Chinese EV Revolution, Best Electric Cars for Your Money, Solid-State Battery News — Top 13 Cleantech Stories

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It’s the end of another week already, and I’m ready to share some of the top cleantech stories of the past week. The biggest stories of the week center around Chinese EV companies, and that’s probably going to be the case more and more. Check out the latest hot news out of China and elsewhere below.

I also decided this week to create a video talking about the top stories of the week. Check it out here:

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1. Our China Electric Car Sales Report

Publishing our exclusive, in-depth China electric car sales report earlier today for the month of October, we got to see and share that 53% of new auto sales in China are now plugin vehicle sales. Just looking at full electrics (BEVs), those accounted for 30% of new auto sales. And there was one clear leader in this super hot market: BYD. In the overall auto market, BYD accounted for all 5 of the top 5 models! For much more, check out the full October report.

2. And the Chinese EV Revolution Globally

Before that report came through, there was so much big Chinese EV news recently that I decided to do an overview piece on the revolution underway in the auto industry. I rolled through a series of stunning stats regarding BYD and Xiaomi, primarily. However, there’s also the news of XPENG and NIO expanding into more and more markets around the world. BYD is, of course, expanding around the world as well, and our Australian reporter, David Waterworth, explored the hottest new BYD Down Under, the Shark. That should be a hit!

3. Solid-State Batteries Finally Here?

We’ve been covering the promise and hype around solid-state batteries for about a decade, or maybe longer. This week, we got some big updates. First of all, there was the news that Chery is building a 1 gigawatt-hour (GWh) solid-state battery factory. Then, though, one of our writers pointed out that the energy density of these batteries isn’t nearly as high as it was initially expected to be. (But maybe it’ll just take some ramping up to get there.) We also got news that Honda is building its own solid-state battery factory!

4. Level 1 Charging for the Win!

Following up on a Cleantech Talk podcast in which our guest strongly advocated for rolling out a lot more Level 1 charging infrastructure instead of only focusing on Level 2 and Level 3, he passed along news of an economist advocating for this as well. I’m all for it, as I’ve been on this train for years!

5. Where Does the US & the World Go Following Trump’s Second Election?

That’s what CleanTechnica’s Scott Cooney and I discussed in a long video this week. Read about it here, or just watch the video:

6. Tesla Enters the Philippines

Tesla is still gradually expanding across the world. Its latest new market is the Philippines. Our on-the-ground reporter there got some details on initial orders and sales, as well as some great pictures. There’s also an expectation that Tesla will get nickel from the Philippines, but we’ll have to wait for an update on that.

7. Hyundai IONIQ 9 Unveiled

Hyundai’s newest electric vehicle, the IONIQ 9, was just unveiled. I expect it to be a huge hit in the US, and I’m sure it will win some design and innovation awards for what it’s done with the interior. I look forward to seeing them on the road, and even more so look forward to playing with the interesting, versatile seats.

8. Best Value for Money EVs!

Jose Pontes published a superb series on the “best value for money” electric vehicles on the market in Europe. I love and highly recommend this series, whether you live in Europe or not. For quick access, here are the stories on each vehicle class:

• A Segment (City Cars)
• B Segment (Subcompacts)
• C Segment (Compacts)
• D Segment (Midsize)
• E Segment (Full Size)
• MPVs

9. CATL Flexing & Expanding Its Offerings

We got a few notable news items from CATL, the biggest battery maker in the world. For one, it’s going to start producing its second-gen sodium-ion batteries in 2025. Perhaps even more significantly, it is adding whole EV platforms (and grid storage solutions) to its portfolio. But maybe even the biggest story of all was CATL Founder Robin Zeng roasting Elon Musk, and when you think a couple of levels deep on this, it could be an important warning shot from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Elon Musk and Tesla.

10. Autonomous Electric Air Taxis Flying!

I’m not sure how big the electric air taxi market will ever get, but it keeps moving forward, and the latest big news item is Ehang initiating test flights of autonomous electric air taxis in Thailand.

11. BLUETTI + United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

Energy storage giant BLUETTI has partnered with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to help “accelerate clean energy adoption and sustainable development in Africa.” I’m sure this will provide a lot of help to thousands of families in Africa. We need true feel-good news stories like this right now!

12. In the US? Buy Your Electric Cars, Heat Pumps, and Solar Panels ASAP!

With Donald Trump’s plan to kill renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric car incentives, if you would like to buy any of these, you better get your purchases completed before the end of the year! Republicans in Congress and Trump are likely to remove all of these subsidies starting in 2025. (Side note: RIP, world.)

13. Kia + DHL

Delivery vehicles are an extremely sensible, smart, money-saving portion of the market to electrify. DHL has come to the same conclusion, and it’s tapping Kia to provide the company with probably thousands of electric delivery vehicles for its fleet. Yay common sense!

In addition to those 13 leading stories, here are also a few honorable mentions and op-eds:

• EV Questions, Answers, & Solutions for Mainstream Buyers
• BEVs & Renewables Apparently Are Not the Answer
• Why My Used Chevy Bolt Is Worth So Much More Than Its Trade-In Value
• Lithium Brine Breakthrough Or Not, Thacker Pass Is Happening
• Why Slow Charged Swap is Better Than Buffered Fast Charge
• Hiboy Releases Two Powerful Scooters Just In Time For The Holidays

Have any other favorites stories I missed? Feel free to share them below.