Teslarati: Musk Thanks Tesla Driver for Sacrificing Model S in Order to Save Stroke Victim's Life
The 41-year-old German man who deliberately placed his Tesla Model S in front of a runaway Volkswagen Passat, after finding the driver unconscious as a result of a stroke, is being heralded as a hero. Not just by the 57-year-old whose life that he saved, but by Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself.
Musk took to Twitter to congratulate Manfred Kick for sacrificing his car to bring the out of control VW safely to a stop. In appreciation for the heroic act, Musk said Tesla will be expediting repairs and will cover all costs associated with fixing the damages.
Electrek: Norway Is Reaching Tipping Point for Electric Vehicles as Market Share Reaches 37%
We reported back in December how Norway reached the rare milestone of 100,000 all-electric vehicles on the roads despite its relatively small population.
In September 2016, 28.8% of new car sales were plug-in electric vehicles and all-electric cars had 19.0% market share. It’s 10 times what most countries are doing these days thanks to EV incentives like the 25% VAT tax exemption.
Norway pushed the limits last month with record plug-in electric sales reaching 37% market share in the country’s passenger car market. Over 4,800 plug-in electric vehicles were delivered in the country in January, helped by strong BMW i3 sales (622 units) and some PHEV vehicles like the Volvo XC90 (398 units) and the Volkswagen Passat GTE (411 units).
Oil Price: A Bloodbath Looms Over Oil Markets
Oil prices have traded reliably in the $50s per barrel since OPEC agreed to cut production last November, but having failed to break through a ceiling in the upper-$50s, crude prices are in danger of falling back again.
The oil market had wind in its sails on expectations of substantial drawdowns in inventories following the pending cut of a combined 1.8 million barrels per day (1.2 mb/d from OPEC plus nearly 0.6 mb/d from non-OPEC countries). Indeed, the IEA reports that oil inventories in OECD countries have declined for five consecutive months, although they still stand above the running five-year average. Meanwhile, in the U.S., oil inventories have actually increased significantly so far in 2017.
Guardian: Solar-Powered Trains Are Closer to Reality Than We Might Think
Electric trains are by far the best long-distance transport mode when it comes to carbon emissions -- at least when their electricity comes from renewable sources like solar or wind.
But the U.K.’s aging power network poses a significant challenge to any bid to decarbonize road and rail that relies on the grid. There are now swathes of the British countryside where it is impossible to plug in any new solar, wind or hydropower without being hit with a whopping bill for the full costs of local network reinforcement.
Faced with this constraint, and squeezed by government subsidy cuts, U.K. solar developers have started to focus on ways to generate power directly for consumption, rather than exporting it to the grid. With the right customers, solar developers can offer lower tariffs than the grid, while still earning more for their power than they would get from exporting it.
AutoBlog: Americans Drove More Last Year, but Still Below Peak
The typical American household boosted its driving miles last year, but still doesn't drive as much as it did during the collective driving peak a decade ago, according to a report authored by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute's Michael Sivak. Average driving distance per U.S. household, which peaked in 2004 at 22,439, fell steadily until 2013, at which point it rebounded slightly. Last year's average household driving rose 1.4 percent to 22,311 miles.
The first year from which data about U.S. driving habits is available is 1984. Average driving distances per year rose steadily in the 1980s and 1990s, hit its plateau just before the Great Recession, and is rebounding slightly from early-decade lows.