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Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla Model S in landslide, Plug'n Drive wants EVs

A woman and child survived a landslide in a Tesla Model S. The front of the car was severely damaged with the hood and front fascia badly crumpled. The rear hatch window glass caved in, but while the windshield was cracked, the safety glass held together. While in another vehicle, the occupants could have been crushed by the tree that landed on the car, the cabin structure of the Model S mostly withstood the pressure, saving the humans inside. It's not the typical situation most people think of when considering car safety, but it is a dramatic example of the protection the Model S offers. Read more and see the aftermath at Green Car Reports. The Renault-Nissan Alliance will provide 200 battery electric vehicles for the United Nation's COP21 climate conference in Paris. Together the cars will drive a combined 400,000 kilometers (about 248,550 miles) emissions-free. The cars - a fleet of Renault Zoes, Nissan Leafs and Nissan e-NV200s - will be used as shuttles for the conference attendees. The Alliance will set up a network of 90 chargers for the event, powered by low-carbon electricity. The residual emissions will be offset through a UN carbon offsetting program. Read more from Nissan, or at Green Car Congress. At the Queen's Park Electric Vehicle Day this week, the non-profit group Plug'n Drive called for Ontario to emphasize vehicle electrification. The group says that adding electric power to more cars, "can make a significant contribution to GHG emission reductions in Ontario, while at the same time benefitting the Ontario economy." GHG are, of course, greenhouse gases. According to the group, there are currently more than 12,140 EVs in Canada. Read more in the press release below. Plug'n Drive advocates for electrification of transportation as a key plank of Ontario's climate change action strategy First ever Electric Vehicle Day at Queen's Park demonstrates the benefits of electric vehicles TORONTO, ON, Oct. 26, 2015 /CNW/ - Plug'n Drive is hosting the first ever Queen's Park Electric Vehicle Day today at 11:00 a.m., providing MPPs from all parties, Ministers, public servants, stakeholders and the public the opportunity to test drive electric cars at all price points and to learn about the environmental and economic benefits of switching from gas to electric.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla software suggestions, 'Audi at home' car sharing

Norwegian Tesla buff Bjorn Nyland wants the Tesla community to offer suggestions for the Firmware 7.1 over-the-air update. 7.0 includes a variety of small changes to the interface design, which Nyland discusses in depth in the video above. He offers constructive criticism, especially for things like the placement of certain data within the display. He calls upon other drivers to suggest their own changes and features they'd like to see in future updates. Nyland plans to tweet at Elon Musk once there are enough comments with hopes that Tesla will take the community's suggestions into consideration. See the video above, and read more at Teslarati. A survey of NRG eVgo stations found that drivers use DC fast charging over Level 2 charging by a ratio of 12 to 1. While businesses might prefer to install a Level 2 charger because it is cheaper and could help convince the customer to linger longer while they wait for a charge, this study suggests that DC charging could actually be a better way to attract customers. But the question is how to make DC charging sustainable for businesses with regard to the costs. Read more at Green Car Reports. Audi is launching its vehicle sharing program at luxury residences in San Francisco and Miami this week. Called "Audi at home," the program provides residents with a fleet of Audi vehicles at their disposal at either hourly or daily rates. The cars – the S7, S5 Cabriolet, SQ5, TT Roadster, Q7, and RS5 Cabriolet – are all of the Prestige trim level. Drivers needn't worry about mileage charges, tolls, fuel costs, insurance, or cleaning. Just reserve the car online, and drop it off at the property's valet when finished. Audi at home is launching at the Lumina luxury condos in San Francisco and at the Four Seasons Residences in Miami, with expansion to more cities planned for the future. Read more from Audi. Ballard is partnering with bus manufacturer King Long to build fuel cell buses in China. The two companies will work together to design and deploy the hydrogen-powered buses first in China, then in King Long's global network. "We are delighted to be working with the second largest bus OEM in the world on this important fuel cell bus design and market opportunity," says Ballard President and CEO Randy MacEwen. "Together, we are looking to optimize the design in order to improve performance, while lowering cost.

Tesla Model X delayed, again, but Musk says Model S demand remains high

Tesla CEO Elon Musk made one thing clear today as he announced his company's third-quarter sales figures: the company has more than enough demand for its luxury electric vehicles and its main problem is getting production ramped up. In fact, Tesla expects Model S orders and deliveries to increase by 50 percent next year. Buried in the good news, though, was word that the upcoming SUV version, the Model X, is going to be delayed. Again. That the Model X isn't exactly on schedule is not news. There have been delays talked about before. The original release date was 2013 which became late 2014 and then early 2015. The company is certainly getting ready for the X but now says it wants to deliver an all-electric SUVs that offers a good experience to buyers, without any problems. In a year plagued with a record number of recalls in the automotive industry, this is not a surprising stance to take. In the shareholder letter (available in the gallery below), Musk writes: In anticipation of this effort, we now expect Model X deliveries to start in Q3 of 2015, a few months later than previously expected. This also is a legitimate criticism of Tesla – we prefer to forgo revenue, rather than bring a product to market that does not delight customers. Doing so negatively affects the short term, but positively affects the long term. Back to the good news. This is where Musk has some strong numbers to point to, including Tesla's highest ever quarterly deliveries of the Model S – 7,785 vehicles – and the most deliveries in a single day – 907. The company also said that the new tech announced a few weeks ago, the dual motor option and the autopilot capabilities, have "further accelerate[d] Model S demand." To meet this demand, Tesla is expanding its production capability so it can make "more than 2,000 vehicles per week by the end of 2015." Of course, if Tesla wanted to be a bit more transparent about global demand and US sales and deliveries in particular, it could simply announce monthly sales numbers, just like the major OEMs do, But, when asked if Tesla would consider releasing those numbers on a call with investors today, Musk's reply was short and sweet: "Um, no. Sorry."