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Tesla sets disappointing EV precedent by removing included chargers from new vehicles

Telsa and Elon Musk have decided to remove the Mobile Charger from all future Tesla deliveries. Even if you ordered your car months ago, it will now arrive without a charger.

And the chargers that you need to power up an electric vehicle (EV) cost a lot more than an iPhone brick.

Before we get into this, I’ll briefly explain the different chargers that Tesla offers and the variety of chargers that owners typically use.

Understanding all the Tesla chargers

Tesla Charger

The most common Tesla charger that people recognize are the company’s Supercharger stations. These large stations can top up a Tesla in around an hour or less, depending on how much electricity they’re rated to handle. Newer Stations can push a max of 250kW, and older options max out between 75kW and 150kW.

The next fastest charger is a Tesla Wall Connector. These smaller chargers need to be installed by an electrician at your home but can charge moderately fast at a rate of around 67km per hour, according to Telsa’s website.

After that, the Mobile Connector is the slowest. This is the model that no longer comes with Tesla purchases. The option used to include Tesla cars and uses an outlet type called the NEMA 5-15. It can plug into traditional three-pronged 120-volt outlets and provide around 4km of range per hour.

You can get adapters for this charging cable (pictured above) that allow it to plug into larger 240-volt outlets like a stove or a dryer. The Nema 14-50 adapter also used to come with Tesla purchases, but the company removed it at some point.

You now need to buy these adapters separately. They allow you to charge your Telsa at a rate of 14-30km per hour, depending on what car you have and how much power your outlet can give.

You can learn more about charging a Tesla here.

What’s being removed

All Tesla purchases previously came with the Mobile Connector in North America with the regular 120-volt adapter (Nema 5-15). Now you need to pay $275 for that cable.

Tesla says it’s removing the charger from the car because most people don’t use it. I’d argue that’s not the point. This charger is so slow that most people likely won’t want to use it. However, it’s not about wanting to use it, but rather having it available when you need it.

Imagine driving to visit a friend in a small town. Perhaps that town only has one fast charger? If that charger is broken, then what are you going to do without a slow charger in your frunk as a backup?

Tesla is likely correct when it says that most people won’t use this charger, but anyone who goes on road trips knows how important it is as a failsafe when you run into an issue.

After almost being stranded in am EV Porsche, I don’t feel comfortable driving more than a few hundred kilometres without a 120-volt charger or at the very least a 240-volt charger in the car with me. While the 240-volt is a lot faster, actually finding places that have an outlet close enough to a parking spot is really difficult.

Even if most drivers never use these chargers at home, I truly think there should be a short version placed inside of every EV in case of emergencies. Sure it might take a long time to charge using this cable, but it will allow you to plug into way more places and could be the difference between driving or towing your car home.

When Tesla first announced that it was pulling the charger, the Mobile Charging kit started at $400 USD (roughly, $500 CAD). After some backlash, the company dropped that price down to $275 CAD. However, this version only comes with the 120-volt (Nema 5-15) adapter. The rest of the Nema adapters cost another $245 CAD. This means having a complete set of emergency chargers in your trunk will cost $520 CAD.

Source: Elon Musk, Tesla Store, Electrek

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Mobile Syrup

Vancouver proposes policy to charge gas stations $10,000 for not providing EV charging stations

Vancouver city hall is reportedly looking into a new policy fixated on gas stations that fail to support electric vehicle (EV) charging. If passed, gas stations will incur an annual fee of $10,000 for failing to provide EV charging stations.

The introduction of this proposal is another step in the city’s transition to better support EVs. Vancouver’s continued investment sees a gradual rollout of EV charging stations and incentives to encourage residents to purchase EVs.

The proposal would see gas stations have to make charging stations available by 2025 to avoid increased licensing fees. “There would be an incentive to invest in EV charging to avoid the higher annual license fee,” a staff member wrote in the report. The current rundown of licensing fees is $263 for a gas station and an additional $163 for the parking lots.

Qualifications must adhere to the following: gas stations must provide 50 kilowatts of charging power. This would be enough for a single DC fast charger. Additionally, parking lots must provide a minimum of 26.6 kilowatts, enough for four Level 2 chargers. These can typically provide between 20 to 50 kilowatts per hour. Note that parking lots with less than 60 stalls are exempt.

It’s estimated that the cost of installing charging stations would be roughly $136,000 for gas stations and $100,000 for parking lots. The proposal states that it would take businesses roughly seven to eight years to recoup those costs.

The adoption rate of EVs within Vancouver (and Canada as a whole) is impacted by charging options and incentives. These barriers remain consistent, according to 12,000 Vancouver residents who took part in a 2021 survey.

Investing in additional EV charging stations appears to be a big focal point for the country. Last year, Electrify Canada announced its plans to triple the number of charging stations across the country. This will bring more than 500 additional stations across 100 locations throughout Canada.

Source: The Province

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Mobile Syrup

Honda will spend $1.4 billion to upgrade plants for EV production in Ontario

Alliston, Ontario, Canada – August 4, 2019: Honda of Canada Manufacturing plant 2 in Alliston, Ontario, Canada. Honda Motor Company, Ltd is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate corporation.

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing millions to help fuel domestic hybrid car production.

Each government is investing $131.6 million towards Honda Canada’s plans to upgrade its facilities in Alliston, Ontario.

“As we build a cleaner future, the automotive sector is a key partner in powering the way forward,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference Wednesday.

Honda is investing $1.38 billion on upgrades over the next six years, including the collective $263.2 million from the two levels of government. The plants will eventually build a hybrid CR-V compact SUV.

“We are so pleased that Honda has made this investment in Ontario and know that the cars of the future will be built here in Alliston and all across Ontario for decades to come,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement.

But it’s important to note neither political leader answered questions relating to Ontario’s rebate on electric vehicles, which was pulled in 2018.

“Since we’ve been in office, electric vehicles have tripled in sales, so I guess that was a good decision,” Ford said without answering the question directly.

Trudeau also dodged the question, stating the federal government was happy to collaborate with Ontario on the announcement.

Image credit: Shutterstock

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Mobile Syrup

Jeeps first all electric vehicle ins’t a jeep, it’s an SUV

A Jeep electric vehicle (EV) is on the way.

The company has only shown off the design so far, but it features a modern look that reminds me more of a Kia Soul than a Jeep.

Jeep’s parent company, Stellantis, says that the electric SUV will launch in early 2023. The design looks suspiciously like a beefed-up Jeep Compass to me. The yellow colour also screams old-school Hummer, which is a tough look to pull off as an EV. This is likely, why the new Hummer is grey.

Beyond the yellow Jeep, the automaker also shared that the first electric RAM truck will release in 2024, and that it plans to make all its vehicle sales in Europe electric by the end of the decade. After that, Jeep hopes to have a net-zero carbon footprint by 2038.

If you want to learn more about Jeep’s plans for electrification and autonomous vehicles, there is a lengthy tweet thread here.

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Mobile Syrup

Ford possibly working with China’s CATL on EV battery tech in Ontario

As Ford gears up to expand its electric vehicle (EV) strategy in Canada, the legacy automaker is reportedly in talks with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) in China to supply batteries to its new plant in Oakville, Ontario.

These discussions haven’t been made public yet by CATL or Ford. That said, a source who spoke with The Logic said that Canadian officials are raising concerns about China becoming a significant EV battery supplier since it has a reputation for using its market power to advance its political mandates in the past.

In the tech space, this has been most recently evident in the ongoing Huawei scandal.

CATL is already the world’s largest power battery builder, but even U.S. officials and Ford’s American offices are also aware of the meetings. Part of the hesitancy also comes from wanting to wait and see the results of President Biden’s Build Back Better bill in the United States.

This bill could change things for EV manufacturers in the U.S. and the surrounding industries, including EV battery manufacturing. With this in mind, several major investments in the space in North America have been put on hold to see if the Build Back Better bill outcome leans in their favour, according to the Finacial Post report.

If the deal does go through, CATL likely won’t build a battery factory in Ontario or even Canada for that matter. Instead, it will supply batteries to Ford’s perspective EV plants in Oakville. Sources say that the talks are still early and not close to being finalized.

When Ford first announced it was retooling the Oakville plant it was looking to assemble a new battery pack design by 2025

Ford’s Chinese division already uses batteries from CATL.

Source: The Logic, Financial Post 

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Mobile Syrup

GM looking to stop dealerships from marking up electric vehicle prices

As more and more traditional car companies start selling desirable EVs, an issue has sprung up where dealerships arbitrarily mark up the prices of these cars.

To curb this, GM has sent a letter to its dealerships warning dealers against price raises. Offenders will have vehicle inventory redirected away from their lots. This follows a letter Ford sent to its dealerships regarding dealer markups on the F-150 Lightning.

GM’s letter says that “specifically it has come to our attention that some dealerships have attempted to demand money above and beyond the reservation amount set in GM’s program rules and have requested customers pay sums far in excess of MRSP in order to purchase or lease a vehicle,” according to a leaked letter on SilvarodoEvolution.com.

This appears to be happening at only a few dealerships, but as these exciting electric vehicles come out amid the global supply chain constraints, GM needs to stop this from becoming the norm. Especially since EVs are already more expensive than their gasoline-powered equivalents.

Source: Silverado Evolution 

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Mobile Syrup

Update kills heating in some Tesla vehicles during cold Canadian winter

A new software update has reportedly wreaked havoc on several Tesla owners’ vehicles in the Canadian prairies as temperatures drop and some of the EVs’ heat pumps have failed.

The update rolled out in the middle of December for both the Model Y and the Model 3, Tesla’s more popular vehicles. However, since then, CTV News has received multiple reports of drivers with no in-cabin heating in the vehicles.

Diving deeper, it appears this may be a wider Tesla issue as many users have shared stories of a wide variety of components related to heating failing far further back than mid-December.

Tesla North states that last year, Tesla replaced sensors related to heating on all vehicles after encountering bugs. It’s difficult to tell if the users in the prairies are driving outdated cars or if a new software update has added additional heating system issues.

One driver was even caught out on a drive in -40 degree weather with young children in the car when the heat cut out.

According to CTV News, a representative of a Tesla Owners Club in Alberta says that they’ve been told Tesla is aware of the issue and it’s been “sent up the chain.”

Hopefully, a software update will solve this problem, or perhaps Tesla will need to update its hardware to perform better in low temperatures.

Overall, this isn’t reassuring Canadians considering buying an electric vehicle (EV). The only EV I’ve been able to test under winter conditions has been a few Porsche Taycans models. In both instances, I didn’t encounter issues related to in-car heating, but I did find that took onger to top up the vehicle and that the battery doesn’t last as long when the temperatures are colder.

Source: CTV News Via: Tesla North 

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Mobile Syrup

Update kills heating in some Tesla vehicles during cold Canadian winter

A new software update has reportedly wreaked havoc on several Tesla owners’ vehicles in the Canadian prairies as temperatures drop and some of the EVs’ heat pumps have failed.

The update rolled out in the middle of December for both the Model Y and the Model 3, Tesla’s more popular vehicles. However, since then, CTV News has received multiple reports of drivers with no in-cabin heating in the vehicles.

Diving deeper, it appears this may be a wider Tesla issue as many users have shared stories of a wide variety of components related to heating failing far further back than mid-December.

Tesla North states that last year, Tesla replaced sensors related to heating on all vehicles after encountering bugs. It’s difficult to tell if the users in the prairies are driving outdated cars or if a new software update has added additional heating system issues.

One driver was even caught out on a drive in -40 degree weather with young children in the car when the heat cut out.

According to CTV News, a representative of a Tesla Owners Club in Alberta says that they’ve been told Tesla is aware of the issue and it’s been “sent up the chain.”

Hopefully, a software update will solve this problem, or perhaps Tesla will need to update its hardware to perform better in low temperatures.

Overall, this isn’t reassuring Canadians considering buying an electric vehicle (EV). The only EV I’ve been able to test under winter conditions has been a few Porsche Taycans models. In both instances, I didn’t encounter issues related to in-car heating, but I did find that took onger to top up the vehicle and that the battery doesn’t last as long when the temperatures are colder.

Source: CTV News Via: Tesla North 

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Mobile Syrup

GM’s recently revealed first-edition Chevrolet Silverado EV is already sold out

GM finally revealed its anticipated Chevrolet Silverado electric vehicle at CES 2022.

The vehicle already seems to be a hit given the 2024 Silverado EV RST (First Edition) is entirely sold out. The electric truck, which has an estimated price of $119,948, isn’t slated to hit the market until Fall 2023.

According to Engadget, U.S. GM CEO Mary Barra said all the vehicles were purchased within 12 minutes of the Silverado EV going on sale. It’s currently unclear how many RST models were available to pre-order, but clearly, the love for the Silverado EV is strong.

The Chevrolet Silverado EV RST is an electric vehicle that’s estimated to be capable of travelling 640km on a full charge. The truck also offers four-wheel steering and is capable of towing up to 10,000lbs.

The regular model won’t hit the market until spring 2024 and starts at $52,448. If you’re still interested and don’t mind waiting, you can join the waitlist for that vehicle.

You can check out more news from CES 2022 here.

Via: Engadget

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Mobile Syrup

BlackBerry bringing its vehicle software focusing on sensor data to China

Sep 14, 2019 Mountain View / CA / USA – Blackberry logo at their HQ in Silicon Valley; BlackBerry Ltd (former developer of the BlackBerry smartphones) specializes in enterprise software and IOT

BlackBerry is bringing its software platform for vehicles to China.

This is happening through a partnership with PATEO, a company based in China providing technology and products to vehicles.

The Waterloo, Ontario based company will integrate BlackBerry IVY, cloud-based software that allows developers to share vehicle sensor data in a secure fashion, with PATEO’s digital cockpit. This will help create new services driven by data.

The companies will be working with “a leading Chinese automobile manufacturer” to implement their partnership as a pilot project in the manufacturer’s electric vehicles. It’s not clear who the manufacturer is. A BlackBerry spokesperson told MobileSyrup the name of the manufacturer can’t be shared at this time.

The pilot will also include software from a third company, Electra Vehicles, that provides real-time information on the remaining capacity and health of a battery.

Once the pilot is completed successfully, the manufacturer will integrate software worked on by all three companies into its electric vehicle line-up.

Information on what will make the pilot project successful has not been made public.

BlackBerry will be showcasing its automotive offerings at CES 2022. You can check out more news from CES here.

Image credit: ShutterStock

Source: BlackBerry