Published on April 23rd, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
One month ago, we got an email from IHS Markit. The market analysis firm had a totally unsurprising yet also shocking story to share — Tesla [TSLA] was a dramatically shorted stock. It's unsurprising because this has been TSLA's fate for years — it's a favorite of stock shorters. However, it's shocking because: 1) People and companies shorting TSLA have gotten absolutely burned in recent years and even months. 2) Model 3 production is ramping up — it's certainly not at full speed and there have indeed been delays, but production is ramping up... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by Steve Bakker
A movie clip shown early on in Chris Paine’s new 78 minute documentary on artificial intelligence titled Do You Trust This Computer? is from the 1968 sci-fi flick 2001: A Space Odyssey. If you’ve seen the movie, you know that the HAL 9000 super computer had defiantly chosen not to open the pod bay doors and let Mission Commander "Dave" and his dead comrade back aboard the spaceship. Instead, the all-powerful but confused mainframe had somehow gotten the notion that killing the crew is in keeping with the machine’s best interpretation of what its programmed mission is. Such a sequence in Paine’s latest film gives a strong hint of where the movie is headed... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
In July of 2017 (and previously), I put together a comparison of Tesla Model S sales and other large luxury car sales in the USA. A few people recently made me realize an update was in order. I didn't really have a clue how things would turn out this time around since I hardly follow the non-electric car market, but my hunch was that the Model S was still #1 in the large luxury car category... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
In this week's #Electrifying chat*, we are talking with Sono Motors co-founder & CEO Laurin Hahn. To join this free conference call (which starts at 6:00 pm CET / noon NYC time / 9:00 am California time), register on Zoom here and then join via the provided link once the call starts... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by James Ayre
Solar chimneys are an ancient passive solar technology whereby natural heat convection processes are harnessed to provide ventilation, amongst other possibilities... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by Nicolas Zart
Folding electric scooters? Sure, we've seen those before. But what about a folding electric scooter with connectivity? Let's introduce you to the UJET folding connected electric scooter... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by James Ayre
Solar energy has been exploited in direct capacities, for various purposes, well before solar photovoltaic cell and module technology became the most prominent example of "solar energy technology." Solar stills, solar cookers, sunlight concentrators, solar furnaces, solar fire starters, et cetera, have a long history of use and/or suggestion of use. For instance, there's fairly good evidence (though disputed by some academics) that solar fire-starters have been in use in Central Asia for a fair many thousands of years... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by James Ayre
As an addendum to our earlier article on passive solar house design basics, I thought that it would be worth providing an overview of some of the possibilities when it comes to the design of attached passive solar greenhouses and/or solariums... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by Scott Cooney
Sometimes, men just need to know that fighting climate change can also kick serious a**.
And what better way than by forming an electric motorcycle gang... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by Jose Pontes
After the usual off-season (January and February), March came and electric car sales surged to 59,000 units in China, up 85% year over year (YoY). Quarter 1 2018 sales doubled compared to the same period last year, to over 122,000 units... Read More →
Published on April 22nd, 2018 | by Jose Pontes
The Netherlands had 1,834 registrations in March, up 123% compared to March 2017. Last month actually resulted in a 4.3% plug-in vehicle share of the auto market, thus helping the 2018 share climb to 3.3%. The Tesla Model S was once again the monthly best seller, thanks to 588 registrations, allowing it to beat its own record of 576 deliveries, which dated back from December ... Read More →
Published on April 21st, 2018 | by Kurt Lowder
The Tesla "secret weapon" is not some new technological innovation, but rather it is a set of ideas proven effective by research and that can likely be found in a book titled something like: How to build a successful company for the future for idiots. No doubt, Musk has read extensive literature on the subject... Read More →
Published on April 21st, 2018 | by Bob Borsh
I didn’t realize until late last year, October to be exact, that our local utility (spelled monopoly), Green Mountain Power (GMP), had to “open up” the area of our state for Tesla Energy to be even able to offer us a solar generation package. However, we timed our latest inquiry to Tesla Energy just right... Read More →
Published on April 21st, 2018 | by Kyle Field
The woman walks up to the door of the office with confidence and orders two new water filters and a single solar-powered lamp. The products were destined for a neighbor’s household after she saw the benefits they provided. The water in the Kupang neighborhood she lives in is chronically contaminated with silt and other particulates that the low-cost and easy-to-implement Nazava water filters remove time and time again... Read More →
Published on April 21st, 2018 | by Nicolas Zart
An electric car that runs on sunlight is bound to get the press going and commenters seething about whether the possibility is practical or not. But even if the technology is not 100% there yet, is it not reasonable to pay attention to the early startups that could potentially become tomorrow's established electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous vehicle (AV) leaders? In a rarefied field, Lightyear proposes the One, an EV that runs on sunshine ... somewhat... Read More →
Published on April 21st, 2018 | by James Ayre
Average used plug-in electric vehicle resale prices rose by 41% in the UK during the first quarter of the year, the online used car service Autorola has reported... Read More →
Published on April 21st, 2018 | by Carlo Ombello
Tesla's production figures for the first quarter 2018 were released recently and provided great support to the company's mission to accelerate the adoption of electric cars. Elon Musk's company is under intense pressure as it strives to ramp up production of its first affordable car, the Model 3, which is seen as a game changer as it will appeal to a wide variety of customers, particularly with the forthcoming $35,000 base model. ... Read More →
Published on April 21st, 2018 | by Jose Pontes
Electric vehicle fever has definitely caught on in Germany, with March coming in as a record month to echo France's record month. Germany had over 6,700 electric car registrations last month, a 52% increase year over year (YoY). The plug-in vehicle share of the overall car market was 2%... Read More →
Published on April 21st, 2018 | by Jose Pontes
France registered a record 5,402 plug-in cars in March, up 41% year over year (YoY). With all plug-in drivetrains working together (fully electric cars +40%, plug-in hybrids +45%), the plug-in market was pulled up to 10,892 units in 2018, up 17% Yo... Read More →
Published on April 20th, 2018 | by James Ayre
The head of powertrain development at Volkswagen’s Porsche business, Joerg Kerner, has been arrested by authorities in Germany in relation to the Stuttgart public prosecutor office's investigation of the ongoing Volkswagen diesel vehicle emissions cheating scandal, unnamed sources quoted by Bild am Sonntag have revealed... Read More →
Published on April 20th, 2018 | by James Ayre
The Sweden-based utility giant Vattenfall is now aiming to become the top operator of plug-in electric vehicle charging stations over the next 5 or so years, company execs have revealed... Read More →
Published on April 20th, 2018 | by Steve Hanley
A draft of the latest World Development Report from the World Bank argues workers should be treated more like robots. Does the Communist Manifesto offer an alternative narrative? ... Read More →
Published on April 20th, 2018 | by James Ayre
In order to meet growing demand for lithium ore, the global lithium industry will require at least $10–12 billion in investments over the next decade — primarily due to rising demand for plug-in electric vehicles — the Chile-based lithium mining firm SQM has reported... Read More →
Published on April 20th, 2018 | by Nicolas Zart
Daimler's little Smart ED, the electric version of the Smart car, is now the only version of the car in the US. Today, the ED goes electric-only in Europe as well... Read More →
Published on April 20th, 2018 | by Joshua S Hill
In a Tweet posted on Thursday, the UK's electricity and gas owner National Grid confirmed that Great Britain had gone over 48 hours without any coal electricity generation, which was further confirmed to play out to be nearly 55 hours in total. ... Read More →
