2024 Tesla Model X Standard Sport Utility 4d on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Ford Fusion and Toyota Highlander named Best Hybrids for Families; Funky Prius motorhome

Tesla Model S customers in China will receive a "Universal Mobile Charger" with their vehicle. The charger will allow drivers to charge their Tesla anywhere, without having to search out a Supercharger when out in the wild. It allows Model S drivers a bit more freedom and helps alleviate worries about traveling too far from home. It could also help sway potential customers who suffer from range anxiety. The charger will be free to new and existing customers when it becomes available this summer. Read more at Car News China. US News & World Reports' list of Best Cars for Families includes two hybrids. The 2015 Ford Fusion Hybrid was chosen as the Best Hybrid Car for Families, while the 2015 Toyota Highlander Hybrid was picked as the Best Hybrid SUV for Families. The Fusion hybrid was chosen for its roomy, comfortable cabin, as well as the MyKey system's features for new drivers. The Highlander Hybrid offers eight seats - good for carpooling - as well as good mileage and a quality infotainment system. Read more at US News & World Reports or at Hybrid Cars. Audi plans to give its electric vehicles looks that differentiate them from the rest of the lineup. "In early 2018, we will launch a battery-powered sports activity vehicle in the large premium segment with a range of more than 500 kilometers," says Audi's head of development, Ulrich Hackenberg. "It will have a new, very attractive design, which we are developing especially for the E-Tron range and for battery-electric vehicles." According to analysts, part of the reason the Toyota Prius was so successful was because it was easy to distinguish from other Toyota models with conventional powertrains. Read more at Automotive News Europe. An Australian man turned his Toyota Prius into a miniature motorhome. James Lawler used mostly scraps to build the tiny house – complete with tin roof, chimney, and stained glass window – for just $150 Australian. It took him about a week to finish. Lawler made use of his creation at the Meredith Music Festival so he didn't have to sleep in a tent. He was, however, fined by police for driving the makeshift motorhome. See pictures and read more at the Herald Sun.

Recharge Wrap-up: California breaks ground on high-speed rail, Ford launches global mobility experiments

California has celebrated the groundbreaking of the country's first high-speed rail system. The ceremony took place in Fresno, in the San Joaquin Valley, situated along the line's initial route through California's Central Valley. The train will travel at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour, delivering passengers from San Francisco to LA in less than three hours when finished by 2029. California eventually plans to extend high-speed rail service north to Sacramento and south to San Diego, with a total of 24 stations. The project is expected to cost a total of $68 billion, but could potentially ease road and air traffic, as well as the pollution that comes with it. See the groundbreaking ceremony in the video below, and read more at Engadget or the California High-Speed Rail Authority website. Elon Musk (barely) commented on the Tesla Model 3 during his Reddit AMA. A commenter asked for any new information on the upcoming electric sedan, to which Musk merely replied, "It won't look like other cars." Unfortunately for Tesla fans, the lone comment was the only reference to the electric automaker Musk leads as CEO. The event was full of some really cool space talk, though. Musk also noted he gets an average of six hours of sleep per night, and that showering is the daily habit that impacts his life the most positively. Read the entire AMA at Reddit. Ford outlined its Smart Mobility Plan at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It includes 25 global mobility experiments designed to provide insights into the future of transportation needs around the world. "We see a world where vehicles talk to one another, drivers and vehicles communicate with the city infrastructure to relieve congestion, and people routinely share vehicles or multiple forms of transportation for their daily commute," says Ford President and CEO Mark Fields. The mobility experiments include carsharing programs in Michigan, London, Germany and India, a fast-charging infrastructure experiment, a shuttle service in New York and London and even a cycling focused data program in Palo Alto. Read more at Ford's website. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. "Our priority is not in making marketing claims or being in a race for the first autonomous car on the road," Fields said. "Our priority is in making the first Ford autonomous vehicle accessible to the masses and truly enhancing customers' lives.

Tesla Model X delayed thanks to Model S production lessons

Besides the third-quarter sales figures for the Model S this year, the big news from the Tesla investor earnings call yesterday was another delay of the Model X electric SUV. CEO Elon Musk made it clear in his letter to investors that he did not want to "bring a product to market that does not delight customers," and he expounded on this in the call yesterday afternoon. Musk even named the X's falcon-wing doors as a potential problem. When Patrick Archambault from Goldman Sachs asked for more details on the Model X delay, Musk said his company would have no real problem making a few great X EVs, but that, "making lots of something consistently that's going to last a long time is extremely hard." Designing the car is easier than figuring out how to actually build the darn thing, he said, and building a lot of them is where Tesla can "really move the needle." We all know that that's what Musk wants to do, and he now says the third quarter of 2015 is when that'll be possible. Musk even named the X's falcon-wing doors as a potential problem. The powertrain and the chassis are based on the Model S, so that has been sorted out to some degree but, "with the falcon wing door and the second row of seats, ... we're adding some very new stuff that's really not out there, that never really has existed in a way that was useful," Musk said. Musk's argument that the X should be delayed has a lot to do with what he and the company found out by building the Model S. "We also learned a lesson in manufacturing that you have issues that are sometimes one out of 100, but unless you make 100 of something, you don't see it," he said. "Then you think the car is all good, but actually randomly one out of 100 is wrong, but you don't know necessarily which one out of the 100, then you've got to go look at all 100 cars. So just once you get into volume manufacturing there are just these statistically rare issues, but you really need to make a bunch of something in order to know that it's there. We want to make sure we do that with the X, that's really just a lesson we've learned." So, despite repeated rumors of potential rivals, Tesla is going to stay the course and bring out the X when it's good and ready. You can read the full transcript of the call here and listen here.