Quantum Leaps Into The Future?
Super Fast EV Charging and Mandatory Climate Education
Hello dear readers!
I’m sorry for the silence here lately but as I’ve explained in a previous post, I’ve had to step down a bit from my regular commitments as I’m navigating early motherhood and other life events.
With this said, I’ve decided to change this to a monthly newsletter. Meaning, once a month I will share some stuff on top of my radar lately. However, since I’m not one for playing by the rules, I may pop in randomly from time to time and share something I think needs attention! I hope that’s OK with you 🙃
Here’s what to expect in today’s newsletter:
Revolutionizing EV charging — is the future already here? An interview with the founders of Ample.
New Jersey first state to make climate change education mandatory (Amazing!!)
We’re headed for 1.5 degrees (scary!)
Counts in Climate — A new corporate workshop
My commencement speech at ESF (What an honor!)
And a little reminder form me:
Ample Brings EV Charging Down to 5 Mins
Ample, the EV battery swapping startup and Uber's electrification partner, is launching the second generation of its EV battery swapping station on May 17th that can now replace an EV’s depleted battery with a fully-charged one in less than 5 minutes. That’s more than 6x faster than traditional EV charging and a significant step forward in creating a gas station-like experience for EV drivers!
I had a chance to exchange a few words with John de Souza, founder of Ample.
When did this vision start? (How long has it taken to get here?)
Our vision officially began when we founded Ample in 2014. The next generation of our battery-swapping system is a major feat that took 9 years of R&D, thousands of swaps, and more than a million electric miles driven behind the scenes to make it all possible.
Since we publicly debuted, we’ve deployed Ample across the Bay Area and worked closely with fleet partners such as Uber and Sally to fully test our technology with real drivers so that we could better understand their needs and the impact of battery swapping on their business operations.
What's your biggest goal right now?
As we scale and bring more EVs to more drivers, streamlining and simplifying the experience becomes crucial, especially as we expand our work with fleets and last-mile delivery – both key players in the race to electrify.
So far, the EV experience has asked too much of drivers with serious friction points and compromises that will not only hinder but be a deterrent to mass adoption. Our new stations and battery technology are designed to address all that and then some. By design, we’ve invented our system to facilitate a lateral move from gas to be just as fast, as simple and as cheap, all while being a completely green solution. In doing so, we believe we can pave the way for a more seamless corporate and governmental adoption of EVs.
Is the world ready for this kind of innovation? Might it differ in different countries?
In short, we’re overdue for this kind of innovation, though it’s important to recognize that various countries are in different stages of EV adoption. China, for example, maintains 80% of the global EV charging network and has already cemented battery swapping as a critical component of charging infrastructure.
That investment in infrastructure is a key reason why China sells five out of every ten EVs sold worldwide, while America sells one.
Here in the US, we have the demand for greater electrification and growing government support, but like other countries, require better infrastructure. This is particularly true in urban areas where few people have access to at-home charging.
Our stations require just 3 days to deploy, enabling us to bring up a whole metropolitan area in a few weeks. Our stations were designed to get charging out of private garages and into the neighborhoods that need it most. Battery swapping can help close the gap between where we are and where we want to be by bringing us one step closer to EV charging infrastructure that is as fast, cheap and simple as refueling at the gas station.
What are some challenges you are facing?
One hurdle we’ve faced is that our stations have to meet both the functional and emotional needs of our users. To address this challenge, we deployed our first-generation stations with real drivers to understand their broader needs. Based on the feedback we received, we designed swapping stations with an experience that is safer, and more streamlined. Our new drive-through experience makes it easy and fast for drivers to perfectly position their cars for a swap.
Drivers use an app to initiate a swap. Both the app and the station keep the driver informed of the status of the swap. The new station design gives the driver the choice to safely stay in the vehicle or leave during the swap. By addressing these emotional needs, we’re aiming to increase adoption and ensure our users are fully satisfied with both our product and the experience it offers.
What makes you a climate optimist?
I am a climate optimist because I see an increasing trend toward electrification and decarbonization of transportation. There's a growing desire for cleaner, sustainable options from individuals and companies, and we're witnessing remarkable innovation in battery tech, EVs, charging infrastructure, and renewable energy.
In New Jersey Every Teacher Must Address Climate Change
Altough this is not news, it just came to my knowing that New Jersey has made it mandatory to climate change in school, beginning in kindergarten and across almost all topics! This makes New Jersey the first state to do so and we’re hoping that more states will follow suit.
The concern that is now spreading is that some teachers don’t know how to accurately address such a complex issue (which is understandable!). I am therefore excited to say that I’ve been given the opportunity to host a seminar for NJ teachers in the fall to help inspire ways to communicate climate change that inspires and brings hope.
How we navigate these conversations are incredibly important.
We have to make sure we don’t just dump a big load of “Here you go, your generation get to figure this out!” on our already anxious youth. We must address the topic carefully and intentionally an in doing so, hopefully bring about a culture of optimism, empowerment, and excitement for the times to come.
If you have any thoughts about this, feel free to contact me!
1.5 Degrees Warming is NEAR
In not so good news — things are getting real. Very real.
“It is now “more likely than not” that the world will briefly overshoot its 1.5°C climate change target within five years, according to meteorologists at the UK Met Office.
There is a 66 per cent chance that at least one year from 2023 to 2027 will see an average global temperature more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the Met Office said in an analysis produced for the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO).”
Climate scientists are also saying that 2023 could be the hottest year yet. Perhaps not the news for a climate optimistic newsletter, or maybe it’s exactly the news that we need to share. Because optimism can only be rooted in grounded awareness and a clear understanding for what’s going on. And if you needed new motivation to act, let this be it — the times have never been riper for bold, radical change!
Counts in Climate - A New Corporate Workshop
Did you know that close to 50% of employees are considering quitting their jobs for lack of alignment to their values?
Counts in Climate is a corporate workshop that connects climate optimism with sustainable living so employees are fully ignited in purpose, agency and hope for change - no matter their job or where they work. This shift in company culture also ensures better protection of a company’s position, its people and our planet.
If you’re interested in learning more, please contact me and my PIC (partner in climate) Monica and I would to discuss bringing this to your company!
ESF Commencement Speaker
It was an incredible honor to serve as this year’s commencement speaker at ESF (Environmental School of Forestry) in Syracuse, NY, last weekend. It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to be a motivational speaker on climate change and I can’t think of anything more important than sending off graduating environmental students with optimism and hope!
During my weekend there I also had a chance to meet and talk with both faculty and students and I must say that I left with my optimism barrometor filled ot the top - what an incredible school!
Here is an excerpt from my speech. You can also tune into my conversation with Joanie Mahoney, ESF’s president.
"Imagine a field of yellow flowers interrupted by a single purple one. One purple flower, planted by a single seed. Then imagine that one purple flower starts laying little purple flower seeds around it, and slowly, the number of purple flowers grows. Some of them drift in the winds or get carried by animals walking by, and as a result, purple flowers start to pop up all over the field. Soon enough, it’s not a yellow field with a purple flower anymore. It’s a yellow and purple field.
You can be that purple flower. You don’t have to go in with the mission to change the entire field. As long as you stay true to your color and continue to plant seeds of change all around you, and as long as you make sure to nurture the environment in which you grow, you’ll be astonished by how fast it spreads.
When we gain agency of our own worlds and live in that world with the most excitement and optimism we can muster, we create an energy so contagious, it’s impossible not to change the world."
Hi Anne.
Thank you for the update.
Good read .. God is some how extracted from the Climate system of his controls is laughable whereas he been changing the Earthly climate before creation of Humans in his image...
Praise God bless him for sending me to capture the Dragon Satan for it is done.
God bless you and your family.
Praying for you.
" He maketh me lay down in green pastures he restoreth my soul."
Chester Rafuse.