Battery Swaps, Pipeline Explosions & Ethiopia's EV Gamble

About this episode

The episode discusses record-breaking EV milestones, the dangers of fossil fuel crime, and Ethiopia's ban on new gas cars.

Record-breaking EV milestones, the hidden dangers of fossil fuel crime, and a real-world test of what happens when a country bans new gas cars. In China, Nio pulled off an astonishing 175,000 battery swaps in a single day during the Lunar New Year travel rush — about two swaps every second — with drivers in and out in three to five minutes. It's a massive stress test that shows how battery swapping could compete with, or even outperform, traditional refueling for convenience and scale. Support The Clean Energy Show on Patreon for exciting perks including a monthly bonus podcast, early access to our content, behind the scenes looks, access to our members-only Discord community and thank-yous in the credits of videos and shoutouts on our podcast! Starting at just $1 per month! We also examine how fuel theft in Mexico has evolved from small-time pipeline tapping into a billion-dollar criminal enterprise. Cartels now make enormous profits stealing oil and gas, and the consequences can be deadly. The 2019 pipeline explosion in Tlahuelilpan, which killed at least 137 people, remains one of the most tragic examples of how dangerous this underground economy can be. What began decades ago…

People in this episode

Hosts: James Whittingham, Brian Stockton

Topics covered

• electric vehicles
• battery swapping
• fossil fuel crime
• Ethiopia's car sales ban
• pipeline explosions

Keywords

• electric vehicles
• battery swaps
• fossil fuel crime
• Ethiopia
• pipeline explosion
• Nio
• gas cars

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nio

Places: China, Mexico, Ethiopia

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