Which automaker is offering the first factory wireless vehicle charging in the U.S.? 

And which automaker let us preview a platform they have tens of billions of dollars riding on...in a dune buggy? 

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending August 16, 2019.

We closed the week with news that Colorado has become the tenth state to commit to a version of California’s ZEV mandate, which requires that zero-tailpipe-emissions vehicles like electric cars and plug-in hybrids be a specific portion of new-vehicle sales. 

VW ID Buggy Concept first drive

VW ID Buggy Concept first drive

Green Car Reports drove Volkswagen’s ID Buggy Concept, and got a first limited driving impression of the automaker’s modular MEB platform that will underpin millions of mass-market electric vehicles.

Jaguar used to say that it wasn’t targeting Tesla with the I-Pace. After rolling out some incentives aimed at Tesla owners, let’s just say the perspective might have changed. 

Freightliner eCascadia electric semi-truck

Freightliner eCascadia electric semi-truck

Daimler Trucks appears to be ahead of Tesla at face value. It’s already placing its eCascadia heavy-duty all-electric semi trucks with customers—as part of a grant-funded test to see how they work in large fleets. 

A group of states and cities have allied together to sue the EPA, over its rollback of the Clean Power Plan, which would likely have accelerated the rate at which coal plants were retired and renewable energy was favored. 

Alpha2.0 hydrogen fuel-cell e-bike with hydrogen station

Alpha2.0 hydrogen fuel-cell e-bike with hydrogen station

While we make no claims of being a hotbed for e-bike stories, we covered two this week. Domino’s is using e-bikes to deliver pizzas in congested urban areas, and a very expensive hydrogen fuel-cell e-bike—the Alpha—is being relaunched with more range. 

In leading up to the launch of the Porsche Taycan electric car, the sports car brand is repositioning its hybrids as performance upgrades. One of the prime examples of that is the 2020 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid, the quickest, fastest, most powerful SUV from the brand ever.

2018 BMW 530e iPerformance wireless charging

2018 BMW 530e iPerformance wireless charging

BMW released more information about its 330e plug-in hybrid as it went on sale in Europe. And inductive charging is here at last! Early in the week we reported on a plan from the automaker to offer a lease deal that includes wireless home charging

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been busy testing some clean vehicles. Both the Hyundai Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell crossover and the Audi E-tron were the first of their kind (as battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles, respectively) to earn IIHS Top Safety Pick+ status. 

Hyundai Nexo crash test

Hyundai Nexo crash test

Some Toyota and Lexus hybrids from the 2019 and 2020 model years were recalled due to a potentially faulty brake booster

Ford’s CEO inted that its upcoming truck to be based on Rivian’s platform might actually be built by Rivian

Rivian R1T, R1S chassis

Rivian R1T, R1S chassis

Earlier in the week we reported about the once-hopeful Chinese automaker Nio, which is now trimming away pieces of the company to keep building cars. 

And as always, we thought about the farther-off future and covered some ideas that fall somewhere between promising and far-fetched—including silicon wafer batteries, moss-covered park benches, and immersion-cooled batteries