Cars

Momentum Dynamics, a wireless charging startup, sent out a press release this week claiming that they will deliver 200 kW wireless charging systems by the end of the year. In comparison, the company had previously only delivered 25 kW and 50 kW systems, and just recently, it was testing a very slow 1.5 kW wireless charger with Google for its self-driving car prototypes.

A 200 kW system would not only be faster than most charging stations, but it would also have higher output than the Tesla Supercharger’s 135 kW charge rate.
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After Tesla unveiled the first Model 3 prototypes last month, the interior design had electric vehicle enthusiasts puzzled. The lack of instrument cluster and the center 15-in display with all the controls raised a few eyebrows. Some speculated that the concept is hinting at the possibility of either a heads-up display (HUD) or fully autonomous technology integration.

Musk commented that it will make more sense after the second part of the Model 3 unveiling, which will happen closer to production in late 2017. Coincidently (or not), we now learn that Tesla recently hired an augmented reality/HUD expert from SKULLY.
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While we’ve seen the exterior of Tesla’s Gigafactory from almost every angle – we even shared a time-lapse of its construction yesterday – we haven’t seen much of the interior of Tesla secretive battery factory.

A select few local media outlets were allowed to take pictures last month and then leaked pictures gave us a decent look at the Powerwall assembly line, but now we should be about to get our first official look inside the plant.
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Tesla Vice-President of Business Development Diarmuid O’Connell was in Amsterdam yesterday for the AVERE E-mobility Conference. The long-time Tesla executive, and one of the company’s first 50 employees, gave a short presentation before doing a Q&A with the audience.

O’Connell shared a quick update on the increasing number of Model 3 reservations Tesla has been receiving since unveiling the vehicle last month. After a week, Tesla confirmed in a blog post having received 325,000 Model 3 reservations, another week later, O’Connell now says that “something approaching 400,000 people” have already reserved the vehicle.
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Self-driving cars are expected to facilitate the life of a lot of people with disabilities, like the visually impaired, but also some elderly people who often face restrictions when driving after a certain age.

Of course, it will require a period of adaptation as evidenced by this 70 years old woman’s first experience with the Tesla Autopilot caught on video.
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Switzerland was Tesla’s breakout European market last year and it continues to be an impressive market for the company. Deliveries were up 213% year-over-year at the end of 2015 and now we learn that  Model S deliveries are up 117% in the first quarter 2016 versus the same period last year, according to registration data.
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Tesla’s latest update didn’t only introduced a new Easter Egg that changes the animation of the road detected by the Autopilot to a Mario Kart-style rainbow road, we learn that it also enabled an interesting new feature that can modify the performance settings of Tesla vehicles to the performances of other models.
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Electric vehicle startup Faraday Future, also known as FF, is moving forward with its $1 billion factory in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The company is holding an official ground-breaking ceremony with state officials today – you can watch the stream below.

FF also released several new details about the factory and its features, as well as the concept rendering seen above.
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While Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn had a welcoming reaction to the unveiling of the Tesla Model 3 and the subsequent storm of reservations for the vehicle, General Motors’ Vice President of Global Propulsion Systems, Dan Nicholson, is not as gracious as his colleague.

The GM executive was critical of Tesla’s reservation process, which requires a deposit and wait time for delivery, and he went as far as to imply financial troubles at Tesla as a reason for the deposits.
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Although Toyota is betting big on hydrogen vehicles, the Japanese automaker seems to be slowly warming up to electric vehicles as an alternative to broaden its lineup of zero-emission cars. This week, the automaker unveiled a new electric vehicle concept in partnership with Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR).

Unfortunately for EV enthusiast, it’s another ‘weird-mobile’ and it’s called the uBox.
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Update: sources with knowledge of the matter tells us that the turnover in Tesla’s leadership team is currently “pretty good” especially for a tech company in Silicon Valley.

Tesla’s executive team has seen more stable days. Electrek learned this week that Tesla’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Deputy General Counsel, James Chen, left the automaker earlier in the week to take a job at an undisclosed company. Chen’s departure follows two other VPs who also recently left Tesla, VP of Finance and Worldwide Controller, Michael Zanoni, and Ricardo Reyes, Tesla’s VP of Global Communications.

It now adds up to three senior members of Tesla’s executive team to leave the automaker in about two months.
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Volkswagen has been trying to improve its brand image since the ‘DieselGate’ scandal last year, and part of the effort to remedy the situation has been to reiterate its commitment to electric vehicles. CEO Matthias Müller has since announced that the group’s brands will introduce 20 new electric vehicles by the end of the decade.

More recently, VW decided to showcase its EV initiatives through a public event at its ‘Transparent Factory’ in Dresden.
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Although far from having completed the project, it’s quite impressive what Tesla accomplished in the Nevada desert in a little less than 2 years – of course that’s with the help of several contractors and its partner, Panasonic.

After breaking ground in July 2014, before even announcing a deal with the state, Tesla has now completed the first phase of its giant battery factory, which should soon be officially inaugurated.

You can watch a quick time-lapse of its construction below.
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While the Tesla Model S grabbed much of the attention today with its redesign and a few new features, the automaker also quietly released a new ‘Tesla Wall Connector’ on its equipment website, which went virtually unnoticed.

The new charger is rated at up to 80 amps, just like the previous version, but it’s now significantly cheaper starting at $500 instead of $750, and it now features a “power sharing” function.
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A Tesla Model S crashed at high-speed in the guardrails on the highway between Abensberg and Siegburg in Germany yesterday. Fortunately, the driver was reportedly (via Focus.de – German ) only “slightly injured” and her life was not in any danger.

What is particularly interesting about this crash is that the local fire department used the incident as an example of how to respond to an electric vehicle crash and even shared pictures on their website.
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Now that we can finally take a good look at the official and final design of the Model S’ new front fascia (though we don’t have third-party pictures yet), we want to know what you think of it. You can answer the poll and leave a comment below.
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We had a sneak peak this morning, but now Tesla made it official. We first reported on an expected Tesla Model S facelift at the end of last year and even though Tesla denied working on a design refresh at the time, it became increasingly clear that it was in the works. We have since then received information from sources on exactly what that would look like, as well as new features to be introduced with the updated sedan.

We will update this post as new information is coming in:

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Update: It’s now official. Here’s our post on the new and updated Model S.

We first reported on an expected Tesla Model S facelift at the end of last year and even though Tesla denied working on a design refresh at the time, it became increasingly clear that it was in the works. We have since then received information from sources on exactly what that would look like, as well as new features to be introduced with the updated sedan.
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