Toyota Motor North America to expand its battery recycling network. The collaboration involves collecting, transporting, dismantling and processing end-of-life lithium-ion electrified vehicle batteries at Cirba Solutions’ Lancaster, Ohio facility. 

According to the Department of Energy   the first EV  in the United States debuted around 1890. By 1900 one third of cars on the road were electric by 1900. The Daily Mail shares several photos of a woman using a long cable to plug in her car to charge. 

RESOURCES 

EV Tax Credits Just Changed Again, CNN | http://tinyurl.com/mvjb3r7m 

Over 60 New EVs Coming in 2024, CARSCOOPS | http://tinyurl.com/ym34vap5 

Hyundai Patents an All-solid-state EV Battery System, electrek | http://tinyurl.com/rw5hbrar 

The Road to Fuel Cell Trucks Leads Through Forklifts, CleanTechnica | http://tinyurl.com/3d24cm8m 

Tesla Is Working on Wireless Inductive Charging, INSIDEEVs | http://tinyurl.com/ymwyzrfs 

Pontiac School District Partners with BorgWarner for Fast Charging, School Transportation News | http://tinyurl.com/5e43c3hu 

Electric School Buses Double in the US, Clean Technica | http://tinyurl.com/4ku8364y 

Cirba Solutions Expands Battery Recycling Network, CHARGED EVs | http://tinyurl.com/246x3kzu 

1912 Photo of Woman Charging a Car, The Mail | http://tinyurl.com/4m85upr3