Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the Elon Musk Podcast. Today, we're going to be looking into a significant development in the electric vehicle space that's going to transform the North American landscape. It's a new comprehensive electric vehicle charging network set to span across the United States and Canada.
This is a joint venture backed by some of the largest players in the auto industry, including BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Stalantis. These industry leaders are coming together with the aim of making EV charging as convenient as possible for users. This will revolutionize how we charge our EV's. Now in addition to that, we'll also be discussing Rivian,
another EV maker. Now this is about the CEO of Rivian, and they share their perspective on companies that are truly committed to renewable energy and the importance of consumers understanding the source of their power consumption, where everything comes from. We'll take a little dive into that and also the future of EV charging. So there's a lot to uncover in today's episode and I promise that it'll be a nice thought provoking discussion that you won't want to miss.
So stay with us, we'll take a quick break for some important messages from our sponsors and we'll be back to delve deeper into these developments in the electric vehicle industry. All right. Welcome back, everybody. This is a major step for electrification in the auto
industry. This is a global consortium of automakers comprising of BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Solantis. And this is a joint venture to build a comprehensive EV charging network across the US and Canada. This is a formidable grouping.
Currently unnamed, they don't have a name yet, and they pledged to erect user friendly DC fast chargers along the highways and within urban environments of the US and Canada. The plan aims to install at least 30,000 high speed EV chargers by 20-30, with the initial one set to become operational by the summer of 2024 in the US. Now, to fulfill this goal, this group intends to harness the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure or the NEVI funding in the US and draw from
both private and public funding at the state and federal levels. So they're getting the government and the taxpayers to pay for most of this. And the current EV charging landscape is mainly Tesla Superchargers and Electrify America stations dotted all across the United States. Now these stations are typically installed in strategic locations where people can shop, they can go out to eat, or they can use
restrooms. And in line with this, the proposed new chargers will be positioned along routes leading to holiday destinations and within major city limits. Now, these new charging stations promise seamless connection and charging capabilities for EV models manufactured by the partner automakers. This eliminates the need for consumers to navigate between different charging station applications, thereby ensuring a smooth user experience.
The venture also seems to incorporate the emerging plug and charge standard that the Federal Highway Administration is striving to standardize. Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, voiced her support for the initiative, saying the better experience people have, the faster EV adoption will grow. She pointed to the current issue plaguing many charging networks, which require unique apps and suffer from reliability concerns.
Notably, Tesla's Supercharger network hailed us among the best globally will accommodate vehicles from automakers including Ford, GM, Volvo and more, all without necessitating activation via an app. In line with global sustainability initiatives, the joint venture plans to have its operation fully powered by renewable energy. Although it's unclear whether the renewable energy will directly power the stations or whether the companies will
purchase credits. Is eco conscious approach is indicative of the industry's increasing shift towards sustainable practices. Now Canadians are great Neighbors to the North will have to wait until a later stage before the initial charging stations are installed. All stations will include standardized Tesla North American Charging standard ports, the NECS and the widely used Combined Charging System plugs, the CS.
This announcement comes at a time when the environmental credentials of companies are under scrutiny. Now the Rivian CEO expresses frustration at companies overstating their green achievements. He believes consumers can't discern the difference, and the companies often hide the true source of their power
consumption, he said. This is just so conceptually complex, drawing a clear line between companies that invest in renewable energy to offset their emissions and those who merely want to pay a teeny little incremental amount more to get the ability to pat ourselves on the back and say we're using renewable energy. That's what they said.
Now they position Rivian as a company that aspires not only to offset its own carbon emission, but also to contribute to the creation of new renewable energy capabilities. This commitment led him to support the development of a new solar energy center in Kentucky built the top of former coal
mine. Now the mine Starfire, once bustling with miners hauling millions of tons of coal annually, is set to be transformed into a solar farm, aiming to generate 800 megawatts of energy, enough to power 160,000 homes per year. Bright Night, a company based in Florida, which is a solar company, is additionally constructing A10 mile transmission line to add another GW of power capabilities in the future.
A Rivian has committed to purchasing 100 megawatts of energy from the project under a virtual power Purchase agreement, the PA, which means the power is clean energy and it won't directly power Rivian's electric vehicles or its corporate infrastructure. However, it will contribute to powering up to 450,000,000 miles of renewable driving every year. Now, the commitment to renewable energy doesn't stop with Rivian,
though. Other automakers like Solantis and Mercedes-Benz have also signed on to virtual PPA's to help meet their sustainability goals. Now, virtual PPA's are growing in popularity amongst American corporations, and in 2021, corporations purchased a record 31.1 gigawatts of clean energy, which was over 10% of all new renewable energy capabilities added worldwide that year. Tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google accounted for more than half of those agreements.
Now, the Rivian CEO asserted that without these virtual Ppa's, many renewable energy projects wouldn't even get off the ground. The commitment to the purchase power for these projects ensures their financial viability and their completion, and Rivian's commitment to the solar project in Kentucky shows that they're in it for the long haul. Rivian also champions transparency and reporting environmental impact. It's striving to achieve Scope 3
neutrality. This is an objective that means the company aims to eliminate all indirect emissions from its supply chain and the life cycle of the Ev's it produces. Moreover, Rivian plans to offer a package allowing drivers to match their charging regardless of location with renewable energy Now. This commitment to offsetting carbon emissions positions Rivian as an industry leader in the shift towards renewable energy.
Now this collective venture of global automakers to build this new EV charging network is a huge move and this will electrify an eco conscious future for the automotive industry. Now the commitments towards renewable energy signals a shift towards sustainable practices in the automotive sector that we've never seen before and hopefully will help promote wider EV adoption in the future. Thank you so much for listening to the Elon Musk podcast today.
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