Autonomous EVs and allied businesses

Issue #147, June 6th 2022

The electric vehicle (EV) industry is spawning off new businesses due to the innovation happening around them and the diversity of technologies involved. Tesla's plans to convert homes into virtual power plants comes from its test of rooftop solar panels and its Powerwall batteries, to reduce the load on the grid. Not to lose out in the race, Toyota's home battery pack to act as a residential backup during emergencies such as a natural calamity is another example. Bloomberg predicts EVs to reshape electricity grids to cope up with the demand for charging. Several autonomous car tests have been carried out to drive around without drivers. But General Motors became the first to get approval to operate them as a paid service in San Francisco. China's Geely group launched its satellites to aid autonomous car navigation, with plans to deploy more and eventually have a constellation of 240 in low earth orbit. One intermediate step before moving completely to EVs is alternate fuels. Ethanol from the sugar industry is an option promoted by India's Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. Here are some recent updates on allied businesses in the autonomous, electric vehicle industry, beyond the core business of selling vehicles.

Homes as power plants

Tesla is hoping to turn some Texas homes into “virtual power plants” after tests showed its home batteries can be quickly tapped to reduce stress on the state grid. Tesla is making the push after trying a project that pooled together 64 northern Texas homes outfitted with rooftop solar and Tesla's Powerwall batteries. The pilot project showed that the setup can tap spare battery capacity and provide grid services within seconds. - Bloomberg

EVs and home battery packs

Toyota has unveiled a new home battery pack to provide residential backup – a product that is going to compete with Tesla Powerwall. After Tesla launched “Tesla Energy” with the Powerwall and Powerpack in 2015, several other automakers also got into the home energy market with battery packs. Mercedes-Benz launched its home battery pack and Renault followed soon after. Now Toyota also announced its own home battery pack called “the O-Uchi Kyuden System”. - Electrek

EVs reshaping grids for electricity

Despite the challenges of a pandemic, supply-chain crunches and trouble sourcing critical minerals, EVs are eating into the transportation system and taking bigger bites every year, says Bloomberg. BNEF expects the world’s fleet of ICE (internal combustion engine) cars, excluding hybrids and plug-in hybrids to peak at just over 1.2 billion this year, dropping only slightly in 2023. And after that, the decline is marked. By the end of the next decade, the global fleet of cars with an engine, rather than a battery or fuel cell, will be less than half the size it is today. Energizing this new, vast system of cars and chargers will require a significant amount of electricity. In less than two decades, EVs will also begin to reshape our grids. - Bloomberg

Autonomous cars for paid rides

General Motors' Cruise became the first company to secure a permit to charge for self-driving car rides in San Francisco, after it overcame objections by city officials. Self-driving test cars with human safety drivers have become a constant sight in San Francisco, and completely driverless ones are increasingly common too. Turning them into a fledgling business in a major U.S. city will mark a milestone in the long, delayed journey toward driverless taxi service. - Reuters

Autonomous cars and space business

China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group conducted its first successful satellite launch, sending nine into low earth orbit as it builds out a satellite network to provide more accurate navigation for autonomous vehicles. The self-designed and manufactured GeeSAT-1 satellites, were launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Geely said it expects another 63 to be in orbit by 2025 and eventually plans to have a constellation of 240. With the launch, Geely becomes the second major automaker to have an allied space business after Tesla. - Nikkei Asia

Ethanol for agri equipment

India's Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stressed on the need to switch to alternative fuel like Ethanol and said efforts are on to introduce Ethanol in construction and agriculture equipment. Diesel-based agriculture equipment should be made petrol based and flex engines can be converted to run on Ethanol, he said. Highlighting the need to shift from sugar production to Ethanol, the minister said, “The rise in sugar demand across the globe is temporary. When the price of crude oil goes up to $140 per barrel, Brazil produces ethanol from sugarcane.

"Alternative fuel is the future. After electric scooters, cars and buses, soon we will have electric tractors and trucks. I am going to launch these soon," Gadkari said. - Economic Times

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