Maarten Vinkhuyzen Grumpy old man. The best thing I did with my life was raising two kids. Only finished primary education, but when you don’t go to school, you have lots of time to read. I switched from accounting to software development and ended my career as system integrator and architect. My 2007 boss got two electric Lotus Elise cars to show policymakers the future direction of energy and transportation. And I have been looking to replace my diesel cars with electric vehicles ever since.
March 12th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
The SEC is trying to get the court to hold Elon Musk in contempt. The SEC maintains that Musk violated the plea bargain they made after the infamous "funding secured" tweet, a plea bargain that was accepted by the court as its final judgement and thus has the power of a court order for Elon Musk and Tesla
March 10th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Just two weeks after I wrote that Tesla needed to open a lot of shops in Europe, Tesla announced that it was closing many of its shops. How could I be so wrong? What did I miss? While torturing my feet on the floor of the Geneva Motor Show, I thought more about this problem
March 9th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
On March 9th, 1954, Carlos Ghosn was born in Brazil. A full 65 years later, the best we can say about this day is that he did not spend the day in jail
February 28th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Thursday, February 28, 2019, after markets closed: After creating a lot of anticipation with some cryptic tweets, Tesla announced the base Model 3 and a new, more reasonable, pricing structure. The big question for all of us was, how did Tesla get production costs down enough to offer the $35,000 base model? Short answer: it didn't. Let us look at the new prices first
February 25th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
A perfect storm is brewing above the automotive industry. Three hardly grasped phenomena are working together. Just like a real storm, when the conditions align in the best/worst way, we get a devastating superstorm. These phenomena (or events) are the Osborne effect of delayed demand, the technology (cost) curve of battery prices and other technology, and the S-curve that describes market acceptance of new technologies
February 18th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Tesla has been expected to do something about this for years. With the Model 3 entering production, it became urgent. Now that the Model 3 is entering Europe, it is baffling
February 5th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Slow electric vehicle growth in Europe is ending. The market, extremely stable until 2018, will be exploding in
February 1st, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
WARNING: This article is centered around faux distortions of positive Tesla news, like you might see from Seeking Alpha or Wall Street analysts. The point is to add context and perspective (after the faux distortions) to the kinds of reactions you might see on larger media sites like CNBC and Business Insider
January 19th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
We have seen a lot of announcements for many new electric cars from the big carmakers. Some say it is #dieselgate that opened their eyes. Others think Tesla and Musk are threatening their sales. Occam's razor tells us to look at the easiest explanation first. China's NEV mandate might be the easiest explanation
January 18th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
The myth of the modern "city car" originates from the makers of Swatch watches. They thought there should be a market for stylish, functional, small cars for city dwellers — the same kind of people who bought their watches. This "SwatchMobile" became the Daimler Smart car. It was very popular, mainly among journalists who found it was something quirky to write about it. As far as sales goes, it turned out to be a product for a very small niche
January 17th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
History is sometimes ironic. The French state saw Carlos Ghosn's refusal to merge Nissan into Renault as an obstacle to the growth of the former national car company. They attributed it to his megalomania, and not to sentiments within Nissan and Japan. He could only keep his job at Renault when he promised to make the alliance irreversible, nearly as good as a full merger. That job would be for his successor
January 13th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
In 2019, a dozen new fully electric cars and SUVs are coming to the USA market. Well, they are not coming to all states — many will be what are called "compliance cars." What makes carmakers only offer compliance cars in the States? Let's explore
January 13th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
For those who follow the fully electric car market, 2016 was exciting. GM introduced the Chevy Bolt a full year ahead of Tesla's Model 3. It was the first long-range affordable electric car in the United States. For many reasons, we did not really see it in most of Europe
January 9th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
After many delays and years of waiting that would flush Tesla's cheeks in embarrassment, the 60kWh Nissan LEAF ("LEAF 2," or "LEAF 3.ZERO" in the UK) is starting production. The planning is this month for Japan, sometime in the spring for North America, and during the summer for those waiting on the old continent and in the UK and Ireland
January 7th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
After seven weeks in jail, Carlos Ghosn is getting a hearing in court. His lawyers can ask questions, and he can read a statement. How he should write a statement while he is denied pen and paper is beyond me. What is also beyond me is the Japanese justice system
January 2nd, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
In this new year, a lot of new fully electric vehicles are coming to market. Well, they are not coming to all markets and many will be compliance cars
January 1st, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
As the years transition, lists of EVs coming to market in 2019 are omnipresent. But there is a problem with those lists. First, they are mainly for the USA market, and second, the availability of those new models is not great — only in California or a handful of "zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) states," or some other very limited supply formula
January 1st, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Sometimes there is a reason to report on rumors. This is one of those times. There are many rumors swarming the interwebs about Tesla and its inventory. And I am going to guess what they mean
November 21st, 2018 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
As reported yesterday, Carlos Ghosn has been taken in for questioning by the Japanese authorities. He is accused of "serious misconduct" and "numerous other significant acts of misconduct," according to a Nissan press release. That sounds very serious. What has he done to deserve a prison cell
October 24th, 2018 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
As a consequence of the current trade war, Tesla faces an extra 25% on top of the standard 15% general import duty when importing into China from the USA. That is 25% more than imported German cars and more than 50% over locally produced vehicles that are eligible for EV incentives
October 16th, 2018 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
The Paris Motor Show, "Mondial de Paris," started a day early with a pre-show symposium for a select public: "Tomorrow in Motion." Even a few journalists were invited, yours truly not among them. But the whole 5 hour happening was live on YouTube. Arriving early in the hotel near Paris and with pencil and paper in hand, the CleanTechnica delegation was ready for it. As a French organized mondial event, half of the presentations were in French. That means that I have no notion what they were about
September 30th, 2018 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Jaguar I-Pace In the class of luxury midsize SUV/CUV, we have now or will relatively soon have 5 new fully electric vehicles that are serious all-around usable cars. Oops, in the USA, half the cars are not called cars but trucks. These vehicles are the Jaguar I-Pace, Audi e-Tron, Mercedes EQC, Tesla Model Y, and BMW iX3 — placed in order of expected start date of sales
September 30th, 2018 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Tesla is looking for two new independent directors. There are many very capable candidates outside the normal business circles. We want candidates that will stay true to Tesla's mission, and can even protect Musk from market pressures by keeping an eye on the future
September 30th, 2018 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
How often have you heard the complaint that all the electric cars on the market aside from Teslas are only compliance cars and that the carmakers have no intention to make enough of them to sell the cars in high numbers
