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

After a longer-than-expected summer break, Cleantech Talk is back! With Zachary increasingly busy (alas, ever-expanding cleantech media empires don’t autonomously oversee themselves), this season’s co-hosting duties are now being shared by Matthew Klippenstein and Nicolas Zart. They chat Donald Trump and cleantech progress as well as Toyota, Volkswagen, and Ford electric vehicle announcements,

In this episode of Cleantech Talk, Matthew and I chat about Tesla's unique 18650 batteries, Tesla manufacturing and manufacturing in general, robots, Volkswagen's gigafactory plans, and more. Enjoy!

Given that we’ve been a bit electric vehicle-heavy in recent weeks, your podcast co-hosts decided to make this week’s Cleantech Talk an EV-free edition… only to see Tesla raise $1.4 billion in a secondary stock offering, about eighteen hours before we recorded the show! Well, at least when we get around to discussing it next episode, most of the background questions will have been answered…! This episode focused on the fastest-growing job in the United States -- the job of a wind turbine technician -- as well as drastic wildfires in Canada and various climate-related topics.

We start today’s podcast with Tom Moloughney’s excellent thought piece about how BMW could fend off the Model 3 -- and could in fact be the best-positioned carmaker to transition to electric propulsion. It is all about his vision for the BMW i5. We then delve into a fascinating recent acquisition -- Total's acquisition of Saft -- and the general topic of Total's apparent leadership among oil companies in the transition to clean energy.

In episode #25 of Cleantech Talk, Matthew and I tackled the recent Tesla financials conference call, Tesla Model 3 ramp plans, Ford's electrification plans, etc.

Matthew and I discuss the Tesla Model 3 design, Tesla Model 3 reservation estimates before the unveiling and going forward, the updated Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X, and coal having a hand in the death of natural gas... ironically.

In Cleantech Talk #23, Matthew, Kyle, and I talked about the coming Tesla Model 3 unveiling and a solar farm being built on land where a coal mine once lived.

Hot topics this week included the Koch Brothers and their latest plan to destroy society (if only those pesky kids didn't get in the way), Ontario giving EVs some northerly love, and GM going full blast (er... 50% blast) into an EV & alternative powertrain future.

Kyle and Matthew decided to sneak around behind my back and do a Cleantech Talk episode without me recently... (no, actually, I was just off in India presenting at an institutional investment conference at the time). Incidentally, this episode focused on an investing option (green bonds for retail investors), as well as Tesla Model S service screens and Ontario EV rebates. Below, you can listen to the episode and/or read Matthew's summary.

In this episode of Cleantech Talk, Matthew Klippenstein and I (Zachary Shahan) chat about the pros and cons of mandates versus carbon taxes, as well as Tesla financials (including Tesla profit, Tesla cash flow, Tesla Model S sales and orders, Tesla Model X sales and delays, Tesla Model 3 projections, and much more). Tweet & share so more people catch news of our podcast!