VW Fallout: $2.0 Billion for ZEV Infrastructure Buildout

[SageBrush]

My first take on the first 10 pages read is that I agree that VW is doing the right thing. They are pushing back against ARB, and making the case that they want the investment to result in usable deployments for the long term. And they also have a good point that it doesn't make sense to plan the out year cycles until they have data back from the first deployment.

RT

That would all make sense with a reliable, honest partner.

 

[miimura]

That would all make sense with a reliable, honest partner.

From what I've seen and heard from the Electrify America team, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being. There are a multitude of ways for them to screw it up, so there will be ample opportunity for them to make me regret it.

 

[McRat]

That would all make sense with a reliable, honest partner.

If an honest person walked into Sacramento, they would be alone.

In recent news, it took a Federal judge to strike down another ex post facto law California recently passed. We piss on the US Constitution here. Why? There is no money in taking it seriously, and it's too coarse for toilet tissue.

I'm proud to be an honest felon. Honest by actions, felon as labelled by Californian's State Government after the fact.

Heck, we have to give $190,000 to a criminal because we arrested him. Seriously. Arresting criminals is not legal anymore here.

 

[mspohr]

I'm proud to be an honest felon. Honest by actions, felon as labelled by Californian's State Government after the fact.

Really? You're a felon?
Please tell us more. (Hopefully related to VW, CARB)

 

[McRat]

Really? You're a felon?
Please tell us more. (Hopefully related to VW, CARB)

A 30+ year felon by the wishes of California in 2017. However, not by the Federal Courts at this point. I purchased legal firearms at a legal FFL dealer which are sold with standard-capacity magazines, since no small capacity magazines existed for the firearms. They would have to be hand-made and with that, an inherent risk of injury during operation since engineering is not grabbing a welder and torching heat-treated receivers with high chamber pressures.

It is in California's best interests to make all citizens potential felons. This way, political dissenters can be imprisoned. San Diego's Sheriff's Dept is trying this gameplan.

My last VW was a 1970, and I do spill gasoline on the ground per CARB guidelines as requested (self-sealing small gas cans that are designed to pour fuel on the ground).

 

[transpondster]

Electrify America is not making additional investments before the Plan is approved , as it is not able to confirm that such investments would be creditable. All site evaluation and selection work in California has been put on hold indefinitely. The first contracts to build more than 100 charging stations by the end of 2017 are on permanent hold. And all advertising buys and other education efforts have been cancelled.

 

[McRat]

Without campaign contributions, it will be very difficult for VW to get anything done in California. They need to hire ex-Toyota lobbyists.

 

[SageBrush]

From what I've seen and heard from the Electrify America team

Cute name not withstanding, the company is owned and 100% funded by VW.

I will say this though: CARB can be a quite annoying and cumbersome bureaucracy. VW is apparently being forced to come up with a plan that spends money in the underserved communities of the state. You know, the places that do not want EV today. I could see that being relevant in 5 - 10 years and perhaps applicable to the second or third tranche of investment, but now ? Just my opinion, but it seems obvious that the highway systems should be outfitted first since non-local travel is the greatest obstacle to EV adoption regardless of socio-economic class.

 

[mspohr]

A 30+ year felon by the wishes of California in 2017. However, not by the Federal Courts at this point. I purchased legal firearms at a legal FFL dealer which are sold with standard-capacity magazines, since no small capacity magazines existed for the firearms. They would have to be hand-made and with that, an inherent risk of injury during operation since engineering is not grabbing a welder and torching heat-treated receivers with high chamber pressures.

It is in California's best interests to make all citizens potential felons. This way, political dissenters can be imprisoned. San Diego's Sheriff's Dept is trying this gameplan.

My last VW was a 1970, and I do spill gasoline on the ground per CARB guidelines as requested (self-sealing small gas cans that are designed to pour fuel on the ground).

I was hoping that you would be a CARB felon fugitive... That would be fun.

 

[RubberToe]

This gets back to my concern that possible legal wrangling could delay any actual construction indefinitely. Time will tell.

RT

 

[mspohr]

A 30+ year felon by the wishes of California in 2017. However, not by the Federal Courts at this point. I purchased legal firearms at a legal FFL dealer which are sold with standard-capacity magazines, since no small capacity magazines existed for the firearms. They would have to be hand-made and with that, an inherent risk of injury during operation since engineering is not grabbing a welder and torching heat-treated receivers with high chamber pressures.

It is in California's best interests to make all citizens potential felons. This way, political dissenters can be imprisoned. San Diego's Sheriff's Dept is trying this gameplan.

My last VW was a 1970, and I do spill gasoline on the ground per CARB guidelines as requested (self-sealing small gas cans that are designed to pour fuel on the ground).

Looks like you're off the hook.
Federal judge blocks California ban on high-capacity magazines

 

[McRat]

Looks like you're off the hook.
Federal judge blocks California ban on high-capacity magazines

It's not settled yet. California successfully appealed an ex post facto gun ownership law and it remains in effect. A certain rifle was sold in California legally, as it had passed the state's requirements at the time of sale. Then the rules were amended, and the rifle was banned. Owners were requested to turn their rifles in for destruction with no compensation. That's 2 Constitutional No-No's.

I believe they will figure out a way to do the same thing with the OEM magazines for rifles. The 9th Circuit hates the US Constitution, and often uses little more than an Ouija Board to settle appeals.

Understand that the new firearm restrictions only apply to peasants. Kings make laws, they do not obey them. While not a direct member of the Royals, I will still be exempt.

 

[RubberToe]

Big, big, big (did I mention big?) news out today concerning the VW rollout. Here is a link to the CARB response to VW's revised submittal:

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/vw_info/vsi/vw-zevinvest/documents/staff_analysis_072117.pdf

Let me share with you the only part that you really need to see, well, two parts...

"CARB staff have reviewed the Final Plan, and have determined that it meets the requirements of the Consent Decree, inclusive of the February 10, 2017, Guidance Document and May 24, 2017, Request for Supplement letter, and June 27, 2017, legislation. CARB staff recommends that the Board approve the Final Plan, allowing Electrify America to begin its California investments in ZEV refueling infrastructure, public awareness, and expanded access."

So it is going to be full speed ahead, very shortly. This is from the e-mail I received with the link shown above:

"Pursuant to Senate Bill 92, the board will act on the Plan at a public Board hearing on July 27, 2017. At the hearing, CARB staff will summarize the Plan and will provide an assessment of how well it aligns with the prescribed requirements."

Looks like the go ahead may come as soon as this coming Thursday, 7-27-17.

7-27-17: CARB approves $200,000,000 in VW spending in California
7-28-17: Tesla Model 3s start being delivered to customers.

RT

 

[McRat]

Big, big, big (did I mention big?) news out today concerning the VW rollout. Here is a link to the CARB response to VW's revised submittal:

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/vw_info/vsi/vw-zevinvest/documents/staff_analysis_072117.pdf

Let me share with you the only part that you really need to see, well, two parts...

"CARB staff have reviewed the Final Plan, and have determined that it meets the requirements of the Consent Decree, inclusive of the February 10, 2017, Guidance Document and May 24, 2017, Request for Supplement letter, and June 27, 2017, legislation. CARB staff recommends that the Board approve the Final Plan, allowing Electrify America to begin its California investments in ZEV refueling infrastructure, public awareness, and expanded access."

So it is going to be full speed ahead, very shortly. This is from the e-mail I received with the link shown above:

"Pursuant to Senate Bill 92, the board will act on the Plan at a public Board hearing on July 27, 2017. At the hearing, CARB staff will summarize the Plan and will provide an assessment of how well it aligns with the prescribed requirements."

Looks like the go ahead may come as soon as this coming Thursday, 7-27-17.

7-27-17: CARB approves $200,000,000 in VW spending in California
7-28-17: Tesla Model 3s start being delivered to customers.

RT

Great news. Let's see what action occurs instead of essays and speeches before passing judgement. EV rebates are still suspended as are NEM business applications for solar installations. The 'EV Corridors' we were promised with State Funding have not materialized. So far Sacramento has done less than nothing. They have to work really hard just to get back to substandard.

From the document: "...the second Green City required to be in a city with a population of approximately 500,000 that predominately consists of disadvantaged communities;"

Population of Sacramento: 495,234. Number of Calif cities between 400,000 and 700,000? Four.

So VW will do a Green City that makes logical sense, but also do Sacramento so politicos and their friends and families can reap the harvest. That's probably what the holdup was. As in a bank holdup.

 

[McRat]

DOH!!! I'm such an idiot. Not only is Sacramento the Green City of Tomorrow, 90% of Californians approved of the decision.

35% of the monies must be spent 'disadvantaged' communities, and $75 million will be used to actually put in DCFC sites on freeways.

San Jose apparently is now considered a Disadvantaged Community.

 

[mspohr]

Another wrinkle in this sad ongoing saga:
German Carmakers Face Potential New Scandal Over Antitrust Issues

It appears that all of the German automakers colluded to make sure that they didn't compete with each other on diesel emissions. They got together and decided on diesel emission specs and they all violated the (weak) laws regarding emissions together.

Audi, BMW and Mercedes are scrambling to "update" their cars to meet emission requirements and hopefully avoid the harsh VW penalties.
Audi to Modify Up to 850,000 Diesel Vehicles as Carmakers Face Backlash

 

[SageBrush]

Audi, BMW and Mercedes are scrambling to "update" their cars to meet emission requirements and hopefully avoid the harsh VW penalties.
Audi to Modify Up to 850,000 Diesel Vehicles as Carmakers Face Backlash

With only a few reported exceptions reported the software patch is reducing tailpipe emissions by half (from obscene to awful) and having a pretty moderate effect of 5% ~ on fuel economy. The same however cannot be said to be true for emission controls reliability, which was somehow left out of the promise the Germans made to the car owners. I am not surprised by these events since I concluded long ago that emission controls reliability was one of the chief motivations in cheating from Euro5 onwards.

The diesel companies are playing a very dangerous game with their customers. Even with European pride and Government support I wonder if they will survive customer wrath when these young-ish cars face high repair bills from broken emissions controls systems. For now the companies are shouldering the repair costs quietly, I presume as a delaying action. We'll see how they respond to, I suspect, millions of car repairs in the next few years.

 

[FlatSix911]

Great news. Let's see what action occurs instead of essays and speeches before passing judgement. EV rebates are still suspended as are NEM business applications for solar installations. The 'EV Corridors' we were promised with State Funding have not materialized. So far Sacramento has done less than nothing. They have to work really hard just to get back to substandard. From the document: "...the second Green City required to be in a city with a population of approximately 500,000 that predominately consists of disadvantaged communities;" Population of Sacramento: 495,234. Number of Calif cities between 400,000 and 700,000? Four.

So VW will do a Green City that makes logical sense, but also do Sacramento so politicos and their friends and families can reap the harvest. That's probably what the holdup was. As in a bank holdup.

DOH!!! I'm such an idiot. Not only is Sacramento the Green City of Tomorrow, 90% of Californians approved of the decision.

35% of the monies must be spent 'disadvantaged' communities, and $75 million will be used to actually put in DCFC sites on freeways. San Jose apparently is now considered a Disadvantaged Community.

What a bunch of PC bull ... 35% of the funding for underserved communities is complete nonsense

 

[SageBrush]

What a bunch of PC bull ... 35% of the funding for underserved communities is complete nonsense

We can hope they place the chargers on the highways

 

[McRat]

We can hope they place the chargers on the highways

Most of the money is going elsewhere.

There was no other way it was ever going to pass.

It's not about what's good for California, it's about what is good for politicos and wealthy landowners.