Cars

Google’s self-driving cars may have an impressive safety record – having never caused an accident in more than a million miles of driving on public roads – but the company admits that their ultra-cautious approach can make them a little unpredictable and annoying to other drivers, reports the WSJ. Examples include taking a very wide approach on turns, and braking at the slightest sign of danger.

The cars are “a little more cautious than they need to be,” Chris Urmson, who leads Google’s effort to develop driverless cars, [said]. “We are trying to make them drive more humanistically” … 

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Tesla is set to launch the Model X today at the Fremont factory and CEO Elon Musk said there still are a few things we don’t know about the company’s all-electric SUV. Earlier this month we speculated that the Model X could have next generation headlights. Today we explore the likely possibility of the new vehicle being equipped with hybrid display/mirror for rear-view.
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This is part 2 of my report on the beta version of Tesla’s Autopilot. Please read part 1 if you haven’t yet. 

Most advanced commercially available autonomous features

The language about the responsibility around the ‘Autopilot’ is somewhat straight-forward. The system is clearly not intended to turn the Model S into a self-driving vehicle with a bunch of redundant autonomous features, but it’s rather an evolutionary step toward self-driving. It alleviates some tasks for the driver, but without ever taking any responsibility.

Tesla uses very clear legal language throughout the beta release to place all the responsibilities with the driver. The driver can and should take over control if he or she thinks it’s necessary.
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In mid-August Tesla sent out the first release of its beta v7.0 software update to early access testers all around the U.S. and parts of Europe. This particular update is an extremely anticipated one, not just because of the UI design overhaul, but because it includes several new ‘Autopilot’ features, which some Model S owners have been waiting for close to a year now.

We wrote a first look at the update when the release came out and we followed-up with Tesla’s second release of the beta v7.0 earlier this month.  Now this weekend I had the opportunity to fly out and have a complete (unofficial) walk-through of the new update and more importantly, I got to experience the new ‘Autopilot’ features.
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‘Wild’ may be an exaggeration but at the Tesla plant in Fremont, a spy caught a prototype Model X opening and closing (video below) its Falcon Wing doors . The spies seemed to be concerned about the door closing mechanism, and many of the mules we’ve seen have had partially opened doors,  but it is unlikely that this is the final design/spec.

In any case, we’ll be live on the Model X launch on the 29th, come back and join us! 
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Tesla was spot on when it updated the estimated EPA-rated range of its Model X P90D to 250 miles last week. The EPA released the official ratings of the 90D and P90D versions of Tesla’s upcoming all-electric SUV and confirmed that the P90D will indeed have a rated range of 250 miles. It’s non-performance counterpart will have a 257 miles range according to the agency.

The Model X is built on the same platform as the Model S and the SUV is expected to be about 10% heavier than the sedan. The ~10% bigger figure is consistent across most EPA ratings between the 2 vehicles.

Below the break you will find the EPA ratings of the Model X 90D and P90D compared to the Model S 90D and P90D:
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Tesla is still tuning the Model X’s options ahead of its launch scheduled for September 29th at the Fremont factory. Earlier this month, the company added an option for hitch accessories directly at the purchase of the vehicle in order to get around the limitations of the ‘Falcon Wing’ doors. Later, it updated the EPA-rated range to 250 miles for the P90D version of the all-electric SUV. Today we learn Tesla now added an option for a 6-seat configuration to the vehicle.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk was in the Netherlands today for the opening ceremony of Tesla’s second plant in Tilburg. The company already had a ‘final assembly factory’ in the city (see picture below), where the company completes the assembly of the Model S’s going to the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is currently traveling across Europe to meet with  Tesla employees and European politicians. During a press conference in Belgium, he briefly commented on the current Volkswagen scandal and cheating on emission-tests:

What Volkswagen is really showing is that we reached the limit of what is possible with diesel and gasoline.

If you need to cheat in order to pass emission tests with diesel and gas, maybe you should use something else? We expect Musk would prefer if manufacturers would use electric powertrains, like Tesla Motors…

Here’s the Video:
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Tesla World, an international conference about Tesla Motors organised by the Tesla Club Belgium, launched today in Antwerp and you can watch it live below.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, although not announced, is expected to be the “anonymous speaker” scheduled for 10:40 eastern time – 16:40 local time.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is currently traveling through Europe to meet with Tesla’s teams in European countries and meeting with politicians to promote electric vehicles. He is expected to visit Belgium on Friday and since we have been analyzing electric vehicle sales through car registration data, we decide to take a look at Model S sales in Belgium.
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We’ve all seen the videos. A Tesla Model S pulls up alongside an [insert name of supercar here]. The all-electric Tesla bursts off the line, immediately ahead of the other vehicle. Sometimes the other vehicle catches up. Sometimes it doesn’t.
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This morning Tesla updated the pre-order webpage for its upcoming all-electric SUV, the Model X, to indicate that new reservations will only ship out during the “second half of 2016”. Only yesterday, the estimate was “early 2016”, but with a growing backlog of reservations ahead of the September 29th launch, it is not surprising for Tesla to warn new buyers about the delivery schedule.
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During a press conference today in Germany, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla is in talks with “some [auto] manufacturers” to share the Supercharger Network.

In the past, Tesla confirmed being opened to the idea of sharing its extensive network of fast charging stations, which now operates over 2,900 chargers at over 500 locations around the world, but until now, we couldn’t confirm that any automaker showed interest in the offer.
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Renault’s all-electric compact, the Zoe, is the best-selling EV in France and still growing. Based on registration data gathered in the past 2 years, sales are up 132%. From January to August 2014, the France-based automaker delivered 2,609 Zoe’s in its home turf, and during the same period in 2015, it delivered 6,059 cars which represents a ~132% increase year over year.
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Chargepoint, one of the leaders in the commercial EV charging market, this week  announced a new line of home chargers that are available at Amazon.com. The lineup starts at $499 for an indoor (garage) with a 16A/240V which can add 12 miles per hour of charge. This is a little over double the speed of 110V 15A plugs that go into regular 110V outlets.

Outdoor charging, hard/plug wiring, cord length and double speed 32A all raise the price in $50-$100 increments where a 32A Outdoor with a 25-foot wire cost $799.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IDLMFS04Ug]

A quick look at Amazon’s best seller list (cached to the right)  shows that a few days in, Chargepoint dominates EV charger sales at the online retailing giant.

Chargepoint also offers an attractive design (which I got to review at CES at the beginning of the year), integration with Nest and other home automation platforms and software updates over Wifi which will bring new functionality in the future.

At a starting price of $499, however, there are some better deals on the market and particularly at Amazon especially if you are looking at straight W/$.

One of my favorite chargers (and the only other in Amazon’s top 10) is the Electric Motor Werks Juicebox 40A/10KW with 24′ cable for $499 shipped. This is more powerful than Chargepoint’s by a significant margin (40A vs. 32A) and equivalent to Tesla’s home charger and gets outstanding 4.5/5 star reviews from Amazon’s customers. It is so small that it can be taken off its bracket and used as a Travel charger anywhere there is a NEMA 14-50 plug…
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Germany is in the spotlight of the automotive industry as the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show is coming to an end. While we are sorting through vehicle registration data, we decided to take a look at the top-selling electric vehicles in Germany. Unsurprisingly, the BMW i3 is the best-selling all-electric vehicle in its home turf, but sales are down 27% year over year while Tesla’s Model S is gaining market shares by growing sales 84% based on registration data.
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