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Wheely raises $15 million for its luxury ride-hailing app

London-based startup Wheely has raised a $15 million Series B round led by Concentric with Oleg Tscheltzoff, Misha Sokolov and other investors also participating. The company wants to build an Uber competitor focused on the luxury market. It’s a bit ironic when you think about it as Uber started as a luxury company. But everybody… Continue reading Wheely raises $15 million for its luxury ride-hailing app

Continental Delays Powertrain IPO to 2020 as Profits Drop 17 Percent

Continental AG will push back the spin-off of its powertrain division until next year, the company said on Friday, when it reported a 17 percent drop in first-quarter operating profit, hit by a downturn in car demand and higher investments.The delay marks the second time a high-profile listing has been delayed in Germany this year, after Volkswagen in March postponed listing its truck division until market conditions improve.

Lyft’s COO, a former Tesla exec, is the latest expert to throw cold water on Elon Musk’s plan to have a million robo-taxis on the road by 2020 (LYFT)

Plenty of people are skeptical of Elon Musk’s vision of one million self-driving Tesla robo-taxis on the streets by next year, even one of his former executives. John McNeill, Lyft’s chief operating officer and former president of global sales and service, didn’t go so far as to compare Musk to the great showman PT Barnum,… Continue reading Lyft’s COO, a former Tesla exec, is the latest expert to throw cold water on Elon Musk’s plan to have a million robo-taxis on the road by 2020 (LYFT)

Tesla investor provides a look inside new Roadster

2020 Tesla Roadster
At Tesla's self-driving event for investors on Monday afternoon, the company revealed another tidbit: a glimpse of its upcoming second-generation Roadster.

The company parked the new Roadster at the event, and for the first time let outsiders (at least those who have invested significant sums) open the doors and sit in it. The prototype was not available to drive.

Investor Hamid Shojaee took the opportunity to share a 39-second video clip on Twitter. In it, he tries out Tesla's latest approach to door handles, and looks to the squared-off Formula 1-style bat-wing steering wheel, its large center touch screen, as well as its vestigial rear seats.

Starting from the outside, the new door handles are entirely electronic. As he tries to open the door in the video, Shojaee has to try several times to open the door, first swiping up on the sensors, then when that doesn't work, swiping down—as if Tesla needed any more hassles with unusual door handles. Once he swipes down from the top, the door opens on the first try.

Inside, the car's steering wheel looks straight out of a Hollywood Batmobile mockup. Such a vestigial “wheel” only makes sense if the car is steered entirely by wire and has less than about a full-turn lock-to-lock. That's not impossible, and it wouldn't be the only car with a steer-by-wire system.

DON'T MISS: Tesla Roadster is back: 0-60 in 1.9 seconds, 620-mile range

The Roadster's center screen returns to something like the Model S's original vertical orientation, but it's much bigger, and the car has no second instrument screen as the Model S and Model X do. It also reclines at a steep angle on the raked console, rather than perching atop the center dash as the Model 3's does.

In the rear, the new Roadster has a couple of tiny butt-baskets for seats, reminiscent of the original Porsche 911. That's not necessarily a criticism, but pretty typical for the genre.

READ MORE: The new 2020 Tesla Roadster that wasn't in Switzerland

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company plans to sell the $250,000 sports car in 2020. It is expected to have up to 620 miles of range and hit 60 mph from a stop in 1.9 seconds.

What it does not have in terms of typical roadster features is a convertible top.

Bentley not sold on electric, planning plug-in hybrids for full lineup

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Bentley Continental GT V8
The ultra-luxury carmaker Bentley is at work on a new model strategy, and fully electric vehicles might not play as much of a part in it as the company had previously hinted.

The company, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, will reveal more about its future direction in July, corresponding with its 100th anniversary, according to a report earlier this month in Autocar, citing Werner Tietz, the board member in charge of Bentley’s engineering.

Bentley is looking to expand its buyer base rather than sell more cars to existing buyers. Part of the strategy will also involve offering a plug-in hybrid version of each of its models by 2025. It might also add another SUV to the lineup, although it hasn’t detailed whether that means one larger or smaller than the current Bentayga.

2019 Bentley Bentayga Hybrid

Bentley had previously hinted that it was leaning toward making a smaller SUV all-electric—although that was before an extensive leadership change at the company in 2017.

Bentley backing away from all-electric?

In the Autocar report, Tietz sounds notably less bullish about all-electric vehicles than his predecessor as engineering boss, Rolf Frech. “It is by no means certain that battery-electric is the right way to go,” said Tietz, who argued that the current technology wouldn’t work for towing horse trailers or boats.

2017 Tesla Model X

There are of course many people who do tow—today—with the Tesla Model X. One couple we recently featured towed a 3,800-pound camping trailer around the Southeastern U.S. and saw range drop by at least a third. Rivian is also developing its electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV around impressive towing capability—of up to 11,000 pounds.

One other noteworthy change is that the brand won’t be building “pure sports cars”—a decision that’s a bit surprising as the brand had shown several concept cars that looked aimed at Aston Martin, or even Ferrari.

Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e concept, 2017 Geneva auto show

The most interesting evolution of those ideas was the EXP12 Speed 6e, a plush, racy-looking, fully electric, two-seater shown in 2017. Bentley then said that a production model based on it would be able to “drive between London and Paris or Milan and Monaco on a single charge.”

In the meantime, it’s considering a small electric city car while also evaluating fuel-cell technology and looking at carbon-neutral synthetic fuels.

Considering the changing priorities of luxury-vehicle buyers, and the importance of being seen in a vehicle that’s efficient and technologically advanced—in a world that includes Tesla—we’re eager to see where this storied British brand is headed.

Tesla Semi Truck Is Actually Delivering Cars To Customers

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Published on April 25th, 2019 |

by Guest Contributor

Tesla Semi Truck Is Actually Delivering Cars To Customers

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April 25th, 2019 by Guest Contributor

Originally published on X Auto & EVANNEX.
By Iqtidar Ali

Recently, Tesla shared a few videos of the Tesla Semi Truck being used as a car transport carrier. Now, the prototype is actually delivering cars to real customers in the latest video footage and photos shared by the Silicon Valley–based automaker.

A happy customer gets his Tesla Model X delivered by the Tesla Semi.

With its seamless ability to move cargo, Tesla’s Semi Truck has proved it is actually “capable” of doing what it was created for. And carrying large objects (like the company’s own cars) in a zero-emissions truck turns out to be a treat for the entire EV community.

In this latest vignette, Tesla customers awaiting delivery of their cars appear surprised (and delighted) to receive their vehicles via the Tesla Semi. The smiles on the customers’ faces tell the whole story.

In the video and photos below, we can see that the trailer carrier is loaded with three Tesla Model 3s and a Model X. Performing admirably, it seems like the trailer was tailor-made for this purpose.

Tesla’s much anticipated Semi Truck could signal the future of the freight industry — Fortune 500 companies and corporations have already placed hundreds of pre-orders for these futuristic trucks. [Editor’s note: CleanTechnica recently interviewed Jerome Guillen in the Fremont factory. He indicated that it seems everyone relevant company has an initial partnership with Tesla for these. Stay tuned to CleanTechnica for the full interview summary.]

The Tesla Semi appears to be fully loaded with autonomous features, as prototypes are said to be equipped with around 26 cameras. The giant battery of the Tesla Semi, the capacity of which is unknown at this time, is charged via 4–5 Supercharger stalls at once. However, with Tesla’s Supercharger V3 advances, this might change or Tesla could be working on a wholly separate Megacharger for it. No one knows how the final iteration of charging for the Semi will unfold.

Regardless, let’s take a look at the experience of these Tesla owners receiving their cars via an electric truck from the future.

A unique experience for a Tesla customer receiving his vehicle through the Tesla Semi Truck. Click/Tap images for high-res version in new tab.

About the Author

Guest Contributor is many, many people. We publish a number of guest posts from experts in a large variety of fields. This is our contributor account for those special people. 😀

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Breaking! Tesla Increases Supercharging V2 Speeds As S & X Get On-Route Battery Warmup

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Published on April 26th, 2019 |

by Kyle Field

Breaking! Tesla Increases Supercharging V2 Speeds As S & X Get On-Route Battery Warmup

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April 26th, 2019 by Kyle Field

Tesla reached out to CleanTechnica with news that it will be boosting the speeds of existing Supercharging V2 stations from the current 120kW max rate to 150kW instead of the 145kW the company had previously communicated, with little more than a few software updates. These speed improvements were announced alongside the rollout of Tesla’s next-generation V3 Supercharging stations last month.

Faster V2 Charging
A Tesla spokesperson said that in validating the new 145kW speeds, they were actually able to increase the speed even more and boosted the max charging rate to 150kW as a result. The higher speeds will increase the charging rates for all Teslas using the stations, with the Model 3 Long Range and S & X with 100 kWh battery packs having the capability to gulp down power at 150kW when charging solo on V2 station pairs. Tesla will continue to validate other vehicle/battery pack combinations for further optimization as it continues to assess the max charging rates of V2 stations.

On-Route Battery Warmup
Tesla’s Model S and Model X have also been getting some love in the charging world, as Tesla confirmed that it has rolled out On-Route Battery Warmup to every S & X globally. In practical terms, this tech is yet another software update that starts conditioning the battery in the car when the next destination in the navigation is a Tesla Supercharging station, resulting in a 25% reduction in charging times. This ensures that the battery is primed and ready to accept the maximum charging rate possible when it gets to the Supercharging station.

Maximizing The Value Of Existing Assets
Improving the speed of the “old” Supercharging stations is just one more example of how Tesla continues to leverage its strengths to deliver disproportionate value to owners. These updates are simply software updates that require no additional hardware at Supercharging stations or in vehicles. That’s beautiful.

As the cherry on top, these updates improve the utilization of Tesla’s existing network of Superchargers, allowing more users to charge in less time, translating to an increase in throughput. Again, this all happens without the need for any new hardware.

CleanTechnica reached out to Tesla with a few clarifying questions about the new updates and the broader rollout of V3 Supercharging and will update this article if we hear back.

For a refresher on V3 Supercharging (aka nanocharging), or if you just need a laugh, have another watch of our half-serious* discussion of the new tech on launch night in Fremont, California:

*Editor’s note: Maybe more like ¼ serious.

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.

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Carmaker BYD to build NEV base in east China

NANJING, April 26 (Xinhua) — Leading Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) maker BYD will set up an industrial base for passenger vehicles and key components in the city of Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

The strategic cooperation agreement on the project was signed between BYD and the municipal government of Changzhou Thursday, according to the local government.

With a total investment of 10 billion yuan (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars), the base is designed to produce 400,000 NEVs each year with an annual output worth of 50 billion yuan.

The company also plans to establish a research and development center in the city in the future.

BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu said this project will make the company's passenger car network complete in China along with its existing bases in Shenzhen, Xi'an and Changsha, which will benefit Changzhou with the addition of new job opportunities.

Ford says DoJ probing ‘potential concern’ over emissions certification

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Daimler hurt by production delays at Mercedes, China slowdown

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Daimler’s first-quarter operating profit fell 16 percent on Friday as a 718 million euro ($800 million) one-off gain failed to offset raw material costs, technology investments and production delays at three Mercedes-Benz factories. FILE PHOTO: An illuminated logo of Mercedes is seen on the Mercedes-Benz F105 at an exhibition before the Daimler… Continue reading Daimler hurt by production delays at Mercedes, China slowdown