Tesla is an innovation powerhouse. As part of that, it publishes a fair number of patents. We don’t get around to publishing stories on every interesting patent we see, so here’s a quick roundup of Tesla patents published in recent months that we haven’t covered.
Tesla uses computers to make driving safer, whether its by keeping the windshield clear or delivering precisely the right amount of torque to the wheels. Now you can access the trip planning tool from the internet as well.
Tesla emailed approximately an hour ago that it just opened North America’s largest Supercharger station … er, two of them.
What’s more interesting to me is that they represent a transition into a different charging dimension. Kyle Field and I have been talking about this for a couple of years — the future of public charging needs to include more amenities, more relaxation opportunities, more commercial attractions, and just overall more ::stuff:: (forgive the consumerist language and implications here).
I recently used Tesla’s smart navigation system to drive from Wrocław (Poland) to Berlin (Germany) and back, and then I used it again a few days later on a long trip to the Polish boonies. Tesla doesn’t call it “smart navigation” — just sticking to the boring basic term “navigation” instead — but this beast is brilliant and performed much better than I expected. However, I learned something from these drives that I think anyone using this navigation option should know ahead of time. I’ll get to that in a minute.
