Tesla Alumni Launch Smart Electric Panel to Make It Easier to Go Solar – Tom’s Guide

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Converting to clean energy is excellent for the environment, but complex installation procedures make it hard to turn to alternative power sources. Span, a company ran by Tesla alumni, is hoping to change that with the introduction of its Smart Electric Panel.

Founded by Arch Rao, Tesla's former energy head of product, Span builds products that can deliver a positive impact on the environment. The Smart Electric Panel, for example, encourages conversion to a clean energy smart home by removing the need for several different pieces of installation equipment. Instead, it offers a single integrated device that aims to replace the traditional home electric panel.

Electrical panels havent seen significant innovations in over three decades despite being the ideal center for controlling home energy and bringing intelligent connectivity into homes, Rao said. We are excited to launch a product that will accelerate the adoption of renewables while transforming the customer and installer experience.

While there are smart circuit breakers and even a few other smart electric panels currently on the market, the Span teams experience with Tesla could bring significant interest to such a device. Tesla helped make electric cars cool, after all.

The Smart Electric Panel streamlines clean energy initiatives and hardware in the home such as solar, storage, and electric vehicle chargers. It offers customizable backup power, giving customers the ability to prioritize the available energy in their homes. This could be useful during situations like a power outage.

(Image credit: Span)

Customers can use the Span mobile app to monitor and operate home energy from anywhere at any time.

The San Francisco-based company is hoping its Smart Electric Panel proves an innovative and realistic alternative for clean energy homes.

Ive been waiting for a product like this for years, said Josh Powell, CEO of Revolusun Smart Home and Hawaiis leading solar and storage installer. Its the perfect technology innovation for the next generation of clean-energy homes. Its going to look better, perform better for homeowners, and simplify everything we do as installers both today and for retrofits down the line.

Span is working with select installation partners to station the Smart Electric Panel system as early as this year. The company hopes to expand production and deployment next year.

The company plans to provide more detailed information about partnerships with specific battery providers as it launches the Smart Electric Panel.

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Tesla Alumni Launch Smart Electric Panel to Make It Easier to Go Solar - Tom's Guide

Why Tesla Seems to Be Struggling with Q3 Deliveries – Market Realist

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Tesla (TSLA) delivered a record 95,200 vehicles in the second quarter of 2019. The companys Q2 deliveries beat the previous record set in the fourth quarter of 2018. However, TSLAs deliveries tapered down in the first quarter of 2019.

We see an uncanny similarity between Teslas record deliveries in Q4 2018 and Q2 2019, as both quarters coincided with the gradual withdrawal of the federal tax credit. Tesla cars were eligible for a $7,500 tax credit last year, which fell to $3,750 on January 1, 2019. On July 1, the tax credit decreased further to $1,875.

Starting in 2020, Tesla cars wont be eligible for the tax credit. The record deliveries in Q4 2018 and Q2 2019 were boosted by the carry forward demand by Tesla car buyers taking advantage of the higher tax credit.

After its record Q2 deliveries, the company sounded optimistic over third-quarter deliveries as well. The companys July 2 statement noted that it is well positioned to continue growing total production and deliveries in Q3.

TSLAs second-quarter earnings call echoed these views, and it ruled out much of an impact from the lower federal tax credit. The company maintained its 2019 delivery guidance of 360,000400,000 vehicles.

In our viewand even TSLA bulls would agreethe company has often been a bit too optimistic with its projections. We believe that achieving its Q3 and 2019 delivery guidance could be a tough task. Lets take a closer look.

Last month, TSLA brought back free unlimited supercharging for new Model S and Model X cars. This was a limited period offer, which the markets considered in conjunction with the companys falling Model S/X sales.

While the companys consolidated deliveries rose sharply in the second quarter, its Model S/X sales fell year-over-year. During the companys second-quarter earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted to some cannibalization on the Model S/X from its Model 3 sales.

However, the positive aspect of Teslas Q2 delivery report was the surge in its Model 3 sales. TSLA sees the Model 3 and the upcoming Model Y as its growth drivers in the long term.

Tesla might also consider adding free supercharging to spice up its Model 3 sales. Electrek reported that Tesla has authorized its sales staff to offer two years of free Supercharging for new Model 3 orders that get delivered by the end of the month.

Although Tesla often says that it is demand-constrained, the free supercharging offer for Model 3 cars doesnt corroborate that position.

Earlier this month, InsideEVs reported that according to its estimates, Tesla delivered 13,150 Model 3 cars in the United States in August. In comparison, it delivered 13,450 cars in July and 21,225 cars in June.

As we previously noted, Teslas US deliveries spiked in June as customers jumped in to take advantage of the higher tax credit. Looking at the Model 3 sales estimates and Teslas free supercharging offers, it wouldnt be an unfair assessment that TSLA might be facing difficulty in achieving its ambitious delivery targets.

While TSLA has struggled to make sustainable profits, bulls have pointed to the companys strong top-line growth and the growing popularity of its vehicleseven its rivalsappreciate its achievements.

However, if demand for the Model 3 has plateaued in the United States, that isnt good news for Tesla bulls. While Tesla is expanding into several international markets, and Chinas Gigafactory should also be operational by the end of this year, the US market is still crucial for the company.

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Why Tesla Seems to Be Struggling with Q3 Deliveries - Market Realist

Sleeping With Tesla Autopilot May Explain Some Of Tesla’s Safety Numbers – Forbes

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Tesla vehicles offer Autopilot, which will keep a car in its lane and tracking cars in front of it. They can go a few miles even if the driver falls asleep.

Recently, there have been a variety of debates and reports of people in Teslas on highways, asleep at the wheel, being driven by autopilot. There have been various videos posted online shot by people in other cars, including this report of police halting a car with a drunk sleeping driverfrom last year.

When Tesla Autopilot is engaged, it watches for the driver to apply light steering force on the wheel or do other interactions with the wheel. This is the only way they have to detect if hands are on the wheel or not. Some drivers learn how to apply a constant light force, others tweak every so often. This has caused great confusion in reports on Tesla accidents which include phrases like "the driver's hands were not on the wheel." In reality, for many Tesla drivers with their hands firmly on the wheel will not trigger the torque sensor.

If you don't trigger it for a modest amount of time (as little as about 20-30 seconds, according to recent reports) you get a visual warning on the screen. If you go longer, the warning gets brighter. Eventually,at 45 seconds it issues an audible warning. Finally, after 60 seconds, it will begin to slow the vehicle, eventually coming to a stop in the middle of the lane. (This suggests that some of those who have cruised alongside a "sleeping" Tesla driver long enough to take a video may have been punked.)

That's clearly something you don't want to have happened, but it's also vastly better than what happens if you fall asleep at the wheel of a car without Autopilot, which results in an accident a large fraction of the time. In fact, there is a strong suspicion that a very significant number of car accidents and fatalities are caused by falling asleep at the wheel. Alas, there is no blood test to perform on a crashed driver to find out if they were asleep, the way one can test for drinking. We do know that 60% of fatal accidents are single-car accidents, where a car simply ran off the road, and only some of them involve alcohol.

You clearly don't want to fall asleep when using a driver assist lane-keeping/ACC system like Autopilot. These systems may drive for an hour without needing any intervention and seem very impressive, but that rate would mean a dangerous high-speed accident one time in 60. In addition, stopping in the middle of the highway is a poor idea. At the same time, if you do end up drifting off, you are much better off if you have such a system on. (This leads to a paradox I'll discuss below.)

Tesla releases safety numbers every quarter. Their most recent report reads:

In the 2nd quarter, we registered one accident for every 3.27 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged. For those driving without Autopilot but with our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 2.19 million miles driven. For those driving without Autopilot and without our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 1.41 million miles driven. By comparison, NHTSAs most recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash every 498,000 miles.

At first, the numbers sound very impressive. However, in spite of repeated attempts, Tesla has declined to explain the difference between an "accident" and a "crash." The NHTSA number involves crashes reported to the police. There is speculation, which Tesla refuses to clarify, that "accident" might mean an airbag-triggering crash. There is strong reason to suspect different things are being measured because even with the ADAS tools in a Tesla, drivers not using Autopilot should not have 3 times as good a record than average.

Another complication is that Autopilot is marketed as only for highways, and while it works on some non-highways, the bulk of its use is there. The accident rate on freeways, per mile, is drastically lower. Some research suggests as much as 2-3 times lower. The severity of highway crashes is greater, but the frequency per mile is much lower. Tesla has declined many requests to disclose how many of the Autopilot and non-Autopilot miles listed above are on freeways, rural highways and urban streets, and until they do, the numbers they publish do not provide useful information. While they might, as Tesla implies, suggest that driving with Autopilot has an overall superior safety record than driving without it, we don't know enough to say. In addition, the NHTSA statistic is for all roads.

Nevertheless, if the accident rate with Autopilot on the highway is truly better than the rate for non-Autopilot on highway an "apples to apples" comparison the sleeping factor may be more than sufficient to explain it. People who fall asleep in regular cars (or Teslas not using Autopilot) are probably getting in a lot more accidents than those using the system. (It should also be noted that many cars today have collision warning and prevention systems and lane departure warning systems which will also awaken drivers or even prevent an accident. These systems will act when the car veers from the lane or is about to hit a vehicle in front, while the Autopilot does most of the driving task so that those things don't happen in the first place, but both will reduce accidents.)

In general, it sounds like it's a good idea if driving while drowsy, or impaired, to have Autopilot on. Yet at the same time, it's a terrible idea to drive while drowsy or impaired. The paradox is that the increased level of safety could lead people to take the risk. If you can't keep your eyes open, you should pull over yet many people don't. The existence of Autopilot can easily lead to somebody being less likely to pull over, or worse, less likely to pull over when drunk. We all know we aren't supposed to drive in these states, but we do, and it's probably the cause of half of all serious accidents, particularly on weekend evenings. More study is needed to learn how the existence of ADAS and Autopilot changes the risks people take, to figure if it's an overall safety loss or win.

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Sleeping With Tesla Autopilot May Explain Some Of Tesla's Safety Numbers - Forbes

Tesla Autopilot V10 In-Depth Road Test With Useful Bookmarks – InsideEVs

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Want to know all about the Tesla V10 software update, specifically with regard to the upgraded Autopilot technology? There's arguably no better way to see how it all works than to watch it in detailed video format.

We can't say enough how much we love these long, in-depth videos with plenty of coverage. To top it off, YouTuberDriveLosAngeles has taken the time to apprise us of "bookmarks" for each relevant Autopilot action as demonstrated in his Model 3. This is fantastic since many people may not have the time to sit down and watch the entire video immediately.

Check it all out and then share your takeaways with us in the comments below. Moreover, if you own a Tesla and have had some experiences with the V10 software update (positive or negative), we look forward to hearing your take.

Tesla Firmware Version 10 - Road Test (w/ bookmarks)

Dear #Tesla,

Thank you for making such a fabulous machine. Today I achieved in my mind Level 3 autonomy. I was able to get through an on-ramp, 3 freeways, auto lane changes, hov to hov, and exit the off-ramp at my destination. In this journey the steering wheel, gas pedal and signal stalk was not touched once! There was a single moment that I needed disengage NOA so that it can maintain the lane on the 110 HOV. That will be an interesting bookmark for your Autopilots team neuro network decision logs. The current state of the autopilot, FSD, Autolane change is making my commute SUPERBLY pleasant to endure! =) Many thanks again Tesla!

Best, DriveLosAngeles

V10.0 BETA (2019.32.2.11 1A8580f)#Autopilot #autonomousdriving #model3

Bookmarks for the relevant autopilot actions 01:52 02:23 03:59 04:18 04:54 05:36 07:43 08:08 HOV entrance 20:40 HOV to HOV interchange 22:47 just lowering cruise speed, not cheating 23:51 33:28 35:20 40:16 40:52 43:34 - Off Ramp

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Tesla Autopilot V10 In-Depth Road Test With Useful Bookmarks - InsideEVs

Cuomo on whether Tesla will meet job targets: ‘We will find out next year’ – Buffalo News

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo doubled down on his support for Teslas state-subsidized South Buffalo solar panel factory Tuesday, telling the Buffalo News Editorial Board that he was not disappointed by reports that the firm's solar business is struggling.

The RiverBend factory, which manufactures components for solar installations and Teslas electric vehicles, was built with $750 million of state subsidies as part of Cuomos Buffalo Billion stimulus program. Under the terms of Teslas agreement with the state, the company was to create 1,460 jobs in Buffalo by April 2020 or face a $41.2 million penalty.

The plant employs almost 800 people in Buffalo, according to state officials, which means it will have to hire 660 more in the next seven months.

"You want to engage in anticipatory, contingent anxiety? No. ... ," Cuomo said. "We will find out [if Tesla met its job targets] next year. We know what the contract says. We know what the obligation says. We know the precaution that was built in. We have damages."

At present, Cuomo added, Tesla is ahead of its state-mandated hiring target, which called for 500 jobs by April 2019, including employees at Panasonic, its partner at the solar panel factory. He cited the new jobs as evidence of Buffalo's economic "momentum" and "energy."

But the Tesla project has been dogged by controversy almost from its start, prompting the states chief fiscal watchdog to open an audit of it last year. Among other issues, Tesla has repeatedly failed to meet its production targets for its highly anticipated solar roof, and its solar energy deployments plummeted more than 70% between April 2015 and 2018. (In a July 29 tweet, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said the company was expanding production rapidly and hoped to manufacture ~1000 solar roofs/week by end of this year.)

Workers at the Buffalo plant, where jobs were initially pitched as high-tech and well-paid, also make entry-level wages of about $16 an hour. Asked whether types of jobs available at Tesla met his expectations, Cuomo said he didnt know what the breakdown" of job types at the plant is.

Critics have also raised questions about why the state agreed to 10 amendments to its original agreement with SolarCity, now owned by Tesla, to reduce job targets and create an escape clause for the firm if local or national policy changes adversely affect it. A clause in the agreement potentially could allow Tesla to avoid $41.2 million in state penalties if the company fails to meet hiring targets because of changing conditions in the solar energy industry.

On Tuesday, Cuomo indicated that it was too early to speculate about the escape clause. And if Tesla did try to use it, Cuomo indicated that it could lead to a court fight.

"If they want to take it to that extreme, it would be a court of law that would make that determination," he said.

Tesla is good news all this is good news," the governor later added.

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Cuomo on whether Tesla will meet job targets: 'We will find out next year' - Buffalo News

What the GM Strike Means For the Fremont Tesla Factory – California Globe

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For the first time since the early 20th century, a General Motors strike has not had a striking factory in California. After the closure of the Fremont Factory in 2009, GM hasnt come come back. Yet, as the 2019 GM strike seems to rage every place else but California, its last closed factory here could be seeing a spark in unions.

After Tesla bought the Fremont plant in 2009 and started producing Tesla electric cars, one major component of car factories was missing the United Auto Workers. Tesla has largely blocked unions. Prior attempts to unionize in 2017 and 2018 were stopped by various means, including supposed intimidation tactics and not allowing union literature inside the factory.

GM workers today want better pay, more secure jobs, and better healthcare. GM has responded that lower sales means that they have to cut costs and let people go to stay competitive.

While the pay is generally lower than other factories in the East, and job security and health care are often wanted, that isnt what concerns many workers at the Tesla Factory its the conditions.

We spoke with a factory worker, John, about the Fremont facility and whats happening, and about his concern about the conditions.

More money would be nice, but its not about that, John explained. We need to be safe here, and to work reasonable times.

We cant get through to management, so having a union get through that would be worth it. A lot of workers here think that paying union dues for that protection so we dont get crippled or die, is worth it.

John confirmed CNBC reports from two years ago about how workers were worked to the brink on the factory floor, working so long that management began giving red bull to keep workers awake. Even two years after the report, many workers are still facing tiring hours due to the high demand of Teslas.

Any talk of a union is quashed. Regardless of how anyone feels about unions, its still an American right to join one to achieve better conditions and achieve our own American Dream.

We always see things about how unions are corrupt, how theyll be a wall to management, and how they only care about money. At least one of my supervisors told me this. And, even if those are true, which they arent, a lot of workers here still want to join. Its that bad.

Other works have claimed that there is a fear that workers trying to unionize will also lose their jobs over it, and be told that it was for performance issues or some other excuse.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), has had Tesla under investigation on and off over its practices for over two years.

Tesla has said in response that they do care about employees health and well-being, and that they offer a good wage for more than 40,000 workers at the Fremont Plant. A worker who wished to remain anonymous told the Globe Its a good job. Its a factory job, so its not what youd call glamorous. But its pretty fair all in all. Many workers dont see why they need a union if everyone is being treated fairly.

Tesla has also said in a statement over its conditions and injury issues: Reducing excess overtime and improving safety are extremely important. This is why we hired thousands of additional team members to create a third shift, which has reduced the burden on everyone. Moreover, since the beginning of Tesla production at Fremont five years ago, there have been dedicated health and safety experts covering the factory and we hold regular safety meetings with operations leaders. Since the majority of the injuries in the factory are ergonomic in nature, we have an ergonomics department focused exclusively on this issue.

The net result is that since January 1st, our total recordable incident rate (TRIR) is under 3.3, which is less than half the industry average of 6.7.

So what does this mean for the Tesla factory in Fremont?

If GM workers succeed and get the pay, job security, and healthcare theyre striking for, a successful strike could show workers in Fremont that strikes and unions can still get things done.

Thats it for a lot of people here, John stated. No one will join if they think it cant get anything done. But if this one works, and believe me, both the workers and management are paying attention to it, then were going to be seeing a lot more people asking about it. Well see more people wanting to join. Its happened before. Those first big strikes in Michigan in the 30s had a domino effect across the state, and onto places like Ohio.

In 2019, a successful strike in Michigan will hit us here in Fremont.

We are afraid of what will happen if we unionize, John added. But if workers, especially the younger ones who really dont like the idea of them or grew up without them, see what they can do, we just might have a union here.

The anonymous worker gave his take.

They dont have to work here, he said, audibly sighing on the phone. If we get a union involved, then that means we might see a shift go, or they move to Alabama or something. A lot of us are getting by fine. This will screw us all over, including people like me who dont want anything to do with them.

Both of our sources noted that management had been jumpy since Monday, and that televisions behind closed doors audibly had coverage of the strike going on. Both of our sources also said that the result of the GM strike will sway many workers on what they want.

It remains to be seen if the GM strike is ultimately successful. But it very well may hold the key to the future for the UAW setting up shop in Fremont once again.

Evan V. Symon is the Senior Editor for the California Globe. Prior to the Globe, he reported for the Pasadena Independent, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and was head of the Personal Experiences section at Cracked.

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What the GM Strike Means For the Fremont Tesla Factory - California Globe

Watch Tesla V10 with new Netflix, YouTube, Caraoke apps in action surprisingly refined – Electrek

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We get our first look at Tesla V10s new Netflix, YouTube, and Caraoke apps in action and they look surprisingly refined.

Yesterday, we posted the full release notes of the latest Tesla V10 software update for early access owners.

V10 includes a bunch of new or updated features:

Now a Tesla owner in the early access program going by All Electric on YouTube released a first look video at some of the features more particularly the Netflix, YouTube, and Caraoke apps in Tesla V10:

Teslas user interface is not without bugs and some problems, but it is widely recognized as years ahead of the rest of the auto industry.

With this new update, Tesla keeps pushing further with the first integration of Netflix and YouTube directly into a car infotainment system.

As you can see, the apps look surprisingly well polished for beta features.

Its quite special to see Netflix and YouTube working directly on a cars center display, but its actually not that surprising that they work so well.

Earlier this year, Tesla started updating its in-car internet browser with Googles Chromium and Teslas new Netflix and YouTube apps look a lot like their Chromium versions.

The Caraoke app also looks fairly well-made.

However, the update is still lacking some other features, especially new Autopilot features like Smart Summon, and more requested entertainment features, like Spotify.

Those updates are still coming. I think theres a false perception of Teslas focus on new features delaying those Autopilot features.

I doubt thats the case. Its not like the same engineers work on all those apps and there could be a bunch of other reasons for delaying those features, like regulators for Autopilot features and exclusivity contracts for Spotify/Slacker.

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Watch Tesla V10 with new Netflix, YouTube, Caraoke apps in action surprisingly refined - Electrek

Tesla’s Million Mile Battery – Seeking Alpha

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Electric car and energy storage maker Tesla (TSLA) announced back in April that it would soon have million mile car batteries. This like many Tesla claims was met with skepticism by some and ignored by others. A recently published paper reporting Tesla sponsored battery research by Jeff Dahn and his team at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, suggest that this time Tesla's claims may be real. Investors long or short Tesla shares as well as investors in the wider electric car and energy storage sectors should look closely at this work and what its publication implies.

As a practical matter, the batteries Tesla is currently using in its electric cars appear to be fully adequate in terms of life for consumer passenger cars. A battery good for 500 charge/discharge cycles and delivering a range of 300 miles per charge will run an electric car for 150,000 miles without replacement - and if many partial charge cycles rather than repetitive full discharge cycles are used, for a much greater distance. Commercial vehicles with higher utilization are a different matter.

One of the "digs" made about Tesla's million mile battery claim was that consumer electric cars generally are not used for a million miles so having a battery that will outlast the car by a wide margin would be a waste and of no real competitive advantage. Semi trucks, taxis, buses and other commercial vehicles on the other hand do see million mile careers and for such vehicles a long life battery is attractive. A similar argument applies to grid storage applications. In both commercial vehicles and grid energy storage, the full capacity of the battery tends to be cycled - not just the 10-20% daily cycling seen in typical urban private BEVs where full battery capacity is used only for occasional long trips. What is more, in a commercial application, either vehicular or energy storage the economics drive cycling the battery as frequently and as fully as possible to maximize the battery's economic utility.

What an exceptionally long life (high cycle life) battery does is to improve dramatically the economics of commercial vehicle and energy storage battery applications. An electric semi truck offers excellent operating economics due to the much lower cost of electricity compared to diesel fuel. This economic advantage disappears however if the battery has to be replaced. The same thing applies to a robo-taxi, a bus or a large grid storage battery. A long life battery, a battery capable of many thousands of full charge / discharge cycles makes these commercial applications economically compelling.

Before looking at a couple examples it is important to understand what is and what is not being reported from this Tesla sponsored battery research. Jeff Dahn and others involved in this work have presented a very specific and detailed recipe for making NMC532 high nickel content lithium cells with exceptional cycle and shelf life. The following figure from the above linked paper compares the cells newly reported by Dahn et.al. with data from commercially available NMC532 cells. These new cells have dramatically better cycle life, even under very severe cycling conditions and elevated temperature.

A very detailed description of the chemistry and manufacture is included, so that according to the paper, these cells can be reproduced by other researchers (and battery companies) and serve as a benchmark. Essentially Dahn (and Tesla) are throwing down the gauntlet and saying to the industry, "If you can't do at least this well, you probably should not bother playing the game." At the same time, the NMC532 cathode material is not cutting edge in that it still contains substantial amounts of cobalt which carmakers are working hard to eliminate for reasons of cost and supply chain reliability. It is reasonable to assume that Tesla's internal work is more advanced and focused on a lower or even zero cobalt formulation of cathode materials.

Now, let's consider what the cycle life demonstrated by this Tesla sponsored battery work implies for real-world applications. From the figure, these advanced batteries can be charged from 0% to 100% state of charge, then discharged to 0% state of charge, even at 40C (104F) 3,500 times and still retain 90% of original capacity.

A semi truck with this type of battery and 300 mile range per charge could be operated 100,000 miles a year in a desert climate, every year for a decade (1,000,000 miles) and still retain 90% of initial battery capacity, even if the battery were cycled from 0% to 100% to 0% on every charge cycle. Of course cycling the battery less than 100% on each cycle would allow the battery to last even longer (see figure above). Such a battery will essentially last the entire service life of typical semi truck. Dahn and Tesla have just demonstrated the technology for the million-mile battery claimed by Tesla back in April.

Now consider the problem of grid storage. A grid storage facility can expect to achieve better temperature control than can a moving vehicle. So, again referring to the above figure, cycle life of these new cells is at least double, even under extreme cycling conditions if the temperature is limited to 20C (68F). A grid storage facility operating with lower cell temperature could cycle the energy storage battery from 0% to 100% to 0% every day for 20 years and still have 90% or so battery capacity available. To put this in context, for a grid storage battery costing $150/kWh installed and cycled 7,300 times (365 days a year for 20 years), the battery amortization per kWh is $150 / 7,300 = $0.0205/kWh.

If the "battery cost" of storing electricity is just a couple of cents per kWh stored, the possibilities for harvesting cheap wholesale electricity at times of over capacity for later use or sale are tremendous. The following screen-shot shows the electricity distribution nodes in the CAISO (California Independent System Operator) system where (blue circles) the 15-minute-ahead electricity price is negative for wholesale customers. This is a typical afternoon situation [9/10/2019 @ 2 pm]. At the Anaheim node, a wholesale customer is actually paid over 8 cents per kWh to take energy.

For a "bigger picture", here are all the CAISO distribution nodes with wholesale price 3 cents per kWh or less. This covers almost all CAISO distribution and electricity supply across much of the western US.

Let's consider for a moment a Tesla "UltraCharger" station for recharging Tesla electric semi trucks. With a set of long-life grid storage batteries, the station can harvest low cost energy from the grid when prices are low or negative. In some cases a cleverly sited station will actually be paid to take energy. Even a randomly sited station should be able to time its taking of energy from the grid into storage so as to pay less than 3 cents per kWh for grid energy. Even if all the energy the station supplies to Tesla semi-trucks passes through the grid storage system, Tesla's cost for energy delivered to customer trucks will be a nickel a kWh (and much less in many cases) before station operating costs. Tesla has promised to recharge customers' Tesla semi-trucks for 7 cents a kWh, something that starts to look financially viable with very long life grid storage batteries.

Long-life batteries with great cycle life will enable commercial electric vehicles and economically compelling grid storage applications and Tesla knows how to make them. So what? Didn't Jeff Dahn just spill the beans and tell every Tesla competitor out there exactly how to make these batteries, too? What does publication of this research - complete with the detailed "how to" recipe - say about the state of Tesla's battery technology.

First off this work involves NMC532, a cathode material with a 5:3:2 ratio of nickel, manganese and cobalt. These are not cutting-edge cells from the standpoint of cobalt use and going forward any serious player in electric cars/trucks or grid storage will be looking for a much lower cobalt solution. Many players are looking to NMC811 which contains half the cobalt and Tesla has said that their current NCA cathode material uses less cobalt than even NMC811. No serious player is going to go after Tesla using these NMC532 cells. The cells and the method for making them will be used largely for the purpose Jeff Dahn and his colleagues put forth in their paper - as a benchmark for others developing more advanced cells. The "trick" for Tesla competitors (and perhaps for Tesla, too) will be to make cells as good as those described, but with cathode formulations using much less, or preferably no cobalt.

An important question for investors is what will it take for competitors (or even Tesla) to achieve batteries with these excellent long-life characteristics, and do so with minimum/no cobalt and at competitive cost? To answer this, we need to look at what innovation is disclosed in connection with these exceptional batteries. Presumably it will be replication of the key innovation, but with low or cobalt free cathode formulations, at low manufacturing cost that will yield competitive lithium batteries for vehicles and for grid storage.

The key innovation disclosed in this work is cathode material with particles each comprised of a single crystal and covered with a nano-scale protective coating. These cathode particles are of small (2-3 micron) size and each is a single crystal of LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 with a titanium-based nano-coating. According to the study authors, it is the single crystal structure of the individual cathode material particles that is critical because single crystal cathode particles resist cracking under repeated full charge/discharge cycles far better than do particles consisting of multiple, randomly oriented crystal grains. One of the big challenges for all the players will be creating single crystal cathode powder with consistent particle size and evenly applied nano-scale coatings in high volumes and at low cost.

It is in the manufacture of these precision, single crystal cathode powders that I believe an exceptional investor opportunity lies. But first an important note:

Disclosure: I am not a professional investment advisor and I am currently long Nano One (NNOMF), the company whose involvement I am about to relate. Nano One is a small-cap company with shares currently priced at about $1 and fewer than 70 million shares outstanding. Investment in Nano One or any similarly small company that is currently not profitable and with very small revenues is a risky proposition. Investors should not invest in Nano One or any very small-cap company funds that they are not willing to put fully at risk.

Manufacturing cathode powder with precision sized, single crystal, coated particles is a far from trivial problem. And huge amounts of these cathode materials will be needed. For instance, for Tesla/Panasonic to make 35GWh of cells at the Nevada GigaFactory will require something like 50,000 tonnes/year of cathode powder similar to the weight of the WWII battleship Missouri. It is one thing to make such powders in the lab, or by complex grinding-sizing-roasting-grinding-sizing-roasting... processes as is current industry practice. Making huge amounts of these powders economically is going to be a challenge and the manufacturing economics will really, really matter. The reason most cathode powders are not single crystal is the cost of processing. It's cheaper to roast and grind fewer times and live with polycrystalline cathode powder - even if the cells don't last as long.

There is a small company, Nano One, that is focused on developing low-cost, precision cathode material processing. Nano One's business model is to license its process to major industry players. I believe this combination of having a (potentially) silver-bullet process and licensing the process rather than manufacturing cathode material at scale offers exceptional leverage for investors because quite small capital investment by Nano One and hence by Nano One investors will potentially yield significant, long-term royalty income from the manufacture of vast quantities of cathode material.

The Nano One process works for most lithium ion cathode materials and the company is currently working with China's Pulead (supplier of 15% of world LFP cathode material) to scale the Nano One process for LFP. The company is also working with VW (OTCPK:VWAGY) to again scale its process for a different but undisclosed cathode material. Nano One states it is also working with several other unnamed auto and battery / battery materials companies.

What this should be telling investors is that Tesla competitors have at least one process technology source for making precision, single crystal cathode material and that companies like VW will be very much "in the game" when it comes to battery development competitive with Tesla. Investors should also appreciate that long-range semi trucks, robo-taxis and at-scale grid storage are all on the way now that we have a demonstrated path to the required long-life batteries.

Information from Tesla sponsored battery research has been publicly disclosed that shows both that exceptionally long-life lithium batteries can be made, and how others can make such batteries. A reasonable presumption is that Tesla has (possibly, but not necessarily with partner Panasonic) this kind of long-life battery technology in hand for use in, among other things, its coming semi-trucks.

Investors should also realize that the "how to" for long life batteries has just been given out to Tesla competitors. There is however a catch. The cells and manufacturing process described is for a cathode material with substantial cobalt content and these specific cells will probably not be competitive in the vehicle and grid storage market going forward due to the cobalt content. Realistic competitors (and Tesla itself) will need to replicate this work with cathode formulations having much less or no cobalt to remain competitive.

Small cathode process development company Nano One is interesting both as an investment opportunity by itself and also as indication that at least some Tesla competitors (VW and its platform partner Ford (F) in particular) are suiting up with key cathode making technology to compete in this arena.

Disclosure: I am/we are long NNOMF. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: Disclaimer: These writings about the technical aspects of Tesla, electric cars, components, supply chain and the like are intended to stimulate awareness and discussion of these issues. Investors should view my work in this light and seek other competent technical advice on the subject issues before making investment decisions.

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Tesla's Million Mile Battery - Seeking Alpha

Podcast: Teslas upcoming new battery, Tesla Plaid Powertrain, EVs from Frankfurt, and more – Electrek

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This week on theElectrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy, including Teslas upcoming new battery, Tesla Plaid Powertrain, EVs from Frankfurt, and more.

Support our show!

The Electrek Podcast is me, Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief of Electrek, and Seth Weintraub, founder and publisher of Electrek and the 9to5 network, discussing all our top stories of the week while taking questions from our readers and highlighting the most insightful comments on the site.

The show is back live every Friday at 4pm ET onElectreks Youtube channel. As a reminder well have an accompanyingpost, like this one, on the site with an embeddedlink to the live stream. Head to theYoutube channelto get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5pm ET, the video will be archived onYouTubeand the audio on all your favorite podcast apps through ourRSS feed:https://electrek.co/podcastRSS. Grab thequick link to iTunes here.

We now havea Patreonif you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast today:

Heres the live stream for todays episode starting at 4:00pm ET (or the video after 5:00pm ET):

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Podcast: Teslas upcoming new battery, Tesla Plaid Powertrain, EVs from Frankfurt, and more - Electrek

Tesla Sentry Mode catches couple mistaking Model 3 for their Hyundai Elantra – Driving

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The Tesla Model 3s new Sentry Mode yknow, the feature that turns on the parked cars cameras when the vehicle is disturbed has by now caught some very weird things on video, were sure.

But this clip of a couple walking up to a white example and repeatedly reaching for door handles that arent there has got to be one of the more chuckle-worthy.

The clip, posted to the TeslaMotors sub on reddit, shows the pair walking up the Model 3 from a nearby strip mall. The driver-side Sentry camera shows a man in a white shirt walk up, fumble for the cars retracting flush-with-the-body door handles about three times, pause to press the key fob to unlock the car, then try for the non-existent handle again.

On the other side, his passenger fares just about as well.

Footage from the passenger side of the parked Model 3 shows the couples also-white 2015-ish Hyundai Elantra just two spaces away and explains maybe just a little bit how they mistook one entry-level four-door for another.

We get that walking up to and opening your car is something you do so often, thats so subconscious, that even the smallest distraction might throw your brain for a loop and why you might forget your car, last you checked, had door handles, ones that dont pop out via key-fob button.

But its mistaking the Model 3 for the Hyundai in the first place you can see the latter at the bottom in the photo below, Model 3 on top that confounds us, unless youre really engaged in your conversation, we suppose. At the very least, I guess its sort of a compliment to Hyundai-designers-of-four-years-ago that people could confound the two.

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Tesla Sentry Mode catches couple mistaking Model 3 for their Hyundai Elantra - Driving

See This Tesla Model S Making Smoke? A Bug Is The Cause – InsideEVs

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Tesla vehicles are praised for their active and passive safety levels. Nonetheless, some drivers would love to see what their EVs can actually do. The DragTimes YouTube channel managed to discover just that. In fact, it was Dan, a friend of Brooks Weisblat, the video presenter. And it shows a way or a bug, well probably never know to disable all active safety systems in a Model S.

Weisblat repeatedly warns viewers not to try the bug at home. But the warnings are just a legal procedure to make sure people will take responsibility for choosing to do so. This is something they are normally not willing to do. Especially when they can just sue other people to take the blame.

With the legal concerns duly handled, Weisblat uses the bug to have his Model S completely untamed. It also loses the regenerative braking, a situation that makes the Tesla coast. Really.

When Weisblat decides to do a 0 to 60 mph run, he realizes Launch control is also not available. That makes the tires spin more than necessary, lose traction, and, consequently, time.

Making a perfect acceleration time takes time. The driver has to know exactly how much pressure to put on the gas pedal at first and afterward. At least when you talk about an ICE car.

Electric vehicles, with their instant torque, probably do not allow for that sort of fine modulation, hence the Launch control.

But the smoking part of the video literally is when Weisblat decides to make donuts with his Model S. He does that in an empty parking lot. Thats when we discover the car resets if it stays put for a little while.

The final part is when the video presenter teaches Model S owners how to deactivate the systems. As he warned, do not do that unless you are willing to take full responsibility for what happens. Knowing what you are doing at the steering wheel also helps a lot. Have fun with your Model S. Responsibly, please.

In this video I turn off all restrictions and limiters in my Tesla Model S P100D which allows some sort of track mode and a lot of fun.

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See This Tesla Model S Making Smoke? A Bug Is The Cause - InsideEVs

Tesla Model 3 dominates global EV sales, chases down fossil fuel competitors – The Driven

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Global sales of the Tesla Model 3 electric sedan are blowing all other electric vehicle (EV) competitors out of the water, selling almost 3 times more globally than its nearest competitor in the first half of 2019.

There were 128,000 Tesla Model 3s delivered to customers worldwide in the first six months, well ahead of Chinese-made BJEV which sold 49,000 of its EU-series and almost four times as many Nissan Leafs.

But comparisons against other EV models are getting to be old hat its the comparison of Model 3 sales to comparative internal combustion engine (ICE) models that tells the real tale in the latest figures from EV sales database EV-Volumes.

EV-Volumes lists Tesla Model 3s major ICE competitors as the BMW 3 and 4 series, Mercedes Benz C-Class and Audi A4 and A5 which this table immediately above shows sold in the vicinity of 200,000 for each brand (noting that this means multiple models).

The Model 3 is already reaching more than half of their global sales no mean feat and yet another indicator of the vehicles global success.

In the first half of 2018, when the Model 3 was only on sale in the US, there were under 30,000 units delivered to customers, but sales have increased four-fold since its release on European, Chinese and now right-hand markets including the UK and more recently Australia.

In terms of total plug-in electric vehicle sales, which includes both battery electric (BEV) and plug-in electric (PHEV), overall sales were up 46% for H1 2019 year on year (YoY).

The increase 358,000 units is equal to the entire US EV market share for 2018. The market as a whole also saw a marked shift to BEV sales compared to PHEV sales, with three-quarters of plug-in sales in the first six months of 2019 being battery electric.

China accounted for the lions share of that growth in the global EV market, with a 66% increase on H1 2018 sales.

That was a bigger percentage than the US, probably reflecting the biggest jump (89%) in 2018 when the Tesla 3 overcame production difficulties and filled a backlog of orders, and the fact that other big US car-makers are yet to embrace EVs in the same way as other countries.

Early figures for July showed some slowing of plug-in sales compared to the first half as revised Chinese subsidy schemes came into full effect no surprise there considering that for H1 2019 China accounted for 57% of EV sales globally.

As for Australia, EV-Volumes does not yet count EV sales here they are still way too sparse to warrant attention.

Data however from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has captured a positive shift in EV sales here of late, albeit without the all-important Model 3 sales figures.

However as indicated by Tesla delivery staff it appears that since it became available in Australia in August 2019 there are already some thousands of Model 3s slated for delivery making it also now the most popular EV in Australia, as it is overseas.

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, as well as using her technical skills in managing our websites.

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Tesla Model 3 dominates global EV sales, chases down fossil fuel competitors - The Driven

Driving A Tesla Model X Through Flood Waters May Look Cool But Isnt A Good Idea – Carscoops

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Driving a car through floodwaters is never a good idea. In fact, it is almost always a very bad idea (even more so when were talking electric cars), yet the owner of a Tesla Model X thought theyd give it a shot during a recent flood in Mitchell, South Dakota.

As local news reporter Colton Molesky was filming a segment about the local flood, a white Tesla Model X came into view and was filmed making a dangerous crossing. Molesky is evidently shocked by what he sees and we dont blame him.

It appears as though the water may have been about 1.5 feet deep at some points and as the Model X makes its way across, water rushes over the hood and approaches the windscreen. The electric SUV also creates a fairly significant wave as it pushes through the water, forcing the news reporter to actually jump out of the way.

Also Watch: Like A Boss Tesla Model S Driver Ignores Deep Floodwater, Emerges Victorious

The Tesla Model X impressively makes it through the water without any issues but thats not the most important lesson to learn from watching this video. What you should take away from this video is that you should never do what the Tesla driver did.

First off, a driver has no way of knowing how deep a crossing like this is nor the condition of the road surface beneath the water. In addition, the wave created by driving a car through a flood can send additional into nearby cars or even houses.

A similar video surfaced back in 2016 showing a Model S driving through a flooded tunnel in Kazakhstan. Elon Musk took to Twitter to say that Tesla did not recommend driving vehicles through floodwaters.

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Driving A Tesla Model X Through Flood Waters May Look Cool But Isnt A Good Idea - Carscoops

Sweeney Gives Support to ‘Tesla Lawsuit’ – InsiderNJ

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Says state has failed to enforce the consumer law

TRENTON Senate President Steve Sweeney today gave his support to the lawsuit filed by automotive retailers alleging a number of state agencies are failing to enforce the consumer law putting restraints on the sale of electric cars from non-dealer facilities.

The legal action by the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers claims that the Motor Vehicle Commission, the Attorney Generals Office and the Division of Consumer Affairs have all allowed Tesla to circumvent the 2015 law limiting sales to four locations. It also alleges a variety of anti-consumer practices.

We put in place a law that gave Tesla some modest flexibility to sell their vehicles at the same time it respects the rights of competing car dealers, said Senator Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland). The state agencies responsible for enforcing the law have failed to live up to their responsibilities. This is unfair to franchised dealers and consumers. These dealers are important to the states economy and the economic vitality of their communities.

Tesla uses what it calls galleries to market its vehicles to consumers, bypassing the long standing legal requirement that all new cars be sold by franchised dealers. The validity of the 2015 law granting them limited dispensation is based on enforcement, Senator Sweeney said.

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Teslas a Game Changer When It Comes to Windshield Wipers – Car and Driver

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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The last car part you'd ever think would change is being revolutionized by Tesla, which has filed a patent for a new windshield-wiper design. The basic windshield wiper hasn't changed in a long time. It's just a small gear set that rotates back and forth to move the wiper blade across the windshield. Sure, wiper blades have gotten more advanced as manufacturers have learned how to make better contact with the windshield and keep the view out less streaky, but Tesla shows in this patent application that it's looking at the problem in a fresh way.

Published on September 5, Tesla's patent filing describes an "electromagnetic wiper system for the windshield of a vehicle." This single-blade design is supposed to be more efficient and better-looking, according to Tesla's description, although from the drawings it appears it could also be adapted to a dual-blade setup. It works using electromagnets and guide rails. Picture high-speed maglev trains, named for the magnetic levitation they use to move quickly and efficiently from place to place; it's like that on a smaller scale.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Tesla's design involves a block attached to the wiper arm and blade. The arm is connected to two guide rails to keep the system in place and to ensure that the blade makes contact with the windshield. The block is how the entire arm-and-blade assembly moves, since the block moves on a set of magnets surrounded by electromagnetic coil. When a current passes through the magnet and coil, the block will move across the windshield and take the arm and blade along with it.

It's no small point on an EV that, with this system, the wiper needs to draw less power from the car's battery. Tesla mentions that the mechanical components of the traditional wiper blade create a lot of friction, which requires more power to the motor that moves the arm back and forth. Electromagnets are essentially frictionless, so the only friction in Tesla's wiper system is from the guide rails on which the arm slides. This reduction in power being drawn could increase the already astonishing 370-mile driving range of a Long Range Tesla Model S, but we'll have to wait and see for ourselves to know how much of a difference this makes.

Tesla was also thinking about its Autopilot system when conceptualizing the patent for the wiper system. The argument is that traditional wiper systems aren't as robust as this new electromagnetic system; time and weather can lead to corrosion, making the traditional setup less effective over time. The resulting lack of visibility could hamper Autopilot and other autonomous-driving aids that use cameras to track lanes and objects around the car. Better visibility is better for the cameras and, of course, for the driver.

At the end of the day, Tesla is doing what it does best: revolutionizing. Having vastly expanded the idea of what an electric vehicle can be, the company appears to be taking that same mindset to the details, like windshield wipers.

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Teslas a Game Changer When It Comes to Windshield Wipers - Car and Driver

General Motors vs. Tesla: Software Engineer Pay – Dice Insights

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If you believe the hype coming out of the tech industry,autonomous driving is the future of how well get around. And theres perhapsno bigger hype-driver than Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who breezily predicted earlierthis year that vehicles will become almost fully autonomous bymid-2020 or so.

Of course, Musk has predicted that degree of autonomy foryearsat one point, he also said that full self-driving features would arrivein Tesla vehicles by 2019. Nonetheless, Musk is just one of the manytechnologists working towards our self-driving future; his company is locked infierce competition with Waymo, a Google subsidiary that has been pilotingself-driving taxicabs onthe mean streets of suburban Phoenix, as well as Uber (which hasexperienced someautonomous-driving setbacks) and the traditional auto industry.

One of those auto-industry stalwarts, General Motors, has made no secret of its interest in autonomous vehicles. Its self-driving division, known as Cruise, has collected roughly $1.15 billion in investments from a variety of outside funders, which means its at least somewhat serious about producing a car that can drive itself within the next few years. (Its workers, meanwhile, are very serious about getting additional concessions from management, because 50,000 of them are currently on strike.)

But as any technologist will tell you, winning a race likethis all comes down to talentand talent wants to get paid. With that in mind,how much do software engineers at General Motors make? And how does thatcompare to salaries at Tesla?

Fortunately, we have levels.fyi, which provides tons of crowdsourced salary information, to give us at least some idea of how these companies match up. Lets start with Tesla; the compensation levels listed below represent a mix of base salary, stock, and bonuses:

Now lets take a look at General Motors:

What can we conclude from this data? Asweve mentioned before, Tesla pays its software engineers a solid salary,although we hear that the stress placed upon them is often enormous, completewith grinding schedules and multiplereports of burnout.

But General Motors seems to pay its software engineers appreciably less, at least according to the crowdsourced breakdown available on levels.fyi. Granted, not all software engineers at GM are involved in autonomous driving (and those who do might be earning bigger salaries than average), but if this is representative of how much the company is willing to pay for engineering talent as a whole, then its going to struggle to face down technology companies that are muscling into the automotive space.

Just forcomparisons sake,Facebookpays its newbiesanaverage base salary of $111,250, a bonus of $67,000, and stock options worth$116,875.Entry-levelAmazon recruits,meanwhile, earn an average salary of $108,000, combined with a bonus of $51,142and stock options of $70,000.Googleshells out an average of $115,000for entry-level engineers, combined with a $44,000 signing bonus, stock optionsworth $139,000, and an annual bonus of $22,000. That represents quite a hurdlefor non-tech companies such as General Motors if they want to compete for thesame pool of talent.

Indeed, there are indications that some companies arewilling to pay many millions for those technologists with an ideal mix ofexperience and skills in building autonomous-driving platforms. Google, forexample, paidsome members of its autonomous-driving team so much that they actuallyquit, loaded up with enough cash to retire or start their own companies. Anycompany that wants to compete in this arena, in other words, may have to pay anabsurd amount of money to those with the right knowledge to get the jobdone.

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General Motors vs. Tesla: Software Engineer Pay - Dice Insights

Toyota using Tesla-style Panasonic batteries for China hybrids: sources – Reuters

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp has started using the same type of battery that Panasonic Corp designed for Tesla Inc in some of its plug-in hybrids sold in China, sources familiar with the matter said.

FILE PHOTO - A Toyota logo is displayed at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland March 5, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Toyota is using Panasonics cylindrical batteries in its new Corolla andLevin plug-in hybrid sedans launched in China this year, one of the people said.

The batteries are the same size as those that Panasonic makes for Tesla, but the composition is different, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the matter is private.

The move reflects Toyotas efforts to secure stable supplies of high-quality batteries amid the accelerated global shift to electricity-powered cars.

Japans biggest automaker co-developed the batteries with Panasonic over a period of several years as it expands its lineup of electrified vehicles, according to one of the people, who has direct knowledge of matter.

A Panasonic spokeswoman said the company is not in a position to comment as a supplier, while Toyota declined to comment.

The Nikkei newspaper reported the news earlier.

Toyota has favored square, or prismatic, batteries for its vehicles, and uses some manufactured by Panasonic for its hybrids. The two companies announced a joint venture in January to build electric-vehicle (EV) batteries, pooling the R&D and manufacturing strengths of one of the worlds largest automakers with one of the largest battery makers.

Toyota has also partnered with Chinas Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) and EV maker BYD Co Ltd for battery procurement.

Toyota is believed to have ordered about 50,000 of the cylindrical batteries, pushing Panasonics battery plant in Osaka to full capacity, the Nikkei said.

Panasonic has been the exclusive battery cell supplier for Tesla, but the U.S. electric vehicle maker is in advanced talks with South Koreas LG Chem Ltd as it seeks to diversify sources of the key component.

Reporting by Kevin Buckland and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Stephen Coates

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Toyota using Tesla-style Panasonic batteries for China hybrids: sources - Reuters

Ford, GM rev up electric pickup trucks to head off Tesla – Reuters

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DETROIT (Reuters) - Large pickup trucks that tow most of the profits in to Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co are holdovers from another century - with heavy ladder frames and big internal combustion engines in the front driving the wheels in the back.

Now, Ford and GM are racing to design radical new takes on their most profitable models, replacing petroleum-fueled engines with batteries in a bid to outflank Tesla Incs plan to eclipse their brands. Fords F-150 pickup and GMs Chevrolet Silverado are the top selling vehicles in the U.S. market.

This is going to be a real watershed for the whole industry, Ford Chairman Bill Ford told Reuters in a recent interview. The automaker has disclosed few details about the electric F-series, but Bill Ford hinted the truck could have load-carrying space under the hood in addition to the traditional bed in the back.

You pick up all that extra space where the engine compartment has been, Ford said. An electric F-Series could be a work truck - with its batteries functioning as a job site power source, he said. And it could be positioned as a high-performance vehicle next to the gas-fueled, 450 horsepower Raptor pickup truck.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based company has said it will invest $11.5 billion electrifying its vehicles by 2022, including adding 16 fully electric models, all of which will be profitable.

Ford and GM have more than one reason to take chances on electric pickups - a concept that some analysts and industry executives say could be a small niche.

Electric pickups could help Ford and GM generate the significant sales of EVs they will need to meet tougher emission standards and electric vehicle mandates in California and other states. The Trump administration is moving to roll back those standards, but the electric trucks are a hedge if California prevails.

Governments and corporations - major buyers of pickups - could view electric pickups as a way to show a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Competition from Tesla and EV startups Rivian Automotive and Workhorse Group Inc is another factor, although Ford recently mitigated some of that risk by investing $500 million in Rivian.

Three years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared he wanted to attack the heart of the Detroit automakers franchises with a Tesla electric pickup he has described as a cyberpunk truck with the performance of a Porsche 911 sports car. Tesla is expected to unveil a prototype this year, with analysts forecasting a 2022 debut. Musk declined to comment for this story.

Officials familiar with Ford and GMs plans said their electric pickups will be introduced by early 2022.

Our strategy is very clear, Ted Cannis, Fords director of electrification, told Reuters at the No. 2 U.S. automakers product development center outside Detroit. Were going to play to our strengths. Were good at pickups.

Fords electric truck will be built on a company EV platform separate from the vehicles it will offer later on a Rivian platform.

Ford has said it will introduce a hybrid F-150 next year. Bill Ford said the all-electric F-150 wont be too far after that.

At GM, Chief Executive Mary Barra said in April the automaker would make an electric full-size pickup, but provided no further details. The company has said it plans to invest $8 billion to develop electric and self-driving vehicles, launching 20 new EVs globally by 2023.

Officials have not discussed plans for the electric pickup, but GM is pushing to introduce it within two years, according to several people familiar with the plans.

The lead engineer is Josh Tavel, who was the chief engineer for the Chevy Volt, Cadillac ELR, and Spark and Bolt EVs as well as executive chief engineer for full-size pickups, GM said.

Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe believes positive reaction last fall for his companys R1T electric truck, due in fall 2020, shows the potential demand.

The question is how large is the demand and does it translate across all price points or does it stay more isolated in the higher price points? he told Reuters at the companys Plymouth, Michigan, headquarters.

Ford officials will not discuss sales expectations for the electric F-150. But Bill Ford said the electric pickup could outperform conservative expectations - if prospective customers try it.

Ford has broken with pickup segment conventions before - substituting a turbo-charged six-cylinder EcoBoost engine for the traditional V-8, and then giving the current generation of the truck an aluminum body instead of steel, the chairman said. The aluminum F-series is the best-selling pickup truck line in the United States, and about half are equipped with six-cylinder engines.

Like it was with EcoBoost and like it was with aluminum, its important we get people in the vehicle to try it, Ford said.

Beau Boeckmann, president of Galpin Ford in the Los Angeles area and one of the largest U.S. Ford dealers, said customers are already asking about the truck.

Were going to be shocked, he said. I think the electric pickup truck has a huge future.

Not everyone is so sanguine. Industry tracking firm IHS Markit has estimated the entire full-size electric truck segment will account for fewer than 30,000 sales in 2026, compared with an expected 2.3 million sales overall.

Were in uncharted waters, IHS Markit principal analyst Stephanie Brinley said. Were talking niche in the beginning.

Detroits other big automaker, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV , has no current plans for an all-electric Ram, while Toyota Motor Corp is betting more heavily on a hybrid Tundra pickup.

The sliver of volume thats going to be electric pickups is not worthy of a business case, said one person familiar with Toyotas plans.

The Detroit automakers ultimately want to defend a segment they see as their own.

Why would we let Tesla beat us with a pickup truck? said one person familiar with Fords plans. Thats our turf.

Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Additional reporting by Joseph White and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Joseph White and Matthew Lewis

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FOX | Look Up – Cornell University The Cornell Daily Sun

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Cornell will lose a giant this week. In only a few days, Steve Squyres 78, Ph.D. 81, James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences, will depart from the helm of the astronomy department to assume the role of chief scientist at Blue Origin, a space exploration company. Having led NASAs Mars exploration efforts, Squyres continued to teach at Cornell for over 40 years. His classes garnered acclaim among students, with Arts & Sciences Dean Ray Jayawardhana said, He brought Mars to campus and gave us all a chance to see another world close-up. His infectious enthusiasm for exploration will continue to stimulate planetary scientists at Cornell for years to come. Squyres years of service to the University and his dedication to the dual pursuits of discovery and its emotional conveyance have made Cornell history. His departure is an opportunity for Cornellians to address the importance of his lifes work and the worldly implications of looking toward the stars.

The first Space Age happened in an era of striking dichotomy between political tumult and social oppression and unprecedented advancement of the human species. As the Civil Rights Movement challenged historic systemic oppression, Richard Nixons Southern Strategy Triumphed and the Cold War turned bloody with the quagmire in Vietnam. At the same time, new technologies unlocked the womens liberation movement, turned visibility into a weapon of social justice and cemented a belief in the infallibility of human progress. The Space Race served as a great unifier, instilling the nation with a collective sense of purpose and direction. Americans ended the 1960s sitting in their living rooms, clenching hands and holding back tears, as they watched an American step off a rocket ship built by union workers and Hidden Figures and walk upon the moon.

This is not to fall into the disastrous trap of waxing nostalgic about the 1960s, a time best left in the past. But the sense of possibility created by the realization that the sky was not, in fact, the limit offers helpful lessons in our current era of political polarization, rejuvenated liberation movements and renewed interest in space.Even this early in modern space history, Cornell was a leader in space exploration it has been for longer than any of its faculty have taught here. Its astronomy and physics departments regularly lead their fields, and greats such as Carl Sagan were able to call this place home, leading Cornell into space-stardom when he joined the community in 1968. While Dr. Squyres departure will leave a hole in his department and our institution, it speaks to our outsized role and responsibility in the new era.

The drivers of the second Space Age, however, look very different. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the tech billionaire owners of two private space companies, endure reasonable criticism that their immense wealth is wasted in space where it could improve the lives of millions here on earth with relative ease. The Twitter account @HasBezosDecided questions each day whether Jeff Bezos has decided to use his fortune to end world hunger, echoing a sentiment held across the globe. To be clear: It is true, beyond any doubt, that our economic system creates far too many billionaires and that our billionaires are consistently failing in their moral obligation to turn their wealth into welfare. But we cannot allow this truth to hide the importance of their chosen missions. We must spare no resource in the fights to stop climate change, eradicate hunger and reverse the rise in dangerous political extremism; we should double down on our investment in the pursuit of other worlds, and a collective advancement toward our own unified future.

As Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a French writer, poet and aviator famously said, Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. The Second Space age offers a chance to renew humanitys unifying upward gaze. Until we can shift our government back toward high taxes on the wealthy, massive infrastructure and large-scale projects inaccessible to most individuals and businesses, the private sector does its part to illuminate the tantalizing night sky that we might gaze upward, together. While these efforts funded by billionaires, we ought to be thankful that they can be led by our own.

As Dr. Squyres leaves Cornell to ensure the continuation of our looking outward together in the same direction, and as we continue our innately human journey into the future and into space, dont forget to marvel at the amazing, even as it tumbles reliably back toward appearing expected and normal.

We must insist that more time and wealth be invested in the people and infrastructure that need them here on Earth. At the same time, while we fight to control and repair this singular ship, our voyage into the future and into space reminds us that we are all on the same boat. That is a message we need right now. So thank you Dr. Squyres for your decades of service to Cornell and in turn to humankind and best of luck in your efforts to bring us ever closer to the final frontier. Bon Voyage.

Elijah Fox is a junior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He can be reached at efox@cornellsun.com.What Does the Fox Say?runs every other Thursday this semester.

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North Korea highlights global interest in space exploration, militarization – NK News

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Recent DPRK state media articles come amid construction of domestic space-related infrastructure

A North Korean media outlet drew attention on Friday to the peaceful nature of international space exploration efforts, but raised concerns about how some countries are attempting to militarize space.

Coming amid ongoing North Korean efforts to expand or modify domestic space launch infrastructure, the English-languagePyongyang Timesarticle could hint at a re-emerging but controversial area of priority interest for the DPRK.

Many countries are concentrating state investment on the space industry with projects for the development of outer space gaining strength internationally, the Pyongyang Timessaid, reflecting an article it published in June.

The Friday report drew attention to space-faring efforts by China, India, Iran, Myanmar, and Russia, describing them as brisk activities for the development of outer space for peaceful purposes on a worldwide scale.

But the article also warned of risky moves to militarize outer space, noting U.S. President Trumps recent request for the Department of Defense to create a space force.

Furthermore, it referenced French and Japanese plans to pursue space command forces, echoing a report published on August 5 by the Norths party daily Rodong Sinmun.

Overall, mentions of satellite launching capabilities and space exploration in DPRK state media are far from peak levels, an analysis of data aggregated byKCNA Watch showed.

But recent mentions by the North have been mostly aimed at criticizing Japanese military ambitions or reflecting on prior satellite launches through the lens of broader historical accomplishments.

As a result, the tone in some recent articles strikes a different chord.

In that regard, NK Pro contributing analyst Ankit Panda said the latestPyongyang Timesarticlesought to underscore that space activities are global by citing a range of recent launches and upcoming launches by countries big and small alike.

In the past, before major space launches, we similarly saw articles discussing the use of space.

(But) given the nonauthoritative vehicle here, we cant make all too much of it, he continued. But its notable to see talk of space launches in North Korean media.

As weve learned recently, the North Koreans have also clearly been expanding the Pyongyang satellite control center; Sohae, too, remains well-maintained and usable if needed.

In addition to ongoing developments at the two sites, representatives of the DPRKs National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) told an NK News contributor in late 2017 that the country had plans to launch two further satellites.

Though those plans have yet to materialize, international observers are concerned that Pyongyang might seek to maintain its launch capability even though it announced an April 2018 moratorium of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and nuclear device testing.

Edited by James Fretwell

Main picture: KCNA

A North Korean media outlet drew attention on Friday to the peaceful nature of international space exploration efforts, but raised concerns about how some countries are attempting to militarize space. Coming amid ongoing North Korean efforts to expand or modify domestic space launch infrastructure, the English-languagePyongyang Timesarticle could hint at a re-emerging but controversial area

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North Korea highlights global interest in space exploration, militarization - NK News