Zachary Shahan is tryin' to help society help itself (and other species) with the power of the typed word. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor, but he's also the president of Important Media and the director/founder of EV Obsession, Solar Love, and Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and energy storage expert. Zach has long-term investments in TSLA, FSLR, SPWR, SEDG, & ABB — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in these particular companies and feels like they are good cleantech companies to invest in.
September 23rd, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
Electric car sales are increasing at very different speeds around the world. Some developed countries still only see a handful of electric car sales per month. Others are moving hundreds of cars off of lots and into garages every day
September 20th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
As I noted in my article earlier today, Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Future of Energy Summit just wrapped up in London. Michael Liebreich, BNEF's Founder* and now Chairman of the Advisory Board, knocked the ball out of the park in his keynote presentation (whoops, wrong continent for that metaphor)
September 20th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
Bloomberg New Energy Finance's London Future of Energy Summit just wrapped up. As usual, the highlight of the show was the presentation from Michael Liebreich, Founder* and Chairman of the Advisory Board. This article and the next one were kicked off by a couple of tweets Karl Graves sent my way that featured two of Michael's brilliant slides
September 18th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
It was another blazingly hot week in EV world, led by rock star Tesla (and its Model 3) but also backed up by a strong performance from sidekick Nissan (and its new LEAF). Some original pieces from some of our thoughtful writers caught a lot of eyeballs, as did several exciting and surprising news stories. Solar energy and wind energy jumped in for a bit as well
September 16th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
It's one of the hottest debates in the EV enthusiast community these days: what's the best battery approach for automakers — vertical integration or simply buying batteries from top battery producers? Either approach could end up with lower costs and more advanced battery tech, depending on how the future rolls out*
September 16th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
Back when Important Media (the network CleanTechnica is a part of) was started, the idea was primarily that the customers would be the writers. The network (which was actually called Green Options Media, or GO Media, for a few years) would handle web hosting, website design, other website management items, etc. Writers wouldn't have to worry about that, would have a joint platform for writing about topics they were passionate about, and would have an attentive community ready to engage and share their content
September 16th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
I've got some issues with plug-in hybrids, and particularly how they've been designed by most automakers — well, all automakers except GM. However, plug-in hybrids are superb options — the best options — for many buyers. They even offer more environmental benefits than fully electric cars in some cases. Simply put, they are transition vehicles, and many people need transition vehicles in order to jump into the transition quicker
September 15th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
In the world of electric vehicles, batteries are gold. In the world of electric vehicle batteries, there are a handful of dynasties you must court if you want a competitive electric car. The most well known and promising names, the world's EV battery leaders, are
September 14th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
With 455,000 Tesla Model 3 reservations reportedly on the books, investors and analysts across the tech and auto world have been more than happy to throw their two cents into discussions about the car, the future of the auto industry, and Tesla [NASDAQ: TSLA]. That's $455 million in deposits that reservation holders have sent Tesla in order to be "at the front of the line," making it sort of easy to have a bullish stance on the product and the company at this point. That said, fresh comments from a couple of prominent Silicon Valley techies seem to go even beyond Elon Musk's enthusiasm
September 14th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
The focus of this story is simply about one Model 3 delivery. Being just one delivery and at such an early stage of the Model 3 production ramp, I'd certainly advise that we not get too giddy, but the signs so far appear quite good
September 13th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
More or less, this story could be about Daimler, BMW, Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, or any other major automaker. In fact, while this article was in the works, a couple of Daimler execs came out and admitted a couple of the core challenges in a rather direct way. Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne did the same a year and a half ago in his own dramatic style. But the complexity of the story means that it's not a black and white issue and it also goes far beyond the statements referenced above
September 12th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
The top 20 CleanTechnica stories of the past week or so, in case you were on vacation or something crazy like that
September 12th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
Volkswagen Group isn't fooling around any longer, in my opinion. There's plenty of room to remain cynical, but Volkswagen Group indicated yesterday that it is putting genuine skin in the game — big time. Before I discuss the announcements further, let's go through a quick thought exercise
September 11th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
Mercedes and Volkswagen have again announced hastened electric vehicle plans. This article is certainly about these companies and their plans — which we're very excited to report on today — but it would be a crime to not briefly highlight how they relate to Tesla, and why they are a "win" for Tesla. That bit is included at the end of the article, after getting through the hot news out of Germany
September 10th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
If you're in the electric vehicle industry or monitor it closely, you know one thing: batteries are big. Dropping battery prices are what have made electric cars competitive. As they drop further, they will make gasmobiles wildly uncompetitive. However, supply of batteries is limited, global production plans need to scale up a lot to hit electric vehicle (EV) plans and potential, and those who scale up smartly will likely lead on cost as well. Who's going to jump on the wave with perfect timing and lead the market? LG Chem? Panasonic? Tesla? Samsung SDI? SK Innovation? Kreisel? ... NorthVolt
September 9th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
The US electric car market has continued to grow at a rapid pace in the past year — led by California's particularly strong electric car market, of course. From January through August, sales of 8 fully electric cars* grew 82% in the country. Sales of 6 plug-in hybrid cars were up 28%. Overall, that meant sales of these 14 plug-in car were up 40%
September 8th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
Earlier this week, Takeshi Uchiyamada, the chairman of top-selling automaker Toyota, explained why he didn't understand the quick transition to electric cars that many of us see on the horizon. Or, if most of you reading this and I are absolutely off our rockers, he explained what we are ignorantly ignoring. Mr Uchiyamada made a few key points anti-selling electric cars. Below, I'll explain why I think each of them is incorrect or misleading. After that, I'll expound on why I think it's harder for Toyota than others to accept the transition to electric cars
September 7th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
Breaking news today regarding BMW and electric vehicles was ... more or less a repeat of statements BMW made in 2013 and 2015, but it also provided some extra details
September 7th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan
Jaguar Land Rover is the latest well known auto manufacturer to admit that the future of automobiles is electric, the relatively near future even. Like Volvo announced a couple of months ago, Jaguar Land Rover's plan is to not produce a single vehicle without an electric motor and battery from 2020 onward
