August 2nd, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
There's a lot of big news to share and discuss from Tesla's second quarter shareholder letter and conference call. We'll be covering what we consider to be the most important data points and stories in the coming hours and days — including answers to the questions I was able to shuttle CEO Elon Musk's way. (Listen to the call if you haven't yet.)
August 1st, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
There is a narrow assumption about the "class" Tesla vehicles are in that misses the broader Tesla story and the electric transition narrative. Yes, Tesla is surely pulling in a lot of consumers who would otherwise be driving a BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar, Porsche, etc. Below is a chart from my last article about that
August 1st, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
We've written about this guy a couple of times before. He's a billionaire who proudly proclaimed back on August 1 of last year that he was continuing to short Tesla [TSLA], claiming back then that the company was "only capitalized for the next three quarters." He's eating a lot of crow these days, but still claims he's the one who's right
July 31st, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
Electric vehicle activist, early adopter, and now Model 3 owner Paul Fosse was kind enough to take his fresh Tesla Model 3 an hour or so south to let me drive it. He also brought along some friends and their Model 3 for double the chocolate, double the fun. (Actually, I think no chocolate was involved — whoops.)
July 30th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
Electric cars are now known for being quick. They are known for being clean. They are known for being quiet and smooth to drive. However, one of their biggest benefits is style something seldom discussed or even acknowledged. Electric cars are safer
July 29th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
The hottest articles on CleanTechnica in the past week are below. Take a bite, chew them up, and share them all around. Your favorite not on the list? Let us know what it was!
July 28th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
It's widely speculated that Tesla delayed US deliveries and shipped more cars abroad in the second quarter in order to not pass the 200,000 vehicle milestone that starts the US federal EV tax credit phaseout. Indeed, as Tesla told us recently, the 200,000 vehicle milestone was passed in July, not June
July 28th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
Jaguar sold 172,848 cars last year. Tesla sold approximately 100,000, but it was also at the beginning of a steep production ramp. In the second quarter of 2018, Tesla delivered 40,740 cars and had over 10,000 in transit. That would put the company at a production rate of around 200,000 cars a year, already more than Jaguar. However, Tesla was still steeply ramping production of the Model 3, with one foot still in production hell, as CEO Elon Musk put it
July 28th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
It seems quite common these days to attribute obsession with Tesla and especially the Tesla Model 3 to some kind of Le Elon Muské cult Kool-Aid. You know, Tesla is so extremely popular only because of Elon Musk's quirky, nerdy, superhero shtick and unconventional marketing pizzaz. Tesla's cars are okay, but they're in high demand simply because Tesla fans are crazy and quite illogical. And there's not as much demand as everyone presumes anyway. Right
July 27th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
There are various Tesla production "trackers" out there. None of them are perfect. Who knows what the heck is really going on anyway? And even when Elon Musk himself seems to know what's going on, a new hiccup (or dagger from the devil ruling production hell) can end up changing the story. That said, recent indicators I've seen imply that Tesla is approaching a solid 7,000+ cars a week again
July 27th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
Last week, I wrote about a US democratic crisis. It concerns Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on the surface, but a bit more deeply, it concerns oil. Take a deep breath and bear with me a moment while I set the stage before connecting the dots
July 26th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
A couple weeks ago, we wrote about a major new ballot initiative in Arizona. The proposal is a 50% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) by the year 2030. A total of 480,464 Arizona residents sign onto the initiative to get it on the November ballot. Unfortunately, local media outlets are blowing the story
July 23rd, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
First of all, let's be clear — Tesla is such a popular company now that many people in the media have to cover it, or feel inspired to cover it, who know very little about the company, its products, its history, or its finances. Some of those reporters and bloggers may think they got up to speed quickly, got the story straight, and rightfully came in with boxing gloves on to bash the company. The problem is that those people often didn't get the full story, may have consumed and digested absolutely incorrect information, and may be out of their depths in the general topics they're briefly covering (manufacturing, finance, cars, technology, etc.). I would say that, by and large, these people aren't evil — they've just been misled
July 22nd, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
It's happened again. Someone who hasn't followed or has only loosely followed Tesla and Elon Musk in the past decade has swooped in with a damning, critical take on the two. The problem is that it's based on an absurd lack of context, Trump-style hyperbole (i.e., rhetorical lies), and illogical conclusions
July 22nd, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
The most popular stories of the past week included Tesla, trees, 2018 Nissan LEAF charging, and more. Have a look. Read. Share. Comment. Tweet. Or don't
July 20th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
One of the key lessons I learned while getting my first degree in sociology is a simple one, but it's also a profound one that is too often glossed over. The lesson is that democracy is fundamentally built on two pillars: 1) widespread availability of accurate, nearly complete information; and 2) a citizenry that engages in politics
July 18th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
A local news report in the Polish city where I've been living for nearly 10 years highlights that our relatively fresh electric carsharing program — Vozilla — has passed 30,000 users. Before moving to Florida a month ago, I was seeing the cars — mostly Nissan LEAFs — everywhere I went
July 17th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
A reader recently passed along a story in The West Australian that made scary, but incorrect, claims about rooftop solar power. Let's take a look
July 15th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
I thought the Model 3 would be great, top of its class, similar to the Model S we've had for a year. However, it seems I was caught off guard due to Tesla's incessant improvements and all of the nitpicky, consistent attacks from Tesla critics (paid or otherwise). The Model 3 is better than I expected. I expected to love it, but I didn't expect to love it so much. In particular, there were a handful of little things that made the car significantly more comfortable as a passenger and more enjoyable to drive than our 2015 Model S
July 14th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
I recently test drove the Chevy Bolt (at last!) and also spent some time driving a 2015 Nissan LEAF again (due to our i3 being in service). The differences were striking, and I have to say that the Bolt was a letdown — compared to the electric cars I'm used to
July 14th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
The most popular CleanTechnica stories of the past week actually did not lead with Tesla. Check 'em out below, and dive into the comments of ones that intrigue or excite you
July 13th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
Yep, our new (used) BMW i3 REx already made a trip to the BMW service center, approximately 3 weeks into its time with CleanTechnica
July 9th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
Let's get the biggest matter out of the way right off the bat: no one outside of Tesla really has a clue as to how many Model 3s were delivered in the US in each month of Q2. Yes, we have a Model 3 delivery total from Tesla for the quarter as a whole, but the company doesn't break that down by month or region. For a while, the slowly growing ramp allowed us to estimate without too much difficulty, but a few things changed in May and June
July 8th, 2018 | by Zachary Shahan
EV leader/legend Paul Scott talks with CleanTechnica for Cleantech Talk Today #10. We cover the US federal tax credit for EVs, California's $2,500 EV rebate, and unfortunate US politics today with Republicans guiding our ship toward a giant iceberg followed by a flaming crater of hell
