In my article “12 Factors That Will Limit Chevy Bolt Sales In The US (Part 2),” I outlined a number of image and perception problems — including design, brand, and positioning issues — that would limit Bolt sales among early adopters, especially in key green-leaning West Coast and East Coast markets of the US.
The European passenger plug-in market had some 17,500 registrations last month, up only 6% over the same month last year. Despite this slowdown, the market is up 24% this year, with the electric vehicle (EV) share now standing at 1.4%.
It was with a great degree of curiosity that we explored EV charging experiences and needs by type of EV and region for our latest EV report. What’s the story for Tesla drivers, non-Tesla fully electric car drivers, and plug-in hybrid drivers? What’s the story for Americans vs Europeans? We already covered the desire and demand for fast charging and superfast charging in a previous section, but we dive much more into other charging matters here. Jump down below the line for the results.
Southern California Edison is offering people who drive a plug-in or electric car a one-time cash rebate of $450. What makes it different from other EV rebate programs is that it applies to second and third owners and those who lease cars as well. Typically, an EV rebate like the federal tax credit only helps new-car buyers. If someone leases a new EV, those rebates go to the leasing company (which is often a division of the manufacturer). Although that may help lower the customer’s lease payment, it puts no cash in the driver’s pocket.
Kjell Inge Røkke, a wealthy Norwegian businessman, is partnering with the World Wildlife Foundation to build a Research Expedition Vessel that will conduct ocean research. When completed in 2020, it will be the world’s largest superyacht.
The top 20 CleanTechnica posts of the past week (in terms of pageviews) …
CleanTechnica’s next Cleantech Revolution Tour is approaching, and it is packed with EV and clean energy leaders from around Europe.
Starting in Berlin (Germany) on June 27 (special networking activities), continuing on June 28 in Berlin (panel discussions and presentations), offering shuttle rides from Berlin to Wroclaw in a Tesla (first come, first served), and ending on June 29 in Wroclaw, Poland (panel discussions and presentations), the Berlin + Wroclaw edition of the 2017 Cleantech Revolution Tour — The Future Is Now: Surf The Cleantech €-Wave — will be focused on how to best invest your time and money into the cleantech future.
After visiting relatives and having coffee close by, I found two guys staring at the BMW i3. “It’s electric, isn’t it?” … “Yes, but this one has a gas range extender” … “Really? How does that work?”
One of the more interesting things for me in our annual EV surveys is how much people want various special features — auto lane change, all-wheel drive, superfast charging, fast charging, etc. The extra fun in our new 93-page electric car driver report is that we got these responses segmented by type of EV and region. Jump down below the line for the results.
Rumors are now going around that BMW has killed off the i5 electric vehicle project. These rumors seem to have originated with “unnamed sources” at BMW, according to BMWBlog, so who knows if they are actually true or not at this point?
