Tesla has racked up an impressive collection of superlatives: largest global automaker by market cap; best-selling vehicle in several countries (Switzerland is the latest); and most compelling brand since the Grateful Dead. Now the company has added another feather to its corporate cap: Tesla’s Fremont factory has been named the most productive auto plant in… Read more »
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Another Idra Giga Press delivered to Tesla Gigafactory Texas
Everything’s big in Texas, especially Tesla’s Gigafactory and the giant Giga Press casting machines that will be used there to stamp body components for Model Y. Tesla put its first Giga Press into operation at the Fremont factory in 2020. Made by the Italian firm Idra, it has a clamping force of 55,000 to 61,000… Read more »
Tesla mobilizes fans to lobby for direct sales in New York
Yes, the war between Tesla and the powerful auto dealers’ groups is still going on—the US is currently a patchwork in which some states allow Tesla to sell cars directly to consumers, some prohibit it, and some have reached some sort of compromise. (To be clear, one can buy a Tesla in any state by… Read more »
Chinese automakers adopting Tesla’s megacasting technology
Tesla’s megacasting technique—using giant casting machines to make car bodies with just a few massive cast parts—greatly reduces the complexity of the body assembly process, saving costs and improving efficiency. Tesla is producing Model Y at Gigafactory Texas using an enormous Giga Press to cast a single rear body piece, which replaced 70 different parts…. Read more »
Tesla applies for regulatory approval for Gigafactory Texas, production on track for end of this year
Tesla has applied to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for regulatory approval for the first phase of Gigafactory Texas. The filed documents reveal Tesla’s planned completion date and budget. The next chapter in Tesla’s history will center on the company’s two new factories: Gigafactory Texas in Austin and Gigafactory Berlin in Germany. The… Read more »
2023 Toyota bZ4X: Japan’s largest carmaker joins the EV race
Facing off against compact crossover EVs from Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Volkswagen, and of course Tesla, the Toyota badge on the nose of the bZ4X may be enough for many buyers. The 2023 Toyota bZ4X electric SUV made its public debut Wednesday at the Los Angeles auto show, one of several EVs unveiled at a… Read more »
Carbon Counter charts emissions and price of all US auto models
How green is an EV? A PHEV? A hybrid? Most Charged readers understand that the answer depends on many factors, including the efficiency of a particular model, the region in which it operates, and the type of driving it’s used for. The clever folks at MIT have devised the ingenious Carbon Counter, an online tool… Read more »
Book review—Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century
Considering the massive media coverage of Tesla over the last decade, it may seem surprising that there aren’t more books about the company. When I first released my history of Tesla in 2014, I expected to have a short window of exclusivity before a “real” book—one with a hard cover and celebrity blurbs on the… Read more »
Tesla opens its first Superchargers to drivers of other EVs
In a move that has wide-reaching implications for the future of the EV market, Tesla has launched a “Non-Tesla Supercharger pilot” at 10 locations in the Netherlands. The company announced in July that it would open its vaunted Supercharger network to drivers of other companies’ EVs. The 10 stations are now accessible to Dutch non-Tesla… Read more »
There’s more! Hertz offers Teslas to Uber drivers for $299 per week
Hertz appears to be taking a page from Tesla’s marketing playbook, using the automaker’s classic “But wait, there’s more!” strategy. Just days after announcing that it would purchase 100,000 Teslas by the end of 2022, Hertz now says it will make up to 50,000 of these available for Uber drivers to rent. Uber and Hertz… Read more »