Does Tesla Motors owe its existence to government subsidies? More than once the company was on the edge of bankruptcy, and kept afloat by infusions of capital, and of course their products (Model S) are sold in part because of government subsidies for electric cars. Recently a big news outlet…
Input document for the “Clean Energy Ministerial” prepared by the IEA. Key Findings Market viability of some clean energy technologies is progressing, but the overall rate of deployment falls short of achieving the ETP 2°C Scenario (2DS). The cost gap between electricity generated from renewables and that from fossil fuels…
In the 2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama boasted that we’d have 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015. As I noted in my last post, it’s 2015 and we’re nowhere near that goal. What happened? I think Obama over-reached … but there is this little…
There are big dreams and goals for electric car adoption in California, around the U.S. and around the world. California’s goals are something like 1 million plug-in EV’s by 2025 which seems to me to be achievable, unless this dalliance with fuel cell vehicles causes the state to undermine battery…
Ky. Sen. Mitch McConnell, and the rest of the Republican Party, won big in yesterday’s elections. In large measure it’s been the Democrats who have pushed for things like renewable energy and electric cars, with the Republicans fighting these ideas tooth and nail. The Republican stance is two-fold, first they’re…
Surely every electric car driver has had this idea – why not carry a portable gasoline powered generator so you can charge your car in a pinch? I’ve spent quite a bit of time weighing this idea back and forth, because it’s so simple. The BMW i3 even gets ever…
Hillary Clinton is almost certainly going to run for President, and she’ll almost certainly be a polarizing figure. She may even win, but we have to be clear on a couple things: Hillary Clinton will be pushing fracking, not only in the U.S. but around the world. How do we…
Last week Tesla Motors excited us by taking a big step toward the promised Gigafactory, that in turn is the necessary big thing to build to enable the Tesla Model 3 electric car. While many people in Nevada are excited to know the Gigafactory is coming to Reno, and it’s…
Fuel cell’s seem like this magic technology – you pour in a clean fuel (hydrogen and oxygen) and out comes clean energy (electricity) and water. Make a fuel cell big enough to power a car, or truck, and you’ve got a “clean” vehicle that can go a few hundred miles…
A big critique of the current crop of electric vehicles is the price is out of reach for low- or middle-income people. We have this situation where tax breaks and other perks are being given to well-off people, with the Tesla Model S and Fisker Karma both explicitly targeting the…
I’m accustomed to seeing Fox News as the enemy of electric cars, with Bill O’Reilly leading the anti-everything-sensible crusade. For some reason he’s beginning to sound sensible about electric vehicles, and is even making arguments similar to ones I’d make when “debating” with one of his fellow Fox “News” show…
Tesla Motors’ is having trouble selling the Model S in various US States laws because of laws requiring that cars can only be sold through franchised dealerships. Events this week made the trouble even more obvious when NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s administration (apparently) went back on a promise made to…
US Senator Max Baucus (D-MONT) wants to kill the federal tax credit for electric cars (section 30D) in favor of a system for “technology-neutral” tax credits for “clean fuels”. The proposal is part of a larger package of energy tax code reforms that Baucus thinks will simplify the tax code,…
During a campaign sweep through Georgia last weekend, Newt Gingrich had some interesting things to say about the ability of a Chevy Volt to carry a gun rack, and his fantasy of returning to $2.50 a gallon gasoline. Last weekend Newt Gingrich decided to unload both barrels on the Chevy…
Proposed laws in Arizona and elsewhere would collect additional taxes from owners of electric cars, is it too soon to start collecting road use fees from electric car owners? Pop quiz: Who pays for building and maintaining the highway system? It’s largely paid for via gasoline taxes. Another pop quiz:…
