Cars

Toyota debuted its next generation Prius plug-in hybrid, now called the ‘Prius Prime’ today at New York Auto Show. The vehicle is the second generation plug-in hybrid Prius and it’s built on the Japanese automaker’s fourth generation Prius platform unveiled last year.

The new version of Toyota’s flagship hybrid is expected to achieve 22 miles of range on a single charge and a 120+ MPGe rating. Those are company estimates and not verified by the EPA yet.
Expand
Expanding
Close

We’ve seen plenty of Tesla Model S 0 to 60 mph acceleration tests, but we’ve rarely seen tests of the car’s top speed, which is advertised at 155 mph (250 km/h). So rarely, that I forgot that the speedometer actually turns red when approaching the top speed.

It’s probably due to the logistics of testing a vehicle at such speed, which can’t be done outside of a select few roads and tracks, but today we get to see a fun and quick test in all legality from AutoTopNL on the Autobahn.
Expand
Expanding
Close

The Canadian Federal government, led by the newly elected Liberal party, unveiled its first budget this week and it confirmed a significant deficit for the next two years (~$29 billion) attached to important tax cuts for the middle class and families.

As for EVs, if you were hoping for a federal tax credit for electric vehicles, you will be disappointed, but the government is still throwing a few bones to EV enthusiasts.
Expand
Expanding
Close

In our ‘Tesla Model S tuning gone too far?‘ post last week, we featured a strange and heavily modded Tesla Model S which, as reader and Tesla Taxi driver Christian Roy pointed out, is actually Black Eye Peas singer Will.i.Am’s car.

Today we get a better look (though the car doesn’t look better) at the Model S via a new video.
Expand
Expanding
Close

We are trying not to forget the Chevy Bolt EV in all the excitement around the Tesla Model 3 unveiling and today GM made sure to remind us of the vehicle’s existence with a quick video announcement that the long-range electric car entered pre-production on the Orion Assembly line.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Following the persisting rumor that Tesla is planning a “facelift” or at least new options for the Model S starting this spring, we learn that the automaker could also increase the price of its flagship sedan in the US as soon as next month, right after the Model 3 unveiling set for March 31st.

We are hearing several reports of Tesla representatives reportedly warning prospective customers that the Model S will see a price increase by the end of April.
Expand
Expanding
Close

We have been speculating about the “real-world” range of the upcoming all-electric (BEV) version of the Hyundai Ioniq for a while now, especially since the company confirmed it will have a 28 kWh battery pack, but now Hyundai confirmed that it expects it will achieve an EPA-rated range of 110 miles.

The Korea-based automaker was previously suggesting that the pack can enable 155 miles on a single charge, but as we discussed when Hyundai first release the estimate, it is more likely to be based on the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), which is known to be less restrictive than the EPA standard.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Last summer, Tesla introduced both a new and bigger 90 kWh battery pack and the ‘Ludicrous mode’ upgrade for a higher level of performance on the already insane Model S. The automaker offers the upgrade for a $10,000 premium when configuring a Model S P90D or as a retrofit for Model S P85D owners who, at the time, had just witnessed their less than 1-year old cars already outperformed by the new version.

Tesla ended up significantly reducing the price of the retrofit to just $5,000 for the P85D and now for the first time, the automaker is offering the upgrade as an aftermarket retrofit for the Model S P90D – meaning that someone configuring the Tesla’s top of the line vehicle could decide to pass on the ‘Ludicrous mode’, but later add it for the same price plus labor.
Expand
Expanding
Close

In a blog post today, Tesla released all the details on how to reserve a Model 3 on March 31st, including the deposit required depending on your country and currency.

Tesla reiterated that reservation starts on March 31st worldwide in store, while it first said that it will be starting at 10am Pacific (5pm UTC), now the automaker wrote that it will take reservations when the stores open – you can check your local store business hours here. Online reservation will start at 8:30pm (3:30am UTC) at the same time that the livestream of the event will start.

The online reservations will be available on the automaker’s newly acquired domain Tesla.com, which currently simply redirect to Teslamotors.com.
Expand
Expanding
Close

When Tesla launched the Model S in 2012, the automaker used the lack of console between the two front seats to highlight the car’s flat floor, something you can only build with an electric vehicle. Then Tesla launched the Model X last year and surprisingly the center console was now a default option in Tesla’s SUV, but it remained an option on the Model S until now.
Expand
Expanding
Close

We’ve seen some pretty ridiculous Tesla drag races over the years, more recently a Model S vs a snowmobile, but this one easily takes the first prize. At first glance, it might look like a fair fight, a Alfa Romeo 4C versus a Alfa Romeo 4C, but the second one is actually being towed by a Model X P90D.

If we want to be more accurate and look beyond the gimmick, the race is really between a Alfa Romeo 4C and a Tesla Model X P90D towing ~2,500 lbs, which is still an interesting experiment. 
Expand
Expanding
Close

As we reported on Friday, local Reno media outlets were given rare access to the Tesla Gigafactory and we even got our very first glimpse of the manufacturing floor. Though reporters were not allowed to take footage of the assembly line and it looks like all pictures were from the same angle near the offices.

Now it appears that someone with better access leaked several pictures of Tesla’s Powerwall and Powerpack assembly line, and it’s awesome.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tesla’s Gigafactory, which is located near Reno in Nevada, was busy with outsiders this week. After CEO Elon Musk and SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive organized an event Wednesday night for Nevada politicians and top government officials, today local media were given access and were even allowed to take a few pictures inside.
Expand
Expanding
Close

The excitement around the upcoming unveiling of the Tesla Model 3 is at an all-time high and even though we are less than two weeks away from the event, some people can’t wait and are yearning for leaks.

Unfortunately, it is leading to a multitude of fake leaks recently, whether intentional or not. Most are simply confused by amateur renderings simply trying to envision the Model 3, which we already covered, but here I attempt to debunk a few more that are popping up this week.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tesla will soon have more charging stations in Manhattan than there are gas stations in the city according to a report from the NYPost:

Looking to make driving less of a pain for the 1,500 owners of its electric cars in the Big Apple, Tesla motors plans to greatly expand its network of Manhattan charging stations to 105 by March 31, The Post has learned. Each will be able to provide a full charge in as little as four hours — and most will be free to Tesla owners. The expansion, green-lighted by Tesla founder Elon Musk, means there could soon be three times as many electric-car charging stations in Manhattan as gas stations.

It wasn’t specified in the report which was *verified* by Tesla PR, but those charging stations will all be 40-80A destination chargers which can charge a Tesla with up to 58 miles per hour of charge. The nearest Supercharger is still at JFK airport as far as we can tell so the Post’s opening line:

Charging a Tesla in Manhattan will soon be easier than gassing up the family sedan.

…is kind of BS…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Last year, famous Silicon Valley venture capitalist and early Tesla investor Steve Juvertson recalled a conversation he had with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick:

Travis recently told me that in 2020, if Telsas are autonomous, he’d want to buy all of them. He said all 500,000 of estimated 2020 production, I’d want them all, but he couldn’t get a return call from Elon.

Well apparently Kalanick couldn’t wait any longer and reportedly already placed an order for 100,000 autonomous Mercedes S-Class sedans, according to sources inside Daimler and Uber talking to German magazine Manager Magazin. 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Around the same time Tesla allowed its employees to place an early reservation for the Model 3 last night, the automaker also sent out the official invites for the Model 3 unveiling event on March 31st.

650 Tesla owners have been chosen at random to attend the event in Los Angeles. It will be a much smaller, more intimate event than Tesla is used to with around 800 people in total in attendance. The company also confirmed that rides will be available not only for the press, but also for the Tesla owners in attendance.

The invites seem to confirm that the “3” in “Model 3” will be stylized with 3 horizontal lines just like the “E” in Tesla’s logo.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Email receipt upon Tesla employee ordering Model 3

Last week we exclusively reported that employees would have early access to Model 3 reservations and this morning, employee sources have confirmed that the invitations went out at around 1am PT. Employees weren’t given a look at the Model 3 or any of the specs and are ordering it sight unseen. Two different sources say that almost everyone they knew in the company would make a reservation, again sight unseen, so Tesla should have a pretty good orders start with its 15,000 strong employee base…
Expand
Expanding
Close

A Tesla Model S test vehicle with a new suite of sensors has been spotted in the San Francisco Bay Area last night, as reported by a Redditor on the Tesla forum.

The vehicle appears to be equipped with LiDAR sensors on the side mirrors, a new front-facing camera, and additional sensors around the car. Although it’s definitely a Tesla Model S, it doesn’t necessarily means the car is owned by Tesla or that the automaker is testing this particular hardware suite.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tesla seems to have added a new set of 20″ wheels and winter tire package for the Model X on its aftermarket store this week. The new Tesla wheel is called ‘Helix’ and comes equipped with Pirelli Scorpion winter-rated tires.
Expand
Expanding
Close