What's the catch that some journalists didn't notice in a new electric-car announcement by China?

Which unlikely green car completed the grueling, no-support-allowed Mongol Rally?

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, September 22, 2017.

Friday, we covered the 2019 Volvo XC40 small SUV that will launch in the U.S. next year. It'll ultimately be the Swedish brand's first all-electric car to be sold worldwide.

2019 Volvo XC40

2019 Volvo XC40

The Mongol Rally is a grueling event that doesn't permit support vehicles to follow entrants; a Nissan Leaf electric car completed the event just fine, which may have surprised skeptics.

On Thursday, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz said it will invest $1 billion to build electric SUVs and batteries at its Alabama assembly plant.

Meanwhile,  Tesla is expanding its Supercharger network into urban areas for the first time—at somewhat lower power—to prepare for large numbers of Model 3 electric cars next year.

Wednesday, a report that China may let foreign makers build electric cars without local partnerships turned out to contain one very big catch; we explained what it is.

Wrapping up our coverage of the previous week's Frankfurt auto show, we had more details on the 2020 Porsche Mission E and its very fast charging.

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, first drive, New York City, April 2017

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, first drive, New York City, April 2017

On Tuesday, we published both retail prices and lease prices for the 125-mile-rated 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, which is now, finally on sale—though at least one e-Golf lease costs more than that of a 238-mile Chevy Bolt EV.

China's September 10th announcement that it was considering timetables for banning sales of new gasoline cars shook the automotive world; we looked more deeply at whether it's possible and why it's happening.

We kicked off the week on Monday with a confirmation that plug-in hybrid Range Rovers and Range Rover Sports will arrive next March.

Meanwhile, the competing Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid is on sale today, and we drove it, finding the pricey luxury performance SUV a better and more electric car than we expected.

Our author David Noland summarized his first few months with a 2017 Tesla Model S 100D, including the good, the bad, and the hasn't-arrived-quite-yet.

2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric

2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric

This year no fewer than nine separate battery-electric cars with more than 100 miles of range are on sale in at least some states; we've updated last fall's list with the latest information.

Finally, California has led the U.S. for more than half a century in emission reduction and energy efficiency; now it's planning for a future beyond fossil fuels, by 2045.

Those were our main stories this week; we'll see you again next week. Until then, this has been the Green Car Reports Week in Reverse update.

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