July was a momentous month. The Tesla Model 3 — which must have surprised even Elon Musk — arrived. The first 30 production Model 3s were delivered. But there was a lot of other cleantech fun as well. Check out the stories below to see which grabbed the most eyeballs here on CleanTechnica.
Now that we’re about to cross the finish line of Tesla’s first master plan, this also marks the end of the Model 3 Scoffathon. Let’s pause and reflect on the sage words of various experts who flashed their credentials and then swore up and down that Tesla would never get here, to the high-volume $35,000 car. Sure, the car hasn’t materialized in volume quite yet, but we’re on the home stretch.
For a while, I thought the hottest CleanTechnica article of the past week was going to be an electric bike article, shockingly, but then a Tesla Model 3 story came in and stole the show. A BMW i3 vs Model 3 article also surprised and slipped into the #2 spot. Well, there were a few Model 3 articles on the list…
BMW, Audi, and Mercedes should be prepped for this, since they’ve already been walloped in the large luxury sedan class. Nonetheless, what’s coming is like nothing they could truly prep for. These automakers have been trading wins with each other in various monthly and annual races, but Usain Bolt just came to town and is soon joining the track days.
The European passenger plug-in market had a near-record month in June, with 28,000 registrations, up 54% over the same month last year. For the year through June, the market is up 30% this year, with the EV share now standing at a record 1.5%.
The Hyundai Ioniq was recently named as the “Best Green Technology” for businesses by judges at the 2017 BusinessCar Fleet Technology Awards in the UK. The fact that the Ioniq is available as either an all-electric car, a plug-in hybrid, or a conventional hybrid was a primary factor in the decision.
Is it some kind of crazy coincidence? Is it the stars teaming up with a starry-eyed Elon? Or is it simply in the socio-quantum physics of how technology transitions occur?
Ben Van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, one of the largest oil companies in the world, says when he gets a new car this September it will be a Mercedes S-Class 500e, a plug-in hybrid with a 13.3 kWh battery and an all-electric range of about 19 miles. Some of you will be laughing up your sleeves at this news. 19 miles of range? That hardly qualifies as an electric car at all! Hold your criticism for a minute and hear what Van Beurden has to say about his decision.
The new MINI Countryman ALL4 plug-in hybrid is a car that’s probably worth keeping an eye on, if one is in the market for a sporty car with a plug that doesn’t cost too much. That said, the model clearly has some limitations that are worth highlighting right off the bat (before getting into the positives).
BMW Group has been one of the early leaders in 21st century electrification. In general, BMW seems serious about the transition to electric cars, and it produces a high-quality EV (BMW i3) as well as several plug-in hybrids. The BMW Group holds electrification as one of the central pillars of the Group’s corporate strategy. As part of that, it just announced a new battery-electric MINI, a variant of the brand’s core 3-door hatch model.
