The Chinese market expanded by 72 percent over the previous year in 2017, solidifying China’s leadership position in EV sales. The country now has a larger EV market—primarily BEVs—than Europe and the United States combined. With a sales share of around 94 percent, domestic OEMs currently dominate the Chinese EV market. Generous subsidies and tight […]
The specific reactor approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is built by NuScale, an Oregon-based energy company that has been working on its design for over a decade. The reactor design is only about 65 feet long and generates 50 megawatts of power, and comes with enough fuel to last an entire year. The reactor […]
In a bid to reduce congestion in toll lanes on the 110 and 10 freeways, Los Angeles County transportation officials on Thursday opted to end a program granting solo drivers of zero-emission vehicles free access to the lanes. Drivers with state-issued clean-air stickers will be charged a toll starting in November or December of this […]
The U.S. generates more recyclable waste than any other country. China is the top customer for that scrap. China bought two-thirds of the used paper and half the scrap aluminum that the U.S. sold overseas last year, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc., part of an overall haul of 13 million metric […]
Rocketing demand and prices for lithium, coupled with China’s stranglehold on supply, are reviving interest in mining Europe’s reserves of the coveted metal some call white petroleum. Prices for lithium used in the batteries that power anything from mobile phones to Teslas more than doubled to $21,000 a ton in the past two years. Analysts […]
SunPower of San Jose reported Wednesday that it will buy SolarWorld Americas, a solar manufacturer in Oregon, in a sign of how the industry is reconfiguring itself to deal with the Trump administration’s protectionist moves. SunPower will use SolarWorld’s factory in Hillsboro, Ore., to build its own panels, while the facility continues to make SolarWorld […]
A metal used in the rechargeable batteries that power iPhones and electric cars is one of this year’s best-performing assets, surging more than 20% and outpacing other commodities. Cobalt prices have extended a record run with demand forecasts holding steady and the supply outlook looking uncertain because of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s dominance […]
By 2020, at least seven new gigawatt-size battery factories are scheduled to start operating in Europe, writes Zak Derler of Climate Home News. European companies, such as car manufacturer Daimler, invest in their own regionally-based gigafactories to meet the battery demand for electric vehicles in the continent and the world.
The number of U.S. homeowners putting solar panels on their roofs declined last year after leading installers including Tesla Inc. abandoned aggressive sales practices that had helped drive breakneck growth. Residential solar had been on a tear, averaging 49% annual growth between 2010 and 2016, but the number of megawatts added last year dropped by […]
For one week in early February, roughly one-third of all recyclables collected by Sacramento County — an estimated 290 tons — was packed into trucks and dumped at a county landfill. The amount of cardboard, newspapers, bottles and cans taken to the landfill totaled about 8.5 percent of the 3,400 tons of recyclables collected monthly, […]
Volkswagen has pulled into Tesla Inc.’s rearview mirror and vowed to overtake the electric-car pioneer with an extensive rollout of battery and hybrid models over the next five years, as well as new production facilities around the world. The German car maker—which is the largest world-wide, with sales of 10.7 million vehicles last year—said Tuesday […]
Toward that end, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order in January calling for 5 million zero-emissions vehicles on the road by 2030 – a giant increase from the 350,000 on the road today. He also proposed a $2.5 billion initiative that will bring 250,000 vehicle charging stations and 200 hydrogen fueling stations to the […]
California, easily the biggest market in the United States for electric-vehicle sales, is still very much in love with the pickup truck. In fact, data from the California New Car Dealers Association shows the Ford F-Series pickup outsold all pure electric vehicles combined in 2017. Californians bought 53,549 electric vehicles last year compared with 55,249 […]
This is an incredibly exciting time to be in the transportation industry. New cars and trucks are safer and more efficient than ever. Automakers are introducing new technologies every day and will be deploying scores of new models with technologically advanced drivetrains and other features in the coming years. Partnerships on highly autonomous vehicle deployment […]
A group led by former Tesla Inc. executives brought a bundle of gutsy ideas from their new employer, Chinese tycoon Jia Yueting, who vowed to revive the 1-million-square-foot building and assemble a luxurious electric car that would surpass anything from Tesla’s Elon Musk. “The community was just thrilled to have an opportunity to have life […]