It’s Earth Day—-to remind us that we all live on the same planet and the most important things we can all dos is reduce carbon emissions, offset carbon usage and use zero emission vehicles.
Here’s a round-up of announcements and articles.
Earth Day Inspiration & Charging for EVs
I wrote an article about all the Earth Day events in America that promote EVs–there are some inspiring quotes from Joel Levin, Christopher Alan, Joel Espino and Ben Prochazka.
As Earth Day prepares to mark its 50th anniversary, Twitter has partnered with Earth Day Network to recognize the urgency of the environmental movement through a new Earth Day emoji. The emoji will run for 365 days – through the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, 2020 – in a first-of-its-kind collaboration.
The image, which shows the Earth cradled between two hands, will automatically generate when Twitter users use any one of four action-oriented hashtags: #EarthDay, #EarthRise, #ClimateAction, and #VoteEarth.
Toyota FCET Port of LA
Toyota, Kenworth, the Port of Los Angeles and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) today took the next great leap towards the future of zero-emission trucking, unveiling the first of Toyota and Kenworth’s jointly developed fuel cell electric heavy-duty trucks (FCET). The unveiling was before a crowd of media, government officials and industry and community leaders during a special event held at the Port of Los Angeles.
The new generation zero-emission truck expands on the capabilities of Toyota’s first two Project Portal Proof of Concept trucks through enhanced capability, packaging, and performance; offering an estimated range of more than 300 miles per fill, twice that of a typical drayage truck’s average daily duty cycle. Toyota and Kenworth will deploy a total of 10 trucks as part of the Zero-and-Near-Zero-Emission Freight Facilities Project (ZANZEFF), hauling cargo received at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, throughout the LA Basin.
EVgo & Maven Gig Charging
At a special ribbon cutting event today, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joined LA-based EVgo, the nation’s largest public electric vehicle (EV) fast charging network, and Maven, General Motors’ car sharing platform, to celebrate the introduction of a new, innovative network of EV fast charging hubs that feature both public and dedicated fast chargers for Maven Gig‘s shared-use vehicles.
Los Angeles is home to EVgo’s first local network of these public-rideshare EV fast charging hubs, which will include three locations across the city, further demonstrating the city’s role as a leader in transportation electrification. Today’s event celebrated the official opening of the Venice Crossroads EV fast charging hub located at 8985 Venice Blvd in Los Angeles. Venice Crossroads is located six miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and adjacent to the 10 Freeway and the Metro Expo Line. The first hub in the network opened last month in the heart of Hollywood at the Hollywest Promenade (5455 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles.
Porsche Carbon Offsetting
Carbon offsetting is a growing trend, and now drivers can enjoy the thrill of U.S. Porsche Experience Centers with a neutral carbon footprint. In time for Earth Day, Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA) has enrolled all cars at its two Experience Centers – and its fleet in the monthly subscription pilot, Porsche Passport – in Porsche Impact.
Impact is a new program from Porsche Digital that enables owners to calculate emissions individually per car and then offset them by supporting environmentally friendly projects in the U.S. and worldwide. Following its corporate fleets, PCNA will soon offer Porsche Impact to U.S. customers who want to reduce the CO2 footprint of their internal-combustion engines.
Cox Offsets
Cox Enterprises in 2018 continued its long-standing commitment to responsible corporate stewardship through conservation, employee volunteerism, community support, philanthropy and investment in sustainable businesses. Headquartered in Atlanta with $21 billion in annual revenues, Cox Enterprises is a private, family-owned company with more than 55,000 global employees and three major business divisions: Cox Communications, Cox Automotive and Cox Media Group.
The company offset over 9,000 tons of carbon, saved 22.5 million gallons of water and reduced waste to landfill by almost 40,000 tons as part of its goal to send zero waste to landfill by 2024 and become water and carbon neutral by 2044.
Chargers in High-Income Places
– A new analysis by realtor.com®, the Home of Home Search℠, released today found that home prices in the nation’s top 20 neighborhoods that are most accommodating to electric vehicles are listed 1.5 times higher than their surrounding metro area on average, and 2.6 times higher than the rest of the country. Nine of the top 20 ZIP codes are in California.
According to the analysis, the combined median listing price for the top 20 ZIP codes is $782,000, 1.5 times higher than their surrounding metro area on average, and 2.6 times higher than the rest of the country. Half of homes in these ZIP codes sell in 75 days, 15 days slower than their surrounding metro area on average, and 10 days slower than the rest of the country, consistent with sales trends in pricier areas.
Eco-Friendly Car of the Year
In honor of Earth Day, Cars.com announced today its pick for Eco-Friendly Car of the Year as part of its annual Best of Awards program. The 2019 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid won for its long range, comfortable size and reasonable price. Not only is the Honda Clarity great for the environment, it also provides lower cost-per-mile commuting and a $7,500 federal tax credit for the cost-conscious car shopper.