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Recharge Wrap-up: Fisker EMotion rear end, Faraday Future drag race teaser

Fisker has unveiled the rear end of its EMotion EV. This latest image in a series of slow reveals shows us the strip of lighting across the back, the lines of the trunk opening, and a good look at the rear diffuser. The car appears significantly wider at the fenders than at the roofline, which gives it a planted and muscular look. It's a shape that fits the car's stated performance; Fisker says the EMotion will have a top speed of 161 miles per hour. And, of course, there are no tailpipes. Read more from TechCrunch. Check out the off-road prowess of the Tesla Model X in an icy ditch. Thanks to a sophisticated traction control and torque distribution system, the electric SUV is able to keep its composure even when a wheel leaves the ground over the uneven terrain. Of course, the grippy winter tires help too. The video could also help ease concerns about the vehicles torsional rigidity, though there was a slight creak when opening one of the falcon wing doors while the Model X was suspended over the ditch. See the video and read more at Teslarati. Faraday Future is teasing a video of drag races against the Tesla Model X, Bentley Bentayga, and Ferrari 488 GTB. It shows the camouflaged FF prototype lining up next to the competitors individually, and taking off down the drag strip before cutting the video short. The video then instructs viewers to "stay connected" for the results. Presumably, the prototype will perform impressively. Outrunning a Model X P100D with Ludicrous mode means doing 0-60 in less than 2.9 seconds. Faraday Future is slated to unveil its production electric vehicle at CES 2017 in early January. Check out the video and read more at Teslarati.

Tesla D is, as expected, an AWD Model S but new autopilot features surprise [w/video]

To say that the Internet was excited about the mysterious Tesla D before tonight's official announcements were made is a terrible understatement. Amid a bunch of excited tweets and frustrating attempts at getting a livestream from the event, USA Today published the first story that described some of the new D's features. Automotive News followed suit, but both of those articles were quickly taken down. On site at the Hawthorne airport in Los Angeles, CA, our friend Zan Dubin-Scott tweeted about an overheard comment before Musk took the stage, "What he's about to say - you need to feel, not just hear about." The 'he' here is Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Yeah, people were ready for something big. But the news didn't quite live up to the hype. How could it, really? People wanted to see the first glimpse of the Model 3 or even the production Model X, but all they got were improvements to the current Model S. Thankfully, these are interesting improvements. Here's what Elon's D is all about: The new all-wheel drive Model S – the "D" – will get 10 more miles of range to a max of 275 miles thanks to increased overall efficiencies in the powertrain that Musk called, "a huge improvement." All Model S EVs that have AWD will be designated with a "D," so the P85 "performance" model will become the P85D when it has AWD, for example. The D models will also have a higher top speed and a decreased 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. "Literally everything improves about the car with dual-motor," Musk said. The "something else" is the "A," which is the other letter that Musk said he was glad he didn't tease when he said he would "reveal the D." The A is a suite of Tesla autopilot autonomous driving technologies and it's been in production for the last two weeks (no kidding). The new technological bits include a long-range forward-looking radar, a camera with image recognition that can read things like signs and know where pedestrians are, and a 360-degree, long-range sonar. This will all be integrated into the GPS, navigation and real-time traffic, which means that the car is now capable of being semi-autonomous. But Musk said that there are not enough safety redundancies built in to the vehicle quite yet, so it's really just a tremendously advanced active safety system. Unfortunately, the new bits cannot be retrofitted into earlier Model S vehicles.

Tesla's Musk could build flying or submersible car

You sometimes get the impression that Tesla CEO Elon Musk says wild things just to gauge people's reactions. You have to be crazy to think that the Hyperloop is ever going to happen. Train travel is barely accepted in much of the country. Recently, he boasted in an interview with Britain's The Independent newspaper that he could build a flying car and a submersible one. If he's to be believed this time, one of them might actually happen.
"We could definitely make a flying car - but that's not the hard part. The hard part is, how do you make a flying car that's super safe and quiet? Because if it's a howler, you're going to make people very unhappy," said Musk to the newspaper. Obviously, the flying car has been an automotive dream for decades, but it has always been so disappointing. Even the long-delayed Terrafugia Transition needs a runway to takeoff and can't just pop in an out of traffic like we all want.
While the flying car likely remains a pipe dream, Musk seems much more serious about the prospects of a vehicle that can go underwater. He told The Independent: "We will be making a submarine car. It can transition from being a submarine to a car that drives up on the beach. Maybe we'll make two or three, but it wouldn't be more than that." The man does have some experience in this area. He bought the submersible Lotus Esprit last year from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, and planned to install a Tesla Model S powertrain in it. Now, let's see if either of these big ideas ever comes to fruition.