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Tesla Charging Under Attack by Big Auto Makers · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the
• 0:04
  Elon Musk Podcast. Today, we're going to be looking
• 0:06
  into a significant development in the electric vehicle space
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  that's going to transform the North American landscape.
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  It's a new comprehensive electric vehicle charging
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  network set to span across the United States and Canada.
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  This is a joint venture backed by some of the largest players
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  in the auto industry, including BMW, General Motors, Honda,
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  Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Stalantis.
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  These industry leaders are coming together with the aim of
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  making EV charging as convenient as possible for users.
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  This will revolutionize how we charge our EV's.
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  Now in addition to that, we'll also be discussing Rivian,
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  another EV maker. Now this is about the CEO of
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  Rivian, and they share their perspective on companies that
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  are truly committed to renewable energy and the importance of
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  consumers understanding the source of their power
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  consumption, where everything comes from.
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  We'll take a little dive into that and also the future of EV
• 1:03
  charging. So there's a lot to uncover in
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  today's episode and I promise that it'll be a nice thought
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  provoking discussion that you won't want to miss.
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  So stay with us, we'll take a quick break for some important
• 1:15
  messages from our sponsors and we'll be back to delve deeper
• 1:18
  into these developments in the electric vehicle industry.
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  All right. Welcome back, everybody.
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  This is a major step for electrification in the auto
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  industry. This is a global consortium of
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  automakers comprising of BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai,
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  Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Solantis. And this is a joint venture to
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  build a comprehensive EV charging network across the US
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  and Canada. This is a formidable grouping.
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  Currently unnamed, they don't have a name yet, and they
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  pledged to erect user friendly DC fast chargers along the
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  highways and within urban environments of the US and
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  Canada. The plan aims to install at
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  least 30,000 high speed EV chargers by 20-30, with the
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  initial one set to become operational by the summer of
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  2024 in the US. Now, to fulfill this goal, this
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  group intends to harness the National Electric Vehicle
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  Infrastructure or the NEVI funding in the US and draw from
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  both private and public funding at the state and federal levels.
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  So they're getting the government and the taxpayers to
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  pay for most of this. And the current EV charging
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  landscape is mainly Tesla Superchargers and Electrify
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  America stations dotted all across the United States.
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  Now these stations are typically installed in strategic locations
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  where people can shop, they can go out to eat, or they can use
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  restrooms. And in line with this, the
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  proposed new chargers will be positioned along routes leading
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  to holiday destinations and within major city limits.
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  Now, these new charging stations promise seamless connection and
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  charging capabilities for EV models manufactured by the
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  partner automakers. This eliminates the need for
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  consumers to navigate between different charging station
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  applications, thereby ensuring a smooth user experience.
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  The venture also seems to incorporate the emerging plug
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  and charge standard that the Federal Highway Administration
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  is striving to standardize. Mary Barra, the CEO of General
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  Motors, voiced her support for the initiative, saying the
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  better experience people have, the faster EV adoption will
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  grow. She pointed to the current issue
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  plaguing many charging networks, which require unique apps and
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  suffer from reliability concerns.
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  Notably, Tesla's Supercharger network hailed us among the best
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  globally will accommodate vehicles from automakers
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  including Ford, GM, Volvo and more, all without necessitating
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  activation via an app. In line with global
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  sustainability initiatives, the joint venture plans to have its
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  operation fully powered by renewable energy.
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  Although it's unclear whether the renewable energy will
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  directly power the stations or whether the companies will
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  purchase credits. Is eco conscious approach is
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  indicative of the industry's increasing shift towards
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  sustainable practices. Now Canadians are great
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  Neighbors to the North will have to wait until a later stage
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  before the initial charging stations are installed.
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  All stations will include standardized Tesla North
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  American Charging standard ports, the NECS and the widely
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  used Combined Charging System plugs, the CS.
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  This announcement comes at a time when the environmental
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  credentials of companies are under scrutiny.
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  Now the Rivian CEO expresses frustration at companies
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  overstating their green achievements.
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  He believes consumers can't discern the difference, and the
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  companies often hide the true source of their power
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  consumption, he said. This is just so conceptually
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  complex, drawing a clear line between companies that invest in
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  renewable energy to offset their emissions and those who merely
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  want to pay a teeny little incremental amount more to get
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  the ability to pat ourselves on the back and say we're using
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  renewable energy. That's what they said.
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  Now they position Rivian as a company that aspires not only to
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  offset its own carbon emission, but also to contribute to the
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  creation of new renewable energy capabilities.
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  This commitment led him to support the development of a new
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  solar energy center in Kentucky built the top of former coal
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  mine. Now the mine Starfire, once
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  bustling with miners hauling millions of tons of coal
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  annually, is set to be transformed into a solar farm,
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  aiming to generate 800 megawatts of energy, enough to power
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  160,000 homes per year. Bright Night, a company based in
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  Florida, which is a solar company, is additionally
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  constructing A10 mile transmission line to add another
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  GW of power capabilities in the future.
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  A Rivian has committed to purchasing 100 megawatts of
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  energy from the project under a virtual power Purchase
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  agreement, the PA, which means the power is clean energy and it
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  won't directly power Rivian's electric vehicles or its
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  corporate infrastructure. However, it will contribute to
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  powering up to 450,000,000 miles of renewable driving every year.
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  Now, the commitment to renewable energy doesn't stop with Rivian,
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  though. Other automakers like Solantis
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  and Mercedes-Benz have also signed on to virtual PPA's to
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  help meet their sustainability goals.
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  Now, virtual PPA's are growing in popularity amongst American
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  corporations, and in 2021, corporations purchased a record
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  31.1 gigawatts of clean energy, which was over 10% of all new
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  renewable energy capabilities added worldwide that year.
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  Tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google accounted
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  for more than half of those agreements.
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  Now, the Rivian CEO asserted that without these virtual
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  Ppa's, many renewable energy projects wouldn't even get off
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  the ground. The commitment to the purchase
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  power for these projects ensures their financial viability and
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  their completion, and Rivian's commitment to the solar project
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  in Kentucky shows that they're in it for the long haul.
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  Rivian also champions transparency and reporting
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  environmental impact. It's striving to achieve Scope 3
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  neutrality. This is an objective that means
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  the company aims to eliminate all indirect emissions from its
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  supply chain and the life cycle of the Ev's it produces.
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  Moreover, Rivian plans to offer a package allowing drivers to
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  match their charging regardless of location with renewable
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  energy Now. This commitment to offsetting
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  carbon emissions positions Rivian as an industry leader in
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  the shift towards renewable energy.
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  Now this collective venture of global automakers to build this
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  new EV charging network is a huge move and this will
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  electrify an eco conscious future for the automotive
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  industry. Now the commitments towards
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  renewable energy signals a shift towards sustainable practices in
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  the automotive sector that we've never seen before and hopefully
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  will help promote wider EV adoption in the future.
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  Thank you so much for listening to the Elon Musk podcast today.
• 8:10
  I really do appreciate your support and I appreciate you
• 8:13
  spending your time here with me today.
• 8:15
  If you could take a second and please hit the subscribe or
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• 8:20
  I greatly appreciate it helps out the show a lot.
• 8:23
  So thanks so much everybody. Lease take care of yourselves
• 8:25
  and each other and I will see you in the next one.