Items tagged with Model-S
Tesla’s proposed “gigafactory”, a massive production facility that would make batteries for the company’s electric cars, is looking for a state to call home, and you can count California among those campaigning hard to be chosen. According to USA Today, the California state legislature is working on a bill to speed an approval process to persuade Tesla to come to the state; this follows an earlier measure designed to give Tesla property tax breaks. Model S Other states in the mix include Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. KTVU in Concord, CA reports that one nagging problem for California is that one area where the gigafactory could be built is actually a Superfund...
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Elon Musk’s vision for fleets of all-electric vehicles seems to be going well for the most part, some litigious miscellany notwithstanding, but the cars are rather expensive. However, that’s all going to change in 2017, when Tesla releases the Model 3 that will cost just $35,000. Granted, a $35,000 car is not what you’d call cheap, but it’s far more affordable than the nearly-$70,000 Tesla Model S sedan. Tesla Model S Based on an all-new platform, the Model 3 should have a range of over 200 miles on a single charge, and of course it will make use of Tesla’s growing nationwide network of Supercharger stations. There will no doubt be plenty of leaks and rumors about...
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Here’s the setup: Someone stole a Tesla Model S in L.A. and went for a joyride that turned into a police chase and resulted in a horrific multi-car crash. The Model S itself ended up ripping in two, with the front part of the car and the rear completely separated. It looks as if the rear of the vehicle embedded into the side of a building. Worse, the smashed car burst into flames, apparently due to the battery being compromised. Tesla’s battery catching fire after a trauma has been a problem before, and the company re-engineered the housing this spring to better protect the battery in the event of crashes. Granted, this particular crash was a true anomaly; there’s a huge difference...
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Lumped on top of the many engineering challenges that Tesla has had to solve while bringing all-electric vehicles to market is a problem with its sales model. Tesla wants to sell its cars directly to consumers, which seems like a sensible, simple thing to do, but there are laws and regulations all over the country that prevent just that, and some states including New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland have specifically prohibited Tesla sales. Fortunately for Tesla, three FTC officials co-wrote a blog post backing the electric carmaker’s business model and explaining why it should be allowed to stand. Tesla Model S “When the automobile industry was in its infancy, auto manufacturers recruited...
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After a couple of accidents involving Tesla’s Model S electric car resulted in fires, the company has scrambled to find a solution that didn’t involve completely re-engineering the undercarriage and engine compartment. That solution has taken the form of a relatively simple three-part titanium shield underneath the vehicle. The fires resulted when road debris punctured the Model S’s battery compartment when the vehicle ran over them at high speeds, so Tesla decided to simply improve that specific area of the car. There are now three titanium pieces protecting the compartment. There’s a hollow bar designed to deflect or absorb the impact of road debris and at least knock...
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The two teams of Tesla drivers that set out to complete a cross-country road rally driving electric Model S sedans and using only Tesla’s Supercharger stations to recharge have completed the trek in an impressive 76 and a half hours. It’s a Guinness World Record for the fastest cross-country journey via electric car, and they may have set another record for the lowest amount of charge time, too. The total energy consumed was 1,197.8 kWh, and each car drove 3,464.5 miles without using any gasoline or paying for the juice at the Supercharger stations. The Tesla drivers who were behind the wheel when the cars crossed the finish line Along the way, they encountered a blizzard in Colorado...
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John Glenney and his daughter Jill were the first people to complete a cross-country trip in a Tesla Model S electric car, and their experience is perfect PR for Tesla, which just completed its coast-to-coast network of Supercharger stations. “The father and daughter had covered a distance of 3,400 miles through 16 states, taking in 28 Supercharger stops along the way. Grand total spent on fuel: zero dollars,” reads a blog post summarizing the Glenney’s trip. John Glenney No doubt inspired by the Glenneys, Tesla Motors is conducting a road rally across the country from L.A. to New York in a pair of Tesla S sedans to set a Guiness world record for “lowest charge time for...
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Although it’s not exactly on par with the completion of, say, the first transcontinental railroad, Tesla has completed a coast-to-coast network of Supercharger stations to allow drivers of the Model S electric sedan to road trip across the country--for free. It’s a rather circuitous path, not at all a straight shot; starting from the Northwest, you can drive from Seattle down through L.A., over to New England, and down to the tip of Florida. Parts of Texas have them, too. Elon Musk tweeted that now, 80% of the U.S. population is covered with the 71 stations. More stations on that route on “coming soon”, and later this year and into 2015, it looks like the whole country...
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Tesla Motors keeps trying to change the automotive market with its sexy electric cars, but so far it hasn’t made a huge dent. The Tesla Roadster was certainly intriguing, and the more affordable Model S is still more compelling, but with a price tag upwards of $70,000, it’s not exactly affordable for the average joe. Tesla is looking to push more into the mainstream market with the Model X, a more affordable vehicle that offers a bit more utility and is designed “to blend the best of an SUV with the benefits of a minivan”. According to the L.A. Times, the car will cost somewhere in the $40,000 range and should have roughly a 200-mile range. Tesla Model X Unsurprisingly--this...
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