China Cutting Coal … Tesla vs Semi Truck … Uber vs Lyft … Musk & Trump (Top CleanTechnica Stories of the Week)

Had a busy week? Couldn’t catch the 100 or so articles we published? Here were the most popular peas in the pie:

1. Reports Reveal Beijing To Cut Coal Use By 30% In 2017
2. Tesla Model S vs Tractor Trailer — Collision Demonstrates How Solidly Tesla’s Sedan Is Built
3. Uber vs Lyft — What Are The Differences For Drivers? (Part 1: Introductory Process)
4. Update On Tesla Model S vs Tractor Trailer Collision — New Pics & Details + First-Hand Account
5. Lyft vs Uber — What Are The Differences For Drivers? (Part 2: $$$ + Electric Range Issues & Support)
6. Elon Musk & Donald Trump — What’s The Deal?
7. Toyota & Utilities Incentivize Efficient Driving In The Prius Prime (In Japan)
8. Tesla Model S & Nissan LEAF Clocked As World’s Best-Selling Electric Cars In 2016
9. GM CEO Mary Barra: Chevy Bolt EV Platform To Be Used For More EV Models
10. US Electric Car Sales Up 59% In January 2017 — via EV Obsession
11. A Nissan LEAF Service Check (& Chat)
12. Hyundai Ioniq Electric Will Be Available For Sale In US This Week — via Gas2
13. Electric Garbage Trucks & Buses … #1 Tesla Model S & #1 Nissan LEAF … (Top CleanTechnica Stories of the Week)
14. Fan-Made Commercial Shows “Nikola Tesla” Exploring Tesla Model S
15. Tesla Model S P100D Does 0–60 MPH In Record 2.275507139 Seconds (Motor Trend)
16. Victoria Starting Autonomous Vehicle Trials On Public Roads (Australia)
17. Lucid Motors Air Sighting In San Francisco + New Teaser Video
18. Leonardo DiCaprio Is New Brand Ambassador In China For BYD’s “New Energy” Vehicles
19. Tesla Semi-Truck Program Still Moving Forward … (#ElonTweets)
20. Celebrity Science Advocate Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Got A 2017 Chevy Bolt EV (7th EV To Date)
21. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Exploring Possibility Of Slovakia/Czech Republic Route
22. BYD K9 Electric Bus Takes Maiden Trip In Long Beach, California
23. China Doubled Its Solar Capacity In 2016 — via Solar Love
24. Tesla Model 3 Will Begin Pilot Production On February 20
25. Volvo Creating Carsharing Business Unit
26. Tesla Not Likely Going Over 100 kWh For Model S/X, Model 3 Not Getting 100kWh Battery, & More #ElonTweets
27. What If Obama Did This? … & Where’s Trump’s Birth Certificate, By The Way?
28. “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” Earns “Rapturous Response” At Sundance Film Festival Debut
29. SunShot Beats Its Solar Cost Goal 3 Years Early
30. SolPad Releases Pricing & Pre-Order Info For Mobile Solar + Storage Product

And my personal favorites:

Just published, Mike Barnard’s deep dive into basic income is a fascinating read.

I found both initial articles on the differences between Lyft & Uber super interesting, articles concerning the human side of things and $$$.

Naturally, I hate to have to highlight it, but it’s super disturbing what information Trump’s team is removing from the EPA website. More disturbing news: A Republican congressman from Florida has introduced a bill to kill the EPA.

… Disturbing news seems to be one of the chief goals of “shadow president” Steve Bannon. Basically, he seems to come from a string of the Republican Party that wants to see our current society collapse.

Trump, of course, is just a tool in it all.

But solar costs have come down even faster than Obama’s Department of Energy was aiming, so it might not matter a great deal when it comes to solar at least.

That solar cost freefall has also led to skyrocketing of solar jobs. Hmm, seems like certain political leaders would care about that. …

From the more sensible wing of the Republican Party, I always love a carbon tax pitch from George Schultz.

India’s continued leadership with gigawatts of solar, floating solar, and huge wind potential is an uplifting story, with the country reaching 50 gigawatts of grid-connected renewables. (Matches the comments from India’s energy minister that I captured last month, saying that India will keep going strong on its cleantech commitments despite Trump … for obvious reasons.)

China’s massive cuts to coal and massive growth of solar are two more uplifting stories.

Speaking of clean energy leadership … Iran approved $3 billion worth of foreign renewable energy investments.

It’s cool to see that Tesla drivers can now see how many empty stalls are at a Supercharging station just by looking at their navigation.

Speaking of Tesla — “pilot production” of the Model 3 reportedly starts this month!

Another coming model, the Lucid Air looks pretty hot, including in candid shots.

And speaking of hot, Leonardo DiCaprio has now teamed with BYD to promote EVs!

Then there’s the story of the Chinese and Mexicans teaming up to for some potential EV leadership.

But hey, it’s the human-powered transport in cities like Vancouver that is really wonderful.

Regarding bikes, I’m super curious to see where stationless bikesharing goes. Will it be a hit? Not so much?

Steve Hanley’s piece examining the 9th Circuit Court’s decision to keep blocking Trump’s Muslim ban was a great read.

Also from Steve: Seattle dumps Wells Fargo over Dakota Access Pipeline.

On an even more positive front: California utilities have a $1 billion plan to electrify transport. Woohoo!

Also on the EV charging front, I’m excited to see EV fast-charging networks partnering in Europe.

As Al says: “Regardless of where you live, how you vote, what you feel, it is always better to breath in clean air versus unclear air.”

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

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