2023 Tesla Model 3 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Recharge Wrap-up: Schaeffler 48V mild hybrid Audi TT, Georgia Power charging stations

Schaeffler will test a 48-volt mild hybrid system in the Audi TT. A lithium-ion battery powers an electrified rear axle, which supplements the power provided to the front wheels from the internal combustion engine. The system includes a belt-driven starter generator also running on 48 volts. The car has driver-selected Sport and Eco modes, the latter of which maximizes all-electric driving at low speeds for increased fuel economy. The rear axle can also support the front when more traction is needed. Sport mode wrings out every bit of performance from both the internal combustion and electric motors, with torque vectoring between the rear wheels offering extra stability. Read more at Green Car Congress, or in the press release from Schaeffler. A man has built a near-life-size replica of a Tesla Supercharger out of Legos. Robert Turner's ode to the charging station stands at 42.5 inches tall (which looks impressive standing next to a real Model S), and took over three months to build. Turner showcased his Lego Supercharger at the Brickworld Chicago Lego convention, and he goes into more detail about the painstaking process of forming his creation out of tiny plastic bricks in a video interview. See the Lego Supercharger and read more at The Brothers Brick. Georgia Power is opening 11 new EV charging stations around the state. The charging islands – which are located at various Georgia Power locations – offer DC fast charging with CHADeMo/SAE Combo plugs as well as Level 2 208/240-volt chargers. Customers can pay with either a Georgia Power or ChargePoint card. These first chargers are part of a larger plan by the utility to roll out 61 charging islands throughout Georgia by the end of 2016. See a list of locations and learn more in the press release below. Georgia Power opens 11 new EV charging islands First phase of statewide public charging infrastructure completed ATLANTA, Sept. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power announced today that the company will open 11 new electric vehicle (EV) charging islands to the public on October 1. The new charging islands, located at Georgia Power properties across the state, mark the completion of the first phase of planned charging infrastructure being developed by the company which will include approximately 61 community charging islands for public use statewide by the end of 2016.

Tesla Model S has secret menu that shows possible upcoming features

The Telsa Model S may have won just about every automotive award it could last year, but that doesn't mean it's a perfect vehicle. Far from it. Drivers have been asking when the already high-tech vehicle will get somewhat normal features, like adaptive cruise control or blind spot detection. Well, a new video of menus hidden within the giant touch screen in the Model S shows that those two features might be coming soon, along with a lane departure warning. When these options might arrive is anyone's guess, but the video (see it below) shows that the software is at least in the prototype stage. In any case, unless Tesla has installed a bunch of sensors and not told anyone about them, turning these features on will require more than just a software update.
The hidden menu also shows some as-of-yet-unannounced apps in the car's software: an image viewer, a sketch pad, a scheduler/calendar and various test apps.
The way you access these menus, apparently, is by holding down the Tesla logo on the main menu for a few seconds and then entering an access code. We don't know this password and we also don't recommend fooling around in there, since it looks like you might be able to muck things up, but good. We have enough trouble rooting our phones and we're not sure we'd like to take the risk with an $70,000+ electric vehicle. But if someone else wants to do so and post a video online, then we're happy to watch.

Tesla prepping Supercharger network for big growth across Europe

It'd be a nice life to be able to tour across Europe in a Tesla Model S. And that's something the California-based electric-vehicle maker is looking to enable by the end of the year. We're ready. Who's got the key fob? Tesla opened three Supercharger stations in Germany on Thursday and is aiming to string enough together to let drivers roam across the continent purely by Supercharger power by the end of 2014, Bloomberg News says. The company now has 23 Superchargers in Europe, including nine in Germany and six in Norway. Those high-powered stations can half-charge a Model S in about 20 minutes. Tesla has 97 Superchargers in North America. Tesla's most recent Supercharger deployments across the Pond merely reinforces Tesla chief Elon Musk's pledges earlier this year to ensure that all European Tesla owners would be within reach of a Supercharger by year-end, Tesla spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. Musk said in March that Tesla drivers would be "able to travel almost anywhere in Europe using only Superchargers" by the end of 2014. Earlier this month, Tesla started deliveries of right-hand-drive Model S sedans in the UK. Additionally, Musk estimated that the company would open a factory in Europe once annual sales on the continent reached 160,000 units. By all accounts, that's likely to be a long way off. Earlier this year, Tesla dropped the price of the Model S in Europe, though the company said that move was due to the strengthening Euro and not because of any demand issues.