Why Model 3 slowed down: What’s been slowing down an expected higher Tesla Model 3 production volume? Auto analysts say that Tesla is struggling with welding together a mostly steel vehicle with the Model 3, which has differed quite a bit from the mainly 
aluminum bodies of the Model S and Model X. That showed up with the electric carmaker falling short on its third quarter production target for the Model 3. The Wall Street Journal had reported on the slowdown and more light was shed on it during a video about the Model 3 production line posted on Twitter by CEO Elon Musk. Tesla is in a tight spot, pinning much of its future on the Model 3 production line ramped up to big numbers starting at the end of this year. Automakers such as General Motors with the Chevy Bolt, and several other automakers with their long-range EVs, have been anxiously waiting to see the impact of the Model 3 on the market.
RNG at ports: You can watch a new video from the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (CNGVC) to learn more about how renewable natural gas is being tried out in near-zero emission trucks at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. “Powering with the Cummins-Westport ISX12N Natural Gas Engine” shows how a new 12-liter natural gas engine vehicle from Cummins-Westport is being tried out by the ports. A Class 8 heavy-duty truck carries loads from the ports to drop-off points in Southern California. “For us, having an engine that can haul the loads in these conditions, while offering us the emissions benefits of a near zero natural gas engine, is essential to the future success of our business,” said Victor LaRosa Jr., operations manager of port drayage trucking company Heavy Loads Transfer.
Startups competing with Tesla: You can get a good idea of the challenges of competing with Tesla as small startup company getting into the high-performance electric vehicle race. Automotive News takes a look at how Faraday Future, Lucid Motors, Bollinger Motors, Local Motors, and Elio Motors (not to mention, Karma Automotive and Fisker Inc.) are taking on a very big challenge with Tesla; along with entering the auto manufacturing business in the first place. Starting from scratch will cost hundreds of millions of dollars without any revenue, and recruitment of talented professionals to design and build the electric cars while passing strict government safety tests.
EVS30 successful in Stuttgart: Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS30) had been going strong in Stuttgart, Germany, with more than 1,700 participants attending panel 
discussions from Oct. 9-11. Overall, about 9,500 people have been in attendance as participants and trade fair visitors. Panelists and those visiting exhibits have been discussing the future of mobility at the 30th EVS. The mood was positive, and discussions focused on the next phase of the EV industry’s future coming together this year. “Technological prerequisites have been created and some electrification products are already available, as demonstrated by the 353 exhibitors…….” according to conference planners.
near future. Mahindra had just lost a bid for a 10,000 EV contract with the government’s Energy Efficiency Services Limited agency to its main Indian competitor, Tata Motors. Mahindra was awarded part of the contract after lowering prices to match Tata’s lowest bid; the company admitted it won’t make any profits off the sales of its eVerito electric sedan to the Indian agency. Tata was able to win the majority of the contract even though it has yet to manufacture any EVs. Mahindra has been in the segment for a few years with its e20 and e20 plus small electric hatchback models, the eVerito electric sedan, the eSupro electric van, and the e-Alfa Mini three-wheeler. The government wants to stop sales of fossil-fuel powered vehicles and is supporting electric vehicle development. The company’s subsidiary, Mahindra Electric, will operate as a separate entity supplying components to the Mahindra & Mahindra company, which will manufacture the EVs. The company currently operates a battery manufacturing plant and hopes to set up another larger facility soon.
fired, including engineers, managers, and factory workers. Tesla wouldn’t say how many employees were let go, although the company expects employee turnover to be similar to last year’s attrition. They were not layoffs, the company said, but were dismissals based on a company-wide annual review. In interviews with the newspaper, former and current employees said there was little or no warning was given prior to the dismissals. “As with any company, especially one of over 33,000 employees, performance reviews also occasionally result in employee departures,” a Tesla spokesman said. “Tesla is continuing to grow and hire new employees around the world.”
Oct. 28, 2016, and Sept. 1, 2017 with a second row seat that folds down flat, Tesla will be correcting an error that could mean the second row seats would move forward in a crash. The problem stems from incorrectly adjusted seat cables and was discovered through internal testing. It only affects about 3% of those vehicles. The electric automaker is taking on the voluntary recall through a 10-minute procedure done by mobile service operators. The company hasn’t received reports of any issues or accidents related to the problem; customers were to be alerted starting yesterday.
company announced Thursday it will be renamed Virgin Hyperloop One, and it followed a significant but undisclosed investment by the Virgin Group founder. Based in downtown Los Angeles, Hyperloop One comes from a concept released a few years ago by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The transport system will carry passengers and cargo in pods through tubes at speeds of more than 250 miles per hour; and that could eventually go as high as 750 miles per hour. The company has been testing its pods in Nevada. Branson’s Virgin Galactic has been setting up office space in Southern California and will be directly competing with SpaceX in the space transport business.
Accord comes with three now powertrain options – two direct-injected and turbocharged 4-cylinder engines and the third generation of Honda’s two-motor hybrid powertrain. The Honda Clarity comes in all-electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen fuel cell options. The Hyundai Ioniq comes in three versions – hybrid, battery electric, and plug-in hybrid. The all-new Nissan Leaf comes with a redesigned look, longer driving range, and Nissan Intelligent Mobility technologies, Toyota’s eighth generation Camry is available with three new powertrains – a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder, 3.5-liter V-6, and a Hybrid powered by the automaker’s next-generation Toyota Hybrid System. The winner will be named at 8:00 am PST on Nov. 30 inside the Technology Pavilion.
major Indian automaker has sold. The country is making efforts to reduce emissions and curb fuel imports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees the EV acquisition as a way to support the country’s pledge to ban the sale of internal combustion engine light-vehicles by 2030. Mahindra and Mahindra has so far been India’s only domestic carmaker that currently makes EVs. India is far behind China in EV sales, with China selling about 336,000 units last year versus about 450 in India, according to the International Energy Agency.
diverting resources to help bring Puerto Rico back through battery production to help the island recover from hurricane devastation. Residents have been going without electricity. Tesla was below its production target to build more than 1,500 Model 3 units in the third quarter. The company had just delivered around 220 Model 3 sedans and produced 260 during the quarter. Earlier this week Tesla reported that “production bottlenecks” had left it behind the planned ramp-up for the Model 3.
is teaming up with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the National Safety Council, and the Federation for Blind Children in a campaign called “Let’s Talk Self-Driving.” Waymo also emphasizes that autonomous vehicles can eliminate most alcohol-related fatal crashes, and would offer the blind a transportation option. The company said the public awareness ad campaign will begin in Arizona on Monday. That’s where Waymo has been doing a lot of its self-driving car testing. The ad campaign will be delivered through digital ads, outdoor billboards, fuel pump advertising, and radio spots.
is a testing ground for automated technology that can be supplied to OEMs. The German supplier is watching several OEMs – including General Motors, Ford, Renault-Nissan, and Daimler – making moves toward autonomous mobility services. That might be through an alliance with Lyft, Uber, Maven, Waymo, or another partner committed to the new technology and ride services it has to offer. While the robo-taxi label has stuck in the past year, it’s much more than a taxi ride. This will include shared rides, point-to-point short trips, transporting groups, taxi rides, and shuttle services.
offers a 20% increase in efficiency over Proterra’s standard ProDrive system. For the Catalyst E2 max model, the DuoPower drivetrain enables a nominal range of 426 miles on a single charge, which the company says far exceeds the average distance of North American transit routes. Separately, the company announced that major bus and coach manufacturer 
overcrowding at its warehouses, according to two people familiar with the plan. Testing the new service, called Seller Flex, began two years ago as a trial project in India. The company has been marketing the service to U.S. merchants to prepare for national expansion. It started out this year in west coast states with a broad rollout scheduled for 2018, according to the sources. It’s tied into heavy-duty and medium-duty delivery trucks that will service its Amazon Prime and Amazon Flex units. Amazon last year launched Seller Fulfilled Prime, which lets merchants in the Amazon network who don’t stow items in Amazon warehouses still have their products listed with the Prime badge. That gives these merchants the opportunity to tap into the two-day delivery service. Amazon is gaining control over these deliveries, though it may still use third-party couriers to carry out deliveries with their own fleet vehicles.
highest month ever, beating out the previous leading month of December 2016. Tesla led the way with the Model S and Model X doing exceptionally well and the Chevy Bolt having its highest month ever. On the plug-in hybrid side, the Toyota Prius Prime led the category at 1,899 in September, versus 1,453 for the Chevy Volt. BEVs came in at 13,421 units sold in September, versus 7,719 for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
commutes during typical hours, and to offer the EVs for carsharing by individuals or companies for fleet replacement the rest of the time. The startup company launched a 20-vehicle car-sharing program in Chattanooga last year, and implemented its vanpooling program in Los Angeles earlier this year. Users download the Green Commuter app, where they can rent a Model X by the hour or weekend. “Angelenos understand the impacts of congestion; L.A.’s bad traffic is an enormous waste of time and carries high human costs in terms of public health and the environment. Ridesharing and carsharing with electric vehicles brings tremendous benefits in terms of reduced traffic and improved air quality, while providing mobility and commuting savings to its users,” said Gustavo Occhiuzzo, CEO of Green Commuter.
Tesla, China’s new energy vehicle market, launching the Chevy Bolt, the emergence of other long-range all-electric vehicles, and a long list of EVs in manufacturer product pipelines, the future is here now.
March 21, the rebate program has helped plug-in electrified vehicle sales go up from 1,476 to 2,574 units year-over-year. Most people are receiving rebates of $1,100 or more, with $3 million having been set aside by the state to fund the program through participating dealers (with Tesla not qualifying for the incentive program). More than 40% of the funds have gone to Toyota Prius Prime purchases, with the Chevy Bolt coming in second at 12%, and the Chevy Volt and Ford Fusion Energi each getting 10% of the funds. It’s all part of Gov. Cuomo’s move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030. The state is also supporting growing its public charging infrastructure – from about 1,700 chargers currently available to about 3,000 in 2018.
CEO announced Friday. The company has shrunk the size of the spaceship to make the intergalactic journey. Construction of the new ship will begin the first half of next year, he said, and it will be able to carry up to 100 passengers. SpaceX thinks it will be available to also carry passengers around the world in ultra-fast flights – such as New York to Shanghai in 39 minutes. SpaceX is one of several companies planning on taking trips to the red planet. Lockheed Martin Corp. announced its own plans for a manned Mars journey on Friday. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space travel startup is also designing a ship that will be capable of trips to Mars. Virgin Galactic founder and billionaire Richard Branson thinks that Mars should be colonized and his intergalactic division can provide transportation.