The Netherlands - Electric Cars: Tesla opens entire Supercharger network in the Netherlands to all EVs - by Rebecca Bellan

Tesla said Monday that non-Tesla owners can charge their electric vehicles at all Supercharger stations in the Netherlands.

The announcement marks an expansion of a pilot program that kicked off in November 2021 with 10 stations. CEO Elon Musk had initially expressed interest in opening up the Supercharger network to other EVs in the summer of the same year.

Unlike other automakers, Tesla operates an expansive proprietary network that has previously prevented EVs from other automakers from using the chargers. The network, which Tesla began building in 2012, now numbers 30,000 Supercharging stations globally.

Read more at: Tesla opens entire Supercharger network in the Netherlands to all EVs | TechCrunch

China: Investor Baillie Gifford bets on China in a post-coronavirus world

 Just this week, Edinburgh-based investment partnership and early Tesla backer Baillie Gifford announced it is increasing investments in China with the expansion of its presence in Shanghai, its first overseas office with the ability to conduct local research.

• Plant-based food and meat producer Green Monday announced Tuesday it raised $70 million, which it claims is the largest to date for the industry in Asia.
• Also this week, Shanghai-based electric vehicle start-up WM Motor also announced 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) in funding, which the company claims is the largest to date in the country’s EV industry.

 Read more at: 
Investor Baillie Gifford bets on China in a post-coronavirus world

Electric Cars: Tesla’s value drops $50 billion as cheaper batteries three years away

Investors slashed $50 billion from Tesla Inc’s market value on Tuesday (22 September) despite CEO Elon Musk’s promise to cut electric vehicle costs so radically that a $25,000 car that drives itself will be possible, but not for at least three years.

Nothing Musk discussed about batteries is a done deal,” said Roth Capital Partners analyst Craig Irwin. “There was nothing tangible.”

Tesla’s new larger cylindrical cells will provide five times more energy, six times more power and far greater driving range, Musk said, adding that full production is about three years away.

To help reduce cost, Musk said Tesla planned to recycle battery cells at its Nevada “gigafactory,” while reducing cobalt – one of the most expensive battery materials – to virtually zero. It also plans to manufacture its own battery cells at several highly automated factories around the world.

Shares in two battery suppliers to Tesla, South Korea’s LG Chem and Japan’s Panasonic Corp, fell after the announcement.

Increasing the EU’s domestic supply of critical raw materials and cutting external dependencies got top billing in a new European Commission strategy on Thursday (3 September), as the bloc started to get serious about its Green Deal and digital agenda.

Tesla will produce the new battery cells initially on a new assembly line near its vehicle plant in Fremont, California, with planned output reaching 10 gigawatt-hours a year by the end of 2021. Tesla and partner Panasonic Corp now have production capacity of around 35 gWh at the Nevada battery “gigafactory”.

Tesla aims to rapidly ramp up battery production over the next years, to 3 terawatt-hours a year, or 3,000 gigawatt-hours – roughly 85 times greater than the capacity of the Nevada plant. Musk said Tesla could supply batteries to other companies.

As automakers shift from horsepower to kilowatts to comply with stricter environmental regulations, investors are looking for evidence that Tesla can increase its lead in electrification technology over legacy automakers who generate most of their sales and profits from combustion-engine vehicles.

While average electric vehicle prices have decreased in recent years thanks to changes in battery composition, they are still more expensive than conventional cars, with the battery estimated to make up a quarter to a third of an electric vehicle’s cost.

Some researchers estimate that price parity, or the point at which electric vehicles are equal in value to internal combustion cars, is reached when battery packs cost $100 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

Tesla’s battery packs cost $156 per kWh in 2019, according to electric vehicle consulting firm Cairn Energy Research Advisors. 

 

Read more at:  Tesla’s value drops $50 billion as cheaper batteries three years away – EURACTIV.com

Electric Vehicles: Tesla unveils electric Semi truck, new Roadster

American automaker Tesla unveiled a new electric semitractor-trailer simply called the Semi, and a roadster at an event in Hawthorn, California, U.S., on Nov. 16. CEO Elon Musk stated that production for the Semi would commence in 2019 and customers can put down a $5,000 deposit for the electric truck.

Read more: Tesla unveils electric Semi truck, new Roadster

Car Industry Tesla 3: What do Tesla Model 3 buyers want from the most - by by Andrew J. Hawkinsimportant electric car ever built? -

The new Tesla 3

You probably haven’t heard, but today is a very important day for Elon Musk and Tesla. Later this evening, Musk will host an exclusive handover party for 30 customers who reserved the Model 3, 

Tesla’s first mass-market electric car. They will be the first people in the world (not named Musk) to receive what is widely seen as one of the most important electric cars of our time. 

For Tesla, it’s all been leading to the Model 3. If you believe the hype, this is the car that will rescue us from the evil clutches of the internal combustion engine — and for just $35,000. So the pressure is on Tesla to finally deliver on its promise of bringing clean, sustainable driving to the masses.

“The Model 3 is far more than just another car,” said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at AutoTrader. “If successful, it would mark a breakthrough for electric vehicles and would be promising in terms of the proliferation of the technology. However, the challenges are formidable.”

Read more: What do Tesla Model 3 buyers want from the most important electric car ever built? - The Verge

Electric Cars: Tesla earns perfect score from Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports rates vehicles on a zero-to-100 scale, but Tesla's high-performance, all-wheel-drive car scored 103.

"Consumer Reports had to make changes to its scoring methodology to account for the car's exceptionally strong performance," the magazine said in a statement.

To bring the score back in line, the P85D was given less credit for areas in which the Model S already beat other cars but, in this version, simply exceeded on those measures even more.

For instance, it was given less credit for improving its acceleration and efficiency which, in other versions of the Model S, already outperformed other cars.

Once those changes were made, the P85D earned the top score of 100, making it the first car ever to earn that score.

 Read more: Tesla earns perfect score from Consumer Reports - Aug. 27, 2015

Electric Car Industry: Despite Several Electric-Car Fires, Tesla Is a Safer Option - by Daniel Sparks

Based on comments from Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a company blog post about the first fire in early October, earlier this week I explained that Tesla's Model S has only seen two fires in 100 million miles driven, while traditional vehicles have one fire for every 20 million miles driven. The numbers make a strong case that the vehicle is at least as fireproof as traditional vehicles.

But several readers suggested in the comments that the comparison doesn't suggest the Model S is safer, since the Model S is a new car and the national statistic for traditional vehicles includes much older models. A new car, they explained, should have far less vehicle fire incidents, they argued. It's a solid point.

Is there a counter to this argument? Or are electric vehicles simply just as likely to catch fire as traditional vehicles? As it turns out, there's still plenty of evidence that suggests Tesla's fully electric vehicles are a better alternative for preventing fires than filling your car with a large tank of highly flammable liquid.

Tesla has seen two fires in 130 million miles than it is to say two fires in 100 million miles. That brings the statistic to one fire in every 65 million miles, compared with traditional vehicles' one fire in every 20 million miles.

Read more: Despite Several Electric-Car Fires, Tesla Is a Safer Option (TSLA)

The Netherlands: Electric automobiles: Tesla Opens First European Plant in the Netherlands

Tesla Motors which recently won the car of the year award opened an assembly plant in Tilburg, Netherlands, and delivered the first Tesla Model S vehicles to customers in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.

The 18,900 square meter facility will not produce the Model S from scratch; instead, it will receive the vehicles for final assembly and send them on their way across the continent.

To mark the occasion, first buyers from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany showed up at the opening to receive their cars.

The car company chose Tilburg because of is proximity to the port of Rotterdam, as well as the high quality and availability of transportation options there.

"This location is pivotal to Tesla's European operations, which are expanding rapidly over the coming months with openings of around 15 new stores and service centres," Bryan Batista, Tesla's EU sales director, said in a statement.

Read more: Tesla Opens First Plant in the Netherlands

Electric Cars: Thanks to Tesla, electric car in passing lane to the future - by Don Pittis

Car of the year Tesla S, Electric

Could it have been just six years ago that a film called Who Killed the Electric Car? described a brilliant new technology overwhelmed by dark forces? Led by America's powerful oil lobby, said the film, a homegrown conspiracy took a promising technology and literally crushed it, as General Motors called in all their leases on the EV1 and destroyed all but a handful.

I am convinced that today the future of the electric car has suddenly been transformed. Two nearly simultaneous events suggest electric vehicles have smashed through a crucial roadblock, and that you will likely be driving one in your lifetime.

The first significant event was the announcement yesterday that Tesla Motors, the all-electric upstart automaker run by Elon Musk — a real-life Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) — has had its first ever quarterly profit.

The second significant event is a review today in the highly credible Consumer Reports magazine that called the Tesla Model S "the best car we've ever tested."

Read more: Don Pittis: Thanks to Tesla, electric car in passing lane to the future - Business - CBC News