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

In another episode of Cleantech Talk, Matthew, Kyle, and I run through a healthy serving of EV topics. We discuss impacts of British Columbia electric vehicle purchase rebates, the importance of Tesla Supercharging and a well developed "EV ecosystem," and some Tesla Gigafactory myths and facts.

For Cleantech Talk #18, Matthew, Kyle, and I talked about the Tesla buying experience and "Tesla dealerships," the planned Chrysler plug-in hybrid electric minivan, and a 1 GW Quebec-to-Vermont HVDC interconnection (as well as the transmission network and renewable energy integration, in general).

For our 17th episode of Cleantech Talk, we got to dive into a handful of electric vehicle entrances that provided us with very mixed results. Kyle, Matthew, and I also provided our thoughts on electric car sales, which is one of my favorite topics to track, analyze, and discuss. As a reminder, you can subscribe to Cleantech Talk on iTunes and Soundcloud. You can also download the episodes to listen to them later offline, or you can simply listen via the embedded player below.

We had an extra long session for Cleantech Talk #16. In this episode, we discussed... ... a big huge BYD energy storage project that is supposed to help Lancaster, California, become a net-zero-energy city. (Matthew found out about the 500 MW project on another podcast -- storage capacity is unknown at this point. We've got a story coming soon.) ... BYD's overall approach to electrifying transport. ... Bob Lutz making another wild claim. ... and Tesla's "Secret Master Plan."

Our latest episode of Cleantech Talk tackled the huge 5-year extension of the solar and wind energy tax credits, Tesla Model X deliveries, and Faraday Future.

Kyle Field, Matthew Klippenstein, and I (Zachary Shahan) talk about early Tesla Model S drive unit problems and the implications for future models and Tesla as a whole; Ford's big new $4.5 billion electric vehicle push, and a soon-to-be-unveiled plug-in hybrid electric SUV from Ford; and the cost advantage of solar power and wind power over coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear power, as well as the ability to integrate renewables into the grid.

Zachary Shahan, Kyle Field, and Matthew Klippenstein talk about the 1st annual CleanTechnica Car of the Year Award (nominees = Tesla Model S 70/70D, Tesla Model X, 2016 Nissan LEAF, 2016 Chevy Volt), Swatch EV batteries, and global warming / climate change warning labels on gas pumps in North Vancouver... and hopefully elsewhere. Enjoy!

In this week's second episode of Cleantech Talk, Chris DeMorro and I kick off the show by talking about an Edmunds study released on Earth Day that illogically bunched plug-in electric cars with conventional hybrids (and bashed them). I get a little worked up. We also talk about why electric cars are great first cars for teenagers, and why they love them. We go from there to another fun one about a Bosch autopilot video that features a Tesla Model S. And we close with a discussion about some electric car early adopters (true early adopters) who have been driving electric for at least a decade. Thanks to our friends at Plug In America for that one.

Chris DeMorro and Zachary Shahan discuss the BMW i5 and whether or not it's a "Tesla Model S competitor;" relatively high Volvo XC90 sales; the introduction of the Cadillac CT6 and GM's overall electrification push; and a story about how Elon Musk almost sold Tesla to Google for $11 billion in 2013.

1. The first story we ranted about was the story of a Kia dealer in Vancouver who very blatantly pushed away a customer who was looking to buy a Kia Soul EV. The story is a really absurd one, but it's also a good demonstration for why Tesla doesn't trust dealers to sell electric cars. 2. That led us into a future in which we can simply skip the sketchy dealers and buy our cars online. Sure, galleries and test drives are still a must, but there's a lot of benefit to purchasing online. Aside from Tesla, one car company bringing us into that future is BMW. The news is that BMW is now selling its i3 on Amazon Japan. 3. Another interesting BMW i3 story we decided to discuss was based around recent information from BMW of North America. Basically, while many people think of the i3 and most other electric cars as city cars, the i3 is proving very popular with drivers outside of big cities in Texas, South Florida, etc. This actually matches really well with research I learned about at EVS27 which argued that people living in small cities would benefit from electric cars more than people living in big cities. 4. Then there was this story: 800 HP Zombie 222 Electric Mustang Goes 174 MPH At The Texas Mile. Yes, 800 HP. Yes, 174 MPH. Yes, the Zombie is back. 5. And a really, really fun one: Chris's test drive of the Tesla Model S P85D. You've got to listen for that one.