Bradley Brownell

Bradley is an extremely-online EV and clean energy enthusiast with years of experience providing insightful takes on automotive news, as well as product reviews and highly opinionated editorial. He is also one of the co-founders of the RADwood automotive festival. Bradley lives in northern Nevada with his wife Amanda, a collection of particularly needy two and four wheeled conveyances, and their two basset hounds, Alois and Henry.
Bradley Brownell
Alternating Currents: EV adoption is not a competition

I didn’t even watch the game, because I honestly couldn’t be bothered, but as a student of the advertising industry, I am perennially interested in the big dollar ad spends that happen every year during the Super Bowl. Yes, it’s the middle of the week and I’m still thinking about that awful General Motors commercial […]

by Bradley Brownell
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2021 Porsche Taycan first drive review: It might be the base, but it’s still a Porsche

If you listen to Porsche, the company will tell you that it only sells sports cars, despite the Panamera being an executive sedan and the sales leading Cayenne and Macan being sport utility vehicles. The German brand will spin those three models as being sport-focussed Porsches first, and form factor segment leaders second. I don’t […]

by Bradley Brownell
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Alternating Currents: Don’t sleep on the Harley LiveWire

After a few thousand miles on Harley-Davidson’s exquisite LiveWire electric motorcycle, I can’t help but think that this is some kind of hidden secret that electric fanatics and motorcycle buffs alike are missing out on. Not only is it the greatest motorcycle I’ve ever ridden, but it is definitively the most fun electric vehicle to […]

by Bradley Brownell
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Alternating Currents: Transitioning to EVs scorched earth style

  My ships are burning on the beach, and I’m the one who set them ablaze. There is no turning back now, no way to beat a retreat. I’ve turned my face toward the enemy, and whether I march forth alone or we all step synchronically toward a better future, I’ll take that step regardless. […]

by Bradley Brownell
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Electric Beast: What should power President Biden’s next limousine

The first car ever used by a sitting American president in an official capacity was electric. All the way back in 1902, President Roosevelt took a ride in a handsome Bailey Electric Victoria Phaeton as he paraded through Hartford, Connecticut. Through the decades, necessitated by world wars and assassinations, the president’s state car has evolved […]

by Bradley Brownell
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Alternating Currents: The anarchy of Tesla is in the third row

Last week Tesla unveiled a $3,000 third row seat option for the Model Y. From the moment the first photograph of that rear seat showed up online, the internet was abuzz with laughter at the idea of anyone fitting in a third row. The Model X is available as a three-row layout, but that behemoth […]

by Bradley Brownell
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Alternating Currents: Tesla doesn’t build machines to love but it still has the electric car game on lock

I’ve never loved my iPhone. I don’t even feel particularly loyal to Apple, despite having bought three of them. The user interface is okay, but nothing spectacular. It’s an ergonomic nightmare. The iPhone keeps control of the smartphone market because it’s competent. It does everything pretty well, and there isn’t a lot of learning curve […]

by Bradley Brownell
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Alternating Currents: Reducing my carbon footprint is my New Year’s resolution

The average person living in the United States is responsible for about 16 tons of carbon dioxide and methane annually. That’s about four times as much as the global average. To avoid globally catastrophic climate warming, we need to reduce the carbon footprint of every human on earth to under two annual tons as soon […]

by Bradley Brownell
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Alternating Currents: The price of EV batteries more than you think and here’s why

When Nissan first built the relatively compact 24 kWh battery stack in my 2011 Leaf a decade ago, the Japanese automaker paid in the realm of $24,000 to conjure it into existence. With an original MSRP of just over $35,000 before any tax incentives, Nissan was essentially selling an eleven thousand dollar car with twenty-four […]

by Bradley Brownell
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Alternating Currents: Eco mode needs to Chill

Branding is everything. Any car with an ‘eco mode’ is immediately setting itself up for failure. Your brain instantly knows that you’re sacrificing something for the sake of economy, perhaps for the sake of the environment. It’s never really very clear what you’re sacrificing, but the glowing green leaf symbol on your dashboard makes it […]

by Bradley Brownell
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