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Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla charging times compared, VW's 70s hybrid tech

A video shows the difference in Tesla Model S charging speeds with different chargers. The video compares the 60- and 80-kWh versions of the car using a Tesla Supercharger, a CHAdeMo fast charger and Tesla's High Power Wall Connector (HPWC). With the Supercharger, both models charge from to 80 percent in 44 minutes. It's over an hour and a quarter for both cars with the CHAdeMo, but they're about neck and neck in terms of time. The HPWC takes the longest, with the 60-kWh car finishing long before the 85-kWh version. See the video above, and read more at Teslarati. Volkswagen had prototype hybrid technology back in the 1970s. A book called The Complete Book of Electric Vehicles by Sheldon Shacket describes the technology used in Volkswagen's Hybrid-Electric City Taxi prototype, which was based on the Type II microbus. It used the automaker's 1.6-liter air-cooled flat-four (borrowed from the Beetle) along with a Bosch DC shunt electric motor and 11 lead-acid batteries. Interestingly, the hybrid taxi prototype also featured an electric sliding door and a bulletproof bulkhead separating the driver from the passengers. Read more at Jalopnik, and at Green Car Reports. Country music star Lee Brice is going on tour fueled by biodiesel. Partnering with nonprofit environmental organization Reverb, Brice is using the biofuel to travel to college campuses. "We're hoping to offset the environmental impact of the tour by supporting clean energy projects and using buses and trucks fueled with locally produced biodiesel," says Brice, who is personally focused on natural preservation and water conservation. Read more at Domestic Fuel, or at The Boot. Related Gallery Tesla Model S: Quick Spin View 33 Photos News Source: Teslarati, Jalopnik, Green Car Reports, Domestic Fuel, The BootImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Celebrities Green Tesla Volkswagen Alternative Fuels Biodiesel Electric Hybrid Videos recharge wrapup

Tesla delivers 7,579 Model S EVs in Q2, maybe picks Reno, NV for Gigafactory

When it comes to describing its situation, not even Bob Ross could paint a prettier picture than Tesla Motors. The California automaker has had a good few months and announced today that it delivered 7,579 Model S EVs in the second quarter of 2014. That's the most the company has ever delivered in a three-month period, reflecting an expanded market that now spans new countries in Asia and Europe. Tesla also built 8,763 vehicles in that time frame, another record, thanks to getting more cells from battery supplier Panasonic, and says it remains "on track for more than 35,000 deliveries in 2014." Alongside the earlier announcement about the official Gigafactory announcement with Panasonic, the automaker also said today that it has broken ground on a "potential" location in Reno, NV, – validating earlier speculation – while it is still looking at locations in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. Work at the site has mostly stopped for now, however, as the company doesn't want to begin pouring cement until state incentives are in place and a "compelling deal for all parties" has been struck. The ball in Nevada, according to CEO Elon Musk, is now in the hands of the state's governor and legislature. The 7,579 vehicles delivered last quarter continue an upward-moving trend line. In all of 2012, Tesla sold 2,650 Model S EVs. For 2013, the company delivered 4,900 vehicles in Q1, 5,150 in Q2, 5,500 in Q3 and 6,892 in Q4. In 2014, Tesla sold 7,535 Model S EVs in Q1. Add in the 7,579 from Q2 this year, and you've got 15,100 or so, meaning that Tesla needs the next two quarters to average out at around 10,000 each in order to hit the 35,000-vehicle goal. Tesla expects 2015 to be even better, saying that the rate at which its expanding means that its, "annualized delivery rate should exceed 100,000 units by the end of next year." In other words, deliveries for Q4 2015 should be around 25,000 EVs. A few other tidbits from the shareholder letter and today's conference call: Tesla had a loss of $62 million last quarter. The company's Fremont, CA factory is being upgraded to make the Model S and X on the same line and will be up and running next week. Speaking of next week, the first operational Model X Alpha prototypes should be ready by next week. Tesla expects North America to continue to contribute strong demand for its EVs, despite the Model S being available here for several years now.

Tesla Model S finally has its date with a dyno

The performance abilities - and even the burnout potential - of the Tesla Model S has already been well documented, but, surprisingly, we haven't yet seen the all-electric luxury hatchback strapped to a dyno. Fortunately, the crew over at Dragtimes has posted a video that finally gave us some real-world numbers for the family- and environmentally friendly Tesla.
As the article points out, the results might be off a little (on the low side) due to the run not starting from a dead stop, but the numbers are impressive nonetheless. Immediately upon throttle application, the dyno records almost 300 horsepower at zero miles per hour, and power peaks at 368 hp at around 55 mph (we imagine the "386HP" quoted on the video title is a typo) before trailing off to around 220 hp closer to the car's limited 130-mph top speed. This compares quite favorably to the power numbers provided by Tesla putting max output at 416 hp; the dyno provided no torque figures for the car. Dragtimes also believes this number bodes well for the car on the track, too, quoting a quarter-mile time of 12.2 seconds at 112 mph.
The video of the quiet, zero-emission dyno session is posted below, so check it out.