About Zachary Shahan
Zachary Shahan is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He's also the CEO of Important Media. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao.
Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA] — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in this company and feels like it is a good cleantech company to invest in. But he offers no investment advice and does not recommend investing in Tesla or any other company.
November 16th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
I'm a hardcore climate activist. I've been one for approximately 20 years (and writing that sure does make me feel old). I'm quite concerned that we are destroying the livability of this planet for human life and countless other species. Furthermore, I've got two young girls, and I'm certain their lives are going to be harder than mine due to more drought, agricultural failures, superstorms, more severe fires, climate-related diseases, flooding, and severe migration challenges. I'd like to do what I can to limit the challenges they will face in an increasingly unstable world
November 15th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
There's too much electric vehicle news to cover every week to have full stories on all of the pieces. Writers pick the stories that interest them, which leaves many less glamorous items (especially non-Tesla news) on the bench. To make up for that a bit and highlight several stories that I think shouldn't be skipped, below is a roundup of recent electric vehicle news
November 14th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
There's been a lot of electric vehicle news lately. Unfortunately, some of it doesn't make the cut here for its own individual coverage. Hyundai and Kia have rolled out some minor electric vehicle updates that we just couldn't get to, for example. I'll quickly run down 3 news items
November 14th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Volvo is not known for buses or trucks on my side of the Atlantic Ocean (North America). However, over in Europe, the company is quite a big producer of commercial trucks and buses, and it is now rolling out some big electric vehicle news in those industries
November 13th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Porsche has a new EV-specific insurance policy called "Taycan policy." The insurance offering adds battery and charging station insurance to typical mobility insurance
November 13th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
The Renault Twingo is a popular little car in Europe. After years of customers clamoring for an electric version of the car, Renault is finally ready to roll one out — or almost ready. Reportedly, the Twingo ZE (zero emissions) will hit the market in 2020. Ali Kassai Koupaï, Senior Vice President of Product Planning of Groupe Renault, noted: “We need to add an A-segment [electric] car to address customer needs.” Indeed. Don't let Volkswagen eat your lunch!
November 13th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
I used to find the debate between Tesla critics (most notably short sellers) and Tesla fans as somewhat interesting but mostly straightforward. Tesla critics somehow thought that Tesla inherently couldn't make profits on its products. Tesla fans thought and explained how Tesla could. Tesla critics thought Tesla couldn't learn the art and skill of efficient, smooth mass production. Tesla fans noted many times, this isn't rocket science (ahem). Tesla critics thought major automakers would come out with electric vehicles superior to what Tesla offered and would thus kill the company. Tesla fans highlighted Tesla's leadership in batteries, software, self-driving tech, design, customer communications, and overall reputation
November 12th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
A few weeks ago, thanks to a friendly Tesla fan on Twitter, The Guardian, and Rainforest Action Network, I shared the news that the top 3 banks funding fossil fuel development also — through a different arm — are providing bearish forecasts for Tesla [TSLA] and recommending traders sell the stock rather than buy it. The update this week: despite a surprise profit in quarter 3 and much of the market swinging in the other direction, the Tesla analysts at these top 3 fossil fuel funders are holding steady on their bearish stance and recommendation to sell
November 12th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
What was the media writing about Tesla 5 years ago? What was CleanTechnica writing about Tesla 5 years ago? How does all of this compare to Tesla headlines today
November 11th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Tracking monthly US auto sales has been a fascinating endeavor this past year. Unfortunately, we don't get data from some brands — Tesla, all Ford Motor Company brands, GM brands, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brands, Jaguar Land Rover no longer report monthly sales. However, there are 17 brands that do report monthly US sales, so let's have a look at them
November 10th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
The US electric vehicle market ... is not the most interesting. Unfortunately, we have only one mass-market electric vehicle on the market, and there are very few models available across the nation. Actually, aside from Tesla's offerings, I think only two fully electric models available at dealers practically anywhere are the Chevy Bolt and Nissan
November 10th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
The most popular stories of the past week on CleanTechnica were led by a visual comparison of the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y, followed by Paul Fosse's early review of one-pedal driving in a Tesla Model 3 (following a recent software update many of us still haven't gotten). My second piece on non-Tesla electric vehicle models that might one day reach 10,000 sales a month was in third, and an answer to the never-ending question of whether Teslas work in snow was right behind it. For the rest of the top 20, and to actually see the headlines and click through to fun articles you missed, scroll down below
November 10th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
You might have seen my first two (or three) articles and videos/podcasts from our new Tesla Inside Out series. If you haven't, I highly recommend at least a perusal
November 9th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Continuing our discussion of Tesla and David Havasi's long history at Tesla, we took up where we left off, talking about early Model S days at Tesla. At the time that, Tesla had a gigantic factory in Fremont with almost nothing in it other than big, wild dreams and post-apocalyptic images of Blade Runner and The Highlander flashing through their heads as they looked across the expansive space
November 9th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
I recently met a gentleman named David Havasi while charging our Tesla Model 3 at a ChargePoint station at a Whole Foods I frequently visit. He recognized me from CleanTechnica and I quickly learned he worked at Tesla for 7 years, until just recently. We got talking, talking, talking, and talking. I wasn't sure if he'd be camera shy to repeat some of what he told me (or more) on camera, but it turned out he very much wasn't shy — he had actually worked on Broadway before working at Tesla!
November 6th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
In response to a recent article of mine about electric vehicle models that could potentially hit 10,000+ sales a month, several readers suggested other models that I neglected (or simply didn't have much faith in). I thought these suggestions warranted a followup article
November 4th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
The most popular CleanTechnica stories of October were led by Polestar and Mazda. Seriously. No offense to Polestar or Mazda (okay, some offense to Polestar and Mazda), but I wouldn't have seen that coming a mile away. Does this show a great thirst for more EV news beyond Tesla and more serious EV entries? Possibly. Or it was just some lucky timing and catchy headlines. Or all of the above. In any case, that's where things landed in October. Tesla still dominated the top 20, with 15 out of 20 stories, but it was an interesting phenomenon to see the company almost pushed out of the top
November 4th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
As you may have seen, Tesla recently showed another quarterly profit, which apparently shocked the market enough that the Tesla [TSLA] stock price shot up. I don't follow the stock closely, but I am a shareholder and find the whole "Tesla bull vs Tesla short" debate quite fascinating. I've had several thoughts on the stock and these different investment communities in the past week, but the one that shot to the front most quickly and strongly was simple: TSLA bulls warned the TSLA shorts
November 3rd, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Mazda? Mazda? A possibly lame-ass electrification effort from Mazda? Yes, apparently, that was somehow our most popular article of the week last week here on CleanTechnica. Will more than 100,000 people consider — let alone buy — the electric Mazda? I doubt it! But they'll read about it. (Granted, Tina's headline must have been part of the appeal, and I did think from the headline the car was going to be edible in some way.)
November 3rd, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Okay, let's be frank: Tesla pushed the EV revolution up to today. Volkswagen Group execs, to their credit and honor, have basically said the same. Good on them. Also, before I completely shift away from Tesla and focus on Volkswagen, I certainly do think Tesla has a multi-year advantage on some key EV matters and I drive a Tesla Model 3 because I think it's the best car on the market. Nonetheless, "first followers" are often just as important as the leaders
