Good Morning, this is your Electric Daily. The email that gives you a daily jolt of electric vehicle trends, insights, and predictions, in 5 minutes or less.

In Today's Email:

• 🤖 California's $6.1 billion EV Flex

• 🎂 California EV Sales Spiked to 10% in 2021

• 💰 Aptera's Solar EV Leaves Model 3 in the Dust

• 🗒️ Three Nuggets

—Riz Nwosu

California's $6.1 billion EV Flex

The state of California will be spending $286.4 billion during the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Out of the total budget, $22.5 billion will go to climate-related goals while EV-related investments will take $6.1 billion.

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed off on the budget and took a gentle swipe at the federal government for not doing enough to fight climate change. California will be focusing on EV initiatives as the transport sector accounts for more than half of the greenhouse gas emissions in the state, according to Gov Newsom.

Newsom indicated that battery-powered vehicle makers are flocking to his state. He didn’t mention any company by name, but automakers like Rivian and Lordstown Motors have established a presence in the state. Also, it is the birthplace of the biggest EV company in the world, Tesla, although the CEO moved the headquarters to Texas last year for tax and regulatory reasons.

Other EV-related companies like ChargePoint and Electrify America, both with the first and second largest market share in the EV charging space, are also very active in California.Furthermore, California is betting heavily on lithium, with plans to become a key player in the extraction of the mineral, with brine deposits located near the Salton Sea. Lithium is a crucial raw material in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

The proposed $6.1 billion spending will cover 5 to 6 years EV spending. The fund will come from several sources; $3.5 billion from the state’s General Fund, $1.5 billion from Proposition 98, $676 million from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and $383 million from the federal government.The fund will be partly disbursed as follows:

• Low-Income Zero-Emission Vehicles and Infrastructure—$256 million to subsidize EV purchases for low-income consumers, and $900 million to expand public charging in low-income neighborhoods.

• Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicles and Supporting Infrastructure—$935 million to add 1,000 zero-emission short-haul (drayage) trucks and 1,700 zero-emission transit buses; $1.5 billion to support electric school buses; $1.1 billion for zero-emission trucks, buses, and off-road equipment and fueling infrastructure; and $400 million to enable port electrification.

• Zero-Emission Mobility—$419 million to support sustainable “community-based transportation equity projects” that increase EV access in low-income communities.

• Emerging Opportunities—$200 million for demonstration and pilot projects in high carbon-emitting sectors, including maritime, aviation, and rail.

California EV Sales Spiked to 10% in 2021

Although registrations for new vehicles in California still down 16% from 2016, according to the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA), EV sales saw that and said "hold my beer". That's because in 2021, the battery electric vehicle segment set a huge new record, after experiencing a COVID slump in 2020.

In 2021, EV sales increased by 74% to 176,357 cars. Their proportion of overall registrations increased to 9.5 percent, up from 6.2 percent the previous year. While overall registrations in California have declined by 16% since 2016, EV sales have more than doubled within the same time period.

In 2021, Tesla's sales increased by 69.6 percent to 121,080 automobiles. Other automakers' EV sales, on the other hand, increased by 82.8 percent to 55,277 units. That's bonkers and we've got some receipts courtesy of the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA):

Aptera's Solar EV Leaves Model 3 in the Dust

Aptera Motors, for those who are unfamiliar with the startup, is developing a three-wheel solar-powered EV that is surprisingly fast AF. Aptera was founded by Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony. This is the company’s second attempt at making a SEV. To date, the company has raised $28 million from investors. The sEV has accumulated about 13,000 pre-orders.

The video below shows both the beta and alpha models of the Aptera EV drag racing a Tesla Model 3 and an Audi R8 in a quarter-mile sprint. Reservations for the solar electric vehicle (sEV) are now available, and a refundable $100 deposit will save your spot in line. 

Enough talk. Let's see some three-wheeled action:

Three Nuggets

• Tesla makes one-millionth 4680 series EV battery cell, will be used in Model Y - [Read more here]

• Public EV charging stations in India increases 2.5 times in these major cities - [Read more here]

• Volkswagen Planning New EV Factory, Increase In Output - [Read more here]

And one more gif for good measure...here's some three-wheeled shenanigans courtesy of the one and only Mr. Bean 🤣

Consider yourself 80% charged. Why 80%? Well, according to legend, charging your battery to 100% repeatedly will damage it faster than you can say...[Insert clever saying here]. See ya tomorrow!

What'd you think about today's email?

• ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ Fully charged

• ⚡⚡ Meh - was ok

• ⚡ Not even close

Written by Riz Nwosu

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