2022 Tesla Model X Wrapped Pink on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Elon Musk to get spot on The Simpsons

It's hard to believe that The Simpsons is moving into its 26th season, but there's good news for auto enthusiasts, especially of the EV variety. The show's executive producer, Al Jean, confirmed on Twitter that Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk would have a guest spot on the show in the upcoming season. Even better, it sounds like a pretty significant role.
Elon Musk in ep 1/11 and not a "kiss ass" celebrity guest star turn: Burns tries to kill him, and we reveal Musk's master password.

- Al Jean (@AlJean) July 29, 2014

Recharge Wrap-up: Ohio State wins EcoCar 3 Year One, Renault video praises environmental benefits of EVs

A new video from Renault touts the benefits of electric vehicles. The video covers how EVs can help improve the air we breathe and mitigate climate change. It looks into the future at how the air of various metropolitan areas would improve with the adoption of electric cars. It focuses on how EVs help reduce not just CO2 emissions that put the climate in jeopardy, but gases and particulate matter that directly affect the human health. A study in Rome shows that if 10 to 20 percent of the vehicles were electric, particulate pollutants that cause respiratory and heart diseases would decrease by 30 percent, with nitrogen dioxide decreasing 45 percent. "The solution already exists," the video says, "and it is quite accessible for most of us." See the video above, and read more in the press release below. Ohio State University has won Year One of EcoCar 3. Winning the Year One trophy in the competition to create eco-friendly technology and incorporate it into a Chevrolet Camaro, the team defends its title from EcoCar 2 and wins $10,000 in prize money. "This year really lays the foundation vehicle development, which is critical step in the process for future success," says Ohio State University Engineering Manager M.J. Yatsko. "We have already begun vehicle dynamic analysis for next year and are excited to share some of our innovative features we plan to integrate into our vehicle." Teams receive their Camaros this fall, and will use the next years to install, test, and refine their technologies. Read more from the US Department of Energy. Advanced Microgrid Solutions will use up to 500 megawatt-hours of Tesla batteries for grid-based energy storage. It will install the Tesla Powerpack systems for storage in commercial and industrial facilities to help balance the grid load. It offers greater reliability for the grid, and cost saving for customers. "Tesla's focus on performance and design makes them the stand out technology choice for our projects," Says Advanced Microgrid Solutions CEO Susan Kennedy. "AMS' projects require intelligent, powerful and scalable energy storage solutions. Tesla's technology gives us the edge we are looking for." Read more in the press release from AMS. The National Electric Drag Racing Association has announced the Inaugural 2015 NEDRA Points Championship Series. It borrows rules from NHRA and IHRA, and seeks to put vehicle consistency and driver skill at the forefront.

Superchargers power Tesla Model S EVs for over 8M miles [UPDATE]

Ahead of the company's press conference at the Detroit Auto Show tomorrow, Tesla is talking up its Supercharger network with some impressive numbers. Tesla's Alexis Georgeson told AutoblogGreen that Tesla Model S EVs have driven more than eight million miles on Supercharger fill-ups. That's the equivalent of 33-and-a-half trips to the moon and back. We can see how quickly the free Superchargers are getting popular by comparing this milestone to where we were four short months ago. At the end of September, after the Superchargers had been installed for a year, Tesla drivers had hit 3.2 million miles. The rapid increase since then is due mostly to there simply being a lot more chargers being available now. Tesla representatives told us that there are over 70 Supercharger stations in the world today (58 in North America and 14 in Europe) and that six were installed in the past week. Georgeson didn't have numbers on hand to say which stations were the most popular or other details, but did say that it's safe to assume that the Supercharger in Lusk, WY (pictured), part of a sweeping 'S' shape from Los Angeles through the northern US and on to Chicago and the East Coast, is not the most frequently visited. The next target for expansion is finishing the Boston-to-Miami corridor, which means putting in more Superchargers in North Florida and South Carolina. At CES last week, the Supercharger network won our AOL Technology of the Year award. *UPDATE: Tesla just let us know that 8 million is a little premature. The current number is actually closer to 7.5 million, but the total should crest the 8-million mark soon.