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Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla tour recounted, Smart using Renault electric motors

A man recounts his recent Tesla factory tour in a new video. When Michael Brown toured Tesla's Fremont facility on September 10, he learned a bit about the production process, saw the enormous stamping equipment Toyota left behind, and even caught a glimpse of the finished Model X SUV. Brown was told very few people in the factory had seen the production version of the Model X. Check out the video above, and read more Teslarati. Johnson Controls is expanding production capacity for Absorbent Glass Mat batteries for fuel-saving stop-start systems. With the market for stop-start batteries possibly growing from 22 million to 56 million by 2020, Johnson is investing $555 million from 2011 to 2020 to be able to build more batteries in the US, Germany and, China. The company is planning to build a $200-million battery plant in Shenyang, China capable of producing 6 million batteries per year. "Johnson Controls is currently the world's leading provider of batteries for Start-Stop vehicles and we plan to stay that way," says Johnson's Lisa Bahash. Read more at Green Car Congress. Renault will provide electric motors for the new Smart ED. The electric versions of the Smart Fourtwo and Forfour will use the same motor as Renault's Zoe EV. The batteries for the Smart cars will be manufactured by Daimler's own Deutsche ACCUmotive. The Renault-powered Smart Fortwo and Forfour Electric Drive are slated to go on sale in 2016. Renault and Daimler have had a working alliance responsible for 13 projects since 2010. Read more from Automotive News Europe. Related Gallery Tesla Factory News Source: Teslarati, YouTube: Michael Brown, Green Car Congress, Automotive News Europe Green Plants/Manufacturing smart Tesla Renault Electric Hybrid Videos recharge wrapup

Budget watchdog warns Tesla Gigafactory fight could be 'race to the bottom'

How desperate are the states in the US Southwest for a Tesla Gigafactory? Maybe a little too desperate, according to the California Budget Project. CBP says that the five states that are vying for the new big battery plant from Tesla and Panasonic are really in a "a race to the bottom from which no real winner may emerge." The CBP issued an open letter to leaders in those states that called for "greater openness in the process, strong accountability measures, and cooperation – not competition – among the states." Basically, what CBP is saying is that Tesla is trying to get too good a deal from whichever of the five states (Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, California or Arizona) will be picked for the Gigafactory to be built (well, the first one, at least). We have known for a long time that these states are fighting amongst themselves, and the CBP says that even though the Gigafactory is "undoubtedly a valuable source of economic growth for its eventual home state," since the public bidding process starts at $500 million in subsidies, the five states 'have more to gain from cooperation than from competition." After all, Tesla has made it clear that it needs the Gigafacatory to make its cheaper EV a reality, so CBP is suggesting that the states communicate with each other so that no one offers too many tax breaks in the "harmful pattern of one state 'winning' a high-profile competition." The $500 million could be better spent on other things, CBP argues, and wonders if Tesla would be "receptive to a multi-state dialogue." Your Houston News notes that Tesla is asking the states "not to discuss their offers, and states aren't talking." Tesla did not have anything more to add to AutoblogGreen, but the company has said that an official announcement on the location of the first Gigafactory is coming toward the end of this year. For now, you can read CBP's open letter in full below. An Open Letter to Five States' Officials About Tesla Motors The announcement earlier this year by Tesla Motors that it planned to establish a major electric-car battery factory in one of five western states has set off a bidding war among officials in these states. Yesterday, CBP Executive Director Chris Hoene joined with leaders at Good Jobs First and peer organizations in the other states to direct an open letter to state officials calling for greater openness in the process, strong accountability measures, and cooperation - not competition - among the states.

Toyota's Lentz says fuel cells are the future, not EVs

Toyota is not bullish on EVs. That comes from the company's North American CEO, Jim Lentz, who said the company will focus not on electrification, but on continued hybridization with a long-term focus on hydrogen fuel cells.
Lentz questioned the long-range ability of EVs, saying that Toyota feels "there are better alternatives, such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids, and tomorrow with fuel cells." Lentz spoke about Toyota's focus on hydrogen following Forbes Brainstorm Green conference and barely a week after a battery deal between Tesla and Toyota ended, according to Automotive News.
That deal provided for 2,500 battery packs for the Rav4 EV. While valuable to Toyota, the deal "was never about open-ended volume," Lentz said. "It was time to either continue or stop. My personal feeling was that I would rather invest my dollars in fuel cell development than in another 2,500 EVs."