Any Tesla enthusiast knows full well that the name originally chosen for what was then Tesla Motors was based on a motor design credited to Nikola Tesla, who lived in the 19th century. Virtually every car that Tesla has produced, from the Roadster to the Model S to the Model X, has been powered by a version of that venerable 3-phase AC induction motor.
Our first thorough review of the Tesla Model 3, testing the car through the redwoods of Northern California.
At the Tesla Model 3 production vehicle reveal tonight, Tesla shared the official pricing and range of the two versions of the Model 3 initially available to customers. It will come in Standard at the base $35,000 price tag, which will feature 220 miles of range. The Standard trim is no slouch and will speed along from 0–60 mph in a mere 5.6 seconds, up to a top speed of 130 miles per hour.
As part of the Tesla Model 3 production unveiling tonight, Tesla blew our minds with updates in the pre-event webcast. Updates came from across the Tesla manufacturing network live, including from within the Fremont factory itself and way out in Sparks, Nevada, at the Gigafactory. As part of the Gigafactory update, Tesla shared that when it was up and running at full capacity, the Gigafactory would produce more batteries than the rest of the world combined … by a factor of 2!
In advance of the Model 3 Production reveal tonight, Elon Musk tweeted out the winner of Tesla’s Project Loveday contest. Technophile Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD) took top honors with his fan-made commercial depicting a day in the life of a Tesla owner, including a chance encounter and drag race against a Lamborghini.
Elon Musk has a long conversation with Chris Anderson, the moderator of TED2017, while he was in Vancouver last week. His remarks didn’t reveal anything truly new, but they did show the breadth of his vision of the future.
The European EV market had over 16,000 registrations last month, up 20% over February 2016, with YTD numbers up 38% year over year (YoY). The market is set to surpass 300,000 units (310,00) by year end. While the EV share is firmly north of the 1% mark, this growth is in no small part due to a refreshed BEV, that’s just gotten a 40 kWh battery.
The European EV market had some 19,000 registrations last month, up 31% year over year (YoY), with the Renault Zoe starting the year in the leadership position again.
While San Francisco and Portland are each publicly claiming they’ll have the best electric vehicle networks in place in their cities, San Jose may be have made the most progress. The city of San Jose has installed 7 charging stations so far, including spots at City Hall and a public … [continued]
