☕ You’ve got a fast car

How NASCAR could drive EV awareness.

August 14, 2024 PRESENTED BY It's Wednesday. NASCAR and the internal combustion engine seem almost inextricably linked. "NASCAR fans tend to be looking for the noise that these engines make, the smell of gas," Eleftheria Kontou, a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told Tech Brew's Jordyn Grzelewski. But an electric prototype could challenge those stereotypes thanks to a few particular perks of EVs. Namely? They accelerate about twice as fast as their ICE counterparts. In today's edition: How NASCAR's foray into electrification could help drive awareness of EV benefits Massive analysis of EV charging stations finds reliability issues galore The path to AI legislation in the US runs through the states —Jordyn Grzelewski, Patrick Kulp, Annie Saunders FUTURE OF TRAVEL Wanna race? Getty Images NASCAR recently became the latest motorsports organization to dip its toes into the electrification waters—a move that could help fuel awareness of and interest in EVs among its massive fan base. The sanctioning body for stock-car racing in North America last month unveiled an electric prototype in partnership with ABB. NASCAR demonstrated the vehicle at the Chicago Street Race and announced that ABB would be its partner on its sustainability initiatives, including efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2035. "The objective of the collaboration between NASCAR, ABB in the United States, and the NASCAR industry is to push the boundaries of electrification technology, from EV racing to long-haul transportation to facility operations," ABB EVP Ralph Donati said in a statement. At the same time, NASCAR reiterated its commitment "to the historic role of the combustion engine in racing." The introduction of the electric prototype may be an opportunity to help educate the masses about the benefits of electrification, from lower maintenance costs to EVs' ability to act as backup power sources. "There [are] a series of benefits of electric vehicles that can be introduced and communicated through this venue," Eleftheria Kontou, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told Tech Brew. "Every consumer segment will make a decision on the transition depending on their situation," she added. "Having some knowledge and understanding of these machines can make a difference." Keep reading here.—JG PRESENTED BY QUICKEN Your financial goals won't reach themselves Do you have a plan for your financial future? Quicken does. Whether you're well on your way to reaching your savings goals or just getting started, Quicken Simplifi makes it easier to manage your personal finances like a pro. And with tools for taxes, budgeting, data, investments, and more all in one place, it's no wonder PCMag calls Simplifi the "best personal finance app." The best part: You can have it all for less than a week's worth of lattes. Sign up for an annual subscription of Simplifi today, and get your first year for only $23.94. FUTURE OF TRAVEL Downtime Banphote Kamolsanei/Getty Images Drivers may be less worried about EV battery range than before, but they remain concerned about the ways charging can go awry. A new study spanning 20,000 chargers and 19 million data points homes in on some of the biggest issues with the public charging experience in the US—and, crucially for speeding up EV adoption, how to fix them. The analysis was conducted by ChargerHelp, an EV equipment company that provides charging station repairs and maintenance. The findings indicate that actual charger uptime is often lower than reported; that there's significant variation in charger reliability by state and charging network; and that standardized reliability metrics are "crucial for improving uptime," among other conclusions. ChargerHelp conducted a point-in-time assessment of more than 4,800 charge points to see if reported uptime matched drivers' actual experience. The company found that 26.3% of test charges failed. The report also cites external data indicating that actual uptime averages about 84%—lower than the 92% that stations report. "The biggest [takeaway] for us was continuing to see the disparity between what the stations say about themselves…versus the reality on the ground when our technicians or when drivers are interacting with the stations in person," Walter Thorn, ChargerHelp's SVP of product and strategy, told Tech Brew. Keep reading here.—JG AI State of the states J Studios/Getty Images The push for a big AI legislation package may have petered out a bit on Capitol Hill, but that hasn't stopped statehouses across the country from rolling out a stream of new regulations. Lawmakers in 45 states introduced 446 bills tackling different aspects of AI's use in the first half of 2024 and enacted 69 of them, according to a report from public affairs software company Quorum. Those proposals encompass everything from protecting against deepfakes and algorithm discrimination to data privacy and ensuring state governments themselves are using the tech fairly. While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his colleagues in the so-called "AI gang" have released a roadmap toward AI policy, Ben Buchanan, the White House's special advisor for AI, told us recently he doesn't expect much progress on it during an election year. That's left a gap for states to fill as generative AI tech continues to evolve at a breakneck pace. Keep reading here.—PK TOGETHER WITH GRAYSCALE INVESTMENTS Think crypto? Think Grayscale. Grayscale is a leading crypto asset manager. With over 20 different crypto funds*, Grayscale has been a provider of crypto investment products for over a decade. Join other investors who choose Grayscale in adding crypto to their portfolios. Crypto investing begins with Grayscale. BITS AND BYTES Stat: 17%. That's the percentage of Elon Musk's tweets this year that were political in nature, up from 2% in 2021, a Washington Post analysis found. Quote: "If you've never heard of generative AI before and this commercial was your very first introduction, you're just kind of confused, disappointed, maybe scared, or something just doesn't feel right."—Michael Miraflor, the chief brand officer at VC firm Hannah Grey, to Marketing Brew for a story about advertisers' reactions to Google's widely panned "Dear Sydney" ad for its Gemini AI Read: Gamergate's legacy lives on in attacks against Kamala Harris (Wired) JOBS When's the last time you landed a job by applying cold? We've partnered with CollabWORK, the first community-powered hiring platform, to bring you curated jobs from companies looking to connect with Tech Brew readers—apply below! Head of Product at Gloo (hybrid) Global Product Manager at a water tech company (in person) Senior Product Manager at ExaCare (in person) SHARE THE BREW Share Tech Brew with your coworkers, acquire free Brew swag, and then make new friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. 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