Tesla’s vehicles get rarely stolen thanks to its always-on advanced GPS tracking feature, but there are always a few non-techie thieves who make the mistakes and it results in some satisfying justice, like when a Model S was briefly stolen in Vancouver and the owner gave live-instructions to the police while they were catching up with the thief.

But there are also some professional car thieves who know exactly what they are doing.

We reported last year on two separate events of new Tesla vehicles being stolen in Europe and they were never recovered. Now we might have a good idea of what happened to those vehicles.
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President Donald Trump has been talking about pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate change agreement since the election, but he had yet to formally confirm or initiate the move.

Today, rumors came out that he made the decision of pulling out and that it is now only about how they plan to do so.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is on the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum and manufacturing council, has been advising the President to stay committed to the Paris agreement and he now threatens to quit the councils if the rumors are true.
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At the ‘Hyundai Truck & Bus Mega Fair’ in Korea this week, the Korean automaker unveiled a new range of commercial vehicles, including a new all-electric bus.

The bus, called Elec City, features an impressive range of “290 km (180 miles)”.
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Over the past few months, Tesla’s valuation surged past Ford and GM and it surged again to new highs over the past two days.

Morgan Stanley explained in a new note today that investors are now not only looking at Tesla as a simple automaker but as a tech company “at the nexus of shared, autonomous and electric transportation.”
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The use of ‘conflict minerals’ in electronics and batteries has been a controversial subject for years. The incredible growth of consumer electronics has sprung demand for several rare minerals and it fueled conflicts, especially in Congo, where work conditions are known to be awful.

A report by Amnesty International and Afrewatch published last year pointed directly to battery makers and their clients as fueling the conflicts. It named several automakers like Mercedes, VW and BYD, as well as several battery manufacturers known to supply automakers, like LG Chem (GM and Nissan) – but Tesla and its battery supplier, Panasonic, were spared.

Nonetheless, the electric automaker released an update this week on its strategy to avoid conflict minerals and it shows how it can be complex to avoid them.
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Travis Fisher: Author of Rick Perry’s grid study called clean energy policies a greater threat than terrorism – The single greatest threat to reliable electricity in the U.S. does not come from natural disturbances or human attacks. Rather, the host of bad policies now coming from the federal government –  and unfortunately from many state governments – is creating far greater and more predictable problems with grid reliability. Now, you tell me whether you think the Department of Energy is going to deliver a fair study.

Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan herald the clean money revolution – “Socially Responsible Investing” – Across many areas of the world people are moving their cash into ‘cleaner’ places. Sometimes we make a lower return on investment in quarterly calculated returns on investments – but we recognize that there are benefits outside of out our standard valuation models. Mental well-being, peace of mind, physical health – these things are starting to matter. Trillions in investment money prove this.

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Tesla has been leading direct sales battles this year on several fronts in Utah, Connecticut, Indiana, and several other states.

They lost the battle in the Lone Star State this week after bills to allow direct sales by automakers died in Texas state House and Senate.
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Tesla is moving quickly with its new solar roof tiles. Early installations could start as soon as next month after the company started taking orders earlier this month.

Now we learn that the company just received approval from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for permitting and installations.
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Anthony Levandowski, the ex-Googler at the center of Waymo and Uber’s legal battle, has been fired. His termination comes after a continued refusal to cooperate in proceedings over whether the ride-sharing company stole Alphabet’s self-driving technology and a scathing New Yorker piece this morning.

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A mysterious new startup, Havelaar Canada, unveiled an all-electric pickup truck concept today at the EMC show in Markham, Ontario.

With the unveiling of the vehicle, called Bison E-Pickup, the Toronto-based company announced that they plan to bring the electric vehicle to production in Ontario.
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Over the past few years, Tesla had custom vehicles made on Memorial Day to commemorate military veterans and to later use the vehicles as part of its veteran program.

The latest custom vehicle features a fairly impressive custom wrap.
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For the third time over the past month, Tesla’s stock is reaching new highs today at over $330 per share – bringing the valuation of the company to over $54 billion.

Tesla’s short-term success is tied to the delivering and ramping up production of the Model 3 on time and as it gets closer to the scheduled start in July, investors seem to be encouraged by what they are seeing.
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Taxi companies and drivers are increasingly looking at electric vehicles to cut their operating costs.

Nissan calls it a “global electric taxi revolution” and claims that the Leaf is leading it as more and more taxis are using the all-electric vehicle in their fleets.
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Electrek Green Energy Brief: A daily technical, financial and political review/analysis of important green energy news.

Solar+Wind met 10% of electricity demand in March in the USA – Hydro electricity from a wet spring season on the West Coast, which alone provided more than 10% of the nations’s electricity, as well as biomass and geothermal power, all renewable energy sources combined met 24% of electric demand in March – And if we add in the 20% we get from Nuclear power, 44% of electricity demand in the USA was met with non-fossil fuel electrons. We’re almost halfway there folks!

World Carbon Price Seen Needing to Increase Sevenfold by 2020 – The commission concluded that a $40 to $80 a ton range in 2020, rising to $50 to $100 a ton by 2030, would be consistent with the Paris target. EU carbon settled Friday at 5.19 euros ($5.80) a ton on ICE Futures Europe in London –  $40/ton will add 2.3¢/kWh to gas electricity, 4¢/kWh on coal and 36¢/gallon to gas. Stanford says the real price is $220/ton.

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After several Tesla Roadsters and an original Tzero were lost in a devastating fire earlier this month, we might lose another rare electric vehicle.

Fortunately, like with the fire, no one was hurt and we are only talking about material things, but it’s a bit of EV history nonetheless.

One of the few Tesla Model X Founder Series crashed into a stone wall last week – leaving the vehicle possibly totaled.
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After Tesla confirmed more information about the Model 3’s options this weekend, we are starting to have a much better idea of the options that will be available when the vehicle makes it to production in July.

Even more so when it comes to color options because of the Model 3 release candidates spotted to date.
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‘On 25 May 2017, the United States notified the WTO’s Committee on Safeguards that it initiated on 17 May 2017 a safeguard investigation on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells.’ The official filing can be found here.

There’s a good chance any solar panels imported to the United States after these date will have a tariff added, if the USA – on or before September 22nd – decides solar panel imports have harmed domestic solar panel makers.

The US International Trade Comission will rule whether solar panel manufacturers Suniva and SolarWorld have suffered ‘serious injury’ as a result of global competition. US consumers already pay increased prices for any solar cells or modules from China.  Suniva has requested that President Trump impose a four-year minimum import price on PV modules and cells – starting in year one at US$0.78 per watt for modules and $0.40 for cells.

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Mercedes-Benz is not only talking about electric car concepts and show models anymore. The German automaker is increasingly securing manufacturing capacity at its existing plants in order to produce its upcoming EQ electric vehicles.

The company announced today that it reached a deal with the management and works council of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Rastatt in order to build ‘compact electric vehicles’ at the factory.
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Fortune Magazine had a worrying headline today ‘Tesla’s Self-Driving Tech Is a Danger to Cyclists, Robotics Expert Says‘.

At first glance, I thought it would be about Tesla’s autonomous driving demo since they called it ‘self-driving’, but no – it is about Tesla’s Autopilot, which is obviously not a self-driving system as it currently stands.
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While Hyundai has made it clear that they accelerated their plan for their first long-range electric SUV, it’s still not clear which model will make it to market first.

They have electric versions of the Niro, the Stonic and the Kona coming all within the next 2 years and now we learn that they reportedly plan to debut one of those as an all-electric SUV for ~$39,000.
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While government efforts to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles have been mostly at the provincial level in Canada, it’s apparently about to change.

The federal government has announced that they are developing a new “national strategy to increase the number of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVS) on Canadian roads”.
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Electrek Green Energy Brief: A daily technical, financial and political review/analysis of important green energy news.

Hawaii strains to permit batteries as self-supply permits grow – By last week, 420 residential rooftop solar systems attached to batteries were ready to be installed as soon as the battery systems are given the go-head. Unfortunately, the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) has given building permits to only 33, citing safety concerns. – On the one hand, yes, its tough that it is taking a bit for these departments to get moving, however, we see the other hand hands many battery-powered+grid solar residential projects coming, and this number will only grow. Any of our readers in Hawaii? I’m wondering what size systems are being recommended to make sure no electricity gets back onto the grid.

Texas lawmakers approve tax break limitations for wind turbines near military bases – In other news, Texas lawmakers are simple-minded liars who are being paid off by fossil fuel interests. From the NavyTimes.com website – Navy: Wind farm opposed by some North Carolina lawmakers won’t harm radar – This project in North Carolina had the exact same logic put forward. Looks like national fossil fuel groups – Koch Brothers, ALEC, etc – finding strategically weak politicians that need money and don’t care about lying to their voters.

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