The top CleanTechnica stories of the past week in terms of reader interest were — surprise, surprise — Tesla stories. Actually, the 5 most popular stories of the past week were Tesla-related stories. I guess that means we should stop covering Tesla, yeah?
Remember that BS news story from around 2005 about a Hummer being greener to own than a Toyota Prius over the life of the car? That story got debunked less than a year later, as — even by 2006 standards — the Prius is a pretty clean car. As we head into the 2018 model year, however, have things gotten any better for electric cars? According to a new study in the UK, things have gotten twice as good!
The European plug-in car market started its usual holiday season in July, down almost a third compared to the previous month (summertime = lower sales). There were some 19,600 registrations. But that is still up 41% regarding the same month last year, so the growth trend continues. Year to date, the market is up 34% this year, with the EV share now standing at a record 1.6%.
It is nearly two years since I began my daily journeys in a clean, electrified vehicle — no particulates, zero emissions, human friendly, child friendly. I found myself driving in a light bubble that seemed to push the smell of gas to the periphery. Becoming free of feeling as dependence on oil/gas, it was initially easy to enjoy heightened optimism about air pollution and environmental concerns. I hoped that most drivers would to switch to electric vehicles — soon. If I could do it, many could.
Being unveiled entirely on September 6, 2017, in Japan, the new Nissan LEAF is ripe with Nissan’s most advanced technologies. Nissan is pitching that its redesigned next-generation LEAF promises to “amaze your senses” while raising the bar for the electric vehicle market. I think the LEAF set a fine standard for years — I’d be hesitant to replace the 2015 version I drive — so the next version must be incredible.
I recently compared the specs of the Tesla Model 3 to the specs of 22 gas-powered competitors that are more or less “in the Model 3’s class.” Naturally, readers also requested that we compare the Model 3 with other electric cars in such a detailed way. So here we are!
Have you ever wondered why you haven’t seen a glitzy TV commercial for Tesla’s new Model 3? According to Advertising Age, “Tesla still doesn’t need [any] paid advertising to make sales.” E.J. Schultz reports that, “even as the Model 3 goes on sale for anticipated delivery starting in the fourth quarter, word-of-mouth and free media coverage seems to be enough to fuel demand for the foreseeable future.”
Walmart founder Sam Walton once said businesses should focus on what customers want and then deliver it. It may sound obvious, but when it comes to eco-friendly consumer goods, it’s taken marketers a while to figure it out.
The 2018 Nissan Leaf EV is slated to be released only a month or so from now, so it’s a bit surprising that exact specs have remained a mystery until now. They have seemingly now been leaked though … and they seem to be approximately what we’ve been expecting, which is certainly not a bad thing.
The top 20 CleanTechnica articles of the week are below, with little surprise that Tesla is again on top. We’re not sure why. From the enlightenment we’ve received from some commenters, Tesla’s cars are crap, Kool-Aid powered, and certainly not worth anyone’s sustained attention. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
