James Carter’s Post

#AutoSectorEmployment #USA #IRA "The U.S. economy is in the early stages of an once-in-a-lifetime shift from an economy powered by fossil fuels. To prevent catastrophic climate change we have to switch quickly to electric vehicles and appliances fueled by renewable energy. But it shouldn’t come at the expense of good-paying jobs — and it doesn’t have to. Now that the electrification revolution is solidly underway — with electric car sales surging and electric heat pumps outselling gas furnaces — bad-faith actors are trying to exploit workers’ anxieties about their role in a zero-emission future. That effort has been on display most recently in the autoworkers’ strike against the Big Three carmakers. ... It took only a few days for the United Auto Workers to expose that lie with its Oct. 6 announcement that General Motors committed to put its battery manufacturing operations under the union’s national agreement. “We’ve been told the EV future must be a race to the bottom, and now we’ve called their bluff,” UAW President Shawn Fain said. Workers have legitimate reasons to worry that as automakers shift to EVs they will shut down internal combustion engine and transmission plants and replace them with low-wage battery factory jobs. But the agreement with GM shows that is a choice, and that tackling climate change by shifting to a zero-emission economy does not have to mean leaving workers behind. ... Some workers may fear that vehicle electrification will leave them behind. But there is no evidence that it will cause a broad swath of blue-collar jobs to disappear or become “lower paid, less skilled or less desirable,” said Sanya Carley, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has studied autoworkers in the Midwest and Appalachian coal mining communities. “It’s a false dichotomy to say that we need to pursue decarbonization or equity. We can do both at the same time.” ... Fortunately, President Biden understands that the energy transition does not have to come at the expense of good-paying, middle-class jobs. Many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax incentives for clean energy projects are tied to higher labor standards. Biden has joined autoworkers on the picket line and wants more union-led training and apprenticeship programs to make sure that workers displaced by the shift are first in line for electric vehicle and battery manufacturing jobs. “We’re going to leave nobody behind,” Biden said last month in Detroit. Biden and other leaders have a lot of work ahead to deliver on that promise, but it’s right to demand that good-paying jobs are a nonnegotiable part of our zero-emission future."

""But making the powertrain of electric vehicles – the batteries, electric motors and power management systems – requires more total labor, not less, than that involved in making engines and transmissions", said Erica Fuchs, a labor researcher at Carnegie Mellon. She worked on the research paper with Cotterman that analyzed the labor requirements of electric versus gasoline powertrains. Researchers at the Boston Consulting Group reached a similar conclusion. They found that manufacturing a complete electric vehicle – beyond just the powertrain – requires, in total, only slightly less labor than making a gasoline-powered car." #ev #leanmanufacturing #labor #manufacturing #talent

I found it fascinating that the people who are expressing the strongest criticism over the delay in the UK new gasoline car sales ban tend to be the same who argue that electric cars are an amazing technological revolution benefiting from an exponential learning curve which will disrupt the incumbents. That might well happen but the “exponential technological revolution disrupting everything” argument raises a philosophical question: In that case why a 5 year change in the legal ban on the legacy technology is so important? After all, nobody bothered to ban Kodak cameras or Blockbuster video stores. I believe government policy really matters, but also that governments face a delicate dilemma. Technology revolutions are usually modelled on an S curve: There are early adopters, the first 2010s Nissan Leaf owners, a tipping point into mass penetration, the current upper middle class electric SUV buyers and then a long tail of convergence towards 100%. The UK is beyond the tipping point, the current market share of electric vehicles is around 25%. S curves can be different, but a ballpark S curve model would project 4 million more gasoline cars on the road if the phase out date is 2035 instead of 2030. With a UK lifestyle this is around 6 – 8 million tons CO2 annually. The actual number will of course be complicated by other factors as well. Who are the people who might buy a gasoline car if it is legally allowed until 2035 but not if the phase out date is 2030? Some could be internal combustion engine enthusiasts but I think that will be a minority. It seems to me that most of them would be working class people who can not prefinance the higher initial cost of the EV even if the lifetime ownership cost is favorable. Lot of them probably live in rural regions and concerned about underdeveloped charging infrastructure. Some of them might have large families or run small businesses and the small size of the affordable EVs is not suitable for them. It is quite likely that they live in inefficiently insulated, gas heated homes so they are affected by the other hard decarbonization issue as well. How to balance the necessity of timely decarbonization with the needs and concerns of specific segments of society will be one of the most important political debates of the decade and not only in the UK.

Huge announcement today, with the Biden Administration awarding $1.7 billion to auto #manufacturers across the country, accelerating the conversion of legacy ICE production capacity to support #electricvehicles. This has been one of my favorite programs to come out of BIL and IRA, and its derisking impact for companies weighing massive capital commitments cannot be overstated. Some major highlights for me: 1. *The big one* - We're reopening Belvedere! Stellantis will receive $334M to overhaul and restore full operations at its shuttered final assembly plant in Belvedere, IL. The revived plant will bring thousands of jobs back to a community that badly needs them. 2. GM will receive $500M to convert its Lansing Grand River Final Assembly Plant to fully electrified production, a key milestone in that company's #EV transition. 3. Volvo Group will receive more than $200M across three mid-Atlantic facilities to support the scale-up of its heavy-duty electric #truck production. 4. Blue Bird will receive roughly $80M to modernize and convert its Fort Valley, GA facility to rapidly scale manufacturing of battery #electricschoolbuses. 🍑 We've also got motorcycles, e-axles, and other electric drivetrain components among the investments from this program. Hopefully we'll see it re-upped with additional funding in future years. #transportation #mobility #automotive #supplychain #cleanenergy #battery https://lnkd.in/ewGEBYtv

Listen to engineers or idealists or do we need idealistic engineers? In the realm of progress, a perpetual debate ensues: should we adhere strictly to the practical insights of engineers, or should we entertain the notion of idealists or do we need idealistic engineers? A truly effective approach often involves a balance between engineering and idealism. Engineers can harness their technical proficiency to make idealistic visions a reality, while idealists can guide engineers towards solutions that are not only practical but also ethical and sustainable. #ev #sustainability #automotiveindustry #euronews #drivinginnovation

🚗✨ **DOE Announces $1.7 Billion to Support American Auto Workers and EV Manufacturing!** ✨🚗 The Biden-Harris Administration is investing in the future of American auto manufacturing with a $1.7 billion initiative to convert 11 at-risk facilities for electric vehicle production across eight states! 🌟 This move is set to create thousands of good-paying union jobs and ensure the U.S. leads in the 21st-century auto industry. 🏭🇺🇸 🔋 Key Highlights: - Conversion of facilities in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia. - Over 2,900 new high-quality jobs and retention of 15,000 skilled union workers. - Support for EV and battery manufacturing, including electric motorcycles, school buses, hybrid powertrains, and more. - Commitment to clean, environmentally responsible manufacturing. 📢 U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm will announce this groundbreaking initiative today, showcasing the administration's commitment to American workers and clean energy. 🌍 💪 This funding is a major step in building a clean energy economy that benefits everyone, tackling climate change, and revitalizing American manufacturing communities. Learn more about this exciting initiative and how it supports the American auto industry and workers. 📈 https://lnkd.in/ga8NDPZk #InvestingInAmerica #CleanEnergy #ElectricVehicles #UnionJobs #DOE #BidenHarrisAdministration #AutoIndustry #ClimateAction

Unless the USA EV industry is always cradled by the uncle SAM, it will not win the international competitions from cheap labor regions if they don’t reduce the labor hours. Even in the used labor rich China, there is increasing deployment of automation and robots in assembly line. If the author has recently visited the state-of-the-art of the EV and battey factories, he may cast doubts on the articles he referred to. It is true and cold fact that the machine is replacing human labor one way or another.

A discussion??? Like... actually talking to people? Yes that's right. I have spent the last two weeks meeting Automotive leaders and consultants on my travels around the UK for nothing other than a discussion. No sales, no hidden agenda, just learning. As we grow our Automotive and Engineering division I need to know whats happening out of my micro climate so I did the old fashioned thing and requested industry leaders spare me 10 mins and have a chat. With plenty more to do in the next two weeks.... here is what I have found so far: Hydrogen vehicles seem best placed in the future of heavy, long distance vehicles. Electric will be the inevitable outcome of the passenger car. Batteries can possibly be repurposed to assist solar panels for energy storage. Solid state batteries will change EV forever. Service stations one day could be 'entertainment centers' The UK government needs to pick a path, but we could gain the most from the automotive industry if we focus on energy production. Few other off tangent topics.... football, quantum computing, AI, X-Ray machines..... but the biggest takeaway..... Its bloody nice to just talk with no agenda... even got a few beers in with leader in London - jackpot! #discussion #automotive #engineering #hydrogen #electric #beer #recruitment

As the The Atlantic article highlights, massive commercial investment in electric vehicle production is started to mature and bear visible fruit. This growth is highlighting gaps and opportunities in the US industrial base, raw materials supply chains, charging infrastructure and elsewhere. What gaps and opportunities are you seeing? #electricvehicles #manufacturing #ev

IndustryWeek's most recent excerpt in the "So That Happened" series covers topics such as microbial fuel cells for agricultural data collection, the positive outlook for manufacturers in infrastructure projects, and most surprisingly, the willingness of young American workers to consider manufacturing jobs. More than half of Americans (54%) indicated willingness to work in manufacturing, while 32% are not open to work in the industry. The 16 to 24 age group and the 25 to 34 age group are similar in their openness to work in manufacturing, reporting 68% and 69%, respectively. Get the bigger picture by reading along with Powell Tool Supply here https://bit.ly/3SB0can