Bloomberg: Electric Vehicles May Get a Boost From OPEC Decision
Electric car makers may breath a sigh of relief from OPEC’s decision to curb oil output, which, if it holds, may help tilt the argument in favor of greener transport.
Electric car sales stalled in the U.S. last year as gasoline prices fell 5.8 percent on average and demand for the motor fuel rose for the first time in six years. Rising oil prices, or even signs that the cost of gasoline won’t fall further, would help underpin the economic case for alternatives such as biofuels and electric cars, according to the International Energy Agency.
New York Times: Is New York Ready for Solar Power?
Solar power in New York City may finally be having its moment.
The number of residential projects across the five boroughs has risen to more than 5,300 this year from 186 in 2011, according to state officials, and there are another 1,900 in the pipeline. The solar boom has been prompted by a 70 percent drop in installation costs in recent years, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, along with the streamlining of government approvals and incentives.
The upfront cost for installing solar panels on a single-family house runs between $20,000 and $50,000, but federal, state and city incentives and tax credits can cut that cost in half, said David Sandbank, the director of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s NY-Sun initiative, and homeowners say that once solar panels are up and running, monthly energy bills can fall by as much as 85 percent.
USA Today: Volkswagen Agrees to $1.2B Settlement With Dealers
Volkswagen Group agreed to pay its 652 U.S. dealerships up to $1.21 billion to settle claims stemming from the company's emissions scandal.
The German automaker revealed the settlement late Friday in a federal court filing, reflecting an average payout of $1.85 million. Many dealers suffered steep losses over the last year as VW's U.S. sales slumped in the wake of the scandal.
The deal would resolve one of the episode's lingering questions: whether franchised dealers would be compensated after the manufacturer admitted to rigging nearly 600,000 U.S. diesel vehicles with illegal software to cheat emissions standards.
Forbes: Clean Power Plan Crystallizes the Difference Between the Presidential Candidates
Donald Trump has cast his lot with the coal sector, saying that if he is elected, he would roll back the environmental provisions that have stymied coal production and caused utilities to retire their coal-fired electric plants. And Hillary Clinton, by contrast, has strongly favored investment in new technologies and sustainable fuels.
The fossil fuels, generally, are betting on one horse while the renewable fuels are praying for another. But the reality is that current economic trends have trumped the Clean Power Plan, requiring a 32 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2032, from a 2005 baseline. That is, utilities have long since started ditching their coal-fired power plants and building combined-cycle natural gas plants, or buying renewable energy from other developers.
Reuters: Tesla Posts 70 Percent Rise in Quarterly Deliveries, Backs 2016 Target
Tesla Motors Inc said on Sunday its third-quarter deliveries rose 70 percent to 24,500 cars, following production improvements, cheaper lease deals and reports of discounts on some vehicles.
Deliveries are a key metric of performance for the luxury electric vehicle manufacturer, which had missed these targets in the previous two quarters.
The improved deliveries for the third quarter bring Tesla closer to meeting its second-half 2016 target of 50,000 vehicles, which it reiterated on Sunday. It said in a statement that fourth-quarter deliveries would be "at or slightly above" the third quarter's.