Tesla is really pushing hard this week with several different initiatives to increase sales and deliveries in the last few days of the quarter.

It is making a new one available this weekend: a ‘door-to-door service’ called ‘Tesla Direct’. expand full story

Some petrolheads don’t like electric cars because they don’t have the roar of an engine burning fossil fuel. EVs are definitely quieter but they still have a sound and I think some of them are pretty cool.

After watching this new video, now I think the Tesla Semi electric truck prototype accelerating with a trailer is one of the coolest EV sounds yet. expand full story

For years now, Tesla has some ‘super’ owners who promote its vehicles and champion the brand.

It led to the automaker launching the referral program to help with sales and now it apparently leads to owners helping Tesla with vehicle deliveries. expand full story

In order to help move cars during its end of the quarter delivery rush, Tesla is bringing back free Supercharging to inventory cars and Model 3 vehicles until the end of the month, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Tesla has apparently made a lot of inventory cars unmatched to custom orders that the automaker is now trying to move by the end of the quarter. expand full story

This week on the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy, including Tesla Model 3 getting its safety rating and another production update, the Audi e-tron unveiling, the new 2019 Chevy Volt, our visit at Interbike, and more.

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At Electrek, we try to focus on all-electric vehicles and not plug-in hybrids because they most often offer only very little electric range.

The Chevy Volt is the exception with its 53 miles of EPA range. It is enough for most people to cover their daily commute and we often hear about Volt owners not having to fill up their gas tank in months or even years.

Now with the 2019 model year, Chevy is enabling you to use the battery pack even more with faster charging and less reliance on the engine. expand full story

There’s some good and bad in Tesla’s production numbers this week. The automaker was able to maintain really high production over several days, including a record Model 3 production day, but a significant production drop on Sunday resulted in still being behind its overall production goal. expand full story

After the e-tron electric SUV and the Sportsback, Audi plans to release a previously announced electric Sport e-tron GT in 2020.

Now we’ve learned that it will be based on the Porsche Taycan all-electric performance sedan. expand full story

The French automaker Peugeot has unveiled an interesting new all-electric concept vehicle ahead of the 2018 Paris Motor Show: an all-electric coupe concept with some muscle car DNA and an impressive powertrain. expand full story

Tesla is currently trying to secure resources for its battery production ramp up at Gigafactory 1.

Now we’ve learned that the automaker has signed a supply agreement with China’s biggest lithium producer. expand full story

As we reported last month, Tesla applied for a new key fob with the FCC and we suspected that it would be for Model 3.

Now the FCC has released pictures of the new key fob and it is indeed for Model 3. expand full story

Tesla’s latest vehicle, the Model 3 Performance, is proving to be selling especially well based on new data obtained by Electrek. expand full story

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released its safety rating for the Tesla Model 3 today and the electric vehicle has gotten a perfect 5-star safety rating in every category.

Warning: if you don’t like seeing beautiful Model 3 vehicles being crashed, don’t read the rest of this post. expand full story

We have reported on a bunch of accidents where Tesla owners credited their vehicles for saving them from serious harm but probably none as strange as this one.

A Tesla Model X owner in Texas credited his car for ‘saving’ him and a passenger as the electric SUV was struck by a crashing plane.  expand full story

Tesla is currently building the world’s largest rooftop solar array at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada.

Today, we get a rare close look at the factory with a new drone flyover showing the latest progress at the plant. expand full story

Tesla doesn’t want cars sitting at Superchargers for too long once they are fully charged. It’s why the automaker introduced “idle fees” two years ago.

Now Tesla is increasing those fees to discourage the practice even more. expand full story

At the 67th IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover today, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has unveiled several new electric vehicles including a cargo version of the I.D. BUZZ, am e-Cabby, a Cargo e-bike, and more. expand full story

Daimler has many different heavy-duty electric vehicle efforts, including electric buses, but now the Germany automaker is also investing in U.S. electric bus maker Proterra.

The startup has secured a new massive $155 million round of investment. expand full story

As we reported a few months back, Schaeffler has built a crazy new all-electric vehicle by adding a battery pack and 4 Formula E electric motors to an Audi RS3 in order to create an 880 kW all-electric racing car.

They have now let German race driver Daniel Abt drive the machine and make ‘the hottest donut ever’. expand full story

Following a few tough weeks for Tesla on the financial markets and in the news, short sellers and detractors are already claiming victory, but to borrow the words of Mark Twain: the reports of Tesla’s death are greatly exaggerated. expand full story