October 14th, 2019 | by Kyle Field
A new video shows a Tesla Model 3 that was put into service as a first responder service vehicle in Nuremberg, Germany. The choice of an American car for use as a service vehicle in the heart of Germany automotive country is a bold statement that the vehicle is finding a significant amount of traction with buyers around the world regardless of the fact that it is made in America
October 12th, 2019 | by David Zarembka
Like Germany is to Europe, South Africa is the manufacturing powerhouse of sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, it has 8 automobile assembly plants. The companies are BMW, Ford, Isuzu, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, and Volkswagen. In 2018, South Africa produced 610,854 vehicles
October 9th, 2019 | by Jose Pontes
We start this month's EV sales reports in the Netherlands. (Well, we already started there with another article, but here's a second.) The Dutch plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market grew a whopping 281% in September compared to the same month in 2018 (year over year, or YoY). The nation had 8,067 PEV registrations, the best month ever for plug-ins aside from previous fiscal-derived peaks in December 2013 (9,304 units), December 2015 (15,908), and December 2016 (11,132). So, all points to a record performance this coming December. How much, would you say? 16,000? 20,000? More
October 7th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
The Tesla Model 3 has taken the US luxury car market by storm. When sales soared through the roof in the second half of 2018, making the Model 3 far and away the best selling luxury car in the country and the best selling car car of any type in terms of revenue, fans were excited for the launch of a new era. Critics, on the other hand, saw it as a temporary boom from early reservation holders that would soon be over, resulting in a crash in Tesla sales, Tesla financials, and the company as a whole
October 6th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
The most popular stories on CleanTechnica this past week were led by a McDonald's story for the first time (or perhaps second — I remember a very popular McDonald's story here in 2010). The second and third most popular stories were both about total cost of ownership comparisons — between the Tesla Model 3 and Toyota Camry and then the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 and Toyota Camry. Next in line were videos of Tesla Smart Summon (which went a bit viral on what the kids call "the Internet") and a couple of pieces on how early concerns about the Model 3 and Gigafactory 3 became irrelevant
October 6th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
We talked at length about it years ago at a CleanTechnica conference in Berlin. The night the Tesla Model 3 was first shown to the public, Kyle Field and I were on the test track — only sharing the road and driveway with a few Tesla employees, a black matte Tesla Model 3 prototype, a silver Tesla Model 3 prototype, and a couple of other Teslas. In the 20 minute (but not the 10 minute abridged) video I shared of that extremely lucky test track experience, I didn't interrupt the fun sounds of the test track fog shooters and the smoothly rolling Teslas very much, but while talking with a Tesla employee near the beginning I laughed a bit out of my awe for the beautiful, super fresh Model 3 and what it would mean for the auto industry. I was picturing elite auto giants in the board room of BMW and Audi sobbing
October 6th, 2019 | by Cynthia Shahan
The Model 3 is the standout, Zen-of-zero-emissions electric vehicle that is meeting peoples hopes and wishes straight on. Even though I don't have a Model 3, I'd agree with anyone singing Model 3 praises. I have ridden in one many times, and I've previously written about the expansive back seat experience in a Tesla Shuttle. The praise the Model 3 gets is well deserved
October 6th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Those of us very tied into Tesla news sometimes forget that 9 out of 10 people on the street know [&hellip
October 2nd, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Overall, non-Tesla US passenger vehicle sales were up by 14,910 units in the 3rd quarter of 2019 compared to the 3rd quarter of 2018, and 14 brands saw their sales increase while 13 saw their sales decrease
September 29th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
It's time for another roundup of the 20 most popular stories of the week. As proof of the fact that you don't even need "Tesla" in the headline to have a Tesla story go viral, the top story of the week was about the Honda Accord & Toyota Camry while silently being about the Tesla Model 3. The second most popular story compared the Model 3 to two top sellers on the other end of its gradient of competitors, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi
September 29th, 2019 | by Jose Pontes
The European passenger plug-in vehicle market scored some 35,000 registrations in August (+15%), with fully electric vehicles (BEVs) continuing to grow at a fast pace (69%) while plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are still suffering from the WLTP blues, down -29% year over year (YoY). They've failed to post one single growth month since last September, when the new WLTP emission rules started
September 27th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Following up on my 5 year cost of ownership comparisons between the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus (SR+), the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (C300 and C300 4MATIC), and the Audi A4 (Premium and Premium Plus trims), it's time to run an updated comparison between the Model 3 SR+, the BMW 3 Series, and the BMW 4 Series. It seems like this is the most relevant comparison you can make with the Model 3 SR+, since we already know the Model 3 beats sporty BMW driving at sporty, beats "the ultimate driving machine" at driving, and is stealing the title of Most Loved Car Brand Among Boys. What does BMW have left? Lower cost
September 25th, 2019 | by Paul Fosse
We attended yet another National Drive Electric Week event this past weekend, this one (CleanTechnica's 4th? 5th?) was in Oldsmar, Florida, and went quite beyond electric vehicles
September 23rd, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
I wrote the other day about how crazy it is that there are still tens of thousands of Americans buying Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords month after month. Amidst the hundreds of thousands of views on that story, some people griped that the purchase price of a Model 3 is considerably higher than the purchase price of an Accord or Camry. A point I alluded to repeatedly is that the Model 3, despite a higher purchase price, may well have a lower 5 year cost of ownership than an Accord or Camry for many people. Yes, I'm sure there are some Accord and Camry buyers who couldn't get financing for the ~$39,000 base price of a Model 3, but there are certainly many other Accord and Camry buyers who could quality for financing for a Tesla Model 3 — and then would reap financial savings over time while enjoying a much better car. But that's all moot for the focus of this article — luxury cars
September 21st, 2019 | by Cynthia Shahan
To begin, I want to thank my personal patron saint of long-distance small-EV travel, Zachary Shahan. He plotted my trip for me from charger to charger since my MacBook Air took a hiatus and blacked out on me the morning I left the Sunshine State for the Appalachians in a small 2015 BMW i3 REx. My travel log lost, Zach kept me abreast of each charging location on my phone, and updated them as the trip went along and plans changed. I also found some extra stations with the navigation on the dash of the i
September 20th, 2019 | by Steve Hanley
Mercedes-Benz has announced it will not be developing a next generation of internal combustion engines as it shifts its focus to electric powertrains.
September 18th, 2019 | by Jose Pontes
The German plug-in electric vehicle market continued on the right track in August, having registered 8,121 units. Fully electric vehicles (BEVs) were up +104% year over year (YoY), while plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) keep suffering (down 9%). The plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) share was 2.6% in the month, with BEVs alone hitting 1.6%. That kept the 2019 plug-in share at 2.6% (1.7% BEV)
September 15th, 2019 | by Paul Fosse
I'm a big fan of the Tesla Model Y. I've written about the Model Y's 3rd row being the key to it becoming the best selling vehicle in the world, the Model Y beating the Lamborghini Urus (which is over 3 times the price), styling tricks that Tesla used to make an SUV looks like a performance sedan, and most recently Tesla cutting Model Y prices
September 13th, 2019 | by Guest Contributor
After growing fat on expanding sales and record profits, the world’s automakers are now facing lean times. The decade-long global economic expansion is running out of gas, and the industry-changing trend of electrification, which automakers happily ignored when the profits were rolling in, now looms as an existential threat
September 12th, 2019 | by Jose Pontes
The Dutch electric vehicle market grew 79% in August, with 2,839 EV registrations logged. That translated into an electric vehicle share of 8.3%, placing the year-to-date EV share at 7.5%
