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Recharge Wrap-up: Volkswagen adopts CCS Combo plug, Tesla adds Trip Energy Prediction

Volkswagen plans to use CCS Combo plugs as standard for all future plug-in vehicles. The CCS fast-charging allows cars to charge to 80-percent capacity in as little as 15 minutes for cars like the Cross Coupe GTE. This could be a boon to prospective customers, as studies have found plug-in hybrid drivers plug in more frequently than originally expected. Plug-in drivers seem to want to perform as much driving as possible using electricity alone, and VW's plan to adopt the CCS Combo plug could help drivers achieve that. Read more at Green Car Reports. Tesla's 6.1 Firmware update for the Model S includes a Trip Energy Prediction feature. The new feature takes into account things like elevation, speed and predicted driving behavior to estimate the amount of energy used and how much range will be left in the battery after a route is programmed into the navigation system. It can let the driver know if a round trip can be made, and if the driver will need to charge before heading out. The feature updates itself in realtime throughout the drive as well, responding to how much energy is actually being used. Read a rundown of Trip Energy Prediction at Teslarati. The dates for National Drive Electric Week have been set for Saturday, September 12 through Sunday, September 20, 2015. The grassroots celebration of EVs is organized by Plug In America, The Electric Auto Association and the Sierra Club. "We're revved up for National Drive Electric Week 2015, which will offer the public, the media, and policymakers a great opportunity to come check out many of the 20-plus plug-in vehicles on the market," says Sierra Club EV Initiative Director Gina Coplon-Newfield. Last year, more than 90,000 people participated in 152 cities worldwide. Read more in the press release below. National Drive Electric Week 2015-DATES ARE SET SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan., 20, 2015-Dates have been set for the fifth annual National Drive Electric Week: Sat., Sept. 12 through Sun., Sept. 20, 2015. Events will encompass two weekends to give planners maximum flexibility and consumers plenty of opportunity to attend. "This promises to be an exciting year for plug-in vehicles," said Tom Saxton, Plug In America's chief science officer. "The BMW i3 will be on the road for the first full year, we expect deliveries of the Tesla Model X, an updated Chevy Volt, and greater overall sales growth than we saw last year.

Recharge Wrap-up: more than 600K EVs worldwide; Musk sees demons in AI

More than 600,000 battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars have been sold worldwide. This number is up 20 percent in the last four months, and includes the top 10 countries for EVs. The number does not include most commercial vehicles, motorcycles, buses or EVs not legal for highway use. The US accounts for about 260,000 of those tallied, and is the largest adopter of EVs, while Sweden is the most aggressive. The largest growth occurred in Sweden, Germany, China and the UK. Read more at Hybrid Cars. EV drivers can now pay for charging at ChargePoint stations with Paypal. Drivers can link Paypal to their ChargePoint account, and can use their ChargePoint app or card at the station. The first time drivers use Paypal at a station that charges a fee, they will be charged a $25 deposit from which the fee will be deducted. Read more in the press release below. The first NTx Apps Challenge awarded cash to five app development projects, including Juxt and GridLock. Juxt is a mobile app that helps drivers find alternative fuel, parking spots and other points of interest along their routes. GridLock is a traffic light network that monitors traffic patterns and controls lights to optimize traffic flow. Winners get cash, continued mentorship and office spaces. Read more in the press release below. Renault says it could sell the Eolab at around the same price as its diesel-powered Clio. The Eolab, which debuted as a concept at this year's Paris Motor Show, is said to be capable of up to 235 mpg. While Renault has not announced plans to mass-produce the super-efficient Eolab, the company's chief competitive officer Thierry Bollore said that if it did, it would "not cost more than a Clio DCi 90hp," which starts at about $23,900. Read more at Automotive News Europe. An author at Teslarati has created his own system to get notifications whenever Tesla adds a new Supercharger to its network. Using a web scraping tool, Rob M. has set his @TeslaLiving Twitter account to tweet the details whenever Tesla updates its Supercharger page, or when Teslarati's Interactive Tesla Supercharger Map gets a new location added. Rob has also created notifications for whenever new versions of Tesla software are added. Read more at Teslarati. Tesla CEO Elon Musk considers artificial intelligence an "existential threat." In a symposium at MIT, Musk said, "With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon." It's a demon he fears we can't control.

Former Fisker CEO has some advice for Tesla Motors

Former Fisker Automotive CEO and ex-Chevrolet Volt vehicle-line director Tony Posawatz has some words of caution for Tesla Motors. The long-time automaker executive questions the California automaker's long-term viability – and gives some praise – in a talk with Benzinga, which you can listen to below. While the all-wheel-drive D that Tesla unveiled earlier this month in Southern California wowed a packed crowd, Posawatz (starting at around minute 4:45 in the interview) says Tesla would've been better off taking the resources it expended toward that Model S upgrade and directed them towards speeding up the development of a more affordable plug-in. Perhaps a number of investors agreed, since the company's stock fell the day after the D was announced. Posawatz says Tesla has been over-reliant on the sale of ZEV credits. Posawatz also says that Tesla has been over-reliant on the sale of zero-emissions vehicle credits in California for its earnings and questions whether the automaker will ever work at a large enough scale to sufficiently drive down costs and make consistent profits. Tesla CEO Elon Musk would take issue with this characterization. Posawatz first made his mark in the plug-in vehicle world when he was the vehicle-line director at General Motors for the Volt extended-range plug-in from 2006 to 2012. Later that year, he joined extended-range plug-in maker Fisker Automotive as its CEO, though quit that job during the summer of 2013 as the company was descending into insolvency. He joined the Electrification Coalition this past March. News Source: Benzinga Green Chevrolet Fisker Tesla Electric PHEV Tony Posawatz