Car and Driver magazine explores what gives Tesla’s vehicles their comparatively long range. And apparently one factor is just “big batteries.
This may be obvious, but a battery that holds more energy should translate to more range, and Tesla has the largest battery packs out there… What isn’t always obvious is how much of a battery pack’s energy is usable versus its…
Tag: battery packs
Musk Promises Tesla Design Overhaul, ‘Ravecave’ At Berlin Plant
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will use its plant in Brandenburg, Germany to demonstrate a radical overhaul of how its cars are built, as well as making electric car battery cells and battery packs. Musk also said he has plans for a “ravecave” on the roof of the new factory, which would make it a “real fun place to…
BMW is Going All-in On In-car Microtransactions
BMW has detailed an overhaul to the digital systems that power its luxury vehicles, including a new map and navigation system, a revamped digital assistant, a “digital key” (first shown off at Apple’s annual developer conference last month), and wireless Android Auto. But the most interesting thing BMW shared about the changes is that the company is going all-in on in-car…
Model S Touchscreen Failures Prompts NHTSA Investigation
mschaffer writes: Some older Teslas (Model S) are experiencing problems due to a worn-out flash eMMC chip. The loss of touchscreen functionality prevents operators from being able to use the backup camera. This may potentially impact 63,000 cars. The agency also acknowledges that the same chip was used in the 2012 to 2018 versions of the Model S and the 2016…
Are Decentralized Renewable Microgrids ‘The Power Plant of the Future’?
Long-time Slashdot reader joemite shared Wired’s report about a small town of Basalt Vista, Colorado, where homeowners like Katela Escobar are testing highly scaleable “advanced power grid technologies that could turn every home into an appendage of a decentralized power plant.” Basalt Vista is designed to be an all-electric community that produces as much power as it uses. Each home comes…
Elon Musk Says Tesla’s New York Factory Will Make Ventilators ‘As Soon As Humanly Possible’
140Mandak262Jamuna writes: Elon Musk announced that the Gigafactory in Buffalo, New York, making solar roof tiles and battery packs for home energy storage is switching to making ventilators in collaboration with Medtronic. “Days after offering 1,255 free ventilators to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak, Tesla boss Elon Musk said the company’s New York factory will restart to make more,” reports…
Meet the Man Being Sued By the FTC Over His Kickstarter Campaign for a High-Tech Backpack
The Verge takes a 5,000-word look at a Kickstarter campaign “that raised more than half a million dollars, only to never ship and leave behind thousands of angry backers.” “The difference in this story, however, is that for only the second time, the Federal Trade Commission is coming for the creator.”
The agency claims Doug Monahan took his backpack funds and spent…
Will Plunging Battery Prices Start a Boom In Electric Power?
An anonymous reader quotes Utility Dive: Average market prices for battery packs have plunged from $1,100 per kilowatt hour in 2010 to $156 per kilowatt hour in 2019, an 87% fall in real terms, according to a report released Tuesday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Prices are projected to fall to around $100 per kilowatt hour by 2023, driving electrification…
Why the Electric-Car Revolution May Take a Lot Longer Than Expected
New submitter magzteel shares a report from MIT Technology Review: A new report from the MIT Energy Initiative warns that EVs may never reach the same sticker price so long as they rely on lithium-ion batteries, the energy storage technology that powers most of today’s consumer electronics. In fact, it’s likely to take another decade just to eliminate the difference in…
Hyundai Releases Car With Solar Panel Roof
Hyundai has released a version of its Sonata hybrid that has solar panels to help charge its battery. The BBC reports: The Korean car maker said up to 60% of the power for the car’s battery could be supplied if the solar roof was used for six hours a day. The panels would provide enough power to propel the Sonata for…