Today’s Pickup: Last-mile delivery growth will increase carbon emissions by 30% by 2030

Tesla’s overall vehicle registrations nearly halved in California during the fourth quarter. The massive drop comes as a tax credit for Tesla buyers ended in 2019. It had fallen to $3,750 at the start of the year and had halved to $1,875 in July.

Quotable

“The average cumulative production per well over the first 12 months of output has been on the rise since mid-2015 until April 2018, when it peaked, and has slightly fallen since. So even under the optimistic assumption that cumulative production plateaued over the past year and has not fallen further, an increasing number of new wells is needed to offset the decline from the constantly growing fleet of legacy wells in order to retain growth.”

— JBC Energy, in its report on the continued slowdown of U.S. shale growth.

In other news

What the China trade deal means for American farmers

The agreement stipulates that China will make purchases far in excess of what it bought in 2017, totaling $32 billion over the next two years. (CNN)

Fiat-Chrysler to invest $400 million in new Kokomo engine plant

The money would be put toward expanding and equipping a factory for production of a new engine. (WTHR)

US natural gas boom is on its last legs

Weak natural gas prices amid abundant supply and a falling rig count across the United States would slow down U.S. natural gas production growth this year. (Oilprice)

Tesla negotiating deal with cobalt supplier to secure China battery cell production

Tesla is working on a long-term deal with a large Swiss-based Cobalt miner to begin supplying its Shanghai Gigafactory with raw materials for battery cell production. (Teslarati)

Google acquires startup that helps brick-and-mortar retailers list products online

The search giant is acquiring Pointy, which helps physical retailers get their products discoverable online without any extra work. (TechCrunch)

Final Thoughts

Bendix, the North American leader in safety technologies and control systems for commercial vehicles, has added Geotab to the list of telematics platforms that can support SafetyDirect, Bendix’s web portal that provides a video-based driver safety solution. Following this integration, SafetyDirect will be available across all Geotab-equipped commercial vehicles. The rollout has begun and is expected to be available in all fleets by mid-2020.

Using SafetyDirect, fleet operators can gain comprehensive feedback on their fleets and drivers, along with videos of severe driving events. The feedback enables fleet management to identify common driver behaviors and trends across their operations, which can significantly help improve the overall safety of their fleets.

Hammer down, everyone!