11611 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Wow $20K! Too much....

They have a $28,000 model that’s prettier.

[Victoria Watcher]

California's Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has placed its biggest electric vehicle order yet as the agency seeks to electrify its entire fleet.

 

Caltrans, which has about 1,200 vehicles in its fleet—mostly ICEs—has ordered 399 Tesla Model 3 electric sedans, which will add to the roughly 80 fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles currently in its fleet. 

 

The agency operates 54 Toyota RAV4 Prime PHEVs, 15 Chevrolet Bolt EVs, 11 Nissan Leafs and one Ford F-150 Lightning. Caltrans also has 37 zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell Toyota Mirai and one hydrogen-powered sweeper in its fleet.

 

The order placed with Tesla is the largest known EV fleet order from a US government department at either the federal or state level. At least that's what a Caltrans spokesperson told Drive Tesla Canada about the agreement, noting that the value of the purchase is more than $18 million. The Caltrans representative also confirmed that all 399 vehicles are the base Tesla Model 3 RWD variant.

 

 

 

https://insideevs.co...lectrify-fleet/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 December 2022 - 02:37 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Tesla moves up plans for Giga Berlin’s third shift after crews set new single day production record [Update]

 

https://driveteslaca...duction-record/

 

 

 

Assuming a 100% uptime during the current six-day work week at Giga Berlin, that put the factory’s production at around 333 cars per day.

 

Drive Tesla has now learned the factory set a new single day production record last week of around 550 cars, translating to a potential weekly production volume of around 3,300 cars.

 

That high level of production puts Tesla closer to their goal of producing 5,000 cars per week, and it is enough for them to move up plans to add a third vehicle production shift.

 

UPDATE Nov 30 10:15am PT: After a meeting between Elon Musk and the Giga Berlin team, the third shift has been moved to the second week of January.

 

____________________

 

The third shift comes at a time when Tesla has already begun work to expand the factory. A large area to the north of the existing facilities has been cleared and Tesla is planning to submit the permit applications for the first phase of the project before the end of the year.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 December 2022 - 06:32 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Ann Arbor-based Domino's Pizza Inc. is moving to electrify its pizza delivery with the acquisition of more than 800 custom-branded 2023 Chevy Bolt EVs.

 

More than 100 of the General Motors Co. electric cars are arriving at select franchise and corporate stores throughout the United States this month. An additional 700 will arrive in coming months, the company said, giving Domino's the largest electric pizza delivery fleet in the country. As of now, Michigan Domino's stores will receive 93 EVs, with 49 in the metro Detroit market.

 

https://www.detroitn...ts/69666861007/

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 December 2022 - 06:55 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Tesla Earns 8 Times More Profit Per Vehicle Than Auto Industry Volume Leader Toyota

 

https://www.benzinga...e-leader-toyota

[Victoria Watcher]

Canada now has 169 Tesla brand charging locations, with the newest opening this week in Richmond.

https://youtu.be/ddynQazvASU

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 December 2022 - 07:09 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has said a third of its dealerships in the US have chosen not to enrol in its electric vehicle (EV) programme until at least 2027, potentially delivering a blow to its plan to challenge Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) for the number one EV spot.

 

Ford announced EV plans last week for its network of 3,000 US dealers, with the programme requiring them to invest in various tiers of on-site charging infrastructure and to agree to no-haggle pricing.

 

Some dealers immediately indicated they were unhappy with the costs involved, which at the lower or ‘certified’ level requires US$500,000 of charger investment per site which rises to US$1.2mln for ‘certified elite’ dealers who fully sign up to the programme and will install two chargers.

 

As part of the deal, the retailers won’t hold any EV stocks but ‘loyal 'customers will be supplied on a ‘build-to-order’ basis.

 

Ford said yesterday that around 1,000 had taken a third option, which was not to sell any EVs until 2027.

 

Dealers who opted out can join again in 2025, which would then allow them to sell EVs in 2027.

 

 

https://www.proactiv...rs-1000323.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 December 2022 - 07:55 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Apple has scaled back its Apple Car project and the company no longer plans to release a fully self-driving vehicle, reports Bloomberg.

 

Apple wanted to create a self-driving car without a steering wheel or pedals, but has decided that such a plan is not feasible at the current time. The vehicle will have guided driving features that work on highways, but it will not be able to operate entirely on its own at all times.

 

The car will have an Apple-designed custom processor to power AI functionality, similar to the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The chip is equivalent to four of the highest-end Mac chips and is nearly production ready. It will include a custom array of lidar sensors, radar sensors, and cameras, which will be able to provide the car with positioning information, lane data, and orientation compared to people and objects.

 

 

https://www.macrumor...d-back-delayed/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 December 2022 - 09:00 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory sets delivery record in November, but may face bumpy road ahead as buyers defer big-ticket purchases

 

• The US carmaker delivered 100,291 vehicles from the plant in November, 40 per cent more than the 71,704 units shipped out in October
• The carmaker cut the prices of the Shanghai-made Model 3 and Model Y cars in October by 5 and 8.8 per cent, respectively

https://www.scmp.com...uyers-defer-big

[Victoria Watcher]

2024 Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle First Drive Review: Rocking the Boat   It’s not so much a car, truck, or van, as it is a rolling amalgamation of convention-defying unique selling propositions—most of which we pretty much dig.

 

https://www.motortre...t-drive-review/

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Tesla was the fastest-growing non-domestic major automaker by sales in Germany during November, according to Germany’s KBA (DOT).

 

The German KBA, a government agency that tracks vehicle registrations in the country, published its registration statistics for November today. The agency found that Tesla was the fastest-growing non-domestic automaker with a market share above 2.5% by sales, growing at a rate of 92.7%; nearly doubling sales compared to November 2021. Only beat out by Audi which grew sales by 109.1%.

 

https://www.teslarat...rmany-november/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 December 2022 - 09:46 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Sweden’s plugin electric vehicle share hit record highs in November, gaining 64.6% of the auto market, from 54.3% a year ago. Full electrics saw dramatic growth in share, gaining 42.5% in November, from 26.0% year on year, influenced by policy changes. 

 

https://cleantechnic...-incentive-cut/

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 December 2022 - 09:46 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

France saw plugin electric vehicles take 24.4% of the auto market in November, with full electrics (BEVs) alone taking 15.2%. Traditional combustion-only petrol and diesel powertrains fell under 50% share for the first time. Overall auto registrations in November stood at 133,960 units, up some 10% year on year. The best selling BEV for the month was the Tesla Model Y.

 

https://cleantechnic...l-y-bestseller/

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 December 2022 - 09:47 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Tesla is struggling to find and retain enough staff for its new factory in Germany, making it difficult for Elon Musk's EV maker to meet ambitious production targets, Wired reported.

 

One anonymous worker told the publication that the plant was in "total chaos" due to staffing issues.

 

"There are people who I haven't seen working for three weeks in six months. Many people are signed off sick because the motivation isn't there," the employee said. "Some people are off sick longer than they've actually worked."

 

The Berlin-Brandenberg factory is Tesla's first in Europe. At the official opening in March, Musk said he expected it to produce half a million cars this year, per Welt.

 

However, the plant is a long way from its goal of producing 5,000 vehicles a week, Wired reported, because it has only recruited 7,000 workers despite aiming for 12,000.

 

Tesla is advertising at least 400 roles in Berlin, including a "high-volume recruiter."

 

https://www.yahoo.co...-141644542.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 December 2022 - 09:55 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Toyota is developing a manual transmission that it hopes to use in future electric cars, with the intention of making EVs more engaging to drive. The project’s under the remit of Lexus, who will take a leading role in the development of all Toyota’s high performance electric cars moving forward. The pairing of a manual transmission with an electric powertrain might seem counterintuitive, but Lexus insists the scope of the technology goes beyond just the action of changing gear, forming a centrepoint of augmenting an entire combustion-powered driving experience in a low-carbon EV. 

 

Rather than physically fitting a mechanical manual transmission to the back-end of an electric motor, this technology uses an unconnected gear stick and clutch pedal that use haptic drivers to generate ‘feel’. This is then combined with clever software and sound generators within the cabin to create a complete experience. Both elements are physically connected to, well nothing, but utilise technology already available on today’s cars to create virtual feedback.

 

 

https://www.evo.co.u...r-electric-cars

 

 

????

I wonder if early cars had a horse noises and smells to ease the transition.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 December 2022 - 04:05 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Frito-Lay brings out brand new Tesla Semi to Modesto Christmas parade

 

https://driveteslaca...ristmas-parade/

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

American Battery Factory’s big plan to build a bunch of, erm, American battery factories got a jolt Tuesday when Tucson, Arizona, gave the company the go-ahead to locate its first plant near the city’s airport.

 

Over the course of a decade, ABF says it will pump around $1.2 billion into the facility, claiming it will be the “country’s largest gigafactory” for lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells when it’s completed, with a footprint of about 2 million square feet. ABF estimates it’ll eventually bring 1,000 additional jobs to the city.

 

The company says its batteries will be used for both commercial and home energy storage, as well as to power electric vehicles. Its plans come amid a crunch for battery materials as electric vehicles gain ground in the U.S. (Cars and SUVs currently make up 57% of transportation-related emissions in the country, according to the EPA.)

 

 

 

https://techcrunch.c...toward-reality/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 December 2022 - 10:12 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

Tesla Inc.’s Shanghai factory had a record month of sales despite China’s auto market shrinking in the grip of a slowing economy and consumer demand under harsh Covid curbs, constraints that Beijing has just moved to start easing.

The American EV giant sold more than 100,000 China-made electric vehicles in November even as passenger car retail sales shrunk by more than 9% on the year amid poor market conditions, according to China Passenger Car Association data released on Thursday. More than 60,000 of those were sold domestically, representing more than one-tenth of China’s EV market share. The rest were exported.


https://www.wsj.com/...nks-11670505148

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 December 2022 - 08:22 AM.

[Mike K.]

Thanks, Saanich!