Summary Most electric motors for electric vehicles rely on permanent magnets made with rare-earth metals. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are working with Powdermet Inc., a nanomaterials and advanced materials research and development company in Euclid, Ohio, to develop a rare-earth mineral free electric engine. The project recently received $200,000 in funding…
There once was a conspicuous consumer who bought a red Tesla because he thought it looked good and he enjoyed having people notice him. “Virtue signaler,” the conservationists and nature lovers called him. “Were the battery materials sources sustainably? Will they be recycled without destroying the environment?” The conspicuous consumer bought solar panels and put…
Italy’s most notorious and prestigious car companies are open to electric vehicles, but the products have to be right and align with the historically rich tradition of cars they have produced for decades. After Lamborghini announced its $1.8 billion plan to shift to electrification earlier this year, Ferrari is not far behind with its introduction to EVs.…
While many are still working from home and spending their days on zoom calls, plenty of folks still commute to the office everyday. If drivers have an electric car, you can bet they’d appreciate having an EV charger on-site in the parking lot at work. Forget ping pong tables and water coolers, EV charging stations are…
One of President Biden’s first official acts was to direct his administration to revisit fuel economy and emissions standards set by the previous administration, an urgent act commensurate with the immediate need to get the largest source of global warming emissions in the United States back on track. At first blush, it may look like the administration went big.…
Fifteen years ago today, on August 2nd, 2006, Co-Founder and CEO of what was then called “Tesla Motors” Elon Musk put out his top-secret Master Plan. Essentially, the cleverly titled document outlined what Musk envisioned for Tesla a few years before it would ever pump an electric vehicle off its production lines. Musk, who has…
Aside from the normal number fun regarding Tesla sales growth, its US auto market leadership, Tesla Supercharger growth, Tesla store & service center growth, and Tesla solar & energy storage growth, one thing stood out to me quite a bit from the Q2 Tesla shareholder letter. That one thing was “Future Product,” which showed as “In development” in a table…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is setting the record straight about an alleged phone call he had with Apple CEO Tim Cook. A new book about Musk from Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins claims Musk and Cook disagreed over the terms of a potential buyout of Tesla by Apple. Cook allegedly hung up the phone, but not…
Tesla’s second-quarter earnings release and call confirm it is on track to continue to expand production like never seen before in the automotive market. I want to highlight a few key trends and what they tell us about what Tesla may do in 2022 and beyond. My thesis, for some time, has been that even…
When I was in college, I spent some time in Taiwan doing volunteer work. It was a neat experience to get to know a culture very different from the American and Mexican cultures I grew up with, but car enthusiast me noticed a lot of familiar things. For one, there was a Ford testing facility…