Regulatory TREND | Reduce Utility Rates for EV Charging. WHO. WHAT. WHERE. HOW.

WHO |  DTE Energy & Consumers Energy

WHAT |  Include in their 3 year plans a reduction in utility rates for EV charging

WHERE | Michigan

HOW |  

  • incentivizing EV drivers to charge at home during off-peak hours
  • the shift will drive down rates for all customers by millions of dollars
  • DTE’s $13 million pilot program for time of use rebates

Energy News | Michigan utilities look to lower rates through EV time of use charging

 

3 Shortcomings of Federal Autonomous Vehicle Legislation. 2 Opposition Groups. No State Action.

What groups are opposed to the legislation?

  • Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
  •  Major Cities Chiefs Association

What shortcomings do opponents highlight in the legislation?

  • National Transportation Safety Board’s ongoing investigations
  • prohibits state regulatory action
  • data insufficiency, US DOT has 3 years to revise data rules and thats too long
  • “all crashes involving AVs should be reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration immediately and made publicly available”
  • i…

3 POINTS WORLDS LARGEST AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE TESTING TRACK. How is it funded?

Where is the world’s largest autonomous vehicle testing track? Ohio’s Transportation Research Center is building it in Central Ohio

What will the facility and track include?

  • 540-acre and $45 million SMART Center
  • 4,500-acre campus total area
  • 1.2-mile-long, six-lane-wide connected roadway, a network of movable intersections, roundabouts and oblique intersection scenarios

Funding by:

  •  State of Ohio
  • The Ohio State University
  • JobsOhio, a private nonprofit economic-development group

State…

Lege & Regulatory TREND. 4 Things Law Enforcement Wants in Self Driving Car Regulations.

Tools law enforcement wants  to ineract or direct self driving cars, especially during an emergency:

  • Integration with public safety officials
  • Regulation of data that is shared between law enforcement and self driving vehicles
  • Established cyber security standards and privacy standards 
  • Address elderly and disabled population use of autonomous driving vehicles

Reuters | U.S. regulators grappling with self-driving vehicle security. 

+1 Private Rail proposal in the Labor Conquers All State

State: Oklahoma

The private rail proposal: A freight rail company  is seeking proposals from private rail carriers to provide passenger service between Tulsa and Oklahoma City

The legislative pathway:

  • 2011 created a task force
  • Task Force offcers ways to link northeastern Oklahoma with the existing Heartland Flyer passenger service between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth
  • State of Oklahoma sold an existing rail line to Watco, the Kasnas freight rail company

US News and World Report | Company…

2 Policy Reasons for Passing Data Security Bills for Smart Vehicles

Bills that criminalize hacking smart vehicles would:

  • protect health and safety if the hack was to harm people
  • protect economic well being if the hack was intended to obtain credit card information stored in the car’s systems, financial data or hold the vehicle for ransom

Freight Waves | Cybercrime regulations over ‘smart’ connected vehicles and its impact on civil liability 

 

Top 3 States for State EV Purchasing Policies. New Study. Newish Coalition.

The study: ZEV State Policy Scorecard

Study authors:  Electrification Coalition, a nonprofit group of business leaders seeking to facilitate the deployment of EVs on a mass scale

Top 3 States for state EV purchasing policies: 

  • California
  • Connecticut
  • Maryland

3 State policies that impact state rankings:

  • how states provide consumer incentives for purchasing EVs
  • how states make refueling infrastructure available
  • how states educate the public about the alternative drivetrains

Automotive…

By the numbers. Automaker Spending on EV & AV. The legislative & regulatory frontier. Bonjour new laws & rules.

  • In 2017 $226 Billion spent by automakers on EV & AV 
  • 2017 numbers are up 47% from 2012
  • By 2023, $255 billion in R&D and capital expenditures
  • 22.5% of Americans are “likely” to purchase a plug-in electric vehicle

ALIX PARTNERS | A ‘pile-up of epic proportions’ awaits auto industry as investments necessary to an electric and autonomous future balloon just as market slows, according to AlixPartners study

Tech Crunch |  Automakers are burning through billions in EV, AV race