Tesla Foundation Series All Wheel Drive, page #30

Auto blog

GM CEO Akerson calls out Tesla, says Cadillac will compete on EVs

Cadillac will be taking on Tesla Motors, the underdog EV manufacturer that's seen heaps of critical acclaim and stock market buzz with its most recent sedan, the Model S. "If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac," Dan Akerson, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, told media in Washington, according to The Detroit News.
Akerson continued, telling The News, "We'll sell more Volts and lose less money on the Volts than they'll lose on the Model S." He also took time to point out that Tesla getting vehicles out to customers isn't a guarantee of success or permanence, using Fisker as an example, saying "Does anybody even remember Fisker? I mean, there were a number of them; they are all gone."
This strong talk from Akerson comes after Doug Parks, another GM exec, let slip that the Detroit-based manufacturer has an EV in the works that will cover 200 miles per charge and only cost about $30,000, a massive upgrade over similarly priced EVs that struggle to top 100 miles per charge. Until that vehicle arrives, though, GM is preparing the Cadillac ELR, a small coupe that, like the Volt with which it shares technology, uses a gas engine as a mobile generator to recharge the batteries. Akerson took aim at Tesla again, saying, "But I do think when the ELR comes out late this year, early next - it's certainly the same postal code as Tesla, but now we're going to move up. It's not going to be a mass-produced car."

Tesla staring down California dealer ad probe request

Months after the confusing announcement of Tesla's lease-like financing program, the electric vehicle maker could face an advertisement probe that has been requested by the California New Car Dealers Association, Automotive News reports, which claims that consumers are being mislead by advertised monthly payments that are lower than what most people would experience.
The ordeal can be traced back to April 2, when Tesla made an announcement specifying tiered monthly payments for the three versions of the Model S assuming a 66-month term. But then Tesla revised the numbers upward overnight because, it claimed, it meant to say it offered a 63-month finance term, not a 66-month term. The automaker also claimed that factoring in the "true cost of ownership" of a Model S compared to a conventional fuel-burning car could drive monthly costs to below $500.
In May, it added an available finance term of 72 months, which, factoring in only gasoline savings, the company said could lower monthly payments to $580. But the underlying issue at hand is that the means which can potentially lower monthly payments from $1,000+ dollars (depending on the model) to under $600 can't be realized by the majority of Americans, the CNCDA says.

Tesla Model S vulnerable to hackers?

Next time you walk by a parked Tesla and its sunroof is opening and closing with nobody sitting inside or around it, you could be witnessing a hacker moment. For all of its strengths as a car, the Model S reportedly has a weak spot: the security of its API (application programming interface) authentication, according to an article in the O'Reilly Community by George Reese, executive director of cloud management at Dell. Tesla develops and uses its own API authentication protocols, which have made access to certain Model S functions too easy for hackers, Reese says - himself a Model S owner.
At question is the Tesla REST API, which is accessed via a web-based portal, usually by Model S owners with their iPhone or Android-based smartphone, to perform a variety of menial tasks and check the status of the car. The Tesla-registered e-mail and password of the car owner is used to access the API through a web portal, which creates a "token" that lasts for three months. During that period, owners access the Tesla REST API via the token without the use of their log-in information. Unfortunately, the tokens and their respective cars are stored on website databases that are all too easy to hack, Reese explains, and if a hacker gains access, "it has free access to all of that site's cars for up to three months with no ability for the owners to do anything about it." On top of that, there is no way to revoke access of a compromised application.
Reese says that "there's nothing in the API that (can? should?) result in an accident if someone malicious were to gain access." The API can check the car's battery charge, operate climate control, operate the sunroof, identify car location, honk the horn, open the charge port, and perform other similar operations. But, he cautions, "Perhaps the scariest bit is that the API could be used to track your every move."

Tesla considers adding overseas production

Tesla is currently using the old General Motors/Toyota NUMMI facility in California for Model S production, and despite the brand's rapid growth, it's still not coming close to approaching the full 500,000-unit production capacity of that former facility. Still, the EV manufacturer is shopping around for both European and Asian production facilities in anticipation of bountiful increases in sales.
While we'd caution that this counting of chickens isn't the best idea, Tesla has just cause for planning ahead. According to Automotive News, Model S production should crest at 21,000 units by the end of 2013, and 40,000 units by the end of 2014. It'll soon be joined at the Fremont, California factory by the Model X SUV, along with the rumored Model E, which will occupy a volume position for the brand below the Model S. And while the old NUMMI facility might have production capacity for far more vehicles than Tesla can build, churning three separate vehicles out of the same factory might not be as economically viable as just picking up a new factory altogether.
While Musk won't come out and say it, if his logistical predictions are any indication, it's a safe bet that he sees Model E becoming the big-selling model for Tesla. Speaking to Bloomberg, he said, "We'll try to locate those close to where people are, close to where the customers are, to minimize the logistics costs of getting the car to them."

NHTSA rebuffs 'best ever' crash test claim by Tesla [w/video]

In response to Tesla's claim that the Model S is the safest car ever tested, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a statement clearing up how it rates cars. While not denying that the Model S is a very safe car, the agency said that its rating system is only between one and five stars - nothing higher and nothing lower.
This means that, unlike honors classes in college and high school, there is no way to score above the highest rating, and Tesla says that it received a 5.4-star rating (although there is no indication where it got this information). Also, NHTSA made no mention of any broken equipment it suffered while testing the Model S; another claim made by Tesla. Scroll down for the Model S crash video courtesy of ABC News as well as NHTSA's brief statement.

Tesla to be named Tuosule in China

Tesla is not Tesla anymore, at least in China. The Palo Alto-based manufacturer has apparently given up on the fight over its name, for the time being. The name "Tesla" was trademarked by one Zhan Baosheng in 2006, while the American EV company didn't attempt to claim it until 2009 (we reported on this development a few weeks back).
Of course, trademark squatters aren't really a new thing, particularly in China. Earlier this month, we told you about a car company that is attempting to patent a Volkswagen design before the German manufacturer could even bring it to market.
Since the California electric car manufacturer can't go by Tesla in the Asian automotive market, it's reportedly elected to be known as "Tuosule." First reported by InAutoNews, the Tuosule name apparently comes from a transliteration of "Tesla" to a dialect of Chinese spoken in Hong Kong. This was the second time Tesla has gone to court over its name. The first time was to reclaim the name "Tesla Motors," which it achieved by purchasing the name from its owner, Qiao Weiwei, but that name apparently isn't licensed for automotive use.

Tesla says Model S crash test score is best NHTSA has ever recorded

We found out a couple of weeks ago that the Tesla Model S aced the crash tests administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. What we didn't know until Tesla filled in some of the details is that the Model S scored more than five stars on the way to recording the best result of any car the NHTSA has ever tested. While NHTSA's highest public rating is five stars, the Vehicle Safety Number it gives to manufacturers can go higher, and Tesla says the Model S scored a 5.4. That's a better result than has ever been achieved in NHTSA testing of a passenger car, SUV or minivan.
Tesla's press release says that after its internal tests showed that it would score five stars on government's crash tests, it addressed any other weak points it found on the vehicle to ensure it would get perfect marks "no matter how the test equipment was configured." It was already going to do well in the frontal test, as the lack of an engine allows much more leeway in creating an occupant-saving crumple zone. And the rollover test was aided by the battery pack being located in the floor. The low center of gravity meant that the Model S couldn't be rolled over "via the normal methods and special means were needed to induce the car to roll."
Nested aluminum extrusions along the hatchback's flanks took care of the side pole intrusion test, the Model S not only scoring five stars but, according to Tesla, leaving nearly nine times more "driver residual space" post-impact than the five-star rated Volvo S60. And when the roof of the Model S was tested for crush resistance, the testing machine broke just after it crossed the four-G mark - the Model S, on the other hand, didn't.

Tesla working to eliminate side mirrors

Of all the concept car technologies, one of our favorites has been the deletion of side-view mirrors in favor of video cameras. Besides improving the look of the car, it'd lower drag and improve fuel economy. However, cost, available technology, and most importantly, the government, stand in the way of this tech making it onto a production model.
It's that last facet that Tesla is seeking to change. As Automotive News explains, when the Model X debuted in concept form, it was without wing mirrors. But when the production car was revealed, it had the conventional mirrors, largely because the camera'd car violated the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety code (Standard 111, to be precise).
Now comes word that Tesla has actively been lobbying the NHTSA to do away with the standard. It's got breathing room at the moment. We reported a few months ago that the federal mandate regarding backup cameras had been pushed back to 2015. That gives Tesla plenty of time to work the safety administration over regarding the mirror replacement, getting the new tech approved in the next mandate.

Tesla to introduce all-wheel-drive Model S in 2014?

The Model X sport utility vehicle may not be the first all-wheel-drive Tesla to hit the market. According to The Verge, Tesla is working on an AWD version of its Model S sedan. Currently, the Model S is only available with rear-wheel drive, but sources in the know at Tesla reportedly have said that an AWD version could be released as early as 2014, which is the same year the SUV is expected to be launch.
There was no hint in yesterday's conference call or shareholder letter that an AWD Model S is in the mix. Furthermore, the company's attention currently is focused in other places, such as Europe, Japan and China. But, as The Verge points out, CEO Elon Musk made comments in the 2013 annual shareholder meeting on June 4 about an AWD chassis that would be released in 2014 or 2015 - without the context of the Model X. We have to wonder: were the SUV's drivetrain and chassis also developed with other vehicles in mind?
Our own Domenick Yoney from AutoblogGreen adds another peculiar twist to the Tesla story: "When I spoke to Dorian West, Director of Powertrain Hardware Engineering, at Refuel, I was given the strong impression that I shouldn't expect anything [on the AWD front from Tesla] until after the Model X comes out."

Tesla buys test track adjacent to its factory

Two months ago, Tesla hired Chris Porritt to be the vice president of its vehicle engineering program. Tesla's purchase last week of a 35-acre parcel abutting its factory in Fremont, California will give Porritt, formerly the boss of Aston Martin's Vehicle Engineering team (he's the father of the One-77 supercar), at least a portion of a test track where he can challenge and hone the EVs of the future.
The land was part of a parcel of more than 160 acres that had been owned by the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., the former joint venture factory built by General Motors and Toyota. When NUMMI (shown above) closed, the land was bought by Union Pacific Railroad, which sold the lot to Tesla.
While Tesla hasn't laid out its plans, we're guessing they'll eventually expand the track as the factory footprint grows; CEO Elon Musk has said Model S production could equal 800 cars per week by the end of next year. As for Porritt, from his new base in Fremont and with that new test track, he'll oversee further development of the Model S and the birth of the Model X, Roadster successor and the "affordable Tesla" due by 2017.