Clean Technica Online News – Page 233 – I wish I had more to offer

Tesla Model Y Size Compared To Tesla Model 3

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

Cars

Published on March 18th, 2019 |

by Dr. Maximilian Holland

Tesla Model Y Size Compared To Tesla Model 3

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook

March 18th, 2019 by Dr. Maximilian Holland

Photo by CleanTechnica

Let’s take a quick look at the comparative size of the new Tesla Model Y when overlayed on top of the Tesla Model 3.

No great surprises here, Elon Musk has already said the Model Y is around 10% larger (in volume?). Let’s make some guesses about the exterior dimensions of the newcomer?

Author’s own work, based on Tesla design studio profile images

Notice that I’ve tried to very accurately line up the wheels (and thus the wheelbases) to get a decent starting point for the comparison. Both are images of the respective performance model (from the design studio) with what should be the same 20’’ performance wheels.

We know that the dimensions of the model 3 are: 4,694 mm L x 1,849 mm W x 1,443 mm H. If any of you have the patience and imaging skills to do some direct measurements of the proportions (based on cursor placing and pixel counts, and then calculating the scaling), please be my guest. I’m just going to make some visual estimates here.

I’d roughly guess that the Model Y is a couple of inches (~50 mm) longer at the rear, and 3 to 4 inches (~75–100 mm) longer at the front. The front hood starts a fraction higher and the height climbs to perhaps 8 inches (~200 mm) taller in some areas, especially the roof-line over the passenger compartment (and at the rear).

One point of interest is that — judging by the starting point of the front windshield — the Model Y’s passenger compartment appears to begin around 4 inches (100 mm) further forward than the Model 3. That obviously further helps the interior space. The length extension at the rear of the passenger compartment appears to be more modest.

Screen grab from Tesla Model Y promo video

We can’t get much clue about differences in width from any existing images that I’ve seen so far (chime in if you’ve got info or sources on this). On the basis of this image, I’d estimate that the length of the Model Y should be around 125–150 mm greater than the 3 (let’s call it ~4,830 mm in total). From this perspective, the height should be around 200 mm more (~1,643 mm in total).

What do you think? Jump into the comments with your own estimates, especially if you have other sources!

Tesla Model Y

About the Author

Dr. Maximilian Holland Max is an anthropologist, social theorist and international political economist, trying to ask questions and encourage critical thinking about social and environmental justice, sustainability and the human condition. He has lived and worked in Europe and Asia, and is currently based in Barcelona.

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups

Top News On CleanTechnica

Join CleanTechnica Today!

Follow CleanTechnica Follow @cleantechnica

Our Electric Car Driver Report

Read & share our new report on “electric car drivers, what they desire, and what the demand.”

The EV Safety Advantage

Read & share our free report on EV safety, “The EV Safety Advantage.”
EV Charging Guidelines for Cities

Share our free report on EV charging guidelines for cities, “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Guidelines For Cities.”

30 Electric Car Benefits

Our Electric Vehicle Reviews

Tesla News

Cleantech Press Releases

Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator Announces Grant Winners, Opening of 2019 Application Period

Carbon Clean 200: The Companies Leading us to a Clean Energy Future

Let Them Speak! Why The Solutions Project Is Funding Renewable Energy Innovation Led By Women & People Of Color | #CleanTechnica Exclusive

38 Anti-Cleantech Myths

Wind & Solar Prices Beat Fossils

Cost of Solar Panels Collapses

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

This site uses cookies: Find out more.Okay, thanks

A Strong Tesla Future Will Include More Female Engineers

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

Cars

Published on March 17th, 2019 |

by Carolyn Fortuna

A Strong Tesla Future Will Include More Female Engineers

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook

March 17th, 2019 by Carolyn Fortuna

Women have increased their numbers in professions previously dominated by men, including law, business, medicine, and many STEM fields. However, the number of women in engineering in the US has not risen since the early 2000s. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a large need for engineers and computer-related employees over the next 10 years due to job growth and replacement of those leaving the workforce. To meet this demand for new engineers and computer/information scientists, it is necessary for our nation to promote these professions among underrepresented groups, especially women.

An initiative at Tesla hopes to help.

Photo of part of an internal Tesla newsletter.

Recently, Tesla hosted about 200 middle school students at 8 of its facilities around the US for an event called “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.” 80 or so Tesla employees volunteered to lead the events, which were held in California and Nevada.

The students engaged in hands-on activities that illustrated the various fields of engineering: civil, electrical, and mechanical. When her team built a suspension bridge out of paper, Jacqueline Cerillo, 6th grade, seemed to already possess a facility for the scientific method. “You have to see your failures,” she said. “On the first project, our bridge fell, but on the second, we got better.”

The likely future female engineers fashioned simple motors from batteries and wire and built a tiny balloon-propelled car, offering glimpses into real-life applications of science and math principles.

This was only one part of Tesla’s commitment of $37 million in education in Nevada. “With females making up only a fraction of the engineering workforce in the US, Tesla is committed to increasing female students’ exposure to manufacturing and engineering,” a Tesla spokesperson said.

At Tesla Gigafactory 1, the nonprofit group Envirolution co-sponsored the event with Tesla, recruiting and coordinating young female students for a battery manufacturing operations tour.

The Fremont factory and locations in Livermore, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas also hosted aspiring female engineering students. Such instruction comes at a crucial time in young women’s lives, as one visiting student noted. “From a young age, you start planning your life. You start planning out what you’re going to do,” 7th grader Haley Felton explained. “So, if you’ve never done anything like this before, you’re not going to know about this kind of stuff.”

Without intervention strategies like this Tesla introductory engineering day, the current demand for technical talent combined with the projected increase in the need for engineers will result in a significant shortage of skilled US labor. Increasing the confidence and persistence of women in engineering at all stages of their careers is imperative to solving this talent shortage.

Industry growth presents the major challenge of educating future renewable energy and technology professionals. There is an essential need to build a conduit from the classroom to worksite. Even college students have a limited understanding of how to translate engineering theory into actual field practice.

While a variety of solutions are necessary to address the growing labor needs in the engineering industry and to attract and retain women in the profession, professional role models like these Tesla engineers who offer their personal insights and industry experience narratives can offset those gaps and create a robust and diverse engineering workforce.

Why Aren’t There More Female Engineers — at Tesla and Elsewhere?
Today, the digital transformation provides new avenues for the economic empowerment of women and can contribute to greater gender equality. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show that inventions arising out of mixed teams are more economically valuable and have higher impact than those in which only men are involved.

According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth in the engineering industry will yield over 500,000 unfilled positions by 2024. Yet the current pipeline of engineering talent does not include the majority of college graduates: women represent over 57% of college graduates but only 22% of the engineers entering the workforce. Within the workforce, only 14% of engineers are women.

Coordinated policy action can raise awareness. It can tackle gender stereotypes and enable enhanced, safer, and more affordable access to digital tools for novice engineers. It can provide stronger cooperation across stakeholders to remove barriers to girls’ and women’s full participation in the STEM world.

Digital technologies provide new opportunities to make progress, but technological fixes cannot address the underlying structural problems that drive the digital gender divide. “It’s a systemic problem. Girls from a young age experience microaggressions. For example, asking a boy in the class to try the fix the VCR or fathers doing some things with their sons but not with their daughters. Little things like that discourage a good amount of the population [from pursuing engineering],” said Kristen Barclay, a Tesla engineer, in a 2018 interview.

Unconscious bias creates barriers and is one reason why fewer female engineers are hired in tech fields. “Here, I’ve started interviewing for technicians for my department,” said Barclay. “I’ve only ever interviewed two female candidates, and I hired them both because they were both awesome. Super relevant experience, super personable, seemed like they would fit in well. And the men who run the interview panel were like ‘Oh, I didn’t really get that vibe.” Slowly, they were like, ‘I liked her, too.’”

“Start early, because the world will slowly crush you out of it if you don’t find that interest in yourself early,” Barclay advised future female engineers.

Infographic courtesy of Society of Women Engineers

“It wasn’t so bad at the engineering faculty, where we were about 25%,” Alejandra Estanislao said, who holds a degree in mathematics and finance and is a software engineer at Google in Paris. “It was later, at work. When you find yourself one woman in a room of 30 people, that is when you feel lonely.”

Fewer females than males that earn an engineering degree end up working in the engineering profession, and more females than males leave the profession over time. Véna Arielle Ahouansou, whose Kea Medical company employs 15 people, said men still fail to see the strength of women in technology. “They need to change their mind-set that science is just for them,” she said.

“This is one of the most important issues of our time, and it is urgent,” said Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke, founder of W4, an organization that promotes girls and women in technology. “It has nothing to do with cognitive abilities, that has been proven. It is about consistent, deeply entrenched stereotypes.”

Final Thoughts
“I want to be an artist when I grow up,” 6th grader Cerillo added during her day at Tesla. “Engineering adds something to art. It’s creating our world.”

Research shows there are about 2.5 million women in the US with STEM degrees. Of this number, roughly 800,000 women (32%) have engineering and computer science degrees and 216,000 (27%) have left their technical fields. Approximately 54,000 (25%) of the women who left their technical careers did so to care for their families. It is estimated that the pool of technical women who are on career breaks at any given time is between 54,000 and 216,000.

A cultural shift is slowly underway in the STEM world in which women and other underrepresented groups are beginning to find voice. Programs like the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” at Tesla highlight one of many mechanisms to strengthen overarching talent pathways.

Infographic courtesy of Society of Women Engineers

Unless otherwise noted, images via YouTube

About the Author

Carolyn Fortuna Carolyn Fortuna, Ph.D. is a writer, researcher, and educator with a lifelong dedication to ecojustice. She's won awards from the Anti-Defamation League, The International Literacy Association, and The Leavy Foundation. She’s molds scholarship into digital media literacy and learning to spread the word about sustainability issues. Please follow me on Twitter and Facebook and Google+

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups

Top News On CleanTechnica

Join CleanTechnica Today!

Follow CleanTechnica Follow @cleantechnica

Our Electric Car Driver Report

Read & share our new report on “electric car drivers, what they desire, and what the demand.”

The EV Safety Advantage

Read & share our free report on EV safety, “The EV Safety Advantage.”
EV Charging Guidelines for Cities

Share our free report on EV charging guidelines for cities, “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Guidelines For Cities.”

30 Electric Car Benefits

Our Electric Vehicle Reviews

Tesla News

Cleantech Press Releases

Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator Announces Grant Winners, Opening of 2019 Application Period

Carbon Clean 200: The Companies Leading us to a Clean Energy Future

Let Them Speak! Why The Solutions Project Is Funding Renewable Energy Innovation Led By Women & People Of Color | #CleanTechnica Exclusive

38 Anti-Cleantech Myths

Wind & Solar Prices Beat Fossils

Cost of Solar Panels Collapses

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

This site..

Tesla Model Y Reveal: And The Biggest Surprise Was…

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

Cars

Published on March 15th, 2019 |

by Frugal Moogal

Tesla Model Y Reveal: And The Biggest Surprise Was…

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook

March 15th, 2019 by Frugal Moogal

Tonight, Tesla revealed the Model Y, and thanks to the reveal of the Tesla Roadster as part of the Tesla Semi announcement, we were expecting some surprises.

The night started with Elon Musk walking us through the history of the vehicles that Tesla has delivered (first generation Roadster, Model S, Model X, and Model 3), the vehicles that Tesla intends to bring to market soon (the new Roadster and Tesla Semi), and how Tesla built the Gigafactories for those cars.

The next thing that Musk covered was the Solar Roof and Power Wall, and he mentioned that this would be the year of these products. Those who follow Tesla may have been mildly surprised by this, as the solar roof in particular got a lot of attention a few years ago, but has been almost completely overlooked lately.

A Supercharger update followed this, noting the great expansion that has already occurred, the expansion they expect to continue in the future, and a bit about the faster V3 Superchargers.

Musk then covered Tesla’s mission and how critical it is to what the company does. For anyone who questioned why the Model Y was unveiled now, this is your answer. Musk made a point to show how in the past ten years, the industry has changed from one opposed to the idea of electric cars, to many manufacturers doubling down on the transition year after year, and the role Tesla has played in that is massive. The point of the reveal tonight is to get those companies to challenge Tesla to create better electric SUVs faster than Tesla can, while signaling to people who may be thinking of purchasing an SUV in the near future that they may want to wait and get a Model Y instead of something else.

We finally got to the unveiling of the Model Y, and its look was not a surprise. In fact, it looked exactly like I expected it to — it’s a larger version of the Model 3 with an EPA range estimated to be 300 miles for the RWD variant. And just like Musk alluded to before the reveal, it is about 10% more expensive and 10% less efficient.

Production begins “late next year.”

The unveiling of Model Y went pretty quickly, and was light on details. And that brings us to…

The Biggest Surprise
To me, the biggest surprise of the night was that there was no giant surprise. The Model Y wasn’t hiding a truck, the Model S and X aren’t refreshed, and at the end of the event, it was just the Model Y.

This surprise, or lack thereof, may have been disappointing to a lot of people who expected something big and flashy. As I’ve reflected on it writing this article, however, I’m not disappointed at all about it.

Tonight we saw a confident Elon Musk announce production of a vehicle that Tesla knows it can deliver to market. The Model Y is expected to be the most popular vehicle that Tesla has produced yet, and one of the most popular in the world. Why overshadow that achievement with something else?

Unlike past announcements, there was no mention of “production hell” or what a challenge bringing the Model Y to production would be. The history of Tesla and its various problems led us to this point, where Musk expects that Tesla can confidently deliver on its production goals exactly as expected.

And that’s the surprise. Tesla acted like — and for perhaps the first time is — a major automaker announcing a new vehicle.

Stay tuned for much more exclusive content from the Model Y event. CleanTechnica had three reporters on hand.

About the Author

Frugal Moogal A businessman first, the Frugal Moogal looks at EVs from the perspective of a business. Having worked in multiple industries and in roles that managed significant money, he believes that the way to convince people that the EV revolution is here is by looking at the vehicles like a business would.

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups

Top News On CleanTechnica

Join CleanTechnica Today!

Follow CleanTechnica Follow @cleantechnica

Our Electric Car Driver Report

Read & share our new report on “electric car drivers, what they desire, and what the demand.”

The EV Safety Advantage

Read & share our free report on EV safety, “The EV Safety Advantage.”
EV Charging Guidelines for Cities

Share our free report on EV charging guidelines for cities, “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Guidelines For Cities.”

30 Electric Car Benefits

Our Electric Vehicle Reviews

Tesla News

Cleantech Press Releases

Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator Announces Grant Winners, Opening of 2019 Application Period

Carbon Clean 200: The Companies Leading us to a Clean Energy Future

Let Them Speak! Why The Solutions Project Is Funding Renewable Energy Innovation Led By Women & People Of Color | #CleanTechnica Exclusive

38 Anti-Cleantech Myths

Wind & Solar Prices Beat Fossils

Cost of Solar Panels Collapses

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

This site uses cookies: Find out more.Okay, thanks

Tesla Model Y Versus The Bottom Line: What We Learned

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

Cars

Published on March 15th, 2019 |

by Frugal Moogal

Tesla Model Y Versus The Bottom Line: What We Learned

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook

March 15th, 2019 by Frugal Moogal

I sat down to watch the Model Y unveiling tonight with a list of questions that I was hoping to get answers to from a business perspective. Namely, where the Model Y was going to be produced, what quantities the company was looking at, and whether there were any hints about current demand to help explain if the plan to shut down many Tesla stores had to do with there being so much demand that it made no sense to keep them open, or if there was a so-called demand pocket for the vehicles at the moment.

And, we learned … none of that.

As I pointed out in my first article about the surprises, the reveal of the Model Y was the first time that I feel like Tesla acted fully like a major automaker for an announcement. A large segment of Tesla fans and market pundits are obsessed with hearing about every detail of how Tesla is doing what it is doing (and thanks for reading this article and visiting CleanTechnica!), but instead of feeding into that and potentially making statements that are difficult to follow through on, the Model Y announcement was a simple presentation walking people through the history of the company and explaining the next step.

Having said that, I started playing in the configurator for the Model Y and the interior is so similar to the Model 3 that I had to double check that I was still looking at a Model Y.

This is a guess, but I’m curious to hear what you think — we heard before from Elon Musk that the Tesla Model Y would use more than 75% of the same parts as the Model 3 (or ~76%). The interior is so similar, at least in the front, that I don’t see any parts beyond the rear-view mirror being redesigned to come down a bit further.

There had been statements put out by third parties that Tesla hadn’t contacted them to start ordering parts for the Model Y yet, which was held up by some as proof that Tesla was rushing this announcement. I’m now of the belief that the majority of the parts that Tesla doesn’t make itself will be identical to what is used in the Model 3.

To me, this is actually a hugely important bottom line — the amount of shared parts will enable Tesla to tightly control the costs on the Model Y, and I expect that combined with the experience the Silicon Valley company has from the Model 3 will allow Tesla to make a significant margin on every Model Y sold.

The parts that are different may mostly be in-house parts, like the doors, hood, and windshield.

Stay tuned for much more exclusive content from the Model Y event. CleanTechnica had three reporters on hand.

About the Author

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups

Top News On CleanTechnica

Join CleanTechnica Today!

Follow CleanTechnica Follow @cleantechnica

Our Electric Car Driver Report

Read & share our new report on “electric car drivers, what they desire, and what the demand.”

The EV Safety Advantage

Read & share our free report on EV safety, “The EV Safety Advantage.”
EV Charging Guidelines for Cities

Share our free report on EV charging guidelines for cities, “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Guidelines For Cities.”

30 Electric Car Benefits

Our Electric Vehicle Reviews

Tesla News

Cleantech Press Releases

Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator Announces Grant Winners, Opening of 2019 Application Period

Carbon Clean 200: The Companies Leading us to a Clean Energy Future

Let Them Speak! Why The Solutions Project Is Funding Renewable Energy Innovation Led By Women & People Of Color | #CleanTechnica Exclusive

38 Anti-Cleantech Myths

Wind & Solar Prices Beat Fossils

Cost of Solar Panels Collapses

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

This site uses cookies: Find out more.Okay, thanks

Tesla Upgrading Its Supercharging Network To V3 For Next-Generation Speeds

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

Clean Transport

Published on March 4th, 2019 |

by Kyle Field

Tesla Upgrading Its Supercharging Network To V3 For Next-Generation Speeds

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook

March 4th, 2019 by Kyle Field

The rollout of Tesla’s next-generation Supercharging network is starting on Wednesday, according to a tweet by CEO Elon Musk late Sunday. The first public Supercharging point running at the company’s new version 3.0 spec will go live at 8pm on Wednesday, March 6th, 2019.

The Supercharging V3 spec is expected to level up Tesla’s charging network to compete with the cutting edge speeds of other next-generation public chargers, which are operating at speeds of 150–350kW. Tesla has not disclosed the specs for its Supercharger V3 stations. Though, CEO Elon Musk teased the twittersphere back in 2016 when asked if they would operate at 350kW. He playfully mocked the speed, leading to rampant speculation that Tesla’s next-generation chargers would raise the bar even further, and that was back in 2016!

Increasing the speed of its charging network was one of the critical pushes the company was working on to improve the availability of its Supercharging network in its home market of California and beyond. Increasing the speed of its Superchargers not only gets owners back on the road faster, it frees up the stations being utilized much faster, improving the overall power a station can provide to even more drivers per day.

On the financial side of things, investing more capital into the chargers themselves makes better use of the existing real estate agreements Tesla has in place. The move leverages Tesla’s increased access to capital, thereby improving the usefulness of its existing real estate agreements.

The offset is that the higher power chargers will pull down power from the utility even faster, incurring more demand charges with the utility. Demand charges are the fees ratepayers incur based on how fast they pull down power. The fatter the pipe and the more power they pull at one time, the higher the charges. To offset this, Tesla will install its Powerwall stationary energy storage units to serve as a buffer between their charging stations and the utility.

Take these for a grain of salt, but a redditor who claimed to have inside information from a Tesla employee said that the new standard included:

200kW actual charging speed
Cabinets can support 250kW max speed each
All Model 3 battery configurations can charge at these speeds
Supercharger V3 is a full redesign from previous generation
V3 chargers use the industrial inverters from Tesla’s Powerpacks
All V3 will eventually have much thinner liquid cables than current ones
Coolant pump will be located in the base of the Supercharger and can be installed into existing Supercharger V2 stations
Solar panels and Powerpack integration is a part of the design spec
Up to 7 V3 cabinets per bus (or block) can be linked, with an optional connection to one Power Pack
Supercharger V3 will have 40% better throughput performance thanks to a 96% efficiency inverter versus the 92% efficiency inverter in the Supercharger V2 units.

The new design also brings reduced harmonics and no over-voltage sensitivity
The new efficient design brings an impressive savings in purchased electricity

Combined AC input is 438kVA, 526A
Cabinets are on a shared DC radial configured bus of 880-1000
Any extra power can be shared across cabinets
Site master controller is 4G LTE for communication for remote diagnostics and billing

The new charging spec is simply the next step in Tesla’s full court press on the automotive industry. No other automaker has yet to truly push into solving public charging infrastructure needs for its vehicles. Even Volkswagen and its mandated Electrify America program is not adding enough public charging infrastructure to enable worry-free long-distance travel.

This is not brand favoritism — it is the simple reality of public EV charging networks in 2019. Compare a Hyundai Kona EV and a Tesla Model 3. They are both great cars, but the ability to simply head out on a 5 hour road trip without thinking about it (like you would in a gas or diesel vehicle) only exists in one of the two.

Other companies have public chargers that compete at the speeds being thrown around about Tesla’s Supercharger V3 network, but they are only pilot installations. More cohesive efforts to stitch together networks of next generation 150kW+ DC fast chargers are starting to be rolled out in Europe, but Tesla is leaps and bounds beyond anyone else when it comes to having a consistent product with easy access and more than 12,000 charging points in operation.

The big question with the rollout of the first Supercharging V3 station is about the capability of Tesla’s vehicles. Some of the older battery packs already can’t charge at the full power of today’s 125kW stations. The Model 3 has Tesla’s latest EV charging hardware in it, but nobody knows how fast it can actually take a charge.

About the Author

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.

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups

Top News On CleanTechnica

Join CleanTechnica Today!

Follow CleanTechnica Follow @cleantechnica

Our Electric Car Driver Report

Read & share our new report on “electric car drivers, what they desire, and what the demand.”

The EV Safety Advantage

Read & share our free report on EV safety, “The EV Safety Advantage.”
EV Charging Guidelines for Cities

Share our free report on EV charging guidelines for cities, “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Guidelines For Cities.”

30 Electric Car Benefits

Our Electric Vehicle Reviews

Tesla News

Cleantech Press Releases

Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator Announces Grant Winners, Opening of 2019 Application Period

Carbon Clean 200: The Companies Leading us to a Clean Energy Future

Let Them Speak! Why The Solutions Project Is Funding Renewable Energy Innovation Led By Women & People Of Color | #CleanTechnica Exclusive

38 Anti-Cleantech Myths

Wind & Solar Prices Beat Fossils

Cost of Solar Panels Collapses

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

This site uses cookies: Find out more.Okay, thanks

My Trip To The Tesla Model Y Unveiling: The Day Before The Storm

InvestElectric CarsElectric Car BenefitsElectric Car SalesSolar Energy RocksRSSAdvertisePrivacy Policy
Cars Published on March 14th, 2019 | by Paul Fosse
My Trip To The Tesla Model Y Unveiling: The Day Before The StormTwitterLinkedInFacebookMarch 14th, 2019 by Paul Fosse

This article highlights the reasons I came out to California for the Tesla Model Y unveiling and what a saw the day before the unveiling.
Why Did I Come Out Here?There are so many answers to that question, but none of them had to do with the Model Y. You see, modern life is such that I know the best way to see a major event (like a political convention or the Super Bowl or an Apple unveiling) is to sit at home like you and read articles and watch livestreams. The first reason I came to the unveiling is simply because I was invited and I could. My wife recently had major surgery and I wasn’t sure if I should leave her alone. I’m in the middle of training a group of internal customers to use the first data mart that I’ve designed in my career. My son is struggling in his second year of college. I’m halfway done with 4 tax returns that will quickly be due.
But I didn’t overthink it. I knew that I had worked hard to get the invite (from the now defunct referral program) and I shouldn’t waste the chance to be here. When my kids were applying to colleges a few years ago, a presenter from an elite school told me something that has stuck with me. He said you shouldn’t go to our school because our campus is great or our teachers are great (although they are), but because our students are great. He said you spend 15 hours a week with the teachers, but 168 hours a week with the other students. He said they could select all students with perfect SAT scores if they wanted to, but to provide the best outcomes, they selected people who had accomplished something. Maybe they were an Olympic athlete, maybe they had started a company or two, maybe they were on a hit TV show — whatever they had done, they would have learned valuable life lessons they could share with their fellow students. That’s the biggest reason to go to the unveiling, to meet and hang around with exceptional people who share my passion for electric cars and Tesla. Each person has a unique story of how they became a fan of the company that has a news cycle that never seems to slow down. Sometimes it is product related, sometimes it is Elon’s tweets, but we all came together to both be part of this historic product announcement and meet in person so many of the people we feel like we know from YouTube or Twitter or the various EV-focused blogs we all follow.
The second reason to go was to spend some time with my son and introduce him to a new part of the tech world that he may not realize exists.
Tesla Hawthorne Design Center
After landing a day before the event, I went to the Design Center to get some pictures and see the preparations before the big day, and to get an In and Out Burger (animal style) from just down the street.
This is the place the Model S, Model X, Model 3, Semi, and new Roadster had all been unveiled. I found a group of four Norwegian Tesla fans and spoke to them about their expectations. They saw the next-generation Roadster go by twice while I was taking these pictures, so maybe that car will be part of tomorrow’s event. I asked them the size of the area for the unveilings (since they had been to several previous events) and they said it was quite small, so they expect only 500 to 1000 people to be at the event.
HyperLoopAs I left the design center, I had to get a picture of the tube used by the teams at the annual Hyperloop competition.

I also noticed they had put up signs so people couldn’t park here during certain times. This starts a half hour before the event and goes to 2:00 am. Is this an indication that the event will go to 2:00 am?
Orange County Tesla Club MeetupPhoto from Dennis Pascual, organizer of Orange County Tesla Club
Next I got invited to attend the Orange County Tesla Club meetup at the Grimaldi’s Pizza in El Segunda, where in addition to meeting many great members of the local club (including the organizer, Dennis Pascual), we had several special guests! I got to meet my fellow CleanTechnica writers Kyle Field and Chanan Bos. Trevor Page of Model 3 Owners Club helped organize the event and also has a crew here for the event, so make sure you check out their coverage too! Vincent, originally from Beijing, has emerged as a great source of news and insight in the leading EV market in the world, China, over on Twitter. I enjoyed meeting all folks at the dinner and was glad my son found a video game enthusiast to talk to (since he is not as interested in EVs as I am).
ConclusionStay tuned to CleanTechnica, where we will be publishing a flurry of articles on the Model Y and the unveiling event. There is much speculation on whether there will be an Apple-style “One More Thing” at the event. Let us know in the comments below what “One More Thing” you are hoping for.

About the AuthorPaul Fosse I've been a software engineer for over 30 years, first working on EDI software and more recently developing data warehouse systems in the telecommunications and healthcare industry. Along the way, I've also had the chance to help start a software consulting firm and do portfolio management for several investment trusts. In 2010, I took an interest in electric cars because gas was getting expensive. In 2015, I started reading CleanTechnica and took an interest in solar, mainly because it was a threat to my oil and gas investments in my investment trusts. Tesla investor. Tesla referral code: https://ts.la/paul92237

Back to Top ↑AdvertisementAdvertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.
CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups Top News On CleanTechnica Join CleanTechnica Today!
AdvertisementAdvertisementFollow CleanTechnicaFollow @cleantechnica
Our Electric Car Driver Report Read & share our new report on “electric car drivers, what they desire, and what the demand.”The EV Safety Advantage

Read & share our free report on EV safety, “The EV Safety Advantage.”EV Charging Guidelines for Cities

Share our free report on EV charging guidelines for cities, “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Guidelines For Cities.”30 Electric Car Benefits Our Electric Vehicle Reviews
Tesla News
Cleantech Press Releases Carbon Clean 200: The Companies Leading us to a Clean Energy Future Let Them Speak! Why The Solutions Project Is Funding Renewable Energy Innovation Led By Women & People Of Color | #CleanTechnica Exclusive New Research Shows That Only Two Large Petroleum Companies Have Meaningful Emission Reduction Targets38 Anti-Cleantech Myths Wind & Solar Prices Beat Fossils Cost of Solar Panels Collapses
© 2018 Sustainable Enterprises Media, Inc.
InvestElectric CarsElectric Car BenefitsElectric Car SalesSolar Energy RocksRSSAdvertisePrivacy Policy

This site uses cookies: Find out more.Okay, thanks

Love It Or Hate It, Tesla Online Sales Strategy Creates Plenty Of Controversy

InvestElectric CarsElectric Car BenefitsElectric Car SalesSolar Energy RocksRSSAdvertisePrivacy Policy
Cars Published on March 7th, 2019 | by Steve Hanley
Love It Or Hate It, Tesla Online Sales Strategy Creates Plenty Of ControversyTwitterLinkedInFacebookMarch 7th, 2019 by Steve Hanley

Tesla’s sudden announcement last week that it is closing most of its stores and transitioning to a 100% online sales model has created a firestorm of criticism and pushed the company’s stock price to a 5 month low. In the media, Forbes and Fortune have run stories this week decrying the move as wrongheaded and possibly dangerous to the company’s very existence.
The UpsideOne investment professional who is not concerned about Tesla’s new online sales strategy is ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood. According to Fortune, she told Bloomberg on March 4 that, even though the decision to close stores and go fully online was “abrupt,” she wasn’t as surprised as other investors. “We got the sense something was up because he is still competing against other auto manufacturers who have their costs screwed down, but at some point, his pricing is going to drop below theirs.” At 9%, Tesla represents the largest investment in the ARK Invest portfolio.
Wood tells CNBC she believes Tesla stock will soar to stunning new heights in the years ahead. The least favorable scenario will see the stock rise 146%. But the most favorable scenario sees it powering up a stunning 1,306% to more than $4,000 per share. “This is a five-year time horizon. Four thousand dollars is the bull case, $700 is the bear case. It’s rare for us to a have a stock that meets our minimum hurdle rate of return in the bear case, so it’s north of 15 percent compound annual rate of return to get to our bear case target.”
Wood added that Tesla is “scaling the electric vehicle market. We think the electric vehicle sales in 2023 will be in total globally 26 million units, up from 1.3 million last year, so that’s a 20-fold increase. We’re talking about exponential growth.”
What Wood is relying on is not Tesla selling bunches of cars but rather Tesla emerging as a significant force in autonomous driving and ride hailing. “The big story [for Tesla] is autonomous taxi platforms. We’re moving from a hardware-centric, low gross margin model which is 25, 30 percent to a transportation-as-a-service model. They’ll get a piece of every ride taken because they’ll own the platform that these fleet operators will be riding on, and that’s more of an 80 percent gross margin business,” she said.
Through the first two months of 2019, ARK Invest’s valuation is up 25% even after taking into account the recent slide in Tesla’s share price.

The DownsideOn the other side of the ledger, several recent articles in Forbes and Fortune question the wisdom of Tesla’s 100% online sales model. Let’s start with Jeremy Alicandri, writing for Forbes. He claims buyers are simply not ready or willing to give up the traditional car-buying experience. They want to be able to sit in the car they are about to purchase and take it for a test drive. Then there is the issue of correctly evaluating trade-ins, which he claims has to be done in person. Add to that the myriad of financing options and Alicandri says the online model just won’t work for many people. (Elon Musk has noted on Twitter some of this stuff will be done via delivery centers.)
Alicandri thinks Elon Musk’s assurances that people can simply return their new car for a full refund is naive. “As someone who oversaw an extended test drive program with the BMW 7 Series only a few years back, I can attest that these programs often cost more than they achieve, while also attracting chronic abuse from non-buyers,” Alicandri writes. “While Tesla will likely initiate safeguards to prevent abuse, such as requiring full payment upfront, it remains unclear how Model 3 customers can ‘test drive’ vehicles without undergoing major inconveniences if they wish to return them.
“Being responsible for sales tax (which is likely not refundable by state law) as well as the vehicle depreciation (as the vehicle is considered used once registered) are just two issues. It’s also uncertain how these customers will be able to purchase a different vehicle as their credit will be weakened before/during the refund process and likely weeks after.”
Alicandri also says that, while eliminating stores will save money in one area, it will increase costs in others. “There are obvious expenses, like extra call centers, shipping and logistics costs, and IT infrastructure. But there are also less obvious costs, like those related to providing support for vehicles damaged or having mechanical malfunctions at delivery, as well as educating new owners on their vehicles. Advertising and marketing efforts may need to be enhanced to counter the lack of physical presence.”
The Legal IssuesDuring his conference call with journalists last week, Elon Musk rather blithely swatted away any concern that franchise dealer groups and individual states could thwart the new online sales model. “I’m sure the franchise dealers will try to oppose us in some way, but to do so would be a fundamental restraint on interstate commerce and violate the Constitution. So, good luck with that,” he said.
Leonard Bellavia, an attorney and franchise law expert, disagrees with Musk’s legal opinion. He tells Forbes, “The statement by Musk that state dealer franchise laws prohibiting factory direct sales are unconstitutional is an overly simplistic and rather bald-faced generalization.” Expanding its service network is also fraught with legal issues, says Bellavia. “An online sale only model would require both a sales and service facility to satisfy state licensing authorities, which defeats the purpose of online sales.”
There are other legal concerns, including how so-called lemon laws, which vary from state to state, will apply to online sales. In some parts of the country, digital signatures are not enough to satisfy local laws, which often require a “wet signature” on all vehicle delivery paperwork. The devil is in the details and Musk’s rather casual insistence that the commerce clause will sweep aside all opposition to online sales seems rather simplistic. If nothing else, years of litigation will ensue before Elon gets his wish.
The Sudden Change In CourseForbes is focusing this week on the abruptness of the announcement and suggests Elon may not have thought the new strategy through. It reports on one stock analyst, Alex Chalekian, who heads Lake Avenue Financial in Pasadena, California. It manages more than $150 million in client assets but sold all its shares in Tesla for its advisory clients last Friday.
“This was a total 180-degree turn,” Chalekian says. “Tesla had been talking about expanding stores, and all of a sudden they are closing them. To me, this signals a huge financial concern and a possible cash-flow issue for Tesla.” In the fourth quarter of 2018, Tesla opened 27 new retail and service centers, the most in any quarter since the middle of 2017.
In its most recent 10-K filing with the SEC just a few weeks ago, it touted its brick and mortar strategy. “Our Tesla stores and galleries are highly visible, premium outlets in major metropolitan markets, some of which combine retail sales and service. Opening a service center in a new geographic area can increase demand. As a result, we have complemented our store strategy with sales facilities and personnel in service centers to more rapidly expand our retail footprint.”
Is Tesla Being Managed By Adults?For Alex Chelakian, the suddenness of Tesla’s reversal hints at a company that operates on the whims of its leader, rather than on sound business practices. Such erratic and — to an outsider — irrational changes in course are red flashing lights warning of danger ahead for investors. There has been dark muttering this week that it’s time for Elon Musk to step into a new role, one in which he continues to be chief engineer for the company while a professional management team takes over supervision of the company.
Musk’s treatment of employees is another concern. Despite impassioned emails extolling them for their hard work and dedication, Musk seems ready at a moment’s notice to toss them overboard when it suits his convenience. At the start of the year, he announced that 7% of Tesla’s workforce would be let go right after the company achieved its production goals for the Model 3. This latest announcement came via a private conference call with journalist (disclosure: CleanTechnica reporters were on the call) and it blindsided many of those working in the stores that will now be closed.
The message to employees is that you are all expendable on short notice, so keep your resume up to date and don’t make any life decisions based on the assumption you will have a job with Tesla tomorrow. If online sales are the wave of the future, job security is clearly a thing of the past.
Elon always has been and remains an enigma. To some, he is a real life Tony Stark. To others, he is given to wild mood swings that may or may not be associated with the use of Ambien, a drug that helps people deal with insomnia but has worrisome side effects, including impairment of judgement. People who use it are advised not to operate heavy machinery.
Musk is a polarizing person. His single-minded determination has already upended the global auto industry and is rapidly bringing sweeping changes to the energy storage market. On the other hand, his insistence on buying SolarCity is seen by many as a straight up bailout for his cousins. The heavily touted Solar Roof is missing in action and Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, New York, is hardly ever mentioned in Tesla’s corporate communications. Closing Tesla’s stores will likely deal another blow to an already underperforming aspect of the company.
The Volvo ConnectionCredit: Polestar
Is Tesla in trouble or poised for another spurt of growth? The Model Y is set..

Elon Musk To SEC — That Is Not What We Agreed To

InvestElectric CarsElectric Car BenefitsElectric Car SalesSolar Energy RocksRSSAdvertisePrivacy Policy
Clean Power Published on March 12th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Elon Musk To SEC — That Is Not What We Agreed ToTwitterLinkedInFacebookMarch 12th, 2019 by Maarten Vinkhuyzen

The SEC is trying to get the court to hold Elon Musk in contempt. The SEC maintains that Musk violated the plea bargain they made after the infamous “funding secured” tweet, a plea bargain that was accepted by the court as its final judgement and thus has the power of a court order for Elon Musk and Tesla.
That is a lot of legalese in the first paragraph of an article. For us simple-minded non-lawyers, the important starting point is: there is a court order that Musk and Tesla have to obey.
The SEC says Musk did not. Musk (and his lawyers) say he did. In other words, we have a simple case of “he said, she said.” But when lawyers are concerned, it is never simple. Look at the 33 pages the lawyers needed in order to say: “Musk complied.”
In the court order, there were a number of provisions about independent directors, chairmanship, fines, oversight, and communications. This complaint from the SEC is about the communications and oversight provisions. Simply stated, these provisions say that: Tesla needs to have a policy and procedures about communicating material information and Musk has to comply with these.
Tesla did create policies and procedures, which is not disputed. According to Tesla and Musk, Musk complied with them. Normally, this would be “case closed.” The SEC, in its unlimited wisdom, however, thinks Musk did not comply with the policy and procedures.
Let’s rewind: What happened? On February 19, 2019, at 7:15pm, Elon Musk tweeted something immaterial (immaterial = it does not really matter). The fact that it was immaterial is not disputed by the SEC‼ Please, don’t discuss it in the comments.
The tweet was corrected, or clarified, 4 hours later. For some reason, someone at the SEC thought this could point to Musk not complying with the court order. The SEC asked Tesla what happened, Tesla answered, yet the SEC had a lot more questions (on a Sunday) and did not wait for the answers (the next Monday), instead filing a complaint that Musk violated the court order and should be held in contempt.

What is important is that the court order and the Tesla policy are about material information. For information to be material, there must be “a substantial likelihood that the disclosure … would have been viewed by the reasonable investor as having significantly altered the total mix of information made available.”
Again, the SEC is not disputing the fact that the tweet was immaterial. It is basing its complaint on not seeking and receiving prior clearance for the tweet. But for immaterial tweets and communications, prior clearance is not needed. (Getting dizzy yet?)
Ah, says the SEC, but to determine that it is indeed immaterial, you need prior clearance. This sounds logical, until you start thinking. This is about all written communication. In effect, Musk needs prior clearance for any written communication, even internally. Musk can’t write anything about Tesla without prior clearance. And if he wants to repeat himself after more than two days, he again needs clearance. That is the consequence of the SEC interpretation.
After a lot of legal arguments, Musk’s lawyers state: “Musk never consented to and would not consent to such a sweeping gag order, and Tesla has not implemented any such policy.”
This is essential. The court order is based on an agreement between two parties, the SEC and Tesla/Musk. You can’t alter in a one-sided way such an agreement, as the SEC is trying to do here. And even if this had been in the order, it would not have been valid, because it violates the US Constitution.

That leaves the question, what was the SEC thinking when it rushed to file the complaint. It did not even wait for the answers to its own questions. It is very hard to prove there is “clear and convincing evidence that an unambiguous court order was violated,” especially when the people who wrote the Tesla “Senior Executives Communications Policy” and were charged with enforcing it say that the tweets were not in violation of the policy.
In a normal court proceeding, this would be the end of it. But in proceedings where the SEC is a party, courts operate differently. The defending party is no longer presumed innocent until guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, some believe the policy has become, in cases of the slightest doubt, the SEC is right.
If the result of this court case is that there is a significant difference of opinion, there is a huge problem. The basis of every argument is that “the clear and unambiguous terms of the Court’s Order” are indeed clear and unambiguous. In the Tesla rebuttal of the SEC arguments, the SEC is accused of altering the meaning of the settlement.
If the judge sides with the SEC and declares the SEC interpretation correct, the “Musk never consented to” argument throws the whole plea deal back to court. I can’t wait for the verdict.

About the AuthorMaarten Vinkhuyzen Grumpy old man. The best thing I did with my life was raising two kids. Only finished primary education, but when you don’t go to school, you have lots of time to read. I switched from accounting to software development and ended my career as system integrator and architect. My 2007 boss got two electric Lotus Elise cars to show policymakers the future direction of energy and transportation. And I have been looking to replace my diesel cars with electric vehicles ever since.

Read & share our free report on EV safety, “The EV Safety Advantage.”EV Charging Guidelines for Cities

This site uses cookies: Find out more.Okay, thanks

Supercharger V3 — Shocking Power & Smart Strategy By Tesla (Charts!)

InvestElectric CarsElectric Car BenefitsElectric Car SalesSolar Energy RocksRSSAdvertisePrivacy Policy
Clean Transport Published on March 8th, 2019 | by Dr. Maximilian Holland
Supercharger V3 — Shocking Power & Smart Strategy By Tesla (Charts!)TwitterLinkedInFacebookMarch 8th, 2019 by Dr. Maximilian Holland

Supercharger V3 stalls look almost identical to this V2 stall, but will eventually come with thinner, liquid cooled charging cables.
On Wednesday night, the eagerly anticipated Tesla Supercharger Version 3 (V3) technology was unveiled, allowing the Model 3 Long Range to receive peak charging power of 250 kW! That’s well beyond the power levels expected by seasoned Tesla tech analysts (myself included). What does this all mean? Let’s dive in and discuss this new Supercharger technology.
In this article I want to outline some initial analysis of V3 and discuss some of the implications. I’m going to look separately in a coming article at what it means in practical terms for charging times on road trips and the like. In short — Tesla is obviously giving us EV technology that smooths away residual friction for fossil-driving folks considering whether or not to make the jump to an electrifying transportation life.
Estimated Charging CurveLet’s dive in first with some modeling of what the charging curve of the Model 3 Long Range on Supercharger V3 might look like (and compare it with the maximum charge power recorded on Supercharger V2):

Allow me first to note that I’ve called this an estimated charging curve, and called the current Supercharger parameters “Beta.” There are a couple of reasons for this: Tesla’s blog article about V3 makes it clear that the company considers the present hardware and software settings to be a public beta, and it is looking to “review and assess” the early results before rolling out more hardware and potentially tweaking the software and parameters next month. The other reason for sticking on labels of “Beta” and “Estimated” are that the announced (and 3rd party documented) Supercharger V3 parameters have come as a big surprise to me and other Tesla hardware geeks. One well known and highly regarded Tesla community geek and detective (whose name we will gracefully not speculate on) said to me “how is that possible?” Personally, I was predicting peak charging on Model 3 of not much more than 160 kW, and “never” more than 175 kW! I’m going to have to stick some small print on my Tesla hardware predictions from now on. 😉
The charge curve I’ve modeled above is based on what we know so far:
Maximum peak power is 250 kW on the Model 3 Long Range.This corresponds to a peak of “up to” 1000 miles added per hour charging.5 minutes of (sweet spot) charging gives up to “75 miles” of “peak efficiency” range (likely EPA city range), which is slightly less than gained from 5 mins @ 250 kW and the “1000” rate (above).Thus, we can deduce that 250 kW is a short peak lasting a little under 5 minutes.Videos (including 3rd party videos) suggest 250 kW peak power starts somewhere before 10% state of charge, and sub-5 minute duration points to likely taper starting not much beyond 20%.Videos show that the Model 3 screen estimates charging from low levels to 80% still takes around “27 minutes” and to 90% takes “35 minutes.”Thus, we know that after the short peak, there is still significant power taper at higher states of charge.The curve is a decent fit to all of these parameters (I’ve run the numbers in geek-level detail on the spreadsheet that generated this curve). Obviously, this curve (as well as Tesla’s above factoids) specify peak performance (“up to”) under ideal conditions. You’ll rarely hit all conditions in the real world for perfectly optimal charging — but if you do, the result could be something like this curve.
However, as I noted above, Tesla may anyway tweak the parameters it has so far specified, based on results of the Beta testing. There are also alternative mild variants of the above curve that could give a similarly close fit to the parameters. I should add that charging from the typical 10% starting point to a high of 80% can take just under 25 minutes — significantly faster than on V2 (around 33–35 minutes). Note that the maximum recorded charge power values on V2, as indicated in the orange dotted curve, come from the data gathering and research of our friends over at A Better Route Planner (ABRP).
As a final note on the curve shape, aside from the unprecedented power levels, the profile characteristics (especially the very early peak) do have precedent in a Tesla. Check out the charge profile of the older Model S 70 kWh battery pack (again from ABRP data gathering):

What Does It All Mean?Designing an early high peak of the charging power is a smart strategy by Tesla for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it is the safest way of charging quickly whilst protecting the battery — the power still tapers steeply back to well established power levels after 50% state of charge, to prevent over-stressing the batteries.
We know the Model 3 Long Range battery pack is good for 330 kW of peak power output, so 250 kW (for a short period of under 5 minutes) is within reason. Tesla by now has extensive data and knowledge about the performance of these batteries over long periods and diverse conditions and use cases. The early peak power is more efficient since, on a given charge session, a good proportion of owners will often need only a given amount of additional range to complete their journey — and not need to recharge all the way to 70% or 80% (or more), when 40 or 50% may be sufficient.

Front-loading charging power and added range in this way is more efficient overall than delivering the peak power at 60–80% state of charge as many other EVs do. This happens mainly because most non-Tesla EVs spend the majority of the charging cycle at power levels that are in fact limited by the maximum current (amps) of the charging hardware, and the pack voltage — which cannot be adjusted post-hoc — is gradually climbing throughout the charge session. Recharging a battery is by definition lifting its voltage back to maximum potential difference (volts). As a consequence, on a charger whose current is maxed out for most of the charging session, the peak power is necessarily somewhere in the second half of that session, when the voltage is closing in on its peak. Newer and more powerful public chargers are improving this by moving to much higher levels of current (amps) delivery, up to 500 amps in many cases. This may allow some EVs to change the shape of the charging curve. Tesla designs both the vehicles and the chargers, so can have a more coordinated approach to this optimisation task than any other EV maker can.
Amp It Up!Whilst we’re on the topic, this question of current (amps) is the main reason for surprise about the Supercharger V3. Let me explain. The Model 3’s battery pack has a nominal voltage of around 355 volts. Nominal battery voltage is usually somewhere near the midpoint of full charged voltage (high) and fully depleted voltage (low). For lithium-ion chemistry cells, this often varies between roughly 4.2 volts when full and roughly 3.0 volts when discharged, with a nominal value around 3.6–3.7 volts (i.e., the full voltage range is roughly 15–20% above or below the nominal value). For the Tesla Model 3’s overall pack with 355 volts nominal, this suggests that when charge is depleted, the pack voltage is likely around 300 volts, and when full, around 410 volts.
If this is correct, then the 250 kW of peak power is delivered to a nearly empty pack whose voltage is likely somewhere in the range of 310–320 volts. Since watts is a function of volts * amps, to achieve 250 kW at ~315 volts, the peak current has to be somewhere close to 800 amps, which is unprecedented for EV charging! Geek forecasters were under the impression (on the basis of solid evidence) that the Model 3 had hardware limits of around 525 amps. Something approaching 800 amps (even for a very short peak) was well beyond any expectation. Bear in mind that the designed-to-be-futureproof CCS 2.0 charging specification (that the Model 3 in Europe is compatible with) currently taps out at 500 amps. 800 is a big number and a big surprise.
The Supercharger V3 hardware is reportedly also capable of delivering up to 500 volts (though likely not simultaneously with 800 amps). This bodes well for future Tesla EVs that may boost pack-nominal voltages up by 20% or so. If you’re interested in the possibility of Tesla raising pack voltages, I discussed this in another recent article looking at Supercharger V3 (much of which now looks hopelessly low-ball, given what has transpired)! The Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-PACE have nominal pack voltages of around 425 volts.

Smart StrategyWhat else can we say about this elevated peak power? In V3, peak power is assured because the system design gives dedicated power to each stall, not kilowatts at risk of being shared (and reduced) by the back-end power cabinets having to do double duty across two stalls. The Model 3 will also have a pack-preconditioning feature that will attempt to get the pack close to the ideal temperature for high-power charging when the vehicle knows you are heading for a Supercharging session. This allows the pack to receive higher power levels than would otherwise be sensible (for pack health and longevity).
Tesla has said it expects the average Supercharger session duration to be reduced by around half. This leads us to another reason why early peak power is a smart strategy by Tesla. The expectation of halving average charging duration is not because the average charging power has doubled over the entire charging session (it is only double for the first 20% to 30% or so, then gradually approaches the V2 charging regime, and is not much different from V2 from 50% state of charge and above). No, the prediction of average charge duration being halved is because, unlike on..

The World Inside Tesla Is Completely Different From The Media’s Portrayal Of Tesla

InvestElectric CarsElectric Car BenefitsElectric Car SalesSolar Energy RocksRSSAdvertisePrivacy Policy
Cars Published on March 10th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
The World Inside Tesla Is Completely Different From The Media’s Portrayal Of TeslaTwitterLinkedInFacebookMarch 10th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

I guess I should preface this video by saying that it is largely a joke. That is hopefully obvious within a few moments of watching it. The article, however, is not a joke.
Walking into Tesla’s large, open, light office space at its Fremont factory, it only took a moment before something hit me. The atmosphere is enormously different from the image of Tesla that you find in much of the media.
The day of our visit was less than one short week after the company announced both its $35,000 Model 3 and a shift to online-only sales. While much of the media (including CleanTechnica) was feverishly trying to figure out what everything meant, what stimulated the changes in sales, what was going on with the stock, and what the future of Tesla would look like, hundreds of Tesla employees were happily working away at their desks, chatting with each other, and entering or exiting the front doors.
When we strolled through the factory, it was the same. People were calm, smiling, and working hard. When we stopped to talk to some of them, they often exuded pride in their work and happiness for being part of the Tesla story. They didn’t hide from cameras (for the most part), but they also weren’t prepped for the visit — sometimes staring at us like we were rare animals in the zoo. The media? Spies? Enemies or friends?
Of course, some of them were regular CleanTechnica readers who scroll our stories when they wake up in the morning, before pulling themselves out of bed and over to the breakfast table. That was cool to hear, and definitely was not expected. These people didn’t highlight any drama, didn’t drown in their sorrows or reveal any signs of Elon whipping them, and they apparently weren’t feeling down about the relentless media attacks. They were having fun! They were happily toiling away at their cool jobs and enthusiastically told us about what they do every day, answering essentially all of our questions — just not the ones poking for specific numbers, since those of course can’t be revealed to people like me.

I definitely wasn’t searching for this story that I’m writing right now. On the trip to learn more about Tesla, I simply expected to get into the details. I entered the doors with an open mind, ready to soak up what I saw and write about whatever floated my boat. It just struck me after a few minutes inside the doors and walls of Tesla, “How can the atmosphere inside the company be so different from how the media portrays it?“
It reminded me of my first test drive of a real, live Tesla Model 3. The title of that review article was, “Sorry, Elon — Tesla Model 3 Much Better Than I Expected.” The apology (which was sort of meant as a joke, but since Elon actually ended up seeing and retweeting the piece, it did end up being a genuine apology) was partly an apology for falling for the anti-Tesla FUD. I thought the FUD didn’t affect me, but when I experienced the super premium Model 3, its wonderful doors and feel, the soft seats, and the easy-to-use navigation screen, I realized that the countless comments of Tesla trolls had even seeped into my expectations a bit. The good news is that meant I was happily surprised by the car. (The other part of the apology was because I liked the Model 3 more than the Model S, which is still the case.)

But let’s get back to the Tesla tour we took last week. When we got into the factory and talked to various production engineers, we asked questions about burst rates, slow periods, and much more. Top engineers didn’t understand where the media hype about some of these things originated. They were consistent — production is continuously rolling strongly. They are constantly trying to produce a steady and high-volume stream of cars. There aren’t big “bursts” and then declines in production. And the whole production process is going well. Now, if you’re cynical and presume you know better, you may think I was lied to, tricked, taken for a fool. I consider myself to be a pretty good read of character and really good at noticing when someone is pulling my chain or trying to mislead me. These people were not. Tesla production, like many things, is not what company critics would have you believe.
It’s funny, I had this story on the article list after the Tesla site visit, I was ready to start drafting it, and then I saw the following tweet from Ross Gerber:
I don’t know if he went on a tour around the same time or just came to the same thought in a different way, but Ross’s tweet lined up smoothly with my thoughts. There’s the anti-Tesla hype, and then there’s the reality.
Someone at Tesla indicated that Tesla executives are routinely misquoted, with some “quotes” seemingly coming out of thin air. It’s clearly frustrating for them, and bewildering. The whole approach many in the mainstream media have towards Tesla is confusing overall. There’s a US manufacturing revival on the scene (a cleantech one at that), but many in the media seem intent on smearing the company, sometimes with completely incorrect quotes. Unfortunately, that has become a big part of the broader Tesla story.
We have much more to come from our visit and our interviews, but have no doubt about it, the motto inside Tesla is essentially this one: “Keep Calm And Charge On.”

About the AuthorZachary Shahan Zach is tryin' to help society help itself (and other species). He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He's also the president of Important Media and the director/founder of EV Obsession and Solar Love. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, and Canada. Zach has long-term investments in TSLA, FSLR, SPWR, SEDG, & ABB — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in these particular companies and feels like they are good cleantech companies to invest in. But he offers no professional investment advice and would rather not be responsible for you losing money, so don't jump to conclusions.

Read & share our free report on EV safety, “The EV Safety Advantage.”EV Charging Guidelines for Cities

This site uses cookies: Find out more.Okay, thanks