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How to get incredibly accurate information on your EV's charging power

One would think that paying about $300 to receive a bit of bad news about electric-vehicle charging would be counterproductive. But the fine folks at Teslarati believe that truth is beauty, and they're willing to pay a little extra for the straight dope. There are always losses when taking power from the grid and shoving it into an EV's battery pack. The question is how big are these losses. Teslarati calculated digital read-outs from the dashboard of their Tesla Model S all-electric sedan and found that Tesla builds in about a nine percent efficiency loss when it comes to recharging the car. But the blog thought the Tesla couldn't know exactly what was transpiring between the wall and the battery, so it footed the bill for about $300 to install a digital submetering unit from EKM Metering. With a little calculation, Teslarati was able to figure out after a couple of recharging rounds that the efficiency loss per recharge was closer to 15 percent than nine percent. That means that, instead of paying about 48 cents on the dollar relative to filling up an economy car (factoring in the AAA average price of $3.66 per gallon), Tesla owners are paying about 52 cents on the dollar. Not much compared to paying upwards towards $100,000 for the vehicle itself, but, hey, every cent counts, right? Get all of the details here. Featured Gallery Tesla Model S View 10 Photos News Source: Teslarati Green Tesla Electric recharging

CARB scrapping plan for $60,000 limit on EV rebates

In April, we heard about a discussion within the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that would have put a $60,000 MSRP limit on plug-in vehicles that would qualify for CARB's $2,500 rebates. A new report in Silicon Beat says that CARB is once again ready to give EV money to everyone, no matter what expensive car they buy. There's no question that the CARB proposal would have had an inordinate effect on Tesla Motors, the only company selling a EV expensive enough to cost more than $60,000, the Tesla Model S. Okay, the Cadillac ELR plug-in hybrid would also have been affected, but that only would have applied to a small handful of people. According to Silicon Beat, the updated CARB proposal says clearly that, "at this time staff is not proposing any significant changes to the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project as part of this year's Initial Funding Plan." CARB spokesman David Clegern told Silicon Beat that, "It's fair to say [the $60,000 limit] been removed. I never say anything is dead until after the vote, but I'm not aware of any plans to revisit it." In other words, Tesla, you're good to go. We've asked CARB for confirmation of this, but have not yet heard back.

Marchionne impressed by 'that kid' Elon Musk

FCA boss Sergio Marchionne has a reputation as an incredibly canny businessman. Some examples of his acumen include finishing Fiat's takeover of Chrysler from a beachside home and winning a challenge with Luca di Montezemolo for the reins of Ferrari. The Italian exec recently took a trip to California and lavished praise on Elon Musk after a meeting with the Tesla CEO. Although, the compliment did come off as a little patronizing. "I'm incredibly impressed with what that kid has done," Marchionne said to Reuters about his conversation with Musk. Unfortunately, the FCA exec didn't go into detail about what he and Tesla boss discussed. Although, calling the 43-year-old billionaire a "kid" does seem a little rude, especially given Musk's success with Paypal, in the auto industry and at SpaceX. While in the Golden State, Marchionne also had a talk with Apple CEO Tim Cook. Although, he was similarly cagey about what the men discussed. "He's interested in Apple's intervention in the car, that's his role," Marchionne said to Reuters about the conversation without divulging more. The two companies already have some small links thanks to Ferrari's use of the tech giant's products. As one additional highlight for Marchionne's California trip, he took a ride in the Google autonomous car. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Paul Sancya / AP Photo Green Chrysler Fiat Tesla Green Culture Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Electric Sergio Marchionne FCA