CleanTechna, focused on electric cars, solar energy, wind energy, and energy storage
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VW Unveils New Old-Style Cockpit for ID. Polo
Volkswagen has decided to throw a lot more buttons and dials back in front of driver’s eyes for its upcoming cheap EV. The company says it is doing this in response to customer feedback, but I’m very curious to see if customers really do end up liking this or if ... [continued]
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Yup, Kia EV Sales Drop More Than 50% In December
I think everyone expected a very bad 4th quarter for electric vehicles in the United States. With the $7,500 US EV tax credit expiring on the last day of the 3rd quarter, people flocked to dealers and websites to buy electric cars before October 1 arrived. People who might have ... [continued]
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Oil Colonialism In 2025? WTF Is Going On?
The story of the day is an obvious one. Making sense of it is not as easy. Donald Trump and his merry gang of peacemakers, chasing the Nobel Peace Prize, have bombed Venezuela and abducted its president and his wife, Nicolás and Cilia Maduro. Reportedly, the US Army’s Delta Force ... [continued]
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AI And Its Discontents — Part Two
Is AI a blessing or a curse? We are trying to address that question but finding it hard going. The topic is polarizing in a way that few others are. In Part One of this series, some comments extolled the technology, sweeping aside objections with a blanket, “It’s just another ... [continued]
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On Heat Pumps, Colorado Hits The Ground Running
Regardless of the sorry state of federal energy policy today, climate action continues apace among the many US states where public servants prioritize energy affordability alongside job creation, health, and safety. A case in point is Colorado, where the heat pump business is heating up as stakeholders race to capitalize ... [continued]
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21 Gigawatts of Solar for California Land That Can No Longer Be Used for Agriculture
There’s a water district in San Joaquin Valley in California where there’s empty land that “can no longer sustain irrigated agriculture.” The Westlands Water District board of directors have decided on a plan for this land. They are going to have solar power plants built there — perhaps 21 gigawatts ... [continued]
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Rivian’s 2025 Sales Were Meh — But Here Comes 2026!
Rivian has released its 4th quarter and full-year 2025 production and delivery figures. There’s nothing particularly exciting or uplifting about them. They’re very meh. However, 2026 should look much different. In the 4th quarter, Rivian scored 9,745 deliveries, and it produced 10,974 vehicles. Across the full year, the company had ... [continued]
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Elon Musk’s Dramatic Miss On 2025 Tesla Cybertruck Sales
I had totally forgotten about this quote, but thanks to a reader, we’ve got a wild prediction to check regarding 2025. This prediction isn’t from November 2019 when Tesla unveiled the Tesla Cybertruck. It wasn’t from five years ago. It wasn’t from four years ago. Just two years and a ... [continued]
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From Soviet Fields to US Committees: The Return of Institutionalized Untruth
On December 30, a little noticed federal vaccine advisory meeting took place in the United States. It was scheduled between Christmas and New Year’s, broken into four brief sessions for a specific reason, and focused on procedural matters within a committee most Americans have never heard of. There was no ... [continued]
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XPENG vs. NIO — Sales Lining Up Again
I just reported on XPENG and NIO sales in December, the 4th quarter, and 2025 as a whole. Both had great — but quite different — years. For several years, more or less since they launched, I’ve tracked the two companies and been struck by how closely their growth lined ... [continued]
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Donald Trump Illegally Extends Life of the Coal-Fired Craig Unit 1, Driving Up Electricity Bills and Increasing Pollution
DENVER — [On Tuesday], the Trump administration issued an “emergency” order to force utilities to operate Craig Unit 1 against their will, past the Dec. 31 retirement deadline that the utilities had decided upon and their state regulators had approved. Trump’s actions to prop up an uneconomic coal plant will drive ... [continued]
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What Would A SpaceX Public Offering In 2026 Look Like?
The news headlines this morning celebrated the inauguration of New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani. During his inaugural address the Democratic Socialist pledged to turn the city’s efforts to uplifting working people. That news of egalitarianism is at the opposite end of the spectrum from a recent SpaceX letter to ... [continued]
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NIO Explodes Through New Year, 55% Growth in December
NIO didn’t have the strongest start to the year in 2025. But it finished with a bang. The last four or five months of the year were huge for NIO. In December, NIO scored 48,135 vehicle deliveries, a 54.6% increase over December 2024. That was also a 32.7% increase month ... [continued]
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XPENG Sales Rise 126%, from 190,068 to 429,445
XPENG had a banging blockbuster year in 2025. It grew 126% from 190,068 vehicle deliveries in 2024 to 429,445 vehicle deliveries in 2025. Most of its growth was in China, but the company also had huge growth abroad. It sold 45,008 vehicles outside of China, representing 96% growth. It is ... [continued]
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BYD’s BEV Sales Grew 28% In 2025, But Dropped 8% In December
It’s a mixed result for BYD at the end of the year. The big headline is that the company passed up Tesla in annual BEV (fully electric vehicle) sales. Overall, the company’s BEV sales grew 28% in 2025. However, that hides a significant drop in sales at the end of ... [continued]
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