Energy Shift: India adding 5000 electric buses in 65 cities

Plus: Tesla launches ‘Megapack’; batteries more disruptive than renewables

Hi Everyone,

Hope you’re taking some time to enjoy summer.

Take a look at my comments on the Forbes story about the disruption being brought about be cheaper energy storage.

Meanwhile, Tesla is launching its Megapack, with 60% more energy density packed into a shipping container-sized battery that “comes from the factory fully-assembled with up to 3 megawatt hours (MWhs) of storage and 1.5 MW of inverter capacity“. Megapacks can be configured to be “an emissions-free 250 MW, 1 GWh power plant in less than three months on a three-acre footprint – four times faster than a traditional fossil fuel power plant of that size.” To give you a sense, 1 GWh is enough to power all the homes in San Francisco for 6 hours.

Enjoy the rest. Don’t forget to keep sharing with others you think might be interested and encourage them to subscribe.

Thanks,
Peter

Oil major BP aims to fully charge electric cars in 5 minutes by 2021 | The Driven

Excerpt: What this means in essence is that should StoreDot’s vision come to fruition, BP could remain not only a mainstay in powering mobility, but also possibly become a battery provider to automakers.

Why Energy Storage Is Proving Even More Disruptive Than Cheap Renewables | Forbes

Comment: I’ve had the pleasure of listening to Mark speak and chatted with him afterwards. He’s an ‘Energy Shift’ reader too. Mark makes the point that a lot of people do not appreciate the degree of disruption occurring in electricity markets in the last 5-10 years. You’ve heard me say it many times: the pairing of solar + storage, along with advanced software and control systems (even blockchain) is revolutionary – with utilities in many markets picking them over installing gas peaker plants.

India to add 5,000+ electric buses in 65 cities in ongoing massive EV push | Electrek

Excerpt: An Indian government committee has sanctioned 5,645 electric buses for 65 cities in one of the largest electric bus initiatives the world has seen outside of China. While no timeframe has been given yet for when India seeks to have these thousands of electric buses in place, the initiative stands out, both for its number of cities and its sheer size.

Autonomous vehicle news

Intel & 10 Auto Industry Leaders Publish First Standardized Self-Driving Safety Rules | CleanTechnica

Lyft opens to the public autonomous driving data set from its Level 5 self-driving fleet | TechCrunch

Tesla slashes price of ‘Full Self-Driving’ package upgrade for owners with Enhanced Autopilot – Electrek

Hacking 20% of cars could freeze traffic in NYC, study finds | Smart Cities Dive

Excerpt: Cybersecurity experts have warned that connected cars can be targets for hackers, who could stall or take control of a vehicle, or compromise connected stoplights.

Electrify America is deploying an autonomous fast-charging station with robot arms for self-driving cars | Electrek

Comment: I had seen concept papers on this 2 years ago: the idea that pools of autonomous vehicles would need an autonomous charging solution as well. Imagine ‘sending’ you car go go charge up while running errands or while you grab a coffee. Clearly this is just a demonstration project by Electrify America, yet it shows the real progress in advancing the technology in just a few years.
Excerpt: Electrify America announced that it is deploying what will likely be the first autonomous fast-charging station for electric vehicles and it has robot arms.

Grid queue for new generation totals 96GW, but will house full sign go up soon? | RenewEconomy

Comment: ‘Network constraints’ are showing up to be a key barriers to adding distributed generation in Australia.

Senate committee unanimously approves $1 billion for EV, natural gas and hydrogen fuel infrastructure | Utility Dive

Excerpt: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously Tuesday morning to advance a broad bipartisan infrastructure bill that earmarks $1 billion in funding for competitive grants to support the development of fueling infrastructure for electric, natural gas and hydrogen-powered vehicles. The bill also directs federal agencies to transition their vehicle fleets to hybrid-electric, electric and alternative fuels within a year of enactment.

Comment: it is not a done deal yet, but an impressive move nonetheless.

Canada can score big win for climate with building retrofits | Pembina Institute

Comment: Betsy is on to something here. 85% of the buildings we have today will still be here in 2050, so retrofits have to be a part of the solution to climate change, not to mention better design for new buildings. Governments need to help with building codes. Helping families budgets with lower energy costs of home heating and cooling should be another areas of focus. That said, scale is important here. Last time I checked, buildings represent about 12% of our energy use across the economy. So it is a lever to pull, but not the biggest.

Worth a read folks. Listen to what she has to say.

Solar

Southern Power to develop 345MWh quartet of energy storage projects | Energy Storage News

Tesla is ramping up Solar Roof Tile production to 1,000 roofs per week | Electrek