Recently the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it’s launching an investigation into Tesla’s autopilot system. Autonomous driving technology, like all breakthrough innovation, is disruptive and will have setbacks before leaps. The government’s role is to protect the public which, in this case, requires intense scrutiny, as well as incentives and support, for a technology that could provide extraordinary public health and safety benefits. With both public policy and industry leaders at our table, Veloz sits at the nexus of these two, sometimes conflicting, needs […]

Fully vaccinated and freshly charged, our family will hit the road in our EV this 4th of July with a new appreciation for independence. It’s been a long year at home with three kids, three cats and three turtles but we have been luckier than most. We have our independence, health, and security for which we are very grateful. What has become completely evident to me in the last year is how integral our EV is to all three.

For instance, we lost power during the rolling blackouts of the 2020 California extreme fires. Remember the sky last fall? Oh right, no one could see it because of the dense orange smoke full of toxic particulates. We had to wear masks on top of our masks. What a year! But our lives went on with Zoom classes and meetings and, using our phones as hot-spots, we were able to still communicate with those we love because we luckily had a backup battery to charge all our devices—in the form of our car! The potential for EVs to play a critical role as backup power for our homes and the grid is enormous. Automakers know this. Ford’s recent debut of its all-electric F-150 Lightning features its ability to provide full-home backup power for up to three days and, depending on usage, even up to 10 days. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab scientists are researching and demonstrating the EV to grid capabilities at Flexlab – the world’s most advanced integrated building and grid technologies test bed. Long duration storage (10-100 hours) is a linchpin in the transition to carbon neutrality by 2045. EVs could provide one solution.

Then there is the money saved […]

On the road to a zero-carbon economy, medium and heavy-duty trucks (MDV/HDV) have been in the slow lane. Until now. Once considered futuristic, in the next year, over a hundred zero emission commercial freight vehicles will be available from 46 manufacturers.

And it is not a minute too soon. California has been turbocharging the zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) truck industry by providing incentives for early adopters as well as ambitious targets for manufacturers. But despite California’s Advanced Clean Truck Rule, which requires that 40-75% (depending on platform) of all new trucks be zero emission in 2035, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) estimates that MDV/HDV will still be emitting a lot of carbon emissions. On the order of 31 MMt CO2e — in 2045.

Heavy Duty trucks making long haul trips and clocking the most miles pollute the most (contributing the highest share of GHG and NOx), stay on the road the longest (up to 20 years), and present the most formidable technology challenge. But they only constitute 10 percent of all trucks. So, is solving the heavy-duty-long haul truck challenge the key to accelerating our ride to a zero-emissions transportation sector? […]

The Biden Administration’s historic reimagining of America’s infrastructure — The American Jobs Plan — invests $174 billion to spur the development and adoption of electric vehicles (EV), with the lion’s share — $100 billion – on consumer incentives. I am a firm believer that the path to electrified transportation must be forged by drivers. EVs are fast becoming cheaper than gasoline vehicles but making them even more affordable right now is critical to driving vehicle demand. Rapidly increasing consumer’s EV purchase demand will propel buildout of the EV charging infrastructure at a faster pace. But I also recognize that we have a chicken and egg problem at the moment. Research shows that the lack of electric vehicle charging stations is now the consequential barrier for consumers, more than price […]

From the beginning, Veloz has remained focused on inspiring people to go electric. To do this we must create pathways and opportunities to achieve Electric For All. This year one of our key initiatives is our 40 Million Reasons to Go Electric awareness campaign focused on overcoming key barriers of which equity is one of them.

Nowhere has the COVID-19 crisis been more devastating than in disadvantaged communities. Often these communities are home to our frontline workers who have no option but to be exposed and, in many cases, their homes are smaller with more occupants, making physical distancing nearly impossible. Even more harmful is the fact that disadvantaged communities have disproportionately borne the brunt of fossil fuel pollution – they have more oil and gas refineries and car and heavy truck traffic than more affluent neighborhoods – and now there is evidence that these individuals are dying, not just of heart and lung disease, but COVID-19, at higher rates because of it.

Here’s the bottom line: […]