 |
|
|
|||||
Shop around for a new car and youll come across an array of acronyms. Theres BEVs (battery electric vehicles), HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles), PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles), and of course that’s all in contrast to ICE (internal combustion engine) cars. Soon, American shoppers could see another option on dealership floors: EREVs, or extended-range electric vehicles. EREVs are like a cross between a gas car and an electric vehicle, but different from a hybrid. The technology has been around for years and has seen success in China. Now, automakers across Europe and the United States are showing interest in the technology, hoping it can help more people transition away from gas carsas long as it doesnt cause more customer confusion. EREV vs hybrids An extended-range electric vehicle has an electric motor that uses energy from a battery. But it also has an internal combustion engine that kicks in to generate electricity when the battery loses its charge. EREVs can be plugged into any EV chargereven fast chargers, which take between 20 minutes to an hour to get an EV battery to 80%. Thats different from hybrids in a few ways. Hybrid cars also have a gas engine and an electric motor, but the gas engine directly powers the wheels when driving at higher speeds. HEVs also rely on regenerative braking to recharge the battery, and are never plugged in to charge. Plug-in hybrids have a bigger battery and, as their name says, can be plugged in to chargebut most arent compatible with fast chargers, and tend to charge more slowly. The Mazda EZ-6 [Photo: Mazda] EREVs then are even more of a middle ground between an electric vehicle and a gas car. The technology can extend a cars range, alleviating that range anxiety that still plagues consumers. The Mazda EZ-6, an EREV currently available in China, boasts a total range of more than 800 miles with both its battery and gas engine, for example. But because they dont solely rely on EV charging, they can also ease charging stress, especially in places that still dont have enough EV chargers. EREVS arent newbut do consumers want them? EREVs have been available in China for years, and sales there have been picking up speed. EV sales are strong in China in generalChinese brands account for more than three-quarters of global EV salesand technological advancements have made EVs there ultra affordable. EREV sales more than doubled in China over the prior year, Bloomberg reported in August 2024, accounting for 30% of the countrys plug-in hybrid sales. But EREVs aren’t even that new to the U.S., says Patrick Hertzke, a partner at McKinsey & Company who focuses on the EV and automotive sector. The technology was in GMs Chevy Volt and the Cadillac ELR, though production on those vehicles ended in February 2019 and February 2016, respectively. (The Cadillac ELR saw low sales of just over 3,000 units.) A Chevy Volt [Photo: jetcityimage/Getty Images] No EREVs are currently for sale statesidebut the concept is coming back. Ram has an EREV model in the works, as does Scout Motors, and Ford has hinted at looking into the tech. EREVs are still months or years away for U.S. customers, but the technology is taking hold as automakers look to amid concerns of charging stress and range anxiety, while also capitalizing on lower battery prices. You have an ability to find this different blend that could be interesting to some consumers, Hertzke says. McKinsey surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. drivers about EREVs, and whether theyd be likely to choose one, in late 2024. First, the survey asked what vehicle drivers would be interested in buying next, without listing EREVs as an option. To that, 44% of respondents said theyd pick a gas car, while 27% said a hybrid, 17% a full battery EV, and 10% a plug-in hybrid. When they asked again and added EREVs to the list, and explained that theyd get a combined range of 400 to 500 miles, 18% said theyd pick an EREV. And it wasn’t just people interested in full battery EVs that switched over. [EREVs] stole share from all the others, Hertzke says; the amount of people picking a gas car dropped by 6 points, hybrids by 7, and full battery EVs by 4. It was really across the board exciting consumers as something new that might fit their lifestyle. EREV confusion But getting consumers excited about EREVs means making sure they understand what they are, and that could be a challenge. Consumers are already inundated with multiple terms and lots of EV info, and so automakers need to clarify the differences with EREVs. Adding to that challenge is the fact that carmakers might brand their extended range options differently. Some are saying EREV, some are saying REEV. Some are calling them super hybrids, some are going to call them hyper hybrids, Hertzke says. Companies will have to make a decision about whether to brand these cars their own way or try to use an industry term. When talking to automaker clients, Hertzke says this is a big question they have about EREVs: How do we communicate this appropriately to consumers and with our dealers, which are also now going to be inundated with more choice and more complexity? Carmakers also have to figure out how to price these new models. Because they ould use a smaller battery, the vehicles could potentially cost less than a full EV but more than a gas car. That could help entice more buyers, especially since EREVs could offer benefits that hybrid and gas cars don’t, like bidirectional charging. But automakers have been losing money on full battery EV sales, and so they may end up pricing EREVs a bit higher than necessary, as a way to make up some of those losses. It’ll be very interesting to see how they’re positioned, how they’re priced, how they’re communicated to consumers, and that’s one of the hottest debates raging at automakers today, Hertzke says. What U.S. automakers are doing next U.S. automakers are already working on rolling out some EREV options. Ram may be the closest; its 1500 Ramcharger is an EREV truck (though the Ram site calls it a range-extended electric truck) expected in 2025. Itll come with a range of 690 mileshigher than the current F150 Lightning range that tops out around 320 miles. Ford is also reportedly working on the technology for EREVs, though the company wouldnt speculate about future products to Fast Company. A spokesperson noted that the brand has said that EREVs and other technologies have the potential to offer more when it comes to choices for customers. (Ford CEO Jim Farley has been vocal about drivingand lovingthe Xiaomi SU7, a Chinese EV, and though that isn’t an EREV, Xiaomi has been working on such options, including an EREV SUV.) Scout Motors, a U.S. offshoot of Volkswagen, is also working on an extended range electric truck, called the Terra, as well as an SUV (both with a range of 500 miles), though neither are expected until 2027. We fully expect we’re going to see more [EREV] models in the U.S. and in Europe [in the next two to three years], and were going to see more auto brands adopt these, he says. “It’s going to create some pretty exciting new products. And we do expect to see consumers pretty interested in these once they understand them over time.
Category:
E-Commerce
A new book on venture capital and private equity explores how those two forces have helped push homeownership further out of reach for millions of Americans. And the author believes that amid the deregulation and job cuts of the second Trump administrationstaffing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development may be cut in halfconsumers are even more likely to get a bad deal. They’re playing with fire, says civic technologist Catherine Bracy. It’s catastrophic on a scale that I don’t have words for. What that means for the rental and mortgage market . . . it could put 2008 to shame. In Bracys new book, World Eaters, she traces how venture capital and private equity came to be, how they impact the health of our economy and the labor market, and how they exacerbate inequity and the housing crisis. She chose that title because she believes the approach of venture capitala sort of casino mentality, where big bets are encouraged despite the risksis subsuming the economy, eating industries and infecting the mindset of how people think about what the economy should be. Bracy, who cofounded the nonprofit advocacy group TechEquity in 2016, has long pushed for more consumer protections and better transparency around tech business models. World Eaters traces how post-Great Recession opportunities allowed tech and VC money to get into the single-family rental home market and begin building out new housing products, including fractionalized ownership and rent-to-own pathways. These models have had mixed results. Fractionalized ownership firms like Landa have gotten into legal trouble, while Divvy, the massive rent-to-own company was subject to significant consumer complaints; it has been sold, with much of its staff laid off earlier this year. Bracy has a warning about how technology may further impact the housing market during the Trump administration. Housing is the cornerstone of a normal person’s economic well being, so when you start to undermine consumer protections, when you start to . . . allow corporations to do whatever they want to do, thats only going to be worse for consumers, she said. How Property Tech Can Pressure Aspiring Homeowners Bracy argues that in many cases, property tech, or proptech, firms have presented themselves as companies seeking to help consumers who dont traditionally qualify for homeownership. But Bracy argues, theres a reason these customers were deemed too risky for traditional financial products, and perhaps they shouldnt be placed in a position where they’re trying out untested or unregulated ideas. She believes the housing market is entering an even more unregulated phase that will allow a larger variety of tech firms to push new products and services; many consumer regulators with AI and tech experience have been let go from the federal government, and new federal guidance seeks to encourage alternative financing arrangements. Even with the assumption that the government was there to provide consumer protections or civil rights protections [before this administration], there was still a feeling it was ripe for mass exploitation, she said. Now theres none of that, and there will be more desperate people, so youre increasing the market size. Venture capital in real estate startups was basically nonexistent in 2008, Bracy notes, but by 2017, the market globally had grown to $9 billion, demonstrating the impact that these funding models and firms had on the market. She argues that while a number of issues, like zoning and construction costs, contribute to high housing costs, the VC models that have made single-family rental housing a large and growing asset class are exacerbating the problem. Bracys coverage of the housing market in World Eaters pays particular attention to a new generation of firms utilizing cryptocurrency and blockchain, such as LoftyAI. (Lofty didnt respond to attempts to reach it for an interview.) Many focus on the idea of fractionalized ownership, and utilizing this technology to split the cost of ownership among many and make it easier to be a real estate investor, theoretically democratizing access. But Bracy argues that consumers often dont understand the risks of their investments, and unwieldy ownership and operations mean the tenants living in these investments can suffer from nonresponsive landlords. She’s particularly alarmed at the legal grey area these firms reside intheres no real precedent in real estate securities law. That’s compounded by the fact that Trump has repeatedly professed his support for crypto, including a recent plan to create a national crypto reserve. I would watch the crypto in the housing space, Bracy said. These models are terrifying, and theyre only going to get easier to build, scale, and replicate.
Category:
E-Commerce
Management at the Bay Area transportation startup Glydways wants you to be clear about what the company is not: It may plan to move people in futuristic autonomous pods, but its not hyperloop-grade vaporware. And its funding by big-name Silicon Valley investors does not make it a ride for the 1%. Public transit for everyone, everywhere, says founder Mark Seeger.But Glydways is starting smaller than that. Its first green-lit project (after a temporary test track now under construction next to an abandoned mall in Richmond, Calif.) and others under consideration by local governments will have Glydwayss four-seat electric vehicles plying short on-demand routes between existing business and transportation hubs. [Image: Glydways]That debut pilot efforta half-mile route linking a convention center and arena to the last stop on a people mover outside Atlantas Hartsfield-Jackson International Airportis on a small enough scale to evoke the Vegas Loop that Elon Musks Boring Company opened as a shortcut between three of the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center.We want to see how well the system operates with various fluctuations of riders showing its ability to scale and that it is indeed a viable transit option, says Krystal Harris, program director for ATL Airport Community Improvement Districts.After two years of free-fare service, that agency and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority will assess how things worked and if the technology merits expansion.Putting a cap on capexThe $18 million in construction and operational costs that Harris cited may seem steep for such a short distance, but not in the context of U.S. transit construction expenses that have made the country exceptional in the wrong way. For example, the $3 billion Silver Line extension that Washingtons Metro system opened to Washington Dulles International Airport and beyond in late 2022 cost $263 million a mile, including a large rail yard built by the airport. That, however, looks like an outright steal next to other U.S. rail projects, topped by the Long Island Rail Roads East Side Access project in New York and its $3.5 billion a mile expense.Glydways, meanwhile, touts a design for simple, narrow guideways that require neither rails nor electric power via overhead wires or third rails that it says will cost 90% less than traditional transit. [Image: Glydways]We can do it for tens of millions, Glydways CEO Gokul Hemmady says, adding that at-grade costs could run still lower at just $2 to $3 million per mile while elevated paths needed to avoid grade crossings could run $15 million a mile. The moment youre in pedestrian-class infrastructure, your costs plummet, he says. The world knows how to build this.Construction costs of some recent U.S. cyclist and pedestrian infrastructure fall roughly into that minor-league ballpark. A trail being built along the SMART commuter-rail line in Sonoma and Marin counties in California has run about $4 million a mile. Two bridges on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail constructed over wide roads in Arlington and Fairfax counties in Virginia had project costs around $30 million a mile.But a veteran transit consultant who has led projects in North America, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand warned against expense extrapolation. Writes Jarrett Walker: They will have to build out a demo project before we know.No human operators, some operating costsThe operational part of the Glydways pitch involves leveraging autonomous-vehicle advances to provide high-frequency, on-demand service around the clock at fares not that far above traditional transitwith the ability to transport 10,000 people an hour. We offer ride-hailing-like experience at a fraction of the cost, says Hemmady. Pressed for an example, he cites the Oakland Airport Connector, an automated, elevated train that runs between that airport and Bay Area Rapid Transits Oakland Coliseum station for a one-way fare of $7.45. But while those fares covered 96% of the connectors operating costs pre-pandemic, Hemmady says Glydwayss lower costs30% of other modes of transit, the company sayswill let it clear a profit: We are the only mass transit system that is revenue positive.A Glydways vehicle shown off at CES 2025 was all shiny modernity, with a streamlined exterior hiding camera, lidar and radar sensors, and large doors that slid open to reveal a clean plastic interior with tap-to-pay terminals by thosedoors. The closest visual parallel: the pod-like Zoox robotaxis now rolling around Vegas in test drives.The lack of human operators or attendants has led some critics to raise safety concerns, but Glydways emphasizes that short waits at stations and the limited number of passengers per vehicle will keep it safe. [Animation: Glydways]Older, almost as small-scale personal rapid transit systems built on older autonomous technologysuch as one that runs between campuses of West Virginia University in Morgantown, W. Va.have operated without incident for decades.Larger automated-train systems rely on a combination of surveillance and patrolling. For example, Vancouvers SkyTrain equips its driverless trains with emergency intercom systems and contact systems while having attendants and transit police at stations.Next stopsAfter the Atlanta pilot, Glydways has advanced to final stages of consideration in a San Jose project to link that citys Caltrain and Amtrak train station with San José Mineta International Airporta 3.4 mile route that Google Maps estimates as a seven-minute drive but a 40-plus-minute transit adventure.Glydways says it can build that mostly elevated route, with its vehicles taking eight minutes between the station and the airport, for under the citys $500 million cost cap but isnt specifying a cost estimate. The city council should be voting on its proposal, which allows for possible extensions to such nearby traffic generators as Apples headquarters, in the coming weeks. [Image: Glydways]This company has a comparable plan not far north of San Jose in Contra Costa County, where its pitched its technology as an automated transit network to provide transportation from train stations to nearby destinations.And in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, Glydways has advanced a proposal to use its vehicles in a tunnel to connect Ontario International Airport with the closest Metrolink commuter-rail station. The Boring Company had earlier offered a version of the Vegas Loop concept but abandoned that bid in 2022.Glydwayss proposition of robotic transportation has the advantage of not having to coexist with human-driven traffic like robotaxis like Waymo. And the company has the advantage of funding from such deep-pocketed investors as the VC firm Khosla Ventures and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.But in the realm of transit, self-driving technology isnt something Glydways invented, and many transit agencies outside the U.S. already employ it on higher-capacity subway and light-rail lines. And as autonomous mobility continues to advance on public roads, Walker suggests that established transit operators will be able to make better use of it than any startup that has to pour new concreteeven if the technology goes into something as unfancy as buses.Says Walker: If driverless technology becomes available, debugged, and socially accepted, there will be all kinds of applications, including much bigger-vehicle services that will be a better use of scarce space in dense cities.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||