Fully Autonomous Teslas … Largest Solar Farm … Toyota Prius Prime Review … (CleanTechnica Top ~30)

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It was a rather wild week — for reasons I don’t need to repeat — and it was also a bit of an atypical week for topics that took the crowd by storm here on CleanTechnica. Yes, Tesla held its usual spot at the top of the tables — and all over the top 20. But we also had popular stories about the Toyota Prius Prime, Antarctic Larsen C ice shelf, and nuclear cargo shipping, for example. Have a look at the most popular stories of the past week:

1. Will Teslas Be Capable Of Fully Autonomous Driving Within Only 6 Months? (#ElonTweets)
2. Construction On World’s Largest Solar Project To Begin Soon (via Cleantechies)
3. Finding The Elusive Prius Prime (+ Toyota Prius Prime Review)
4. Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf Rift Growing Rapidly, 10 Kilometers Of Growth Since January 1st
5. China Electric Car Sales Demolish US & European Electric Car Sales
6. Tesla Model S EV Annex Carbon Fiber Upgrade (CleanTechnica Review)
7. US Navy Hilariously Trolls Trump On Facebook And Guess What Happens Next!
8. Why Now Is The Time For Nuclear Cargo Shipping — hot now
9. 3 Charts That Illustrate Why Climate Change Is World’s Biggest Risk (via Climate Central)
10. To Squeak Or Not To Squeak — Fixing Model S Squeaks & Creaks
11. Renewables Now Cheapest, But How To Enable Faster Renewable Energy Growth?
12. Holy Hot Polarons, Batman! New Perovskite Solar Cell Shows Promise
13. US Department of Transportation Selects 10 Pilot Sites For Autonomous Vehicle Testing
14. Elio Motors Reportedly Pushes Launch Back Until 2018, Owing To Financial Problems
15. North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) Environment Minister Now Drives A Tesla Model S
16. 2017 Electric Car Sales Projections — From You & EV Volumes
17. MHI Vestas Unveils New 9 Megawatt Wind Turbine
18. Trump Administration Wipes Climate & Renewable Agenda From White House Website, But California Pushes Back
19. Climate Change Will Fuel An “Unimaginable” Refugee Crisis, Military Analysts Report
20. Renewables = Over 50% New Electricity Capacity But 16% Of Energy Investment
21. Global Solar PV Demand Grows For 10th Straight Year, 2017 Will Be Bigger
22. “America First” Energy Plan Puts Americans Last
23. How The Terrorists Won — hot now
24. Electric GT Tesla Model S At The Track (Video)
25. Trump’s War On Environment Begins Anew With Censorship, Halting EPA Funding, & Revitalizing Keystone XL & Dakota Access Pipelines
26. SunEdison Signs PPA For 200 Megawatt Solar Project In Bangladesh
27. Beware Of Trump Trolls & Fake Supporters — From Russia, D.C., & Elsewhere
28. Residential Energy Pilot Explores Use Of Storage To Balance Neighborhood Solar Generation
29. Nissan, BMW, & EVgo Expand DC Fast Charging Across US
30. 3 Ways Donald Trump’s Climate Approach Is A US Economic Disaster
31. Saudi Arabia: Fossil Fuels Are Cleaner … Wait, What? (Exclusive Video)

In terms of my favorites, here are 32:

I wrote some reflective pieces on terrorism and the USA that I was particularly fond of.

Jose’s China electric car sales report for December and 2016 as a whole was super interesting, as his unique EV sales reports always are.

I was shocked by the short-term nonsense and misleading claims from Ford CEO Mark Fields.

I loved Karel Beckman’s short reflections on “Humanity First” versus “America First.”

I also loved how Steve Hanley reframed Trump’s “America First” plan as it really is — Americans last.

I loved my mom’s piece on finding and driving a Toyota Prius Prime as well as her “odd” experiences trying to test drive other plug-in cars in Southwest Florida.

Kyle’s EV Annex carbon fiber upgrade and Model S rear center console insert reviews were predictably great.

Kyle’s deep dive into fixing Model S squeaks & creaks was also a gem.

Speaking of Tesla, it was a ton of fun surveying you readers about 2017 EV sales projections for top models and the industry as a whole, and writing up the results.

It’s exciting to see Nissan, BMW, and EVgo expanding EV fast charging across the USA.

It’s exciting to see the gigantic, 800 megawatt, 2.99¢/kWh Masdar solar power plant moving forward.

The unexpectedly rapid drop in UK offshore wind prices is also uplifting.

But the attack on rooftop solar is distressing.

All of those stories actually play well into my piece on renewables equaling >50% of new global power capacity but only 16% of global energy investment.

But nothing said stranded assets like the Saudi Arabia energy minister’s (Saudi Aramco chairman’s) comments on fossil fuels versus renewables — which I caught on camera for a CleanTechnica exclusive.

The big question is, with solar energy and wind energy now cheaper than anything else, how do we take advantage of that for faster cleantech growth?

Speaking of wind, when Steve Sawyer speaks up, it’s worth listening.

I find it fascinating how the Tesla–Panasonic partnership seems to be continuously growing.

I love seeing California Governor Jerry Brown standing up for the climate, humanity, and common sense in the face of Trump and the Republican Party’s ridiculousness.

Action from thoughtful mayors helping cities to lead the way is also an emotional boost.

Solarizing the largest tram network in the world is also an awesome step forward.

And corporate renewable electricity sourcing is another positive response.

However, Trump’s likely decision to pull solar jobs away from veterans is a downer.

Also, I think it’s important to recognize the insane short- and medium-term risks of global warming and climate change. (The long-term risk, of course, is that humanity doesn’t survive.)

One part of that I’ve highlighted in the past but is still drastically under-discussed is the looming refugee crisis.

Oh yeah, and this: “2016 Officially Declared Hottest Year In 137 Years Of Recordkeeping.”

And don’t forget, we all need to take action. We should probably check out Disobedience too.