Name: Impact Initiative 2023: The Electric Revolution
Uploaded: 2023-09-13
Duration: 18 min 46 s
Description: Chris Baker, Head of North America, Enel X Way, Bart Franey, Vice President, Clean Energy Development, National Grid, Kristen Siemen, Vice President, Sustainable Workplaces, and Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors Moderator: Peter Vanham, FORTUNE

Chris Baker, Head of North America, Enel X Way, Bart Franey, Vice President, Clean Energy Development, National Grid, Kristen Siemen, Vice President, Sustainable Workplaces, and Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors Moderator: Peter Vanham, FORTUNE

Impact Initiative 2023: The Electric Revolution

Conferences

Chris Baker, Head of North America, Enel X Way Bart Franey, Vice President, Clean Energy Development, National Grid Kristen Siemen, Vice President, Sustainable Workplaces, and Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors Moderator: Peter Vanham, FORTUNE

Chris Baker, Enel X Way, Bart Franey, National Grid, Kristen Siemen, General Motors, Peter Vanham, FORTUNE

Ok. I think we're all aware that to tackle climate change, we have to end our reliance on fossil fuels, eventually increase our investment in alternative energies. Electricity is and will continue to play an increasing role in the energy transition. According to the United Nations fossil fuels account for more than 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearly 90% of carbon dioxide emissions. Our next group of speakers are going to be with uh Fortune executive editor Peter Van. Him to talk about how they are advancing renewable energy through electrification. Please welcome Chris Baker, Head of North America at Enel X Way, an organization aiming to add charging stations around the country which is a significant barrier. Bart Fry, vice President of Clean Energy Development for National Grid and Kristen Seaman, vice president of sustainable workplaces, chief Sustainability Officer at General Motors with Peter Van. Please welcome them to the stage. Thank you so much. Great to be back is the last time you'll see of me today, but not of a. Um And I'm very glad that we're having this discussion now on uh the electric revolution. Uh because it's a topic that I think is very important. And I just don't, I, I don't just say that I write about that too. Uh, and I've, I've written a story both about you, Chris and, and about Kirsten. Well, about your companies. Uh, but maybe you're up next. So what would you say? Um, but let me maybe start off with, um, with you, uh, Kirsten because, you know, a lot is happening in the world of cars. Uh, You know, GM, I don't remember this. Maybe you do remember the GM one, right? The EV one. Is that right? That was, that was over 25 years ago. Anyone ever own or drive one you're doing? Oh, there we go. Ok. Ok. That, that works. So you were of course a pioneer in electric cars back in the day. Some appreciation here. Um I'm too young for that. That's my excuse. Um But uh but of course, in the meanwhile, a lot changed Tesla came, became the most valuable car company. The GM said we're gonna go all electric by 2035 in the United States for New Light to the US vehicles. Yes. Right. And this is a big deal, right? For, for Gim. But then as you know, in recent weeks, we've heard news from your competitors including Lantis, I believe. Did you tell me that your husband works for this conversation? Um So that said we're actually going to continue to produce cars with internal combustion engines until at least 2050. Now, when you discuss that with your husband at the dinner table, uh, next question, uh, you stick with 2035 all electric. Yes, I, I mean, you can see our portfolio of vehicles that's coming out from the GM perspective, you know, and, and once you drive, uh, uh, an electric vehicle, you don't want to go back. If you look at G M's carbon footprint, over 75% is scope three category 11. The customer usage of our vehicles for us to get to our vision that was actually set back in 2017. Around zero crashes, zero emissions, zero congestion, you know, getting to zero requires us to go all electric and to decarbonise the grid. No second thoughts then because you know, it does, you know, make you wonder and I look at this and I think many of us look at this and say, well, you know, these the other big car makers, you know, they're, they've thought this through as well. They're no dummies, you know, and they say we cannot do it or we will not do it. Which of us do is it? Do you think already won't? II I can't answer for them. Of course. Right? I mean, all I can focus on is, is our strategy and, and what we see from a consumer demand standpoint and it's gonna take some time to transition, right? We can't do this by ourselves. We need a charging infrastructure, right? We need um materials. I mean, we've done a lot with sourcing of battery materials in order to be able to produce and, and localize and have a strong and resilient and sustainable supply chain. Um We need governments, you know, to partner with us. And so, so that is all gonna take time, but you can see our product portfolio that's coming out 2035 remains, you know, our, where are we today in America for GM new uh vehicle sold, percentage share of, I don't have the exact number, I mean, but we've made announcements, you know, we'll have capacity for um you know, up to a million um EVs by 2025 in the US and you know, pardon? Yes, yeah. So, so it's coming, I mean, the you can see the products that are out there and the excitement that they're driving, whether it be, you know, um our, our loyal customers for the bolt in the vault, you know, were, were tremendous. I mean, and, and huge loyalty. Ex Exactly. And um so, you know, in the recent announcement to reimagine the bolt based on the customer feedback, you know, it's a very affordable ev in the market. But then you think about products like the Cadillac Lyric, um the IQ that was recently announced um you know, the Silverado EV pick up is gonna be on the road soon, the super truck. So you see the um portfolio growing to offer products across, you know, all segments and really to be able to have everybody participate in and be in an ev the blazer, you know, the equinox. Do you see any resistance? I mean, do you think Silverado, the client? I, I would think that might be a client that would be resistant. Is that the case or not at all? I, I mean, it's gonna be some time for that entire segment to transition, right? And so we'll be producing both simultaneously to um as time goes on and that conversion occurs. But um they're awesome products. And so I think once people experience it, they're fun to drive, the acceleration is incredible and to be able to see the infrastructure continuing to grow and develop and that you can really live in a world, you know, people are used to seeing a gas station on every corner. Um We know you don't need one on every corner, but people want to see a charging station even though most people charge at home or at work, but there's still multi dwelling, you know, housing solutions that need to be addressed. And so well, I'm glad you brought it up because as it happens, our second Panelist, Chris Baker is actually building that infrastructure. Chris tell us, tell us a little bit more because you work for a company that I know from back in Europe. And now as being like, you know, a stuffy old school monopoly player in providing Italian no less uh uh energy. Um So, but then I discovered that you were like the most innovative and most ambitious player when it comes to electric charge in America. What is that the same company or do you share the same name? Well, thanks for the glowing intro. So, yeah, I mean, for those who don't know, and then many of you don't know that NL group is dedicated to empowering sustainable progress, right? That sounds fancy. But we did 150 billion in revenue last year. And the way in which we do that is really simplicity, right? So that the goal is to drive simplicity for our customers and for our businesses to make it as easy as possible for them to procure renewable energy um in the charging world. What that practically means is smart charging, right? So if you look at the numbers last year, 19.1 billion miles were driven by electric cars that was six terawatt hours of power. Most of you have no idea what I was gonna say. I was gonna try to sound smart, but it's a big number. So it's a million megawatt hours and practically what it means is to meet the projected growth of the market in the US. Uh You'll need to increase the power capacity 0.3 to 0.6% annually every year for the next 25 years of the grid, right of the grid so you could do that through adding 2 to 4 nuclear plants every year for the rest of our lives. Maybe not the best idea or you can do it through smart charging and incentivizing. And this is really what we need to see a little more from the energy commissions from the utility commissions. How do you incentivize charging at night and off peak hours when there's an excess of solar capacity so that you can, you can enable these evs at the lowest total cost. And that's what you're doing and that's what we're doing. How many, you were very ambitious? Right. Well, how many charges do you want to install in America? 10,000? 10,000? That would make you remember what that layer? Yeah, that, that would make us uh near the top if not the top II, I think it's also practical to say um that was two months before Tesla announced, the North American charging standard is uh a much more open network for many of these auto manufacturers. And uh practically what that means is much greater access to fast charging infrastructure, which is absolutely good, right? You don't pull up to a gas station and have seven different apps and seven different charging types for your vehicle. That makes no sense. But you stick with your ambition to build 10,000. I think the timing in which we do do so will potentially change. But I think what we're looking at really is. So there's a greater supply of chargers, lower utilization, where can we unique add value. And I think it's really supporting utilities and in the fleet depot space where we can aggregate our energy storage, aggregate our. And so what that means is that you don't just install chargers, but you also install batteries as opposed with those chargers that basically can harness correct when the, when the time is right. And, and this is where I think uh to do this properly, you the timing matters, right? So there's lots of renewables when the sun isn't shining or the wind doesn't blow, you can't create a stress on the grid because ultimately, we would all pay for that. So the intelligence and the timing of the charging really matters. So let's let's turn to uh to you Bart um because you work for the national grid, which, which was very confusing to me. Um Because you're obviously American and you work for a company called National Grid. But National Grid to be clear is not the American national grid. Well, it's not the physical national grid, but we do operate in Northeast New York and Massachusetts, primarily in the US. But we also have roughly 60% of our asset base is in the UK. And that's, that's where you operate National National Grid. Welcome to. Um you know, thank you America. I could say that as a um but so talk about this grid. Um And about how you develop it because obviously, there's a challenge that we're gonna have to increase if I understand by 0.6 to 0.9% the capacity of the grid each year. Uh There's the challenge also of making the grid clean. Am I right? Uh Can you tell us a little bit more about the current state of play and how do you think it will change? Absolutely. Um Before I get there a little bit about national grid, we are a large international electric and gas utility. Our strategic ambition is to provide equitable fair, affordable energy transition. And my work is focused on enabling that. So it is all about getting ahead with one of them was sustainable, right? Or not equitable equitable fair, affordable, affordable energy transition. But, but it is transitioning to clean. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. We are, we are very involved in integrating and modernizing the grid to accommodate large scale renewables. These are the things that are gonna move the needle in decarbonising the grid. We're also involved in laser focus conducting studies um advocating for anticipatory build outs that would enable electrification of transport. So all the transportation need not just in the passenger vehicle space but the medium and heavy duty truck space where they're not going to be charging at home. They're gonna want a seamless experience where they're going to pull into a service plaza, they're going to plug in and their, their batteries are going to be up to a megawatt, which is a big number. Are we ever going to see those replaceable batteries in cars? Does anyone have a prediction on that? That was the thing? Right. That point, it was the thing. It's still a thing. It's still a thing. Ok. Well, ok, we'll talk about that later then. Um So, uh so you're working on all of that? Where is America today? And where do you think it will be or should be, let's say five or 10 years down the line. So we're in this critical decade and we're 75 months away from 2030. And the reason why I say 75 months, because we're a large investor in infrastructure and infrastructure as you know, it takes a tremendous amount of time and that's why we need to have actionable plans today. We can't wait till the demand arises in some ways like uh Chris was saying, you know, people need to see that charger before they buy the car. So when you say 2030 that's because there isn't a stated goal of how green the grid will be by 2030. So how much would would that work? We want to achieve a 70% renewable energy target by, that's huge. That is huge. And we are today at uh 34. It's probably 60. OK. So it is actually quite, it's ahead of the nation, I suppose a lot of hydro. Mm um I want to turn to the to the audience for, for a question if, if you want to uh before I'm gonna ask my, my question about the batteries over here. If you state your name and your affiliation. Hi, my name is Angelo Molino. I am the president of Latina and Wellness. I am a fan of the electric car. I am Italian. Sorry for the uh no, no problem. We have a huge problem with infrastructure but my question is this the technology of the batteries when we will improve, we are waiting for the solid state batteries because the problem is that I cannot stop on the on the road to charge my car four hours. Ok. Now, I know that new models are very faster but the dream is go there and have the same meaning. So when I pump correct, I don't know where you charge. It takes four hours on the road. II, I won't be mean Italy but uh but it's, but it's what? 30 minutes, 40 minutes uh on a standard uh fast charger. I mean, it's obviously depends on capacity but it's frustratingly low, uh slow and nevertheless, right? So where, where are we headed to? What? Thank you. Yeah, thank you. I I personally think, I mean, and it's hard to conflate the diagrams of artificial intelligence, potentially quantum computing. But uh I think it's a basic R and D investment, right? If you have new material technologies for batteries, you will absolutely have superior battery lifetime safety density. Right. Solid state batteries are certainly coming along quite, quite well. I defer to when they're actually ready for show time on the road because there's heat and vibration, all sorts of things. Right. Yeah, I mean, battery technology, we're innovating every single day, um, to advance, you know, if you talk back to the, to the EV one to where we, you know, we with the volt and then the bolt and the the new technology, the ALL M platform that GM is coming out with, you know, is focused on increasing efficiency, reducing critical material usage, you know, which drives ultimately with faster charging and better customer experience. And so do you have a plan for what to put on the market in uh salt state battery? I mean technology, we're looking at everything, right? You know, and it's just a matter of the M platform is what we're producing with today. So, and that is that technology. No, no, no, no. So, but I, I mean, it's, it's really looking at what can give the best solution from an overall customer standpoint, right? And I think focusing on the customer experience and what the battery can provide in the from a platform standpoint and being able to put that across all segments is is what's important and the materials that it takes to produce that, you know, in ensuring that they're again available, done sustainably, you know, we've made a number of announcements with raw raw material suppliers to be able to secure that supply for the production that we're talking about. Fast charging is important. Battery is important. Grid is important. You're also working on your own, on creating infrastructure, aren't you on your own? I mean, actually with other car makers, can you tell us a little bit more about that? Yeah, so recently we made an announcement with um a number of other automakers, um Honda BMW and many others about developing a public charging network again to really accelerate this transition, you know, in, in being getting and customers to be able to see that that infrastructure is available. There's no shortage of opportunities in the space right now. Um And so we've done a lot on our own. Obviously, other companies are doing their own. We've adopted the North America charging standard which will also be available in our vehicles to give our customers access to, as you mentioned, the, the Tesla network also. And so that's really just gonna continue to accelerate um the availability for the consumers if you bring it all down. But you know, you have these predictions, you said 75 months to 2030 reaching certain targets. You know, if you see all this activity, do you think it's feasible? Yes. Yes. Because if we, the only frustration would be we have the plans in place, we just need to execute on them sooner. And because we're primarily a regulated business it's, it's hard for policy makers to commit that kind of capital and, and pass along those two to ratepayers and consumers across the state without there being a need. But it's, we can't, it's not a chicken and an egg scenario. They're coming and we need to get out there and ready the grid for it. I can't wait for it. I have an electric car at home. Uh but I have to say after hearing this panel, I think like, you know, it's electric car heaven here and uh over here. But then I think back on my experience and I realize I've never been an electric car in America, so we're going to stay hopeful. Thank you all of you for this, a very interesting panel. And thanks to the audience for uh listening to.