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Recharge Wrap-up: Child Tesla driver hits baby in Chinese mall, Ram adds new CNG offering

A five-year-old child in a China shopping mall started a Tesla Model S at a display and hit a baby in a stroller. The baby fell out of the stroller and was unhurt, according to the report. A reporter from a local newspaper arrived at the scene to find the other Model S on display still powered on, this one with another child in the driver's seat. The cars had wooden blocks under the brake pedals and stickers warning the public not to touch the touchscreen. Police have opened an investigation into the incident. Read more and see all the photos at Car News China. Ram will add a new compressed natural gas pickup truck to its lineup. The new offering, which is smaller and less expensive than the current CNG pickup (pictured), will be available as a regular cab two-door with two-wheel drive and a long bed. Ram has sold 1,000 of the current 2500 CNG four-door 4x4 offering since going on sale in 2012. Ram believes the new offering will expand sales to fleet operators looking for a less-expensive truck. Read more at Automotive News. New methods of harvesting energy are being explored for automobiles. By now we're all familiar with regenerative braking, but thermoelectric harvesting from the motor, range extender or possibly even the exhaust could come to cars soon. Energy harvesting shock absorbers and exhaust turbines are also viable. Wind turbines could generate electricity while the car is parked, and piezoelectric energy harvesting could run minor electrical systems while the car is in motion. Enough energy harvesting could allow cars to use much smaller engines, and could extend the range of electric vehicles. Read more at Energy Harvesting Journal.

Tesla Model S sells 6,900 units in Q4, eyes top of the charts

Tesla Motors sold roughly 6,900 of its battery-electric Model S sedans during the last three months of 2013, making it the country's best-selling plug-in vehicle during the fourth quarter. The California-based automaker beat independent sales estimates by about 20 percent and increased its quarterly sales rate from the third quarter by about 25 percent. More notably, Tesla's fourth-quarter sales beat those of Nissan Leaf EV (6,534 units), and the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug in (6,334). For the year, Tesla sold about 22,300 vehicles, putting it just behind the Volt's 23,094 vehicles and the Leaf's 22,610. Heck, Tesla sold more green cars last year than Honda, which moved about 20,600 battery-electric, hybrid and plug-in vehicles, combined. Investors were certainly happy with the news. Shares of TSLA were up around 16 percent in Tuesday trading, closing at $161.27. The news release was conveniently timed to change the story from the issues Tesla has regarding its wall chargers and what's believed to be their potential role in a garage fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said earlier today that more than 29,000 of Tesla's wall charger adapters were being recalled. You will find Tesla's press release on Q4 sales numbers below. Tesla Revenue Expected to Exceed Guidance by 20% in Fourth Quarter Sales Driven by Superlative Safety Record and Excellent Cold Weather Performance TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014 PALO ALTO, Calif. – Tesla sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 were the highest in company history by a significant margin. With almost 6,900 vehicles sold and delivered, Tesla exceeded prior guidance by approximately 20%. A higher than expected number of cars was manufactured as a result of an excellent effort by the Tesla production team and key suppliers, particularly Panasonic. The two key drivers of demand were the superlative safety record of the Model S and great performance under extremely cold conditions. Safety Record Tesla remains the only manufacturer with a perfect safety record of zero deaths or serious, permanent injuries ever. Including the Roadster, Tesla vehicles have now been on the road for almost six years in 31 countries with almost 200 million miles driven to date. Despite dozens of high speed collisions, the driver and passengers have always been protected. This is Tesla's proudest achievement.

Tesla Announces Details Of Proposed Gigafactory Battery Plant

It's another day and electric automaker Tesla Motors is in the news once again. Tesla announced Wednesday that they will be offering $1.6 billion in convertible senior notes to the public. According to the press release, Tesla will use these funds to assist in "the development and production of its 'Gen III' mass market vehicle, the development of the Tesla Gigafactory and other general corporate purposes." The "Gigafactory" is a proposed lithium-ion battery plant that will sit on an estimated 500-1000 acres of land, employ around 6,500 employees and have an estimated vehicle output of 500,000 units per year in 2020, according to the automaker. That amount of vehicles will require an estimated 50 gigawatt hours of energy per year in battery pack production. That's more energy in lithium-ion batteries than was produced globally in 2013. Construction of the Gigafactory is anticipated to take place during 2014 and all of 2015, followed by equipment installation in 2016. First production launch is scheduled for 2017. In keeping with the environmentally friendly theme, the Gigafactory will be "heavily powered" by both solar and wind energy, and according to our colleagues at Autoblog Green, "will also use older Tesla packs for storage." Tesla still hasn't announced in which state the factory will be built, but it has been narrowed down to four: Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas. More details can be read in this PDF document released by Tesla and in the press release below. TESLA ANNOUNCES $1.6 BILLION CONVERTIBLE NOTES OFFERING WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014 PALO ALTO, Calif., February 26, 2014 – Tesla announced today an offering of $1.6 billion aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes in an underwritten registered public offering. Of the total offering, Tesla will offer $800 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2019 and $800 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2021. In addition, Tesla intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $120 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2019 and an additional $120 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2021, for a total potential offering size of up to $1.84 billion. Tesla intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to accelerate the growth of its business in the U.S.