Tesla started releasing a new software update this week with improvements to Model S and Model X’s new adaptive suspension damping and more. In April, Tesla launched the new Raven Model S and Model X vehicles with a series of upgrades, including a new adaptive suspension. The automaker described the new suspension: We’ve also upgraded our… Continue reading Tesla releases new software update with adaptive suspension damping improvements and more
Tag: Tesla
Reality check: CHAdeMO fast-charging stations still outnumber CCS ones
Five years ago, a frequent matter of debate here at Green Car Reports was whether CCS or ChAdeMO would become the electric-car DC fast-charging standard of choice in the U.S.
Soon after that it became quite clear that CCS, with the weight of the European and U.S. auto industry behind it—and then the Korean industry joining later—was going to win.
And yet today, when you look at the actual numbers, as tallied by the U.S. government’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, you’ll find that even now, in the second half of 2019, there are still more places to fast-charge CHAdeMO vehicles than those with CCS.
CHAdeMO, CCS, and Supercharger – Alternative Fuels Data Center, Aug. 20, 2019
As of August 20, 2019, there are 2,140 charging stations and 3,010 connectors with CHAdeMO fast charging. CCS still lags behind CHAdeMO in the number of stations by more than 250, while it has about 500 more connectors. And Tesla has 678 Supercharger locations with 6,340 connectors. The Nissan Leaf lineup is the only one still on the market to primarily use the CHAdeMO standard.
When the first Combined Charging System (CCS) fast charging station finally arrived in the U.S. in October 2013, it was a couple of years behind the rollout of stations using the CHAdeMO standard championed by Japanese automakers and more than a year behind the first Tesla Superchargers.
In 2014 and 2015, Europe stormed ahead with CCS fast-charging infrastructure, and essentially moved to make it the dominant standard, while the U.S. lagged behind in deploying the hardware.
Chevrolet Spark EV at CCS fast charging station in San Diego.
Although the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV was the first model available in the U.S. with CCS, GM stubbornly maintained that it wouldn’t fund CCS fast-charging sites for its Chevrolet Bolt. Meanwhile, Nissan helped subsidize the growth of a CHAdeMO network. So had early federal and state funding to build “electric highways” with carefully spaced fast chargers, that had been approved (and in some cases completed) before CCS even existed.
Part of the reason why CCS hasn’t gained ground is that, as called out in the Partial Consent Decree of the Volkswagen diesel settlement, Electrify America has to future-proof its stations by operating across different charging standards. Therefore, all public-facing fast chargers will include a CHAdeMO connector—just one, in most cases, running at 50 kw instead of the CCS connectors’ 150 kw or 350 kw.
It’s unlikely that CCS will take the lead for stations/locations this decade. Nationally, Electrify America’s Cycle 2 plan anticipates that just 40 to 50 of about 215 new 150-kw and 350-kw DC fast chargers will be operational by the end of 2019. Meanwhile, under an EVgo plan to install more 100-kw CHAdeMO hardware—jointly announced with Nissan earlier this month, will keep nudging both ahead, as that hardware will also be CCS-compatible.
Tesla Model S with CHAdeMO adapter
U.S. Tesla drivers also can opt for a CHAdeMO adapter, for access to those stations, which tend to be better-located for urban and suburban charging—as opposed to Tesla’s chargers, which tend to be at strategic points for road-trip potential.
Tesla drivers are again the winners. If it weren’t for the terms of the diesel settlement, Nissan and others might not have kept expanding the CHAdeMO network. Add the two standards together and Tesla owners have 2,818 charging locations and 9,350 connectors.
The higher-power CCS chargers (350 kw especially) will start influencing the market more eventually. But in this era of accessibility and cross-compatibility, it's now looking like both standards will be around for a long time.
Our Journey to Driverless Cars
Two years ago, we launched our first-generation fleet of self-driving cars at a small retirement community in San Jose. It blows my mind to think how far Voyage has come since then. Today, Voyage’s self-driving technology is robust, reliable, and capable of complex interactions and maneuvers. We launched our second-generation fleet of self-driving cars with… Continue reading Our Journey to Driverless Cars
Building Self-Driving Cars by Embracing Remote Engineering
Work from anywhere in the U.S. and engineer truly driverless cars at Voyage Billy Okal, a remote Voyage engineer Building a self-driving car has always been regarded as a hands-on exercise. It’s easy to imagine why, with state-of-the-art autonomous vehicles containing dozens of hardware components interacting with many layers of complex software. This delicate dance has resulted… Continue reading Building Self-Driving Cars by Embracing Remote Engineering
Tesla offers new solar rental program
Electric cars and solar panels are like chocolate and peanut butter: two great things that are even better together.
On Monday, Tesla began offering a new solar rental program. Homeowners can choose among three system sizes, for small, medium, or large homes or corresponding electrical use.
The company does not require homeowners to pay any installation charges, and the rental can be terminated at any time, though there is a $1,500 fee to have the solar panels removed. Homeowners will have to pay for any ancillary upgrade costs that may be required, such as larger main breaker panels, conduit, or even new roofs.
– The small system is 3.8 kilowatts, which will produce between 9 and 13 kilowatt-hours per day. It rents for $50 a month, and Tesla says will fit for a 1,000- to 2,000-square-foot home with an electric bill estimated between $60 and $80 a month.
– The medium system costs $100, uses 7.6 kw of panels, and is expected to produce between 18 and 27 kwh per day, which Tesla says will offset an electric bill of $110 to $170 a month, good for a 2,000- to 3,000-square-foot home.
– The large system, for $150 a month, has 11.4 kw of panels, and produces between 27 and 40 kwh per day, or an estimated electric bill of $170 to $250 a month, the company says.
Prices are slightly higher in California.
eMotorWerks JuiceBox wall mount charging Tesla Model X
Customers can order the panels with a $100 deposit and calculate the size they need on Tesla's solar website. The site also provides a link to the National Renewable Energy Lab's solar production calculator.
These are conventional rack-mounted solar panels installed on the roof, not the solar roof tiles that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has widely promoted, but which the company has been slow to produce.
Tesla bought Solar City in 2016 and has worked to integrate home solar into its business alongside electric cars and storage batteries, which can store solar power produced during the day for later use at night, and also provide home emergency backup power.
While Solar City was known for leasing solar panels, sales have been slow since the company eliminated that program and focused on sales instead. Customers can still buy the panels, if they don't want to rent.
For EV owners, rooftop solar can provide a way to offset higher electric bills from charging their cars.
Chinese EV maker Lixiang raises $530m Series C funding led by Meituan founder
Chinese electric vehicle producer Lixiang Automotive, formerly CHJ Automotive, has banked a $530-million Series C funding at a post-investment valuation of $2.93 billion, its early backer Plum Ventures said in an announcement. The round was led by Wang Xing, founder and CEO of online services giant Meituan-Dianping, according to the statement. While Plum Ventures did… Continue reading Chinese EV maker Lixiang raises $530m Series C funding led by Meituan founder
Car-crazy Californians slow their purchases of new vehicles
Getty ImagesNew car sales in the largest U.S. auto market have slowed this year as more and more drivers opt for less-expensive used cars.
New vehicles sales in California dropped 5.6% in the first half of 2019, setting the state on track for full-year sales to fall short of 2 million vehicles for the first time since 2014, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.
“It is not a huge surprise that after years of increased sales, we are seeing the market level off, reflecting the broader economic and political climates,” Ted Nicholas, the association's chairman, said in a release Wednesday announcing sales for the first half of the year.
The drop in new vehicle sales in California is greater than the 1.5% decline seen in the U.S. from January through June. One reason could be that cars make up a bigger percentage of new model sales in California than around the rest the country. Sales of new cars, which include sedans and compacts, dropped by 10.8% during the first half of the year across the state while sales of new pickups, SUV's, crossover utility vehicles and other light trucks fell by 1.1%.
Californians, who have long been known for their love of cars and trucks, are still buying vehicles. But they are increasingly turning to the used market. Sales of preowned models in California climbed more than 5% in the first half of the year.
Sales of new electric and hybrid vehicles continue to climb in a state where green transportation is in demand. In fact, the trade group says EVs and hybrids made up 13% of all new models sold. In addition, the California car group now estimates sales of fully electric vehicles will top 100,000 this year.
Much of the rise in EV sales in the Golden State is due largely to the popularity of the Tesla Model 3, which is built in Fremont, just outside of San Francisco. In the first half of this year, Californians bought 33,005 Model 3s. That means 1 in 4 Model 3s sold worldwide in the first half of this year was purchased in California.
Rivian R1T Pickup Truck: Everything We Know – Price, Range, Towing
Is there anything that truly remains unknown? The pieces of the Rivian R1T truck puzzle are mostly all in place now, so let’s have a look at what’s known. Outside of perhaps the Tesla Model Y and the Tesla truck, the Rivian pickup is perhaps the most anticipated upcoming electric vehicle. When it was revealed back at… Continue reading Rivian R1T Pickup Truck: Everything We Know – Price, Range, Towing
World’s largest EV never has to be recharged
A quarry in Biel, Switzerland, is operating the world's largest electric vehicle, a 110-ton dump truck, to haul lime and marl off the side of a mountain to a cement factory. Perhaps best of all, it consumes no energy doing it.
How is that possible, you ask?
The dump truck, at 45 tons, ascends the 13-percent grade and takes on 65 tons of ore. With more than double the weight going back down the hill, the beast's regenerative braking system recaptures more than enough energy to refill the charge the eDumper used going up.
The Elektro Dumper—eDumper for short—made by Kuhn Schweitz, is based on a Komatsu HB 605-7: 30 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 14 feet tall. The tires are six feet high, and the dump bed reaches to more than 28 feet, fully raised.
Kuhn Schweitz adds a 600 kilowatt-hour battery pack—big enough for six, long-range Tesla Model Ses—from Lithium Storage that weighs 9,000 pounds.
CNN recently brought Formula 1 driver Lucas DiGrassi along to test drive the machine, owned by Swiss cement company Ciments Vigier SA. He reported starting with a 90 percent charge at the bottom and reaching the top of the grade with 80 percent, then recovering battery charge to 88 percent on the way down (not unlike our writer's experience with a Chevrolet Bolt EV in the Rockies.)
Marking that trip around 20 times a day, Kuhn Schweitz says the eDumper produces 200 kwh of surplus energy every day, or 77 megawatt-hours a year. A typical dump truck uses between 11,000 and 22,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year. That saves up to 196 metric tons of global-warming carbon-dioxide gas a year.
Drako’s GTE electric supercar will be a four-motor, 1,200HP monster
Sponsored Links Drako Motors The new Tesla Roadster won’t be the only wildly overpowered electric supercar arriving in the near future. Drako Motors (a startup created by Barracuda Networks co-founder Dean Drako) has unveiled the GTE, an electric sedan that’s built to take on the most powerful cars regardless of their powerplant. It revolves around… Continue reading Drako’s GTE electric supercar will be a four-motor, 1,200HP monster