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.
California, no question about it, is one of the world’s premier leaders in the transition to electric vehicles. Various California policies — not to mention startups — have been critical for stimulating more electric car production and more electric car consumer demand. That said, whenever it comes to spending money, a debate is just around the corner.
Kia has now launched plug-in hybrid versions of the popular Niro crossover and the Optima Sportswagon in the UK.
These releases follow the earlier release of a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the Optima — meaning that Kia now sells 3 different PHEV models in the UK.
The top 20 CleanTechnica stories of the past week include some that are still blazing hot. As usual, the stories that garnered the most attention were Tesla stories. Apparently, despite being nothing more than clever marketing, people love what this company does and says. This week’s CleanTechnica top 20:
In so many conversations about electric cars and the transition to electric transport, certain commenters throw around the claim that conventional automakers can jump on the electric bandwagon as soon as “the time is right.” As soon as consumers demand them, large automakers can turn on the EV production switch and go into full production. “It’s just about putting the pieces of the car together — assembling the various components of the cars — and no one does it better than [pick your favorite conventional auto company].” Furthermore, “Tesla doesn’t have any real technological advantage. It can’t do anything large automakers can’t do.”
The stunning new Kia fastback concept, penned at the company’s design studio in Germany, is set to debut at the Frankfurt auto show on September 12.
Not that long ago, only a few electric cars were on the market. Nowadays, there are a few dozen. We certainly have a few favorites here on CleanTechnica, but every plug-in car really has its own selling points. I’m sure I don’t have a comprehensive list of these in my head, and many of the points are definitely as subjective as opinions about music or movies, but below are many of my thoughts on why I’d recommend various plug-in models.
The top 30 CleanTechnica stories of last month were blockbusters, with the #1 article receiving 158,523 views, #2 receiving 111,370 views, and #3 receiving 92,720 views. If you somehow missed these or others further down the list, check them out now! Or don’t. Whatever suits you.
So as to not get left behind in terms of “look how close we are to the future” signaling, Ford and Domino’s have announced a new partnership that will see pizzas delivered in Michigan by self-driving vehicles.
We’re not sure if Audi was directly inspired by the Sion announcement from Sono Motors back in July, but the German car manufacturer have just revealed that it too will be using solar panels to help power one of its future electric vehicles.
