Text size

Tesla stock has had a difficult year, but maybe the electric vehicle pioneer deserves a break. It turns out it is hard to make electric cars.

Just look at three potential competitors for Tesla (ticker: TSLA). The privately held maker of high-end home appliances Dyson, start-up Faraday Future, and 2018 electric-vehicle initial public offering NIO (ticker: NIO) are all hitting bumps in the road.

First of all, Dyson is no longer making electric vehicles, and was unable to find a buyer for its technology.

The Dyson Automotive team have developed a fantastic car; they have been ingenious in their approach while remaining faithful to our philosophies, read a company news release on Thursday. However, though we have tried very hard throughout the development process, we simply cannot make it commercially viable.

When Dyson unveiled plans to make an electric vehicle in 2017, it was hailed by many as a signal that traditional [auto makers] would face a lot more competition as the world moved more towards electric vehicles which were simpler to make, wrote RBC analyst Joseph Spak in a Sunday research report. Replacing the internal combustion engine isnt simple, according to the analyst.

As for Faraday, its founder Jia Yueting is bankrupt, though the company said in a news release on Sunday that will not affect any of [Faradays] normal business operations. In fact, the company says the matter will help facilitate an eventual IPO.

Shares of Chinese EV maker NIO have struggled too, dropping about 76% year to date. They are down almost 90% from their all-time high. The stock started out this month on a strong note, jumping nearly 10% October 8 after reporting 4,799 vehicles were delivered during the third quarter. Shares, however, have given up all gains since then.

All that news makes Teslas year look OKeven with CEO Elon Musks SEC issues and the companys weaker-than-expected deliveries. Tesla stock is down 23% year to date, worse than the 5% gain of the Russell 3000 Auto & Auto Parts Index and the 15% gain of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same span.

Tesla will report its full third-quarter numbers on October 23 after the market closes. Telsa stock declined early in October after the company disclosed 97,000 deliveries for the third quarter. It will take about 105,000 deliveries in the fourth quartera company recordto meet the full-year guidance given earlier in 2019.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

The rest is here:

Why Tesla Stock Looks Better Than You Think - Barron's

Wed love just to report Teslas scores in human personal mobility, as we have done multiple times, but it would not be right to omit its fouls. If they are many, that is not a campaign against the company. It's just showing the facts as they present themselves.

Despite already being sued for reducing the range of Model S and X battery packs, Tesla has apparently done it again. Only now with the Model 3. Our first source on this is somewhat unsuspected since he's a huge fan of the brand: Bjrn Nyland.

11 Photos

EVANNEX presents the YouTuber as an EV evangelist. One that has won four Teslas just due to the referral program. That says a lot about the sort of support he has offered the company over the years.

Despite that, Nyland found it very strange that his Model 3 delivered much less range all of a sudden, so he published the video above. It is a report of his investigation on the reasons for that, and it makes you understand why he is such a respected member of the EV community. He really knows what he is talking about.

We invite you to watch the whole video and to check his math and his conclusions. If you want to do it before continuing to read, we will give spoilers on this one because they are fundamental to our report. Ready? Now you can keep on reading. Please dont say we did not warn you.

Nylands main conclusion is that Tesla restricted the amount of energy his Model 3 Performance battery pack delivers. It used to have 74.5 kWh, and now it has 69.6 kWh or 4.9 kWh less that it used to have. He assumes that Tesla tried to hide it in all possible ways. Including changing the energy consumption constant.

The YouTuber digs even deeper in his analysis and discovers that Tesla concealed this amount of energy at the bottom of the recharging process, not at the top. If the car showed 100 percent of charge and still had a lot of regenerative braking available, that would mean the 4.9 kWh turned into a hidden buffer closer to full charge. However, that is not the case.

Nyland concludes that it is not due to degradation, but that it was done on purpose by Tesla through an over-the-air update.

Model S and Model X owners have identified which update did that with their cars. It happened after software updates 2019.16.1 or 2019.16.2. David Rasmussen is currently suing Tesla for having done that to his car without telling why. There is strong evidence that the restriction relates to fires on Model S, such as the one that happened in April in Shanghai.

The Model 3 has not presented any similar problem of battery fires. Yet, it is apparently subject to energy restriction as well. Ironically, users at the TeslaMotorClub forum started to talk about the Model 3 battery restriction in the same thread about the software updates 2019.16.x.

People on the forum are really upset about this. They mention Tesla stole 5 kWh from Bjorns Model 3 and ask the company the following:

Tesla, open a dialog with us. You dont need to fight your base.

That is also a complaint from Nyland.

I know that Tesla is watching my videos. It would be great to get an answer from Tesla because this is not a bug. This is not a failure. It is an intentional change from Tesla. It is very sad that Tesla does not give you this information. They will brag about new features, like the fart mode, but they will not tell you about negative updates like this. They are just silent and hiding. No one knew about this until I discovered it. Hopefully, someone else also discovered this. Please, Tesla, what the heck is going on? I want to know what you guys did and why.

We have been trying that, Bjrn. Repeatedly and to no avail. We hope you are luckier getting the answers you need.

Transparency is the key here. As we have said before, many Tesla owners would probably accept the restriction gladly if they were informed about it. The ones that won't still might feel better to be given the option not to accept it, even if that voids the warranty. Some even suggested MCUs are normal wearing parts, and replacing them is no big deal That shows many are willing to put up with whatever Tesla decides.

Less unconditional fans may also do that, but only if they are properly informed. Some have given up waiting and have come to their own conclusions. Many report similar range-restriction issues.

It is interesting to notice Porsche has a 93.4 kWh battery pack for the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S. Anyway, it says the usable amount is 84 kWh. That is a protective measure to avoid degradation and prolong the battery packs usable life.

We could say Tesla felt compelled to do the same. The thing is, it followed a joke Elon Musk made when speaking about the Master Plan and decided not to tell anyone about that. At least this is what Nyland believes has happened. And he promises new videos about the issue. With an official answer from Tesla or not. Prepare to be called a FUDster, Bjrn.

Continued here:

Tesla Update May Have Lowered The Model 3's Range As Well - InsideEVs

In just over 15 years, Tesla has gone from an ambitious idea about electric cars to selling almost 250,000 vehicles a year and challenging the world's top automakers.

That in and of itself is an impressive achievement, but Tesla's vehicles are actually quite good. I've driven them all, and I can vouch for their quality and performance. Sure, they have some quirks, and Tesla has definitely endured some growing pains. But there's no discounting the fact that Tesla is the first successful new American auto brand to emerge in decades.

Still, the traditional auto industry is no slouch it's game has probably never been better. Over the years, I've driven hundreds of great cars and trucks. So I thought it would be fun to put the Tesla fleet up against some of my favorites from the petrol-burning world.

Here's how it went:

More here:

Here's how Tesla's cars stack up against the best of the competition from the world's top automakers - Business Insider

Tesla is sending a warning to its Northern California customers: Charge up your vehicle now. If you don't, it's hard to say when you'll next have a chance. That's because Pacific Gas and Electric, the electrical utility for most of Northern and Central California, plans to shut off electrical service to almost a million people as a public safety measure to prevent starting wildfires.

Let's start by giving credit to Tesla foralerting its customers, especially since most drivers only charge their battery to 80 percent to extend overall battery life. Depending on your daily driving and the length of the shutoff, that could make a real difference. But I think the entire episode points out a fatal flaw in Tesla's plan to have everyone buying electric cars.

First, we obviously depend on electricity for just about everything we do every day. I wouldn't be writing this column right now without electricity. You wouldn't be reading it right now without electricity. We're long past the point where electricity is a novelty;it's just something we take for granted.

And, if you drive a Telsa (or a Volt or a Leaf), you need electricity to charge your battery. Most of you probably do that at homeor at one of Tesla's Supercharger stations spread across the country. But in parts ofCalifornia, you won't be doing either during the shutoff.

To be fair, Tesla says that it plans to eventually have all of its Supercharger stations equipped with batteries that will allow them to continue to provide charging capacity during blackouts. But according to Elon Musk this morning on Twitter, the company is still waiting on the go-ahead to install them across the effected areas in California.

I reached out to Teslafor comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Second, our electrical grid is far more fragile than most of us truly understand. The fact that you can plug in a toaster and make breakfast in the morningis almost luck. It doesn't take much to cause that luck to run out--a storm, a power surge, or a branch falling on a power line.Or, apparently, a utility with such outdated equipment that the only way it can be sure it won't starta wildfire that could burn down most of California is to just shut everything offfor a few days.

But just because it's a little windy in the Bay Area, people still needto go to work, still need to makelunches before sending their kids off to school,and still need to do all of the other things they would normally do. No one is evacuating. Which, I guess is a good thing since they'd only get a few hundred miles before their Teslas all run out of juice.

Tesla makes great cars--not just great electric cars.Still,without electricity, you're not going anywhere inone.

This means electric cars will never be a truly viable alternative to internal combustion engines until someone figures out how to dramatically increase the reliability of our electrical grid. I'm not suggesting that gasoline is a better long-term strategy (gas stations still require electricity as well), but outside of Tesla's most devoted fans, most people stillfind it's a far more reliable and convenient option.

That's bad news for Tesla and for the idea thatelectric cars are the future. Because, as this power outage makes clear, that future is entirely dependent on a power grid still stuckin thepast.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Originally posted here:

California's Power Outage Demonstrates the Biggest Flaw With Tesla's Plan to Sell Everyone an Electric Car - Inc.

Tesla (TSLA) is expected to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on lower revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended September 2019. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price.

The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on October 23. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.

While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.

Zacks Consensus Estimate

This electric car maker is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.12 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -104.1%.

Revenues are expected to be $6.60 billion, down 3.3% from the year-ago quarter.

Estimate Revisions Trend

The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.

Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Earnings Whisper

Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.

A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.

Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).

How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Tesla?

For Tesla, the Most Accurate Estimate is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of +116.67%.

Story continues

On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.

So, this combination indicates that Tesla will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate.

Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?

While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.

For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Tesla would post a loss of $0.54 per share when it actually produced a loss of $1.12, delivering a surprise of -107.41%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates just once.

Bottom Line

An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.

That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

Tesla appears a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportTesla, Inc. (TSLA) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.

See the original post:

Tesla (TSLA) Expected to Beat Earnings Estimates: Can the Stock Move Higher? - Yahoo Finance

In the stock market, it's tough to find consistency. Great companies may profit investors over the long term, but even the best of them will have months when they miss the mark and lose ground. But if you need a bit of consistency, look no further than the Rule Breaker Investing podcast, which always ends the month with a win for its listeners: a mailbag episode.

In this segment from the podcast, listener Jared is curious about how host and Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner feels today about a longtime company in the Rule Breaker portfolio, and an active recommendation: Tesla(NASDAQ:TSLA). Does the greatness of the brand and the products make up for the messy financials and erratic CEO? Can it deliver more market-beating gains for investors? David offers up a number of insights.

To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out ourpodcast center. To get started investing, check out ourquick-start guide to investing in stocks. A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on Sept. 25, 2019.

David Gardner: Rule Breaker mailbag item No. 3. This one comes from Jared Preston. Jared, you wrote, "Dear RBI, thank you for your outstanding services. I've been a Rule Breaker member for about six months. I'm also coming on my first anniversary as a Stock Advisor member. I've invested in about 10 of your recommendations thus far and have my kids also reading your buy recommendations and investing their own money in the market. Thanks for the great work." Well, thank you very much, Jared. I appreciate you saying that. I especially love that you're sharing it out with the next generation. Boy, could we use more of that. That's a world that smarter, happier and richer.

Jared goes on. "My question is around Tesla. Tesla is an active Rule Breakers recommendation. I bought shares albeit well after the recommendation was made and at a pretty high price. Price aside, I'm trying to figure out if Tesla is a company we should still have faith in. On the one hand, they have an amazing product with market leadership in the e-vehicle space, and their brand name has come to define the electric vehicle. On the other hand, their financials are a mess. Elon's behavior has been quite erratic. And I'm not certain any longer on whether or not they'll be able to fully scale up operations to a point where the Model 3 becomes the profit-maker we'd hoped. Obviously, I've over-simplified the problem, but I can't help wonder, what is Rule Breakers' take on Tesla today? Does David and team still have confidence in the business? With appreciation, Jared."

Well, I'm really glad that you've asked about this company, because it's one of the most talked about companies of our time. That is, in itself, a sign that it's a Rule Breaker. When you find something do something so disruptive, a for-profit company with a product or service so disruptive that people can't not talk about it, and the rest of its industry both criticizes it and then tries to copy it. You have a magnetic, and, as you say, erratic person running the company. How could we not want to talk about Tesla? Which we do on Rule Breaker Investing from time to time.

The first thing I want to say, Jared, is that no one has to be right about this stock. In fact, nobody has to be right about any single stock. Sometimes I think I'm right. That's usually when I buy shares of a company. But there's no requirement that I get Tesla right or that you get it right. The first thing most investors can do is put that one in the "too hard to understand" category. I think that's the Warren Buffett metaphor. Just throw it on the "too hard to understand" pile and not have to be right about Tesla. There are so many other great businesses and stocks out there. Nobody has to be right about their predictions about Tesla.

Now, I want to mention that this is a stock that we've held for a long time. In fact, it was November 23rd, 2011. We're coming up on our eighth anniversary of Tesla. We recommended it to members at $31.45. Today, it's at $242, so it's up more than 7 times in value. But, as you well know, the stock's been flat for several years now and has been weak. Elon Musk and his dream have been compromised at different points. A lot of questions about Elon.

I do want to say, from the standpoint of somebody who was there early days, I am admittedly biased. I have a long-term position the stock. I usually don't give up long-term positions readily. And, I feel like I've gotten to know the company pretty well. My view of Tesla is that it started as a Rule Breaker, and it's right now in that phase where we're going to see, can it become a rule maker? The dream of every Rule Breaker, to become the maker of rules in its industry. Or, will it not get there? Potentially, will it fade off into obscurity over time? We can all see, maybe, a future of electric vehicles. I believe that Daimler just announced that it's scrapping the internal combustion engine this week in order to focus wholly on electric vehicles. That is an amazing change for a big longtime company. So, you see the pioneer here. But sometimes, the pioneers end up with arrows in their backs, as the old clich goes. Tesla could certainly be one of them. But my default is to hold. Whether you have it at a high price or a low price, when you see a company with these attributes -- they have a great recognized brand, they are the top dog in their category, does it sound like this is a Rule Breaker? A lot of people think it's overvalued. Those are the reasons I usually continue to hold stocks.

The final thing I want to say is, there are lots of other analogues I have here for seeing how things could play out for Tesla. I'll give a silly one. Longtime Rule Breaker members might remember a company called MAKO Surgical, a company that did a robotic arm to help with knee and hip replacements. It was a disruptive approach. If you know Intuitive Surgical, MAKO Surgical was in that vein. It came out looking like a Rule Breaker, but it started acting erratically. It ended up turning from a big winner to a loser, but eventually got bought out by another company at a significant premium, giving us a win on the investment overall. I'm not saying that happens here, but I've seen other cases where a company looks like a Rule Breaker, then trips up, stubs its toe, and gets caught by other companies, but ultimately, a big player -- in this case, it was this case he was Stryker, the medical products company that bought MAKO Surgical. But, you can see how, even if Elon screws it up, how valuable the Tesla brand is, the footprint, all of their superchargers. I think there's a ton of value there for an acquisitor eventually, if it ever came to that.

I think people think that a company like Tesla is far more fragile than it actually is. They treat it as if it's just Elon and it's all coming down to the Model 3, when actually, these roots run deep. Tesla really has dominated the luxury car market, cars that cost $100,000 or more. That's really what Tesla's taken over in the last decade or so. Happens to be electric, and the world seems to be agreeing with Tesla. We'll see how it plays out.

But, Jared, as I move on here, remember -- you don't have to be right about this stock. I might be wrong about this stock. The main thing is, let's put our money in the things that we believe in. Let's be patient and watch them play out. We certainly have been rewarded as eight-year holders of TSLA.

Read the original here:

Is Tesla Still a Rule Breaker to Believe In? - The Motley Fool

The nightmare scenario for any car occupant is being involved in a smash. In that case, you want the vehicle youre in to offer the best possible protection so that you can walk away unscathed.

Teslas all-electric Model 3 last year earned the Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and also received an excellent safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

This week the automaker offered a peek inside its test lab in Fremont, California, where work to enhance the vehicles ability to handle collisions helped it to pick up its awards.

Teslas so-called Crash Lab does what it says on the tin send vehicles into walls at high speed to test and improve their safety.

For high-speed tests, a car begins its journey just over 100 meters from the wall. A propulsion system uses a steel cable that allows the team to carefully control the vehicles direction and speed. Sensors inside the Tesla, along with external high-speed cameras and post-crash inspections, offer plenty of data for the team to work with.

As noted by a Tesla engineer, prep work for the physical tests begins long before a new safety feature is tested at the Crash Lab.

Well in advance of us producing a physical prototype, were running thousands of [computer-based] crash simulations, the engineer says in the video. At the design level, well produce 3D models of the parts, and well simulate those using very complex and sophisticated mathematical models that represent the physics of a crash.

Tesla says on its website that the ability of its vehicles to handle collisions effectively is partly due to the rigid, fortified structure of the battery pack that is mounted to a cars floor, which provides a vehicle with exceptional strength, large crumple zones, and a uniquely low center of gravity.

It adds: While no car can prevent all accidents, we work every day to try to make them much less likely to occur.Active safety featurescome standard on all Tesla vehicles made after September 2014 for an added layer of safety beyond the physical structure of each car.

These include Teslas suite of Autopilot driving aids, among them forward collision warning, blind-spot collision warning, and automatic emergency braking.

Read more from the original source:

Tesla offers peek inside the Crash Lab that helped it win a safety award - Digital Trends

We do not cease to praise the Tesla Sentry Mode. Nor do Tesla owners that find their cars damaged for no reason. Michael McEown gives us an example of that for this article. Not only once but twice.

On the same day, his Model 3 filmed a guy trying to enter it and a woman keying it. Too much for a single day, right? The Sugar Creek Community Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, should take measures to prevent that.

All actions developed there in early July, well before our latest stories on people keying Teslas. Although a couple of months old already, this video can still give the story a happy ending. McEown only needs our readers help to identify the woman that damaged his car. And the man that tried to enter, if that is possible.

McEown talked to WBTV and stated he just wants to understand why she did that apart from paying for the damages, of course. He told the TV channel he didnt interact with her in any way. One of his hypotheses is that she thought the owner was somebody else. The other is that she just hates Tesla. Unfortunately, that seems rather ordinary.

The woman first rubs a duffel bag on the white Model 3. Then she gets back and keys it. She then enters her seventh-generation black Chevrolet Malibu taking a good look if the damage was enough. When she seems satisfied with the result, she drives away.

We are not able to see her car's license plate. The case is the same with the white GMC Yukon that belongs to the man that tried to break into the Tesla. In the video, it appears as if he's trying to open the Tesla door. He's also quite close to the Malibu of the keying lady.

Was he curious to see the interior of a Model 3? We can't say, but he certainly looks suspicious. In case you have had items from your car stolen at theSugar Creek Community Park, perhaps this is the guy you should talk to? Let's leave that to the police and hope they can make some progress here.

If you know these people, please reach out to the Charlotte Metro Police Department or call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

Caught vandalizing my car. Why do humans do such things?

Help me understand why. This Chevy Malibu(I think?) was parked here before I arrived. This is at Sugar Creek Community Park in Charlotte, NC. This woman came from the tennis courts where I was playing a match. I saw her practicing on her own 3 courts away from me. I never had any interaction with her, and I don't know if she even knew who the owner of my car was. I'm assuming it's random hate. I noticed a long dark scratch (from her duffel bag dragging the length of my car). Then spotted the scratch from her keying after viewing dash cam video.

Bonus video: Same day, different villain. Someone attempted to break in to cars at the same location.

Everything was reported to Charlotte Metro PD. They've been great, but can't ID this vandal. Damage was a 4 inch scratch on driver's side rear door. The duffel bag marks wiped off.

Source: WBTV

Read more from the original source:

This Tesla Faced Keying And Break-In Attempt On The Same Day - InsideEVs

Mark Matousek/Business Insider

The car-sharing market has grown rapidly in recent years, from around 350,000 global users in 2006, to around 7 million in 2015.

The rise of smartphones has only made it easier for people to rent out their cars when they're not using them (or to buy a car specifically for rentals, with the idea of eventually making a profit off rental income) by helping to facilitate peer-to-peer car-sharing apps like Turo, Getaround, and Maven.

I used a peer-to-peer car-sharing app, Turo, for the first time when I rented a Tesla Model 3 sedan at the end of September. While I initially had concerns about pickup and dropoff logistics, I found the entire rental experience to be more seamless than I'd expected. Coordinating my pickup and dropoff required only two quick phone calls and a handful of text messages.

Here's what it was like.

See the rest here:

What it's like to rent Tesla Model 3 on Turo car-sharing app - Business Insider

If there were any doubts about Teslas plans to build its own battery cells, news of the companys latest acquisition should lay them to rest.

The California carmaker has quietly acquired Ontario-based Hibar Systems, which specializes in battery manufacturing. The companies have made no official announcement, butElectric Autonomy Canadalearned from federal lobby registration documents that Hibar became a subsidiary of Tesla sometime between July and October.

Hibar Systems was founded in the early 1970s to make small-cell batteries, and has since become known in the industry for its production automation solutions. In April, the company received a $2-million grant from the National Research Council of Canada to develop a manufacturing system for mass storage batteries.

Hibar has manufacturing facilities in Europe, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and China. In 2014, the company said the Chinese market accounted for over 50 percent of its business.

The acquisition of Hibar, together with other recent news, makes it plain that Tesla is moving full speed ahead with plans to build its own battery cells. In May, Tesla completed its acquisition ofMaxwell Technologies, the developer of an innovative dry electrode technology that could save loads of money, time and factory space in the battery-making process.

Above: More on Tesla's recent acquisition of Hibar (YouTube:FrontSeatGamer)

In September, Tesla battery research partner Jeff Dahn and his teamreleased a paperdescribing a new million-mile battery cell. Tesla has begun to list openings for battery cell manufacturing-related jobs on its web site. In June,CNBCreported that, according to five current and recent employees, Tesla was developing its own cell manufacturing capacity at a secret skunkworks.

If theres any secret about Teslas battery-building ambitions, its hardly a well-kept one. At the companys annual shareholder meeting in June, Elon Musk said he wasnt ready to let the cat out of the bag yet, but said the company needed to look further down the [battery] supply chain, and might evenget into the mining business. CTO JB Straubel said, we need a large-scale solution to cell production, and VP of Technology Drew Baglino said, Were taking all the moves required to be masters of our own destiny here, technologically and otherwise. I think through all the experience weve developed with partners and otherwise, we will have solutions for this.

Electreks Fred Lambert believes the companys plans are quite ambitious and already quite far along into development, and surmises that Tesla might soon announce battery production lines at existing Maxwell or Hibar facilities.

Tesla plans to hold a Battery and Powertrain Investor Day early in 2020, and Tesla-watchers expect details of the companys battery strategy to be announced then.

===

This article originally appeared inCharged. Author:Charles Morris. Sources:Electric Autonomy Canada,Electrek

View post:

More On Tesla's Plan To Make Its Own Batteries - InsideEVs

Some older Teslas are reportedly running into an issue stemming from the embedded flash memory on the vehicle wearing out, which can cause the cars have problems charging and the built-in screens to stop functioning.

In the last six months, Tesla owners repair professionals and have reported and discussed the problem on online platforms, including YouTube, Twitter and Tesla-related message boards.

The issue concerns a flash storage chip, called the eMMC, thats embedded on a piece of onboard technology called the MCU1. Flash storage is form of computer memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed to help a computer perform tasks quickly and efficiently. It is often used in computers, USB drives, digital cameras, and networking hardware. According to multiple repair professionals, Teslas are writing vehicle logs to this flash storage chip so frequently that the chip stops working properly.

Last week, Jason Hughes an independent repair professional who claimed he had dealt with over a dozen broken MCU1s in the past month tweeted about the problem. Addressing Elon Musk directly, Hughes urged the Tesla CEO to address the issue, adding that its literally killing a huge percentage of these units.

In a YouTube video posted in May 2019, a YouTuber and Tesla repair professional called Rich Benoit discussed the problem with another Tesla repair professional, Phil Sadow.

Read more: A Porsche Taycan crushed a Tesla Model S in a drag race

Explaining the problem in more detail, Sadow said: [Tesla] creates so many logs in the car, they write to [the chip] so fast that it basically burns them out. They have a finite amount of writes; they can only do so many writes. The amount of logging theyre doing is excessive.

When [the eMMC] burns out, you wake up to a black screen [on the cars central console.], he continued. Theres nothing there. You cant tun on your climate control. You can generally drive the car, but it wont charge. He also suggested the problem tends to appear after about 4 years of driving, and urged Tesla to open up diagnostics for people who may be experiencing the problem.

As well as Tesla repair professionals, several Tesla owners have also reported the issue on message boards like the the Tesla Motors Club (which is unaffiliated with Tesla itself.) One user, LuckyLuke, wrote: My MCU crashed a few weeks ago when I tried to switch language. It never came back from a reboot, screen stayed black no matter what I (and Tesla phone support) tried.

Though Tesla has not released a formal statement acknowledging the problem, Musk tweeted at Hughes on Saturday, in direct response to Hughess tweet last week. Musk wrote that the issue Should be much better at this point, though he did not mention any specific actions Tesla had taken to resolve it. Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insiders request for comment.

Tesla reports its quarterly earnings on October 23.

Read more here:

Older Teslas are reportedly running into an issue where the screen stops working and the car wont charge - Business Insider

Cars

Published on October 16th, 2019 | by Kyle Field

October 16th, 2019 by Kyle Field

The Green Cab taxi company in Madison, Wisconsin, announced today that it is converting its fleet of taxis to electric vehicles. When complete, the move will make Green Cab the first in the nation to operate a fleet of fully electric taxis.

Image credit: Kyle Field | CleanTechnica

As the name implies, Green Cab has always had a focus on environmentally responsible taxi operations, a theme that manifests itself in its current fleet of hybrid cabs. Hopping over to the companys website, its vision for a cleaner, greener fleet permeates Green Cabs material, with constant messaging about helping consumers reduce their carbon footprint with the companys current fleet of hybrids.

For now, Green Cab is Madisons only all-hybrid rideshare service and has been in operation since 2010. We will keep a close watch on the news conference to see if we can get our hands on some of the financials behind the move, as the upgrade from a ~$25,000 Prius to a $40,000 Tesla Model 3 is still quite a step up in capital expenses.

Charging is also a question, as Teslas service agreement for its vehicles prevents vehicles used for commercial service from utilizing its Supercharging network. Building something like that at a dedicated depot would be costly, but could make sense if it supports a large enough fleet. Fleet operators live and die by vehicle utilization, so having a more expensive fleet vehicle sitting idle for hours at a time to charge at a 6.6 kW level 2 charger is likely not an option if the CFO has anything to say about it.

Full details of the transition will be shared at a news conference on October 16, but for now, we know that Green Cab is partnering with Zerology to enable the switch.Zerology currently operates an on-demand vehicle rental service that puts its fleet of fully electric vehicles up for rental by the hour.

In addition to its cleantech cred, Green Cab is also looking into autonomous vehicle technology as a potential solution in the future. Jodie Schmidt, a co-owner of Green Cab Madison, told Channel 3000 that, I think there might be a role for us with AV trials or testing because we certainly understand the needs of consumers who ride in vehicles, and we understand processes like dispatching and maintenance.

Source: WKOW via RedditFollow CleanTechnica on Google News.It will make you happy & help you live in peace for the rest of your life.

Tags: Channel 3000, EV taxis, Green Cab, Jodie Schimdt, Madison, Tesla, Tesla Model 3, Tesla taxis, Wisconsin, WKOW, Zerology

Kyle Field I'm a tech geek passionately in search of actionable ways to reduce the negative impact my life has on the planet, save money and reduce stress. Live intentionally, make conscious decisions, love more, act responsibly, play. The more you know, the less you need. TSLA investor.

Read the rest here:

Green Cab Ditches Hybrids In Favor Of Teslas For Its Taxi Fleet - CleanTechnica

Porsche officially launched its first all-electric vehicle, the Taycan. The car has been much-anticipated, and invariably has also been compared with Tesla's offerings. You've seen the headlines: "Tesla Killer" and so on.

The German automaker put together some early media drives in Norway, and so far the reviewers have been impressed if not staggered by the devout Porsche-ness of the Taycan.

But they've also done what they've had to do, which is bring up Tesla as the Taycan's precursor and chief competitor.

In The Wall Street Journal, the redoubtable Dan Neil enthused over the Taycan Turbo (there's also a faster and more expensive Turbo S, and no, the Taycan doesn't have turbocharged electric motors that's just how Porsche ranks its vehicles within the brand's nomenclature). But Neil had to bring up the supercar-fast Tesla Model S P100D and label it the EV champ that the Taycan is taking on.

Read more: In the battle of the Tesla Model S and the Porsche Taycan, it's really no contest

Maybe this seems perfectly natural, if all you know of the automotive realm is Tesla and Toyota. Cars are cars. A-to-B machines. Most run on gas. Tesla's run on electrons. You're aware of this at least.

But in the land of petrol, Porsche is a king and arguably the finest car maker on the planet. The 911 sports car has been in production since the 1960s and is considered by many if not most to be the best go-fast ride that money can buy. Meanwhile, Porsche basically invented the luxury sport SUV market in the early 2000s with the stunningly good Cayenne. The Panamera sedan has its detractors, but there's no debating the cumulative impact of the Porsche portfolio: the profit margins are the envy of the industry.

Sports cars are irrational; just ask anybody who has ever owned a Ferrari. But Porsche captures heartsand minds. It might lack the overtly flamboyant fizz of a Lamborghini, but a Porsche is probably the car you'd choose if you had to drive for your life.

Enter Tesla, which has existed for about 15 years (Porsche has been around for 88). When Elon Musk's company started out, it was selling a single car, and not very many of them: the original Roadster, with volumes in three-digit territory. It was an undeniably cool car, but it was a curiosity.

Matters got more serious in 2012, when the clean-sheet-design Model S sedan arrived. But still, Tesla has been seriously manufacturing its own vehicles for about ten years. If you round up.

For comparison, cars such as the Ford Mustang (born in 1965) and the Chevy Corvette (born in 1953) have established Porsche-beating credibility in just their most recent iterations, when Ford and Chevy decided that they should be capable of challenging Europe's best.

See also:Apply here to attend IGNITION: Transportation, an event focused on the future of transportation, in San Francisco on October 22.

Ask anybody in the car business if the business is hard and they'll look at you as if you had a second head. It isn't hard. It'simpossible. The destiny of aspiring car makers, almost uniformly, is to fail. See Tucker. See Fisker. Even relative legends struggle: Aston Martin has gone bankrupt seven times.

Tesla hasn't just not gone bankrupt (despite being close in 2008) it's become Porsche's biggest rival for the future of driving, at least according to some.

I actually don't think Tesla and Porsche are rivals in any meaningful sense. But there's no avoiding the discourse. When the word "Taycan" is uttered these days, the world "Tesla" typically follows.

Remarkable.

Generally speaking, it's possible for niche players to steal mindshare from industry icons. Since 1992, Horacio Pagani has built his eponymous exotic nameplate into a brand that's talked about as a modern-day Ferrari or Lamborghini and in the estimation of some pundits, builds more compelling cars. Likewise Sweden's Koenigsegg, founded in 1994.

But those guys make bonkers supercars that sell in minuscule quantities and cost lots and lots of money. Tesla, meanwhile, isn't simply aiming to top vehicles such as the $100,000-plus Taycan with the $100,000-plus Model S trims; it also wants to take on Porsche's parent, the VW Group, in the mass-market.

In that, success has been mixed. The relatively new Model 3 endured a fraught debut, but it did help the company to sell nearly 250,000 vehicles in 2018, a record. Tesla now dominates the EV market worldwide (don't get too excited the worldwide EV market is tiny). Managing the situation is Tesla main concern. And that makes the reflexive Porsche comparos all the more remarkable. Because Porsche cares not one bit about the mass market. You settle for a Corolla. But you dream of a 911.

Or perhaps a Taycan.

That's Tesla. In 2009, a one-car company. In 2019, a worthy opponent for Porsche. Tesla has indeed come a long way, baby. And probably more than that.

See the original post here:

In 10 years, Tesla went from a one-car company to a Porsche rival - Business Insider

Tesla is trying to improve efficiency wherever it can, and it is now apparently working on seat design as the electric automaker files for a patent on a new more efficient seat with temperature-control system.

Even with many new EVs launching in the past few years, Tesla remains the king of efficiency when it comes to long-range electric vehicles.

The automaker mainly achieved this through a very efficient powertrain, great aerodynamic performance, and weight management. However, Tesla is also looking at some more unusual ways to gain efficiency.

We recently reported on Tesla developing a new futuristic-looking electromagnetic wiper that they claim would be more energy-efficient than traditional wipers.

Now we learn that Tesla is also looking at a new seat design with an integrated temperature-control system that could be more power-efficient on top of cooling and heating the seats in a better way.

In a new patent application, Tesla describes the problems with current ventilated seats:

Attempts to provide air ventilation through the seat foam are typically insufficient to remove excess heat and provide a comfortable environment for the occupant. Further, conventional heating systems are bulky, occupy space in the seat which typically requires the seat to be thicker, and are inefficient in heating the seat as the heat typically must travel through multiple layers and heat regions of the seat that the occupant does not contact. Hence, there is a need for an improved temperature-control system for vehicle seats.

Tesla describes its own new design for a seat with a temperature-control system

The seat includes a seating portion and a backrest portion coupled to the seating portion. The seat also includes a temperature-control system associated with at least one of the seating portions and the backrest portions. The temperature-control system includes a base layer and an intermediate layer disposed adjacent to the base layer. The intermediate layer allows fluid to flow through it. The temperature-control system includes a cover layer disposed adjacent to the intermediate layer. The temperature-control system also includes at least one heating element disposed between the intermediate layer and the cover layer. The temperature-control system further includes a fluid pump to provide the flow of fluid through the intermediate layer.

Here are a few drawings from the patent application:

Tesla claims that its design would be cheap, low noise, and power-efficient:

The temperature-control system provides a low-cost, low-noise, power-efficient, and effective method for cooling and/or heating of the seat.

The automaker applied for the patent in February and it was made public last week.

As a reminder, companies sometimes apply for patents on technology that they never end up bringing to market.

Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.

Excerpt from:

Tesla is working on its own more efficient seat with temperature-control system - Electrek

Neat, but use it in good faith, people.

There are no self-driving cars for sale today. However, in the past week, Tesla began to roll out another step toward them as companies pursue the goal of full autonomy.

It's called Smart Summon -- a remote control-like function that allows owners to use their smart phones to direct their vehicles to back out of parking spaces and navigate very short distances to come pick them up. Smart Summon is part of the company's V10 software update on its Model 3, Model S and Model X electric cars.

But there's an important caveat to using this new system that a lot of people seem to be ignoring: Simply put, Smart Summon is NOT for use in public spaces. Tesla has clearly stated that's not what the darn thing is designed for.

Of course, as social media readily shows, Tesla owners are already attempting to push Smart Summon's intelligence and usage boundaries. These instances range from "Wow, close call" to "filing an insurance claim." There have been issues with parked cars, failing to determine where the pavement ends and the grass begins, and so on.

To be clear and fair, Tesla has underscored in its release that this function is not intended for activation in public spaces. I quote from the automaker's release notes: "Smart Summon is only intended for use in private parking lots and driveways."

This next part is important, guys: "You are still responsible for your car and must monitor it and its surroundings at all times within your line of sight." Tesla goes on to explain that the system may not detect all obstacles. The company calls the release a beta within its V10 software update. The notes go on to say that quick-moving pedestrians, cyclists and other cars are no friend to Smart Summon right now.

While one might argue that perhaps the system isn't ready for prime time, the release is explicit about what Tesla believes Smart Summon is good for right now. As shown below, it can work well under the right circumstances.

Yet, it's still a beta for a reason.

Features like Smart Summon are part of the allure of Tesla. Certainly, the tech is mighty advanced, and it's inherently cool to watch a car pick an owner up. We're not there yet, though. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there are no self-driving cars for sale today. Tomorrow, there will still not be a single self-driving car for sale. Next year, save for any major breakthrough, there will not be a self-driving car on sale. The vast majority of people have no clue what the state of this sort of technology is, let alone how these new systems can be safely deployed.

But, when used properly, Smart Summon does seem to lay the groundwork for a more convenient future. Just remember that it's still in beta, and make sure to follow Tesla's directions, OK?

Now playing: Watch this: Testing the Tesla Model 3 Performance's new Track Mode...

5:48

Here is the original post:

Tesla Smart Summon isn't for use in public places, America - CNET

Tesla's "Smart Summon" feature, which lets cars navigate themselves in parking lots, isn't even out of beta yet.

But Tesla owners are already using it in some mind-bogglingly stupid ways, Electrek reports.

In a video uploaded to YouTube account "Dirty Tesla", a Model 3 owner tries to walk in front of his vehicle while the Smart Summon feature is activated.

Luckily, the Model 3's cameras spot him the first time. On the second time around, the vehicle appears to almost roll over his toes while he approaches it from the car's blind spot.

In the release notes of Tesla's Version 10 update, which includes the Smart Summon feature, Tesla points out that "you are still responsible for your car and must monitor it and it's surroundings at all times within your line of sight because it may not detect all obstacles."

Drivers are already reporting minor fender benders as a result of Summon.

Twitter user David Guajardo even had somebody crash into his Model 3's bumper while he was Smart Summon-ing his vehicle in a parking lot. His insurance claim could turn into a real headache.

"Other party thinks that I was actually driving because I ran to my car before he got out," he wrote in a follow-up tweet.

This article was originally published by Futurism. Read the original article.

Read the rest here:

People Are Trying to Get Themselves Run Over by Their Own Teslas - ScienceAlert

A built-in camera on a Tesla car captured the moment a "very angry" woman keyed the vehicle, according to reports.

The owner of the 2018 Tesla Model 3, Alan Tweedie, parked the car in the parking lot of Legacy High School in Broomfield, Colorado, while he watched his daughter's soccer game on Saturday morning, CBS4 reported. But when he arrived back at the car, he noticed that someone had keyed it, leaving a deep scratch along the driver's side.

"You can feel down to bare metal, and you can see it's scratched all the way completely through the paint," Tweedie told CBS4.

When he arrived home, Tweedie decided to view footage captured by the car's nine in-built, motion-activated cameras. And one video revealed the culprit.

"A woman distinctly came around with a key in her hand, dug it right in the side, walked it all the way up," Tweedie said. "Very angry, very purposeful, definitely trying to conceal it."

Tweedie said he doesn't know the woman and doesn't have any idea why she would have caused the damage.

Following the incident, he shared the video of the crime on Facebook, where it has been shared more than 100,000 times. Tweedie also reported the incident to Broomfield police, who are now investigating.

"It really speaks to the level of anger for a crime like this that so many people are willing to spread it and share the word and try to help us find itbecause nobody likes this," Tweedie said. "This is my car, but it could be yours next."

The car owner also had a message for the culprit. "Turn yourself in. Do the right thing. Be a better person than you were yesterday, when you were gouging the side of my car," he said.

A spokesperson for Broomfield police said it is often difficult to identify the individuals responsible for these types of crimes due to a lack of physical evidence. In this case, they estimated that the damage caused could total more than $2,000.

Police are urging anyone who has information about the woman in the video to come forward by calling 303-438-6400.

Teslathe electric car manufacture owned by billionaire Elon Muskreleased a software update in September 2018 for those vehicles with Autopilot hardware, enabling owners to access footage captured by cameras on their cars, which are normally used by the vehicle to collect information about its surroundings. The feature was intended for security purposes.

Continue reading here:

Tesla Built-In Camera Captures the Moment 'Very Angry' Woman Keys Car in School Parking Lot - Newsweek

As if Tesla owners haven't made enough news with the EV company's Autopilot technology by leaving their hands off the wheel for minutes at a time, dozing off at highway speeds, ramming into emergency vehicles, and dying in accidents, the latest Tesla software update has already prompted videos of driverless cars nearly hitting other cars in parking lots.

Smart Summon is the newest beta feature that Tesla deploys on customers who willingly try out its unfinished software in ways the company could never get away with doing by itself. As part of Version 10.0, Smart Summon uses the Tesla app to start and drive a car at low speed to wherever the mobile device is located, using all the same sensors as Autopilot does to self-navigate, brake, steer, and accelerate. Over the weekend since it launched, Tesla owners have filmed their cars in parking lots with no one behind the wheel as if they were two-ton Roombas.

In some cases, it has worked out well. Just look at this man running repeatedly toward a moving Tesla during Summon.

How about this, in a storm? This is one of Tesla's suggestions for Smart Summon, the "perfect feature to use if you have an overflowing shopping cart, are dealing with a fussy child, or simply dont want to walk to your car through the rain."

It does seem to be really perfect.

Others say it's a "little spastic, but very exciting and fun!"

It's also fun to scare reasonable people for no reason.

In other cases, cars have backed into other cars . . .

Nearly clipped oncoming cars . . .

Or hit themselves.

Sometimes, Smart Summon can't figure out what to do.

But it doesn't matter. Perhaps Tesla, in its tweet on Thursday, explains why it would pass off something so unfinished and problematic as a product.

"Where have you parked your Tesla? But also, who cares?"

Read more:

People Are Posting Videos of Close Calls with Tesla's New Smart Summon Feature - Car and Driver

Tesla has made a lot of innovations over the years, but it may be about to tackle one the mostenduring automotive features: the windshield wiper.

In a patent application reported on by Road and Track, the automaker describes a very different way to power wipers. Instead of using simple recirculating electric motors, Teslas design mounts the wiper arms to electromagnetic guide rails that can operate more efficiently thanks to reduced friction and allows the wipers to cover more of the window by creating an altered sweep.

As with many patents, theres no indication as to when or if the design will make it into production, but the description mentions how increasingly complex glass shapes will require new solutions.

For instance, a prototype for Teslas upcoming Roadster sports car was equipped with a single large blade attached to a central pivot point via two arms that appear to provide it with a complex sweeping motion. However, it doesnt appear to be able to stow away, which would likely be a detriment to the vehicles aerodynamics, while the electromagnetic setup is designed to hide away under bodywork when not in use.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Read more:

Tesla has reinvented the windshield wiper in new patent - Fox News

Tesla unveiled the first V3 Supercharger at its Fremont, California factory just a few months ago, but the company is already making progress on the first concentrated buildout of the third generation of its fast-charging stations. Thats because 26 of the 46 charging stations currently being built along the transcontinental Trans-Canada Highway are V3 chargers, Tesla tells The Verge.

The new V3 chargers are capable of charging some Model 3s at rates of up to 250kW, making it possible to gain 75 miles of range in just five minutes. So far, the company has opened just a few other V3 Supercharging stations (including one in Las Vegas) beyond the original one at the Fremont plant.

The news comes as Tesla celebrates the seven-year anniversary of the first Supercharger stations this week. In the time since the company lit up those first fast chargers back in 2012, Tesla has gone on to build out one of the biggest networks of EV chargers in the world, with 14,081 Superchargers across 1,604 stations in 36 countries.

Tesla tells The Verge its seen more than 30 million charging sessions on its fast chargers since the first one was debuted in 2012. The company says its Supercharger network handles an average of 64,000 sessions per day, and doles out a total of about 2.25GWh of energy per day meaning users take on about 35kWh of energy during an average charging session.

Depending on the model, Teslas vehicles have battery capacities that range between 50kWh to 100kWh. While theres an obvious psychological appeal to recharging your car to completely full (just like youd refill a combustion engine cars gas tank all the way), the numbers Tesla provided imply that a great deal of customers only charge up enough to get where theyre going. Whether thats because they dont want to wait for a full charge, or because theyre happy enough to just grab a few extra miles before heading home to finish filling the battery over night, is unclear.

To put some of these numbers in some context, ChargePoint which controls one of the most widely distributed charging networks in the world has more than 1,476 fast chargers around the world and 100,700 chargers in total, according to its most recent monthly fact sheet. The California-based charging company says it has powered more than 62,879,120 charging sessions in the 12 years since it was founded.

But since the overwhelming majority of ChargePoints chargers are of the slower Level 2 variety, the companys network has delivered just 563,125MWh worth of energy over that time the same amount Superchargers put out in about 250 days. Based on those numbers, the average charging session over ChargePoints existence is closer to 9kWh.

Other comparisons are hard to make. When asked, EVgo was only able to share the number of charging stations on its network, and Volkswagens Electrify America said we dont provide usage data.

Tesla may have outpaced other charging networks across the last seven years, but like a number of the companys efforts, the original vision was even more grand. In the 2012 blog post announcing the first Superchargers, Tesla promised the ability to drive anywhere in the country on pure sunlight for free.

The company also said it wanted to outfit Superchargers with solar panels from SolarCity (which at the time was still a few years away from being acquired by Tesla), with the goal of generat[ing] more energy from the sun over the course of a year than is consumed by Tesla vehicles using the Supercharger, resulting in a slight net positive transfer of sunlight generated power back to the electricity grid.

I think this day will actually go down as being quite historic, I think at least on par with SpaceX docking with the Space Station earlier this year, CEO Elon Musk said at the 2012 unveiling.

Of course, free Supercharging eventually went away, only reappearing from time to time as an incentive for new buyers. Only about six of the stations were hooked up to a solar panel setup in 2017, and Tesla hasnt shown off a fully off-grid Supercharger setup. There are a few more stations with solar panels, but its clear Teslas still a long way off from fulfilling the picture Musk painted back in 2012.

Still, Teslas Superchargers tend to excel at the two things that matter most: reliable coverage and getting as much juice as possible in a short amount of time. Other charging networks (like Electrify America) are coming online, and that will certainly shift the balance in the years to come, especially since they tend to work with multiple makes and models. But by the time theyre built out, there will also be more electric cars on the road to charge. Maybe by then, stats like charging time and coverage maps will matter a little bit less than they do today.

View original post here:

Teslas first big V3 Supercharger expansion is already happening in Canada - The Verge