Baltic Dry Index. 1316 -58 Brent Crude 63.19
Spot Gold 3330 US 2 Year Yield 3.90 +0.12
US Federal Debt. 36.826 trillion!!!
“The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell.”
Sir John Templeton.
Yesterday, the UK got a sort of trade deal with President Trump’s USA, though for now, no one to know its details. The Bank of England cut its key interest rate.
The Vatican got its second western hemisphere Pope, though its first USA Pope, not exactly a fan of President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, it appears.
In the stock casinos, a mixed reception at
best. With a looming US and global recession getting closer with each passing
day, the punters in the stock casinos increasingly worry that they are on the
wrong side of Warren Buffett’s major bet.
Asia-Pacific stocks trade mixed as investors parse
China trade data
Updated Fri, May 9 2025 12:50 AM EDT
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday as
investors parsed China’s April trade data.
China’s exports surged in April even as
businesses bore the brunt of U.S. tariffs that kicked into higher gear last
month, while imports narrowed declines as Beijing stepped up stimulus.
Exports climbed 8.1% in U.S. dollar terms
in April compared to the same month last year, official data showed,
significantly outperforming the 1.9% increase forecast in a Reuters poll.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped
0.15%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped 0.22%.
Uncertainty on Washington and Beijing
reaching a deal in their scheduled trade talks in Switzerland is also dampening
optimism.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.42and the
Topix gained 1.06%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3% and the
small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.59%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded flat.
India’s Nifty 50 slipped 0.74% at
the open.
Overnight, Wall Street gained following
U.S. President Donald Trump announced
the broad outline of a trade deal with the United Kingdom — the first
since the U.S. paused sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs in April.
U.S. stock futures hovered near the
flatline as investors hope that the U.S.- United Kingdom trade deal framework
signals more progress to come.
Specific details of the agreement remained
unclear, and no official documents were signed during the Oval Office
announcement.
“The final details are being written up,”
Trump said. “In the coming weeks we’ll have it all very conclusive.”
Meanwhile, the
three major averages closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained
254.48 points, or 0.62%, to settle at 41,368.45. The S&P 500 rose 0.58% and
closed at 5,663.94. The Nasdaq
Composite advanced 1.07% to end at 17,928.14.
Asia-Pacific
markets live: China trade data, SMIC
Stock futures are flat following rally on U.S.-UK
trade deal framework: Live updates
Updated Fri, May 9 2025 7:56 PM EDT
Stock futures traded near the flatline on
Thursday, with investors hoping that the U.S.- United Kingdom trade deal
framework is the beginning of more progress to come.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell
52 points, or 0.1%. Nasdaq
100 futures slipped 0.08%, while S&P 500 futures were off
about 0.1%.
President Donald Trump on Thursday
announced a preliminary
trade agreement with the U.K., which is the first deal between the
U.S. and a global trading partner since Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff
announcement last month. The details have yet to be finalized, but Trump said a
10% baseline tariff will remain in place on the U.K.
“While trade with the UK pales in
comparison to trade with our neighbors to the North and South, and especially
in comparison to China, it is an important test case and a model for what could
be accomplished,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight
Asset Management.
“If the administration can follow this up
with additional agreements, it would go a long way toward healing a stock
market that has been battered and bruised this year,” he added.
Trump also noted that the 10% rate
represents the lower end of what other countries can expect, and noted “some
will be much higher because they have massive trade surpluses.”
Stocks rose to
their session highs after Trump said he anticipates U.S. negotiators will have
a “good weekend” with China in opening trade talks. The major averages ended
the day off the highs, with Dow advancing 0.6% and the S&P 500 adding
nearly 0.6%. The Nasdaq
Composite climbed about 1.1%.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are slated to meet with their Chinese
counterparts in Switzerland over the weekend. Trump has left his 145%
tariff on China unchanged despite issuing a 90-day pause on higher rates for
most countries last month.
Week to date, the S&P 500 is on pace
for a 0.4% decline for the period, while the Nasdaq is on track to drop 0.3%.
The Dow is toting a modest gain of 0.1%, heading for its third positive week in
a row.
Stock
market today: Live updates
Next, that USA-UK “trade deal”. But with
almost 4 years of Trump presidency to go, how long will President Trump respect
it?
Trump rolls out U.K. trade agreement. It’s a
relief — but deals with other countries are more crucial.
10% tariffs on most U.K. goods to remain
in place
Last Updated: May 8, 2025 at
4:22 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump on Thursday said
his administration has reached a preliminary deal with the U.K. on trade,
offering a bit of relief to investors who have spent weeks waiting for such
agreements.
But there also was skepticism around the
significance of the deal, given that the U.K. ranks well behind Canada, China,
the European Union and Mexico as a U.S. trading partner. University of Michigan
economist Justin Wolfers said the U.K. only accounts for about
3% of U.S. trade and that its tariffs had already been at low levels, while
also noting that this week’s agreement is simply a framework.
Still, other analysts stressed the
potential positives for investors who have been getting tired of promises of
deal-making and want some actual signs of progress.
“For the financial markets, weary of being
teased with White House leaks about ‘deals,’ this could be a relief from the
confusing signals in the past few months. But we wouldn’t pop the Champagne
bottles just yet,” said Greg Valliere, chief U.S. policy strategist at AGF
Investments, in a note before the U.S.-U.K. deal was officially unveiled.
As Trump announced the pact in the Oval
Office at the White House, he offered a fresh promise of more trade agreements,
saying: “We have many meetings planned today and tomorrow, and every country
wants to be making deals.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the
deal calls for a 10% tariff to remain in place for most U.K. goods, while there
will be new U.S. market access for ethanol, machinery, beef and other
agricultural products, describing it as providing “$5 billion of opportunity”
for American exporters.
Lutnick told reporters that other parts of
the agreement allow for the U.K. to send 100,000 cars into the U.S. and only
pay a 10% tariff, rather than the new U.S. import tax for the automobile
industry of 25%. In addition, engines from U.K. engine maker Rolls-Royce
Holdings will come over tariff-free, he said.
The U.K. government said the relief for 100,000 cars is significant given that figure is “almost the total the U.K. exported last year,” and officials in London highlighted that steel and aluminum tariffs will be reduced to zero for the U.K., down sharply from 25%.
U.K. automaker Aston Martin Lagonda’s
London-traded shares gained 14% Thursday. Other auto exporters from
the U.K. are part of bigger companies, with Tata Motors owning Jaguar Land
Rover and BMW running the Mini and Rolls-Royce car brands.
A lobbying group for Ford, General
Motors and Stellantis said it’s “disappointed that the administration prioritized
the U.K. ahead of our North American partners,” referring to Canada and Mexico.
“Under this deal, it will now be cheaper
to import a U.K. vehicle with very little U.S. content than a USMCA-compliant
vehicle from Mexico or Canada that is half American parts,” said Matt Blunt,
president of the American Automotive Policy Council and a former Missouri
governor. “This hurts American automakers, suppliers and auto workers.”
Boeing shares closed higher by
3%, after Lutnick said a British airline had agreed to buy $10 billion worth of
the American company’s planes as part of the trade deal. He didn’t name the
airline that would be placing the order.
More
Britain hasn’t agreed a trade deal with the US –
it’s ended a hostage negotiation
8 May 2025
Hang out the bunting and let the church
bells ring. A VE Day trade deal with Donald Trump is done, and in the car
plants of the West Midlands as much as in the backrooms of No 10, there will be
understandable relief that, for now at least, America’s phoney war on them is
over.
It’s true that the easing of arbitrary
tariffs on cars, steel and aluminium that didn’t even exist until eight weeks
ago falls far short of being an actual trade deal, not least because the
president could rip it up again tomorrow if he felt like it. But the terms
agreed between London and Washington could save thousands of jobs, which isn’t
to be sniffed at, even if they’re jobs that need never have been at risk in the
first place had Trump not suddenly chosen to threaten them. More surprisingly,
Rachel Reeves seems to have managed to hang on to her digital services tax on (mostly US) tech companies,
while for all the president’s bluster about “dramatic” new access for cattle
ranchers to British markets it could have been infinitely worse for British
farming: no chlorine-washed chicken, hormone-injected beef or flooding of the
market with heavily subsidised US meat at prices British farmers just couldn’t
afford to match.
No wonder Keir Starmer laid on the
Churchill comparisons with a generous trowel, pointing out the deal was being
unveiled on the same day at almost the same hour as Victory in Europe –
or just Victory, as Trump calls it, as if the Europe bit was
irrelevant – was declared 80 years ago. Once again, Starmer insisted, Britain
and the US were “standing side by side”. Well, as side by side as it’s possible
to be when one of you is in the Oval Office graciously removing your foot from
the neck of the other one, who is listening anxiously in via video link while
the new ambassador, Peter Mandelson, hovers oleaginously at the president’s
shoulder. Trump volunteered in return that previous governments had long
coveted a deal and “it never quite got there. It did with this prime minister.”
If it all made you cringe, it’s hard to blame Starmer for that: or no more than
you would normally blame a person with some unfortunate part of their anatomy
clamped in a vice. But peace in our time? Not quite.
This has been less a trade deal between
allies – a process of give and take that in the long run hopefully leaves both
sides better off – than a hostage negotiation. Pay Trump what he feels he’s
due, and you get your economy back in roughly the state it was before, though
missing a few fingers and probably traumatised. The 10% tariff on all British
exports to the US, affecting everything from whisky to salmon as well as cars,
stays with no word of when it might get lifted: that was “pretty well set”, Trump
said, indicating that for him that particular conversation is done. The threat
of a tariff on foreign-made films, which could crucify the British film
industry, still hovers, alongside possible future tariffs on pharmaceuticals
(though No 10 insists they now have some protection on that). But why wouldn’t
Trump keep tariffing things? After all, as far as he’s concerned it works
brilliantly.
“We blew up the whole system,” Trump
crowed, at one point. “Because of that, this worked out so nicely.” And if what
he wants is a queue of publicly supplicant and privately seething world leaders
at his door then he’s not wrong, though for Americans the price of satisfying
his vanity may yet be an avoidable recession at home. Other countries, with
bigger trade imbalances with the US and fewer options, may have to swallow
worse than Britain.
More
Britain
hasn’t agreed a trade deal with the US – it’s ended a hostage negotiation
In other news.
Opinion: Empty shelves, for-lease signs and
job layoffs point to recession by summer
Stop the trade flow, and you stop the
economy — as Americans are about to learn
Last Updated: May 8, 2025 at
3:11 p.m. ET
It takes 30 to 50 days for container ships
from Asia to reach the U.S.’s West Coast ports. Barring new, faster shipping
options or a stunning retreat by U.S. President Donald Trump on China tariffs,
the consumer retail economy, which constitutes 70% of GDP, will be
damaged. Demand for container space from China on the ships
transiting the Pacific Ocean currently is running 60% to 65% below what it normally would be at
this time.
Attention, U.S. shoppers: If you see
something you need or even think you will, head to Walmart or Target or a local
retailer and buy it. Already you can see the shelves starting to empty.
Some analysts are concentrating on the
higher prices on imports, but the truth is that fewer American businesses will
clear products through U.S. customs. It won’t be price that matters; it will be
the lack of product to sell.
Stop the trade flow, and you stop the
economy.
Damage to the U.S. economy is happening in
slow motion. Without products to sell in stores, retail employers (responsible
for 10% of all jobs in the U.S.) will shed employees, a cascade of negatives
now showing up in both statistics and “for lease” signs. Small businesses from
Alaska to Maine without imported goods to use in the factory or sell at the
shop will close. Bankruptcy sales will proliferate. Now consider that job
losses have a multiplier effect, further reducing economic output.
Before you become euphoric about the Trump
administration relenting on some of its tariffs, consider the damage that has
already been done to the U.S. economy. Challenger, Gray & Christmas
reported that U.S. employers cut more than 275,000 jobs in March, with more than
216,000 of those layoffs coming in the federal government, spearheaded by Elon
Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE.” The numbers
Challenger estimates are staggering and so far not reflected in Bureau of
Labor Statistics data.
The impact on the U.S. economy will soon be obvious. Economies
run on flows from wages, and from federal government grants for thousands of
immediate needs. Without this flow and with the layoffs and cuts to wages,
the U.S. economy will continue to slow and could be in a recession by the
summer. Let’s not forget the immigration raids that must be spooking
farmers and their workers.
For U.S. manufacturers, building a network
of new suppliers is complex due to the specific nature and qualities of the
parts used in manufacturing production, even if there is an American company
that might, with time and detailed drawings, make the foreign part at
competitive prices, the risk to current production is too great and costly to
make this feasible. If attempted then during this transition, hourly employees
would be laid off and production lines stopped. Local communities, many of them
in the Trump-friendliest states, would suffer.
More
Opinion:
Empty shelves, for-lease signs and job layoffs point to recession by summer -
MarketWatch
Bank of England cuts interest rates: Here’s what
it means for your money
Published Thu, May 8 20257:03 AM EDT
The Bank of England cut interest rates on
Thursday in a move likely to bring relief to borrowers, businesses and
hard-pressed consumers across the country.
The central bank reduced
its key interest rate from 4.5% to 4.25% at its latest monetary policy meeting amid a
backdrop of lackluster economic growth and uncertainty around President Donald
Trump’s trade tariffs. The cut had been widely expected. Five of the central
bank’s nine policymakers voted for the cut, with two members wanting a larger
50 basis-point reduction, and two wanting to keep rates on hold.
A slowdown in price rises, with inflation cooling
to 2.6% in
the twelve months to March (from 2.8% the previous month), also gave the bank
room for maneuver.
Many British households and firms will be
thankful for the rate cut as it will make borrowing money a little less
expensive. Savers, who reap the benefits of higher rates of interest on their
savings accounts, stand to lose out.
“Just as the response to rate hikes was
textbook — slower growth, soft housing market activity and higher saving, the
response to rate cuts should also be textbook,” Kallum Pickering, chief
economist at Peel Hunt told CNBC Thursday.
“Business and consumers hold significant
cash balances while debt-to-income ratios are at multi-decade lows. By easing
the brakes on an economy full of pent-up potential, expect a positive response
in investment, spending and housing activity,” he said.
More
Bank of England
cuts interest rates: Here's what it means for your money
Maersk, a bellwether for global trade, cuts
container market outlook on U.S.-China trade tensions
Published Thu, May 8 2025 2:20 AM EDT
Danish shipping giant Maersk on Thursday posted
stronger-than-expected first-quarter operating profit but warned that the
current level of U.S.-China trade tariffs could restrict global container
market volumes.
The company, widely regarded as a
barometer of global trade, reported preliminary underlying earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $2.71 billion for the
first three months of the year.
That’s up 70% from $1.59
billion over
the same period a year earlier and above the $2.57 billion expected by analysts
in an LSEG poll.
Maersk kept its 2025 profit guidance
unchanged at between $6 billion and $9 billion but said global container market
volume growth in 2025 had been revised to -1% to 4% “given the increased
macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty.” Maersk had previously forecast
container volume growth of 4% in 2025.
The results come as the shipping industry
continues to navigate a complex tariff landscape sparked by U.S. President
Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump’s current policy includes 145%
import duties on products from China, prompting Beijing to hit back with
tariffs on U.S. goods.
“The first quarter, actually, was a
continuation of the very strong demand and very robust economy we had
throughout last year. And so, on that strong demand, we were able to generate
these really solid results,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday.
“These results were also the fruit of
strong preparation for what would come ahead. We knew it was going to be bumpy
and indeed following April 2 announcement, things got a bit more bumpy,” he
continued.
“The key thing for us is that as it is
today, this is mostly a China-U.S. issue and it has not yet contaminated any of
the other trade lanes – either from other origins and destinations with the
U.S. or China or even for what the rest of the world trades together,”
Clerc said.
‘A lot of volatility ahead’
On container market volumes, however,
Clerc said the size and rapid escalation of U.S.-China tariffs has led to a
sharp correction.
China-U.S. container market volumes have
dropped between 30% to 40% in April as customers take a wait-and-see approach
to the tariff situation, the company said.
“Unless we find a solution there then the
current level of tariffs is simply prohibitive on both sides for it to really
show some recovery. So, quite a targeted impact so far,” Clerc said, adding
that he expects “a lot of volatility ahead.”
Disruption in the Red Sea is expected to
continue throughout the rest of the year, Maersk said.
Maersk Q1 2025
earnings: Shipping giant posts profit beat
EU plans to hit US imports worth €95bn with
tariffs if deal fails
8 May 2025
The European Commission on Thursday
unveiled plans to impose additional tariffs on US imports worth around €95
billion ($107 billion) if negotiations with Washington do not lead to a
solution to the trade conflict.
A list of targeted products published on
Thursday covered industrial and agricultural goods.
Additionally the commission is consulting
with capitals "on possible
restrictions on certain EU exports of
steel scrap and chemical products to the US worth €4.4 billion," a press
release read.
"The EU remains fully committed to
finding negotiated outcomes with the US," said European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen.
"We believe there are good deals to
be made for the benefit of consumers and businesses on both sides of the
Atlantic. At the same time, we continue preparing for all possibilities,"
von der Leyen added.
In April US President Donald Trump paused
special levies on imports from most trading partners including the EU for 90
days, prompting the bloc to suspend its planned countertariffs to allow for
further talks.
EU
plans to hit US imports worth €95bn with tariffs if deal fails
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession
Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,
inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
India
and Pakistan war to 'push world into global recession' as WW3 fears soar
7
May 2025
A
potential war between India and Pakistan could
"push the world in to a global recession" in a matter of months, an
expert has warned. On
Tuesday, India fired a series of missile strikes on Kashmir, with Pakistan
vowing to "respond", triggering fears of an all-out war between the
huge nations.
Space
race capable India currently
hovers around number 5 in the list of the biggest economies in the world, just
one place above the UK. In contrast, Pakistan sits around 39th in global
rankings, but both countries have huge knock-on effects to the global economy,
especially with their strong cultural and now even stronger economic links to
the UK. Conflict can have massive effects on markets around the world,
and Sky
News defence analyst
Michael Clarke warned a conflict between India and Pakistan could also spill
over into the global economy. He pointed out that global trade is in "such
a volatile state at the moment" and says the world may be "hovering
on the edge of a recession".
Mr
Clarke added: "If it became a war, even a small war, that would be bad for
trade, it would disrupt supply chains.
"So
it would be another factor which would likely push the world into global
recession in the second half of this year."
In
London, the Bank of England is poised to cut interest rates as the threat of an
escalating global trade war looms and the economic growth outlook worsens. Most
economists think UK interest rates will be reduced to 4.25% from their current
level of 4.5% on Thursday.
Analysts
said some members of the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could
push for a larger 0.5 percentage point cut in a bid to reduce borrowing costs
further and ease pressure on households and businesses.
It
will be the first time the MPC has met to decide monetary policy since US
President Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariff announcements last
month.
India and Pakistan
war to 'push world into global recession' as WW3 fears soar
Fed’s
Powell Warns of Rising Stagflation Risk From Trump Tariffs
May
7, 2025
The
Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its benchmark interest rate steady but warned
about the potential economic harm from President Donald Trump’s trade war.
“If
the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they are
likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth and an
increase in unemployment,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at an
afternoon news conference.
Fed’s Powell Warns
of Rising Stagflation Risk From Trump Tariffs
Trump
administration to garnish wages of 5.3 million defaulted student loan borrowers
this summer
Published
Tue, May 6 2025 12:08 PM EDT Updated Wed, May 7 2025 1:56 PM EDT
The
Trump administration resumed collection
efforts on
defaulted student loans Monday after a roughly five-year hiatus — and affected borrowers could begin
feeling the financial consequences sooner than experts expected.
The
U.S. Department of Education released
new details on
what actions it plans to take, when.
Here’s
what to know.
Federal
benefits could be garnished by June
The
Education Department said it began this week alerting around 195,000 student
loan borrowers in default that their federal benefits will be subject to
garnishment in 30 days.
Borrowers
could have their benefits, including Social Security retirement checks, seized
by the government as soon as June, the Education Department said.
Wages
at risk over the summer
The Treasury Department will send
notices to 5.3 million defaulted borrowers about the collection activity of
their wages “later this summer,” the Education Department wrote in the Monday
press release.
How
student loan collection efforts have changed
Since
the pandemic began in March 2020, collection activity on federal student loans
has mostly been paused. The Biden administration focused on extending relief measures
to struggling borrowers in the wake of the Covid pandemic and helping them to
get current.
The
Trump administration’s aggressive collection activity is a sharp turn away from
that strategy, experts say.
“Borrowers
should pay back the debts they take on,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda
McMahon in a video posted on X
on April 22.
The
U.S. government has extraordinary collection powers on federal debts and it can
seize borrowers’ federal tax
refunds, wages, and Social
Security retirement and
disability benefits.
But
in the past, student loan borrowers were usually given 65 days’ notice before
the garnishment of their federal benefits, said higher education expert Mark
Kantrowitz.
“Odd
that they say a 30-day notice,” Kantrowitz said.
More
How soon defaulted student loan borrowers may face collections
Covid-19
Corner
This
section will continue only occasionally when something of interest occurs.
Technology
Update.
With events happening fast in the
development of solar power and graphene, among other things, I’ve added this
section. Updates as they get reported.
It will never happen.
Five-minute charging would tempt
three-quarters of drivers to go electric
8 May 2025
Almost
three-quarters of motorists (72%) say they would switch to an electric car if
it offered 250 miles of range from five minutes of charging, according to new research.
Technology capable of delivering this was recently unveiled by BYD, and a survey by Startline Motor Finance saw 36% of respondents point out
it’s almost as fast as refuelling with petrol and 34% said it means they won’t
need a home charger.
Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline, said: “The promise of
an electric car that can be powered with the convenience of a petrol equivalent
clearly strikes a chord with many potential buyers, our research shows.
“Being able to pull up to a charger and add 250 miles
of range in moments would remove the need for a home charger, especially
important for people who don’t have the space to install their own, and
promises to make the whole process of highway charging much simpler.”
There are some objections from drivers though. The
Tracker also shows that 15% believe power from chargers this fast will be
expensive while 12% say that building a charging network of this speed would be
difficult.
Burgess said: “We have, of course, yet to see BYD’s
charging in action and it is comparatively rare to see chargers rated at over
300kW in the UK, never mind the 1,000kW that five-minute charging demands. Our
most powerful public chargers offer less than half that capacity.
“Delivering this step change would require a massive
investment in infrastructure and motorists are probably correct in assuming
that this kind of power would be expensive to install and to access.”
Five-minute
charging would tempt three-quarters of drivers to go electric
Five-minute
charging: How grids can manage power spikes
By
Farhad Panahov May 1, 2025
The
super-charging revolution is here.
Recent
demonstrations by Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giants BYD and CATL of
batteries that can be charged in five minutes—up to five times faster than
rivals—and with a range of 520 kilometres, has made many sit up and take
notice.
Could
this super-charging revolution be the game changer that will pave the way for
greater EV adoption in Canada, and elsewhere? Equally crucial: can electricity
grids handle the increased load demand if this technology were to reach
Canadian shores in the next few years?
A game
changer?
A
five-minute charge has the potential to address two of the top three concerns
that consumers often cite when considering EVs: range anxiety and access to
public charging stations (the third being affordability). According to a JD Power survey in
2024, 68% of Canadians were anxious about running out of EV battery
while on the road.The inconvenience of waiting in line at public charging
stations and long charge times—on average 30 minutes—have been an issue for up
to half of EV drivers, a survey shows. A
five-minute charge battery with extended range tackles these issues head on and
entice would-be owners to finally take the EV plunge.
The 3
big grid challenges facing 5-minute charging
Here’s
how the quick-charge revolution could impact Canada’s grids:
- It’s a massive draw on the
grid: Unlike traditional charging that’s spread over hours, fast
charging delivers high-intensity power spike that grids might not be
designed to handle. An average EV with a battery of 80 kWh would require
around 1,000 kW power to fully charge in minutes. That’s enough
electricity to power 800 homes for the same amount time, and adds
significant load to the grid, especially if charging takes place during
peak hours.
- Grid expansion is already facing
once-in-a-generation challenge. Expanding local distribution networks,
modernizing local substations, and improving interconnections to
accommodate localized demand surges are the biggest challenges posed by
super-charging. Distribution lines will also need to grow by another
55,000-85,000 kilometres by 2030—requiring a build-out that’s 30%-100%
faster than the current pace.
- Future-proofing would require a
decentralized grid: Fast, localized spikes in demand require more
than just expansion of centralized grid assets. They also require the
addition of decentralized distributed energy resources (DERs), such as
micro-grids and residential solar, and greater grid digitization.
Infrastructure modernization can also transform DERs into virtual power
plants during periods of peak demand.
Five-minute
charging: How grids can manage power spikes - RBC Thought Leadership
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Another weekend and a crucial tariff war weekend at
that. Will China kowtow to the USA? Will
an increasingly desperate USA kowtow to China? What if neither reach any sort
of significant trade compromise? An interesting week lies directly ahead. Have
a great weekend everyone.
“If you
can’t take a small loss, sooner or later you will take the mother of all
losses.”
Ed
Seykota
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