Volkswagen’s joint venture with SAIC Motor was again the top-selling JV brand in China. With over 130,000 electric ID cars sold in China last year, the SAIC-Volkswagen ID series also secured the best-selling joint venture EV series.

Volkswagen ID was the top-selling EV series in China

SAIC-Volkswagen released 2024 sales figures, revealing over 1.2 million vehicles sold last year. Over 1.14 million were the VW brand, making it China’s top-selling joint venture brand.

After launching the “new ID family smart models ” with more options and lower prices in the second half of the year, SAIC-VW said its EV models have been seeing higher demand.

In 2024, the company sold a record 130,222 ID electric vehicles, an increase of 24% from 2023. SAIC-Volkswagen said its ID family secured “the title of joint venture pure electric sales champion.” The ID.3 led the way as the top-selling joint venture EV and A-class hatchback in China last year.

Volkswagen’s ID.3 competes with other top-selling EV models in China, like the BYD Dolphin. BYD’s Dolphin EV starts at around $13,700 (99,800 yuan). Meanwhile, after slashing prices last year, the ID.3 now starts at around $17,800 (129,888 yuan).

Other EV models from SAIC-VW’s ID family include the ID 4 X and ID 6 X, both of which received new “Smart Editions” last year. The ID 4 X starts at about $22,000 (159,888 yuan), while the larger ID 6 X SUV starts at roughly $35,500 (259,888 yuan).

Like most legacy automakers, Volkswagen has struggled to keep up in China with a wave of low-cost domestic rivals hitting the market.

BYD sold nearly 510,000 passenger vehicles in December, its third straight month with over 500K in sales. Despite an aggressive year-end sales push, BYD’s 1.76 million EVs sold in 2024 were just shy of Tesla, which delivered over 1.78 million vehicles last year.

As it looks to overcome a wave of new rivals, BYD and other Chinese EV leaders are slashing prices and introducing new sales promotions.

Legacy automakers, like Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, GM, and several others, are being squeezed out of the market.

In November 2024, Volkswagen extended its 40-year partnership with SAIC Motor until 2040. As it looks to turn things around, VW is advancing its “In China, for China” strategy with a new generation of EVs set to launch by 2026.

SAIC-VW plans to launch two EVs based on its new CMP platform as early as 2026. The company will also introduce three plug-in hybrids and two-range extender variants for the first time. By 2030, SAIC-VW will launch 18 new models, 15 of which will be developed exclusively for China.

The Volkswagen Group will bring 40 new models to the Chinese market over the next three years alone. Half of them will be electrified. By 2030, the group plans to offer over 30 electric cars in China.

Source: CarNewsChina, SAIC-VW

Norway’s full-year EV sales are in, and once again the country has broken its own record for EV adoption. In 2024, 88.9% of cars sold in Norway were all-electric, up from 82.4% in 2023.

The main holdout? Rental car companies, who service tourists who aren’t familiar with EVs.

In addition, plug-in hybrid sales tipped that number up to 91.6% of vehicles having a plug, as PHEVs captured an additional 2.7% of the market.

If we expand the definition to “electrified” vehicles, 5.3% of the market were conventional hybrids, bringing the total number of vehicles with an electric motor up to 96.9%. Only 2.3% of vehicles were diesel-only, and 0.8% of vehicles were petrol only.

The numbers confirm that Norway is basically on target with its plan to end gas car sales in 2025, a target it set last decade. It was already apparent years ago that the country was trending in the right direction, but anything could have happened, especially as Norway started reducing EV incentives as it had done in the last couple years.

Other countries that have reduced EV incentives have seen a drop in EV sales – like Germany, which has caused the European market to be the only global market to experience a drop in EV sales in the last year, as they rise everywhere else around the globe. But in Norway, EVs have continued to rise regardless.

While the country doesn’t have an official gas car ban on the books, the plan of high taxes on gasoline vehicles and perks for EVs had already worked out by the time those incentives were reduced, and it had already become normal to purchase an electric car rather than a gas car. Car companies even abruptly stopped offering non-EVs, realizing that the minuscule about of sales weren’t worth the bother.

While these numbers are all about the new car market, Norway’s EV market has been so strong for so long that now electric cars are starting to make up a significant percentage of cars on the road. At the end of 2024, that number now stands at 28.6% – not yet a majority, but it is more than the number of gas-only cars on the road. Diesel-only cars still outnumber EVs as the most common powertrain on Norway’s roads (at a bit over a third of cars on the road), but not for long.

But there are some holdouts, according to Ulf Tore Hekneby, who runs Harald A Moeller, Norway’s bigger car importer. Reuters quoted Hekneby as saying “the main buyers of ICE (internal combustion engine) cars in Norway are rental companies because many tourists are not familiar with EVs.”

So, native Norwegians have made the mental switch to electric, with the biggest share of ICE cars only being imported to serve foreigners from countries with comparatively low EV sales (like America, with its pathetic ~9% EV market share in 2024).

Rental companies in America have dealt with a similar issue, where Hertz made a huge EV purchase, only to later decide that it had overdone it, and that some renters just couldn’t figure out the cars (even though the EVs did increase Hertz’s overall customer satisfaction).

But it may not be long until those tourists have a harder time fueling a gas car than an EV, because for years now, gas stations have been replacing gas pumps with chargers and motor fuel sales have been dropping. Circle K, the largest gas station chain in Norway, says that it will have as many chargers as fuel pumps within three years.

Electrek’s Take

Norway’s EV adoption timeline has almost perfectly tracked the standard “S-curve” of technology adoption, accelerating over time until it reaches high levels, then flattening out for the last few percent of holdouts. We’re seeing that number now, where while Norway has basically hit its plan to eliminate gas car sales by 2025, there are likely to be a few here and there for various reasons.

This is why, for example, California’s much-vaunted “2035 gas car ban” (which, frankly, should be sooner) doesn’t actually ban all vehicles with a gasoline engine in them – it will allow for up to ~20% plug-in hybrids, assuming those PHEVs meet certain requirements.

However, most countries aren’t even close to having new EV sales eclipse new gas car sales, and Norway is already out here with over 90% of vehicles having a battery and more full EVs on the road than gas cars.

For all the complaints and protestations of impossibility that we keep hearing in the US, the Nordic countries have by and large left gas behind. All have high EV penetration, led by Norway, and there have not been any of the widespread problems that fossil fuel propaganda constantly tries to convince you that high EV use would lead to. The grid is fine, the cars work in the cold (even in the Northernmost human settlement on the planet), and everyone is happier with quieter roads and cleaner air.

Maybe instead of listening to ignorant clowns who are committed to increasing harm and costs, we should just take a look at how one of the happiest nations in the world has transformed its transportation system for the better, and take a few notes.

Charge your electric vehicle at home using rooftop solar panels. Find a reliable and competitively priced solar installer near you on EnergySage, for free. They have pre-vetted installers competing for your business, ensuring high-quality solutions and 20-30% savings. It’s free, with no sales calls until you choose an installer. Compare personalized solar quotes online and receive guidance from unbiased Energy Advisers. Get started here. – ad*

Puerto Rico kicked off 2025 with a harsh reminder of its fragile power grid. On New Year’s Eve, nearly the entire island – 90% – lost electricity, leaving over 1.3 million customers in the dark during holiday celebrations. Power was restored on January 1, but the blackout underscored an urgent need for reliable energy solutions.

In a move to help bolster Puerto Rico’s grid resilience, Convergent Energy and Power secured a conditional commitment from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office for a massive solar and battery storage initiative in December. The DOE’s backing includes up to $559.4 million in loan guarantees, paving the way for Convergent to install both solar and standalone battery systems across the island.

New solar + storage for Puerto Rico’s grid

The flagship project in Coamo will include a 100-megawatt (MW) solar PV system paired with a 55.5-MW battery energy storage system. Convergent will also deploy standalone battery systems in Caguas, Peñuelas, and Ponce with a collective capacity of 225 MW. Together, these installations will pump approximately 200,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy into Puerto Rico’s grid annually – enough to power 19,000 homes.

Puerto Rico’s energy costs are among the highest in the US, and its grid is still notoriously unreliable, so these projects will help reduce dependence on fossil fuels and cut electricity prices.

Cleaner, more reliable grid

Convergent estimates the initiative will avoid 2.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually. That’s like taking the energy use of 335,000 homes off the grid. The company’s CEO, Frank Genova, said, “Enhancing grid reliability and sustainability in Puerto Rico is critical … We look forward to contributing to the modernization of Puerto Rico’s electric grid and advancing its clean energy goals.”

The broader benefits are equally compelling. Solar and battery storage will help stabilize Puerto Rico’s grid, which has been battered by hurricanes, mismanagement, and underfunding for years. The project is expected to create around 540 construction jobs and 20 permanent positions while integrating community benefits like local engagement and labor standards.

Why this matters now

The New Year’s Eve blackout might have been one of the island’s worst in recent memory, but it’s not an isolated incident. Puerto Rico’s power grid has struggled to recover after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which devastated its infrastructure. Despite federal funding and promises of grid modernization, outages remain a regular occurrence, pushing residents and businesses to install their own solar panels and generators.

Convergent’s project aims to address these issues at a systemic level. The DOE’s conditional loan guarantee is a strong signal of federal support, but the company must pass an environmental review and meet legal and financial conditions before the loan is finalized. If all goes to plan, the systems are expected to come online by 2026.

Read more: This accordion-style modular solar array withstands 166 mph winds

If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*