(April 24, 2017) We know that Tesla Motors is a leader in developing autonomous driving technology. This video shows an example of automatically avoiding an accident. Watch the white Model X in the lane to the right. An SUV rear-ends a car, that then rear-ends another car, but the Model X automatically moves itself to avoid being rear-ended.
(April 24, 2017) Upgrading the electric car battery capacity sounds like it would require a trip to a service station, putting the car on a lift, and a couple hours to swap the battery packs. A newly released video shows the process to upgrade a Tesla Model S 60D to a Model S 75D. Instead of shop time, all that's required is tapping a PURCHASE button on a web page, and a $2000 payment. Within a couple minutes the car gets a software download, the infotainment system reboots, and all the screens start saying '75D' instead of '60D'. It doesn't, though, change the badge on the back of the car.
(April 24, 2017) Electric drive trains give vehicle designers the freedom to think up what would have been wackadoodle ideas just a few years ago. Case in point are variants on the Quadcopter, meaning a vehicle with multiple downward facing propellers. A quadcopter has four downward facing propellers, and I've seen designs with a dozen or more propellers. The Kitty Hawk Flyer appears to have eight propellers, making it an Octocopter? The initial reporting on this calls it a 'flying car', but it's clearly not a car, and it's clearly meant for use in limited scenarios. The Kitty Hawk Flyer is going on sale later in 2017, so this isn't an early prototype like so many of the n-Copter's for humans, but is close to production. Going by the video it looks like a flying electric motorcycle that would be fun. One wonders how much of a control system is on-board or whether the pilot steers merely by leaning. Going by the website, it's going to be ultra-expensive. Going by the legal and technical limitations of this incarnation, the Kitty Hawk Flyer will see its primary use as a playtoy at peoples' lake house. Who knows whether legal and technical limitations can be transcended to allow this type of vehicle to be used for regular travel around cities?
(April 17, 2017) Why are there so many Syrian refugees? Why are Muslim Terrorists attacking us? Why is there so much bloodshed in the Middle East? Why are we forced to take our shoes off at the airport? Why oh why oh why ....
(April 10, 2017) Chevy Bolt EV sales are not taking off like a rocket making people think the car is a failure. On Transport Evolved, Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield suggests the cause is GM's lackluster support for building charging infrastructure. Clearly Tesla's big sales advantage is that the Supercharger network is so well developed. CCS fast charging infrastructure is at least 3 years behind other DC fast charging methods. Since it is not as widely available, the CCS fast charging standard is less attractive than either CHAdeMO or Supercharger which are much more available. GM doesn't help by steadfastly refusing to participate in building fast charging infrastructure.
(April 9, 2017) A blue Tesla Model 3 is filmed in the wild, if nothing else letting us know these things actually exist. Going by the road signs this is I-280 near Tesla's headquarters. Not much to say, but for those of us waiting to place our orders this is a good sign.
(April 9, 2017) The US Department of Energy has for decades led development of clean energy technologies. According to David Friedman, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, since 2008 their group has contributed to a massive cost reduction in clean energy technologies, that drove massive adoption. One hopes that under the new political administration, the Dept of Energy will keep up the good work. This video was published in March 2017, after the new political administration came to office, which might be a good sign. On the other hand, it was filmed on January 8, 2017, before the new political administration came to office. The date is important given the radical shift in policy currently underway, and the budget cuts threatened at the Dept of Energy and EPA and other agencies. This new political administration seems dedicated to undermining the clean energy revolution described in this lecture. The lecture outlines some truly excellent reasons for continuing that revolution.
(April 7, 2017) Now that the Trump Administration is in power, lots of changes are underway. One of which is drastic cuts for the EPA. According to budget documents, the EPA will have to layoff 25% of its staff and cut over 50 programs. Some programs will be cut altogether, while others will be a husk. One cut is the vehicle emissions testing program. The automakers are concerned about this because while the emissions testing program is due to be cut, the automakers still have to meet the requirements in order to sell their vehicles. One idea is for the automakers to pay higher fees to have their cars tested. The fear is less stringent testing. Wouldn't the automakers have more control over the process and therefore commit more fraud?
(April 7, 2017) Ford Motors routinely makes big claims about plans to electrify their vehicle line-up. The details are important, because Ford rarely means fully battery-electric vehicles but instead a hybrid or plug-in hybrid drive-train. In this case one of the two new EV's is a PHEV (plug-in hybrid) rather than BEV (battery EV). While this is a step towards the goal of a fully electric (no fossil fuels) the vehicle fleet, that's nowhere near what Ford is promising. When Ford promises 'to electrify 70% of Ford nameplates sold' in China, that simply means 70% of their vehicle line will have an option for an electric something-or-other in the drive-train, which could mean a simple hybrid drive-train. It doesn't even promise 70% of their sales will have electric components in the drive-train, but 70% of the vehicle line.
(April 7, 2017) Italian electric motorcycle Energica has announced model year 2017 updates to their product line. The primary update is to increase the power output from 107 kiloWatts (145 horsepower) in the Energica Ego, and 80 kiloWatts (108 horsepower) for the Energica Eva. Energica entered the electric motorcycle market a couple years ago, after starting research and prototyping in 2010.
(April 7, 2017) What happens if you run out of gasoline while driving a Chevy Volt? In a 'regular' gasoline car, running out of gasoline means you're stuck by the side of the road. While driving a battery-electric vehicle, run out of electricity and you're just as stuck. Plug-in hybrids, like the Volt, let you keep going if you run out of either gasoline or electricity. When electricity runs low, it automatically turns on the gas engine to recharge the pack. What happens, in the Volt, if you run out of both?
(April 7, 2017) Given the Trump Administration actions on fossil fuels and climate protections -- namely, a push to expand fossil fuels while gutting environmental regulations -- this switch on the Bureau of Land Management home page is to be expected. Where the BLM had formerly pushed natural scenery and national parks, it's now a gigantic coal seam in Wyoming.
(April 2, 2017) Tesla Motors has to spend $2.5 billion before July to launch the Model 3. As with the Model S and Model X launches, Tesla Motors is going through deep cash burn for capital expenditures to build up capacity to launch the new model. Making ends meet requires selling stock to raise capital from investors. This time that included Tencent, a large Chinese company. That company is backing a self-driving-car startup, Nio. Tesla Motors is advanced into developing this technology of course, so does Tencent intend to drive a merger? Tencent spent $1.78 billion buying their stake in Tesla.
