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.
Things are not looking any better for electric vehicle (EV) maker Faraday Future (FF) now that its CEO and co-founder, also LeEco’s Founder, defied an order from Chinese authorities to come back and explain himself for his lack of financial performance. Jia Yueting was once portrayed as a rising Chinese star (and billionaire) potentially following in the footsteps of Elon Musk.
The first used Tesla Model 3 has been sold on Ebay for a $19,000 profit, a video of minor defects in a new Model 3 has surfaced, and Elon is somewhere in Chile. All the Tesla news that fits, we print!
Automotive journalist Bozi Tatarevic has found something in the latest Tesla filings with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) — a listing for a single-motor Model S. The rear-wheel-drive-only model was Tesla’s least expensive vehicle for a while but was discontinued earlier this year. It may be available once again soon. Why? Speculation abounds.
The last week of the year is always a little surreal to me. Much of the working world shuts off. Much news shuts off. But we typically roll through it all like any other day, and the news that does slip into the end of the year has a special tint.
This past week, the hottest stories on CleanTechnica were:
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.
Elon Musk has been off Twitter for days. The internet is panicking. Some humanoids — facing a mental-emotional vacuum — are even now pondering the meaning of life.
With 2017 being such a huge breakthrough year in the transition to electric vehicles, it raises the question: “What major news, milestones, and developments related to electric vehicles will occur in 2018?”
Episode #43 of Cleantech Talk is here! This episode covers accident liability for self-driving cars, the EV tax credit, and fuel cells’ exponential ramp.
