Electric Cars

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, we talk about legacy performance nameplates turning to battery power, the value of Tesla Autopilot data, and whether or not a $96,000 Chevy Silverado makes any sense at all, to anyone, for any reason. Plus, we check out latest high-performance Volkswagen’s ID.3 and ponder its place in the GTi’s

By Maria Merano Posted on August 5, 2024 General Motors (GM) launched a new employee performance rating system that includes 150% bonuses for the top 5% of workers.  The new system is expected to attract and retain the proper talent for the automaker. GM’s talent is expected to help the company produce electric vehicles (EVs). 

Velotric just announced the launch of its new Fold Lite, a lower-cost folding e-bike that still packs in most of what makes the brand’s e-bikes stand out so much. But that’s not all, because we’re also getting a look at the company’s recently launched “Plus” models, which bring new upgrades to classic designs. First off,

By Maria Merano Posted on August 4, 2024 Tesla Giga Berlin aims to increase sales before it proceeds with its expansion plans for the factory.  “We will not spend several billion on the expansion of the factory without the signals being clear that the market is asking for this,” said Tesla Giga Berlin plant Manager

The world (and life) moves fast and we humans can only do enough in our lives to keep up with it as best we can. One growing aspect that many are trying to find solutions to in the modern world is how to get to all our daily appointments – work, school, social events –

By Joey Klender Posted on August 2, 2024 Elon Musk’s attorneys are in Delaware today, pleading with Judge Kathaleen McCormick to vacate her decision to invalidate the Tesla CEO’s $56 billion pay package that was ratified by shareholders this past June. In January, Judge McCormick said Musk’s $56 billion pay package was invalidated because she

As a serious heat wave expands across the US, we look at how high temperatures affect EV range from battery range experts Recurrent. An intense heat wave is expanding from the Midwest to the East and West coasts, with 6.4 million people under excessive heat watch as of today. Temperatures are expected to reach 100F in multiple

By Joey Klender Posted on August 1, 2024 Elon Musk is being sued by Don Lemon following their testy interview on the social media platform X. Lemon claims Musk canceled a partnership that would see him create a talk show that would be available on the social media platform. Lemon filed the suit in a

VinFast (VFS) announced it has officially begun shipping its new mini electric SUV, the VinFast VF 3. Starting under $13,000, the new VF 3 generated strong buzz, with VinFast calling it a “social media phenomenon” ahead of shipments. VinFast kicks off VF 3 shipments for under $13K After introducing the VF 3 in January, VinFast

By Zachary Visconti Posted on July 30, 2024 Volkswagen is facing continued issues with its software, which is causing the automaker to delay multiple next-generation vehicle models, including the electric ID.4. The next-gen Volkswagen ID.4 is being delayed due to issues with the company’s Scalable System Platform (SSP) software, according to a report from German

When Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019, it announced plans to put more than 100,000 electric delivery vans on the road by 2040. Five years later, and the house that Bezos built just crossed the 15,000 EV milestone. Amazon famously partnered with Rivian, pouring serious money into a concept that (at the time) was

By Zachary Visconti Posted on July 29, 2024 Automotive chemical manufacturer Prestone is currently developing a low-conductivity electric vehicle (EV) coolant that scientists hope can increase EV efficiency. While ethylene glycol is used in both gas vehicles and EVs, including Teslas, Prestone has increased its research and development budget for learning about less conductive cooling

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, Elon claims FSD (Full Self Driving) 12.5 can go a full year without interventions, the Cybetruck’s range extender is a bit of a letdown, Cummins builds a massive new dyno, and they’re recycling solar panels in Texas. It’s a tale of two Teslas as the company takes two steps

By Zachary Visconti Posted on July 27, 2024 A Tesla executive has shared a photograph of the under-construction Semi factory at the company’s Nevada facility, alongside a rendering of what the plant is expected to look like once complete. On Saturday, Semi Program Head Dan Priestley posted the new rendering on X of the completed

Tesla has unveiled a render of its upcoming ‘Semi Factory’ to build electric semi trucks next to Gigafactory Texas in Nevada. The Tesla Semi program has seen some significant delays – even since it has officially entered production. It was first unveiled in 2017, and it was supposed to come to market in 2020, but

By Joey Klender Posted on July 26, 2024 Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave new updates on the company’s Humanoid Robot project, known as Optimus, yesterday, stating the company will have low production for internal use in 2025 and “hopefully” higher production in 2026 for other companies. The Optimus humanoid robot is one of Tesla’s newest

Solar panel recycling company SolarCycle is using secondhand solar panels to power its panel recycling plant in Texas. SolarCycle has installed a 500 kW solar array made of reused panels at its recycling facility in Odessa, Texas, which can provide around half of the electricity the plant uses. The array – which is made up of

By Joey Klender Posted on July 24, 2024 SpaceX recently reported that its Starlink satellites are making a massive number of collision-avoidance maneuvers every day, raising questions about the increased orbital traffic and how companies are avoiding disaster. In its Semiannual Constellation Status Report, which was filed on July 1 by SpaceX, the company said

On this, extra-dense episode of Quick Charge, we cover Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, Elon Musk talks cheap Tesla cars and cheaper 4680 batteries while promising to finally deliver on that new Roadster from 2017. While Tesla pushes back its Robotaxi launch, Google is powering ahead, beting $5 billion on Waymo’s expansion in to Texas. Plus,

By Simon Alvarez Posted on July 23, 2024 Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q2 2024 earnings call comes on the heels of the company’s Q2 2024 Update Letter, which was released after the closing bell on Wednesday, July 23, 2024.  Tesla posted total revenues of $25.5 billion, with automotive revenues of $19.878 billion in the second quarter. The company also

Tesla has released an encouraging update on the development of its 4680 battery cells, which it was reportedly close to giving up on. According to a recent report, Elon Musk reportedly gave an end-of-the-year deadline for Tesla’s team to deliver on the 4680 battery cell, which it first unveiled in 2020 and claimed would drastically

By Zachary Visconti Posted on July 21, 2024 U.S. public charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) may outnumber gas stations within the next eight years, according to a recent analysis from one publication. With fast-charging deployment continuing to accelerate this year, a Bloomberg Green analysis of U.S. Department of Energy data suggests that the number

Meet the Club Car UTV. A small, neighborhood-legal EV that its makers says combines the practicality of a pickup truck and the efficiency of a golf cart to shuttle workers and supplies around the job site. It’s so good, in fact, that it’s making me ask: is this the most practical electric pickup you can

By Zachary Visconti Posted on July 20, 2024 A Korea-based Tesla Supplier has been approved to build a $28 million facility in Texas, not far from the electric vehicle (EV) maker’s Gigafactory in Travis County. City Councilmembers in Buda, Texas this week approved Korea-based Tesla supplier Futronic to build its first U.S. location in the

Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone-maker that has recently taken a dip into electric cars with the SU7 has now unveiled a hyper-sports version of its 4-door EV in the SU7 Ultra, which it aims to be the fastest 4-door car in the world, gas or electric. The Xiaomi SU7 has been making waves as an affordable

By Joey Klender Posted on July 18, 2024 Tesla has made a simple change in its app to save your electric vehicle’s battery and range. EV owners across the board deal with the phenomenon of phantom battery drain, which is truly just a term that describes range loss due to the vehicle completing tasks while

At tonight’s Republican National Convention speech, Donald Trump declared that he’ll “end the electric vehicle mandate.” The only problem is, there is no electric vehicle mandate. The regulations he’s talking about are probably the EPA regulations, which notably do not mandate electric vehicles at all. Those regulations were supported by Tesla – whose CEO just committed

By Simon Alvarez Posted on July 17, 2024 It is no secret that the Tesla Cybertruck is a vehicle that is equally loved and despised by many, so much so that there seems to be a group of people who are itching to see the all-electric pickup truck fail. This was evident in headlines stating

We’re coming up on the home stretch of Amazon’s Prime Day deals, with the 2-day savings event ending tonight. Today’s Green Deals are all at their lowest prices to lend you a helping hand out in the yard and/or garden, with the headliner being the EGO Power+ 56V 21-inch Select Cut self-propelled lawn mower that

By Zachary Visconti Posted on July 15, 2024 Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for President in the 2024 election over the weekend, and now, some Tesla and electric vehicle (EV) enthusiasts are pointing to anti-EV legislation proposed last year by Trump’s newly selected Vice Presidential candidate. On Monday, Trump announced that his running mate would