In June, Tesla’s Supercharger network passed a charging milestone, delivering more than 1 GWh of energy to Model S vehicles in a single month. That energy accounts for a collective 3.7 million miles driven, 168,000 gallons of gas saved, and 4.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide offset. That’s like driving to the moon and back seven and a half times, and nixing a day’s worth of CO2 from 73,684 Americans.
Tesla’s Supercharger network is now the largest fast-charging network on the planet. It’s also the world’s fastest-growing charging network.
At a Supercharger, Model S customers can get half a charge in as little as 20 minutes, and it’s totally free. Supercharger routes now span the entire width of the United States, from Los Angeles to New York, as well as up and down the East Coast and the West Coast. By the end of next year, 98 percent of the U.S. population will be within 100 miles of a Supercharger. We are also aggressively expanding the network in Europe and Asia. Last week alone, we opened eight new Supercharging sites in Europe, bringing the total number of stations on the continent to 32. We unveiled China’s first Superchargers in June and more are coming soon.
You can find a Model S charging at a Supercharger any given second of the day, and to date Superchargers have powered a total of 24.7 million miles of driving – which means the world has been spared the burning of 1.1 million gallons of gasoline.
For more details on the continued global expansion of the Supercharger network, visit www.teslamotors.com/supercharger.
Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.
Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.
When I started out with my first company, Zip2, I thought patents were a good thing and worked hard to obtain them. And maybe they were good long ago, but too often these days they serve merely to stifle progress, entrench the positions of giant corporations and enrich those in the legal profession, rather than the actual inventors. After Zip2, when I realized that receiving a patent really just meant that you bought a lottery ticket to a lawsuit, I avoided them whenever possible.
At Tesla, however, we felt compelled to create patents out of concern that the big car companies would copy our technology and then use their massive manufacturing, sales and marketing power to overwhelm Tesla. We couldn’t have been more wrong. The unfortunate reality is the opposite: electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn’t burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales.
At best, the large automakers are producing electric cars with limited range in limited volume. Some produce no zero emission cars at all.
Given that annual new vehicle production is approaching 100 million per year and the global fleet is approximately 2 billion cars, it is impossible for Tesla to build electric cars fast enough to address the carbon crisis. By the same token, it means the market is enormous. Our true competition is not the small trickle of non-Tesla electric cars being produced, but rather the enormous flood of gasoline cars pouring out of the world’s factories every day.
We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform.
Technology leadership is not defined by patents, which history has repeatedly shown to be small protection indeed against a determined competitor, but rather by the ability of a company to attract and motivate the world’s most talented engineers. We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard.
Consumers once shopped predominantly at their local stores; but first mail order catalogs and today the Internet have created new ways to shop for and purchase a wide range of goods and services. Similarly, consumers once arranged for taxis by hailing one from a street corner or by calling a dispatcher; yet today, smartphones and new software applications are shaking up the transportation industry, creating new business opportunities and new services for consumers.
In buying cars, however, these new ways to shop may not be available to consumers. For decades, local laws in many states have required consumers to purchase their cars solely from local, independent auto dealers. Removing these regulatory impediments may be essential to allow consumers access to new ways of shopping that have become available in many other industries.
This very question has been raised across the country, as a still-young car manufacturer, Tesla, pursues a direct-to-consumer sales strategy that does not rely on local, independent dealers.
In this case and others, many state and local regulators have eliminated the direct purchasing option for consumers, by taking steps to protect existing middlemen from new competition. We believe this is bad policy for a number of reasons.
American consumers and businesses benefit from a dynamic and diverse economy where new technologies and business models can and have disrupted stable and stagnant industries, often by responding to unmet or under-served consumer needs. When that occurs in an industry long subject to extensive regulation, existing businesses—like automobile dealers—often respond by urging legislators or regulators to restrict or even bar the new firms that threaten to shake up their market.
Out of 15 million cars sold in the U.S. in 2013, Tesla accounted for a little over 22,000. This hardly presents a serious competitive threat to established dealers. What it could represent is a real change to the way cars are sold that might allow Tesla to expand in the future and prove attractive to other manufacturers, whether established or new ones that have yet to emerge, and consumers. Efforts to litigate, legislate, and regulate to eliminate Tesla’s perceived threat have forced it to battle jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction for the simple right to sell its automobiles directly to consumers.
When the automobile industry was in its infancy, auto manufacturers recruited independent, locally owned dealers to reach consumers in localities across the country. State laws progressively embraced wide-ranging protections for these dealers due to a perceived imbalance of power between the typically small local dealers and major national manufacturers. Dealers persuaded lawmakers that they needed protections from abusive practices by manufacturers. Federal laws, too, developed to protect auto dealers from abuse.
These protections expanded until in many states they included outright bans on the sale of new cars by anyone other than a dealer—specifically, an auto manufacturer. Instead of “protecting,” these state laws became “protectionist,” perpetuating one way of selling cars—the independent car dealer. Such blanket bans are an anomaly in the broader economy, where most manufacturers compete to respond to consumer needs by choosing from among direct sales to consumers, reliance on independent dealers, or some combination of the two.
Dealers contend that it is important for regulators to prevent abuses of local dealers. This rationale appears unsupported, however, with respect to blanket prohibitions of direct sales by manufacturers. And, in any event, it has no relevance to companies like Tesla. It has never had any independent dealers and reportedly does not want them.
FTC staff have commented on similar efforts to bar new rivals and new business models in industries as varied as wine sales, taxis, and health care. We have consistently urged legislators and regulators to consider the potential harmful consequences this can have for competition and consumers. How manufacturers choose to supply their products and services to consumers is just as much a function of competition as what they sell—and competition ultimately provides the best protections for consumers and the best chances for new businesses to develop and succeed. Our point has not been that new methods of sale are necessarily superior to the traditional methods—just that the determination should be made through the competitive process.
Change is a critical dimension of that competitive process. Manufacturers in a variety of industries now reach consumers directly through websites, providing extensive information that was once only available from dealers or by phone or mail inquiry. And consumers routinely turn to the Internet as a convenient way to comparison shop and buy products and services.
Such change can sometimes be difficult for established competitors that are used to operating in a particular way, but consumers can benefit from change that also challenges longstanding competitors. Regulators should differentiate between regulations that truly protect consumers and those that protect the regulated. We hope lawmakers will recognize efforts by auto dealers and others to bar new sources of competition for what they are—expressions of a lack of confidence in the competitive process that can only make consumers worse off.
Andy is the Director of the Office of Policy Planning, Debbie is the Director of the Bureau of Competition, and Marty is the Director of the Bureau of Economics. The views expressed are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Commission or of any individual Commissioner.
BEIJING, April 23, 2014 — At the recent delivery ceremony of Tesla’s first batch of Chinese orders in Beijing, two PV charging systems caught the eyes of the guests. The system was requested by Tesla Motors, and designed and manufactured by Hanergy Solar Group. Hanergy thin-film flexible PV system was Tesla’s first choice for the first PV Supercharger station in China. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors, said at the ceremony, “In the future, Tesla will work with partners to build supercharger network. The first charging station in Beijing was built in cooperation with Hanergy Solar Group. Tesla will continue to invest in the construction of superchargers in China, aiming to quickly expand the network.”
Hanergy Solar Group will deliver two solar carports, each in Beijing and Jiading, Shanghai. The Beijing carport, a mobile carport designed to be assembled and transported, adopts Hanergy’s GSE flexible thin-film solar modules. The Shanghai carport will be a fixed structure, and adopts Hanergy’s MiaSole CIGS high-efficiency modules. The first phase of both carports has been completed.
In Elon Musk’s first interview on “Dialogue,” a China Central Television program, the American billionaire said that China is a key market and Tesla would make big investments in China, including investments in environment for charging, building seven super charging networks, and providing uninterrupted solar power supply 24 hours per day. The first batch of charging stations will be built up in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
The PV charging system by Hanergy Solar Group protects vehicles like ordinary carports while converting sunlight into electricity utilizing its designated rooftop. At the same time, the system charges the electric vehicle through its energy storage system. The system uses the CIGS thin-film PV technology, the most advanced in the world. With conversion rates peaking at 20.5%, this technology offers light weight, flexibility, excellent low-light performance and advanced packaging. More importantly, no fixed column is required, which significantly reduces the cost. The carport is mobile, beautiful, modern in appearance, and a perfectly integrated to city surroundings, providing convenient and fast charging services to electric car owners.
Ms. Zhang Qingliang, Vice President of Hanergy Global Solar Power and Application Group said, “We are pleased to be the one to provide Tesla the first batch of solar powered Supercharging stations in China. As a technology-driven company, Hanergy has been actively exploring ways to utilize its thin-film photovoltaic technology to provide solutions through technological innovation and cross industrial integration. We have been working with multiple domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers to integrate solar, and is also researching on energy storage, photovoltaic car roof and other solar-automobile applications.”
In his interview, Elon Musk also stressed that the charging stations that Tesla is building in China can work 24 hours per day. Utilizing solar power and energy storage systems, the charging stations reduce the impact of electric coal on environment. The batteries are charged during the daytime with solar power; then can supply power for vehicles at night. In fact, under the double pressure of escalating oil price and increasingly strict emission standards, the electric vehicle industry has become a strategic industry all over the world.
Electric coal is currently the dominating source of energy. The EV industry still suffers from the traditional energy supply pattern. Combining the electric automobile industry and that of renewable energy, the cooperation between Tesla and Hanergy is an active practice towards cross-industrial technological innovation. It is a first step towards freedom from the traditional energy pattern and the plight of traditional fossil energy on which the current electric auto industry relies upon.
Since a successful Tesla is in the national interest, federal lawmakers would be wise to stop all this state auto dealership nonsense. The idea that Tesla cannot sell its electric cars in its stores in certain states is asinine. This issue is an obvious distraction for Tesla, with CEO Musk taking time to blog instead of innovate. There are already enough states with varying Tesla bans, making the situation ripe for federal law (restraint of interstate commerce).
A week ago, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission banned Tesla from selling its cars in its Jersey stores. Tesla CEO Musk reached out to NJ in a blog post (3-14-14): “Our stores will transition to being galleries, where you can see the car and ask questions of our staff, but we will not be able to discuss price or complete a sale in the store.” Mr. Musk continued: “We are evaluating judicial remedies to correct the situation.”
Tesla tweeted (3-16-14): “Green River, UT is now Supercharged, making over 80 Superchargers in the US alone. See where you can charge for free: http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger.” Progress! Tesla stock (TSLA) closed today at $240.04 per share. The 52 week high is $265.
US Oil Angst
Clearly, anti-Tesla auto dealers would prefer to nail the country to an oil import tanker before letting Tesla revolutionize the auto business. What do federal lawmakers plan to do when the shale oil fields peak? We’re spinning our wheels as a nation, consuming almost 19 million barrels of liquid fuels a day, still beholden to the world oil market and its many seedy players. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that conventional oil fields decline at about 6% post peak, and shale oil wells decline to a trickle after a few years of production. EOG Resources stated on its Q4 conference call that it is seeing a flattening of overall Bakken oil production.
North Dakota’s oil production remained approximately even in January, according to the latest release (3-15-14) from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, which showed oil production at 28,926,977 barrels in January 2014 (933,128 barrels a day), up from 28,727,304 barrels in December 2013. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects North Dakota production to rise more significantly in coming reports from the state due to improved weather conditions.
Model S at Supercharger Photo courtesy of Tesla
The EIA expects overall US oil production to rise to 9.2 million barrels a day (mb/d) in 2015, up from present production of about 8.18 mb/d. US average annual oil production peaked in 1970 at 9.6 mb/d using conventional drilling methods. Prior to the coming peak in US oil production using fracking technology, the price of WTI oil will likely rise, anticipating the decline of shale oil fields. When the peak comes, federal lawmakers will scramble for solutions.
World Oil Angst
The International Energy Agency (IEA) raised its 2014 oil demand estimate slightly to 92.7 million barrels a day; the IEA sees a stronger worldwide economy ahead. Oil prices have been surprisingly tame in recent trade, given international tension over Ukraine. WTI oil is $99.4 a barrel and Brent $106.6. At the CERAWeek conference (3-4-14), Chevron CEO John Watson called $100 oil the new $20, lamenting the rising costs of producing oil.
Oil and War
Courtesy of EIA
Iraq remains one of the last places where large quantities of easy oil can be produced to increase world supply. In February, Iraq increased oil production significantly to 3.6 mb/d, up about a half million barrels, which took some of the edge off international tensions over Ukraine. Iraq’s Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Al-Luaibi hopes to reach 4.1 mb/d in production this year and export 3.4 mb/d. However, as the chart shows, Iraq has hardly been a long-term steady producer.
Conflicts within the Middle East never stop stunning the West. Libya’s oil production has dropped to a range of about 100,000 to 120,000 barrels a day, according to Libya’s acting Minister of Oil Omar Shakmak. The country’s prewar production was about 1.6 mb/d.
“American forces yesterday boarded and took control of a commercial tanker ship that was seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a Defense Department news release issued today.” – DOD (3-17-14)
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has decided to release 5 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), testing the SPR system in case of an oil disruption emergency. The winning bids for the oil were announced yesterday; Phillips, Shell, Exxon, Marathon and Mercuria were the buyers.
Petrobras Oil Expense Risk
Brazil’s state oil company, Petrobras (PBR), sold more debt on March 10, raising a whopping $8.5 billion. Despite being the world’s most indebted oil company, Petrobras can still sell debt with an investment grade rating. There is a lot of money and power riding on Petrobras, so rating agencies must be nervous about making the tough call. Petrobras had about $114 billion in debt at year end 2013, and the company does not expect to return to positive cash flow until 2016. PBR closed today at $10.56. A new 52 week low was made yesterday at $10.2, dangerously close to single digits.
Petrobras is the world’s best example of how oil is crowding out normal economic development. It will take a crisis to see real change.
Russia The Bear
Russia is the world’s largest producer of crude oil, averaging approximately 10.5 mb/d (10.51 in 2013), according to the Russian Ministry of Energy. While Europeans may fret about Russian gas and oil supplies, the US is most concerned about oil. Russia exports about 7.4 mb/d of liquid fuels (EIA 2012 est.) and has the power to shut down the world economy by withholding oil exports from the market. Iran does not hold such sway.
Senator John McCain stated on CNN (3-16-14): “Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country.” Senator McCain continued clarifying: “It’s a nation really only dependent on oil and gas for their economy.”
“Oil and gas revenues accounted for 52% of federal budget revenues and over 70% of total exports in 2012, according to PFC Energy.” – EIA Russia Analysis
Courtesy of EIA
About EV News Report
EV News Report is a community blogging website for electric vehicle and greentech enthusiasts, as well as peak oil activists. Please help accelerate the electric vehicle and greentech movements by submitting an original article to EV News Report by following the video instructions on the About tab.
The world is transitioning from the fossil fuel age to the clean electric energy era. Two major world emergencies are driving this change:
1. There are over 7 billion people on the planet according to the United Nations. Today’s worldwide economic growth is placing tremendous demands on the energy sector. Unfortunately, according to the International Energy Agency, approximately 80% of the world’s energy is derived from fossil fuels. Absent an energy revolution, climate research tells us that the planet will be significantly warmer and altered for future generations.
2. The oil market is expensive and fragile. The door is open to green alternatives; however, high oil prices may destroy the currencies of oil dependent nations before the EV and greentech revolutions have a chance to reach mass adoption.
Tesla Giga Factory rendering Image courtesy of Tesla
Tesla Painted a Picture for Wall Street
Tesla sold the Giga Factory to Wall Street, raising two billion from convertible notes, helping to alleviate doubts about the company’s ability to become a major auto mass producer. The five ($800 million) and seven year ($1.2 billion) convertible notes pay meager coupons of .25% and 1.25% respectfully, which should raise few near-term financial concerns considering Tesla’s fantastic sales growth expectations. The stock (TSLA) hit a high of $265 on Wednesday, which came shortly after a bullish report ($320 price target) from Morgan Stanley Analyst Adam Jonas. TSLA closed at 244.81 per share today, down 3.06%.
CEO Elon Musk is the golden boy with the Midas touch. He knows how to paint a picture, and this last one had sustainable sugar plums dancing in Wall Street’s head, with solar, wind, and batteries galore. Mr. Musk also plays to win and to win big, holding a 27% stake in Tesla as of December 31 2013, which is greatly admired by most players, big and small.
Goldman Sachs keeps dragging along in TSLA’s rearview mirror, raising its price target to $170, but remaining skeptical about the stock’s valuation. Goldman is not alone in thinking Tesla’s 30 billion market capitalization is excessive, but most skeptics have been silenced due to Tesla’s excellent execution and business integrity.
Tesla Production Guesstimates
Tesla plans to be producing about 1,000 electric cars a week by the end of 2014 at its Fremont Factory, up from about 600 a week today. By 2020, the future Giga Factory is expected to produce enough batteries for 500,000 Tesla electric cars a year, which is the approximate capacity limit of the Fremont Factory. On the Q4 conference call, CEO Musk expressed his best guesses for future demand for the Model S and X, estimating about 1,000 a week for each, possibly more for the X, leaving the remaining capacity for the Gen III. For clarity, let’s round these figures to be 50,000 S, 50,000 X and 400,000 Gen III by 2020.
Gen III, The Major Road Ahead
As of December 31 2013, Tesla had only produced about 2,500 Roadsters and a little over 25,000 Model S cars. These are small numbers; however, Tesla has tremendous opportunities ahead within the two trillion dollar plus global new auto market (CEO Elon Musk stat. Q4 cc). The Gen III is the big act to come. If the Gen III lives up to expectations, Tesla will need more Giga, more Fremont Factory, more Supercharger, more everything Tesla.
Tesla has been studying charging strategies for apartment dwellers. On the Q4 cc, CEO Musk simply stated: “We are working pretty hard on that. We believe we’ve got some good solutions. We’re going to talk more about that in the coming months.”
Morgan Stanley sees Tesla also disrupting the electric utility business with stationary battery storage. Certainly, Tesla has an opportunity in this field, especially in home energy storage with its relationship with SolarCity, but it is still far too early to judge the long-term technological direction of this market. There are multiple battery designs and chemistries that may prove to be more economical as stationary storage but unsuitable within an electric vehicle. Regardless of the battery storage business, Tesla has plenty of lithium-ion battery demand for electric cars for years to come.
Tesla tweeted today: “Tesla Superchargers have charged over 10 MILLION miles to Model S. Enough to go to the Moon & back 20 times.”
The Oil Elephant in the Room
President Barack Obama shakes hands with a worker as he and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx tour the Metro Transit Light Rail Operations and Maintenance Facility in St. Paul, Minn., Feb. 26, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Vice President Joe Biden sits at the controls of one of Amtrak’s new “Cities Sprinter” electric locomotives at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 6, 2014. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
With peak oil a primary concern, President Obama and Vice President Biden spent time recently reviewing transit electric vehicles. Maybe, just maybe, they will entertain the Hyperloop idea.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil closed the week at $102.59 per barrel. Brent is around $109. With Cushing oil inventories declining to normal levels, the spread between WTI and Brent should near parity.
The world has been locked into a doomed relationship with the oil market, being led by the dubious Saudi America, setting up the world economy for a hard fall. Saudi America is a fantasy state that ignores oil depletion, and it is crowding out normal economic development, wasting monies and time on energy projects that are archaic.
Tesla has the most sensible strategy to a sustainable world, aiming first at reducing gasoline demand.
Giga Factory Future
The future for electric cars, renewables and battery storage has never looked better, with particular thanks to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Tesla plans to have the Giga Factory powered by wind and solar, with battery storage most likely as well. Panasonic is expected to be a major partner in the future factory, building upon its existing supplier relationship to Tesla today. Tesla CEO Musk expects there to be multiple partners due to the heavy capital costs to build the factory, estimated at 4-5 billion.
By 2020, the Giga Factory battery cell output is expected to be an incredible 35 GWh/yr, producing more battery cells than the entire 2013 worldwide market, according to Tesla Motors. In its first year of production (2017), the factory is expected to drop battery pack costs by more than 30% due in large part to economies to scale. It is in 2017 that Tesla plans to start ramping production of its much awaited and much needed Gen III car.
In a blog post, Tesla highlighted Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada as states in the running for the Giga Factory site, which would employ approximately 6,500 people. Unfortunately, California has been mysteriously missing from the Giga Factory location list, surprising many due to the obvious logistical benefits for Tesla. California Governor Jerry Brown announced yesterday that he will be running for re-election, which is great news for the environmental movement. Maybe Governor Brown still has time to talk Giga and Hyperloop too.
About EV News Report
EV News Report is a community blogging website for electric vehicle and greentech enthusiasts, as well as peak oil activists. Please help accelerate the electric vehicle and greentech movements by submitting an original article to EV News Report by following the video instructions on the About tab.
The world is transitioning from the fossil fuel age to the clean electric energy era. Two major world emergencies are driving this change:
1. There are over 7 billion people on the planet according to the United Nations. Today’s worldwide economic growth is placing tremendous demands on the energy sector. Unfortunately, according to the International Energy Agency, approximately 80% of the world’s energy is derived from fossil fuels. Absent an energy revolution, climate research tells us that the planet will be significantly warmer and altered for future generations.
2. The oil market is expensive and fragile. The door is open to green alternatives; however, high oil prices may destroy the currencies of oil dependent nations before the EV and greentech revolutions have a chance to reach mass adoption.
Electric vehicles are the best opportunity in the coming years for all major markets to reduce oil consumption substantially. The United States alone with its 250 million vehicles (USDOT approx.) uses about 8.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline (EIA). With such a large potential market, Tesla stock (TSLA) is like a young excitable pup playing on the NASDAQ stock market. TSLA hopped up 1.06% to $178.56 per share today, happily wagging its Supercharger plug.
Electric Energy Revolution
Tesla CEO Musk plans to take a cross country trip soon (spring, across the US) with his kids, which will help demonstrate to the world that Tesla is more than just an electric car manufacturer. This may not be a walk on the Moon or Mars, but it will be a very important moment in history. We are transitioning from oil to electric. As the oil needle runs down (peak oil) today, we know that electric energy can take us wherever we want or need to go tomorrow.
Tesla plans to have most of its Supercharger stations powered by solar, which is a good choice since the Sun has plenty of days ahead, 4.5 billion years approximately (NASA).
Image courtesy of SEIA
Yes, it is in its infancy, but the electric energy revolution is upon us. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) states on its website: “Today, solar is one of the fastest-growing industries in America, employing 120,000 workers and generating an estimated 13 gigawatts (GW) of clean electricity – enough to effectively power 2 million homes.” SEIA has organized a “Shout Out For Solar” day for January 24 to celebrate solar energy.
Oil Kicking
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil kicked back up to $96.75 per barrel today. The International Energy Agency (IEA) upped its world oil demand estimate to 92.5 million bpd for 2014 in its latest Oil Market Report. The IEA cites the economic rebound in the developed world (US and Europe) as the primary factor for the upped estimate. While most market strategists in recent years have been focusing on the developing world’s appetite for oil, particularly China, the IEA has been reminding us recently that the developed world remains entrenched in the oil world.
As a side note, Royal Dutch Shell issued a substantial profit warning last Friday, largely due to the limits of easy oil supplies. Oil is kicking, but the easy oil has been kicked.
Tesla Supercharger stations
Tesla Supercharger Photo courtesy of Tesla
With the world so dependent on this one energy resource, oil, you would think that there would be a relentless (maybe reckless) effort to wean the world off oil. Yes, Tesla Supercharger stations are helping to recall some oil barrels from the world market, but it will take many years for Tesla to make a meaningful dent in world oil demand. The company has 68 Supercharger stations in North America and 14 in Europe, according to its website. By comparison, there are approximately 160,000 gasoline stations in the US according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and about 131,000 in Europe according to Europia. Tesla stated yesterday that “81 Supercharger locations are energized worldwide, with 14 locations in Europe. More than 11 million kilometers have been charged by Tesla Superchargers and nearly 1.13 million liters of gas have been offset.”
Oil Transition Risk
The world consumed 91.2 million bpd in 2013 according to the IEA and crossed over 92 million bpd in Q4 2013. As the oil numbers grow larger, the risks for the world grow larger. There is absolutely no certainty that the oil industry will meet global oil demand at a reasonable price per barrel, so the world lives with a constant economic uncertainty that only time and great investment can fix. No, shale oil is not a long-term solution; sustainable electric energy is a long-term solution. We need to stop the oil consumption graph line before the price of a barrel of oil stops the world economy. Please note that the IEA and EIA have slightly different data.
Graph courtesy of EIA
About EV News Report
EV News Report is a community blogging website for electric vehicle and greentech enthusiasts, as well as peak oil activists. Please help accelerate the electric vehicle and greentech movements by submitting an original article to EV News Report by following the video instructions on the About tab.
The world is transitioning from the fossil fuel age to the clean electric energy era. Two major world emergencies are driving this change:
1. There are over 7 billion people on the planet according to the United Nations. Today’s worldwide economic growth is placing tremendous demands on the energy sector. Unfortunately, according to the International Energy Agency, approximately 80% of the world’s energy is derived from fossil fuels. Absent an energy revolution, climate research tells us that the planet will be significantly warmer and altered for future generations.
2. The oil market is expensive and fragile. The door is open to green alternatives; however, high oil prices may destroy the currencies of oil dependent nations before the EV and greentech revolutions have a chance to reach mass adoption.
