What to Make of Q2 EV Sales

Current conditions: Hurricane Beryl could bring up to 9 feet of storm surge to Jamaica • Northeastern India, already flooded, is expecting more rain • Last month beat June 2023 as the hottest June ever recorded.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Car companies see EV growth in Q2 sales reports

Many automakers are reporting Q2 U.S. sales and deliveries this week. Let’s take a look at how the EV numbers are shaping up:

General Motors
Deliveries: 21,930 EVs, up 40% compared to Q2 last year, and up 34% compared to Q1. EV registrations are up 17% YTD, “outpacing the industry average of 10%.” Sales of its LYRIQ EV were up 26% on Q1.
Rivian
Deliveries: 13,790 EVs, in line with expectations. The company still expects to produce 57,000 vehicles this year.
Toyota (and Lexus)
Sales: 247,347 “electrified vehicles” (including hybrids). EV sales for the entire first half of the year were up 68% and accounted for 38% of total sales volume, “an all-time best-ever.”
Kia
Sales: 17,980 BEVs, up 131% year-over-year. In June, overall U.S. sales for the brand were down 6.5% YOY, but EV sales specifically were up 125%, according to calculations from Inside EVs.
Hyundai
Sales: 38,657 fully-electric vehicles (plus 26 hydrogen fuel cell SUVs, fwiw) in the U.S., up 15% compared to Q2 2023. IONIQ 5 sales were up 51%. KONA SUV sales were up 26%. Hybrid sales are up 42% for the quarter.

Tesla, for its part, reported 443,956 global EV deliveries, “a smaller-than-expected 5% drop,” but the brand is still losing its dominance.

The sales figures, while encouraging, don’t necessarily suggest EV growth will accelerate, analysts toldReuters. “We’re expecting this period of time to have bumps along the way for the next few years as the transition goes from early adopters to mainstream buyers and we’re going to see this happen for a long time,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president at research firm AutoForecast Solutions. “Some quarters will be up, some quarters will be down, but all in all, it won’t be as strong a growth as we saw over the last few years.”

2. Power outages plague California as temperatures soar

Some Californians are experiencing power outages as an intense heat wave sends temperatures spiking across the state. Yesterday more than 11,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers in the Bay Area were without electricity. Some of the outages this week will be planned power shutoffs intended to prevent fires, but wasn’t one of them. The heat wave is expected to break records and last into next week. “High temperatures are forecast to reach into the 105-115F range throughout interior California away from the immediate coastline, as well as into much of the Desert Southwest,” the National Weather Service said. July marks the start of the “peak period” for power emissions in the U.S., which lasts through September. Power emissions for the first half of 2024 are already up 5.2% compared to the same period last year as residents turn up their air conditioning to battle early-season heat waves.

3. Biden announces $504 million for 12 tech hubs

The Biden administration yesterday announced a new funding round of $504 million in grants to 12 “tech hubs,” some of which are focused on scaling up clean tech:

• $21 million for Nevada’s Tech Hub, which is focusing on lithium batteries and electric vehicle materials.
• $45 million for South Carolina and Georgia’s Nexus for Advanced Resilient Energy, which is focusing on the clean energy supply chain.
• $19 million for South Florida’s ClimateReady Tech Hub focused on sustainable and climate-resilient infrastructure.
• $51 million for Ohio’s Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub focused on sustainable production of rubbers and plastics.

4. Google blames AI growth for emissions spike

Google’s greenhouse gas emissions climbed by 13% last year compared to the year before, and were up 48% from 2019, the company reported. The company blames artificial intelligence for rising power demand. Back in 2021, the tech giant pledged to be net zero by 2030. Chief sustainability officer Kate Brandt now says that is an “extremely ambitious goal” that “is not going to be easy.” Microsoft’s emissions are also on the rise because of energy-intensive data centers, up 29% compared to 2020.

5. Study finds alarming glacial loss in Alaskan icefield

Global warming is speeding up glacial ice loss in a major Alaskan icefield, and could push the field over a tipping point sooner than previously expected, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers found that the Juneau Icefield, which covers about 1,500 square miles, is melting twice as quickly as it was in 2010 and has lost a quarter of its ice volume since the 18th century. “The fate of Alaska’s ice matters tremendously for the world,” explained climate reporter Raymond Zhong at The New York Times. “In no other region of the planet are melting glaciers predicted to contribute more to global sea-level rise this century.” Current melting projections suggest ice loss for the Juneau Icefield will accelerate after 2070, but the researchers suggest this projection may be “too small and underestimate glacier melt in the future.”

THE KICKER

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, currently on the International Space Station, captured the awesome and terrifying size of Hurricane Beryl. The bottom picture peers into the storm’s eye.

Matthew Dominick/NASA

Matthew Dominick/NASA