Siemens is acquiring gas equipment manufacturer Dresser-Rand for $7.6 billion dollars in a move meant to help the German conglomerate capitalize on the US energy boom. Earlier this year Siemens bought “most” of Rolls-Royce’s civil energy operation for $1.3 billion. The acquisitions are also likely motivated by a desire to remain competitive with rival GE, which… Keep reading →
News broke on Wednesday that Nevada had apparently won the five-state competition to land Tesla Motors’ vaunted Gigafactory. A boost in manufacturing prestige and 6,500 jobs are expected to result – but is it possible this giant battery plant of the future could turn out to be a white elephant? OK, Lux Research didn’t go… Keep reading →
It’s not quite full-steam ahead on a Reno “Gigafactory” for Tesla – but the electric car company did confirm that it has pushed around a lot of Nevada dirt, while also keeping its options open in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. This revelation came in the company’s second quarter 2014 shareholder letter [PDF], issued… Keep reading →
Elon Musk’s decision last week to invite other car manufacturers to use Tesla Motors’ technology was bold. But the Tesla CEO, putting on his SolarCity chairman’s hat and working with company leadership partners Lyndon and Peter Rive, might have surpassed that move on Tuesday. The trio announced that SolarCity – heretofore a solar power financier/installer… Keep reading →
With a blog post by CEO Elon Musk entitled “All Our Patent Are Belong To You” – that’s a reference to an old Internet meme, not poor grammar – Telsa Motors has gone open source. Henceforth, Musk wrote on Thursday, “Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use… Keep reading →
Call it the Tesla Truck, the Tesla Pickup Truck, or the Tesla-150, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made it clear that the electric carmaker plans to make a pickup truck. In fact, he couldn’t be clearer: he plans to make something to compete with the best-selling light-duty vehicle on American roads: the Ford F-150.… Keep reading →
It was finally time to prove the concept. If you can drive your electric vehicle (EV) not just around the corner, but also a thousand miles down the highway to south Florida in one day, then I think you’ve proven you really don’t need petroleum any more. Here’s how it went. (Well, you may not… Keep reading →
A Japan Airlines flight was grounded after smoke was discovered coming from the battery system. Roughly one year ago, Dreamliners worldwide were grounded due to overheating batteries that caught fire. “”We are making sure of the safety of every plane before its departure. We will continue regular flights (with Dreamliners),” company spokesman Norihisa Hanyu said.… Keep reading →
SolarCity has unveiled an energy storage system for businesses. The system includes software that determines when to charge and when to discharge so as to minimize the utility bill. They use batteries from sister company Tesla motors. Although SolarCity has previously teamed batteries with rooftop solar, the new DemandLogic systems are meant for peak shaving.… Keep reading →
Video of a Tesla luxury electric car burning after an apparent battery problem went crazy time all over the internet and major news organizations across the US yesterday. But while a battery malfunction at the darling of the electric car industry would be news worthy, what if it was a hoax designed to profit from… Keep reading →
