Axios

Waze and other mobile navigation apps are sending their users towards the wildfires raging in Southern California, according to multiple reports, because streets near the fires are more clear than unaffected streets.

The details: Waze gave a USA Today reporter directions onto a street blocked off because of the fire, per the paper. And the Los Angeles Times reported that the city's police department was cautioning people about using the programs.

Here's a look at where fires have been detected in Southern California as of 4 p.m. Eastern Time using data from NASA's MODIS and VIIRS instruments.

"Demand for EVs has continued to rise in 2017, setting new records for purchases and vehicle model availability," according to a new report on the electric vehicle market by Securing America's Future Energy. The chart below shows the year-over-year growth of EVs and plug-in hybrids in the U.S.

Reproduced from Securing America's Future Energy analysis; Chart: Axios Visuals

Between the lines: "Although six models currently account for nearly two-thirds of sales, consumers have a fuller range of choices with 37 models available, thanks to marked declines in battery technology costs and enhanced range," per the market snapshot.

Flames from the southern California wildfires have spread to the edge of the 405 in Los Angeles — the nation's busiest highway which carries over 400,000 vehicles per day. The fires were only about 5–10% contained as of Thursday morning, the LA Times reports.

By the numbers: The largest fire — the Thomas — is burning across 96,000 acres in Ventura County and has forced 50,000 evacuations. The Creek fire has pushed 110,000 people out of Sylmar in Los Angeles County and is burning about 13,000 acres. A total of 200 buildings and homes have been damaged or destroyed across southern California.

Seven years after leaving as White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama (in Oct. 2010), Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced his former boss yesterday in the Windy City, at a summit on climate change that includes mayors from around the globe.

• Obama, via the Chicago Tribune: "This is my hometown, so I hope Rahm has been as good of a host as he was a chief of staff, and as good as he has been a mayor."
• Obama didn't mention Trump by name: "Obviously we're in an unusual time when the United States is now the only nation on earth that does not belong to the Paris agreement ... And that's a difficult position to defend. But the good news is that the Paris agreement was never going to solve the climate crisis on its own. It was going to be up to all of us."

A new firm helmed by energy tech and finance veterans, called Volta Energy Technologies, says it's joining the race to develop the next wave of batteries. The company announced today it's got an innovative new model for vetting and funding promising breakthroughs in battery and other storage.

Why it matters: Improvements in battery technology are key to the growing commercialization of electric vehicles, as well as power applications that can help bring large amounts of renewable power into the grid and into homes.

• This makes batteries a key tool in the battle against global warming, because they can help decarbonize both transportation and electricity systems.