What We’re Reading

• An EV-plosion awaits in 2023, and it’ll be packed with tech (TechCrunch, December 27, 2022)

  Following years of government policy initiatives and billions of dollars in OEM investment, EVs appear poised to explode into the commercial mainstream during 2023. TechCrunch predicts that EV sales will take off in the first quarter of the year due in large measure to The Inflation Reduction Act passed last August. Under the bill, eligible EVs built in North America with sourced critical battery materials from the U.S. or free-trade agreement countries could qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit. Although the rules were set to go into effect January 1, the Treasury Department has delayed guidance on the critical materials rule until March. As such, North American-built cars from Tesla, General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Rivian, and Volkswagen, to name a few, could now be eligible for the full tax credit, at least for the first three months of the year, driving sales. And, if McKinsey is correct, consumers will have more options than ever, with legacy automakers and EV startups expected to produce up to 400 new EV models this year.

  TechCrunch also predicts that 2023 will see virtually every automaker moving from concept to actual delivery of “software-defined vehicles.” These vehicles (predominantly EVs) will be equipped with end-to-end vehicle software platforms allowing for OTA software updates, cloud connectivity, and vehicle-to-everything communication giving drivers access to purchase apps, subscription-based services, and personalized in-car payment features. Automakers will likely start to migrate these software-defined vehicles into the metaverse by designing digital versions of popular models and production facilities. These vehicles also will be equipped with more sophisticated ADAS, as OEMs continue to shift resources from developing Level 4 and 5 autonomous technology to more sophisticated Level 2+ systems.

  As more EVs hit the roads in 2023, TechCrunch predicts that investment—from government, utility, and private firms—into charging infrastructure, energy storage, and energy transmission will continue to grow at a record pace. A separate J.D. Power study found that availability of public charging remains an obstacle, but finding a working charger can be equally challenging. Accordingly, TechCrunch predicts significant advancements in charger maintenance technology, either from upstarts or existing EV charge players, that helps manage maintenance, servicing, and upgrades for chargers. 

  Finally, TechCrunch predicts that fleet operators will ramp up purchases of EVs, as commercial EV makers get their production lines up and running.

• California law bans Tesla from advertising its electric cars as ‘full self-driving’ (yahoo!news, December 28, 2022)

  Last year, we noted the passage of a California bill, sponsored by outspoken state senator and Tesla critic Lena Gonzalez, that would curtail Tesla and other OEMs’ advertising of their vehicles’ autonomous capabilities. That bill was signed by Governor Newsom in September, and became effective as of January 1.

  The law specifically provides that “a manufacturer or dealer shall not name any partial driving automation feature, or describe any partial driving automation feature in marketing materials, using language that implies or would otherwise lead a reasonable person to believe, that the feature allows the vehicle to function as an autonomous vehicle [as defined in the Vehicle Code] or otherwise has functionality not actually included in the feature.” Any violation of the law is considered automatically to be a misleading advertisement under the State’s Vehicle Code Advertising Laws.  

  Read more in the bill’s fact sheet published by Senator Gonzalez’s office.

• Washington Requires Autonomous Test Cars To Have 200 Times More Liability Insurance Than Real Drivers (CarScoops, December 29, 2022)

  Also going into effect this month is a new Washington State law that requires companies testing self-driving technology in the State to carry insurance with “a minimum of $5 million in liability,” and to self-certify compliance.

  As of the date of this article, only three companies had self-certified: NVIDIA, Waymo (Google), and Zoox (Amazon). Of these, only Zoox currently tests its self-driving vehicles in Washington, reportedly having chosen Seattle specifically for testing due to “its difficult, often rainy conditions.”