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Electric Vehicles

The Rising Popularity of Plug-In Hybrids

On EV trends, Rivian’s factory fire, and West Nile Virus

The Rising Popularity of Plug-In Hybrids
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: The Midwest is bracing for a brutal heat wave • California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range received a dusting of snow over the weekend • It will be 85 degrees and cloudy today in Flushing Meadows for the start of the U.S. Open tennis championship.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Fire in Rivian factory parking lot damages dozens of vehicles

A fire broke out in the parking lot at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois, plant on Saturday, damaging dozens of cars before being extinguished. The plant itself was not affected, according to the Normal Fire Department, and no one was injured. The source of the blaze is under investigation. Rivian’s Normal factory produces all of the EV company’s current models. Last week Rivian got the city’s approval to expand the plant by about 1.3 million square feet to manufacture the upcoming mass-market R2 SUV. EVs catch fire less often than gas-powered cars, but they burn hotter and are harder to put out once alight.

2. Fauci recovering from West Nile infection

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is recovering from West Nile Virus, a spokeswoman said. Fauci was hospitalized with fever, chills, and fatigue but is now at home and is expected to make a full recovery. According to Dr. Jonathan LaPook, the chief medical correspondent for CBS News, Fauci thinks he was infected after being bitten by a mosquito in his backyard. West Nile is the most common mosquito-borne disease in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far this year 216 cases have been confirmed. About one in five infected people develop symptoms. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, climate change is one of many factors that increase the risk of human exposure to West Nile by accelerating mosquito development, biting rates, and disease incubation.

3. Unpacking the rising popularity of plug-in hybrids

The Wall Street Journalexplores what’s going on with plug-in hybrid cars, which have been on the market for more than a decade but are experiencing a bit of a revival as of late. The number of models on sale in the U.S. has nearly doubled over the last five years, to 47, and sales were up 60% in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2024. While conventional hybrids come with a small battery and motor that helps power the car’s engine to reduce fuel use, plug-in hybrids have a bigger battery that’s strong enough to run the vehicle exclusively on electricity for a little while before the gas engine takes over. The recent rise in sales is attributed in part to automakers being forced to comply with new tailpipe emissions rules, and drivers being EV curious but not quite ready to abandon gas entirely. “Plug-in hybrids balance the need to reduce vehicle emissions and offer consumers an entry point to electrified vehicles,” a Stellantis spokesperson told the Journal. GM is bringing back plug-in hybrids in 2027 after axing the Chevrolet Volt. Toyota, Volkswagen, and Ford are all either considering rolling out a plug-in hybrid in the U.S. or expanding existing lineups.

4. Aramco invests in CO2-absorbing nanoparticles

A U.K.-based startup called Promethean Particles recently closed an £8 million ($10.5 million) Series A funding round to make tiny, super absorbent particles that the company says can soak up greenhouse gases. Promethean Particles produces metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which are “composed of metal ions interconnected by organic molecules to form a porous, lattice-like structure.” These nanoparticles have huge surface area, and the size of their pores can be customized to trap different gases and liquids. So the technology is being eyed as an option for capturing carbon at source for storage and transport, but like many CCS technologies, it is very expensive. The company’s MOFs are already being used in a prototype project in the U.K. Promethean Particles will use the new funding round (which was led in part by Aramco Ventures) to create a bigger manufacturing facility and work to improve affordability.

5. First of 4,500 defunct EV charging ports gets govt. upgrade

In case you missed it last week: The U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation recently got to work on its mission to repair roughly 4,500 EV charging ports across the country. It’s starting with an out-of-service charging station in Washington, D.C., that will get new infrastructure and added charging capacity at faster speeds. The upgrades are made possible by a $150 million grant program through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, which was created as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

THE KICKER

Almost all (97%) of the new electricity generation capacity the U.S. added in the first half of 2024 came from carbon-free sources including wind, solar, battery storage, and nuclear.


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Energy

AM Briefing: Power Hungry

On the IEAs latest report, flooding in LA, and Bill Gates’ bad news

Global Electricity Use Is Expected to Soar
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Severe thunderstorms tomorrow could spawn tornadoes in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama • A massive wildfire on a biodiverse island in the Indian Ocean has been burning for nearly a month, threatening wildlife • Tropical Cyclone Zelia has made landfall in Western Australia with winds up to 180mph.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Breakthrough Energy to slash climate grantmaking budget

Bill Gates’ climate tech advocacy organization has told its partners that it will slash its grantmaking budget this year, dealing a blow to climate-focused policy and advocacy groups that relied on the Microsoft founder, Heatmap’s Katie Brigham has learned. Breakthrough Energy, the umbrella organization for Gates’ various climate-focused programs, alerted many nonprofit grantees earlier this month that it would not be renewing its support for them. This pullback will not affect Breakthrough’s $3.5 billion climate-focused venture capital arm, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which funds an extensive portfolio of climate tech companies. Breakthrough’s fellowship program, which provides early-stage climate tech leaders with funding and assistance, will also remain intact, a spokesperson confirmed. They would not comment on whether this change will lead to layoffs at Breakthrough Energy.

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Climate Tech

Breakthrough Energy Is Slashing Its Climate Grantmaking Budget

Grantees told Heatmap they were informed that Bill Gates’ climate funding organization would not renew its support.

Bill Gates.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Bill Gates’ climate tech advocacy organization has told its partners that it will slash its grantmaking budget this year, dealing a blow to climate-focused policy and advocacy groups that relied on the Microsoft founder, Heatmap has learned.

Breakthrough Energy, the umbrella organization for Gates’ various climate-focused programs, alerted many nonprofit grantees earlier this month that it would not be renewing its support for them. This pullback will not affect Breakthrough’s $3.5 billion climate-focused venture capital arm, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which funds an extensive portfolio of climate tech companies. Breakthrough’s fellowship program, which provides early-stage climate tech leaders with funding and assistance, will also remain intact, a spokesperson confirmed. They would not comment on whether this change will lead to layoffs at Breakthrough Energy.

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Spotlight

Anti-Wind Activists Have a Big Ask for the Big Man

The Trump administration is now being lobbied to nix offshore wind projects already under construction.

Trump and offshore wind.
Getty Images / Heatmap Illustration

Anti-wind activists have joined with well-connected figures in conservative legal and energy circles to privately lobby the Trump administration to undo permitting decisions by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to documents obtained by Heatmap.

Representatives of conservative think tanks and legal nonprofits — including the Caesar Rodney Institute, the Heartland Institute and Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, or CFACT — sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum dated February 11 requesting that the Trump administration “immediately revoke” letters from NOAA to 11 offshore wind projects authorizing “incidental takes,” a term of regulatory art referencing accidental and permissible deaths under federal endangered species and mammal protection laws. The letter lays out a number of perceived issues with how those approvals have historically been issued for offshore wind companies and claims the government has improperly analyzed the cumulative effects of adding offshore wind to the ocean’s existing industrialization. NOAA oversees marine species protection.

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