Tag Archives: Tesla

Mary Barra Says GM Can Catch Tesla In EV Sales By 2025

General Motors chief executive Mary Barra says the car manufacturer can catch Tesla in U.S. sales of electric vehicles by 2025.

GM intends on launching no less than 30 electric vehicles by 2025 and while recently speaking during CNBC’s Squawk Box, Barra expressed confidence in her belief that the company will establish itself as the EV leader.

Read Also: GM To Install Up To 40,000 New Chargers In The U.S. And Canada

“I am very comfortable, because when people get into these vehicles, they are just wowed,” she said. “So we will be rolling them out and we’re going to just keep working until we have No. 1 market share in EVs.”

Tesla currently dominates the electric vehicle space in the United States. In fact, the automaker accounted for 79 percent of all EVs sold in the U.S. throughout 2020. However, research and forecasting company HIS Markit says Tesla’s U.S. share of EV sales will drop to 56 percent throughout 2021 and fall to approximately 20 percent in 2025.

Speaking with CNBC, LMC Automotive added that sales of EVs, including plug-in hybrids, will account for less than 4 percent of vehicle sales across the country this year. The research firm suggests that EVs will make up 34.2 percent of new U.S. vehicle sales by 2030, with 4.1 percent of those sales being for plug-in hybrids.

A key pillar in GM’s EV expansion goals is their plans to install up to 40,000 Level 2 EV chargers across the United States and Canada as part of a $750 million investment.

Elon Musk Praises Chinese Automakers As He Attempts To Restore Tesla’s Image In The Country

Elon Musk was in a complimentary mood during his appearance at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress. In his message, he praised Chinese automakers, who he opined were “the most competitive in the world.”

Bloomberg reports that Musk’s comments during his pre-recorded appearance can be seen as an attempt at repairing Tesla’s image in China. “I have a great deal of respect for the many Chinese automakers,” said Musk, adding that the country’s carmakers are particularly strong on software. “Public sentiment and support for electric vehicles is at a never before seen inflection point because they know it is the future,” he noted.

Tesla has faced a difficult few months in China following a largely positive welcome. China is a crucial market for the California-based carmaker as it’s the world’s largest EV market, with the added jeopardy of having plenty of home-grown EV competition.

In May, Tesla’s sales halved in the wake of public and government criticism. Accusations of poor aftersales service spurred negative opinions of the brand, with a local paper saying that the company’s “arrogant and overbearing stance” was “repugnant and unacceptable.”

Read: China Is Developing Tech That Can Track Automotive Data Sent Abroad

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Meanwhile, Chinese authorities grew suspicious of Tesla and how it handled the storage of customer data. Staff at some important Chinese government facilities were told not to park their Tesla vehicles inside government compounds due to security concerns related to their exterior cameras.

Musk spoke about data security, reiterating that the company was working with national authorities to ensure the security of data gathered by their vehicles. Tesla has complied with a request from the Chinese government to store data gathered by its locally-used cars within the nation.

China has gone on to develop advanced machines that will be able to track data sent overseas by cars driven on its streets. The system, which analyzes the path of data transmission, is currently being tested on vehicles from foreign automakers, including Tesla.

Is The Tesla Model Y More Efficient At Towing Than An ICE Vehicle?

While EVs have their many advantages, it’s not often that towing is considered one of their strong suits. The loss of range, combined with not being able to quickly juice up, is enough to put the frighteners on any trailer-owning potential EV convert. But perhaps those fears aren’t as justified as you may think.

Youtuber Tesla Canuck decided to document exactly how well a Tesla Model Y would tow a 3000-pound (1360 kg) boat. The Model Y has a towing capacity of 3500 pounds (1587 kg) and, without a trailer hitched up, it has an EPA estimated range of 326 miles (525 km). 

Read: IIHS Safety Award And CR Top Pick Status Stripped From Tesla Model 3 Following Radar Removal

While range did take the expected hit, the 98-mile (158 km) drive was achievable. The Tesla used up 53 percent of its charge on the journey, which works out to an estimated cost of $7.46 ($0.14 per kWh). According to the host, although this meant the car was only working at 45 percent efficiency as over half of the Model Y’s range was lost, he reasons that the range lost on a full tank of gas with an ICE-powered vehicle would be roughly the same. The host also estimates that the same journey would’ve used 13.3 liters of fuel (3.5 gallons), which, depending on gas prices, would still make the EV the cheaper bet.

As for what it is like using a Model Y to tow, the process is as straightforward as in a conventional car. The Tesla takes a standard seven-pin four-way adapter, which, when connected, allows the Model Y to automatically default to towing mode. 

Some functions, like Autopilot and Autosteer, are disabled, but Tesla Canuck mentions that you could still feel the instant torque an electric vehicle churns out. The brake regeneration also worked like a charm, with no issues coming to a dead stop. The Model Y also rode well and swayed less due to its low center of gravity.

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Tesla Model S P90D Vies With Porsche Taycan Turbo For Electric Saloon Supremacy

The Tesla Model S and Porsche Taycan are the two most accelerative electric sedans currently on the market and, as Lovecars recently discovered, they are quite evenly matched.

Tesla has, of course, been producing the Model S for much longer than Porsche has been building the Taycan. In fact, the Model S has been in production since 2012, whereas Porsche started rolling out the Taycan last year.

Watch Also: There’s No Chance The Porsche Taycan Turbo S Can Defeat The 918 Spyder, Right?

Back in 2015 and 2016, Tesla’s Model S range was topped out by the P90D Ludicrous, complete with two electric motors and pumping out the equivalent of 762 hp and 1,013 lb-ft (1,373 Nm) of torque. While this variant has since been superseded by the P100D and more recently the Model S Performance Raven, Lovecars decided to pit the P90D against a new Porsche Taycan Turbo for a drag race.

We’ve seen the flagship Taycan Turbo S racing the flagship Model S Performance Raven in the past and the two were very close, although the Porsche seems to have a slight advantage. As it turns out, it is the same case here.

Off the line and racing in extremely wet conditions, the Tesla and Porsche got near perfect starts and accelerated at near identical rates. However, as the speeds started to increase, the Taycan Turbo stormed away from the Tesla, taking a relatively easy win.

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The Final Tesla Roadster Built Is Available In Switzerland For Almost $1.5 Million

The final Tesla Roadster built has emerged for sale in Switzerland with an eye-watering price tag of 1.39 million Swiss Francs or about $1.49 million at current exchange rates.

Tesla only ever built 2,500 examples of the Lotus-based Roadster. The most valuable example is probably the first one built but rather than keep it in his collection, Elon Musk instead sent it to space a couple of years ago. As the final Tesla Roadster, this is most certainly the next most valuable and the original owner clearly only ever intended to keep the car and sell it for a profit.

Watch Also: This Is How The Tesla Roadster’s Rockets Could Work

A look at the listing on Car For You reveals the vehicle has never been registered and has spent its life sitting on foam tire pillows in a garage with marble floors. It has just 124 miles (200 km) on the clock and has been routinely plugged into a charger to stop the battery from discharging.

A host of unique touches distinguish this Tesla Roadster from most others. For example, it is finished in a special shade of white and includes a black and white leather interior. It is also equipped with a carbon fiber rear diffuser and a host of carbon interior trimmings, including on the kick plates, door panels, and dashboard. The steering wheel and mechanical handbrake still feature their protective wrapping.

In addition, the open-top model that’s based on the Lotus Elise chassis has a special plaque on the firewall that denotes it is one of just four ‘Roadster Sport Final Four’ examples delivered in Europe and Asia. It also features the signatures of various Tesla staff that helped in its construction.

PHOTO GALLERY

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Silent Killers: 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S Drag Races 2019 Tesla Model S P100D

An empty airfield in Bulgaria, judging by the license plates of the two cars, served as the battleground for a drag race between the Porsche Taycan Turbo S and Tesla Model S P100D.

Representing America, the Model S P100D has a dual-motor setup, with the front one delivering 275 HP (279 PS / 205 kW) and 310 lb-ft (420 Nm) of torque, and an extra 503 HP (510 PS / 375 kW) and 531 lb-ft (720 Nm) produced by the rear motor.

Each mode results in a different total system output and torque, but officially, it puts out 750 HP in Ludicrous+ mode and needs 2.5 seconds to complete the 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) sprint, although it was clocked at a whopping 2.28 seconds by MotorTrend three years ago.

Watch Also: Porsche Taycan Turbo S Vs Tesla Model S Performance In Cheetah Mode

In the green corner, we have the Taycan Turbo S, which is also capable of supercar-rivalling performance, with the 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) acceleration taking only 2.6 seconds. Top speed in the Porsche is 161 mph (260 km/h), and its zero-emission powertrain can pump out up to 750 HP (761 PS / 560 kW) and 774 lb-ft (1,050 Nm) with the Overboost mode enabled.

As the two super EVs have very similar performance numbers, we could see it go either way, but if you had to, which one would bet on to emerge victorious?

Before finding out if you were right or not, it’s worth noting that both the Model S P100D and Taycan Turbo S are customer, not press, cars, owned by the same individual. Thus, there shouldn’t be any accusations of rigging the outcome, as we’ve seen in previous duels, in favor of either performance EV.

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