In a press release today, ElectraMeccanica ($SOLO) announced the site for its US-based assembly facility. The facility plus an engineering technical center will be in Mesa, Arizona. The confirmation puts a bookend on a year-long search that began in February of 2020. With this news, Arizona is quickly becoming a new hub for electric vehicle manufacturing.
Before choosing the Phoenix suburb as…
The growth in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) – solar PV modules that are flush with the existing roof and perform the waterproofing function of shingles or tiles – since Tesla announced its solar roof in 2016 has been largely disappointing. Since then, BIPV has…
Electric Last Mile Solutions (ELMS) is a commercial EV startup based in Detroit. Its focus on last-mile deliveries centers around its flagship EV, the Urban Delivery. In a press release today, ELMS announced it has received over 45,000 non-binding pre-orders for its Urban…
Autobidder, Tesla’s “cutting-edge” AI software to manage energy storage projects, is now managing over 1.2 GWh of energy capacity, according to a Tesla executive.
Last year, Electrek spotted a previously unknown new product from Tesla: Autobidder.
It’s a real-time trading and control platform for energy assets, like Tesla’s Powerpacks, Powerwalls, and Megapacks, optimized…
REE Automotive unveils new proprietary drive components
March 16, 2021
Israeli EV startup REE Automotive, just unveiled its new approach to drive components and platforms. Named REEcorners, these proprietary systems fuse all of the vital parts of an EV together between the chassis and wheel. Combined with its modular EV platforms, REE…
Self-driving startup Voyage announced it has been acquired by Cruise, a larger autonomous driving company. The California-based company previously made breakthroughs in self-driving technologies by transporting senior citizens around their communities. Voyage looks to pair…
Quick Charge Podcast: March 15, 2021
March 16, 2021
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as…
Tesla learns from Model Y’s first winter, issues update with cold weather improvements
March 16, 2021
Tesla has learned from Model Y’s first winter and it started pushing a new software update with cold weather improvements.
Over the years, Tesla has often been accused of being a “California company” that doesn’t design cars for cold climates.
The truth is that…
Astra, an up-and-coming launch company that will soon compete with SpaceX, announced today that former Tesla automation lead Pablo Gonzalez to help scale the production of their rockets. This comes not long after Astra hired a former Apple Car project lead to be Astra’s…
Tesla announces that Jerome Guillen transitions to new role leading ‘Tesla Heavy Trucking’
March 16, 2021
Tesla announced today that Jerome Guillen, president of automotive, will transition to a new role focusing on heavy trucking at the automaker.
Guillen is best known for being the Model S program director during a crucial time for Tesla’s vehicle program (2010-2013), but prior to joining Tesla, he was a longtime Daimler engineer and led the development of the successful Cascadia truck.
He…
