Some of the legacy automakers have suggested that they consider car buyers to fall into two categories: regular car buyers and electric car buyers. This idea is one of the main reasons that sales of their EVs have been disappointing.
With Model 3 deliveries becoming a bit more common, media outlets are finally getting their hands on Tesla’s most-anticipated car. Back in July, Motor Trend called it “the most important car of the century” in Model 3’s one-and-only published review. Since then, Tesla hasn’t been releasing test cars to the press. Automotive journalists (like reservation holders) have been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to step on the gas… uh, I mean accelerator.
Tesla, Tesla, and Tesla — yep, yet again, it was Tesla stories that caught the most eyeballs here on CleanTechnica in the past week. From US electric car sales pontification to an Australian virtual power plant to Tesla Model Y production rumors to Tesla home solar sales at Home Depot, the company was a hot item. Scroll down to find out what else made the top 20 list — and click through if you haven’t read any of these!
The pace of plug-in vehicle sales continues to ramp up, with 2017 the first year seeing more than 1 million plug-in vehicles sold globally.
Looking at the US sales of top electric cars (including plug-in hybrids), one thing stands out in January: Tesla dominates. This is unlikely to change anytime soon. Though, hopefully Nissan LEAF sales surge with the new version and hopefully Bolt, Volt, and Prius Prime sales rise higher than they did by the end of 2017.
The top 30 CleanTechnica stories of January … er, top 32 … are below. Have fun!
Munro & Associates is a competitive benchmarking company that tears things apart to see how they are made. CEO Sandy Munro says the build quality of the Tesla Model 3 is equivalent to Kias from the 1990’s. Ouch!
On January 17, I received a text from my wife: “Did you get the invitation for the Tesla (Model) 3 in Aventura mall?” My response: “?!?!?” Tesla sent her an email for an invitation-only event to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Aventura store in Miami, guest starring Model 3. Needless to say, I was extremely excited to check it out.
Tesla [NASDAQ: TSLA] has been confounding Wall Street’s naysayers for years, and 2018 has not departed from that trend. According to Schaeffer’s Investment Research, “Tesla stock was trading near its highest levels since late October earlier — topping out at $349 — after JPM reported on the company’s private investor meeting at the Detroit Auto Show. The brokerage firm said TSLA’s head of investment relations indicated Model 3 production will reach 1,000 cars per week this month — an increase from fourth-quarter numbers, with the recent bottleneck issues resolved.” [Update: Tesla stock is currently at $352.71.]
The market/product analysts at Strategy Analytics have given the Tesla Model 3 a fairly low appraisal with regard to the “user experience” — with the notation being that there’s a drop in quality as compared to the Tesla Model S or Tesla Model X. Well, no kidding.
