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Recharge Wrap-up: Shell stops AK ocean drilling, Lego Tesla Model S

Shell says it will halt exploratory drilling near Alaska's coast. While the oil giant has found some oil and gas below the waters, the amount it is finding is not worth the high costs of drilling. Shell also cites "the challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska" as part of its decision to move on from drilling in the Chukchi Sea, but it is possible public protests had an impact, too. Read more at Treehugger, and in the press release from Shell below. The University of Central Florida's Electric Vehicle Transportation Center will host the EV Transportation and Technology Summit from October 20 to 22 in Cocoa, Florida. The summit is geared toward businesses and organizations with the goals of increasing EV awareness, reviewing current and near future technology, and pointing out deployment achievements and challenges. While its coverage will be more general, the event will focus especially on planning and infrastructure requirements. Learn more at Hybrid Cars, or at the event website. The Tesla Model S still looks good when scaled down for a Lego minifig. A man named Cole Edmonson created a tiny brick version of the iconic EV, and managed to retain the car's distinguishing good looks. Edmonson provides a write-up detailing the process of creating the small, plastic Tesla copy. It's considerably more complicated than one would think. Check out the whole process at Brick Replicas, and read more from The Brothers Brick. Renault and Donfeng will build an electric car in China based on the Fluence ZE. The joint venture between the two automakers - called Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC) - will produce the car in its Wuhan plant in 2017. The car will be sold solely in the Chinese market under a local Dongfeng brand. "This EV agreement illustrates Renault's engagement as partner of COP 21," says DRAC CEO Jacques Daniel. Read more at Green Car Congress, or in the press release below. Dongfeng and Renault agree to produce electric vehicles in China On the occasion of the visit of ZHU Yangfeng, Chairman of Dongfeng Group, at the Renault R&D center, Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC) announces the production of its first electric vehicle in China. As part of the Joint Venture between Dongfeng and Renault, DRAC will produce an electric vehicle that is based on the Fluence Z.E.

For Tesla, the energy-storage company, the magic is in batteries

Tesla Motors Chief Elon Musk has always been a big-picture guy, and the company's chief technology officer appears to be following suit. JB Straubel, who was a keynote speaker at the Joint Venture Silicon Valley symposium near the automaker's Northern California home base recently, says the company is just as much an energy-storage company as a car maker. And he said the rate of battery-technology improvement shows no signs of slowing down, according to Green Tech Media. Straubel estimated that battery performance has improved about 40 percent during the five years between the debuts of the Tesla Roadster and the Model S. Additionally, battery density has doubled during the past decade and continues to ramp up fairly steeply. He noted that further near-term improvements will come not from the size and shape of the cell, but from improved cathode and anode materials. Those energy improvements won't just help the cars. Tesla uses a two-megawatt-hour battery pack to supply as much as 10 percent of the peak energy used at the company's factory in Fremont, CA, and will double the size of that battery-powered energy capacity within the next few months, Straubel says. Automakers like Tesla and Nissan are licking their proverbial chops at the prospect of substantially improved battery performance paired with declining battery costs as more and more lithium-ion battery packs get produced. Late last year, Navigant Research estimated that lithium-ion battery costs would fall by almost two-thirds by 2020, down to a low $180 per kilowatt hour. That should make electrified powertrains price-competitive with conventional vehicles, as electric vehicles could then command a price premium as low as $2,000 compared to their gas-powered brethren.

Recharge Wrap-up: Chevy Volt CarPlay video, Tesla Supercharger importance

A video demonstrates Apple CarPlay on the touch display in the next-generation Chevrolet Volt. The Volt's eight-inch (bigger than an iPad Mini) capacitive display is capable of putting Siri and your iPhone apps and right at your fingertips. It's "the best CarPlay display I've seen," says the user in the video. In case you're not in the market for a new Volt, 9to5Mac offers some of its favorite aftermarket CarPlay screens. See the video above, and read more at 9to5Mac. A single Supercharger can make a big difference in the life of a Tesla owner. Teslarati's Electric Jen talks about purchasing a Model S, being assured by both Tesla employees and the map of planned Supercharger sites that one would be built along an important route for her. With the construction being pushed back, it made visiting family tricky. "As if owning such a grand car isn't embarrassing enough, asking for a ride to drop off and pick up said car because you can't make it home without charging really made me feel awkward," she says. "You see, one single charging location can mean the world to some people," Jen adds. Read the whole article at Teslarati. Tesla once had considered creating mobile range extender trailers for the Model S. Elon Musk touched upon the abandoned idea during his visit to Paris. While Tesla ultimately dismissed the concept, Nomadic Power has taken the opportunity to hitch their product onto the Tesla brand. "We are delighted, that Tesla Motors' CEO Elon Musk is thinking about a concept like ours for even more extending the range of the Tesla models," says Nomadic Power's CEO Manfred Baumgaertner. He adds, "This confirms our approach to build a long distance mobility provider for all electric vehicles on the market." If you say so, Baumgaertner. Read more from International Business Times, and in the press release below. Renault is giving its EV batteries a second life through Connected Energy's E-STOR. When the batteries have degraded to the point that they're no longer suitable for use on the road, they still have a significant capacity that can be used for other purposes. Still useful for stationary storage, they can be used to support charging sites in order to allow for faster charging. The stationary batteries can charge slowly at the site, but then offer up the juice in a hurry when it's needed for a vehicle. Read more from Renault.