With Tesla’s slower than expected Model 3 production ramp, the electric star of 2017 (in many respects) didn’t shine very brightly on the sales spreadsheet. In fact, it came in just below the Ford Focus Electric on the year-end sales tally. However, it’s two older siblings — the Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X — appear to have led US electric car sales*.
With the intent being to educate those in the USA who are now in the market for an all-electric vehicle, I’m going to provide an overview here of the widely available and mass produced options out there. There’s more on the market than the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, Nissan LEAF, Chevy Bolt, and BMW i3 … but not a lot more.
The European passenger plug-in vehicle market had its best not-last-month-of-quarter record in November, with over 29,000 vehicles delivered to happy customers. This is the 7th time in the last 8 months that we saw +50% growth rates.
Nissan hasn’t publicly announced 2019 Nissan LEAF pricing and specs (even though we found some scoops about those), but it has just released the full range of pricing for this year’s version of the “world’s best-selling electric vehicle.” (Technically, the LEAF is no longer the best selling electric car in the world — the BAIC EC-Series is — but it has still seen the most customer deliveries in history.)
Some quietly broken news this past week was that the 2019 Nissan LEAF is expected to have 225 miles of range, potentially trolling the base Tesla Model 3 by 5 miles. That would put the LEAF #5 of the list of electric cars with the most range, only trailing the Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, Tesla Model 3 Long Range, and Chevy Bolt.
2017 was a strange year, with plenty to celebrate and plenty to ponder about. The wild ups and downs most of us have gone through, both personally and professionally, were reflected in the industries we cover as well. So let’s take a look at what surprised us, what shows the most potential, and what was simply strange.
The new, refreshed Nissan LEAF has been selling quite well in Japan since its launch there — with only a few Nissan models eclipsing it (the Note, the X-Trail/Rogue SUV, and the company’s flagship sedan in the market).
Is the 2019 Nissan LEAF designed to lure buyers who would otherwise go with conventional vehicles from a premium brand (like BMW, Audi, etc.)?
The year just wrapped up here in Europe. Below were the 30 most popular articles of the year here on CleanTechnica. Naturally, despite a slower production ramp than expected and planned, the big cleantech story of the year was the Tesla Model 3. However, no article about that car won the top spot. Surprisingly, the top spot was won by a piece I very quickly put together after almost deciding to go to bed instead. I think there’s really something to that article’s success, and I think Tesla would be wise to consider it — but that’s a discussion for another day.
Nissan has begun offering buyers of the new, refreshed Leaf in Japan free installation of home solar photovoltaic (PV) systems — if they sign up for specific retail electricity plans with Ecosystem Japan.
