Why shouldn’t there be a day to honor Elon Musk? If static electricity and bubble wrap are entitled to commemorations on the calendar (January 9 and 27, respectively), surely the visionary behind Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal and other high-tech ventures deserves a day. That’s the question that Tesla pundit and superfan Anuarbek Imanbaev asked a group… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "Tesla"
Is Ford planning to build its own DC fast charging network?
One of the reasons for Tesla’s huge head start over other EV-makers is its comprehensive, convenient (and, for early buyers, free) Supercharger network. Now a member of the Mach-E Club has uncovered a hint that Ford plans to build its own DC fast charging network. A trademark filing at the US Patent and Trademark Office… Read more »
As overall Chevrolet sales fall, Bolt EV sales are up 36 percent
Tesla isn’t the only automaker that sold a surprising number of EVs in the first quarter. Chevrolet sold 5,873 Bolt EVs in Q1 2020, an increase of 36.1% compared to a year ago. The Bolt may just be the second most popular EV in the US at the moment, behind only the Tesla Model 3… Read more »
BYD and Toyota to work together on EVs (for China, of course)
BYD and Toyota have established a 50/50 joint venture to conduct R&D for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). The new company will be headquartered in Shenzhen City, is expected to have around 300 employees, and is to begin operations in May 2020. “With the engineers from BYD and Toyota working together under the same roof, we aim… Read more »
EV software delays threaten to become “a disaster” for the German automakers
When I interviewed Tesla co-founder Ian Wright in 2014 for my history of Tesla, he described the software found in traditional automobiles as “a dog’s breakfast,” by which he meant that it was a motley mixture of heterogenous hardware and software, in contrast to Tesla’s elegant unified system, which controls every function of the vehicle…. Read more »
Volkswagen explains why batteries, not fuel cells, are the right choice for passenger cars
The debate over hydrogen fuel cells refuses to go away. The founders of Tesla considered hydrogen and other energy storage media before deciding that batteries were the best choice for electric powertrains, and have explained their reasoning in great detail several times since. Toyota, on the other hand, continues to insist that fuel cell vehicles… Read more »
Majority of demand for nickel and cobalt coming from 5 battery suppliers
In 2019, over 59,000 tons of nickel and 14,400 tons of cobalt were deployed globally in passenger EV batteries, a one-year increase of 39% and 34%, respectively, according to data from Adamas Intelligence’s EV Battery Capacity and Battery Metals Tracker. Panasonic used 51% of the global market share of nickel (down from 56% in 2018),… Read more »
US Army plans for an EV future
The US Army has been tentatively testing EV technology for some time. Electrification offers opportunities to streamline the military’s logistics tail and to improve its mobility and reach, and the process needs to move faster, a general with Army Futures Command told Defense News in a recent interview. “Let’s be clear. We’re behind. We’re late… Read more »
Ohio introduces bill to reduce EV tax
Ohio is one of several US states that impose taxes on EVs that are far higher than the amount paid in gas taxes by a typical driver of a legacy vehicle. A recently introduced bill aims to change that. Ohio’s current EV tax, which was enacted in 2019, imposes an annual fee of $200 on… Read more »
BMZ Group ramps up production of Li-ion batteries for ventilators and other medical equipment
The BMZ Group, an international company headquartered in Germany, produces Li-ion batteries for everything from power tools to stationary storage to industrial vehicles such as forklifts. Now the company is seeing a surge in demand for its batteries from makers of a wide variety of medical equipment, especially ventilators. In some cases, the volume of… Read more »