** A century-old rail lift bridge that crosses the U.S.-Canada border near the cities of International Falls, Minnesota, and Fort Frances, Ontario, has collapsed, and it’s unclear when the area will reopen to water traffic along the Rainy River. No trains were involved, and no one was injured in Wednesday’s collapse, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
** Autry Stephens, a petroleum engineer raised on a Texas peanut and watermelon farm who became the richest US oilman, has died. He was 86. The company he founded, Endeavor Energy Resources LP, announced Stephens’ death Friday in a statement.
** In a sense of irony, green energy minded California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to propose legislation requiring oil companies in the most-populous US state to amass stockpiles of gasoline and other fuels to prevent supply shortages and price spikes during refinery outages.
** In the latest episode of his political fight with Big Oil, Gov. Gavin Newsom has called on California lawmakers to pass new requirements on oil refiners during the final two weeks of the legislative session. Newsom’s last-minute proposal, his office said, would allow his administration to require that petroleum refiners maintain a stable inventory in order to prevent fuel shortages and price spikes when refinery equipment is taken offline for maintenance, reported the Los Angeles Times.
** The U.S. is funding a lithium-ion battery separator factory that will mainly be used for battery parts in EVs, strengthening the U.S. supply chain. According to Electrek, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office is loaning $1.2 billion to Entek to “build a lithium-ion battery separator factory in Terre Haute, Indiana.”
** California’s second-largest reservoir, Lake Oroville, has reached 100% capacity for the second year in a row, even though state officials feared that it would never be full again, California Globe reported.
** The depreciation of electric vehicles is far steeper than data showed just last year. EVs can now lose up to half their value over a single year, based on recent observations. This is a sharp shift from when electric cars were projected in December 2023 to lose half their value in three years.
** Ford is recalling approximately 85,000 Explorer Police Interceptor Utility vehicles because the engines may fail prematurely and possibly result in a fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that the recall is for vehicles with model years 2020 to 2022 and have 3.3L hybrid or gas engines.
World
** Toyota Motor CorporationTM may have been one of the slowest automakers to pivot to the development of electric vehicles (EVs) but it could be the first one to completely stop producing vehicles that run solely on gasoline, per Reuters.
Nearly three decades after the launch of its pioneering gasoline-electric hybrid Prius, the company aims to convert its entire Toyota and Lexus lineup to hybrid-only models.
** State Grid Corp. of China is planning to significantly expand its supercharging network for electric vehicles in Beijing as the adoption of EVs accelerates across the country, China Central Television reported.
