** A group of states that loosely parallels those that filed suit last year to stop California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule have taken similar action against the state’s Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, seeking to stop the ACF while it awaits a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency.
** California Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s administration said it will now cost more than $20 billion to build a giant tunnel aimed at catching more water when it rains and storing it to better prepare for longer droughts caused by climate change.
** General Motors and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, LG Electronics reached a settlement to establish a $150 million fund to provide relief to Chevrolet Bolt EV owners affected by defective batteries, documents filed in a U.S. court showed.
** Hertz gambled and lost when it placed its big EV bet on Tesla a few years ago. It was a chance for the rental car company to shake up the industry, instead the company bought 30,000 Teslas, got scared away by depreciation and expensive repairs and now wants to get rid of them. While all those used Teslas looked to be great used car deals, it turns out high mileage EVs that were formerly rentals are horrible to own as New York Magazine reported.
** Gov. Ron DeSantis joined a loud chorus of Republican leaders combating efforts to ease greenhouse gas, signing into law a measure that removes references in state law to climate change and also bans offshore wind-energy generation in Florida.
World
** Ukraine appears to have conducted its largest-ever drone strike against Russia, causing a massive fire to break out at an oil refinery hundreds of miles behind the front line. The Russian defence ministry claimed early on Friday that its forces had downed 102 aerial drones and destroyed six more unmanned naval vessels in the massive Ukrainian bombardment against Black Sea targets.
** Toyota Motor is testing the new battery-electric Hilux pickup truck to assess its performance in different conditions as the car maker prepares to manufacture the vehicle in Thailand by the end of 2025, an executive said.
** Toyota Motor was forced to repeatedly halt production at a Mexico plant in February and March after local labour shortages snarled output at suppliers, according to people with knowledge of the automaker’s operations.
** The US oil giant Chevron has announced it will quit the North Sea after 55 years, the day after Jeremy Hunt turned down industry pleas for support at a private meeting. Chevron said that it had decided to leave the region following a review of global operations to determine “whether assets are strategic and competitive for future capital”.
** Car salesmen face a shortage of petrol vehicles under Rishi Sunak’s net zero crackdown, one of Britain’s biggest dealership chains has warned. Vertu Motors said sales of electric cars had “stalled” in the UK, raising the risk that manufacturers will miss sales targets mandated by law.