Since my last blog in October, leadership in Washington D.C. is changing and one thing is certain: public funding delivered through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is creating EV jobs across the U.S. and inspiring on-going private sector investment.

We’ve had three U.S. presidents since the first modern electric vehicle (EV) came to market in 2010. Regardless of who sat in the Oval Office, EVs continued to make huge strides in availability, affordability, range and market share across the globe. And the charging infrastructure to support the growing number of EVs on the road continues to expand exponentially. And EV sales are growing in blue, red and purple states because EVs are for everyone. Life-long, self-described “petrol heads” agree.

With falling EV prices, a strong used EV market, more incentives and rebates available than ever before, and better affordability overall, there is an EV for everyone. Recent data conducted by Probolsky Research, in partnership with Veloz reveals that nearly 80% of current EV drivers in California plan to purchase another EV for their next car, refuting a survey in the headlines that said most EV owners would choose to go back to a gas car. Another national survey found that almost 90% of EV owners said they are “likely” or “very likely” to purchase an EV as their next car.

Contrary to some media headlines, the electrical grid as it exists today is prepared to handle the electric vehicles (EVs) currently plugging in and, as EV sales continue to increase, electric utilities are already planning improvements to accommodate millions more of them. While industry and policy leaders are making preparations to welcome new EV drivers to the road, utilities are identifying new technology solutions that allow EVs to benefit the grid — from cost reductions for all utility customers to reliability improvements to climate pollution reduction.

Media headlines over the last six months questioning the future of the electric vehicle (EV) industry, while provocative and no doubt driving the clicks they were designed to elicit, are not painting the full picture of the evolution happening across the globe in the transition to electrified transportation. The transition to EVs is just reaching its adolescence. Sales continue to rise globally and second-quarter U.S. sales climbed 11.3% from last year.

At Veloz, our vision is that 100% of new cars sold throughout the state and the nation are electric. We often tout ditching the gas station and charging up at home — like you do your cell phone every night — as one of the greatest benefits of owning an electric vehicle.

However, if we’re going to achieve our transportation electrification goals and bring the benefits of pollution-free, gas-free car ownership to more people, we need to find more ways to plug-in at townhouses, apartments and condos — known as multifamily or multi-unit dwellings. Installing charging infrastructure at multifamily dwellings is one of the biggest hurdles facing the transition to electric vehicles.

There are two main issues that must be overcome to make multifamily dwelling charging easier:

1. The high costs of building new charging infrastructure.
2. The logistical difficulty of retrofitting older buildings that don’t have the power capacity or panel space […]

As we watch the war unfold in Eastern Europe, our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine, our colleagues whose family and friends are in danger and the people of Russia who do not want this war. As a global community, we rely on not only the generosity and kindness of our neighbors, but also on resources and goods from countries a world away.

Russia is the third largest producer of petroleum in the world and the current geopolitical crisis illustrates how imperative it is to transition away from a fossil-fuel based economy for the health and safety of all people and our planet. At Veloz, an important part of our mission is to eliminate our dependence on oil by replacing all gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs) in California and beyond.

To do that, we need to think globally and act locally […]

Used electric vehicles are selling like hot cakes and are cheaper than comparable used gas cars! However, due to the technology being relatively new along with COVID-19 supply chain impacts, some unique trends are underway within the used EV market. According to Recurrent, two big trends are: 1) a low inventory of pre-owned EVs and 2) a global shortage of silicon chips, which EVs use ten times as many of. Dealerships that reduced supply during the COVID shutdown are now racing to replenish their used EV inventory. Recurrent reports that dealerships are so hungry for supply that some are going so far as to reach out directly to former customers to try encouraging them to sell back or trade-in their EVs.

On the bright side, approximately 70% of U.S. annual car purchases are used cars. This represents a huge market for EVs to tap into. With the combination of more and more early adopters’ three-year leases expiring and a huge new crop of increasingly affordable EVs hitting the market, the good news is that there will be used EVs starting as low as $10,000 soon […]

Electrified transportation is inevitable. Talk to anyone in the industry. We know it, and so do those who have a lot of money invested in fossil fuels. Some are moving quickly to adapt, while others are fighting the transition. To quote President Obama, “Hard things are hard.” A transition to an all EV future is hard but necessary. Recently, a private consulting group in the Midwest released a study claiming electric cars cost more to fuel than gas cars. It got some media traction, and a lot of pushback and scrutiny of their assumptions such as accounting for free charging at commercial rates. Car and Driver does a stellar job setting the record straight, however you can be sure that the study top-lines will be used again and again by those aiming to delay or derail electric vehicles. At Veloz, we are busting disinformation. We have the facts on our side and are laser-focused on making sure consumers are not fooled. That’s why we launched our EV mythbusting website and are planing a new Electric For All Mythbusters-style education campaign for next year […]

The federal bipartisan infrastructure bill’s recent Senate passage is a promising step toward building an accessible, abundant and reliable nation-wide EV charging network. Combining its $7.5 billion investment with the Department of Transportation’s $5 billion earmark for state and local grants marks an important leap forward in solving the chicken and egg challenge of electric vehicle adoption. Even when these federal investments are coupled with individual state’s infrastructure funding, more is needed. $87 billion more to be exact, according to Atlas Public Policy. GridLab, Energy Innovation, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and UC Berkeley project even higher. Utilities, automakers and EV charging providers are investing big and need to go bigger. This is a complex challenge though, so how we spend those dollars is as important as how much we spend. There is, of course, both risk and opportunity, so we must proceed wisely and swiftly.

We need to accelerate the shift in the EV market from the early adopters phase to the early majority […]

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: […]