The Nissan-Renault Alliance, which now includes Mitsubishi Motors, just laid out its new Alliance 2022 vision for the future of the Alliance in Paris. That vision sees all 3 companies moving boldly forward with autonomous, electric vehicles front and center.
It was another blazingly hot week in EV world, led by rock star Tesla (and its Model 3) but also backed up by a strong performance from sidekick Nissan (and its new LEAF). Some original pieces from some of our thoughtful writers caught a lot of eyeballs, as did several exciting and surprising news stories. Solar energy and wind energy jumped in for a bit as well.
The Santa Monica Alt Car Expo is consistently packed to the brim with useful people and experiences, which makes it one of the best events at promoting plug-in and alternative fuel vehicles. Year after year, I look forward to attending to not only see and drive the latest electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles, but to also meet up with the team of people who actually know all the ins and outs of the car.
Electric cars and other vehicles continue to gain momentum, just as autonomous features are becoming mainstream. But while potential job losses due to autonomy are a strong focus, the multitude of impacts electrification will have on road transportation aren’t as clearly stated.
After the presentation of the new Nissan LEAF, we realized it wasn’t really a new generation, but more a deep workout of the current one, leaving the real “LEAF II” to 2020/2021.
The recent release of the new Nissan LEAF 2 has put the range discussion front and center again. How much range should an electric car have?
I experienced my first tornado at the age of 5, and my first hurricane (category 3) at the age of 22. I am fortunate — never hurt or compromised. The water (everywhere) and the wind clearing out the atmosphere is refreshing (if houses remain and people are fine). The darkness without electricity for a day or so can be relaxing. Sunrise, sunset — they become more like what they were for most of our ancestors. At the same time, I grieve emphatically for all the lost lives and broken people who hurricanes have ripped apart.
The US electric car market has continued to grow at a rapid pace in the past year — led by California’s particularly strong electric car market, of course. From January through August, sales of 8 fully electric cars* grew 82% in the country. Sales of 6 plug-in hybrid cars were up 28%. Overall, that meant sales of these 14 plug-in car were up 40%.
The 2017 Chevy Bolt EV is now available for order nationwide (or already in stock at dealerships) in the US, following a long period of limited availability since the model’s launch late last year, GM has revealed.
This week’s electric car excitement (and some criticism) was about a non-Tesla product for once — the next-generation Nissan LEAF. As I wrote yesterday, the LEAF actually fits sort of nicely into a price point several thousand dollars lower than the Tesla Model 3 (or Chevy Bolt) while still offering … [continued]
