How green is your electric vehicle, really? | How the Inflation Reduction Act Has Reshaped the U.S.—And The World | Growing talent gap in U.S. chip space emerges as makers spend billions

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You Might Like � � � You Might Like � � � � � � � � � Don't like ads? Go ad-free with TradeBriefs Premium How green is your electric vehicle, really? - The Economist    Your columnist has just had the bittersweet pleasure of driving along America's Pacific coast, wind blowing through what is left of his hair, in a new Fisker Ocean electric suv. Sweet, because he was in "California mode"—a neat feature that with the touch of a button lowers all windows, including the back windscreen, pulls back the solar-panelled roof, and turns the car into the next best thing to an all-electric convertible. Bitter, because once he had returned the trial vehicle, he had to drive home in his Kia Niro ev, which is smaller, shorter range and has no open roof—call it "rainy Britain mode". The consolation was that it is about a tonne lighter, and if you drive an ev, as Schumpeter does, to virtue-signal your low-carbon street cred, being featherweight rather than heavyweight should count. Except it doesn’t. Just look at the future line-up that Fisker, an EV startup, unveiled on August 3rd. It included: a souped-up, off-road version of the Ocean, which Henrik Fisker, the carmaker’s Danish co-founder, said would be suitable for a monster-truck rally; a “supercar” with a 1,000km (600-mile) range, and a pickup truck straight out of “Yellowstone”—complete with cowboy-hat holder. Granted, there was also an affordable six-seater called Pear. But though Fisker says sustainability is one of its founding principles, it is indulging in a trait almost universal among car firms: building bigger, burlier cars, even when they are electric. There are two reasons for this. The first is profit. As with conventional cars, bigger EVs generate higher margins. The second is consumer preference. For decades, drivers have been opting for SUVs and pickup trucks rather than smaller cars, and this now applies to battery-charged ones. EV drivers, who fret about the availability of charging infrastructure, want more range, hence bigger batteries. BNEF, a consultancy, says the result is that average battery sizes increased by 10% a year globally from 2018 to 2022. That may help make for a more reassuring ride. But eventually the supersizing trend will prove to be unsustainable and unsafe. Continued here How the Inflation Reduction Act Has Reshaped the U.S.—And The World - Time    In late July, I visited a steel mill in Gallatin, Ky., operated by the company Nucor. During my visit, I watched as the facility churned out massive rolls of low-carbon steel destined for use in renewable infrastructure. Nucor’s stock price has increased nearly five-fold in the last three years, and the day before I visited the company had announced blockbuster profits citing, in large part, all the demand created by businesses racing to take advantage of money flowing from federal spending programs, including and especially the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Kentucky is far from alone. Across the country, the IRA has spurred hundreds of billions of dollars in investment in clean technology. Lithium-ion battery makers are opening factories near auto industry hubs to serve the growing electric vehicle market. Solar manufacturers are setting up shop in red states like Georgia. And old-school oil companies are investing in hydrogen. “It's a transformation of the economy,” says John Podesta, President Joe Biden’s senior advisor charged with implementing the IRA. The IRA, which will mark one year since its signing on Aug. 16, is a classic piece of D.C. lawmaking. It came about in a windy legislative process that began with a big campaign promise from Biden and ended with backroom deal-making on Capitol Hill. And it has an odd, misleading name with a funny acronym, to boot.  Continued here You Might Like � � � � � � � � � Growing talent gap in U.S. chip space emerges as makers spend billions - CNBC    A push to re-shore semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. has spurred massive spending, and with it, concerns about the size of the skilled workforce. President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law one year ago, and semiconductor companies across the U.S. have promised to spend $231 billion on building chip manufacturing hubs on American soil. Now, as the shovels hit the ground to begin construction, companies are realizing how difficult it is to find talent. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the largest contract chipmaker in the world, said it had to delay production at its $40 billion Arizona plant due to a lack of workers in the U.S. Continued here

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