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Recharge Wrap-up: Chevy Volt CarPlay video, Tesla Supercharger importance

A video demonstrates Apple CarPlay on the touch display in the next-generation Chevrolet Volt. The Volt's eight-inch (bigger than an iPad Mini) capacitive display is capable of putting Siri and your iPhone apps and right at your fingertips. It's "the best CarPlay display I've seen," says the user in the video. In case you're not in the market for a new Volt, 9to5Mac offers some of its favorite aftermarket CarPlay screens. See the video above, and read more at 9to5Mac. A single Supercharger can make a big difference in the life of a Tesla owner. Teslarati's Electric Jen talks about purchasing a Model S, being assured by both Tesla employees and the map of planned Supercharger sites that one would be built along an important route for her. With the construction being pushed back, it made visiting family tricky. "As if owning such a grand car isn't embarrassing enough, asking for a ride to drop off and pick up said car because you can't make it home without charging really made me feel awkward," she says. "You see, one single charging location can mean the world to some people," Jen adds. Read the whole article at Teslarati. Tesla once had considered creating mobile range extender trailers for the Model S. Elon Musk touched upon the abandoned idea during his visit to Paris. While Tesla ultimately dismissed the concept, Nomadic Power has taken the opportunity to hitch their product onto the Tesla brand. "We are delighted, that Tesla Motors' CEO Elon Musk is thinking about a concept like ours for even more extending the range of the Tesla models," says Nomadic Power's CEO Manfred Baumgaertner. He adds, "This confirms our approach to build a long distance mobility provider for all electric vehicles on the market." If you say so, Baumgaertner. Read more from International Business Times, and in the press release below. Renault is giving its EV batteries a second life through Connected Energy's E-STOR. When the batteries have degraded to the point that they're no longer suitable for use on the road, they still have a significant capacity that can be used for other purposes. Still useful for stationary storage, they can be used to support charging sites in order to allow for faster charging. The stationary batteries can charge slowly at the site, but then offer up the juice in a hurry when it's needed for a vehicle. Read more from Renault.

Tesla Motors EV charging technology coming to Blink network

The first public bite on Tesla open casting call for its electric vehicle patents has been made by CarCharging, which says it wants to integrate the California automaker's EV charging tech into the Blink Network. Now, this does not mean that Blink chargers will soon be able to Supercharge. Instead, Blink wants to add Tesla-capable adapters to its charging stations. CarCharging and Blink can do this because Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that, "Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology." Currently, to get juice at most public chargers, Tesla Model S drivers need to use a public charging station adapter. Today's Level 2 charging stations use the J1772 standard, which does not fit on Tesla's cars. Once the Car Charging Group digs through the patents and comes up with its own Tesla connector cable, the adapter will not be necessary. Of course, the adapter comes standard with every Model S, so CarCharging's announcement is almost a solution looking for a problem. At the very least, this does make living with an EV easier one step easier. CarCharging purchased the troubled Blink network from Ecotality last fall after that company filed for bankruptcy protection. Looking forward, CarCharging says is it "actively working with other major EV charging networks on various interoperability initiatives." Find more details below. CarCharging Intends to Integrate Tesla Motors' Electric Vehicle Charging Technology into its Blink Network June 19, 2014, 8:30 AM EDT Leaders in Electric Vehicle and Charging Infrastructure Expand Access to Technology and Services to Benefit EV Drivers and the Industry Car Charging Group, Inc. (OTCQB: CCGI) ("CarCharging"), the largest owner, operator, and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging services and owner of the Blink Network, one of the largest EV charging networks, announced its intention to integrate the Tesla Motors' EV charging technology into Blink EV charging stations. According to the blog on the Tesla Motors' website dated June 12, 2014, Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, stated that the company would "not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology". Mr.

Tesla making plans for Gigafactory in at least two states

Ever since February, when Tesla officially announced that it would build a gigafactory to make the incredible number of lithium-ion batteries it expects to need to power its electric vehicles, we thought it would be located in one of four states. Those four states – Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada – have been lobbying the automaker ever since, hoping to hear that the new, $5-billion plant and its 6,500 jobs would set up shop within its borders. Turns out, two of them might get some good news soon. "We want to minimize the risk timing for the gigafactory to get up and running" – Elon Musk CEO Elon Musk said Tesla will announce locations in "at least two" states where it could build the gigafactory, according to Bloomberg. He said, "What we're going to do is move forward with more than one state, at least two, all the way to breaking ground, just in case there's last-minute issues. The number one thing is we want to minimize the risk timing for the gigafactory to get up and running." This isn't to say that Tesla will actually build two gigafactories (at least, not yet, but Musk hinted there may come a day when the automaker will need a second one), just that it is going to make sure there is no hiccup in the supply of lower-cost battery packs for the upcoming lower-cost Tesla EV, sometimes referred to as the Model E. The gigafactory is expected to not only produce more li-ion cells than were made globally in 2013 but also to reduce the cost of the overall pack by 30 percent, setting the stage for the $35,000 Tesla EV (estimated) to appear.