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Tesla China president steps down after fewer than 9 months on the job

In July, 2013, before Tesla had delivered its first car to China, CEO Elon Musk called the country a "wild card." A year on, that continues to be the case, with media reports all over the spectrum concerning how Tesla is doing in China. The immediate future won't be any calmer with news that Tesla China president Veronica Wu has resigned from the company, having just taken the job in April. Hers follows the sudden departure of Kingston Chang, the man she replaced; he was hired away from Bentley China in March, 2013 and left in March of this year citing personal reasons. Observers have put the latest departure down to the difficulties of Tesla's expansion efforts. In spite of widely acknowledged pent-up demand and the Model S being priced below expectations in China, the company has stumbled a few times navigating issues such as customs paperwork, on-time customer deliveries, navigation systems with local mapping and the installation of charging equipment for customers in rural areas. Speculative articles questioning the company's actual sales numbers in China inflate the narrative of a "speed bump" in the way of Tesla's ambitions. Tesla China's head of charger network development, Tom Zhu, will run the company in the interim.

Elon Musk: Tesla Gigafactory location announcement coming late 2014

Tesla's Gigafactory is going to be a huge deal. So huge, in fact, that Tesla's not going to announce where it will be located until later this year. You may remember that, just a month ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that, "The No. 1 thing is we want to minimize the risk timing for the Gigafactory to get up and running." Well, apparently getting the timing right doesn't mean rushing to get things done before they're ready. 30 percent cost decrease is "probably conservative at this point" – Elon Musk The reason Tesla needs the Gigafactory, as you may remember, is to supply packs for the company's Gen 3 car, the EV that is supposed to cost $35,000 and be able to go over 200 miles on a charge. To get down to that price point, the batteries need to be cheaper, and Musk has said that the Gigafactory should reduce the per-kWh cost of a pack by "more than 30 percent." Speaking at the annual shareholder conference this week, Musk confirmed that planning for the battery plant is "quite advanced" and that Tesla is meeting daily with Panasonic, the other partner in the deal. Panasonic was originally unsure that those kinds of cost reductions could be achieved, Musk said, "but I think they are now convinced they can." In fact, he said 30 percent is "probably conservative at this point." The Gigafactory should be up and running by the "late 2016 timeframe," Musk said, right around the time the Gen 3 car will be ready for volume production. While there will still only be one Tesla Gigafactory to begin with, Musk said that Tesla might start the process in two or three states (as opposed to just one or two, as hinted earlier). "We're probably going to do two or maybe three states all the way to creating a foundation and completing the plans and getting approvals and everything," he said. Sounds like someone wants to be ready to build gigafactories #2 and #3 in a hurry if need be. We've got more from the meeting, including videos of Musk's talk, here and here. You can read Tesla's original Gigafactory proposal here (PDF).

Tesla Model S headed to Vukee carsharing in San Francisco

The San Francisco bay area continues to expand as a carsharing hub, and the latest addition is going to attract some attention. Vukee, a Palo Alto, CA-based company, is introducing the Tesla Model S to carsharers in that market as a way to stand out from larger carsharing providers like Zipcar and City CarShare. Instead of spending $70,000 on the luxury electric sports car, Vukee's new carsharing deal offers an affordable behind-the-wheel driving experience, but the exact cost has not yet been announced. The launch happens in April. Vukee will start with 25 Teslas at its charging stations ready for drivers to pick up. Electricity and insurance are included in the rental fee. If you've a fan of this idea, you can make a small donation to Vukee and have your name emblazoned on the hood of one of the Model S EVs. If you donate a lot of money, like Gill up there in the picture, your name will be written very large on the hood. Signing up for Vukee is also easier than becoming a Zipcar or Car2go, since Vukee has no membership fees. You just download the Vukee app, scan your drivers license and credit card and pay as you go. Who wants to go for a drive? This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. vukee Car Spot Indiegogo from Meik-M. Lindberg on Vimeo.