The two-day AUTONOMY exhibition in France has drawn to a close, and we are proud to have accomplished so much during this time. From the meticulous attention to detail in setting up the exhibition space to the final moments of the event, we invested our utmost care, diligence, and enthusiasm to make this exhibition a resounding success.   Throughout the exhibition, we had the privilege of engaging with potential customers from diverse regions and introducing them to our cutting-edge OCPP electric vehicle charging and energy management solutions. These interactions enabled us to gain valuable insights into our customers' needs and to tailor our products and services accordingly. We are honored to have received accolades for our innovative solutions and to have forged lasting partnerships with like-minded collaborators who share our vision and values.     Though the exhibition has concluded, our journey continues with renewed vigor and resolve. At iocharger, we remain steadfast in our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible and delivering exceptional products and services to our customers. We are excited to see what the future holds and are confident that we will continue to exceed expectations and set new standards of excellence.   In summary, the end of the exhibition heralds a new beginning for us. We look forward to the prospect of meeting new faces, forming new partnerships, and exploring new horizons in the days and years ahead.  

The European Parliament formally approved a new law in Tuesday (14 February) to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in Europe starting in 2035, in a move that is accelerating the transition to electric vehicles and fighting climate change.   With 340 votes in favour, 279 against and 21 abstentions, the regulation was passed by the European Parliament. "This regulation encourages the production of zero- and low-emission vehicles. It contains an ambitious revision of the targets for 2030 and a zero-emission target for 2035, which is crucial to reach climate neutrality by 2050." said by Jan Huitema, the parliament's lead negotiator on the rules.   By 2030, according to the new rules, the carbon emission of new cars and vans must be cut by 55% and 50% respectively compared with 2021, much higher than the existing target of a 37.5%. By 2035, carmakers must meet a 100% cut in carbon-dioxide emissions from new cars, which means no new fossil fuel-powered vehicles could be sold in the 27-country bloc. Based on the 15-year lifespan of ordinary household vehicles, it can be inferred that the European Union will actually reach climate neutrality by 2050.   It is reported that in the next step, the proposal will be formally approved by the European Council and finally implemented.   Hoping to successfully electrify the sector, the European Union will have to invest heavily in promoting the sales of electric vehicles, developing renewable energy, guarantee access to raw materials and building an efficient corresponding charging system.

Residential battery storage capacity in Europe reach 9.3GWh by the end of 2022. That is in the solar PV industry trade body's Medium Scenario, which estimates the continent will reach 39.9GWh of residential storage by 2026.    Home batteries have become an attractive means to reduce electricity bills, especially during a year of huge rises, increased interest in energy resilience and lower carbon footprints. And the growth of residential solar, also helped by various government incentives, has laid the foundation for the attached storage market to take off.   The main headwinds preventing installations from being even higher have been a lack of installers and a shortage of battery cells. Installation is a much greater proportion of overall costs for residential than commercial and industrial (C&I) or utility-scale.   Unsurprisingly, Germany is the biggest market according to the solar PV industry trade body's data. The country's residential energy storage market has always been strong as consumers seek to pair storage with home PV, which the government has incentivised, and increase self-sufficiency.   It installed 1.3GWh of home storage systems in 2021, 59% of the total 2.2GWh installed across the continent. Italy, the next-largest market, deployed 321MWh thanks partially to the incentive scheme for home storage, while Austria (132MWh), the UK (128MWh) and Switzerland (79MWh) make up the top five.   One company seeking to capitalize on growth in Germany this week announced the acquisition of Hycube, a residential energy storage system solution provider. It said the German home energy storage market is worth €5 billion.

The Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act includes incentives for automakers to source their batteries in the US. This is in an effort to reduce reliance on China and decrease logistics and material costs. As a result, many automakers and battery suppliers have announced plans to build battery plants, dubbed "gigafactories", in the US. These plans include FREYR and Hyundai building separate plants in Georgia, Panasonic building batteries for Tesla in Kansas, Stellantis and Samsung SDI investing in Indiana, LG Energy Solution expanding a facility in Michigan, and GM also increasing its production in Michigan. These projects are expected to bring significant economic development and job creation in the region. According to the Center for Automotive Research, automakers announced plans to invest some $22 billion in battery plants in the US in 2022.   The Southeast region of the US is becoming a hub for battery production and some are calling it the "battery belt." States and regions are competing to lure battery-makers with generous tax breaks and subsidies. This is expected to create more than 150,000 direct jobs, as per Atlas Public Policy. The movement of battery production to the US and Europe not only reduces reliance on China but also helps with logistics and material costs. With all these investments, it is expected that the US will play a major role in the battery production and electric vehicle industry in the near future.

The investment will add 90,000 new EV chargers across the state, more than double the 80,000 chargers already installed.   The government of California has approved a $2.9 billion investment plant to accelerate the state's electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling targets for 2025.   According to the plan approved by the California Energy Commission on December 14, the investment will add 90,000 new EV chargers across the state, more than double the 80,000 chargers already installed. The energy commission estimates that combined with funding from utilities and other programs, these investments are expected to ensure the state achieves its goal to deploy 250,000 chargers by 2025.   The agency said the funds will support the deployment of thousands of zero-emission trucks, school buses and transit buses "to communities hit hardest by the impacts of pollution from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles."   Funding for the CEC's Clean Transportation Program is increased by 30 times compared to 2019 with an additional $2.4 billion from the recent state budget that will be spent over the next four years. At least 50 percent of it will be targeted to benefit priority populations.

Europe will have 130 million electric vehicles on the road by 2035, according to a joint report from EY and the electricity industry trade association. EY projects that the continent will need 65 million electric vehicle chargers by 2035, requiring $134 billion in infrastructure investment. The report's projections show Europe's EV fleet growing from its current base of less than 5 million to 65 million by 2030 and then doubling over the following five years. EY estimates that the continent will need 65 million chargers to fuel these cars, trucks, and buses. Europe's rapid adoption of electric vehicles presents two large tasks for utility providers. The first is to build a network of 9 million out-of-home chargers along roadways, at workplaces, and at fleet-charging hubs. There are about 445,000 public connectors installed across Europe. In addition to overseeing the installation of millions of chargers, Europe's utility industry will need to manage an increased load on the grid. Along highway corridors, where drivers will expect fast charging on demand, EVs could increase peak loads by 90%, according to EY's calculations. Managing these surges, will require on-site solar and energy storage systems at charging stations. In urban residential settings, EY expects charging demand to surge in the evenings, when drivers return from work, causing potential increases in peak load of 86%. To smooth these peaks electricity providers will need to offer incentives for drivers to charge at off-peak times and to put power from car batteries back into the grid, meaning both homes and cars will need two-way charging capabilities. With such mitigations in place, according to the report, utilities could reduce EV demand spikes by more than a fifth.

On Nov 9-10, 2022, the Open Charging Alliance (OCA) host the OCPP Plugfest as usual. As an official member of OCA, iocharger participated in all OCPP 2.0.1 & 1.6J Plugfest events.   In this event, we have remote connection tests with charging management platforms around the world and received their unanimous approval. It also verified the soft power of our OCPP1.6J & 2.0.1 EV charging stations again.   Thanks to OCA for hosting this event, so that we can discuss with each other about OCPP EV charging and energy management technology. This event is conducive to the development of the industry and the process of world green environmental protection.

The Biden administration has approved electric vehicle charging infrastructure plans for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico ahead of Sept. 30 deadline.   The approval unlocks more than $1.5 billion in funding in 2022-23 to build EV chargers across roughly 75,000 miles of U.S. highway, including interstates and alternative fuel corridors, according to the Federal Highway Administration.   The agency said it had approved 35 of the 52 EV infrastructure deployment plans submitted by states, D.C. and Puerto Rico ahead of schedule under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program.   The program — created and funded by the infrastructure law — makes $5 billion available over the next five years to help states achieve President Joe Biden's goal of 500,000 EV charging stations across the U.S. by 2030.   With the approval, states, D.C. and Puerto Rico can now be reimbursed for certain costs related to the development of their plans. They can use the funding for projects directly related to the charging of a vehicle, such as upgrading or constructing new charging infrastructure, and activities related to station maintenance and work force development. The Federal Highway Administration proposed a rule on the minimum standards and requirements to ensure EV charging stations are accessible, user-friendly and interoperable among different charging companies and across a broad range of vehicles. It plans to finalize the rule "expeditiously." Biden last year set an ambitious target for battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cells to make up 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030. And, to speed up EV adoption, his administration wants to work with states to build a national charging network with funding from the infrastructure law.