[tweet https://twitter.com/Tesla_Europe/status/522673381842247680]

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0-sHtlCZ7M]

Slashgear:

Tesla will open its first battery-swap station within the next few months, the electric car company has confirmed to SlashGear, offering drivers of the Model S a ninety second way to “refuel” their cars. First demonstrated in June 2013, the battery exchange system eschews even the rapid charging of Tesla’s Supercharger network in favor of a wholesale exchange of the batteries themselves. The process would be fully automatic, too, meaning the driver won’t even need to step out of the car in order to replenish their charge levels.

Engadget believes that the renewed interest in the swap point, which will first be somewhere in between San Francisco and LA and doesn’t require the drivers to leave the car during the 90 second transaction, is due to revised California ZEV Credits. I’m not so sure that this just isn’t an ordinary ramp up time period.

Tesla may have decided to redouble its battery station efforts for economic reasons, too. As pointed out by Bloomberg, California stripped Tesla of some of its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) credits earlier this year after revising its rapid refueling rules. The new standard requires that cars be fueled to a 285 mile range in 15 minutes, meaning the Model S — which can receive a 160-mile supercharge in about 30 minutes — no longer qualifies. Meanwhile, hydrogen-fueled cars continue to receive the maximum ZEV credits, since they can easily be refueled in that time. Prior to the decision, Tesla had been selling the excess ZEV credits to other automakers, which is one of the reasons it turned a profit for the first time last year.

Another reason for the slow ramp of the swap stations? Tesla might be trying to get its superchargers up to that standard. In an interview last year with the MIT Technology Review, CTO JB Straubel said that Supercharger technology would continue to improve to the point where Tesla could meet California’s new standards.

“It’s not going to happen in a year from now. It’s going to be hard. But I think we can get down to five to 10 minutes,” Straubel said in an interview with MIT Technology Review. He noted that the current superchargers, which deliver 120 kilowatts of electricity, “seemed pretty crazy even 10 years ago.” Conventional public charging stations deliver well under 10 kilowatts.

Tesla has already reduced its Supercharger times in half going from 40 minutes to 20 minutes for a half charge. A few more ‘half times over the next few years and we’ll be there. One of the barriers of this type of charging is heat so this might involve external or internal cooling for battery charging.

One challenge of fast charging is that delivering power to a battery very rapidly can cause it to overheat. To avoid damaging the battery, the outside charger needs to communicate with the electronics that monitor the state of the batteries, including their voltage and temperature, and quickly adjust charging rates accordingly. “To do that kind of charging, everything has to be designed and working in perfect synchrony,” Straubel says.

Achieving five-minute charges will require not only further improving the charging system, but also improving the interface with the electrical grid. As it is, only some places on the grid can handle 120-kilowatt charging. Drawing large amounts of power from the grid also incurs demand charges from the utility, increasing the cost of the system.

But Straubel says that Tesla plans to get around these problems by equipping supercharging stations with solar panels and batteries.

And perhaps Tesla could automate that charging so you don’t need to get out of the car to supercharge. Musk mentioned his intensions there at the D event but already solutions are being devised (this from Geneva motor show via Reddit):

Tesla’s Model S (or a wrecked one) got the IHS Supply teardown treatment and if you are wondering what makes the car tick, it is a worthy watch/read (PDF). Notably Tesla “really wanted to do things differently and employed virtual controls—rather than physical knobs and buttons—to take over the user experience. This approach required a major investment in big displays and touch panels, similar to the approach Apple took when designing the iPhone and iPad.”

It is no secret the NVidia processor runs the display and the center stack. Other notables:

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Not much new here but perhaps a dumbed down explainer about dual motors and autonomous driving timeframe.

If you weren’t able to see the livestream last night, Tesla now have a video and summary:

Yesterday, we unveiled the world’s first dual electric motor production car and announced that new safety and autopilot hardware is standard on every new Model S.

Conventional all wheel drive vehicles distribute power to the wheels from a single engine driving a complex mechanical transmission system. By contrast, Dual Motor Model S, which comes with either the 60 kWh or 85 kWh battery, has a motor on each axle, digitally and independently controlling torque to the front and rear wheels. The result is unparalleled control of traction, with instantaneous response to the motors giving drivers precisely controlled performance in all conditions. With its digital torque controls and low center of gravity, Dual Motor Model S has the most capable road holding and handling of any vehicle ever produced.

Where gasoline-powered all wheel drive cars sacrifice efficiency in return for all weather traction, Tesla’s Dual Motor propulsion system actually increases efficiency while delivering exceptional traction and control in slippery conditions. By precisely splitting the delivery of current from the battery to each motor, the Model S 85D and 60D actually gain an additional 10 miles of highway driving range compared to their rear motor Model S counterparts.

Consistent with our mission, we also wanted to demonstrate that an electric car can soundly beat gasoline cars on efficiency and pure performance. The Model S P85 already outperforms gasoline-powered cars in the same class with its ability to deliver 100 percent of peak torque from a standing start. We combined our new front drive unit and our P85 rear motor with the objective of outperforming one of the greatest supercars of all time, the McLaren F1. With P85D’s 0 to 60 mph performance of 3.2 seconds, we have succeeded.

The P85D combines the performance of the P85 rear motor with an additional 50 percent of torque available from our new front drive unit. The result is the fastest accelerating four-door production car of all time – while remaining one of the most efficient cars on the road. That’s a combination that can only be achieved by an electric car. Not only is the P85D a match for the McLaren F1, but it also doesn’t need a professional driver to achieve optimum performance. Just plant your foot and go.

Customers can order a Dual Motor Model S today. Deliveries of P85D begin in December for North America, to be followed 85D and 60D in February. Deliveries to Europe and Asia will follow in the months afterwards.

New Safety Features and Autopilot

The launch of Dual Motor Model S coincides with the introduction of a standard hardware package that will enable autopilot functionality. Every single Model S now rolling out of the factory includes a forward radar, 12 long range ultrasonic sensors positioned to sense 16 feet around the car in every direction at all speeds, a forward looking camera, and a high precision, digitally controlled electric assist braking system.

Building on this hardware with future software releases, we will deliver a range of active safety features, using digital control of motors, brakes, and steering to avoid collisions from the front, sides, or from leaving the road.

Model S will be able to steer to stay within a lane, change lanes with the simple tap of a turn signal, and manage speed by reading road signs and using active, traffic aware cruise control.

Our goal with the introduction of this new hardware and software is not to enable driverless cars, which are still years away from becoming a reality. Our system is called Autopilot because it’s similar to systems that pilots use to increase comfort and safety when conditions are clear. Tesla’s Autopilot is a way to relieve drivers of the most boring and potentially dangerous aspects of road travel – but the driver is still responsible for, and ultimately in control of, the car.

The Autopilot hardware opens up some exciting long term possibilities. Imagine having your car check your calendar in the morning (a feature introduced in Software v6.0), calculate travel time to your first appointment based on real time traffic data, automatically open the garage door with Homelink, carefully back out of a tight garage, and pull up to your door ready for your commute. Of course, it could also warm or cool your car to your preferences and select your favorite morning news stream.

The introduction of this hardware is just the first step for Autopilot in Model S. We will continue to develop new capabilities and deliver them through over-the-air software updates, keeping our customers at the forefront of driving technology.

Other Product Updates

Our commitment to continuous improvement extends to other features of Model S, and we have recently made several updates to the car, including:

• Seat comfort improvements and taller headrests for whiplash protection
• Improvements for a quieter cabin
• Wider rear door opening
• Electrically opening, self-closing charge port door on Dual Motor Model S
• Increased visor size and larger vanity mirror
• Parcel shelf and front trunk cargo net now standard
• Air ionizer and carbon filter for cabin air purity
• Updated steering column
• Updates to Alcantara interior trim, such as wrapped roof bow and top pad

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6XS6HE178I]

The acceleration is violent. Jarring. There is no other way to put it. It is like a roller coaster and actually puts your head back whether you want to or not. Watching the speedometer go from 0-75 so quick also doesn’t seem like real time.

Former Apple/Segway Hardware Exec Doug Field gave us our test drive and was able to explain in real time what was happening with the sensors as they read the street signs and followed the road lines through the maze. Touching the turn signal told the car to change lanes. It stopped slowly as it approached the car in front of it. All the while Field wasn’t touching the foot pedals or steering wheel.

Having a car go that fast and then drive itself is an unforgettable experience and by itself worth the trip to Los Angeles.

Checking in pic.twitter.com/cLJca1mf3e

— Seth Weintraub (@llsethj) October 10, 2014

Let’s just watch this together, OK?

I’ve just gotten word that the marquee feature of tomorrow’s Tesla event will be the P85D, a “supersport” version of the Tesla Model S which will have AWD as expected.

What’s perhaps not expected is what Tesla has been able to squeeze out of this battery and Dual-motor beast.  My understanding is that the vehicle has been testing (unofficially) under 3 seconds on the 0-60. This is incredibly fast.

That is supercar land my friends and blows away all but the very high end supercars out there like the high end Bugattis, Lamborghinis, Mclarens, Ferraris and Porsches.

I don’t have any word on the top speed but unless the front motor is geared differently (I know CEO Elon Musk promised Autobahn-driving Germans a higher top end), I would imagine that it should be able to at least hit the current P85’s top speed of 133mph.

I still believe the “other” thing that gets announced is the beginnings of Autonomous driving as we’ve seen previously. It also doesn’t sound like the Model X will get any showing time.  Read all of my predictions from yesterday

We’re pretty excited over here for tomorrow’s event and we’ll try to provide a livestream if there isn’t an official one (and they let us!) See you at Hawthorne airport!

So revising out the Model X of my expectation and thinking the AWD Model S can go from 0-60 in 3 flat.

I’m very excited to announce that I’m going to be going to LA for the Tesla D event launch and will be liveblogging it as it happens. Come back here Thursday evening at 7PM for all of the excitement.

We know a few things about the event, I’ve heard whispers on some other stuff, and I’ve got some learned speculation on other possibilities that might be announced. Here we go…
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’nuff said

Nice investigative reporting by AlJazeera’s America Tonight. Hopefully the dealer issue gets addressed at this week’s big D event

Autonews:

Tesla is developing a program to sell the Model S secondhand, Automotive News has learned, in a bid to lower the cost of entry for the $71,070 sedan and unlock the earnings potential of Tesla’s factory-owned retail network.

Tesla’s vice president of communications, Simon Sproule, confirmed that the company is developing a certified pre-owned program to compete with those offered by luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Not very newsworthy in that Tesla already sells certified pre-owned cars. But hey the guy, Simon Sproule, quoted just left Tesla for a job with his buddy at Aston Martin…

Sproule, who joined Tesla in April after holding senior comms roles at Nissan Motor Company and the Renault-Nissan Alliance, will report to newly minted Aston Martin CEO and fellow Nissan alum Andy Palmer. Palmer joined Aston Martin last week after spending 24 years at Nissan, most recently as chief planning officer.

Bokay! So what’s up with the D?

Analyst’s poor speculation turns into MarketWatch “report”

Tesla Motors Inc. will unveil its Model 3, the mass-market car, and new versions of the Model S sedan at the event Oct. 9, analyst Trip Chowdhry with Global Equities Research said in a note Friday.

A person with knowledge of the matter tells me that this isn’t true.

Previously, Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen said that Tesla would announce the Model 3 at the North American Auto Show in Detroit in January.

We might now know what Elon Musk teased about in his Tweet yesterday. The below shot was taken at a central California Airport and appears to show a P85D Model S (It doesn’t appear at first glance to be ‘shopped but you never know).

That Beechcraft in the background is registered in Mojave, CA. Full info on that plane: Aircraft Data N5717V, 1966 Beech 35-C33 C/N CD-1027. Metadata from the picture says it was snapped on Sept. 19th.

At this point it would seem that the new version could include AWD with Dual motors which would make it great for the upcoming Winter. We’ll know in a few short days.

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Wonder if that relates to tomorrow’s announcement.

Elon Musk is teasing on Twitter the launch of a new Tesla product. At first blush Model X Crossover SUV built on the Model S chassis would be assumptions. I’m not sure what the D stands for but jokes aside it could have something to do with the garage or the naming of the product.

D could stand for ‘Driver Assist’ that showed up in recent forum leaks from new Teslas.

D could also stand for ‘deliveries’ of the Model X though the latest word is that the Model X isn’t supposed to start deliveries until Early 2015.

Or perhaps, D could be a new version of the Model S or the Model 3 which was slated to be announced at the N. American Motor Show in Detroit. “D” could stand for Dual Motors for AWD.

We’ve got a week to find out.

About time to unveil the D and something else pic.twitter.com/qp23yi59i6

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 2, 2014

I love the Internet. Comments had me literally ROFL. No, it wasn't intentional. Glad I didn't mention the other letter!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 2, 2014

Nice catch by John Voekler on recent comments made by Bruce Anderson, president of the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association who recently shut down Tesla’s attempt to have a test drive event in the state.

Another longstanding state law prohibits auto manufacturers from selling directly to the public. Anderson said if carmakers owned dealerships, buying a car would be like buying a laptop at the Apple store — there would be one non-negotiable price.

“Independent dealers are aggressive in pricing against each other,” he said. “If you wanted to buy directly from Chevy or Ford, the price on the sticker would be the price.”

I’ve never met a human being who would rather buy something from a car salesman rather than an Apple Store.

Maybe for a nice tip, he’ll let you drive? via

The hair grew back, the wife had 5 kids then split, the Mclaren got totalled and X.com turned into Paypal and set up Musk with enough money to fund Tesla, Space X  and a little left over to fund Solar City.

Big news for those who are looking to Solar to power the world’s transportation over the next century:New York’s Governor Cuomo: