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Need more cup holders for your Tesla Model S? 3D print some

What do you get for the car owner that has everything? Well, if it's the owner of a Tesla Model S electric vehicle, you can either get him or her a $500 cup-holder insert that sets atop the car's center console or, better yet, score him or her a 3D printer that can print one out. Street Insider directs us to this oh-so-technologically-advanced option for anyone with a bit of extra cash on hand. Apparently, there are blueprints circulating for a cup-holder insert that can be printed on a Stratasys MakerBot printer. Those printers run anywhere between $2,200 and $2,800 a pop, but, hey, that's nothing compared to the Tesla itself, right? The cool thing is that the 3D cup-holder inserts can be printed out in a myriad of colors for the EV driver who wants to make the ultimate fashion statement ... or faux pas. Of course, how that printed holder will handle that first spilled cup of scalding coffee after the Model S driver gets a little too frisky on a hairpin is anyone's guess. The good news? The driver can simply go home and print another one. Sure beats shelling out $500 for the factory version. News Source: Street Insider via Value WalkImage Credit: Thingiverse Green Tesla Green Culture Electric stratasys

Recharge Wrap-up: Smart celebrates 5 years in China, France wants to quit diesel

Smart celebrated its fifth anniversary in China with a concert and two special editions of the Fortwo. The two editions include a China red version limited to five units and a Chinese New Year edition limited to 666 examples. Smart has 143 dealerships in 77 Chinese cities, with 60,000 cars sold so far. Daimler is also looking to expand its Car2go carsharing network in China using Smart vehicles. The anniversary celebration featured a live concert for 50,000 fans. Read more in the press release below. France has plans to build a nationwide EV charging network and retire diesel cars. Industrial group Bollore plans to build 16,000 public charging points in France, with the blessing of Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron, who says, "Through a private initiative with public support, we are accelerating our route towards having a truly national network of electric car charging points." Valls says, "In France, we have long favored the diesel engine. This was a mistake, and we will progressively undo that, intelligently and pragmatically." Read more at Charged EVs. Ninebot One is a self-balancing, hands-free electric unicycle. Think of it as a one-wheeled, no-hands Segway with some extra features. Like riding a bicycle for the firs time, it requires some getting used to, but the benefits seem worthwhile. Depending on the model, it offers up to nearly 19 miles of range on a single charge. It is fairly compact, using a single, 16-inch tire and it weighs about 30 pounds. Maximum speed ranges from 8 to 12 mph. It uses an app to track your travel and other stats. See what sort of training it takes to ride it in the video below, and learn more at the Ninebot website. A Tesla Model S owner has figured out a way to use a USB mouse with the car's center display. The car detected the mouse when plugged into the USB port, and placed a cursor on the display, allowing the user to control functions with the mouse. Trying some other USB devices, owners found that an external CD drive doesn't work with the audio system, nor does a USB keyboard. However, an owner was able to connect a USB floppy disk drive, for what it's worth. See it in action in the video below or read more at Teslarati. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla details factory expansion; Ford and SunPower raise money for Sierra Club

Tesla has revealed the details of the upgrade of its Fremont, CA factory. One major change is the addition of a dedicated production space for the dual-motor P85D version of the Model S. Robots will be doing the battery installation on the Model S to save some time, and new export docks allow Tesla to get the cars out the door and on the way to their new owners more quickly. The new robots that move the cars around the factory have been named after X-Men characters, which makes our inner geeks smile. Check out the factory upgrade in the time-lapse video below and read more at Teslarati or at the Tesla Motors Blog. A program in Beijing for privileged registrations for EVs hasn't had much success. Of the 1,424 lottery winners, only about 30 percent went on to register an electric car despite a two-month extension of the deadline to do so. Buyers are likely discouraged by the lack of charging infrastructure, which the city hopes to ameliorate with the addition of 1,000 new charging stations by the end of the year, and by requiring new and renovated developments to set aside parking specifically for EV charging. Read more at Green Car Reports. The UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies suggests that laws designed to protect dealers and consumers are stymieing the adoption of EVs. Laws like the ones certain states have in place that block or otherwise restrict Tesla's direct-to-consumer business model are not helpful for companies that want to introduce new products to the market. They prevent companies from passing on savings to customers for whom they would likely make the difference in a purchasing decision. One possible solution would be to allow exemptions to certain selling restrictions for a certain number of vehicles sold. "This could give automakers the degree of control needed to work out kinks with early customers, develop scalable processes for supporting PEVs, and ensure that effective dealer performance standards are in place before handing the reins over to wholly independent retailers," according to UC Davis ITS. Read more at the UC Davis website. Volkswagen says its environmental program, called "Think Blue. Factory," is meeting the automaker's own sustainability targets. The main purpose of the program is to move toward eco-friendlier carmaking at each of its plants worldwide.