Tag: Tesla

Rumor: GM electric pickup could come from Tesla

2019 GMC Sierra
Last month, the president of General Motors' GMC truck division said the brand was considering building an electric pickup.

Now, according to a CleanTechnica report, that pickup could come from Tesla.

Even the CleanTechnica reporter says to file this in the category of an enticing rumor, rather than fact, because there are no pictures, and a single, anonymous source inside GM. Still, he reports confidence in the source and says the person has been reliable about other findings.

DON'T MISS: GMC could join electric-pickup tailgate party

Tesla's own CEO Elon Musk has been talking for years about building a Tesla pickup. In his most recent interviews about the Tesla truck, he has described it as “a really futuristic-like cyberpunk, Blade Runner pickup truck,” and said that it will have a massive towing capacity of 300,000 pounds and be made with lots of expensive titanium.

Musk has even alluded to a second, more attainable and mainstream pickup. Now it looks possible that latter pickup could come from GM. GM CEO Mary Barra has announced that the company plans to convert to an all-electric lineup, and is revamping the automaker's electric strategy with a move to make Cadillac its primary electric-car division.

CleanTechnica reports that the General Motors pickup—either a GMC or a Chevrolet Silverado—could get its entire powertrain from Tesla, including batteries and motors. That would hardly be an unprecedented step, after GM leaned on supplier LG to develop most of the powertrain for the Chevrolet Bolt EV.

It wouldn't be the first time a company has leaned on Tesla for powertrain components either—Toyota with the 2012-2014 RAV4 EV, for instance.

MUST READ: Rivian R1T all-electric pickup revealed: 400-mile range, 160-kw DC fast charging

GM regularly partners with other automakers to provide specialized engineering expertise or manufacturing.

The rest of the truck could would come from GM's practiced truck development team.

If such an agreement pans out, it could also be a way for GM to access Tesla's battery production from its Nevada Gigafactory, the largest producer of lithium-ion batteries in the world. Thus far, GM has bought batteries from South Korean supplier LG Chem.

CHECK OUT: Ford confirms future all-electric F-Series truck, holds details close

Pickups are the second-largest selling segment of the car market, and many electric-car buyers have been clamoring to be able to buy a pickup with battery power.

Last month, Ford said it is developing an electric version of its upcoming F-Series, along with a plug-in hybrid version.

The automakers seem to be racing startup electric-automaker Rivian, which got a glowing reception for its R1T electric pickup concept when it revealed the truck at the LA auto show last November.

It's not clear how seriously to take this report, but we'll be watching for any confirmation.

EVBox Electrifies Port Of Zeebrugge With 300 Charge Points For Inbound Teslas

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Cars Published on February 11th, 2019 | by Kyle Field
EVBox Electrifies Port Of Zeebrugge With 300 Charge Points For Inbound TeslasTwitterLinkedInFacebookFebruary 11th, 2019 by Kyle Field

The Belgian port city of Zeebrugge has been getting a lot of attention in the last few weeks as it has become the destination for all of the inbound Tesla Model 3s headed for continental Europe. To prepare for the arrival of the Tesla Model 3, the port of Zeebrugge (double E, double G) installed 300 EVBox chargers in a dockside parking lot that hints at a future where charging stations are everywhere.The new chargers were installed in a new 4,000 square meter (43,000 square foot) parking lot adjacent to the dock to allow for the vehicles to be charged up to 80% before being sent off to customers. The infrastructure was included in the contract for Tesla’s business at the port in addition to an expansion of the “Vehicle Processing Center,” according to New Mobility.
Tesla has stated that it plans to send 3,000 vehicles through the port every two weeks to supply European demand for its vehicles. That’s the current plan, at least, as Tesla has also stated that it plans to build a fourth Gigafactory in Europe, somewhere near the French–German border. The company stated that it would announce the location of the fourth Gigafactory last year, but the plans never materialized as the company focused its efforts on stabilizing Model 3 production in the US and laying the groundwork for its third Gigafactory in Shanghai, China.
The first shipment of Tesla Model 3s arrived last week, and the lineup of inbound shipments is stacked up to the horizon as European customers continue to salivate for the electric car that is bound to blow the lid off of demand for electric cars in Europe — if its market share in the US is any indicator. The Model 3 has already consumed the vast majority of electric vehicle market share in the US, owning 80% of the market. Only available in two countries in 2018, the Model 3 rose to the #1 spot globally in terms of EV sales.
Source: Reddit

About the AuthorKyle 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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UFODrive Opens New Brussels Location

UFODrive, an all-digital, all-electric car rental solution, offers transparent pricing and a consistentlcustomer experience. Photo via UFODrive.  After successful launches at several European airports, UFOdrive is now expanding its electric car rental at Interparking 2 Portes, a prime carpark in Brussels city. UFODrive, an all-digital, all-electric car rental solution, offers transparent pricing and a consistentlcustomer experience. The new “UFObay”… Continue reading UFODrive Opens New Brussels Location

Tesla’s charging stations are a massive ‘competitive moat,’ Morgan Stanley says

CNBC visits the only Telsa Supercharger station with a lounge
8:59 AM ET Sat, 27 Jan 2018 | 02:20

Tesla has built up a global network of charging stations, which Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas pointed to as a possible “competitive moat” for the company compared to other electric vehicle makers.

“We estimate Tesla's chargers may account for 30 percent to 40 percent of total US charging outlets counted by the US Dept. of Energy,” Jonas said in a note to investors on Tuesday. Jonas is widely followed on Wall Street for his thoughts on Tesla and electric vehicles.

Tesla upped its network of global “supercharger” stations to nearly 13,000 by the end of last year, while also increasing its total “destination chargers” to more than 21,000. Superchargers refuel most Tesla batteries in about an hour, whereas destination charging stations provide longer charging times more suited for long stays at malls or overnights at hotels.

VCG/VCG | Getty Images
A Tesla supercharging station in Tianjin, China.

“Part of the strategic attraction to Tesla is its physical infrastructure footprint, which we believe, over time, can improve the customer experience, reduce friction points, and support the fleet management of many millions of Tesla vehicles on the road and in both captive and 3rd party commercial fleets,” Jonas said.

Morgan Stanley estimates Tesla will expand the supercharger network to 15,000 stations “by 2030 to support a Tesla on-the-road fleet size approaching 13 million units,” Jonas said.

Growth in Tesla's charging network “is far slower than the growth in Tesla's car population,” Jonas said he estimates. The network grew by about 40 percent year-over-year, he said, whereas the number of Tesla's on the road increased by 83 percent. Additionally, the Tesla fleet “has grown far faster than its physical store and service location network, raising investor concerns about strain on the system,” Jonas said.

“While Tesla has made efforts to address issues with service quality (such as increasing its Mobile Service fleet to 411 vehicles), the customer service experience appears to have significant room to improve,” Jonas added.

Tesla shares rose 1.3 percent in premarket trading from Monday's close of $312.84 a share. Morgan Stanley has an equal-weight rating on Tesla and a price target of $283 a share.

Watch: How taxpayers have boosted Elon Musk and Tesla

How taxpayers have boosted Elon Musk and Tesla
10:06 AM ET Mon, 22 Oct 2018 | 07:43

Scoop: GM Reportedly Working On Electric Pickup Truck With Tesla Powertrain

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Clean Transport Published on February 12th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Scoop: GM Reportedly Working On Electric Pickup Truck With Tesla PowertrainTwitterLinkedInFacebookFebruary 12th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

Not an electric pickup truck. But could it be infused with a Tesla powertrain soon?
For years, electric vehicle enthusiasts in the US have been begging for a solid electric pickup truck for consumers. I’ve long reported on monthly electric car sales and I put them in the context of broader US car sales, but looking at the number of gas-thirsty pickup trucks sold each month is a whole other level and is quite disturbing.
Elon Musk announced a while back that Tesla was working on a wicked electric pickup like nothing else we’ve seen. Just last month, Ford finally announced plans for an electric version of the F-150, which is the king of the US auto market — by far — with nearly a million sales a year. But what about GM, which currently has the #2 vehicle on the US auto market, the Chevy Silverado?
Remember, Chevrolet raced the Bolt to market in order to be the first US automaker offering a long-range, semi-affordable electric car. It cares about going electric, maybe.
A source somewhat close to the heart of a big new development at GM has informed CleanTechnica that GM is indeed working on an electric pickup truck, and it is based around a Tesla powertrain. As in, the majority of the guts of the truck will be made by Tesla.
I know, I know — it seems unlike GM to swallow its pride and tap Tesla for this job. However, I’d briefly note a few things.
LG reportedly designed and built much of the Chevy Bolt’s powertrain.GM doesn’t have to announce or acknowledge a Tesla partnership if it doesn’t want to look less than capable.If GM does announce or acknowledge a Tesla partnership, it is likely to get big props from consumers for being brave and using the world’s electric vehicle leader to make an awesome electric pickup. Tesla is cool. Being friends with Tesla is cool.If GM wants to make sure to compete well with an electric F-150, there’s a good chance this is its best avenue, and the company knows that.Batteries — batteries, batteries, batteries. Aside from Tesla’s skill at designing and producing high-performance electric motors, it has a giant source of batteries. If other automakers want to offer mass-market EVs in the coming years, they need a good source of batteries, and Tesla may be as good as it gets for the time being.GM is good at building trucks, at putting them together. It has massive, awesome truck brands. Even if Tesla develops an amazing electric pickup truck of its own, many buyers will want to stick with the brands they know and love, and a truck design they’re familiar with. They may not want a giant Tesla touchscreen, minimalist interior, and smooth, futuristic exterior. A Tesla–GM partnership is a win–win that would bring a lot more people into the electric fold.Yes, I get it, you’d like to see proof of this partnership before getting too excited. So don’t get too excited. Take it as a rumor and stay tuned for more info in the coming months. I don’t currently have hard proof of this truck (no definitive picture or document), but I received enough information to feel confident the tip is correct and to thus run this article. The core source of this information wants/needs to remain anonymous and doesn’t even want any hints of identity tossed around, so I’m not going to say more about that. But let yourself dream a little bit tonight and accept that GM might be making a brilliant move in its approach to electric trucking.
If this plan rolls as smoothly as an electric powertrain, we may well have a Tesla semi, Tesla pickup, and Tesla-powered pickup from GM (Sierra Electric?) getting close to the starting line before the end of 2019. It could be another exciting year for the electric revolution. (Well, how could it not be?)
Note: No, the source is not Elon Musk.

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.

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Tesla Owners Unimpressed With Car’s Winter Performance

The door handles are proving problematic, as are the batteries.

Electric car owners learned the hard way during the recent polar vortex that their batteries cannot hang onto a charge when temperatures dip that low. Tesla owners, in particular, discovered that they cannot open their doors very well after a winter storm either.

Tesla’s Model 3 owners are filling social media and online forums with complaints about their vehicles not performing well during the extreme cold the polar vortex brought with it. While cold temperatures will more quickly drain a battery in general, Tesla vehicles aren’t doing well.

“My biggest concern is the cold weather drained my battery 20 to 25 miles overnight and an extra five to ten miles on my drive to work. I paid $60,000 to not drain my battery so quickly,” New Jersey resident Ronak Patel told Bloomberg.

Patel owns a Model 3 and wasn’t happy with its performance. Salim Morsy explained that it’s Panasonic’s batteries manufactured for Tesla and not Tesla, said the Bloomberg new energy finance analyst.

“It happens to Chevy with the Bolt and Nissan with the Leaf,” he said.

The door design for Tesla’s Model 3 is futuristic and cool – when it isn’t wintertime. The handles are flush with the exterior of the car. In order to open the door, the driver or passenger pushes on one side of the handle, then pulls on the other side to open it.

But wintertime’s abundance of ice, particular what came during the polar vortex, has made it incredibly difficult to open those types of doors. Software engineer Andrea Falcone tweeted a photo of her frozen door handle and was less than impressed.

“I can’t wait all day for this silly car,” she tweeted.

Others argued that it’s winter and things freeze, deal with it. Bloomberg shared that Canadians are suggesting car owners place dental adhesive film over their door handles to help prevent them from freezing.

In response to the weather-induced issues, Tesla owner Elon Musk tweeted that the company would release software updates to improve the car’s winter weather performance after it had learned of motorists’ concerns.

But according to Top Speed, the “fix” that was released to solve freezing windows, door handles, and charge ports actually caused further problems.

Even after warming up their vehicles for 10 to 15 minutes, car owners still couldn’t open their doors or lower the windows. Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief for Electrek, tested the new fixes issued by the company and learned that the patch just wasn’t working.

It was 12 degrees Fahrenheit and he warmed up his Model 3 for 20 minutes.

“My driver’s window did go down when pulling on the door handle, but it didn’t go up after closing the door. It looks like Tesla is not allowing the window to go completely up anymore in order to enable people to safely open the doors in cold weather,” he told Top Speed.

Winter isn’t done yet, so hopefully Tesla fixes these issues very soon.

Tesla Autopilot is now approved for Model 3 in Europe [Updated]

Tesla started deliveries of Model 3 in Europe yesterday, but we’ve now learned that Autopilot is not available in those vehicles due to a delay in regulatory approval, but don’t panic – it should be available any day. Update: as expected, Autopilot has now been approved and Tesla should be able to soon push the update.… Continue reading Tesla Autopilot is now approved for Model 3 in Europe [Updated]

One of Tesla’s largest investors just increased its stake

VCG/VCG | Getty Images
A Tesla Model 3 car is on display during the Auto China 2018 at China International Exhibition Center on April 25, 2018 in Beijing, China.

Tesla shareholder Baillie Gifford & Co. has just increased its stake in the electric car maker, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

The U.K.-based investment management firm, Tesla's second-largest institutional shareholder, bought 108,931 of the company's shares during the fourth quarter, according to the filing and data compiled by FactSet.

It now owns just over 13.2 million shares valued at roughly $4 billion. Its stake increased from 7.64 percent at the end of the third quarter to 7.71 percent as of Dec. 31.

Tesla's third-largest shareholder ready to pony up more capital
5:03 PM ET Mon, 29 Oct 2018 | 01:17

A partner at Baillie Gifford praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk in October, and said the firm “would be willing to back him” if Musk needed more capital.

Investors have kept a close eye on Tesla's cash position. The company has had to go to markets several times since its 2010 initial public offering to fund its ambitious plans to rapidly scale battery and auto production.

However Musk had said in recent months that he expects Tesla to be profitable and cash flow positive starting in the third quarter of 2018. So far, Tesla has hit that target, delivering two profitable quarters in a row for the first time in its history as a public company.

Neither Tesla nor Baillie Gifford were immediately available for comment.

WATCH: Former Tesla CEO on electric vehicle growth

Former Tesla CEO on electric vehicle growth
2:44 PM ET Thu, 7 Feb 2019 | 04:06