The week in tech: Tesla opens supercharger network, and more

It’s that time of the week again! And no, we’re not talking about the fact that it’s Friday, we’re talking about TomTom’s weekly roundup of what’s happening in our industry of mobility and mapping. Take a look at the articles covering what we think are the most interesting incidents from the past couple of days.

How smart charging may save power grids

Ever since EVs became the new gas car and EV charging became the new petrol, governments have been faced with the increasingly important question of how to run EVs without crashing local power networks. According to auditing firm EY, Europe will have 65 million EVs by 2030, which could lead to blackouts through an overload of local grids. Nick Carey and Anthony Deutsch examine what is being done to avoid this and explain why bidirectional charging may be the solution.

General Motors announces increase in donation to its Climate Equity Fund

General Motors has announced the expansion of its commitment to equitable climate change, donating a total of $50 million to its Climate Equity Fund. The company hopes to ensure equality and inclusion through the transition to EVs and other sustainable technologies. It has also promised to invest a further $35 billion worldwide into EV and AV programs, research, technology and charging infrastructure. Automotive World reports on the newest changes in General Motor’s pledge to equitable climate change.

Tesla opens Supercharger network to all EVs in the Netherlands

Hooray! Tesla is finally allowing other car brands to utilize its Supercharger network. However, the company is only implementing this in the Netherlands for the time being, and with a slightly higher price for non-Tesla drivers. Rebecca Bellan details the release of Tesla’s pilot program, showing how non-Tesla drivers can charge their cars through the Tesla app.

Tesla has opened its Supercharger network for all EVs in the Netherlands.

Biden administration reveals plans for $5 billion EV charging network

The Biden administration has revealed its plan to dedicate $5 billion of its infrastructure bill towards America’s EV charging network. Reporting for the Washington Post, Ian Duncan discusses the finer details of Biden’s proposal for increasing EV chargers around the country. There are currently 116,000 charging ports around the country, mainly based in California. The current government hopes to make that number 500,000, with Biden aiming to have 50% of newly sold cars be EVs by 2030.

The UK’s drive-through obsession is causing increased tailpipe emissions

With over 2,000 drive-through restaurants in the UK alone, it’s not surprising to find out that these gateways to instant satisfaction are linked with increasing emissions, wasting fuel and local air pollution due to idling. Of course, drive-throughs are an important part of many people’s lives, seen with the 41% increase in number of drive-throughs between 2015 and 2020. The Next Web lays out the various factors that make drive-throughs an increasing danger to the environment, as well as why they have become an integral part of people’s lives despite their downsides.