Honda’s decisions as regards the 2018 Clarity Electric remain a complete mystery (why release such an uncompetitive offering?), but the situation with the plug-in hybrid version of the 2018 Clarity is very different.
The top 20 CleanTechnica stories of the past week or so, in case you were on vacation or something crazy like that…
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.
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.
This weekend kicked off the 7th annual National Drive Electric Week, which sees electric vehicle advocates taking to the streets en masse with creative new ways to spread the word about electric vehicles. The week runs September 9–17 this year, which means two fun-filled weekends packed with events.
China’s vice minister of industry and information technology, Xin Guobin, has announced that the Chinese government is currently working on a timeline to end both the production and sales of fossil fuel vehicles. The bold move comes as the government struggles to respond to public outcry in major Chinese cities struggling with crippling air pollution.
All signs point to a changing of the winds in Germany with regards to plug-in vehicles. Emissions scandal after emissions scandal have raked the confidence of the public in the German auto industry and many have started to take action. Sales number from August show that nearly 2% (1.88% to be exact) of new vehicle sales in Germany were plug-in vehicles, with fully electric vehicles up +137%. That’s a higher percentage share of new vehicle sales than in the United States.
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%.
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.
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.
