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Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla's Cold Weather Blues

Cities in Oregon are looking into relocating underutilized EV chargers. With little data available at the time, and a lot of grant money to spend on installation, numerous public chargers were placed in locations that ended up being used very little. Now, some cities are considering moving certain chargers rather than building new ones. Factors to calculate - besides cost, of course - are the longer ranges of EVs being sold now, the amount of people charging at home, and the fact that many of the earlier public chargers are much slower than many of the quick chargers being deployed now. Read more at Plugin Cars. The Tesla Model S range indicator shows how much range is lost due to cold weather. Besides the green, yellow or red bars to show remaining driving range, there is also a blue indicator showing what portion of range is limited from the battery being cold. A message also states, "Less energy is available due to cold battery." The blue could indicate the amount of energy the car is reserving for thermal management of the battery, as the car works to warm the battery for optimal operation. See the discovery in the video below, or read more at Teslarati. Tony Posawatz has been appointed Non-Executive Director (NED) of Nexeon. The UK-based battery company develops silicon anode battery technology, which it says enables a "new generation" of more energy-dense lithium-ion batteries. Posowatz led the development of the Chevrolet Volt, led Fisker Automotive as CEO for a while, consults as president and CEO of Invictus iCar and has held roles in various other companies in the automotive and alternative energy fields. Posawatz follows former Nokia executive Antti Vasara, who was also named NED at Nexeon last month. Nexeon Chairman Dr. Paul Atherton says that Posowatz's experience with EV technology will "help Nexeon enormously in addressing the challenges and opportunities we face." Read more at Hybrid Cars, or in the press release below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Nexeon Appoints Top Automotive Expert to its Board of Directors Battery materials development company Nexeon has appointed Tony Posawatz as a Non-Executive Director (NED) with immediate effect. Posawatz is well known in the automotive industry for leading the team that brought the award-winning Chevrolet Volt from concept to production.

Recharge Wrap-up: Elon Musk in Reddit AMA; Honda releases annual environmental report

Elon Musk will answer questions in a Reddit AMA tonight. The "Ask Me Anything" event will begin at 9:00 pm EST, and will last one hour. Musk will answer as many reader questions as he can in the allotted amount of time. Reddit's /r/TeslaMotors board is selecting official questions from users to pose to Musk as well. If you have any aching inquiries for the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, you probably don't want to miss this. Read more at Clean Technica, or at Reddit. Powertree Services plans to build solar-powered EV charging at San Francisco apartment buildings. The group will rent parking spaces at apartment buildings and put solar panels on the roof. Tenants with EVs can pay a monthly fee to charge their cars at their own apartments and Powertree Services parking spots around town. It takes the responsibility of building and maintaining the chargers off the building owners, but provides them with some revenue from renting the space to Powertree. Read more at Treehugger. The market for environmentally friendly cars will remain strong despite cheap oil prices, according to IHS Automotive Advisory Services. James Chao, director of the company's Asia-Pacific region, says his clients are still very focused on fuel economy. IHS has predicted green car production to triple by 2020 from 2014 figures. Hyundai and Kia, who are clients of Chao, have new EVs, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles on the way - a seemingly "unfocused" plan that Chao defends. "Especially at times when uncertainty is dominant, it could well be referred to as being prudent," he says. Read more at The Korea Herald. Honda has released its annual North American Environmental Report. In the report, Honda notes environmental progress it has made over the last year in a number of areas. It points out the introduction of the 2014 Accord Hybrid and the FCV Concept. It enumerates reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in transportation, use of its products and even from Honda's suppliers (however, there was a 0.7 percent rise in CO2 emissions during manufacturing due to, or rather "despite a significant increase in production"). Honda is using less water, and producing less waste - only 0.8 kilograms are sent to the landfill per car manufactured. Honda also worked with SolarCity to get solar panels on 1,650 rooftops in the US. Read more on Honda's website. Marco Andretti will race in the Formula E Buenos Aires ePrix.

Toyota sells off Tesla shares, too

The incredible rise of Tesla's stock price has done little to now stop two major shareholders from ditching their stake in the American EV manufacturer. First, Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, ditched its four-percent stake, and less than a week later, Toyota is doing the same thing, selling off an undisclosed bit of its Tesla investment.
The move comes as Toyota winds down sales of the RAV4 EV, which gets its batteries and electric motor from Tesla at the company's Fremont, CA factory.
"We have a good relationship with Tesla, and will evaluate the feasibility of working together on future projects," Toyota spokesperson Kayo Doi told Bloomberg via email.