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A prim and proper guide on charging like you live in a society.
You have traveled far. For the last half-hour, you’ve been staring at your EV’s big touchscreen and its dwindling estimate for how much battery will remain when you arrive at your destination. At last, the promised plug appears before you. But it’s broken, or there’s a line for the fast-charging depot, or the only two chargers at the hotel are taken by cars who’ll be there for goodness-knows-how-long.
The one thing more infuriating than range anxiety is plug denial — when you really did have enough battery to reach the next charger and you still can’t charge. It’s doubly maddening when the cause is someone else’s negligence, such as a car still hogging the plug when it’s finished, and their disregard for good manners is the thing that stands between you and the sweet relief of energy.
Electric vehicle chargers, like any shared resource, are subject to abuse. As the nation electrifies, we need to have a collective chat about sharing and etiquette to stop EV charging from becoming another tragedy of the commons. Here are a few rules to get started.
This is the simplest and most important commandment. Every moment your car is parked in an EV stall but not charging is a wasted moment someone else could be getting precious energy. You wouldn’t block a gas pump and wander off for hours, which is fundamentally the same thing.
This courtesy is so crucial that sometimes it’s enforced: Tesla superchargers give drivers a 5-minute grace period after charging ends, then begin to tack on “idle fees” by the minute. This, admittedly, is annoying. There are times we have shopped or eaten during a charging stop and I had to run back mid-meal to move the car to an ordinary parking space. But it’s necessary. In many cases, however, there’s no punishment for hogging the charger long after your car is done — other than the endless shame you should feel.
A charging cable left on the ground looks terrible and is likely to be rained on and run over. Put it back in its holster. This is easier said than done at some Superchargers, where the magnets supposed to hold the plug in place don’t always cooperate. But try. If you find a busted one, use the charging company’s app to report it so it gets fixed faster. Karma will come around the next time you snag the last open charger and it works. You’ll see some people hang the cord over the post as a signal to other drivers that it’s down, but this analog communication is becoming less necessary. Click on a supercharger location in the Tesla app, for example, and it will just tell you which ones, if any, are offline.
ICE, in this case, is the internal combustion engine; ICEing is EV owner slang for when a gas-powered vehicle parks in an EV stall and blocks the plug. Some drivers do this out of ignorance, or because it’s a really good parking spot and they’ll only be gone for a second. A few ICErs surely do so out of politically motivated spite toward the electric vehicle. Whatever the reason, don’t. Somebody needs that electricity to get through the rest of their day.
EV drivers commit a sin similar to ICEing when they poach the perfectly located parking stall marked “EV only,” then barely charge because they’re already full or don’t bother to plug in at all. Plugs are for charging.
If you find yourself alone at a 12-stall station, then please, charge to your heart’s desire. But in far too many charging deserts, a couple of Level 2 chargers might be the only plug-in options for many miles. In this case, consider passing on the plug if you’re mostly full and you’re just getting a top-off because it’s there, or if you drive a plug-in hybrid and aren’t in danger of the car dying if the battery runs out.
With speeds of 250 kW or more, today’s EV fast chargers will charge your battery from nearly empty to halfway in the blink of an eye. Because of battery physics, however, it slows to a creep as you approach full, and going from 80 to 90 percent or higher feels like an eternity. If you’re at a busy station, and 70 or 80 percent capacity is enough to get you comfortably to the next stop, take off and open up a plug for somebody else a little earlier.
If every charging stall is taken, drivers will try to line up in an orderly fashion. Sometimes the preferred direction is obvious because there’s only one way in and out of the charging depot. Other times it’s not, which leads to confusion and hurt feelings. Either way, don’t be the person who swoops in from out of nowhere and wittingly or unwittingly jumps the line, unless you feel like getting in a shouting war today.
It’s simple — don’t touch what isn’t yours. Even if you’re really, really sure that other driver is a jerk who has violated these rules, don’t be that person.
I can think of two exceptions. The first is if you’re absolutely desperate and your car is moments away from dying. Then, all bets are off — find any juice you can. (Before you plug into the 110V outlet on the side of a business, though, ask them first and offer to pay a few bucks for the electricity.) The second is if the other person has one of those courtesy tags hung from their car to tell you it’s okay to unplug theirs if you really need the energy.
You can find stories of EV drivers enraged because a Tesla, which presumably has a better array of charging options, plugged in at their spot. Similarly, Tesla drivers will no doubt be cranky when other brands’ EVs begin to show up at Superchargers. Look, it’s tough out there for an electric vehicle. People need to charge when they need it. There’s no need to bring some kind of Ford vs. Chevy fanboy animosity to the party.
To kill the necessary time at a charger, people eat, walk their dogs, clean out their cars — all sorts of activities that share the common theme of generating garbage. Since the charging station is a shared public space, treat it like a park or campground, and don’t leave paper cups or dog poop for other people to drive over or step on.
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The state’s senior senator, Thom Tillis, has been vocal about the need to maintain clean energy tax credits.
The majority of voters in North Carolina want Congress to leave the Inflation Reduction Act well enough alone, a new poll from Data for Progress finds.
The survey, which asked North Carolina voters specifically about the clean energy and climate provisions in the bill, presented respondents with a choice between two statements: “The IRA should be repealed by Congress” and “The IRA should be kept in place by Congress.” (“Don’t know” was also an option.)
The responses from voters broke down predictably along party lines, with 71% of Democrats preferring to keep the IRA in place compared to just 31% of Republicans, with half of independent voters in favor of keeping the climate law. Overall, half of North Carolina voters surveyed wanted the IRA to stick around, compared to 37% who’d rather see it go — a significant spread for a state that, prior to the passage of the climate law, was home to little in the way of clean energy development.
But North Carolina now has a lot to lose with the potential repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act, as my colleague Emily Pontecorvo has pointed out. The IRA brought more than 17,000 jobs to the state, per Climate Power, along with $20 billion in investment spread out over 34 clean energy projects. Electric vehicle and charging manufacturers in particular have flocked to the state, with Toyota investing $13.9 billion in its Liberty EV battery manufacturing facility, which opened this past April.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis was one of the four co-authors of a letter sent to Majority Leader John Thune in April advocating for the preservation of the law. Together, they wrote that gutting the IRA’s tax credits “would create uncertainty, jeopardizing capital allocation, long-term project planning, and job creation in the energy sector and across our broader economy.” It seems that the majority of North Carolina voters are aligned with their senator — which is lucky for him, as he’s up for reelection in 2026.
The new Nissan Leaf is joining a whole crop of new electric cars in the $30,000 range.
Here is an odd sentence to write in the year 2025: One of the most interesting electric vehicles on the horizon is the Nissan Leaf.
The Japanese automaker last week revealed new images and specs of the redesign it had teased a few months ago. The new Leaf, which will arrive in 2026, is a small crossover that’s sleeker than, say, a Tesla Model Y, but more spacious than the previous hatchback versions of the car. Nissan promises it will have a max range above 300 miles, while industry experts expect the company to target a starting price not too far above $30,000.
The updated Leaf won’t be one of those EVs that smokes a gas-powered sports car in a drag race, not with the 214 horsepower from that debut version and certainly not with the 174 horsepower from the cheaper version that will arrive later on. Its 150-kilowatt max charging speed lags far behind the blazing fast 350-kilowatt charging capability Hyundai is building into its Ioniq electric vehicles. But because it lacks some of these refinements, the new Nissan may arrive as one of the most compelling of the “affordable” EVs that are, finally, coming to drivers.
Not bad for a car that had become an electric afterthought.
The original Nissan Leaf was a revelation merely for its existence. Never mind that it was a lumpy potato derived from the uninspired Nissan Versa — here was the first mass-market electric car, heralding the age of the EV and welcomed with plenty of “car of the year” laurels at the dawn of the 2010s. Its luster would not last, however, as the arrival of the Tesla Model S a couple of years later stole the world’s attention. The second-generation Leaf that arrived in 2017 was an aesthetic and technological leap forward from its predecessor, with a range that topped 200 miles in its most advanced form. It was, for the time, a pretty good EV. Almost immediately, it was overshadowed by the introduction of Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y, which catapulted Elon Musk’s company into complete dominance of the global EV market.
It took nearly a decade for Nissan (which fell into corporate mismanagement and outright crisis in the meantime) to update the stale and outdated Leaf. As a result, you might think the new version of the OG EV will arrive just in time to be outshone again. Yet the peculiar nature of the evolving electric car market has created an opportunity for the Leaf to finally grow and thrive.
There was a time when the mythical affordable Tesla could have taken the brand into the entry-level car market, and perhaps below the magic starting price of $30,000. But that has turned out to be a distraction dangled in front of fanboys and investors. In reality, Musk effectively killed the idea as he instead rolled out the Cybertruck and pivoted the company toward the dream of total vehicle autonomy.
Thanks to Tesla’s refusal to act like a normal car company, the affordable EV market is still there for the taking. Some are already in the game: Hyundai’s little Kona Electric starts at $33,000, and I’ve lauded Chevrolet for building a base version of the Equinox EV that starts around $35,000. In the next year or so, an influx of EVs in the $30,000 to $35,000 range might really change the game for electric-curious buyers.
The new Leaf is suddenly a big part of that mix. No, it won’t compete on price with a comparable combustion Nissan like the Kicks crossover that starts in the low $20,000s (not without the $7,500 tax credit, which would have made the new crop of affordable EVs directly cost-competitive with entry-level gas cars). The Leaf is likely to start just above $30,000, with the price creeping higher for buyers who opt for better performance or more range (and as I’ve noted numerous times, you ought to buy all the range you can afford if an EV is going to be your main car).
Arriving next year to compete with the Leaf is the new Chevy Bolt, another revival of an early EV icon. Experts expect a similar price range there. The anticipated Kia EV3 should come to America eventually with a starting cost around $35,000. The Jeff Bezos-backed Slate electric truck shocked the world with its promise of a bare-bones EV in the $20,000s — but, by the time the average buyer adds enough amenities to make it liveable, most Slate trucks will probably top $30,000.
Elon Musk may have abdicated his role as the Leaf’s antagonist via his refusal to build an affordable car, but erstwhile ally Donald Trump is poised to assume the role. Since the Leaf is slated to be built in Japan, the EV would be subject to whatever tariffs might be in place by the time it goes on sale next year. A 25% tariff, plus the federal government’s flip to punishing EVs with penalties instead of rewarding them with incentives, would kill the car’s value proposition in the U.S. Perhaps, then, it will become the next great affordable EV — for everybody else.
On life-threatening temperatures, New York’s nuclear ambitions, and cancelled clean energy projects
Current conditions: Monsoon conditions are bringing flash floods to New Mexico • A heat warning has been issued in Beijing as temperatures creep toward 100 degrees Fahrenheit • It's hot and dry in Tehran today as a tenuous ceasefire between Iran and Israel comes into effect.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that she wants to bring new, public nuclear power back to the state. She directed the New York Power Authority, the state power agency, to develop at least 1 gigawatt of new nuclear capacity upstate. Hochul did not specify a design or even a location for the new plant, but based on a few clues in the press release and where Hochul chose to make the announcement, Heatmap’s Matthew Zeitlin speculates that the project could be a small modular reactor, specifically GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300, one of a handful of SMR designs vying for both regulatory approval and commercial viability in the U.S. “Canada’s Ontario Power Generation recently approved a plan to build one,” Zeitlin notes, “with the idea to eventually build three more for a total 1.2 gigawatts of generating capacity, i.e. roughly the amount Hochul’s targeting.”
The announcement comes at a time when the federal regulatory and tax balance is tipping toward nuclear. The Trump administration issued a fleet of executive orders looking to speed up nuclear construction and regulatory approvals, and Senate Republicans’ version of the mega budget reconciliation bill includes far more generous treatment of nuclear development compared to wind and solar.
The heat dome that’s moving slowly across the U.S. is bringing dangerous conditions to millions of Americans. Multiple cities across the Midwest and East Coast felt hotter than 100 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday, including Chicago, Nashville, and Raleigh. Roads buckled in Missouri. In New York’s Staten Island, the heat index hit 113 degrees. “This is life-threatening,” NYC Emergency Management said in a post on X. “At this level, the human body struggles to cool itself. Prolonged exposure or physical activity can quickly lead to heat stroke.” Power outages were reported in parts of the city. New York Mayor Eric Adams urged residents to help relieve the strain on the electric grid by avoiding using large appliances in the middle of the day, turning off lights, and limiting unnecessary air conditioning use. Wholesale energy prices soared as use skyrocketed. According to AccuWeather, more than 160 daily high temperature records could fall this week before things cool down Wednesday. Nearly 150 million people are affected by some kind of heat alert, and about 10% of the nation’s population will endure temperatures at or above 100 degrees today.
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About $1.4 billion in clean energy projects were cancelled last month as policy uncertainty mounts and the GOP’s budget reconciliation megabill hacks away at clean energy tax credits and permitting reform. According to a new report from clean energy business group E2, $15.5 billion in new factories and electricity projects have been nixed since the start of 2025, along with the 12,000 new jobs those projects were expected to create. “Republican congressional districts are losing the most,” the report finds. “More than $9 billion in investments and almost 10,000 jobs have been cancelled, delayed, or closed in Republican districts so far in 2025.”
The world added 741 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity last year, according to the new Renewables Global Status Report from Paris-based think tank REN21. That’s a new record, but it still falls far short of the COP28 goal to triple renewables capacity by 2030. In fact, “current trajectories suggest a shortfall of 6.2 terawatts – more than all renewables deployed to date,” the report finds. Here are some other key takeaways:
REN21
The Trump administration will roll back protections for nearly 60 million acres of pristine national forest, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday. Rescinding the 2001 “Roadless Rule” will open vast swathes of the nation’s forests — including Tongass National Forest in Alaska, which is North America’s largest temperate rainforest — to industrial activities. The administration called the rule “overly restrictive,” and said rolling it back will allow for better fire prevention and “responsible” timber production. The logging industry applauded the announcement; conservation groups condemned it. The rollback is likely to be challenged in court.
“I now believe that cleaning up methane leaks from the production and shipping of oil and gas — one of the most significant sources of these emissions — is the best hope we have to avoid triggering some of the most consequential climate tipping points in the next decade. I think realistically it is our only hope.” –Carl Pope, former executive director of the Sierra Club, on his biggest regrets as an environmentalist.