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California working to land second Tesla Gigafactory [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The story's been updated to include a response from Tesla. California's film industry has long been big on sequels. Now, the state's government is hoping for a bit of a re-do when it comes to Tesla Motors' future battery production. Whether it happens and if it'll be a big-budget affair remains to be seen. California can supply a "highly-educated" labor force as well as abundant green energy. Some of the state's Congressional leaders have gotten together to contact Elon Musk about being first in line for the site of a potential second Gigafactory, which would likely bring thousands of jobs and substantial economic impact to Tesla's home state, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reports. The leaders are touting the state's skilled workforce and quality of life to Musk. According to a letter from Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) posted on Scribd, California can supply a "highly-educated" labor force as well as abundant green energy, which plays big with the environmentally-minded Musk. "Our focus is on the Gigafactory in Nevada," Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. "However, we continue to consider development of future Gigafactory sites in other states to begin at a later date." Earlier this month, Tesla announced that Nevada won the proverbial sweepstakes for the first Gigafactory, in part by providing about $1.3 billion in various financial incentives. Nevada beat out Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and, of course, California, for the factory. Maybe the Golden State will be able to strike back with number two.

Recharge Wrap-up: Smart celebrates 5 years in China, France wants to quit diesel

Smart celebrated its fifth anniversary in China with a concert and two special editions of the Fortwo. The two editions include a China red version limited to five units and a Chinese New Year edition limited to 666 examples. Smart has 143 dealerships in 77 Chinese cities, with 60,000 cars sold so far. Daimler is also looking to expand its Car2go carsharing network in China using Smart vehicles. The anniversary celebration featured a live concert for 50,000 fans. Read more in the press release below. France has plans to build a nationwide EV charging network and retire diesel cars. Industrial group Bollore plans to build 16,000 public charging points in France, with the blessing of Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron, who says, "Through a private initiative with public support, we are accelerating our route towards having a truly national network of electric car charging points." Valls says, "In France, we have long favored the diesel engine. This was a mistake, and we will progressively undo that, intelligently and pragmatically." Read more at Charged EVs. Ninebot One is a self-balancing, hands-free electric unicycle. Think of it as a one-wheeled, no-hands Segway with some extra features. Like riding a bicycle for the firs time, it requires some getting used to, but the benefits seem worthwhile. Depending on the model, it offers up to nearly 19 miles of range on a single charge. It is fairly compact, using a single, 16-inch tire and it weighs about 30 pounds. Maximum speed ranges from 8 to 12 mph. It uses an app to track your travel and other stats. See what sort of training it takes to ride it in the video below, and learn more at the Ninebot website. A Tesla Model S owner has figured out a way to use a USB mouse with the car's center display. The car detected the mouse when plugged into the USB port, and placed a cursor on the display, allowing the user to control functions with the mouse. Trying some other USB devices, owners found that an external CD drive doesn't work with the audio system, nor does a USB keyboard. However, an owner was able to connect a USB floppy disk drive, for what it's worth. See it in action in the video below or read more at Teslarati. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla's largest private Supercharger order, Sec. Foxx talks safety in innovation

Tesla will deliver its largest order yet for a private Supercharger station. The all-Tesla Teo Taxi fleet servicing the Montreal-Trudeau Airport will have 12 charging stalls in its private station. The two-stall Superchargers Tesla sells for private use are capped at 60 kW, unlike the 120-kW chargers Tesla operates for public use. Tesla doesn't disclose the price of its private Superchargers, but rumors suggest a two-stall charger costs around $60,000, but can come free with a large order of vehicles. Read more at Electrek. French zero-emission delivery service Cetup set a new range record for the Renault Kangoo ZE-H2 EV equipped with a fuel cell range extender. The drivers logged 228 miles over 10 hours and 36 minutes, with a fully charged 22-kWh battery pack and four pounds of hydrogen in the tank. This took place at night in and around the city with lights and heat turned on, averaging 22 mph. "Reaching such impressive performance with a first generation vehicle delivered in January 2015 is remarkable," says Fabio Ferrari, founder and General Manager of Symbio FCell (the company that provides the car's fuel cell). "The new versions of our Kangoo ZE-H2, currently in production, reduce the hydrogen consumption even more. Beyond, a new 700 bar option will get us close to the 500 km range mark." Read more at Green Car Congress. EVgo has taken on JMPR as its public relations agency. As the EV charging service continues to grow, JMPR will help bring awareness to EVgo through various campaigns targeted at consumers, potential partners, and policy makers. "Electric vehicle charging is critical to EV adoption and is set to explode over the coming years," says EVgo VP of Product Strategy and Market Development Terry O'Day. "EVgo is positioned to further build out our industry-leading fast charging network. We are excited to work with JMPR and tell the story of how EVgo is at the forefront of powering the electric vehicle revolution." Read more in the press release from JMPR. US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx spoke about electric, automated, and connected vehicles during a visit to the International Transportation Innovation Center (ITIC) in Greenville, South Carolina. Foxx highlighted the importance of safety, and discussed roadside sensor systems, camera-based vehicle side collision avoidance, and cybersecure wireless charging infrastructure.