Founder, Publisher, and Editorial Director of the 925, LLC publications.
Seth Weintraub is an award-winning engineer, journalist, and publisher who won back-to-back Neal Awards from 2007–2010 during his three-plus years covering Apple and Google at IDG’s Computerworld.
From 2010-2011, Weintraub covered all things Google for Fortune Magazine, amassing an impressive rolodex of Google contacts and a love for Silicon Valley tech culture.
It turns out that his hobby – the 9to5Mac news site – was always his favorite, and in 2011, he went full time adding his Fortune Google followers to 9to5Google, in addition to adding the style and commerce component of 9to5Toys gear and deals site. In 2013, Weintraub bought one of Tesla’s first Model S EVs off of the assembly line, which began his love affair with electric vehicles and green energy — this, in turn, became Electrek in 2014. To cover the burgeoning world of drones and UAVs led by China’s DJI, DroneDJ was born in 2018, and then more recently, Connectthewatts and SpaceExplored were launched to cover connected fitness and space.
From 1997-2007, Weintraub was a Global IT director and Web Developer for a number of companies, with stints at multimedia and branding agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Madrid, and London before becoming a publisher/writer.
Seth received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California with a minor in Multimedia and Creative Technology in 1997. In 2004, he received a Master’s from NYU’s Tisch School of the Art’s ITP program.
Weintraub is a licensed single-engine private pilot and a certified open-water scuba diver, and he spent over a year backpacking to 60 cities in 23 countries. Whatever free time exists is now guaranteed to his wonderful girlfriend, Alana, and two amazing sons.
More: About.me. BI 2014 profile.
Tips: seth@925.co, or llsethj on Threads/BlueSky or link at top of page.
iDevices is launching several new products at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, including a new smart EV charger with its recently announced parent company Hubbell.
With the relative success of its Chevy Bolt EV and the hunger for EVs in China, GM is one of the few big automakers actually trying to build a business around electric vehicles. CEO Mary Barra has committed separately to 5 crossovers, 2 minivans, 7 SUVs and 10 new electric vehicles by the end of the decade in China. But with the Bolt EV reportedly losing up to $9000 per vehicle initially, how does the company get to real profitability with these vehicles?
It has been almost a year since we reviewed the very capable Hyundai IONIQ Electric. As a refresher, this is the most efficient EV on the US market at 136 MPGe and the only model more efficient than the Tesla Model 3.
The problem, or recurring theme in a broader sense, is that it is almost impossible to get your hands on the all-electric version if you live outside of California even though the hybrid version is all over the country. This is because it is a compliance vehicle.
What could have been good news this week is that Hyundai finally announced the Plug-in Hybrid version price (along with EV only range moving from 27 to 29 miles). But not all Plug-ins are created equal…
Continental AG, the large German automotive OEM company today previewed some new electric car charging technology that they plan to showcase at CES in Las Vegas next month. The announcements amount to two different parts of the EV charging infrastructure that would be OEM-ed into Electric vehicles by automakers:
Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV is 3 years late and it comes with a paltry 12kWh battery yielding a range of 22 EV-only miles on a charge. That’s the bad news.
But today the only US plug-in SUV under $35,000 showed up for sale and as things stand it is the only affordable SUV you can drive via plug-in electricity in the US. Luckily it can also tow a 1500lb load and can charge relatively quickly via CHAdeMO…
This week on the Electrek Podcast, we are discussing the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy, including Tesla’s victory over car dealers in Missouri, Model 3s being delivered to customers, today’s Nissan LEAF review, Boring Company progress and more.
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Norway, Paris/France, England, India, Germany, China and Scotland have all announced plans to ban the sale of gasoline vehicles in the upcoming decades. The US state of California might be close behind if a new bill expected to be introduced in the coming month by Assemblymember Phil Ting takes hold.
Home Depot offers a 4 pack of dimmable Ecosmart Light Bulbs for $10.95 with free shipping . That’s over half off the regular price and one of the lowest prices we’ve seen for 75W equivalent bulbs that are also dimmable. These bulbs which are ideal for track and recessed lighting have a brightness of 940-Lumens have an actual Color Temperature- 2700K Soft White and are shatter resistant.
At 13W, these are about 6 times more efficient than incandescent for the same light and will save you an estimated $9/year/bulb in energy costs. That means these pay for themselves in a few months.
I’m just waking up after last night’s Tesla Semi and next gen Roadster Event and it feels like a dream in a lot of ways. If you would have told me yesterday that there would be an EV that met any of the following specs, I would have said “Vaporware!” Keep in mind these are base specs (!!) and the Founder’s Series car, which will take advantage of technologies gained in the 3 years before production, will somehow be better than:
It’s over. It’s. Just. Over. I’ve said it before but there is no way to dispute it anymore. Electric vehicle engines are superior to internal combustion. Full stop.
Steve Jurvetson, a partner of Venture Capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, is one of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s biggest backers, not only being early investor in Tesla but also SpaceX. He’s also owner of the 1st Model S off the line and reportedly helped Tesla find money when its fortunes weren’t so bright back in 2008.
However, today it was revealed that he’s left DFJ in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment. The VC company today released the following statement:
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YEARS in the making, EVgo this week released their first app for consumers on both Android and iOS. I’ve tried it on both platforms and have gotten similar results in a little over a day of testing with two separate EVgo 50kW DC fast chargers. I tested both the Chevy Bolt with CCS SAE Combo charger and the Tesla Model X with Chademo adapter. So, how’d we do?
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On Thursday, GM announced a pretty big move in promoting Pamela Fletcher, who led the team that successfully launched the Bolt EV, to the newly created position of ‘Vice President, Global Electric Vehicle Programs’. Before that, her title was Executive Chief Engineer Autonomous & Electrified Vehicles and New Technology so it can be assumed that this is more of a creation of a new group inside of GM rather than a promotion for Fletcher. She was also chief engineer behind the impressive Volt Propulsion System (Voltec) so I’d be hard-pressed to find someone more qualified to lead GM’s EV programs.
The creation of the group could be a big deal not just for Fletcher but for GM’s electric vehicle programs and hopefully, it is the first step to bigger changes within the organization. Here’s why…
I’m in Wisconsin visiting with in-laws this week but when I heard that Trek announced its new CrossRip+ ebike, I knew it would be a great opportunity to visit the headquarters/factory in nearby Waterloo. I was neither disappointed by the factory, bike celebrities wandering the halls during the World Cup event, nor the CrossRip+ electric cyclocross which Trek let me take on a 10 mile on and off road test ride…
We’ve got about 30 minutes until Nissan launches the 2018 LEAF. We’ve heard tons of rumors and Nissan has given us more teasers than probably healthy but we’ll get some more details tonight at the launch. Stay tuned after for our analysis. YouTube livestream below:
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When we got our test drive/rides in the Model 3 a week ago, many of the finer details of the groundbreaking EV were still off limits.
The Model 3s were all being charged via the company Superchargers outside of the VIP/Press area so we didn’t get to experience what it was like to plug in the vehicles or even operate the app. However, Tesla Board member and venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson this morning showed his YouTuber skills in demonstrating the feature on his VIN#5 Model 3.
It is hard to overstate the significance of today’s Tesla Model 3 launch at the Fremont California factory. It very well could be the beachhead that electric cars need to tip the scales over gasoline cars in the US and the world.
Will we be witnessing history tonight? Let’s put it into perspective…
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk noted in the recent shareholder meeting that initial Model 3s would come with just 2 options: wheels and color. Assuming a few different wheels in 18″ and 19″ varieties, that doesn’t leave much room for a wide palette of colors in Tesla’s configurator which is scheduled to be released “in late July” or any minute now.
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A little nugget of information came our way while reading a Reuters report on UAW and their reaction to a car sale slump at GM.
GM is reviewing whether to cancel at least six passenger cars in the U.S. market after 2020, including the Chevrolet Volt hybrid, which could be replaced in 2022 with a new gasoline-electric crossover model, Reuters has learned from people familiar with the plan.
Gosh it is hard to believe how slow the auto industry is compared to others like the electronics industry. Can you imagine Apple’s iPhones in 2022? Who will be President then? Will we have a civilization on Mars?
If you weren’t already excited enough for the Tesla Model 3 delivery event later this month, Tesla referral program members may have got an additional reason to be excited this evening.
Inside the Tesla App, folks who’ve filled up their referrals got a “Secret Level: Next Gen Roadster” announcement badge…
A lot of folks have a big problem with the $30,000 base price (after $7500 incentive) of the Chevy Bolt when compared to ICE cars of the same class. I’d argue that comparing a Chevy Bolt to $20,000 Honda Fit or Ford Fiesta or Volkswagon Golf or even Chevy’s own Cruze hatchback isn’t fair. After all, the Bolt has 200 electrified horses under the hood with torque to match and at the very least, the Bolt should be compared with more expensive “hot hatch” versions of those cars which usually run about $10,000 over their base counterparts.
In a drag race this week, the Chevy Bolt was pitted against the reigning king of the Hot Hatch genre, the Volkswagon Golf GTI…
I’ve now had my Chevy Bolt for about 3 months and I’m still love with the car with every new day. However, there are some things that either have irked me from day one or that I’ve found bother me over time. In a lot of ways, the Chevy Bolt EV just works exactly like it should. Plug it in at night, you have 238 miles of range every morning. But like everything else, there are a list of areas that could use some improvement.
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Hello! It is time to reward our readers again with another contest. We’ve got our hands on a code for a free Radio Flyer Model S for kids (BTW there’s a new Pearl White Model) and want to give it away to one of our US readers. The contest is simple: Share this post on Twitter, Facebook or subscribe to our newsletter (or triple your chances and do all 3!). Remember you need to be following us on Twitter/Facebook for us to contact the winner.
We’ll pick the winner by Friday and will update this post at that time. Thanks again for reading Electrek!
Update: Congrats to Mark N from Nevada who shared on Facebook
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I’ve had my 2017 Chevy Bolt for over a month now and have been pleasantly surprised about how much it has to offer. Like I really, really love this car even months after our review. While I still prefer my twice as expensive 2013 Tesla Model S overall, there are a number of areas where the Bolt beats the Tesla – and I mean the 2013 Model S but also in many cases Tesla’s new/upcoming models as well. Some of these things Tesla could choose to fix, but most are inherent design decisions.
Also I should note before y’all head to the comments that we love all EVs here at Electrek and before a Tesla vs. Bolt fight breaks out remember that we’re all on the same “Team EV” here.
And with that, let’s look at some advantages of a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV…
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SmartCar announced a novel new way to connect to your Tesla today called TeslaBot. In a nutshell, it is a Facebook Chatbot that connects to your Tesla Model S or X via Tesla’s open APIs and can do much of what Tesla’s own app can do, often faster…
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