All eyes on Tesla, but EV sales are growing again at GM, elsewhere

Plus, Google adding EV charging stations to its AI maps service

In today’s edition:

— As all eyes focus on Tesla, EV sales are quietly growing again at GM, elsewhere

— GE Vernova torpedoes three NY state wind projects after abandoning new large turbines

— Massive flooding hits Guangdong province, more than a million without power

— Google unveils find-my-charger program for EVs

— Growing state legal tussle over auto emissions standards looks like to head to Supreme Court

— NASA launches six new missions to study fire-induced clouds, ice flows and more

One of the world’s biggest garbage dumps is burning out of control. A fire broke out at the Ghazipur landfill in the capital city of Delhi, India on Sunday amid high temps. Officials are worried about health risks to those living in the densely populated area. The landfill takes up more than 40 football fields and is over 200 feet high. Photo: Vikas Choudhary / downtoearth.org.

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On a business trip to Tokyo about 20 years ago, I was amazed when a colleague pulled his mobile phone out and started taking photos. It was still a few years before phones with cameras appeared in the U.S. Like with train systems and debit card readers, Japan, China and Europe are well ahead of America in many personal and transportation technologies, despite Silicon Valley.

The International Energy Agency confirmed this week that the trend extends to electric vehicles as well, reporting robust growth in EV sales everywhere but in the U.S. The IEA said it expects 21% growth in EVs this year, which while a bit lower than in 2023 is still one in five of all sales (if you include hybrids). In China, it will be closer to 60%, Europe about 25%, and even in the U.S., about 10%.

Meanwhile, GM said today in its Q1 earnings call with analysts that EV retail customer deliveries increased 21% from a year ago. This off of a reduced forecast and after several rounds of industry price cuts. But it was enough to jolt GM shares GM 0.00%↑. Ford F 0.00%↑ reports tomorrow amid softened expectations for EV sales, but even it should show growth from last year’s first quarter.

Nothing will impact EV speculation like Tesla’s TSLA 0.00%↑ earnings and new products though, and just before deadline here, it reported that it missed earnings expectations for the first quarter. But its stock shot up after hours after it promised to speed up new affordable models and said its energy storage business was soaring.

There is enough behind Tesla’s problems and projections to fill another entire newsletter, and we will be back to it later this week and likely next. But while Tesla is the pioneer, it is not the entire EV market. Behind the headlines and political talking points, EV sales are quietly becoming more of a force. . . .

Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas at dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.

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Tuesday’s subscriber-only insights

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