[UPDATED 11/25/14 2:00 PM EST to correct mistranslated quotes and include Tesla’s response.] In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel, Elon Musk said that the German auto industry should devote “much more energy to the development of batteries,” perhaps an allusion to Daimler’s recent decision to shut down Germany’s only cell manufacturing facility. He… Read more »
Not ready to buy a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle yet? Would free fuel tip the balance? Both Hyundai and Toyota are offering free hydrogen fuel with their FCVs. According to Toyota, buyers of the new Mirai sedan will receive “complimentary hydrogen fuel for up to three years.” While free fuel may indeed be an enticement… Read more »
Utility industry bigwigs joined Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz at the White House to announce two initiatives to promote electric transportation technologies. More than 70 investor-owned electric utilities will increase investment by about $250 million over 5 years to add more electric vehicles to their fleets, starting in 2015. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and the… Read more »
A team from Delft University in the Netherlands and the University of Waterloo in Canada has used operando X-ray diffraction to show that oxidation of electrochemically generated lithium peroxide (Li2O2) in high-energy-density Li-air batteries occurs in two stages, but in only one step for commercial (crystalline) Li2O2. In a paper published in the Journal of… Read more »
Chevrolet has been dribbling out details of the next-generation Volt ahead of its debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Last week the company released the details of some new charging features. “Chevrolet used the real-world experiences of today’s Volt owners to make the charging process simpler and more convenient in the next-generation Volt,” said… Read more »
Elon Musk, always quick to respond to any perceived slight against Tesla, has posted a detailed rejoinder to a recent Fortune article that told the story of how the company selected a Nevada site for its Gigafactory. The article didn’t accuse Tesla of doing anything wrong, much less illegal. On the contrary, as befits a… Read more »
Outsiders to the auto industry they may be, but Elon Musk and his merry band of Teslanauts are masters at working the system to get what they want. A recent article in Fortune tells the tale of how Tesla skillfully played the state tax-incentive game, and scored a sweet deal on its Gigafactory site in… Read more »
Fuel cell vehicles – love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re here. The Toyota Mirai made its debut at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show, and is scheduled to go on sale next year. The 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell has been available for lease since June. Honda plans to launch its hydrogen offering within two… Read more »
There are loads of Elon Musk interviews on YouTube, but a team from the German magazine Auto Bild skipped the usual questions, and concentrated more on aspects of Elon’s personal life and his philosophy of business. Describing his process for interviewing a potential new hire (around 8:30), Musk said, “I ask them to tell me… Read more »
Tesla has released a blog post and video with some details about what was accomplished during the recent factory shutdown. The main goal was to increase capacity – Tesla expects to build about 35,000 cars this year, and to scale that up to 50,000 per year by the end of 2015. During the production pause,… Read more »
