If you’ve read anything about electric cars, you’ve no doubt come across the arguments that suggest the world is still not ready to give up its century-and-a-half dependence on the internal combustion engine. The various cases against electric cars have evolved over the years, but these days there seem to be three in particular that keep making the rounds. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Traditionally, February, along with January, are the two slowest months in the Chinese plug-in vehicle market, but with sales growing 58% year over year (YoY) last month, to some 53,000 units, especially in the context of a falling market (the mainstream market was down 17% last month), one can’t really complain about this market, despite the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market share dropping slightly to 4.7% (4.3% in February). However, the 2019 result is already above the 2018 result (4.2%).
The average car consumer doesn’t know enough about EVs to make a qualified decision about a purchase. Movements to educate the public need to become pervasive.
As of April 1, the federal tax credit for buyers of electric cars from General Motors will be cut in half. What does the company plan to do about that? Absolutely nothing.
There is no question that electronics had a massive effect on the 20th century. The vacuum tube, credited to Lee Deforest in 1903, transformed electronics in the first half of the century, enabling both radio and television. However, the greatest discovery of that century was the transistor by Bell Labs in 1949. The transistor was in a different league all together.
Oslo is installing high power wireless chargers for taxis in an effort to reduce carbon emissions in the city. It says all taxis will be battery electric by 2023.
Many homeowners now use rooftop solar panels to generate their own electricity, and a geothermal heating and cooling system works well in tandem with solar panels because the geothermal heat pump helps regulate your home’s temperature using the electricity provided by your solar panels.
The co-founders of SolarCity have resurfaced on the global stage and they have a new pet project that also happens to be powered by the sun. Brothers Lyndon and Peter Rive, who are also cousins to Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, were brought into the fold at the rapidly growing solar-plus-storage company ZOLA Electric.
In the month of February, these luxury auto companies and car divisions had the following sales drops:
Acura Cars: −12%
Audi: −12%
Audi Cars: −12%
BMW Cars: −12%
Infiniti: −17%
Infiniti: −46%
Lexus Cars: −2%
Mercedes-Benz: −13%
Mercedes-Benz Cars: −4%
Volvo Cars: −77%
Below is one portion of our free report Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Guidelines for Cities. This report was produced by a working group of EV charging and electric vehicle leaders led by CleanTechnica and GreenWay. This portion of the report is simply a rundown of potential EV charging subsidies and incentives cities can use to stimulate and support electric vehicle adoption.
