CleanTech Talk — EVs, Solar, Batteries, AI, Tesla

Episode #39 of Cleantech Talk is here! A giant passive house project in Vancouver, a trackless train, and an unsatisfactory Tesla conference call stole the show in our opinion, so that's what we discussed.

Episode 38 of Cleantech Talk kicks off with a discussion of how, while China may be overperforming with its solar panel buildout, those panels are underperforming due to the low air quality there. Which is a polite way of saying that coal-combustion aerosols are reducing solar panels’ electricity harvest -- by up to a third! (Dark aerosols, like soot, tend to absorb light; other aerosols such as sulfates and nitrates, reflect light. In both cases, the aerosols prevent light from reaching solar panels below.) There’s a Laffer Curve at play here, Laffer Curve being a wonkish way of describing the Goldilocks principle that the ideal porridge is between the two extremes of hot and cold. A fellow named Arthur Laffer once pointed out that if a government wanted to maximize revenue, it shouldn’t set the tax rates too high or too low. To his everlasting credit, he pointed out that others had the idea before him, but the name “Laffer Curve” has stuck.

We started this episode talking about the LMX-161 e-motorcycle, then got into Shell EV charging stations, Big Oil, natural gas, ad-supported EV charging stations, and the benefits of low-energy-density renewables.

Cleantech Talk starts off this week with a clip from professional wrestler Daniel “The Progressive Liberal” Richards. (The clip played on the show starts at the 0:27 mark from this YouTube video.) Nicolas Zart and Matthew Klippenstein also chat about electric bikes, plug-in hybrids, Tesla (of course), and Crossing the Chasm.

Though cars get most of the attention, batteries will participate in our cleantech energy transition on land, in the air and by sea. And in today’s Cleantech Talk, we cover them all. It’s something of a “double-cheeseburger” episode, in that we stretched ourselves around four topics instead of the usual two.

Hyperloops, high-speed trains, battery-electric cars, and hydrogen-fuel-cell cars — how do they relate?

Hello again, listeners and readers. After a longer than expected off-season, Cleantech Talk is back! Season 3’s contributions should be a bit more regular than Season 2 was, given that I’ve moved -- “pivoted” in Silicon Valley lingo -- from his full-time engineering job to communications consulting, specifically to be able to dedicate more time to the podcast and related activities. Some pre-emptive apologies are in order for this week’s audio; I didn’t set my levels correctly, so there could be some hissing. I’ve also clearly forgotten the old Toastmasters rule about not using filler words like “um” and “uh”. Always room to improve, eh? We’ll also have time, now, to figure out how to improve the sound quality. Our two big stories related to summer’s big Tesla Model 3 announcement, and September’s new Nissan Leaf unveiling.

Nicolas started us off with his report from the San Diego Electric Bike Expo. Gocycle's use of lightweight magnesium for its bike frame is surely an expensive one, but on further reflection, it might be that for mass-market bicycles, as with mobile phones, there’s no such thing as “too light.” Easy disassembly should add greatly to the convenience factor, as well. ... + Uber: Goobered?

CleanTechnica's Nicolas Zart and Matthew Klippenstein talk Nick's amazing Lucid Air test ride, the deep history of Lucid Motors and its market potential, the early days of Tesla (Roadster and Model S development), GM's EV & self-driving car leaders, self-driving Chevy Bolts to be used by Lyft, and more!

Nicolas and Matthew kicked this week’s episode of CleanTech Talk off with the news that the Canadian government had committed to phasing coal out by 2030. Carlos Ghosn has continued his iconoclastic ways — at least by Japanese corporate standards — by having Nissan jettison its 41% stake in Calsonic, its biggest supplier. What can we say? VW’s diesel scandal is so bad, the company’s been forced to commit deeply to electric vehicles to rehabilitate its image. And while part of its plan involves expanding its presence in the United States, Volkswagen's never really been strong in North America.